Here are a few pics of the Ralliart Sportback! My dad works for a Mitsubishi dealership, brought this one home tonight so I thought I'd snap a few photos.






Might upload a few more pics later.
Excuse the horrible noise in the photos, did not realise the ISO was set to 400 until afterwards, by which time the light had diminished to a stage where phototaking would have been difficult. :P
If anyone has any questions about the Sportback, I'll endeavour to answer them before it goes back to the dealership in about 8 hours.

PS - other car visible in the pics is an 06 MiVEC Lancer, has a USDM Ralliart drivetrain, 4G69 etc.

 

i like it. i hope they will do a same with the Evo.

 

WOW, that is ugly. Looks like they morphed an old SAAB rear end to the back of the Lancer. Very FORD TAURUS WAGON looking also.


http://static.howstuffworks.com/gif/...3331990002.jpg

http://www.weblogsinc.com/common/ima...99647229710416

 

yeah. But i hope the Evo wider fenders and some loving touch will make it looks nasty
Just like the STI. I dont like it, but when they hook it up , they sure looking awesome.

 

can u take some pics of interior and rear hatch area

 

I've always liked the SAAB hatches which is why I like the looks of the Sportback. Anyone know when North America will get these? I keep hearing 2010 but no confirmation. Looks nothing like the Taurus wagon.

BTW: Aren't you just a Subbie fan that trolls these boards?

 

I hate the look, but on the plus side, the rear view is probably slightly less obstructed than on the sedan Ralliart... that is one butt-ugly spoiler there, though, even if it's somewhat out of the way.

[incidentally, it's a station wagon -- calling it a 'sportback' or a 'five-door' is just pointless doublespeak...]

 

Reminds me of the Lexus Sportsback.

 

Not really a fan...

 

No, I am not a Subie fan. I have never owned a four cylinder car. I have never considered a SUBIE or Mitsu product before now. I HAVE NO ALLEGIANCE. I have been looking for a nice performance based, economical daily driver (I currently have a Sequoia and a RIDGLELINE and I don't need two trucks, I also have some muscle cars that are my limited use FAST fun). I have shopped the SI, Cobalt SS, WRX, RA, MS3. I am not that fond of the 5 doors. I recently have been leaning Subie but I am starting to read about more and more glitches with them. I originally wanted to like the RA but the MPG seemed low compared to some of the others. My test drive in the RA was not that great. Seemed noisy and in town it really liked to rev.


I joined this board way back in the spring while doing a search for the RA. The RA is what I was really set on when joining. Then the performance and pricing was released. I have learned a great deal about these cars since joining here. The NASIOC forum is terrible. It is more a social thing. There is actually good car guy stuff on this board. I have seen guys getting them OTD for 25k ish. That is reasonable to me. The WRX is having complaints on motors, compressors, weird RPM surges etc. So, at first I thought the WRX was the better buy. Now I am not so sure. I have not ruled out an X yet either. I really wanted to go the RA because of the versatility of the SST and my commute. I just turned 40 and drove stick shifts for many years. While they are fun, and I would not be too bothered driving one again, it is just easier in stop and go rush hour traffic to be in auto mode.

 

Just do it!! buy the RA, you'll love it! I shopped like a crazy man for 6 months on the same thing. I'm super happy with the RA and the Milage gets better, I posted in the milage report thread on what I"ve got reciently as I seem to be the one with the most klicks due to my commuting. 25.5 hwy and 19ish city (depending on how agressive i drive light to light )

 

Seeing you have never owned a 4-cylinder car I can see how you would think about having to rev the engine. It's pretty common on any 4-cylinder due to lack of displacement and you really have to get the RPM's up to get peak HP and torque. Try a Civic Si where there is no power below 5K RPM's then the engine suddenly comes to life all the way to 8K RPM. It's fun for spirited driving but sucks for daily driving as can a turbocharged 4-cyl engine that suffers from major lag.

 

I know that the Ralliart has good bottom end power but does the power really run dry at high rpm like the MS3?

 

I'm not a fan of the hatchback look personally, but I do believe that it was smart for them to make one. It should go over pretty well in the EU where they love their hot hatches. I'm glad they are offering a choice, unlike Subaru. To be honest, I didn't even consider a WRX because it was a hatch.

 

I dunno guy's...I really prefer the look of the subaru hatch by far over the ra sportback...it just doesnt look right.