Just a general question because my friend is getting a lancer ralliart, and I just wanted to know f you are happy with your choice of getibg a 09 lancer ralliart, is there any problems that I need to be aware of? Thx a lot guys

 

I'm happy with it. Caters to my needs and expectations. Great DD with some fun on the side.

Problems: poopy MPG

 

I'd say it's great car, no real problems except for hard starting when it's real bloody cold.

That said... If I was to do it again...

I'd wait for the second year car with possibly a manual trans (if it ever comes) and whatever (if any) updates mitsu decides to throw at it.

AND hang out on this forum and be a sponge for a while before I buy.

 

I am not a big fan of a manual becase I live in LA and the traffic here is very bad. So I rather go with the SST tranny plus I have heard a lot of good things about it

 

Like I said if I was to do it.... different strokes for different folks. The SST is a really cool piece of hardware though.

 

Only downside to the TC-SST is that it's slightly creepy when the car makes those ultra-fast shifts that you know you couldn't make yourself. But then, you can switch back to clunky old manual control whenever you want, so ultimately there's no downside.

By the way -- I agree about the very hard cold starts -- between -25 degC (-13 degF) and -30 degC (-22 degF), the Ralliart startup is not at all smooth. Below -30 degC, it's downright terrifying -- I know I won't be doing that ever again... one experience with my car at -34 degC was enough (that's -29 degF). On the plus side, the temperature here almost never goes below -25 degC, so I'm good even with the car out in the driveway.

 

So far i like it, looks great, the all wheel drive system is good. although driving in the snow mode is kinda useless, gives more power to the rear wheels and you fishtail more, but whatever stick it to tarmac mode and the distribution is way better, no fishtailing...My car before this before i wrote it off a month ago was a 2007 VW GTI, and it was a great car too, the finish on the GTI was better, not as much of the plastic interior, and the Ralliart has more Creaks and rattles, but whatever i got use to it..

The SST transmission is better than VW's DSG, its smoother, quicker response, and downshifting..just way better overall, all this transmission needs is a launch control mode like the GTi has, and the MR has.. pretty laggy off the line, but afterwards has great power

but yeah besides my fog lights cracking, which is at the dealership now getting looked at,

I'm happy to have this car over the GTI, and im happy with my choice even though in my mind is a rock solid car.

 

Just a tidbit: Torque split is set at 50:50. The ACD doesn't shift torque, it just locks, and unlocks the center diff. So, you're not getting more power at the rear wheels.

 

ah ok, still crappy in snow haha, this so called snow mode

 

You still got them summer tires on the car?

 

no got winters on it haha, goodyear ultra grips

 

I was talking to one guy that does all the tinting and 3m , car protection , for the mistsu dealership, and he said that there was an issue with the AWD system , where during certain temps it would lock out the rear tires..and he said that he wasnt sure if there was bulletin sent out, or if they have corrected this issue yet

 

[QUOTE=madcows;6618695]Just a tidbit: Torque split is set at 50:50. The ACD doesn't shift torque, it just locks, and unlocks the center diff. So, you're not getting more power at the rear wheels.[/QU

Just to add to this..:..I was reading up on this and was very curious on what each mode does for my car. One thing for sure that seems true is that in Snow mode there definately seems to be a bias towards the rear. It does want to fish tail a bit more than usual. I have noticed that in snow mode the shifs are not as hard, they tend to be a bit more genltle and smooth. That also depends on your steering angle, throttle input, speed , etc...etc

You do not get more power at the rear wheels because the ACD Splits torque UP TO 50:50. But.....it does split torque. So it would suggest that there is a torque split between front and rear( using the electronically controlled hydraulic multi-plate clutch) The split is not set at a fixed 50:50. It can vary depending on the driving conditions.

What the ACD computer does is optimize the clutch cover clamp load for different driving conditions. Its between a free state (torque split equally between fron and rear ) v.s a locked state ( optimizes the torque split producing the best balance between traction and steering response)

Hope that make sense in a way and I was just adding my little 2 cents to the comment

 

 

I had a traction control failure at about -10C, asc offline then service drivetrain light, stopped the car shut it off then restarted, seemed to go away.

It was taken into the dealership for checking they showed me a excerpt from the manual regarding the drivetrain and cold weather telling me that this may happen. So mitsu knows about and there is no real fix for it yet. It has happened again since, I have 2600km on mine, not impressed.