Se?

 

Only have 1,500KM so... No. lol

 

I'll give you my take as well as I'm just getting through my first Canadian Winter with my Used RA as well.

with the fairly crazy winter we've been having up here...Yes the car handles incredibly well in snow. Lots of it. Even with all seasons. With winters it can perform snow plow duty.

Also you mentioned that you'd be able to buy an RA an keep it stock for a while with your financial situation. First mod you can do without spending more than $15 is a boost pill & GST basemap flash which can increase RA HP by 30+......well $15 IF you have somebody local with a tactrix cable/laptop to flash the Free tune. More info here .


Btw, my car has about 104k km's (about 80k+ miles) on it. Tranny fluid changed recently. Still shifts great. No other problems except a whiney belt on really cold morning starts. Just needs a replace really.

 

I have a lancer GTS, RA, and SE! The Ralliarts control in the snow is unreal compared. I live in Pittsburgh, we have nothing but hills and etc.... and it's been snowing like crazy! I have had no problems in the snow. RA actually doing better then trucks coming up hills!

 

Heres the deal. I feel its better to have a 200 hp turbo awd car unmodded than to have a 1XX hp non turbo fwd car thats modded anyday. My Ralliart is amazing in the snow. Ive owned fwd, rwd, and 4x4 and Ill never go back to any of those. It does however make a world of difference to have snow tires on your car in winter months as I do and with this crazy *** winter we've had I havent had one issue getting anywhere. This tran is expensive but also pretty damn strong, and Im saying the trans is not what you need to worry about, its the acd pump which is basically guaranteed to go out at some point. Mine went out at 50,000 miles and costs about a grand to replace. Other than that I havent had one issue with my car. I have an upgraded turbo along with many other parts and have been tuned twice and never have had a single issue with the cars after doing any of these things.

 

The AWD on the Ralliart is one of the very best out there, no idea why anyone would tell you that.

As long as you don't expect good fuel economy in the winter, the RA is an awesome daily driver for all conditions.

 

From my experience with my 2012 RA:


MPG is about 20-21 city, when driving like an adult, 17-18 when driving like a teenager HWY MPG is anywhere from 23-27, depending on how fast you are driving. 80MPH tends to average ~24.5 for me. I have actually gotten 29.7 on a long road drip, going 65MPH lol.


Performance in snow is AMAZING! I tear through 10" of untouched snow like it is nothing. Pulls hard uphill in deep snow, but going downhill around turns, gotta slow down a bit (as with any car). I've embarrassed several SUVs and trucks when driving up hills here in Pittsburgh. I have Michelin X-Ice XI3 tires.


I have read in several threads here that the RA AWD system is the same as the EVO IX has, which is why is performs so well.


True, it's not a traditional m/t, but it isn't a traditional a/t either. When in manual mode, it shifts faster than a stick (truly incredible), drives smoother, and you still have control over what gear you are in. It isn't one of those lazy "shiftable automatics" that takes 5 seconds to change gears. If you need a free hand, it has the convenience of driving in automatic mode. The only thing it is missing is a clutch pedal.


Hope that helps!

 

Thanks everyone for all of your imput. After reading your posts it sounds like the RA is the best choice.

 

And I'll even let you borrow my Tactrix cable for free if you want to flash the GST Basemap and feel like making the drive to my house in Cockeysville.

 

Sounds good, I won't be buying the RA until august

 

Hell yeah, I dont see that many other Ralliarts or Evos In Pittsburgh. Ive seen like 3-4 up tarentum / new ken.

 

That will be the problem for me, I'm having a hard time finding an RA in my area. Hopefully some will come available by summer time.

 

I drove 3.5hrs to pick mine up. Of course I had my heart set on a Sportback so that was much more difficult to find. When the time is right the right one will pop up, man.

 

I went from a gts to a RA and I struggled so much in the snow with the gts. This winter with the RA is amazingly fun with the awd I'm literally passing trucks on the highway I've never had a awd car before now and I won't ever go back to 2wd!

 

I would recommend the Ralliart, you get so much more for your money performance wise. However if gas mileage is a concern I would go with the GTS. I am averaging 22mpg at best in my 14' ralliart so far. The turbo and awd are what sold me . And if you wanted something in-between you could go for the Lancer GT AWD. It has the look of a ralliart but cheaper with no turbo.