I hear you... and some of these new heavier cars dont have the good build quality and finish of older models..

 

Well, actually I think that the new Lancer is a huge improvement when it comes to fit and finish over the previous generation and on the outside it looks 100x better too.

 

Yeah I guess I misread it but still, if this new Ralliart will be priced at $25K for a base 5 speed manual tranny version and basically you will get Evo IX AWD with essentially the new Evo X engine, this will not be a good thing for Evo X sales unless the base Ralliart will be priced higher than people anticipate or Evo X priced lower than people think. I know that Evo X offers suspension/chassis/brake upgrades and all but still, the price difference would be too big for most potential Evo X buyers and they will opt out for a Ralliart and tune it to their own specifications. All in all, this should be interesting.

 

Oh yeh the new lancer is and exception it does not look like a POS at all... but look at the BMW E46 vs. the E90

 

LOL again, actually in my opinion, although the new E90 3 series is a heavy ****, I think it looks much better on the outside than E46, I really love the front fascia of the sedan with its "angel" eyes although I am not a big fan of the rear tail lights which look like an angry pokemon but from the spyshots of 2009 3 series it seems that they will be altered but I didn't like the rear of E46 either. But the BMW I find really attractive from the front and especially the back is the new X6, looks like a straight out of Dakar rally machine, too bad Mitsu never really capitalized on it's Dakar success and released a coupe-like Montero Evo, now that would rule.

EDIT: Pajero Evo video, thats what the real performance car is all about
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zkMjhzv_zzE

 

Wow cool you are on e of the 2% of people who prefers the look of the E90 over E46..LOL (though i do secretly love the 335I sedan) BUt yeh the X6 is hot and the M% to me is silky smooth...

 

+1 it's like a horrible disease. People refuse to compromise, they want the next gen of any car bigger but faster and loaded with features. Part of it is safety regulations I admit but still pretty much everything is too heavy. New technology is supposed to enable the weight to go down not up...

 

please keep this quiet dont give mitsu any ideas

you are correct, the difference would have to be more than just detuned EVO X engine and JDM IX AWD system to account for 5-7K delta. If you think about it it will not have the body works like the X, it will cheapers seats, cheaper wheels/tires, engine internals may not be as strong, that should help to justify the delta

 

Excellent! New meat! j/k...welcome to the forum.
A lot of the weight in new cars comes from added steel reinforcement structure in and around the multiple impact, roll-over and airbag zones. Those NHTSA crash tests carry a lot of weight amongst consumers and all OE manufacturers are after that almighty 5star rating. So while the new stuff is much safer, all the weight adds up. And if they did it all using lighter materials, then vehicle price goes up. It's a slippery slope.

 

Nowhere in my post did I say anything about them trying to achieve Evo-like performance. I merely stated that the Ralliart would be slow. Plain and simple. Argue the point I made...don't make things up so you can go on your long-winded diatribes. So, will the Ralliart be slow?

 

Hrm that sounds like about the same differences between a WRX and an STi.

What we also dont know (speaking of WRX) is if the 5speed will be the same 5speed from the regular lancer or the X.

 

As there was no official press release of any sort about the new Ralliart, no one knows, only thing that is left is speculation, and I speculated in my earlier post that Ralliart should weight around 3300lbs with around 240HP and offer similar performance to current WRX at around 6.0sec 0-60 time. No need to get rude...

 

i've been saying this ever since the reports of the RA getting a detuned evo engine with AWD came out, mitsu WANTS to sell this car over the evo. people gotta stop thinking the evo is some hot, sought after car. the truth is that MOST people DON'T buy cars like the evo even though WE like such cars. too boyracer, not luxurious enough, not enough street cred (and i don't mean the punk ricer kinda street cred, i mean the vegas high roller kinda cred), not fast enough, too fast for insurance, etc. etc. etc.

with the RA mitsu can sell this car to the evo minded buyer that DOESN'T have a CEO's salary. mitsu doesn't figure that "people will mod this car so we can't possibly make it too evo-like it'll cannibalize evo sales" or anything like that. instead it's the opposite. use the evo and it's similarities, it's heritage and R&D, to sell the RA and the lancers. the bottomline is PRICE. if mitsu can offer near evo performance or near evo features and keep it at a reasonable sub-30k price, then don't WE gain the most outta this?

imo a detuned evo engine makes perfect sense. the same basic block used for all lancers, except the 2.4 gts which it shares with the outlander, SAVES mitsu money. using the older IX drivetrain SAVES mitsu money on R&D and manufacturing costs as it will use the same equipment and processes. we get a lower msrp, mitsu sells more cars be it a lancer, a RA or a evo. depends on what u can afford to buy. either way we ALL win!

yeah i'm a bit skeptical as nothing is really official, but i'm more excited! people have been saying the same sort of "inside info" for some time and this only corroborates those early reports.

 

depends what u mean by slow. 0-60 in 6 secs is faster than 90% cars out there on the road. you guys have crazy standards for speed oft unattained...or at least legally so

 

I'm thinking the Ralliart will be 3500lbs with 230-240hp. It probably won't use any of the lightweight components from the EVO, thus allowing Mitsu to keep the price down. That means 1/4-mile times in the ~ 14.6-14.8 range.