and therein lies the problem. as of right now, those 2 are basically mutually exclusive imo. so i say just split it down the middle. the regular trims for economy, and sell it with that angle like they are already doing. RA trim for sport, and sell it like the lancer evo/RA. all the press coverage will be for the sporty version, just like the Evo, and that will help sell the economy verison, again just like the evo. without the evo, mitsu would never, EVER get mentioned in the automotive press... even the regular outlander is a GREAT package, yet NOBODY gives a crap... it's a good car, but it doesnt evoke an emotional response like sportscars do...

all i want is a cayenne turbo with 1/2 the performance for 1/4 of the price. a RA version of the outlander sport could be very close to this. subaru also doesnt give us the sporty versions of the forrester that they have in japan. only kia will give us a sportage sx. my problem with that car is that i dont like the styling and it will most likely go over $30k and i dont want to spend that much.

i really think they would do 1 but it wont sell imo

i disagree. the only thing people complain about is the lack of power and the engine noise because of the cvt.

add the 4b11t and 5mt/SST and you have a great, great package. if they can sell it with a msrp of $26-28k, it would be a winner for sure.

now that's not to say it will be an instant sales success. that would be up to mitsu to actually market it. first they need to MAKE a great product, then actually MARKET it...

in the US at least, they have failed miserably on both accounts and look where they are because of it....

yea their marketing sucks, the only reason i knew they were even coming out with a ralliart again was because my brothers worked for a mitsu dealership in 08. other than that i had never seen any advertisement for it....now that i think about it i rarely see the evo either on tv

I doubt that they will be a RA outlander sport. Probably something similar but with the 4B12 engine.

With the way Mitsubishi is going, this will never happen. They are gearing their cars towards a family market and trying to copy the rest of the manufacturers by going greener. Also these would never sell, because of Mitsubishi's poor marketing team.

well, they made an Outlander GT with "S-AWC" so i wouldnt count it out just yet... we all know the 4B11 bolts right up. and every review has complained with the lack of power and/or the oxymoronic name. i'd say mitsu is well on their way with SOMETHING. not necessarily a full blown turbo RA version but something...

I would love if they did something like this as well, but it just seems like the economy and market are going in the other direction if you look at the rest of the big auto manufacturers. I guess if mitsu decided to release something like this though, they would get the attention of the market who are dying for a car like this to be released.

My wife has an Outlander Sport (Called RVR here in Canada). The sales manager at the dealer told me that a Ralliart version is coming.. no other details than that though!

while i would love a full blown RA sport version, i doubt that it will happen the way i want it to happen. however, they NEED to have a sportier version, whatever it may be. 148 hp is PATHETIC and will put off MANY potential buyers, myself included. really, the only thing it has going for itself is the aggressive styling and the relatively low price, and that only gets you so far...

other manufacturers have more powerful offerings and are usually larger vehicles. so for them, downsizing is a good move. for mitsu, they should keep their cars small and add some more power. you DONT have to give up much, if any, in terms of fuel economy if you put in the money/engineering to do it right. for example, mitsu was one of the first to use direct injection, yet they dont have ANY models in the US that has that technology. hyundai? most of their engines are DI. what.... a.... shame....

I work for a Mitsu dealer in Canada. When we went for training on the RVR (Outlander Sport) we all asked about the lack of power and if a Ralliart version is in the works, to compete directly with the Nissan Juke. He said he would not confirm or deny. That's as far as it went for us. I haven't heard any other news on the subject, but an RA version would definately silence the critics.

Agreed, Mitsubishi needs to do this if they want to stay competitive. A lot of Hyundai's are turning heads these days. They put guys like Honda, Toyota and even Mitsubishi to shame with their current and future offerings.

The name of the game with a tiny crossover like the Outlander Sport is to give people the upright seating of an SUV and the fuel economy of a small car. Sticking a boat anchor of an iron block of the 6G75 into it would totally defeat that purpose.

According to fueleconomy.gov the '07 4WD Pilot gets 15mpg city 20mpg hwy compared to the 4WD OSport's 24 and 29. I don't think that is phenomanal gas mileage. I think it is a huge difference between two vehicles that aren't in the same class. I wouldn't buy an OSport to pull a boat, nor would I expect a Pilot to get the same mileage as a small SUV either. Plus there's the difference in price.

When I sold Hondas I always thought people gave them too much juice. The gas mileage you call phenomenal is actually pretty sad when I could get a fullsized Tahoe or Chevy pickup with a v8 and get about the same mileage and pull whatever boat you have better. Plus it is a fullsized Tahoe or Chevy. The Pilot and Ridgeline were never impressive to me at all. 2007 Tahoe 4wd is 14/19 on the same site, BTW.

I think alot of ppls here is missing the Point...RVR was developed for people who wanted something bigger than the lancer or sportback, but wanted AWD and a small suv.. If they wanted more power and something bigger they would purchase a Outlander 2.4 or go up to 3.0 one instead. Check the price on mitsubishi website.. RVR VS Outlander is $4000-$5000 difference depends on the model. In canada you can purchase an lancer sportback ralliart for $33000 CDN, while the fully RVR GT price is 28900. Also the outlander XLS/GT is $33,900.. So how much Would they sell a RVR Ralliart one for, while you can purchase an sportback RALLIART WITH sst and S-AWC...

RVR main purpose was for Fuel Economy!!!!!!!