2005 Mitsubishi Lancer Review

So much for the halo theory. You know how it goes: a company creates an awesome-looking sports car that goes fast enough to blow its own doors off. The car's status as a worshipped icon trickles down into the showrooms, the company's sales soar overnight, its name comes to define brand equity, and its products get signed as co-stars in the next zero-star Vin Diesel movie.

Didn't quite happen. While everyone under 30 wants a Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution VIII more than any other $30,000 sports car you can name, sales of other Lancers have been little more than a mirage. Despite sharing a brand, a body, and even a first name, it would seem that no one cares to investigate the similarities between a car with 276 horsepower and another with 120.

The Ralliart was called upon to add some respect to the front-wheel-drive side of the Lancer family. (Last year's Sportback wagons were quickly disowned after failing in this regard.) If it doesn't quite bridge the gap between a Lancer ES and a Lancer Evo, its sub-$20K starting price doesn't either.

The Lancer has one of the most hardware-stratified lineups of any car on the market, and that's true even without the Evo in the picture. The Ralliart makes a meaningful upgrade to just about every piece on the regular Lancer. The SOHC (darn), iron-block (darn) 2.0 engine gets swapped for the Eclipse/Galant's 2.4-liter unit, armed with Mitsubishi's variation on valve timing, MIVEC. Unlike Honda's VTEC, MIVEC has three cam profiles that replace one big power spike with two smaller ones. Instead of the base Lancer's second-worst-in-class engine numbers, the Ralliart's 162 horsepower ranks second-best. Swapping the spongy drum brakes for discs (with antilock and electronic brake force distribution) does wonders for its feel and stopping ability.

Changing direction is more pleasurable for a whole rundown of reasons. The Ralliart gets a thicker 26mm front stabilizer bar and a 13mm bar in back (the ES has none). Wheels grow from 14s or 15s to 16-inch alloys, the steering gets more road feel, and the shocks and springs are stiffer all around. On top of that, the front end gets additional stiffening by a strut tower brace. Something shared by all Lancers is a multilink rear suspension that shames every competitor that thinks it can get away with sticking a cheap axle back there. Sentra, Corolla, Ion, and Jetta, explain yourselves.

It all adds up to what might be the most fun-to-drive of the non-turbo compact cars. (It's already the fastest.) The engine, blessed in power and torque, makes short work of any situation, the brakes have fine feel, and aside from the usual front-drive understeer, the Ralliart hangs on hard. Unlike the frustratingly quiet Mazda 6 I just stepped out of, the Ralliart's engine can actually be heard. But a nicer voice wouldn't hurt, and all that beefing up to the suspension lets a few more jolts through than you need at the end of the day. Lastly, with so much torque on hand, less-aggressive gearing would help in cutting down freeway engine drone and improving our unimpressive 24 MPG average. Fifth gear has a ratio of 0.82 - you call this overdrive? Let's not forget the Lancer's economy car roots, Mitsubishi. Also, big engine + small gas tank = short trips. The Lancer's dashboard starts to cry "feed me!" after a mere 242 miles.

One thing actually inherited from the Evo is the oh-so-right shifter. There's quite a bit of satisfaction in slamming the eager, crisp lever from one gate to the next, and the clutch is easily read. The Ralliart wouldn't be a bad candidate for first-time-drivers in manual transmission training. If Mitsubishi keeps this up, they can soon forget their reputation as the maker of shifters that feel like "moving a shovel through a pile of rocks."

If you know the significance of the letters "SE-R," the Ralliart's for you.