First Impressions: Mitsubishi Colt Ralliart

By John Slavin
Freelance Contributing Writer
11 August 2010

Colt Ralliart
It’s strange. Normally, first impressions can be made quite quickly, which is why they’re called first impressions. But the Colt Ralliart is a bit weird. It looks good, with its Evo style ‘face’ and shapely bottom, but it is a little taller than you’d expect from a small, fast hatchback.

Inside, the confusion continues. The comfortable, supportive seats are very high up, which isn’t the most ‘sporty’ seating position. The interior is fairly bland, and while it’s extremely well put together, it’s not made of the very best materials. It’s extraordinarily spacious, though, fitting four adults in comfortably. Indeed, all of this high up-ness and spaciousness makes the car feel very much like a mini-MPV.

Mini-MPVs are never usually renowned for their splendid handling characteristics and outright power, though. So when you start the Colt Ralliart up and its exhaust note is a low, thrumming rumble, the confusion carries on further. And then you plant your foot into the carpet, and it becomes mind-bendingly baffling, because in a whooshing, turbocharged display of savagery, 147bhp and 155lbs-ft of torque is unleashed through front wheels. If you hold the wheel tightly enough to overcome the torque-steer, you’ll hit 60 in 7.4 seconds. In car that’s about the size of a bed-side table, that’s quite fast.


A whooshing, turbocharged display of savagery


So here we have a tall car with a tardis-like cabin that’s very, very quick to accelerate. Oddly enough, though, despite its tallness, it corners rather well. There’s tons of grip, and the suspension does a good job of keeping body-roll at bay. It’s quite a feat really, that this usually humble little machine manages to do what it can do. A very confusing feat, too...


Its exhaust note is a low, thrumming rumble



Comments (8)

Some times at first look car doesn't look good but gives good performance.



17 August 2010 11:29 | 4x4 Lifted Trucks
The colt has great sporty and modern design and the heightened design gives you more headroom and space...


18 August 2010 14:10 | Jaguar Replacement Parts
Great article, the Colt has always been a favourite of mine. I was never keen until a friend got one as a hire car and I was really impressed by it.

Its very useful if you are based somewhere like London too which is famously congested!

19 August 2010 10:23 | Paddy
A great looking design. Looks similar to Cheverolet Beat though.

21 August 2010 06:40 | Used Cars Perth
I heard that this car is performing good.

21 August 2010 07:15 | Roll Off Trucks
Thanks for the comments guys. The Colt was hilarious fun on the twisty roads, and while it may be flawed, it's still a great drive!

More reviews coming over the next few weeks.

07 September 2010 12:52 | John Slavin
You want to carry four adults in comfort? You can. You want to slide the rear seat forward and then tumble it to give you an incredible 594 liters of cargo capacity? You can. You want to peel down your favorite stretch of twisting tight black-top, standard ex-Evo Recaros holding you tight as you use the small size of the car, the meaty mid-range torque and the quick and accurate steering to dispatch the kilometers in a time that would leave your average Commodore or Falcon owner simply incredulous? Well, you can do that too.


12 November 2010 05:03 | Andrew
This car is really cool. Its design and its look is very attractive. The performance of this car is too good. I just love mitshubishi cars, Lamborghini Gallardo cars etc.........


17 January 2011 10:29 | james

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