Showing blog posts for Mitsubishi Colt Ralliart

Full Review: Mitsubishi Colt Ralliart - Mixed Bag

By John Slavin
Freelance Contributing Writer
31 August 2010

Mitsubishi’s Baby Hot Hatch
After a week with Mitsubishi’s baby hot hatch, I’m slightly less confused than I was in my first impressions blog. It took a little while to get used to the Colt, it’s quite tall, with a high driving position that’s somewhat contrary to its taut, firm ride and turbocharged engine.

But inside, the tall body gives a feeling of spaciousness, and there’s loads of cubby holes and cup-holders, so practicality is good. The materials aren’t exactly luxurious, in fact, they’re the exact opposite, but they’re put together well enough. The price for such a spacious, practical cabin is a small boot, but it’s OK for a small shopping trip and the seats are easily folded.

These are all factors that come as a priority to the type of person who’d buy a regular Colt, but they’re a bit moot to the Ralliart buyer. Indeed, ‘Ralliart’ means a lot to Mitsubishi connoisseurs, some of the very best rally machines of all time wore the badge, and the heritage attached to it means that slapping it on a Colt without first making sure it’s worthy could be a risky move…

The Colt Ralliart, though, manages to get away with it. Just. It certainly has flaws; the high driving position doesn’t inspire confidence, the steering is too heavy, and while corners can be taken at astonishing speeds it somehow doesn’t feel as exciting or involving as you might expect.

But there’s a trump card that I can’t overlook, and that’s the engine. The 1.5-litre MIVEC is absolutely brilliant. The turbocharger crams intercooled air into the engine in the most addictive way, and it sound fabulous too. It’s not ridiculous or over the top, just meaningful. I often found myself rolling down the windows at lights just to listen to the engine burble away and the turbocharger whoosh, much to the confusion of passing pedestrians. Cram your foot down and 0-60mph takes a very small amount of time; 7.4 seconds, and that’s hardly surprising because peak power is 147bhp. Lots for a car this small.


Peak Power is 147bhp. Lots for a car this small.


As a matter of fact, I don’t think at this price, there’s much that comes close. The 3dr tested comes in at £12,849, which is similar to a Twingo Renaultsport, but the Renault is less powerful and has less space. There’s also the absolutely brilliant Fiat Panda 100HP to consider, which is comes in at just over £11,000, but has a mere 99bhp, and no forced induction.

So there you have it, Mitsubishi’s Colt Ralliart is flawed but capable. But if you can cope with the quirks, you’ll definitely enjoy the engine, which is by far and away my favourite in a car at this sort of price…


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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



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