Hey people. I need a bit of help in deciding to get this car...Im totally in love with the 2005 ralliart, its got everythin...but i wanna know is it worth every single buck?!

Well goto www.kbb.com check out the blue book
162 hp is pretty good, i mean i dont think you would be dissapointed if you were to by a 5 speed.
It also depends on what other cars you have owned and what you are looking for in a car, speed, luxury, looks

Thanks man.

Im looking for style pretty much and somethin affordable...i want to soup this thing up to the max so i just wanted to know if its the right car to get for that.
reply back.

Ive seen them, i think they are sweet lookin, the right set of wheels, with the right suspension, and hood/body kit, and maybe cuz im not a real big fan of them some graphics, and you might be able to pull some shows. Well you could pull some shows if u got your whole interior done over, for bout $2000 in Toronto Canda a place will do it, white leather, everyhting in your interior the way you want. With that your car would really pull shows left and right. ITs a tight car

it is definitely worth it in my opinion, this car has not let me down since i got it, i always look forward to driving it!

i got one and it rocks...the only thing better is a evo, but that was way out of my price range...so this is a very nice compromise!

I test drove a lot of 4 cyl cars before ending up on my ralliart.

Honda civic si - Fun car, the shifter on the console was different but pretty fun after getting used to it. This car, as well as quite a few others lacked a lot of low end torque. It didnt take off nearly as fast as the ralliart. Once it got going, things were fine, and it was fun. It didn't have the understeer that the ralliart had, but it cost more and (in my opinion) it just wasn't as fast.

Toyota Corolla XRS - This car was nice, toyota did a really decent job with the interior and making it feel high quality (of course just my opinion). This car was even slower than the civic si off the line, and the VVTI changeover, although noticible at around 6000 rpm, (6200 i believe) was too little too late. The sound package they included with this car doesnt hold a candle to the sun/sound package of the ralliart. This car also didnt have the understeer that the ralliart did, but the dealer was asking more money more for the xrs with 4000 miles on it than the ralliart brand new.

Nissan Sentra SER-Spec V - This car was fun. It handled great, my only complaint was that it seemed to redline too soon (6200 rpm) for my liking. It was hard for me to decide between the ralliart and the spec V. Ultimately i just thought the ralliart felt a bit faster (speaking strictly from the seat of the pants-ometer). Some people prefer driving with a hand constantly on the shifter. With six speeds it was exciting, but tiresome for me. Make no mistake, this car was great though, I just liked the Ralliart more.

Ford Focus ZX4-ST - Skip this car. Every feature under the sun - Just more stuff to fall off when she all comes unglued. This car *felt* FLIMSY. This car was the exact opposite of the Sentra also - you could spend a half our in each gear. I hated this car.

Scion TC - This car is a very close competitor with the Ralliart also (once again, just my opinion). I didn't like the look of the car though, or the glass roof. I also didnt like that theres no compromise on the pricing. The ralliart was much cheaper for me in the end.

Lancer Ralliart - On paper this car lags behind the others in horsepower. On the road this car felt the fastest. It has nearly 40 ft lbs more torque than the xrs or the SI which made for much more exciting takeoffs. With the extra money I saved on the ralliart, I took her straight to a tireshop, sold my stock rubber to them and put some nice W-rated Kumho ecstas on it instead. Most of the understeer complaints about the ralliart are due to the garbage stock rubber. Since the Ralliart had the best features (not considering the focus), and most bang for my buck (abs, airbags sunroof etc) I talked my dealer down to $17,000.00 out the door, they offered to throw on an extended 10 yr bumper 2 bumper warranty (bringing it up from 5 yr bmpr 2 bmper 10 yr/60k mile powertrain) for an additional $980.00. So for the ralliart fully loaded and a nicer warranty, $18,000.00 out the door.

Perhaps I wasn't looking hard enough, but I couldn't find a higher performing car with those features and that warranty for less. I couldn't be happier with my Ralliart!

Anyone compare the 2.5RS to the Ralliart?

I got a chance to test drive the Lancer Ralliart last year and it's too bad it was a short test drive because it was a lot of fun. Some cars require you to adjust this and adjust that before you get comfortable driving. Surprisingly, this one just felt comfortable when I sat in it (love the seats, loved the view). It was an automatic Sportback Ralliart I drove.

haven't driven the 2.5RS yet. Test drove an automatic Forester. Was very comfortable, but a bit of a sloucher in acceleration. Supposedly, the manual tranny takes care of that.

the ralliart was my choice after test driving the mazda 3, toyota corolla xrs and the civic si. i am very pleased with the vehicle so far. 4 months and 15000 kms. i like how my car is unique, not every car on the road is a lancer. great handling, good features for the price, good mods avail (but defintely a lot more to come). only complaint are the tires, but everyone is aware of it before buying it, so when summer comes i'll invest in some rims and some stickier tires. the eagle RSA's have been kinda scary sometimes during the winter driving.

thumbs up!

GO with what your heart go.....

I did the same thing as all these other posts I went out a drove a sentra SE-R specV, honda SI, mazda 3, I felt the same way. The ralliart was just the fastest best handling car for the money. Sence thats all I was looking for in a car thats what I went with.

Just some random knowledge I was reading though a mag the other day and it was talking about how the MIVEC works. From what I under stood there is 3 stages of the MIVEC. The car is in the friest stage from an idle. The friest stage works allmost like a hemi dodge engine and swearls the air and gas mixture through centrifical force, that with being a SOHC makes for the crazy low end power, the second stage kicks in around 4K and works simaler to the honda V-tec that kicks in at late 6K rpm :( The 3rd stage opens camproflies fully and kicks in around 5.5K.

Mitsubishi engines are underrated. most ralliart owners are dynoing aound 150+ whp and wtq stock and with a cold air intake and exsust were seeing over 160 whp.

Wheels, trans, flywheels, pullies and drive shafts. Take away 30hp or more from the whp.

I drove the Mazda 3 and 2.5 RS, and I may be biased towards Mitsubishi, but I felt that the Lancer was the fastest out of the three...

Although I DID test drive the Lancer last, I felt the most torque in this one.

Performance-wise, I've loved every moment of driving this car since I got it 3 days ago. I used to drive a Mazda Protege 5, and although that car was a great car to drive, this one is definitely better and more fun

I'm loving mine, had it almost 2 months now.
I was driving a '98 Mitsubishi Magna (Diamante) 3.0 V6 auto, which was no race car and a bit on the bulky side (like so many popular australian cars Holden Commodores which are Chevy Luminas really, and Ford Falcons) but was comfortable and great for a long drive- you could overtake whatever you needed to etc.
But yeah the new Lancer Ralliart kicks ****! was such an improvement in accelleration and handling - I've been having a great time with it :)

I still have the impression it isn't brilliant on fuel as I am having to fill it up more often than my last car - but the Magnas tank was about 25-30 litres larger - that and I am spending most of my free time driving it - and not like my mother on her way home from church on sunday either - so all in all its probably as good on fuel as they claim. At least the price of go-go juice is going back down again... sorta.

Ok if you want to go with a Naturally Aspirated, FF 4 cylinder than the Ralliart is a hands down choice. I wouldn't get a FF car if you want to mod the **** out of it. Plenty of other choices that are better for the buck than the Ralliart, but the ralliart is the best bang for buck in its class IMHO. Go rear wheel or awd if you don't want to be dissapointed in the long run.

I just purchased a 2004 Ralliart with 14,000 miles. I have driven Japanese cars I4 5 spd manuals since 1982-Nissans, Toyotas and Mitsus. I love the sportcompacts- so much for your money- so many good cars to choose from. I usually try to find overlooked cars that are a relative bargain and that there aren't three at every intersection. I also prefer manufactured in Japan. I also like some aftermarket support, although i don't really mod much. Also I always buy well cared for used, shades of my father...

I am looking for a daily driver that will be autocrossed much- I have gotten very interested in autocross and feel the 2.4 Ralliart will be a winner.

I looked at all the sportcompacts that were in the Lancers competion including the Sentra SEr Spec V, The Mazda 3s hatch, Mazdaspeed Protege, the Subara Impreza RS 2.5, The Corolla sport thing, and the Honda Si. The Ford Focus was not an option.

There was only one Sentra SpecV in my search area (75 miles) and it was overpriced. OUT

Mazdaspeed Proteges in search- rare and overvalued. OUT.

Honda Si- Slow(lo torque) and small. More expensive. Several to look at.
ok but OUT. Great aftermarket

Corolla- just didn't do anything for me- OUT

Subaru RS 2.5- This was the tough decision. AWD, super reliable, better ride than Lancer, much slower, and suspension seemed softer. The Subie is a proven commodity with great support- forums, available mods, etc. A real winner of a car. Gas mileage I think is close to Lancer 2.4. And weight is just a slight bit more. Used $2,000 plus bucks more than lancer and only one creampuff to look at on lots. Best highway ride of all of these. Less back legroom than Lancer. but, OUT

Mazda3 hatch- I expected this to be the car I picked. But, it was a bit much for me, styling wise, other- I kept seeing shades of the PT Cruiser (yuk) but everyone just loves the Mazda! High drag coefficient 3.5. The engine seems very smooth and it is an aluminum block 2overhead cam- advanced, but not as fun/fast as mivec 2.4. I have also heard of lots of suspension warranty work on 2004's. Ended up just not liking all the fancy lines and interior stuff and colors. Lots to look at on dealer lots- but OUT. Highway ride was pretty good, maybe better than RA.

The Ralliart certainly seemed the torqiest and most responsive engine- I like how it behaves, a tad of a wild feel, in a good way. It is a pleasantly quick car. Seemed to beat them all (Sentra was a draw). I really like its no-nonsense looks, a little lowered factory and great drag coefficient 3.0. Great looking factory wheels. Overall, I like its handling- pretty good really-I feel confident I can address its well known understeer wiith aftermarket rear sway bar and maybe some dampening work. Brakes were a pleasant surprise- best car i have ever owned. Gas mileage- disappointing a lil, but I keep making the mivec gulp. Highway ride- a little choppy- but I expected it. I like the Lancer platform- it is what it should be, I have a confident solid feeling about it.

Good interior room and I like the layout- it is fine for me. Stereo fine.

The Mitsu Lancer Ra's are apparently disappointing in sales- so lot so these little Japanese autocross fighters out there for a BARGAIN. I got the top end 2004 RA with 14,000 miles for 14K!! I can't wait to bully some overspending losers between the pylons this summer. I am very happy with car and like to drive it a lot- many compliments on looks. I call it the Silver Cicada (differnt we are)

Money I saved is going to the RoadRace Motorsport sway bar and mounts, and some sticky tires- maybe another set of 17 wheels for the summer. Anybody have an opinion as to 17's versus 16's specifically on this car? Spare me the general crap.


You can find me on the cloverleaf's going like hell.

It's good to hear that someone still researches a car and cares about important things: reliability, handling, etc. Most people just go to a lot and believe whatever the salesman tells them, or they buy what they think looks cool.

Anways, to answer your question about 16 vs 17 inch wheels. It's really a matter of preference. Personally I have 15 inch rims and they look good. 16's would look better. But some people will say the only rims that look good are 18's. 18's on a I4 are stupid and pointless.

I would say stick with 16's. You may lose power if you go with 17's, but you may or may not notice it. 17's will most likely be heavier than 16's. An increase in spinning weight will decrease performance.

My favorite rims are BBS painted mesh rims. Chrome doesn't belong on imports.

Also, 17" rims with super-low profile tires have a tendency to lose some traction.

Dude buy whatever you want. I'd suggest that you go for the RA! I've got an ES an am kinda regretting why in the world did I not get a RA i'tll cost more BUT theres a lot of aftermarket stuff for it. If it's style the RA for me definitely has it, depending on what color your looking for I'd go for either black or thunder grey then if you have more money even if the rims look descent I'd change those to bronze or gunmetal with maybe Volk or Rota..Interior wise it already looks sporty good...