Mitsubishi Colt Ralliart Version-R Turbo
June 19, 2006 by Alborz Fallah
Update 25/10/2006 - We finally got to drive the car! Read the 2006 Mitsubishi Colt Ralliart Road Test
Update 11/07/2006 – Yes it has been finally confirmed that this little hot hatch is coming to Australia in August.
I wrote a little bit about the new RalliArt tuned Mitsubishi Colt a few weeks back. I then asked Mitsubishi Australia to inform me of what the plan with the Colt is for Australia, and to let me know whether or not I should expect to see the Turbo Charged Mitsubishi in showrooms to accompany The Mitsubishi Evo? Offcourse Mitsubishi didn’t respond. Maybe they were too busy discussing how much more they can cut from the Price of the Mitsubishi 380 or maybe writing more about how a front wheel drive family car is just as good as a rear wheel drive one. Whatever reason, I didn’t hear back and the longer time goes by the more it seems that Mitsubishi don’t take the internet very seriously. Maybe instead of spending millions of dollars on TV advertising to promote the brand image, they should hire some more PR staff.
Nevertheless, Mitsubishi Japan is different. Recently they allowed the team at Nihon Car & Bike to test drive and take some videos of the Ralliart Colt. Thankfully the kind people at Nihon have decided to share this experience with all of us on the internet. You can find videos of the new colt in action by clicking here.
Print it: 
0 
0 
Well, well, well. You sound like a bit of a car buff – not. You seem almost as ill-imformed as most of the Australian motoring writers. Look what’s coming out in Oz next month – The Colt Ralliart Turbo. Australia will be the first market outside Japan to receive this little hottie.
380 price cuts eh – maybe they just had to keep up with the debauchery carried out by the others in the big car market segment. Anyway, it’s had a The 380 is actually the only Aussie built car to grow market share this year.
How good is a front wheel drive car – maybe not as good on the track but I can tell you the 380 creams even a 6.0 ltr Commonwhore in dangerous wet conditions. Probably when many people die on Aussie roads they would actually have maintained better control in a front wheel drive car. By the way, in the USA (a market Australia is very close to) the top selling 15 passenger cars are all front wheel drive – so much for the ancient yank tank.
You need to take some surfing lessons before you start commenting on such issues.
In regards to the 380 price cuts, it wasn’t an issue of keeping up, the problem was that Mitsubishi Australia wanted to start the 380 at 29,990 not at the 34,000+ that Mitsubishi Japan wanted. Nevertheless, Mitsubishi Japan won out and the 380 came out at nearly 35,000! Sales were very slow and Mitsubishi Japan finally gave in to Australian demands for a price cut.
It wasn’t an issue of keeping up! but an error made by the Japanese car maker.
In regards to Front Wheel drive cars, I am well aware that in a great deal of circumstances a front wheel drive is a safer car, not better, but safer, this isn’t due to the car design, but simply because its harder to lose control of a front wheel drive car compared to a rear wheel drive.
This doesn’t mean a front wheel drive is better. For a large car, the driving dynamics are dependent on a good drive train and given a drive capable of handling a rear wheel drive car, there is no reason to opt out for a front wheel drive. Mitsubishi had it right with the AWD magna for a while, but decided not to follow the system through with the 380 since they simply based the 380 on an American car.
Yes, The Ralliart Colt is very close to release here in Australia in the week 17 to 21 July many of Mitsubishi’s new car sales managers were flown down to Victoria for a test drive and information day. Speaking to one of these manager’s he stated that he was very impressed with the car and it is a pocket rocket and he saw no reason why it he could not sell every one he could get his hands on.
His only problem was the $29990 price tag set on these cars by the Japanese owners of Mitsubishi who dictate Mitsubishi Australia’s pricing. The 29990 RRP (No discounts will be offered) In Australia certainly seems a bit over the top it makes you wonder if this markup on the new Ralliart Colt is to cover their the losses on the 380.
He was also very exited to have a exiting car in his showroom and wished that Mitsubishi Australia learn from the marketing lessons gained through the Magna range and apply it to the 380 range such as the VRX having a full sports kit and a few extra Kilowatts and the top of the range being a tear away like the now dead Ralliart Magna.
I suppose that Mitsubishi Australia want to maintain the image of their large family cars being for the cardigan brigade if so their marketing department have excelled once again.