: Mitsubishi Colt Ralliart Version-R Test Drive, HDTV

There it is ! After months of awaiting and an endless rain season we finally managed to get to try Mitsubishi’s newest small bomb on the NATS (Nihon Automobile College) test track.

If you take a look at Mitsubishi’s car lineup over time you’ll notice that some models have been there for ages…and the Colt is one of them.
The Colt was introduced in 1962 and was a way for Mitsubishi to propose, with the Colt 600 (600cc), a compact car with 2 doors, 4 seats and 2 or 4 wheels drive, 44 years later it’s a mature Colt that comes to us.
In England the Colt is available in 3 or 5 doors and in convertible but unfortunately in Japan, only the 5 doors version is.


Mitsubishi Colt Ralliart Version-R Test Drive
(WMV9HD 720p Direct Download "Right click, Save as…)
Mitsubishi Colt Ralliart Version-R Test Drive
(WMV9HD 720p Torrent "Right click, Save as…")

RALLIART
It is not the first time that a Ralliart version of the Colt is proposed but it is, as always, with great expectations and excitment that we were waiting for this test drive.
You can have a 2wd or 4wd Colt here in Japan but for some reason the Ralliart engineers decided to develop their “tuned” version on the 2WD front wheel drive vehicle powered by a 1.5 litre motor.
The 5 gears manual transmission or CVT automatic transmission receive the MIVEC Turbo engine, a 4 cylindres of 1.5 litre producing 154HP and a torque of 210NM at 3500rpm.
A stock Mitsubishi Colt (basic version) would give you 107HP and 141Nm of torque which, as you see, are good figures for a 1.100Kg car.
To enhance the overall performance the chassis has been reinforced (70Kg more than base model) and now provides 30% more of rigidity along with a better suspensions and braking system...the contact with the ground is made through Advan 205/45R16 tyres, enough to give the car an excellent handling.
Talking about the handling let’s check out if what the paper says is what the road confirms.The accelerating sensation quickly becomes addictive over 3500rpm but on a straight line many cars car achieve this and more...so what about cornering ? Cornering is where the Colt Ralliart shows its full potential. Despite a bit of rolling as some of you may have noticed on the pictures, the driver always keeps perfect control of the car and, as the tyres get warm, you’ll feel a slight understeer making the car very precise. If you want to take your car to the track for long sessions, some work on the suspensions might be necessary though.
The traction control system known as ASC is available on the manual tranny version only, taking it off will require some race driver skills.
Back to those famous “3500rpm” , the COLT’s accelerations have nothing to envy to her sister the Lancer Evolution ! Of course both cars are very different but the light weight makes it a very fun car.

DESIGN
The Ralliart version differs from the standard Colt with a new front bumper and grill, wider body, nice side skirts plus a rear wing. But you certainly haven’t missed the « Evo Like » hood with a large intake to give the engine enough air to breathe in all conditions.
Now that you have read and seen what the exterior of the Colt Ralliart Version-R was like let’s get inside...the interior is pretty well made, the design of the speedometer is nice and goes up to 240Km/h (which is pretty rare). Even though we might not reach that speed it is nice to look at it when most manufacturers propose speedos limited to only 180Km/h...
The seats are uniques to the Version-R and therefore the car will now welcome 4 and not 5 passengers anymore, the rear seats were made in such a way that nobody could comfortably sit in the middle.
The driver seat now, same treatment with a nice RECARO bucket seat, front passenger too of course.
On the CVT (auto trans.) version the speedometer and of course the gear shifter are different.
As you could guess the CVT version left us with less sensations but, surprisingly, this version was a lot of fun on our private track and the performances were very similar.

CONCLUSION
As a conclusion the COLT RALLIART Version-R is sporty compact car that you will enjoy driving in all occasions and conditions. The handling is very sane and safe. For a bit less than 13.200EUR this is really an excellent car with the 5 speeds manual gearbox.
But as perfection is hard to reach we have to complaints about it :
-Only a 5 doors version
-Why not a 4WD version? A Baby EVO? Since Mitsubishi already propose this solution on the regular package.
-Some shifters under the steering wheel would have been excellent on the CVT version.
Last thing to say and that will make some of our readers cry, this Version-R RALLIART is, reserved to the japanese market and Mitsubishi, for homologation matters does not plan to ship this car to Europe or the USA.

Posted on 09/10/06 By G-A.G