Is Mitsubishi about to flop?

[perthcamry]

Thing is Toyota is cranking up the TRD thing... http://trdvehicles.toyota.com.au/toyota/tr...86_1192,00.html

...and it looks like there is a Corolla in the mix soon. I guess a lot of people want an SS, HSV or XR6 turbo so maybe it pays to have all variants but not for a massive difference in price.

Mitsu and the rest need to do in-between ones upgrade tyres brakes suspension, seats motors not race track cars.

As for Nissan the Pulsar thing has not rear laps sash belt and a fairly dull motor. even the 1995 pulsar had ABS and Alloy wheels as standard.....why would you supposably upgrade from your 11 year old Pulsar especially if it was an SSS. ;)

[Iliv46]

I thought I might revive this thread as I can give an honest appraisal of the colt and also track times at Winton compared to Sportivo's

My wife wanted to trade her SP23 in on something smaller that could also be taken to the track by her to have a little bit of fun with while used by us as an every day driver. My mx5 is starting to become more setup for track work now so it's daily duties have been somewhat reduced.

We bought the Ralliart Colt for very much the same price we bought my original Sportivo so I find it to be good value for what you get and how the car handles. The seats are far and away superior to my Sportivo's, the steering weight and feedback is much better and the actual gearbox/gear change is superb - one of the better front drivers I have experienced. Some of the interior plastics are definately cheaper than in the Stivo but they are put together well. The stock sound system I would place on par with each other. Driving position in the Ralliart Colt is definately better for me. The air conditioning on the colt works faster and stronger than on my Stivo but the controls for it on the stivo look and feel much better.

Pop the bonnet and the engine bay is not a thing to look at and go ahhh! No money has been spent in production to dress it so Stivo wins there easily. In Storage & boot space again the Stivo wins.

Now the really important part of the comparrison is how they drive and in this they could be no more different. The Ralliart Colt is very swift on the road but never feels fast (just look at the speedo though and you know that's not the case) like the Stivo did over 6000rpm. In the colt you feel and hear the turbo spooling at 2000rpm and really start to be on song at 2500rpm. The amount of torque at this rpm really makes the colt very easy to drive rapid and a joy in traffic as even in 4th gear doing 60 if you put the foot down it pulls very well. On the freeway in top gear at 100 if you tap the loud pedal you are doing 130 in a very short time. No need at all to change down to pass someone quickly. On my favourite onramp where you come out of an off camber tight corner in the colt by the sign at the end I am doing just over 130. In the Stivo I was doing just under 130. The main cause of this difference I feel is the way the cars come throught that corner as the outright acceleration to me is fairly equal. A 1/4 mile run I would give the nod to the Stivo but only if it was driven well. An average driver would find the Colt easier to get a better time out of because of all it's low down torque, but keep the Stivo in lift and it would win.

Coming through this corner onto the onramp the Stivo would suffer quite strong understeer and really struggle to get is power down. The Colt for a split second feels like it will understeer then the Torsen diff and electronis kick in and the nose of the car really tucks in and follows the line you are taking with very little wheel spin or unruly behaviour on the steering. I was actually very surprised at just how well this car will follow a line through corners even on full power. In this regard the Sportivo just does not compare. To top all this off if you go too hard the colts electronics will ensure you do not go off sideways or backwards. Although it stops you doing something stupid it does not stop you having fun. At Winton it would allow me to get the colt into a 4 wheel drift through the sweeper but would only seem to kick in if that slide was not matching my steering inputs thus stopping the fun and bringing the car back into a straight line. Even taping the brake mid corner would only get the rear out a little before the computer tucked it back in. The body is also so stiff in the colt there is no flex at all and really allows the suspension to do its job. It is more than happy to lift a wheel without the hint of body movement

Brakiing again goes the way of the colt. The brakes are superb and offer a lot of feel and very good bite, though they are a lot dustier than the Stivo. The Advan Neova tyres that come with the colt are also far better than the Stivo's Turanza's.

OK lap time of Winton in the Colt I did a high 1:47 with approx 500km on the clock (I took it up there to break it in nice and properly - get those rings & seals bedded in nicely ;) ) The Sportivo's that attended the Oz Mazda day were in the mid 1:49's from memory although I have to admit I have a bit more track experience. In my NC mx5 with coilovers and R compound tyres I am doing high 1:43's

And to top it off daily driving to and from work in the colt we are averaging just under 7 litres per 100km

The above is a pretty honest assesment by me on my expereince with the Ralliart Colt. I loved my Sportivo and through into it over 12G's worth of mods so I am in no way biased against it and in fact on most other forums I belong defend it religously as I found it a great car for the money, Brilliant value... And that is exactly how I find the Ralliart Colt. For a car that is put together this tightly, for the way the engine performs, for the way it brakes and most importantly for the way it actually handles and gets its power down for me to pay the same price as my Stivo it's great value.

We tried it's natural competitor the Polo GTI but it did not handle as well, brake as well, and because of it's higher gearing was not as quick point to point. Yes the Polo had a better finish but we much prefered the Colts roomier interior and the seats (straight out of the Evo8 MR). The colt also offered superior day to day fuel economy, was cheaper to insure and I will not go into the quoted service and parts costs for VW's down here. Just to seal the deal with us the Colt has the 10 year engine and driveline warranty and the dealer has already confirmed with me there is no issue with installing factory Ralliart items in terms of that warranty... And there is already some tasty Ralliart parts available!

You should try and take one for an extended drive. You might be surprised at just how accomplished it actually is. I let Peekay drive it for a couple hours and he is now even considering trading his accord Euro for one. Why... Because of all the above. I spent $12,000 in mods to make my Stivo the same level of fun as I find the Ralliart Colt stock so yeah for me great value!

Still cannot beat the rear drive NC MX5 for total fun but hey it did surprise me.

Cheers guys

[Les]

This is a Toyota forum they will never agree with you.

I think it's not a bad little car !

[CAP]

Thanks Stewie! Great Review

Can't wait to see the MX-5 when we go for a cruise, last time I saw it the only thing you did was add the Enkei's.

[Iliv46]

Thanks Stewie! Great Review

Can't wait to see the MX-5 when we go for a cruise, last time I saw it the only thing you did was add the Enkei's.

Then you will love the coilovers Carlo. Makes it look low and wide B)

[CAP]

With the already flared wheel arches of your model I can imagine it will look very sexy indeed.

ok ok I take back the girls car comments from earlier :P

[Iliv46]

This is a Toyota forum they will never agree with you.

I think it's not a bad little car !

Those from the early days of this forum and who know me well will accept it as an honest review on my perception of the cars. They know I loved my Stivo and enjoyed in immensely and bare fond memmories of the time I owned it. They would also remember my fierce defence of the Sportivo when people made uneducated remarks on it with no real world experience of the car.

I just love cars. Really do not care about what manufacturer's badge they wear. I'll go out and drive them and decide from that driving experience if they work for me or not!

ok ok I take back the girls car comments from earlier :P

hmmm... You may not be far from the truth. Every one I have seen in the last few weeks has had a female driver. Should I be starting to question my masculinity :o

Carlo you should have seen it 6 weeks ago after I hit a Wombat on the Hume while I was doing about 110 in the rain. Off through the trees and sideways into a rock. Mighty glad for all the skidpan and track experience as it enabled me to keep enough control of the MX5 to clear the trees and wipe some speed off before hitting the rock. Some broken ribs and $33,000 in damage to the car later I get the MX5 back again tomorrow morning. boy have I missed it!

[Dead]

Awesome little car.

Too bad it looks like a hamster with leperacy though :(

[CAP]

Carlo you should have seen it 6 weeks ago after I hit a Wombat on the Hume while I was doing about 110 in the rain. Off through the trees and sideways into a rock. Mighty glad for all the skidpan and track experience as it enabled me to keep enough control of the MX5 to clear the trees and wipe some speed off before hitting the rock. Some broken ribs and $33,000 in damage to the car later I get the MX5 back again tomorrow morning. boy have I missed it!

Glad you're ok after that