Ditching MK6 GTI for Mitsubishi Lancer Ralliart???

[sharkablue]

Hello,

I have ordered a 3 door MK6 Golf GTI: Sunroof, Adapative Chassis Control, Park Assist, 18" Detroits, Reversing Camera, Media Device Interface, DSG, Full Size European Plates.

And it will set me back $49,000

The car has arrived in the country on Monday and now im just waiting for the dealer to call me.

Before I collect the car however, I am thinking I may just loose my deposit (or happily sell it to someone who is after one) and get a Mitsubishi Ralliart.

Spec for Spec the Ralliart offers more of everything over the GTI and its at a cheaper price.

Power is a big one: with 177KW and 343NM of Torque. it has more Torque then the Golf R!!!

- It has the same engine out of the EVO 10, with only a single scroll turbo instead of a dual scroll turbo, smaller intercooler and the piping in it is not as hardcore.

It has the same AWD setup from the EVO 9 with front, centre and rear limited slip diffs,

- same exhaust off the Evo 10 with upgraded Brakes and suspension over your normal Lancer

- and it has a 6 Speed Twin Clutch Gearbox from the EVO 10, just without the Super Sport Mode.

And going off car sales you can get one of these drive away from around the $38 to $45K Mark, and thats without bargaining with the dealers!!!

The 2 Negatives with the Ralliart from what I have read, is that the interior looks and feels cheap, with alot of hard plastics. However it does not rattle. And the Fuel Consumption is alot more then the GTI at 10L/100KM.

And alot of the ones going for that price online have Sat Nav installed and the awesome Rockford Fosgate sound system aswell!

I know this is a VW Forum, however there are alot of people on here that know alot about cars, so putting aside the bias, what are your thoughts?

[giddleberry]

Take one for a test drive and let us know what you think. I had a look at one about a year ago and wasn't impressed.

[sameatworld]

My mate has been looking at ralliart and i first test drove them when thet came out. I think in terms of value wise it is very good as you can currently get a new one for 40k drive away. However this is because they are being discontinued. I personally felt that the transmission wasnt quite as smooth neither and because i was comparing to chipped gti, power was sorta soso... Plus remember that even though it has more power it weighs much more than the gti. As a lot of reviews say, you will need to change the wheels and tyres to really get the most out of them.

It depends on whats most important for you. Awd and power vs luxury in the spec u have for gti. Unless you utilize all those power with ralliart on day to day, i think you might be happier in a nicely specced gti. I certainly may be thinking that when i get my poverty spec R!

[REXman]

Hey there a different car and class. They are a mitsu and based on a lancer.
Now performance on it is not as impressive as you'd think either. It does 0-100 in slow around 7 secs. A wrx 09 will cane it performance wise, so it just comes down to whether your very affectionate for the exterior and interior.

I can say the car responds very well to flash tuning and really closes the gap on a flashed 09 wrx, showing how lifeless the tune is from factory. It won't touch a GTI in a straight line let alone an R. But the platform is good, and I believe it only comes in the mitsu auto box.

Best way would be for you to test drive one, and then test out the GTI again, and if you can't see the difference or really like the ralliart, go for it and don't let anyone tell you otherwise.

Ps if you want jap go Rex, that burble and pace and the new drivetrains are proven to handle 350+ HP worth of upgrades

[iBoost]

The only thing the Ralliart has over the GTI is outright power in standard form. A quick ECU flash well and truly fixes that.

The AWD is there as well but also brings added weight with it as well. Personally I'd prefer a chipped GTI with the better build quality and interior. There's a reason it's pretty much universally said to be best in it's class.

[G-rig]

A GTI with a select few mods would be the better car IMO, much nicer build quality and still not slow.

Depends what you want though. You may find you still want an EVO though.

Just dont get one of those huge ralliart stickers LOL.

[Corey_R]

Dude - why do you care what anyone else thinks?

What do YOU think?
Have you sat in one? My guess would be that you haven't, because if you had, you wouldn't be posting this thread in the first place....

If you have sat in a Lancer Ralliart and you've still posted this thread, then I would say do it, because you obviously don't value interior quality and comfort and therefore the GTI is a waste of your money because some of the positives for the GTI are not high on your priority list leaving only positives in your case for the Lancer.

[thelairster]

I'd definitely take into account re-sale value for the two cars. The Mitsu may well cost more over three years.

['fatboy']

I havent driven the Lancer Ralliart, but have driven both the GTI and EVO10

The EVO feels very boy racer and to some extent I imagine that 'rawness' filters to the Lancer Ralliart. The GTI on the other hand is more refined and delivers its power much more smoothly.

Price wise, the Lancer wins but as others have said, it purely depends on taste and preference.

Good luck with your choice

[guest12345]

Totally different... one is a vw and one is a mitsubishi!

Take performance aside, there is a HUGE difference in terms of interior and the class of the car. And even performance, the lancer won't be that much better off.

For me, this is a no brainer. But as it seems like to you $$ is a big consideration... so... it is your choice really.

[barges]

i must be one of the few here that has driven a ralliart. when looking for a new car it, volvo c30 and the golf were on the shopping list.
the ralliart is awesome to drive, but i couldnt get over the fact that its really just a povo lancer. it just feels cheap all round, i even told the salesman that the interior is just rubbish.
on paper and driving hard it made sense but in reality it was hard to justify as about 10% of my driving would be spirited, mostly used for the daily commute/grind. the only other consideration was fuel consumption, the ralliart has a tiny tank and high consumption, i think it has a range under 500kms under normal driving conditions which is pathetic as i live in the country.
i ended up with a golf and am happy with my decision.

[Corey_R]

i must be one of the few here that has driven a ralliart.

I was about to test drive one. Was shopping for a car with a friend. The Ralliart was the top of their list so they had a test drive booked. But we made the mistake of walking through the VW dealership first and they saw a 118TSI with the Sportpack and Leather. After sitting in the 118TSI, and then sitting in the Ralliart, they told the sales person to forget about the test drive. Basically, regardless of how good it drove, they couldn't spent that much on a Lancer and sitting in such a crappy interior and know what they're missing out on.

They ended up settling for a MK6 GTI (no leather) in DSG with the APR Stage I ECU. 189kW and 402Nm is better than the Ralliarts power and torque. The GTI also ended up being cheaper on the road than the Lancer too!

[elisiX]

This thread is so left field its not funny.

[Zaul]

I didn't test drive a Ralliart when I was looking but I did sit in one, that was after I been in the 118 and GTI, and test driven them. In the end I wasn't happy with the standard of the interior.

But basically it comes down to what you value and what you want in a car. I wanted some performance, I had to have 5 doors, but I also demanded some refinement and a bit of luxury too and ideally a European car. I would have liked RWD too, but all that had to fit into my budget. When I looked at the GTI it had most of what I wanted/needed.

So prioritise what you feel is important and valued in a new car and choose that way. Then you'll be happy with what you get.

[ConR]

I had a base Lancer as a rental car yesterday while getting my GTI fixed. It was quieter than my Golf in the rattle department..lol. But, I'm sure those will go away eventually. Overall, interior was utter crap on the Lancer.