Lancer Ralliart spotted in California

If cars are your passion then California is definitely the place to be. I’m not there (unfortunately) but a prototype of Mitsubishi’s Lancer Ralliart is - we think.

Sporting a front-mounted intercooler, 18-inch alloys and what looks like a back-yard tuners attempt at a twin-exhaust outlet rear bar this rather mysterious Lancer was snapped in Santa Monica.

The Ralliart Lancer is expected to feature AWD and a turbo-charged four-cylinder producing somewhere in the vicinity of 165Kw, placing it between the standard Lancer and the Evo X in output.

It is unlikely to use a detuned version of the upcoming Evo X’s engine which will no-doubt disappoint the tuners amongst us. The popular line of thinking is that it will be fitted with a mildly turbo-charged version of Mitsubishi’s 2.4-litre four-cylinder.

Options are likely to include the latest gadgets from Mitsubishi including a 30GB hard-drive, Bluetooth and the respected Rockford Fosgate audio system.

The Lancer Ralliart will face-off with Subaru's new WRX. Bereft of personality and looking like an over-inflated rice-crispy the WRX has little chance of competing on an equal footing with the handsome Lancer. We expect the Ralliart will become the new cheap thrills turbo rocket of choice for folks looking to trade in their two year old...ahem...WRX.

Expected debut for the Lancer Ralliart is early 2008 at the Detroit Motor Show.

Steane

Source : Edmunds

Image Source : Hans G Lehmann