Road Test: Mitsubishi Ralliart Colt

By Chris Shumack - 31/Oct/2006

The biggest impression the 2007 Ralliart Colt makes is on the approach: it may be small, but what it lacks in size it makes up for with shameless audacity. The car's bold looks grab attention (sometimes positive, sometimes not) like few other compact performance cars, with it's drop body kit and wide wheel arches, side vents and rear spoiler, and most notably the mesh-filled air dams and vented bonnet up front.

Even the ventilated brakes are distinguishably larger than normal, seen through the large 16- by 6-inch alloys, and it's clear that Mitsubishi wants to muscle its way in to the increasingly important compact performance car market, which is populated predominantly by Euro screamers like the Renault Clio Sport and Ford Fiesta ST.

Even the window tint is a shade lighter on the front windows, allowing a clear view of the Recaro seats for onlookers, which are some of the sportiest seats any performance hatch has offered as standard equipment. Then hit unlock on the remote three times and the electric side mirrors roll out to greet you as the indicators flash through the aggressive headlights.

Open the door and squeeze yourself into the body hugging seats - the same ones found on the Lancer Evolution VIII - and you'll find slick, sports styled gauges climbing up to 240km/h behind the wheel and more headroom than a luxury sedan. On the turn of the key, the exhaust thrums out a refined note from the tuned-up 4-cylinder engine. A curious foot on the sports aluminium pedal releases a whistle from the spooling Ralliart turbo and you'd almost be certain the engine was bigger than 1.5-litres. You’ll also notice the lighter clutch and gearbox upgrade from the Colt upon your first gearshift, uprated to put the turbo power to road through the widened tyres. 

So it's true - the Ralliart badges are justified in the Colt's case. But are these performance upgrades just a quick fix to enter the popular compact performance car market? Only one way to find out...

Drive: 3.5/5

As the Ralliart Colt pulls out onto the road, you'll feel a very firm ride with very small body roll, disregarding it's long and tall road stance and toughened Ralliart suspension. You'd want to be a performance junkie, though, to withstand the solid road feedback through city and suburban roads in normal traffic, which was no problem for the likes of myself. 

At higher speeds, it sits very confidently on the road, and in combination with it's tightly-sprung (but well dampened) suspension, the resulting feel is much more positive than cars such as the Holden Astra SRi Turbo at freeway and country road speeds.

The Colt's wheels are positioned wide at every corner of the car with low body overhang, which is communicated through the power assisted steering. This reveals great control, albeit very light, making it susceptible to strong torque steer which is especially noticeable when boost kicks in. 

Body rigidity is increased by a factor of thirty percent compared to the standard Colt, and even though it adds a few more kilos, the performance improvement is apparent.

The high seating position does mask the sensation of speed, and while accelerating through the gears it is important to keep an eye on the speedo - first gear disappears very quickly when you let the engine work up towards redline. And I will say that, for a small engine in top gear, it does well to pull the car along with useful acceleration even at a speed of under 60km/h.

Turbo boost in second gear is definitely what will be the stand-out selling point, especially if the turbo can spool up before full throttle. Once accustomed to the clutch, gearbox and turbo, you'll spot 30-40km/h corners a mile away: just hold second gear, apply half throttle @ 3000-3500rpm to get the turbo spinning all the way until the apex and you've got instant fun for any skill level driver. 

And for the more sophisticated clutch-riders, well, you'll be happy after eating up the apex of most corners, as this car is quick, deft, and enjoyable to drive at the levels it was designed for. Suspension is top notch in the performance bracket – a lowered and stiffened rally bred rig which you quickly learn is capable of almost anything you'd throw under it. With the extremely low body overhang and the 140mm ground clearance the Colt never bottomed over some serious dips and generally isn't even bothered by some potholes and speed humps that have almost torn other cars apart.

While it does seem to possess a very hard ride, even when commuting these big bumps don't stand out, and are sucked up nicely by the double acting gas hydraulic shockies all round, disappearing before the rear 'H' torsion bar or the independent MacPherson strut and stabiliser up front.

The Active Traction Control has a tough job taming the 210Nm under hard clutch-throttle and even when enabled will give away a little more than a squeal under deliberate conditions. During normal driving circumstances, the Active Traction Control, Anti-Lock Brakes and Electronic Brake Distribution system manages to hold the 205/45 tyres steady on the road. 

Hold down the ASM button for three seconds until the dash light reminds you that the electronic assist systems are disabled and the colt becomes lethal – having no problem turning rubber into smoke under hard acceleration through the first gear and into second. Once you get used to the light steering and occasional rear end drift it really charges along, keeping pace with bigger engined, more expensive sports cars in a straight line and just as well around corners.

The brakes are very strong with the large ventilated front rotors measuring 270mm at the front, and 260mm at the rear. I encountered no problems with stopping power, but after multiple runs of serious braking and heavier, more intense driving, glazing was noticeable on all four brake discs. This could be countered by using slotted rotors to wipe the pads rather than the slick looking cross-drilled rotors, which are better for heat dispersion.

The Colt's tall body and resulting high centre of gravity occasionally seemed to counter some of the brilliant suspension and steering work we all expect from Ralliart and their mad Evolution lancers, but everything comes together nicely as long as the road you drive on are good quality. If you power over reasonably sized bumps in the road at a decent clip you will really notice the big rear end behind you, which you'll generally prefer to have on the road and not in the air. The boxed rear end also increases the side profile of the car, which tends to catch the crosswinds somewhat, and you'll find yourself liking the idea of the hatch mount spoiler at higher speeds for stability.

Lucky for me that Ralliart has built in some electronic control systems with this ripping little Colt, with Anti-Lock Brakes (ABS), Traction Control (T/C) and Electronic Brakeforce Distribution (EBD) all incorporated into the Colt's Active Stability Control (ASM) system. The Ralliart Colt's larger brake booster has variable boost and boost assist included in the EBD system sensing wheel lock ups from the Traction Control and diverting braking power to where it is needed. Also included are air bags up front. These added driver assist functions are an advantage for both everyday driving and in emergency situations and will also do well to help keep you out of any trouble that the high boost turbo and a cheeky grin might put you in.

Engine: 4/5

Tucked away under the firewall is a 1.5-litre MIVEC engine, with double overhead cams, and 4-valves per cylinder, each running at 9.0:1 compression – quite high for a forced induction type engine. This is one tech’d-up little beast. 

With the added boost that the turbocharger develops, this little engine has been modified to withstand the extra pressure. Ralliart engineering has upgraded the engine internals with lightweight components, changing the bore and stroke from 75 x 84.8mm to 75.5 x 82mm allowing the standard Colt's 6000rpm redline to wind out a further 500 revolutions, which also decreases piston travel and drops the compression ratio below the standard 10.5:1. 

The engine now hits peak power of 113kW @ 6000rpm and its peak torque of 210Nm @ 4000rpm – “thanks turbo” – hitting a very decent specific power figure of 75.3kW per litre, and the turbocharger is aided by an air-to-air intercooler.

It's 6.7L/100km economy rating (which was achieved in a controlled environment) will be owed to the multi-point fuel injection system in conjunction with the variable valve control system. 

Unfortunately city commuters will find it tough to extract maximum economy as you will need to repeatedly rev the engine to find the torque for all those traffic stop-starts. The 45 litre fuel tank still managed to yield well over 400 clicks on a day in which the kilometres disappeared very quickly, so on the freeway and open roads you won't be far off the 6.7L/100km figure, as long as you refrain from slamming the loud pedal and test the lane hopping ability.

All technical mumbo-jumbo aside, this well revised engine never skipped a beat in our seven day test, even under high revs and high load, which proves Mitsubishi's motor sports division are bringing their racing and endurance engineering experience to their sports production line-up. I was personally expecting a much thrashier engine given the forced induction, high compression ratio, high gear ratio combination, but in the fold left a quite robust impression.

The gearing at first glance seemed a bit exaggerated with 3.308:1 ratio for first, and under 1.913:1 for second, but after a time, when I became familiar with the 5-speed Getrag floor shift box and sachs clutch, the final drive has been geared for consistent boost-to-boost shifts when driving in McRae mode. The clutch is light and has good feedback on contact and the synchromesh gearbox is tight.

The chrome tipped exhaust has been widened to allow better engine breathing and, let's face it, to attract any nearby Ralliart fans. The sound resonates sufficiently enough @ 1400rpm to upset a few car alarms in the underground car parks. The sonic experience certainly backs up the aesthetically interjecting body kit with a solid note under load followed by a nice turbo spooling whistle through each gear.

Exterior: 3/5

Ralliart has done an amazing job bringing this package together to transform the standard Colt - which features a Euro design - into a real hot hatch that gets heaps of attention: passers-by and Ralliart fans alike will have their heads turned without fail. 

On inspection you will notice that the extreme looks of the car, with it's front air dams, vented bonnet and side flutes, are not purely aesthetic. Each air dam tunnels much needed cool air to the intercooler, radiator and oil cooler individually, while the vented bonnet extracts hot air from the engine bay, and this reduces heatsoak and gives that boosted turbo engine a breather.

Even the roof-mounted spoiler lends a bit more to handling and with the vehicle's large wedge shaped front end helps in stabilising the car by creating downforce when wind pressure is available. 

Pay even more attention to the kit and you'll notice an integrated air diffuser in the rear bumper. The headlights are halogen/argent for low/high beam operation, and the driving lights are parabolic and do a good job of lighting the road far up ahead.

If you do happen to hear any loud dinging noises, look to the roof mounted aerial where it is most likely to be firmly introduced to piping, sprinklers and signage in city car parks. It's a bit of a shame, as the aerial needs to be vertical for good reception... 

The side mirrors are electric and are a great toy to play with down the street via the remote (hit the lock button three times and they fold in). The central locking covers all doors and rear hatch, and the remote operates well over distance.

You'll unfortunately find a space saver rim next to the toolkit under the cargo area, but I suppose you can also see it as shaving a few digits off your dry weight.

Interior: 3/5

The Recaro seats I personally found incredibly comfortable - if you're tall with a size 28 waist you'll be clamped in comfortably by the side bolsters, but a word of warning, we had more than a couple of people exclaim that the seats were far from accommodating. These heavily bolstered rally racing seats also make it easy to organise yourself whilst in the driver seat, for instance sitting a map in you lap.

The overall layout in the cockpit seemed quite practical and straightforward. You'll feel leather wrapped over the steering wheel, gearshift and handbrake too. Speed sensing intermittent wiper delay, one-touch power windows and driver/passenger vanity mirrors were all added to the standard options list. As far as a trip computer though, a simple two distance odometer is the only goodie under the flash icons on the instrument cluster. On a side note, if you are used to automatic lights you may find the battery running flat while you're at the local shops. If the headlight chime doesn't do it's job properly once, it'll be once too many. I also feel that the lack of a cruise control system hurts the car a little - it would really be helpful in keeping the engine a little steadier at 100km/h for freeway driving and fuel consumption.

The indicator flashing relay being on the left hand side of the cabin was one of the first things I was put off by upon getting into traffic – what a distraction indicating right and having a tick sounding off from the left! As with all small things though, after a day or so I managed to adapt. 

The dashpad is very large - big enough to play a game of monopoly on, and the pillars are on an interesting angle which sometimes put them in the line of sight, you'll notice how long (or short, as the case may be) your neck is when this occurs, as you try to peer around it. 

The roof console has a roomy sunglasses pocket and incorporates two quick action interior lights and a handy card holder, great for car park tickets and access cards. The lights also have a two level key dependant brightness, dimmed for when in car, and bright when a door is opened. The two floor set cup holders and front door cup holders both come in handy, but because the centre floor cup holders are not enclosed, they won't be useful for anything except a drink.

The in-dash 6-disc sound system incorporates both MP3 and WMA decoding, which is a great feature, and I personally find that these options are a general reason why many factory stereos are replaced for aftermarket systems. Not so with this number. The WMA codec is great for those whose music library is in WMA and are unable to convert to the widely accepted MP3 format. The sound quality is reasonable from the four factory speakers, and you'll have one hell of a lot of it if you load up six MP3/WMA CDs. 

For the sound tweakers out there I unfortunately was unable to find out if the head unit had RCA output for expandability as I had to resist from checking it out myself.

Back seats have lots of room, but are in a very upright position so as to not impose on the rear compartment space, but both in the front and back there is almost enough headroom to keep a massively fancy Melbourne cup hat on, because head room is cavernous. Fold the seats down and slide them forward and you'll be able to cart around up to 594 litres of cargo behind you, and remember to secure it well. Big city couriers with a great desire to catch the eye of onlookers, while ripping through town and then parking in a flat second will be right at home behind the wheel of this vehicle.

Overall: 3.5/5

Performance is absolutely amazing for it's odd dimensions and tiny engine, which had no problems keeping up with the top end luxury sedans on the open road. Putting down some power to the road out of a 1.5-litre MIVEC inline four turbo, the Colt was breathing down the neck of car's costing three times it's own tag, and you can also be sure to collect curious looks when lining up next to anything at the lights. 

Joining the AWD Lancer Evolution models as the second vehicle in the Ralliart range in this country, the Colt doesn't dilute the legendary performance badge, though the family resemblance is felt more in its hyperactive attitude and firm feel on the road than the way it looks -- but the bonnet vents are pure Evo.

You can find this aggressively styled B-segment performance hatch at Ralliart dealerships for $29,900, which includes a very attractive 5 year/130,000km warranty. While more expensive than the standard Colt, mechanically it really is something else and in comparison to its slightly larger C-segment rivals, the $34,000 Holden Astra SRi Turbo and the $36,000 Ford Focus XR5 Turbo, you'll easily have enough change for a few subwoofers and neon downlights.