Due to launch inter­na­tion­ally this Octo­ber and locally in Aus­tralia in early 2008, the Mit­subishi Lancer EVO X is going to be accom­pa­nied by a cheaper but still turbo sib­ling, the Ral­liart Lancer.

Another Turbo 4 Contender

Expected three to six months after the EVO X debuts in Aus­tralia, the Ral­liart Lancer will prob­a­bly carry a 2.4L tur­bocharged 4 cylin­der (as opposed to the full-​​fat EVO X’s potent 2.0L) and go head to head with the new lower spec Impreza WRX mod­els, also slated for release next year. Tra­di­tion­ally con­sumers have only had a choice between EVO mod­els and much lower spec naturally-​​aspirated models.

Mitsubishi Evo X

Red Hot. The New Mit­subishi Evo X

The shift in model struc­ture brings Mit­subishi firmly against Sub­aru in the fast turbo 4 cylin­der stakes, a model line prov­ing more and more pop­u­lar as peo­ple seek for ways of repli­cat­ing or exceed­ing V6 power with­out the fuel bill (despite this not nec­es­sar­ily being the case). Sub­aru cur­rently offer a two tier turbo model struc­ture with the Impreza WRX and higher spec’ed Impreza WRX STI.

Lit­tle is known about drive train, inte­rior and styling, but all are expected to be reduced ver­sions of what will be offered in the new EVO X, though we expect styling may be con­sid­er­ably dif­fer­ent in terms of body­work in order to pre­serve the new rally look of the EVO.

Great News for Enthusiasts

From an enthu­si­ast stand­point, the Ral­liart Lancer will be far more afford­able than the EVO X in Aus­tralia, and I would not be in the least bit sur­prised to see this become as big a cult car in it’s own right as the EVO, per­haps not so much the speed demon as the EVO, but def­i­nitely a strong con­tender for a healthy rivalry between Sub­aru and Mit­subishi own­ers. Yet another per­for­mance 4 for the mar­ket will help a com­pet­i­tive seg­ment become even more cut-​​throat, dri­ving prices lower for new turbo cars. Can’t wait for that.

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