ClubCJ - The CJ Lancer Club

Hi all!

I currently own a 2002 Mitusbishi Magna Sports and hope to change that soon.

I joined the forum to ask some questions in relation to the lancer ralliart. I initially was interested in getting an Alfa Romeo 159 Q4 V6 AWD. I even tests drove one and enjoyed it, but I think its does not suit my needs. Though reliable compared to their counterparts, they are expensive to keep and i feel less safe owning a second hand one. The other factor is that i take the train to work in the CBD and i feel an alfa would be more a vandal magnet than most cars in the parking space. Insurance costs strangely enough, is a little less than the Lancer Ralliart though.

The other car which came to my mind is the Ralliart. I know it is no Evo, but I have no intentions taking the car to the track so I think a Ralliart fits nicely. Nonetheless some power would be great . I have read that they do 0-100 in less than 7 seconds despite what is said on paper.

I just wonder these things:

What are the most common issues with the lancer ralliart?
Are they expensive to service? (I know this would be subjective)
Can they be really fun to drive?

I look forward to hearing your comments.

Hi and Welcome

There's a few Ralliarts on this forum and they seem to be getting even more popular.

Your questions:

1. What are the most common issues with the lancer ralliart?

The gearbox. If you want a manual, there are none. Only TC-SST and it's friggin expensive. Although problems are mainly with pre 2010 cars, and Mitsubishi have been pretty good with warranty claims as far as I've seen.


2. Are they expensive to service? (I know this would be subjective)

Not really, around $200-$250 every 7500kms for normal service. $1200-$1400 for the big 90K one

3. Can they be really fun to drive?

YES IT IS FRIGGIN AWESOME

1. Rattles from the internal trim, TC-SST Gearbox is a problem if you try pushing the car to the limit. Not an Evo.
2. No especially if you have capped price servicing.
3. Really GREAT to drive.

Since you're in Melbourne, go on down to Preston Motors Epping and speak to Nick. He's a respected sponsor of this forum and has sold many of the VIC people their RAs and Lancers. Some people from NSW and QLD have also come down to VIC to buy RAs from him which then get transported back.

If speaking to him doesn't convince you to buy a RA Lancer, nobody else can.

A brand new Ralliart comes with 4 yr capped price servicing, $130 for 6mth & $260 for 12mth service so service costs are quite reasonable

And if the Ralliart your checking out has a loud clicking/tapping noise from behind the engine, point it out & tell em you wont buy until they change the flywheel hub... besides that there pretty sturdy cars man

and yeah you can have a lot of fun in sports mode ... good luck with ur purchase

Yup, if your buying used pay attention to the tc sst and ask when/if the fluid was last changed. Anything over 40,000km the fluid is probably kaput. They're not exactly automatics and not exactly manuals so a bit of getting used to how best to use the sst. Amazing bit of kit once you know how it all works and what it likes.

RA's are great bang for buck performance cars, fast in stock form and after a tune and boost pill you are at stock evo x performance levels.

Really good supply of parts (maintenance and performance) since 95% is the same as the whole lancer range and the engine is exactly the same as the evo x just different turbo setups.

Woah very quick replies. Thanks for all the info people!

Yeah im considering a used Ralliart around the 23-27k range. Hearing the pre-2010 models might have issues worries me considering that is what i'll be looking at according to my budget.

I'll have a good look for those issues once i check out one.

If you buy one that isn't modified and has all it's service books done properly then it will be fine.

Highly recommend them. Worth a good check over, but will have the balance of the 5-year warranty for a bit of peace of mind. As long as the log book is sorted and for preference I would go for one with a Mits service history.

As said above, for minor expense you get almost the same power as the Evo. Very fun daily driver cars

Well if i can mod one to the level of a stock evo, that would be saweeettt! That means it could take on an Sti yeah?

Welcome to the forums!