Lancer 1.8T Ralliart or Lancer 2.0EXA?

[Blue850r]

CVT transmission actually not so bad. I had driven the 1.6 Lancer GLXi. It is just a funny feeling of a stepless trans when you are used to hear the rpm drop during gear shift.

 

One of the best CVT is currently in the Toyota Estima 2.4L. Compared to the older Estima 2.4 with 4 sp auto, the CVT makes this car surprisingly driveable.

[Virage]

Driving my CS5 for 3.5 years, so far no probs (stock no mods). But dont know why have to change batt every year...

 

The car is very drivable... not a fast car overall, but due to the turbo there's quite abit of extra power available readily for your everyday driving within the practical RPM range. Overtaking can be done with ease (no flooring required most of the time), n not much lag since turbo is small/light type.

 

Handling is great for a car at its price range (then)... has sports suspension that is lowered, so car feels stable around corners.

 

Grip is there, but this car doesn't like uneven roads (to stop the rattling feeling I have to avoid those patched-up lanes) and definitely have to drive slightly slower over humps for passenger comfort.

 

FC is 10km/l 50% expressway (I'm a gentle driver + auto all the way n not using +- on the steering wheel).

 

Think this car suffers from the 'baby Evo' tag - no way this is anything near Evo standard. Futhurmore, Mitsu probably spent little time to develop n test the GDI plus turbo combo, this was meant to be a stop-gap model to bridge CS3 n Evo VIII, and for lazy drivers like me who drives auto almost all the time.

 

Lastly, I really like the little things Mitsu did to this car esp the sports suspension. Plus the Ricardo seats, HID, 16 inch rims, vertex gen, aero side mirrors, eyelids etc. I think front bumper is slightly different from CS3 too. However, some of these got filtered to CS3 Ralliart edition later.

 

I cant say anything on the EX cos didnt get to drive it. Hope this info helps

[Mivec9]

Thanks for your feedback! I think CS5 is really a great ride

[Virage]

thanks yup, CS5 is a nice ride to me n in many ways unique except for appearance

 

 

too bad... its targetted market segment was small, plus its late entry in SG n initial sky-high selling price... these factors probably limited the sales

 

the new Ralliart looks interesting n is much higher-speced so it can potentially live up to the 'Evo junior' tag but looks like its not really the next CS5, n should be in a higher market segment if brought in... so may not be popular too let's see...

 

[HumdeeDumdee]

I bought a Lancer Ralliart 1.8T back in 2007. Drove it for almost 9 years before selling it in May 2016. Very good pick up and good suspension. However, the brakes get jammed a couple of times and got to send it back to C&C for repair. As it is a very rare car, at one incident, I had to wait for 1 week for the brakes to ship from Japan. The spring in the cylinder malfunction twice in this life spend.