New MPS 3

[rjastra]

Wraith,

I don't have the time, nor want to waste the dealers to test drive every car out there. Especially when I don't intend to purchase a car.

and a dealer test drive is nothing much like real life. Strange car (usually with low kms), strange roads, "strange" salesman in the car with you Most of the time you reach 3/10ths of a car's ability - Every car feels adequate at those levels.

I'm going on magazine reports, but the ralliart doesn't seem rate very highly against the GTI, wrx & MPS3, especially on handling.

These are useful for getting a consensus opinion of a car.

eg: All reports on the MPS3 mention the road noise, poor rough road ride and torque steer. On the Golf they say its not the sharpest handler around and the performance is average (in the hot hatch class). Ralliart is thirsty, cheap interior and fitted with the crappiest tyres in the class.

[ASTRAY]

just something ive read, and i havent tested a ralliart or evo, but apparently the evo suffers lag, the review put this down to the turbo being too large. so perhaps the ralliart with its smaller turbo would perform better than the evo if the ralliart was tuned etc exactly the same as the evo.
the reveiw mentioned there was some sort of "sports mode" button in the evo, which keeps revs up, apparently this is the only time the evo loses its lag.
review also mentioned the fuel consumption going up when in sports mode, cant remember the number, but it was stupidly high, something like 15-17L/100km.

[mania]

This review perhaps - it got 3 stars (wheels), but the reviewer rips into it pretty hard.

[ASTRAY]

This review perhaps - it got 3 stars (wheels), but the reviewer rips into it pretty hard.

yeah i read that review a while ago, but no it was a review on the evo.

[Wraith]

Wraith,

I don't have the time, nor want to waste the dealers to test drive every car out there. Especially when I don't intend to purchase a car.

I'm going on magazine reports, but the ralliart doesn't seem rate very highly against the GTI, wrx & MPS3, especially on handling.

ralliart comes in SST only.

having said that, I'd take an evo x thank you very much.

wrx- boost comes on at 3,500rpm? crazy in this day and age.

Appologies John, didn't mean to be harsh

Alot of the time I've spent over the past 12 months test driving vehicles from dealerships has been very welcomed by them, as it gives them something to do rather than being bored most of the day, there's alot less activity on the new cars selling front these days because of tough times, so they're more than willing to oblige

I actually didn't realise the Ralliart was SST only, the 2 I checked out and then test drove one of them were both SST and that's a bonus as IMHO a manual vs the SST is simply no contest all things considered unless you wanted to save money on the purchase price...

Between Ralliart and MPS3 I'm still keener on the MPS3, for me there's just that little extra atraction it has overall and the interior is a great place to be compared to the Mitsu, pity Mazda don't have their own automated manual...that's the best part/feature IMO about the Ralliart...

Comparing the Ralliart to the Evo is another ball game altogether, when you look at the overall picture, it's damn hard to justify the added cost of the Evo...it is superior but it costs almost twice as much !!! remember as said, the engines are almost identicle, as is the SST transmission (except for calibrations) the interior is almost the same, (except for the front seats) the features/kit are the same, you'd have to really want what the Evo offers as extra (mainly the electronic handling suit) and wider body panels to justify going from 40 something to 70 something thousand dollars to buy...even if you opt for the base Evo and want to option it with the SST trans, it'll be a 5k added option in cost which will result in a 70k car !!! definitely in terms of value for money and bang for buck, your better off with the Ralliart for low 40k's or even high 30k's - have seen a few for sale for that much !

Having said all of that though, I can definitely relate to the attraction of an Evo 10, it would be a highly desirable car to own...

MY09 WRX will be just fine with one of the many tunes available for them, in fact as we all know with a tune, it'll be a weapon...

[Wraith]

just something ive read, and i havent tested a ralliart or evo, but apparently the evo suffers lag, the review put this down to the turbo being too large. so perhaps the ralliart with its smaller turbo would perform better than the evo if the ralliart was tuned etc exactly the same as the evo.
the reveiw mentioned there was some sort of "sports mode" button in the evo, which keeps revs up, apparently this is the only time the evo loses its lag.
review also mentioned the fuel consumption going up when in sports mode, cant remember the number, but it was stupidly high, something like 15-17L/100km.

I'm going to eventually get a shot at an Evo 10, so I'll let you know on that one

The Evo 10 has a twin scroll turbo, so it shouldn't suffer from noticeable lag...AFAIK it's to do with the factory ecu settings...

One thing I know for a fact being a member on the U.S based Evo 10 forum is that tuning one, even the mildest of tunes transforms them into a completely different animal !!!

Just derestricting the exhaust alone releases up to over 40kw of additional power...and tuning the ecu produces huge power increases and large reductions in fuel usage, as they are running very rich (stoich ratio) from factory...same applies for the Ralliart in terms of stoich ratio...

With the Ralliart I drove, I cannot complain about lag at all, it was not as responsive or torquey as an MPS3 down low, but seemed to very quickly generate speed and cover ground anyway, it definitely seemed to get to 100km/h faster, that SST trans helped alot and along with the fact that the MPS3 is starved of at least 20% of its torque output in 1st and 2nd gears dosn't help it in the run to 100km/h...

If the MPS3 had access to 100% torque output in 1st and 2nd, it would definitely be capable of low or even sub 6's to 100km/h even with the basic manual trans as it only needs a single swap to 2nd, no need to go into 3rd gear to hit 100km/h...

[TheOperator]

The interesting thing i find now with Mitsu is that they have fallen into the same trap Subaru found themselves in previous the current Impreza shape!

That being that everything from the VRX upwards looks the same to the average punter and you can't easily distinguish a Evo from a VRX The main reason 80% of average Joe Blows buy a Evo is so everyone knows they drive a EVO That being said you are paying 30 to 40K more to look the same

I personally wouldn't buy an Evo cause i think it's priced 20K out of the market it should be in! For that money i would rather buy a s3 (another car i think is wrongly priced) if looking for a medium sized performance model

[ASTRAY]

they have a evo here in port, when i first looked at the vrx the evo was in the showroom, on my vrx test drive day the evo was sitting outside 2 cars away from the vrx.
ive had very short thoughts about asking for a test of the evo, but having never driven a turbo before, i may fall in love... and big debt

[dug74]

I'm going to eventually get a shot at an Evo 10, so I'll let you know on that one

The Evo 10 has a twin scroll turbo, so it shouldn't suffer from noticeable lag...AFAIK it's to do with the factory ecu settings...

One thing I know for a fact being a member on the U.S based Evo 10 forum is that tuning one, even the mildest of tunes transforms them into a completely different animal !!!

Just derestricting the exhaust alone releases up to over 40kw of additional power...and tuning the ecu produces huge power increases and large reductions in fuel usage, as they are running very rich (stoich ratio) from factory...same applies for the Ralliart in terms of stoich ratio...

With the Ralliart I drove, I cannot complain about lag at all, it was not as responsive or torquey as an MPS3 down low, but seemed to very quickly generate speed and cover ground anyway, it definitely seemed to get to 100km/h faster, that SST trans helped alot and along with the fact that the MPS3 is starved of at least 20% of its torque output in 1st and 2nd gears dosn't help it in the run to 100km/h...

If the MPS3 had access to 100% torque output in 1st and 2nd, it would definitely be capable of low or even sub 6's to 100km/h even with the basic manual trans as it only needs a single swap to 2nd, no need to go into 3rd gear to hit 100km/h...

The new 3MPS doesnt need a change from 2nd to 3rd anymore....they have changed the gear ratios in the lower gears and made them taller.

Also...i have read many magazines on the 3MPS...times ranging from 5.9 to 6.1 sec..

And...also...the ralliart lancer is not faster than the 3MPS 0-100, 1/4 mile or on the track.

The only thing sort of half decent is the AWD system gives it better traction off the start for a microsecond.

Its over 1500kgs, has less power and torque. power to weight = MPS

Sorry guys.... Evo X is a different story.

Happy Motoring
duglet

[Wraith]

The new 3MPS doesnt need a change from 2nd to 3rd anymore....they have changed the gear ratios in the lower gears and made them taller.

Also...i have read many magazines on the 3MPS...times ranging from 5.9 to 6.1 sec..

And...also...the ralliart lancer is not faster than the 3MPS 0-100, 1/4 mile or on the track.

The only thing sort of half decent is the AWD system gives it better traction off the start for a microsecond.

Its over 1500kgs, has less power and torque. power to weight = MPS

Sorry guys.... Evo X is a different story.

Happy Motoring
duglet

Dug, 1st line above is exactly what I've said in my post, ie. 1 - 2nd gear 'only' to hit 100km/h...

Here in Aust. the quickest tested time of the MPS3 to 100km/h I've seen is 6.5sec. most others have it at 6.6secs. Mazda claims 6.1sec but this has only been achieved by U.S reviewers as they run 0-60mph though not 0-62 as we do and this 'probably' accounts for the difference...over the 1/4 mile it's 14.5-14.6secs...

The Ralliart has achieved 6.1-6.2 tested time runs here to 100km/h and most commonly 14.2secs over the 1/4 mile...

There is another very recent review in one of the car mags, again the Ralliart pips all of the hot hatches (including the new MPS3) that it's put up against in straight line acceleration...

Can't comment on track times, as I don't have material in front of me on that side of things...

Also the most decent thing about it as I've mentioned is not the AWD, it's that beautiful SST trans !!! drive one and you'll see what I mean there's no way you'd match it's performance with the stick shift manual !

The power to weight ratio superiority of the MPS3 is clearly evident once rolling, especially in 3rd and 4th gears - I love the thing and as said it's still my favourite by a slight margin over the Ralliart, all things considered

Deep down though, I'd love to own a new Evo 10 (with SST trans) and mod it only slightly, that would make for one hell of a great all rounder, even as a daily driver