BETWEEN A LANCER AND A HARD PLACE.(Ralliart offered Mitsubishi Lancer automobile)

Byline: MARK VAUGHN

The biggest problem with our drive in the coming Mitsubishi Lancer Ralliart was that immediately before it, they had put us in a Lancer Evolution GSR.

You just can't go from an Evo anything to a non-Evo anything else and find it nearly as inspiring. It was like dating Pamela Anderson for a while and then going out with Pamela Anderson's lesser-known half-sister, Gladys. Gladys is reliable and roomy, if a little soft. But she's not Pamela.

Maybe if the half-sister, like the Ralliart, was made from parts taken off the higher-end model? That is the case with the Ralliart, which shares parts with both the current Evolution (known as the Evo X to most) and the last-generation Evo IX.

The Ralliart has the Evo X's aluminum hood and dual exhaust, along with detuned versions of its twin-clutch transmission and 2.0-liter 4B11 engine block. Both the Evolution GSR and the coming Evo MR have bigger turbos and bigger intercoolers than the Ralliart, and they give a bigger thrill when stepped on. The Evolu-tion makes 291 hp and 300 lb-ft of torque, while the Lancer Ralliart makes "only'' 237 hp and 253 lb-ft. That's still a good slice more than the 168 hp and 167 lb-ft of the 2.4-liter Lancer GTS.

The Ralliart's TC-SST transmission has two modes, normal and sport, calibrated specifically for it, and does not offer the Evolution's Super Sports mode. Super Sports is a high-performance track mode that goes all the way to redline at shifts, with commensurate shift shocks.

Like the Evolution, the Ralliart also has all-wheel drive, with Active Center Differential (ACD) and mechanical differentials front and rear taken from the Evo IX.