Ralliart Closes Shop

That’s it for Ralliart, folks. The economy has claimed yet another victim. Ralliart announced that it will be closing shop effective April 1, 2010.

The drop in demand for Mitsubishi and the overall crash of the car market, however, has forced Ralliart to call it quits.

Fans of the Ralliart badge of Mitsubishi performance vehicles, however, need not weep as the Ralliart models slated in Mitsubishi’s lineup will endure the closure.

Ralliart was established by former racing driver Andrew Cowan as Andrew Cowan Motorsports in 1983. It forged a partnership with Mitsubishi building performance parts and tuning cars for motorsports.

Ralliart has served as Mitsubishi’s motorsport arm building epic machines that won the WRC and the Dakar rally.

Mitsubishi to Make Evolution XI a Hybrid?

Mitsubishi’s really having it pretty bad. If you put up your $200 million advertising contract just out there for public bids and proposals, that just simply means you’re desperate to get someone to turn things around for your company.

Mitsubishi hasn’t made that much buzz since the launch of the Lancer Sportbacks from a while back. Not that the car’s shitty, but it just hasn’t created a significant buzz for Mitsu. The Evolution remains to be Mitsu’s best known car.

Now rumor has it that the car won’t just be a gas-guzzling 4WD speedster with a turbo that could suck up small children and puppies off the road, it will be a hybrid. Many Evo fans would probably be mouthing off expletives right now. Sure did, when I read the headline.

But fret not, folks. Mitsu says this will be their best Evo yet. The car will sport a 2.0L MIVEC engine from the JDM Galant and will be paired with a new plug-in hybrid system running on lithium-ion batteries. The front wheels will be powered by the electric motor and the gas engine will drive the rear ones. Initial numbers peg the power to be at 350 bhp from the 291 of the Evo X.

Crazy thing is, it does looks promising. Imagine not having to deal with the ghastly turbo lag with the electric motor’s power and torque available on call.

Source: Motor Trend

Mitsubishi Concept cX Badged as RVR

Mitsubishi might not be among the top automakers even in Japan but the makers of the Evo surely has a few tricks up its sleeve.

Remember the Concept cX from a while back? Well the compact crossover will be getting a “new” name as it nears its Japan launch. The car will be badged as the RVR – a badge you might remember slapped on a an MPV called the Space Runner/Expo LRV in the US from 1991 to 2002.

The car is powered by a 1.8L MIVEC engine. The car will have enough space to lug around a small family with its 169-inch long body. It’s a foot shorter than the Mitsubishi Outlander SUV.

The crossover will hit Japanese showrooms by spring next year and will make its way to Europe, North America and selected Asian markets after.

Video: Tokyo Show Preview Toyota FT-86, Honda CR-Z, Mazda Kiyora

Having offered nothing really special in the past motor shows, the Japanese have quite a lot in store for the Tokyo Motor Show. Toyota will be showcasing its revival of the AE86 sports coupe with its Subaru co-developed FT-86. Honda, in its quest to be the greenest automaker, will be showcasing the hybrid-only CR-Z. Mazda will be unveiling a couple of engines and the Mazda Kiyora. Nissan and Mitsubishi will have their debutantes as well.

Check out the video showing some of the Tokyo debutantes below:

Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X Gets an Update

Mitsubishi’s not doing too well in the market right now but they had the good sense of updating their famed rally racer the Lancer Evolution X.

First off, Mitsu will be dropping the five speed proper manual on the GSR and will be replacing it with a twin-clutch SST six-speed gearbox.

If you think that the body kit on the old Evo X is already ostentatious, Mitsubishi thinks that it needs beefier side skirts. The front bumper’s also replaced with lighter plastics.

Finally, Mitsu tweaks the tech inside the car. A new LCD screen is fitted between the speedo and tach while general improvments on the trim and interior have been made as well.

Not really that exciting.

Mitsubishi and Peugeot to Co-Develop Electric Vehicle

We guess this is really the twilight of beastly cars. Every automaker’s just interested in developing green cars. And the whole mentality is even prompting them to team up. Japanese automaker Mitsubishi and French group Peugeot Citroen just struck a deal to partner up to develop electric vehicles.

The deal includes a development of an i-MiEV based vehicle for the European market which will be marketed under both Peugeot and Citroen marquees. Production is slated to commence by October 2010 and the cars will hit the market soon after.

The production version of the i-MiEV has been showcased earlier this year. The electric motor dishes out an equivalent of 67 hp with a max torque of 133 lb-ft. The car supposedly has a range of 100 miles and a top speed of 80 mph.