Before the holidays, Mitsubishi teased a new Ralliart concept car, news which we advised to take with a healthy dose of cautious optimism. Well, it turns out, our warning was justified because—drum roll, please—it’s a crossover. Specifically, the Mitsubishi Vision Ralliart Concept is an Outlander with a body kit as well as bigger brakes and wheels. I guess that’s fitting considering Ralliarts of the past and, indeed, most of Mitsu’s most historically desirable cars have been gussied-up versions of relatively pedestrian commuter vehicles. We were just hoping for a coupe or sedan.
Said to “embody Mitsubishi Motors’ vision for the new Ralliart,” the Vision Ralliart Concept features aggressive front and rear fascias with admittedly interesting mesh at the bottom. The images provided don’t show it off very well but the black paint apparently has a matte finish and is said to exude “blue highlights” in the light.
The transparent “grille” with chrome Ralliart slashes also looks quite cool as do the widened fenders and those snazzy, 22-inch center-lock wheels. Behind said wheels sit big brake disks with opposed-piston, six-pot calipers “which exert braking performance matching the powerful torque of the motors.” Mitsubishi hasn’t revealed any other powertrain or engineering details yet but the use of the word “motors” here definitely alludes to electrification of some kind.
Look, I know we all hoped that this would be cooler (Where is the Evo XI, Mitsubishi?!). But, if I’m being completely honest, I do not hate how this crossover looks. The chunky, aggressive bodywork and matte black paint remind me of a working-class BMW X6 M and if Mitsubishi were to pull another Eclipse Cross and reimagine the Evo as a crossover, this is basically how I’d want it to look.
In any case, the Mitsubishi Vision Ralliart Concept will be on display at this weekend’s 2022 Tokyo Auto Salon.
Got a tip or question for the author about the Vision Ralliart Concept? You can reach them here: chris.tsui@thedrive.com