There are many automakers with their own in-house performance brands. Think of Mercedes-Benz and its AMG performance arm, which, at one point, was its own independent operation before Merc bought AMG in 1999. There’s also BMW’s M GmbH, which is famous for producing various M-Powered machines. Having an in-house tuning and/or motorsport company is an excellent way for mass-market brands to save on costs while also allowing for total control over projects.
At one point in time, Mitsubishi’s dedicated performance arm was called Ralliart. It was born in the 1980s, and its main objective was to build cars to compete in the World Rally Championship (WRC). The sub-brand enjoyed a wide array of successes, many of which took place in the 1990s. However, Ralliart was axed some time later, entering a “mothballed” state in which it was still technically active but unused. Mitsubishi has recently brought the namesake back from the dead, but it’s nothing like it used to be. To many enthusiasts, this new-age Ralliart is blasphemous to what it once was.
How Ralliart Got Its Start
lancer 1600 gsr sidelong whiteWikimedia Commons: Norbert Aepli
The original, hardcore version of Ralliart has its roots steeped in motorsport. It was founded by Andrew Cowan, a Scottish-born racing driver. Cowan had spent roughly eight years, from 1973 to 1981, in the WRC, racing exclusively for Mitsubishi. However, he’d been extremely active in motorsport prior to that, racing often in his home region of the UK, as well as over in Australia, at events like the Southern Cross Rally and the London-Sydney Marathon. While he was no Colin McRae, Cowan managed to secure several wins throughout his career.
Suffice to say, once his professional racing career ended in 1981, Mitsubishi was keen to keep him on the payroll. The brand was also interested in establishing a foothold in the WRC, and tasked him with the job. The company itself was founded in 1983 under the name “Andrew Cowan Motorsports,” only to be changed to Ralliart a year later. However, the “Ralliart” name had actually been in informal use by Mitsubishi since 1981, having first appeared on the Mitsubishi Lancer EX 2000 Turbo during the 1981 Acropolis Rally.
Mitsubishi
Once the new company had its proper name and corporate backing, Ralliart began trying to cement itself as one of the dominant players in the WRC as a whole. While there were some close finishes, Ralliart didn’t score its first overall win until 1989, when driver Mikael Ericsson drove a Mitsubishi Galant VR-4 to victory at the Finland 1000 Lakes Rally. Throughout the rest of the 1980s and into the early 1990s, Ralliart managed to post a few wins here and there, but its dominating streak was about to begin.
Related
The Mitsubishi Lancer Evo’s Twin You’ve Never Heard Of
The Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution is one of the most prolifc names in the Japanese automaker’s history, but few know about its twin, the Carisma GT.
Ralliart’s Heyday
2001 mitsubishi lancer evolution vi tommi MäkinenWikimedia Commons: Pasi Piesanen
Fast-forward to 1996, and Ralliart was ready to unleash a storm that had been brewing. The Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution III, carried over from the previous year, had a driver by the name of Tommi Mäkinen. He’d been with Ralliart since 1994, but didn’t do all that much in terms of racing or winning until the ’96 season. With him at the helm, Ralliart managed to secure a whopping five wins out of nine races that year. Of the races he didn’t win, two ended in premature retirements, another in a second-place finish, and one in a fifth-place finish.
Following the lightning ’96 WRC season, Ralliart continued to post impressive results throughout the rest of the 90s and into the 2000 WRC season. Throughout its five-year dominant run, Ralliart chalked up 21 individual victories, along with four Drivers’ Championship titles (Mäkinen) and one Manufacturers’ Championship title. The four consecutive DC wins earned Ralliart a WRC record as well, which has since been broken by Sébastien Loeb. Ralliart was also extremely involved in the Dakar Series, having secured 12 overall victories, making it one of the most successful manufacturers to ever race the daunting courses.
1999-2001 Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VI Red Rally Car Snow DriftingMitsubishi Motors
Once the 2000 WRC season came to a close, Ralliart’s domination would never resurface. The brand would rack up some wins here and there, but nothing anywhere near the sort of performance seen in the late 1990s. Its final win, courtesy of Mäkinen, came about in 2001 at the Safari Rally. Following the ’01 season, Mäkinen left Ralliart. To add insult to injury, Ralliart would not win a single WRC event for the remainder of its competition in the WRC, which lasted through the 2007 season.
Related
Mitsubishi’s Lesser-Known Rally-Bred Homologation Special
Who doesn’t love a homologation special? The Mitsubishi Pajero Evolution is one of the most significant.
Here’s What Ralliart Looks Like Now
Now that we are all on the same page regarding Ralliart’s past WRC and Dakar domination, we can ease into what the modern Mitsubishi is doing with the namesake today.
Officially, Mitsubishi brought the Ralliart name back from the dead in 2021, following an 11-year hiatus. Initially, this was an exciting prospect, seeing as the name carried a huge amount of weight among enthusiasts. After all, if you hear the name “Ralliart,” images of white-on-orange Lancer Evos leaping over graveled slopes and screaming exhausts thundering out of corners immediately come to mind. Unfortunately, that’s not at all what Mitsubishi was planning.
Instead, Ralliart was brought back as a trim package.
Now, this isn’t a high-flow exhaust, turbocharged engine, stick-shift-type trim package, either. Instead, it’s purely aesthetic. The Ralliart-inspired models began rolling off the production line in 2023. In total, Mitsubishi applied the orange and red colors to models like the Eclipse Cross, the 76-horsepower Mirage, the Outlander, and the Outlander Sport. With the package, buyers were given things like unique decals, some Ralliart badges, and a blacked-out grille featuring some red striping.
The Silver Lining
Team Mitsubishi Ralliart at the Asia Cross Country Rally 2024Mitsubishi
There’s some good that comes along with the bad though. With Mitsubishi’s resurrection of the Ralliart namesake, it also reentered the world of motorsport. As of this writing, it has managed to secure two overall victories, both of which occurred at the Asia Cross Country Rally in 2022 and 2025. The Asia Cross Country Rally, or AXCR, is an annual cross-country rally raid competition that takes place across Southeast Asia. Mitsubishi competes with a modified Triton pickup truck, which belongs to the Group T1 Prototype class.
Related
Mitsubishi Ready To Unleash A Proper Ralliart Performance Model Again
It’s been over a decade since Mitsubishi introduced a production model worthy of the Ralliart name.
Ralliart’s Time As A Model Grade
2009 Mitsubishi Lancer Ralliart cutaway Mitsubishi
Ralliart has produced road-going models in the past, although they were a bit fizzier than the Ralliart Mitsubishi Mirage. The most prominent of the old-school Ralliart models was the Lancer Ralliart. It got its start in 2004 as just a trim package with some minor performance upgrades and was produced again from 2008 to 2010 with a lot more punch. With the ’08–’10 package, buyers were treated to a detuned version of the Lancer Evo’s engine, along with Mitsubishi’s AWC-S all-wheel-drive system and a dual-clutch automatic transmission.
2007 – 2008 Mitsubishi Galant – Front 3/4 angleMitsubishi
There was also the Mitsubishi Galant Ralliart; although this was more of an aesthetics package, you did get a 263-horsepower 3.8-liter V6 under the hood. Other models include the Mitsubishi Colt Ralliart Version-R, produced for select markets outside the US, which boasted a turbocharged 1.5-liter engine and a stiffened chassis. The Australian market even got its very own Ralliart performance model, that being the Magna Ralliart. It came with a 3.5-liter V6, a limited-slip differential (LSD), and even a set of Brembo brakes.
What The Modern Ralliart Means For Enthusiasts
2009 Mitsubishi Lancer Ralliart front quarter Mitsubishi
Having such a huge amount of raw, unfettered rally dominance in its past, seeing the Ralliart name plastered on the side of an Outlander can be depressing. There’s no spark of performance anymore with the namesake, just orange decals and a red-striped grille. For old-school Ralliart fans, the revival has been, mostly, a letdown. Sure, it’s fun to see the old name get revived in any capacity, but there’s nothing more to it, at least not in the mass market.
In short, the once-proud Mitsubishi sub-brand has been relegated to a sporty trim package for SUVs, and to many, it’s a shame. Of course, the future holds infinite possibilities. So, maybe, we’ll see something fiery come out of Mitsubishi’s skunkworks wearing a Ralliart badge at some point. But until then, the Ralliart Mirage will have to do.
Sources: Mitsubishi, WRC.com.
