Test drive: 2007 Mitsubishi Galant Ralliart
I've always thought of the Mitsubishi Galant as being underrated and oft-overlooked. It's a nice enough car, but one that doesn't seem to attract much attention from buyers. In an effort to raise the Galant's profile, Mitsubishi has given the car the Ralliart treatment for 2007. The new hot-rod version gets racy styling, a sport-tuned suspension, and more power -- matter of fact it gets the 258 hp version of the 3.8 liter V6 straight out of the Eclipse GT sports car.
Jeff James, About.com's Guide to Minivans, took a break from his pursuit of the perfect people-carrier to give the Galant Ralliart a week-long test drive. His verdict? Oh, come on, you didn't think I'd give it away in the blog, did you? Check out his 2007 Mitsubishi Galant Ralliart review. I will tell you that Jeff thinks -- as I do -- that the Galant is a perfectly good car. So why isn't it rivaling the Camry for market share? Click the "comments" link if you have any ideas -- I'm all ears. Er, eyes. -- Aaron Gold
Photo © Jeff James
I had a 2002 Mitsubishi Diamante VR-X.
Comparable cars had a little more HP putting it at the bottom of the barrel for most people looking for a sport sedan. And watch out when it is time to get rid of it. Resale values are horrid. Mitsubishi has very nice cars but until they can turn around the resale, they will not be a major competitor. Maybe the new models will help this out.
Oh please! You don’t know why the Galant doesn’t get more market share? Go out on the street and ask anyone to name 4 Japanese auto makers. Three will come pretty quick for most people familiar with cars. Two quick for most people. Most people just don’t even think of Mitsubishi. If no one looks at them, no one will buy them. And if no one buys them, they don’t build a reputation that also builds resale value. I looked at a Galant several years ago but went elsewhere simply due to resale value and limited information on reliability. As an added benefit to others, they normally had a couple miles per gallon more.