Category: Hot Hatchbacks 
Price Range: £7,999 to £12,849
Punchy engine, decent kit levels, sharp handling, cheap warranty package.
Overly firm ride, uninspiring cabin, poor steering.
May attract a few hardcore Mitsubishi fans but there are better hot-hatches at this price.
If you see a Ralliart logo on a Mitsubishi you should expect something special.
Ralliart is the team that helped Mitsubishi secure four World Rally Championship titles for Tommi Makinen during the late 1990s. It's an evocative name and if you step into a Ralliart-badged car, you'd like to think you are driving a proper performance machine to go with that motorsport heritage.
The Colt Ralliart is Mitsubishi's bona fide hot hatch and a step up from the outgoing CZT, which was rather more a 'warm' hatch. For £12,049 the Ralliart three-door offers sports suspension, a stiffer chassis, sports exhaust and a lightweight, high revving 1.5-litre turbocharged engine delivering a maximum 147bhp at 6,000rpm. The five-door will cost you £500 extra.
The headline performance figure is impressive: it will do 0-60mph in 7.4 seconds - so it's no slouch in a straight line - and the uprated chassis with new springs and shock absorbers should make it a blast in the corners.
But note the word 'should'. There is plenty of competition that the Colt Ralliart has to beat: the Fiat 500 Abarth, the Renault Twingo Renaultsport and even the Suzuki Swift Sport will make life difficult for the high-performance Colt.
Has the Ralliart delivered? Read on to find out.
Latest Readers' Drives About the Mitsubishi Colt
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