Car Moon

Thanks to a set of images that had made their way into the web ahead of the Paris Show, we knew what to expect from the facelift Colt. What we didn’t know is that Mitsubishi replaced the outgoing Colt CZT with a Ralliart version that will be available for the first time in Europe, in both three-door and five-door variant. All 2009 Colts get a new fascia with Mitsubishi’s shark-like grille along with a redesigned bumper and oddly shaped headlamps that bring it inline with the latest Mitsubishi models. -Continued

At the rear, the 3door version gets darker taillights and a new bumper while the 5door also features newly styled tailamps. New wheels complement the new exterior design, including dark finish dual 5-spokes for the two Ralliart variants.

Inside, changes for the 2009 models include a new instrument panel, redesigned controls for the a/c, a Lancer inspired steering wheel and a new graining for the black upper padding of the dashboard together with higher quality seat material.

In parallel to the existing petrol engines (1.1 / 75ps, 1.3 / 95ps, 1.5 / 109ps), Mitsubishi will introduce new “low CO2” variants of the facelifted Colt, under the name of “Clear Tec”. These variants will feature amongst other things, start and stop and regenerative braking technologies, leading to an improvement of over 10% in terms of CO2 emissions.

Despite its promising name, the Colt Ralliart has retained the basic features of the outgoing Colt CZT including the 150HP 1.5-liter turbo engine which is no match for its European counterparts like the new Seat Ibiza Cupra or the Renault Clio RS just to mention a few.

Mitsubishi claims that compared to the previous Colt CZT and in addition to a stronger structure, the Colt Ralliart suspension has been amended in eight different points for sharper driving dynamics, including reduced body roll thanks to a thicker front stabilizer bar.

Depending upon the market and except for the Clear Tec variants which will be introduced in 2009, the next generation Colt will be launched in Europe in October / November 2008.