Star turn Sportback

It's been a while since Mitsubishi in Ireland had a compact family hatchback to offer in a market where maybe seven out of ten cars in the segment have that rear door.

Though when the distributors do get the Lancer Sportback into showrooms in September, they're not expecting to follow that ratio.



Indeed, the image of the Lancer in Ireland is so embedded in it being a saloon, they figure that only three out of ten buyers of the nameplate will go for the new variant.

That said, because the Lancer has become Mitsubishi Ireland's most important car in the shifting CO2 tides here, having the hatch version is going to bring a timely extra option to the brand's offerings.

The car will launch in Ireland with a 105hp 1.5 and a 143hp 1.8 in petrol and a 140hp 2.0 diesel which comes courtesy of Volkswagen. This diesel will also be introduced to the Sports Saloon which has been on sale here for some time.

Next year the 240hp Ralliart Lancer variant will be available in both Sportback and Saloon versions.



The Sportback is essentially a hatchback in form but is a little longer than the saloon, which itself rather straddles the compact family and medium family segments.

In sporting perception terms, the designers selected the Saab 900 Turbo Coupe as a model to aim for, and at a European level the Sportback will be marketed as a stylish and slightly offbeat car.

The style does have a certain distinctiveness, with a raked rear roofline and a roof level spoiler that will be standard on all versions of the Sportback. The front end has a variant of the 'jet fighter' grille that has been the theme of the new Lancer since its concept days. The company has a connection here, as parent Mitsubishi Heavy Industries makes jet fighters amongst its vast array of products.



The interior is essentially the same as the saloon, styled and finished with straightforward traditional analogue instrumentation. The steering wheel controls, and those on the dash and stack, are also familiar current Mitsubishi themes.

It's a nice driving position, and the overused 'driver's car' description is perfectly apt in this case.

The luggage capacity can be up to 1.39 cu m and there's some extra height available in the rearmost luggage area, by lowering the floor from its level position.

At the international introduction, I drove a pre-production version of the Ralliart first, and then the 1.8 petrol. Neither will be major sellers in Ireland, where the 1.5 petrol and the diesel will rule, especially in the new CO2 regime.

The Ralliart was interesting, though. It is not an 'Evo Lite', but rather a 'super Lancer', targeting the Subaru WRX and the Audi S3. It has both poke and panache enough to match these. In the hills at the back of Sitges it offered a driving experience of some verve, especially if using the standard dual-clutch automated gearbox in 'manual' mode.

The 1.8 offered had an ordinary autobox, which rather dulled the flair that I know this engine actually has.

From some date next year, Mitsubishi will be introducing its own 'clean diesel', a 1.8 which is being developed with the parent company.

Particularly with its new generation Lancer, a nameplate that was missing for several years from here, Mitsubishi is promoting its cars with a sporty ethos. The new Sportback is a good example of this strategy.

Brian Byrne.