Putting sport first

Mitsubishi is injecting a little sport back into the compact four-door segment with its Lancer Sportback.

After years of marketing a Sportback that was more about station wagon utility than five-door sportiness, Mitsubishi decided to go with a model that is almost identical to its Lancer sedan, save for a rear window that slopes off more gently toward the rear fascia.

Even the taillights are nearly identical in a rear end that looks as if it was grafted on to the sedan bodystyle up to the rear doors. What you get in the renovation is a bit more cargo versatility, without infringing on an acceptable passenger space – the hatch adds over 100 litres more “trunk” space (almost four cubic feet), which expands to 1,317 litres (46.6 cu.ft.) when you flip the rear 60/40 split seatbacks forward.

As with most cars this size, interior room is good for four and tight when you try and squeeze in a passenger in the rear seat. Nearly flat cushions make it easier than in some of Lancer’s competitors to fit in a smaller body, but it’s still a better fit for just two back there.

The driver’s office is a study in simplicity – there’s a high-mounted slim radio controlled by two knobs and a dozen buttons; and there’s a low mounted climate control centre made up of three dials (temperature, fan speed and vent selector) with automatic modes for fan and vent so all the driver has to do is dial up a comfortable temperature. Redundant controls on the steering wheel are small, making them unobtrusive but also a tad difficult to engage without a good look at what you want to press.

The front seats are Recaro full backed models that offer as much full body support as the racing seats in your favourite racer’s NASCAR racecar. They are also challenging to get into, since we don’t get the racecar’s removable steering wheel.

But they do provide the perfect office chair for the business of driving, and you won’t find yourself in any discomfort (whether you’re cruising down the highway, slaloming around city traffic or touring along a winding asphalt strip in cottage country).

And you’ll enjoy all three of those driving scenes with the Sportback Ralliart’s turbocharged 2.0-litre four-cylinder engine that puts 237 horses to all four wheels via Mitsubishi’s six-speed dual clutch transmission. And because peak torque is available from between 2500 engine rpm to upwards of 4700, there’s always enough pull to get the car moving in a hurry. The only caveat is if the back wheels are sitting on a slippery surface and the fronts are on the grippe kind – better hold on to that steering wheel, especially if the front wheels are even slightly off centre.

The transmission does a lovely job of keeping things smooth and progressive as you climb through the gears, or you can shift gears for yourself using steering wheel paddles (left for down; right for up).

The ride is expectedly firm, with the car displaying it over slight to medium jostles. That same suspension, though, does a great job of keeping the car flat through medium to high-speed corners. There is never even a hint of weight transfer, and the all-wheel drive and wide rubber (on 18-inch alloy wheels) grab the pavement tenaciously. The driver can also adjust for surface conditions, with a selector to choose between tarmac, gravel and snow.

The Lancer Sportback is as much about sportiness as it is about utility and though you don’t get the best of both worlds, you get a decent compromise in what is also a good looking sporty package.