Evo look for new Diamante

More powerful engines, a Ralliart model and 4WD range on the way, writes ALASTAIR SLOANE.

Mitsubishi will change the model designation of its Diamante line-up from this weekend to step into line with Mitsubishi Australia's production schedules at the Diamante plant in Adelaide.

The Supersaloon becomes the Diamante Ei and the SEi the Xi. The new-name lineup will also come with more a powerful V6 engine, up 5kW from the current 3.5-litre unit's 150kW.

The change comes a month before Mitsubishi launches a special-edition Ralliart version of the Diamante on to the New Zealand market, a car the company says will change the performance sedan landscape.

"The Ralliart Diamante is an indication of the development path down which Mitsubishi Motors Australia are taking the Diamante," said the carmaker's New Zealand sales manager Peter Wilkins.

"It is the first step towards an extensive range of additional desirable vehicles in the Mitsubishi line-up.

"The Ralliart Diamante has more than a touch of the Lancer Evolution about it, in both show and go, and is bound to please the enthusiast driver."

The Ralliart model will be joined later in the year by four-wheel-drive VRX versions of the Diamante. These cars go into production in Adelaide in October and should go on sale here in November.

Mitsubishi wants to boost sales of the Diamante up from the 1400-1500 it sold in New Zealand last year. Sales across the Mitsubishi range dropped more than 20 per cent in 2001 and the carmaker sees special-editon models like the Ralliart as a way of gaining lost ground.

The front-drive model costs $56,900 and comes with a 180kW 3.5-litre V6 engine, body kit and revised suspension.

It is loosely based on the car which shocked Holden and Ford race teams in a one-out appearance on a Adelaide racetrack last year.

Ralliart engineers used a high-lift camshaft, sports exhaust, new cylinder head, increased compression ratio, stainless steel exhaust headers and revised engine management calibration to produce a six-cylinder that delivers 180kW and 333Nm of torque on regular unleaded petrol. The torque is delivered from quite low in the rev range and the sprint times are seriously quick: Zero to 100 km/h in 6.7 seconds, with the 400m coming up in 14.7 seconds.

An Evo-inspired body kit gives the car a purposeful, aggressive look, sitting on 17-inch Enkei alloy wheels shod with 225/50 Pirelli P6000 performance tyres.

This power is put to the ground with a revised suspension set-up where springs and dampers have been reworked to give more responsive, neutral handling.

Steering components were also specially calibrated to give the feel and feedback for spirited driving, says Mitsubishi.

The five-speed manual variant comes with a limited-slip differential as standard, while the five-speed manual/automatic uses Mitsubishi's traction control system.

The brakes for the hot Diamante are 294mm ventilated discs at the front with two-pot calipers, and 284mm ventilated discs at the rear. Brake pad material has also been specially selected to provide improved brake pedal feel and fade-free stops. Inside, the Ralliart Diamante is trimmed with a red, black and silver theme. The instrument cluster has red and white markings and a security-coded 14-speaker, 188 watt remote-controlled Eclipse audio system with 7-CD in-dash facility. Driver and passenger sports seats carry the Ralliart logo, and the Momo steering wheel is leather-wrapped.