Mitsubishi appeared to have it all going right: its Outlander is a credible compact ute, the new Lancer is a genuine success, and its seductive Concept RA was a smash at the 2008 NAIAS in Detroit. And for the last two years, Mitsubishi has been rolling out its handsome and versatile form vocabulary, as seen on the Lancer and set to define new Mitsubishis in the future.
So pardon us for being somewhat disappointed with the first glimpse of the 2009 Galant. It is only a refresh, but it’s relatively thorough, involving not just new taillights and wheels, but new bumpers, a new hood, and even a larger rear window.
Thus, we wonder if something could have been done to make it look more like the Lancer we love and less like a previous-generation Nissan Altima in front, or a Chrysler Sebring from behind. From a design standpoint, it appears half-baked—changed for the sake of change, but hardly improved.
New Sport Edition and Sport V-6 Trim Levels
Mitsubishi worked harder, it seems, revising the equipment packages, adding two new Sport models between the base ES and sport-tuned Galant Ralliart.
Four-cylinder Sport models come with the same 160-hp, 2.4-liter engine as the ES, whereas the Sport V-6 is powered by a variation of Mitsubishi’s ubiquitous 3.8-liter V-6, tuned to produce 230 horsepower as opposed to the Galant Ralliart’s 258 horsepower.
As before, all Galants shift themselves (four speeds for the four-cylinder, five for the sixes), and all feature manumatic operation.
Other than what’s under the hood, both Sport models are clones, with plenty of goodies like power seats, Homelink, climate control, and a 360-watt Rockford/Fosgate sound system on the inside, and a sunroof, 17-inch wheels, fog lights, and a razor-thin spoiler outside.
Saving it For Next Time?
In Mitsu’s defense, the current Galant has lived its whole life under the shadow of the Honda Accord and Toyota Camry, and the likelihood of knocking them off their perches after a midcycle enhancement is highly unlikely.
Only a complete redesign will make that kind of splash. But when that happens, which we expect sometime in 2010 or 2011, we can only hope it looks like the Concept ZT from the 2007 Tokyo auto show. That’s the Mitsubishi we want to see more of.
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