Ralliart, Celica, or Cobra

New to the forums so hello. Right now I am in the process of finding a new vehicle, I love my 98 stang to death but would like an upgrade. The following cars I am looking at purchasing are as follows.


2004 Mitsubishi Lancer Ralliart (http://modules03.dealercarsearch.com/usercontrols/brochure.aspx?dealer=2443&id=1178147) - 70000 Miles - $8,800
2004 Toyota Celica GT (http://autos.yahoo.com/used-cars/toyota-celica-cars407291004) - 71,000 Miles - $10,000
1997 Ford Mustang SVT Cobra (http://autos.yahoo.com/used-cars/ford-mustang-cars404998034;_ylt=ApFDlBQBn6s7YvnknqcGb3SOWI54;_y lv=3?sortcol=price&sortdir=up&modelyearub=2000&askpriceub=10000&askpricelb=any&deliverymileageub=any&deliverymileagelb=any&location=St.+Paul%2C+MN+55118&listingtype=used&model=mustang&make=ford&distance=50) - 71,000 Miles - $9,000


I am just wondering what you know about the pros and cons with each car, which one you would get and why etc. Couple things that I am looking for:

Decent or able to improve 0-60 time
Decent MPG
Good winter driving is a plus (drove a mustang so i'm used to poor winter handling)
No convertible unless it is a hard top, need to drive the car in the winter.


Also if you have a different car that you think would be better please suggest! My price range is <$10,000 so please keep that in mind.

First, welcome to AF!

Good list of cars - and thanks for doing your research before asking. That's a huge help!

For me, personally, I would be a little wary of the 01 Celi because it does have higher mileage, and in a performance car, that can mean more hard miles. I'm not a stang fan for several reasons - winter driving being only one of them. LOL

That leaves the 04 Celi & the Mitsu. To be honest, I really don't know much about the performance of either one. Isn't the Lancer a 4-door?? So that would even put it in a slightly different category.

I know that doesn't much help. Don't forget to check insurance costs. :)

Yep, I remember reading what you said to GetCrazy about that


Third, consider your insurance costs. The STi is going to cost you more to insure than your Tib. How much more depends on your age, your credit (yep, you read that), your driving record, your home situation and more.

The ralliart is a 4dr that is correct, and for the stang, well ive been through 3 winters with mine and even though it isn't nice, im decent with RWD. Haha like you said though it is personal preference.

Good thinking about the Celica though, Only reason why I was thinking about it was because it was the '01.

Yep, I remember reading what you said to GetCrazy about that


Good thinking about the Celica though, Only reason why I was thinking about it was because it was the '01.

I'm so glad you actually read! ;) I don't mean that sarcastically, I'm 100% serious.

I mean, the price on that '01 is nicer to be sure, but 100k mi is like a magic mark where cars just start falling apart. So many things need to be replaced, and unless the previous owner(s) have already done all the work, it can get expensive. That's one reason why I bought my Civic (even if it IS only a Civic, it's still a fun 5spd LOL). The guy I bought it off of had the maintenance records showing all the stuff he had replaced so I wouldn't need to be bothered. ;)

For now I have my eyes on the cobra. I'm used to driving RWD in the winter and the lower mpg, its an upgrade from my 98 mustang, half the miles, better performance. FWD car would be nice but its not something that is going to decide what type of car I get.

2004 Mitsubishi Lancer Ralliart - 70000 Miles - $8,800
2004 Toyota Celica GT - 71,000 Miles - $10,000
2001 Toyota Celica GT - 100,000 Miles - $6,700
1997 Ford Mustang SVT Cobra - 71,000 Miles - $9,000




I would forget the Celica, or sillyca.
They are not that quick, the engine has problems with it's power delivery.
There are all sorts of theory's why, but Toyota mismatch the two cam profiles so there is a drop of in power delivery when they switch over. They then mis-match the gear ratios, making it impossible to keep the engine running on the high rpm cam.



What spec is the RallyArt Lancer?
The ones we got here in NZ were just standard Lancers with a body kit. Not exciting, or very fast.

That leaves the SVT Cobra, not a car we got here, but one I understand is quite a bit faster than the Celica or Lancer?


Have you looked at other cars, the US Spec v6 Maxima is very quick, and even an Si Civic would be fun, with lots of potential.

The SVT is quite good even though it is a '97, 0-100 in 5.5. The lancer is just a '04 Lancer ralliart, it doesn't have anything special done to it cosmetic, and would doubt anything mechanical. Haven't thought about a maxima, will look into it and decide what I think, thank you for the option. The civic does have potential I agree but whenever I think of civic the word Ricer keeps on coming to mind. I would rather get the ralliart and put money into that than the civic.

EDIT: Added links for all cars.

Well look at this way:

The Lancer looks fast, but is slow. As a result it has limited potential with lots spent on it, and I do mean LOTS.

The Celica is a non starter unless your female or gay.

The SVT is already fast, being a well known platform with massive aftermarket support has the potential to be even faster still.

A Civic, while it has a bad rep, is also already fast, and with massive aftermarket support has the potential to be even faster still.

How affordable are WRX's and EVO's in the states?
I know they came quite late to the market there.

:banghead: They are:


Where I live, hard to come by used, and
If you do find one used, it has insane miles on it.


I'm still looking into them but the only ones ive found are out of my price range or have over 150K miles. Unless I could get a dealership to get one for me I have a feeling it isn't going to work for the evo or wrx. :'(

:banghead: They are:


Where I live, hard to come by used, and
If you do find one used, it has insane miles on it.


I'm still looking into them but the only ones ive found are out of my price range or have over 150K miles. Unless I could get a dealership to get one for me I have a feeling it isn't going to work for the evo or wrx. :'(


Wow, we get boat loads of them from Japan, but all lower millage than that.
At about 100,000ks they start to break :rofl:


Whats your budget?
One of those RWD V6 Hyundai's looks like fun.

As of now its <10K. I might be getting a new job with a higher pay so we will see if that can raise or not. I wont be purchasing one until November when I go on my trip so that will give me some time to build up some extra money.

I have thought about attempting to import one from japan but the hassle of going through customs and getting it drivable in the U.S. gives me a headache sometimes.

First of all sorry for the double post.

I may have found my car (http://dealers2.aultec.com/v/index.cfm?object=show&DealerID=10161&AutoId=22306931&lang=en) after all.

2002 Mustang GT 89K Miles, auto, has mach sound system, 6 disc cd changer. Granted it as 20K more miles than the other cars but its also 2K less and better. As of right now, this is the car I'm going to be going after unless I can find something better. Thank you Moppie and Speediva!

I may have found my car (http://dealers2.aultec.com/v/index.cfm?object=show&DealerID=10161&AutoId=22306931&lang=en) after all.

2002 Mustang GT 89K Miles, auto, has mach sound system, 6 disc cd changer. Granted it as 20K more miles than the other cars but its also 2K less and better. As of right now, this is the car I'm going to be going after unless I can find something better. Thank you Moppie and Speediva!



Nice mate!

Let us know if you get it, and what you think of it :icon16: