| First Drive | Bibury, England | Mitsubishi Colt Ralliart |

Apparently everyone is downsizing their cars thanks to being skint. Mercifully there's a whole host of new hot metal in the supermini class that should put a smile on your face without blowing your entire redundancy payout. Mitsubishi's Colt Ralliart is the latest offering and it's a real hoot.

In the Metal

When we first heard that the Colt was to be the recipient of the Lancer's prominent gaping, so-called 'jet-fighter' front grille we were more than a touch concerned. Given the Colt's compact MPV-mono-box-like lines the result should be a disaster. It isn't, indeed it's actually rather successful, Mitsubishi's designers doing a good job of giving the Colt a mini-Lancer nose. They've managed that by not just grafting on a new front, but by making extensive changes to the rest of the sheet metal to create a cohesive whole rather than a Jackson-esque nightmarish nose job.

There are three- and five-door models on offer with the three-door the better looking of the pair. In white, with black detailing, the standard cool grey alloy wheels, Ralliart badging and just enough in-yer-face aggression the Ralliart Colt looks the part.

What you get for your Money

The three-door Ralliart costs £12,049 (add £500 for two extra doors) and for that you get quite a lot. It's among the most powerful cars in its class for the money with 147bhp on offer from its smooth 1.5-litre turbocharged engine, and it comes comprehensively equipped too with air conditioning, electric windows all round and loads of airbags you hope you'll never need. Against the competition it's a decent value package. Servicing costs can be anticipated too, as the Ralliart is available with the same £295, three-year fixed price, servicing package as the rest of the Colt range.

Driving it

Aside from the white on black dials, leather gearknob cover and the sportier body-hugging seats, there's very little to differentiate the Ralliart Colt from its lesser brethren. It's all a bit plasticky and hard, but fire up the 1.5-litre turbo engine and you soon forget about the rather uninspiring - if surprisingly spacious - interior. Turning the key and pressing the accelerator results in a quite satisfyingly purposeful note emanating from under the bonnet and from the sports exhaust.

With 147bhp on offer at 6,000rpm - and 155lb.ft of torque at 3,500rpm - the 1.5-litre turbocharged engine is a nicely flexible performer with plenty of urgency across the spread of its revs. It'll reach 62mph in just 7.4 seconds (7.6 seconds for the five-door) and onto a 131mph maximum if you don't want your licence anymore. On the move it loses some of the throbbing appeal it exhibits at idle, the sound changing in pitch to a higher, less purposeful noise.

Not that you'll care when you've got your foot planted to the floor, the Ralliart gaining pace with real conviction. There's some tug at the steering, which rather than being unwelcome helps you feel your way down the road. The steering's not overly loaded with information, but it's light and accurate enough to have some fun exploiting the engine's potency. There's traction and stability control, but with its rallying heritage Ralliart's people are obviously used to working with such systems on slippery surfaces as neither makes its presence felt until it's really necessary - even on roads coated in a slippery coating of muck and water.

It all adds up to a quite enjoyable driving experience, the tall Colt being resistant to body roll thanks to the stiff, but rarely compromised, suspension. If there are weak areas in its make up it's the rather sloppy gearshift - second to third being particularly ponderous - and some fairly pronounced road noise from the wider tyres that give it so much grip. Small sacrifices perhaps, but that tyre noise will become annoying on longer trips, especially as the stereo isn't really up to drowning it out.

Worth Noting

For what's essentially a facelifted model Mitsubishi has been very busy updating the Colt. Already a large supermini in terms of passenger space there really is plenty of room in the Colt for more than just two adults and the new model benefits from being a little longer. The boot's larger too, there's a new underfloor area and the seats also fold flat now. Practical and fun then.

The Ralliart is more than merely a refresh of the old CZT too, Mitsubishi moving the Colt firmly from warm hatch to hot hatch with its Ralliart additions. If you're not in a hurry you'll get decent economy from it with 41.5mpg possible on the official combined consumption cycle - figure on about 30mpg in normal use though.

Summary

Inexpensive, comprehensively equipped, good-looking and enormous fun, the Mitsubishi Colt Ralliart has all the right ingredients for an appealing hot hatch. It's not all perfect though, as the gearshift feels clumsy, the interior is a bit plain and on longer journeys the road noise will become tiresome. But if some back-road fun is what you're after then the Colt Ralliart delivers big thrills for not much money. And in these times of economic woe that's no bad thing at all.