Cruelly addictive

I can imagine a few Mitsubishi Motors Canada executives sitting around a table, in a dark room down in the basement of their headquarters, right next to the furnace. Together, they're discussing their malicious plan against the automotive journalists...

A rabbit out of a hat? Possibly, but a small enjoyable car nonetheless.

"This time, we'll make them suffer," said one of them, followed by a nasty and incessant laugh. "Yes, yes! Let's torture them good!" added another, smiling while frowning and rubbing his hands together. The leader of this rat pack bangs his fist on the table and barks: "Release the CZT... those journalists who predicted our failure in Canada will be destroyed!" They leave the room discreetly, their eyes filled with vengeance.

What's this weapon of mass destruction against the evil automotive journalists? No, it's not a super-exotic sports car or an all-terrain vehicle capable of climbing the Himalayas, but a cute little subcompact, which initially seemed totally harmless. The Colt CZT will end up being a cruelty towards the automotive press representatives for a number of reasons. Some call the SPCA!

The heart of the beast
The Colt CZT is motivated by a turbocharged and intercooled 1.5-liter, 16-valve inline-4. This engine delivers 150 horsepower and 155 lb-ft of torque, and with only 1,070 kg (2,360 lbs) to pull, it provides the car with 0-100 km/h accelerations of 8.0 seconds. It is also coupled to a 5-speed manual transmission, which is fun to manipulate despite the shift lever lacking a little precision.

To my knowledge, the last Mitsubishi hot hatch that was as fast and sporty that we could get here was the 1989 Dodge/Plymouth Colt GT Turbo (Mirage Turbo in the States). It had a 1.6-liter turbo 4-cylinder that developed 135 horsepower and 141 lb-ft of torque, in a car that weighed 1,130 kg (2,500 lbs).

The power to weight ratio of this small car is very favourable.

In the pictures, the wheels look miniscule but they are in fact 16-inch alloys wrapped in 205/45HR16 performance rubber. Like all subcompacts sold in Canada, the Colt's rear suspension is of the low-tech Torsion Beam type in order to maximize cargo space.

A format that suits well to driving in urban areas.

Still, the CZT had sharp reflexes and its steering rack seems taken straight out of a go-kart (like the Honda Fit). As a result, this little buzz bomb is a pure joy to drive, in both the city on the open road. It is even equipped with traction and stability control systems as well as 4-wheel disc brakes. On the bad side, we found the suspension noisy on our beautifully-cratered roads.

The European combined city/highway fuel economy rating of the Colt CZT is 6.8 L/100 km, but our average is 10.4. We were more interested in exploiting the car's performance rather than its fuel economy, though. But a combined average of 8.5 L/100 km seems more realistic.

Attractive shape
The 5-door Colt is nice, but the 3-door is particularly charming. Its proportions are perfect, and it shares the same beautiful face as its 5-door sibling.

However, its posterior is better-looking, with horizontal taillights and, in the CZT's case, a spoiler tacked on the top of the rear window. In addition, the rear wheels are so pushed towards the back of the car that you can clearly see the tire treads, which we like.

Since this car is theoretically unique in Canada, it obviously turns heads on the road, and the red paint job probably helps in that regard. Which one do you prefer between the Colt, the Yaris and the Hyundai Accent, all 3-door hatches? I vote for the Mitsubishi hands down.

Sporty-looking cockpit
The pattern of the grippy fabric on the sport seats is proof enough that this isn't a run-of-the-mill Colt. Red stitching also adorns the steering wheel, shift knob and floor mats. The pedals are made from aluminum.

The texture of the plastics the make up the dashboard is pleasing, but doesn't look very rich. And those radio and ventilation control knobs, moulded in a light blue color, don't match well at all in this model.

Some small aesthetic changes would be appreciated.

The rear bench is very practical because it can slide fore and aft on tracks. So, we can increase legroom or allow for more cargo space.

Heated leather seats are optional in the CZT. Safety-wise, this model gets 6 airbags.

The trunk is quite spacious with a maximum cargo capacity of 535 litres.

Competition
If the Colt CZT was offered in Canada tomorrow morning, would it have any rivals? Not really. No other subcompact has the power output and performance of this little Mitsu.

The Mini Cooper is the car that most closely measures up to the CZT, but it's not as fast since it only has 118 horsepower.

In short, the turbocharged Colt could very well find its lot of buyers who are looking for a small car that's both sporty and economical.

Conclusion
Since we drove the Colt CZT, we're devastated. This little rocket won our hearts in no time, and we now feel emptiness in our lives since then. Mitsubishi's been cruel to us, the journalists, as even if we get down on our knees and beg them to import the Colt in Canada, it won't arrive here before the next redesign, which could take another 2 years.

But, gladly, this subcompact has become Mitsubishi Motors of Canada's top priority, and we can only hope that the next Colt will include a performance model similar to the CZT in its lineup. We're dreaming of a $20,000 Colt Ralliart in Canadian showrooms in 2009 or 2010.

We should've know better that to take the opportunity to drive the Colt CZT; Mitsubishi got us where it hurts, but we're responsible adults, and we're not mad at them. Life can be so cruel sometimes.



Performance level
Superb handling



Some dashboard details to fix
Suspension noise



None