Mitsubishi's Prototype-S five-door hatch, set to debut at the Geneva Motor Show this year, maintains most of the ferocity of the Concept Sportback the company brought to the 2005 Frankfurt auto show -- at least in front. To make the rear row of seats more habitable, though, the almost production-ready Prototype-S has a more upright rear end.
The Prototype-S makes use of the Lancer Ralliart's 2.0-liter turbo four, which produces 237 horsepower and 253 lb-ft of torque, attached to the Twin Clutch Sport Shift Transmission. As with the Ralliart, the Prototype-S sends power to all four wheels and gets Mitsubishi's Active Center Differential, which attempts to find the best balance between steering response and traction by tailoring front/rear drive torque vectoring to various conditions with an electronically controlled multi-plate hydraulic clutch.
About 0.5 inches longer than the 2008 Lancer sedan, the Prototype-S rides on 215/45 R19 rubber with attractive 19-inch twin five-spoke wheels. As we reported last June, Mitsubishi plans to bring a five-door Lancer Sportback to the European market sometime later this year, but no word on whether we'll get a five-door Impreza WRX-fighter in the U.S. The Lancer Ralliart, in any case, will arrive summer 2008.
For updates on the Mitsubishi Prototype-S and all the other Geneva show highlights, keep your eyes on MotorTrend.com and in the meantime, check out our preliminary coverage by clicking here.