Rallying around the Mitsubishi brand

“When I stopped competing, I would still help out and volunteer,” he said. “I would staff a checkpoint in the middle of nowhere, or be part of the crew that would run the route a couple of days in advance to make sure the instructions made sense and there were no obstacles.”

In 2010, Doig was shopping for a car because the 1997 Dodge Avenger ES he had been driving was falling apart.

“It had a Mitsubishi engine and it was still good, but the Chrysler side of it rusted out so I had to get rid of it,” he said.

With a healthy respect for the triple diamond brand, Doig started looking at Mitsubishi Lancers, which at the time was on the ninth generation. As much as he wanted a rally-bred Lancer Evolution, it was the five-door Sportback design that most appealed to him. The search was on for a 2010 Lancer Sportback Ralliart, another high-performance variant that sat one step below the EVO.

“I walked into Scarborough Mitsubishi and asked specifically for it. They had to go looking for it and found one in Atlantic Canada,” he said. “I always kind of think of my Ralliart as an EVO light. I wanted to have a nice all-wheel drive car with some good handling characteristics, and something l could do some lapping days with.”

Though his competition days are behind him, he still helps out at some Ontario rally races, where Mitsubishi’s Super All-Wheel Control gives him confidence on any surface.

“Most of the events I help with are up in the Bancroft area in November, so you get the added fun of snow and ice on the road,” he said. “That’s where I really appreciate the added benefit of all-wheel control. I never have any concerns about losing control of the car. It’s almost like easy mode for driving.”

Doig’s Mitsubishi now has 240,000 kilometers on it and although it’s still running strong, he has started to think about what comes next.

“I’ve come to the conclusion that I’m probably going to drive it into the ground,” he said. “I’ve been looking at the current lineup and I’m sad that there’s no equivalent to my car, but I have stared hard at the RVR because it’s the next closest thing.”

Whatever his next Mitsubishi is, Doig has confidence it will have the attributes he loves about the brand.

“For me, the key thing about Mitsubishi is the powertrain and the engine. I’ve never had any trouble with it. I love the handling characteristics. They’re predictable and I know what it’s going to do under any circumstances.”