Mitsubishi Diamante Sport

Most carmakers include a high performance version of each car in the range, but everybody at Mitsubishi seems to have gone power mad. Think of the Mitsubishi Lancer and you most definitely won't see the 1.8 manual in your mind. No, you'll have a vision of the firebreathing EVO V, 285bhp of rallying power. Even the Pajero is not forgotten, as the Pajero Evolution is available, again with 285bhp of push.

What then of Mitsubishi's executive bruiser, the 3.0 litre Diamante Sport? On the surface a virtually standard 3.0 litre V6, albeit with 140kW of power and a few suspension changes, doesn't really shine against the likes of EVO V and Pajero Evolution, but what impresses most about the Diamante Sport is how balanced the car feels.

New, lower, and slightly harder suspension settings eliminate the wallow that's usually present in the standard Diamante, sharpening both steering and cornering ability. Factor in the four speed sequential/automatic gearbox and the lusty V6 engine and you've got all the ingredients for a very well thought out grand tourer. The gearbox is based on the standard four speed of the Diamante range, but shift the gearlever over to the left hand slot and you are in sequential mode. Push forward to go up a gear, pull back to go down one.

It sounds good in theory, and it's usually very good in practice. Even though the four gears are well spread in ratios the V6 supplies more than enough torque to overcome any deficiencies in such a widely geared 'box. In general the gearbox reacts quickly to gearchange inputs, although every once and a while the computer controlling the gearbox will take half a second to think things over before changing gear so selecting a new ratio is never going to be as quick as in a proper race car type mechanical sequential gearbox.

Once you get out on the open road the situation improves, and with a bit of forward planning you can have each gearchange when you want it. It's at higher speeds that the lowered suspension shows what you can do to the competent, but sometimes inert standard Diamante. The Diamante Sport bites into corners and swings around them with real ability, aided by the 215/60 R16 tyres. The limits are so much higher than those of the standard car, and the Diamante Sport eventually seems to shrink around you, until it's a much smaller, more agile car.

Ultimately you will find understeer, as the nose gently swings wide as the limit of adhesion is reached, but the majority of drivers will usually bask in the lower speeds where the car darts through any corner worth the name. And ride quality isn't too bad, even though the sports suspension will sometimes cause the car to shudder over rough roads.

Inside you're treated to a brushed aluminium instrument cluster and leather covered steering wheel and gearlever. While the front seats are virtually identical to those of the standard car, they're trimmed in sporty fabric and seem to offer more lateral support. Virtually the rest of the interior is standard Diamante Sedan, which means more than enough room for two six foot tall people in front as well as enough room in the rear for three adults to sit without rubbing shoulders. Bootspace is likewise very impressive, with a huge black hole that tends to swallow much more than you would think.

When you realise that the Diamante comes from a project run by Mitsubishi Australia you begin to see why the car is so big on the inside. Designed to go head to head with Commodore and Falcon, there's obviously no substitute for cubic inches. Interior cubic inches that is. The message that this is a big Aussie car is driven home starkly when you switch the headlights onto high beam. I've no doubt those beams would light up every wandering Kangaroo in the Australian Outback. Here in New Zealand they merely illuminate everything between you and the next town.

The Mitsubishi Diamante is a very good car, but then it would have to be, for the VT Commodore is also a very good car, and the just launched AU Falcon promises a hell of a lot. What the Diamante does is provide a real alternative if you're not into the eternal Ford/Holden big car feud. That a Japanese car maker can sell a convincing big car is great, but the fact that they can take that car, and turn it into a proper GT Sports car is nothing short of amazing.