During July's press launch, Mitsubishi guided us north of San Francisco into the mountains that snake along the Pacific. The scenery was an awesome backdrop, but to this driving enthusiast the serpentine two-lane highways were the areas most redeeming quality. At this I was in awe of the Mitsubishi's grace under pressure, its strut type front and sophisticated multi-link rear suspension hardly showing any signs of weak knees when flung through tight curves at slightly higher than posted limits - ahem.

From twisting hairpins to long sweeping arcs, the midsize Mitsubishi offers stable handling, impressive braking capabilities and a smooth, comfortable ride. (Photo: Trevor Hofmann, Canadian Auto Press)

I've driven these roads during other press events, with cars professing to be sport-oriented, but few felt as adept at managing the variety of conditions thrown at them as the Galant. From twisting hairpins to long, sweeping arcs the midsize Mitsubishi, either sporting the base 16-inch wheels and tires on the ES or optional 17-inch alloys on LS and GTS, left little to be desired, all the while offering impressive braking capabilities and a smooth, comfortable ride. Most impressive was an almost complete exorcism of dreaded torque steer, that tug on the steering wheel that often corresponds to pressing the accelerator of a powerful front-drive car - an amazing feat considering the Galant V6's strong torque delivery. It results in a car that not only is fast, but totally controllable as well.

With an almost complete lack of torque steer, the Galant is not only fast, but totally controllable as well. (Photo: Trevor Hofmann, Canadian Auto Press)

While I covered many more details in a previously written 2004 Galant preview (see archives), I was wooed by some of the car's other attributes that only could be appreciated by experiencing them first hand. Firstly, the quality of the interior is right up there with the top Japanese brands, and better than some. This was a sore point in the outgoing Galant, but Mitsubishi has redeemed itself with soft-touch plastics, better than average fit and finish and cool metallic accents.