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The Evo X, Mitsubishi's new weapon in the fight against motoring boredom, is a very special car.
It might only find its way to a lucky few business drivers - probably company owners - but the technology involved shows how far a car maker can take a small family saloon in terms of performance.
However, in terms of that technology, and with reference to the vehicle's lengthy and abbreviation-filled name, our test car went three letters too far.
To explain, the 'Evo X' denotes that this is the 10th rally evolution of the Lancer saloon. 'FQ300' means that it has nearly 300PS (295 to be precise, and there's also a FQ330 and FQ360). 'GSR' indicates it is the top spec model, which means it comes with climate control, metallic paint, trip computer, CD stereo with built-in memory to store MP3s, satnav and a host of other goodies.
Then comes the final and excessive abbreviation - SST, or Super Sport Transmission, which is akin to VW's DSG system, but more expensive at £2000 and not as good.
While the SST gearbox does away with a clutch pedal, it does add an extra gear over the five-speed manual car. The driver is then free to use either wheel-mounted paddles or push the gear lever back and forth to change up and down. Lazy people can also leave it in a full auto mode.
There are three settings: normal, sport and super sport. Normal and sport are for regular driving, while super sport is designed for track use.
While all work well enough when you're either going hell-for-leather or in very slow traffic, none work when you want just a little bit of power, such as at junctions or pulling onto a roundabout from stationary, leading to decidedly jerky progress.
Throw in worse fuel consumption and worse CO2 figures than the manual and it's just not worth it.
Which is a shame, because the rest of the driving experience is nothing short of astonishing. The car's suspension set-up means it is just about perfect for entertainment while maintaining a level of comfort that means your mother-in-law won't complain when you give her a sedate lift to the station. It's flipping quick, too.
For what you get, the car's £31,999 price is very reasonable, although you will have to be the company owner to not worry about justifying the huge fuel and insurance bills.
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