So this car, the first fruit, should be right up your street: meet son of Evo. It's called CZ3 Tarmac and is flagged up as an 'urban rally machine', a small, powerful projectile tailor-made for tricky special stages 'twixt home and office.

It's currently a concept but promises the prerequisites for a stomping good drive at a more junior - and more affordable - level than big brother. So while it gets the Lancer Evo's four-wheel drive with active diff and Active Yaw Control, its body is shorter than a Fiesta's and the engine is just 1.5 litres. But because it's turbocharged and intercooled it gives 160bhp plus.

CZ3 Tarmac looks nuggety, in a slightly banana-shaped way. The waistline is high for a strong profile and some, though not all, of the styling cues obviously have a production-car future, most notably the new bonnet spine and raised trio of chrome diamonds on the nose.

With its tall, sports wagon body, it sacrifices nothing on the practicality front. It has five doors - the rear doors' handles are in the pillars, Alfa style - and the promise of excellent cabin room, though the boot is small.

There are plenty of things you expect of an Evo - body-hugging seats, a good view out, and pedals and controls all laid out for drivers who like to drive rather than pootle. The concept interior looks just right with lots of drilled alloy, exposed screw heads and matt black trim, while the driving position is high and close to the steering wheel, like a rally car's.

Mitsubishi has built some cracking concept cars over the years, seven of them in the past 12 months since the arrival, from Mercedes, of new design director Olivier Boulay. They've all been driveable too, but, until the CZ3, not by journalists. This shift is indicative of a changing attitude at Mitsubishi.

Concept cars are built first and foremost to look good rather than go fast which is why this can't be a normal drive. For another, welded to the passenger seat is a nervous Japanese person who knows only three words of English - slow down please - and repeats them constantly. A bit of a shame, since newly switched-on Mitsubishi Europe has thoughtfully provided a track for our use.

With its long wheelbase, short overhangs and wide track, son of Evo feels a well planted car. Its good visibility and commanding driving position make it easy to place. In this form the car was never meant to be able to showcase performance and handling but it is easy to fill in the gaps: crisp engine response, subtle but unmistakable Evo exhaust blare, and fast steering with masses of grip and all-seasons handling you can lose yourself in. 0-60? Anything around six seconds would feel right. Could they do all that? Course they could. And if they did? Anyone looking at a Civic Type-R, Clio 172 or the forthcoming 180bhp 206 GTI would have to think twice.

It is possible, of course, that it will offer altogether more serious performance. If this car forms the basis of the next WRC contender then the engine would go to two litres and power to a possible 290bhp. Insiders say the switch from Lancer to a smaller car is likely but not yet decided.
Mitsubishi has also to decide if it will be three or five-door, five or six-speed. A CVT with shifter paddles on the wheel is the preferred transmission at this stage, which is fine. Also fine, I reckon, is the idea of baby sports wagon styling. Nobody ever said supermini niche models had to be boring clones of 4x4s and MPVs.

The baby Evo isn't just around the corner but Mitsubishi promises that other sporty models are coming. They're adamant the new made-in-Europe Colt supermini (unveiled 2003) won't arrive without hero versions in the range. These are likely to be sold under the Ralliart name (recently brought under Mitsubishi's control in the UK) which will provide the direct link between motorsport and road cars that Mitsubishi's battered image needs.

Long term, Mitsubishi would like Evo versions of everything, Shogun included. But the new small car is a fine place to start. Could I imagine blasting it down B-roads or cutting a swathe through city traffic, and having fun doing it? Easily.