It doesn't help that this Evo GT-A is finished in champagne-coloured metallic on the outside, set off by shinier alloys, and on the inside has electrically adjusted leather seats, 'blue pearl' lacquered trim panels and white-faced, chrome-ringed dials. Oh, and that auto 'box gate with bright surround. Unseen is extra sound deadening material. If Mitsubishi had set out to make an Evo VII Vanden Plas, it couldn't have got much closer ί¿½ all that's missing is an inappropriate upright chrome radiator grille and fey walnut picnic trays.

The GT-A exists 'to bring the hi-performance all-wheel-drive sports sedan experience to a wider audience', says the Mitsubishi blurb. All the GSR's chassis refinements are retained, including Active Yaw Control (AYC) and Active Centre Differential (ACD) with selectable tarmac/gravel/snow settings. And although power is slightly down, from 276 to 268bhp, and the torque curve has been scalped to provide a flat-topped 253lb ft between 3000 and 5000rpm, there's no question that this is still one seriously quick saloon.

There are a great many other changes, almost all of them designed to subtly reduce the rawness of the GSR. The suspension is extensively but gently tweaked to provide the same no-roll cornering but with a more comfortable ride and less on-limit snappiness. Powertrain refinements include the use of vibration-damping steel for the engine's sump, steel instead of aluminium intercooler piping to lower intake noise, and a choke pipe in the exhaust to reduce burble.

Clearly the Evo VII has been through a very thorough development programme. You might expect the focal point of all this effort to be an example of the in-vogue semi-manual, like Ferrari's F1 system. Not so. Mitsubishi has fitted the proven five-speed torque converter auto from the Galant VR-4, a conventional auto featuring what was referred to a few years back as 'fuzzy logic'. Basically, the 'box can detect the driving style and adapt its shift pattern to suit. In addition, there are usefully big steering-wheel- mounted buttons marked +/- for manual override and the same function can be accessed with the gearlever by pushing it to the left, as in a Porsche, into a short +/- gate when it's in Drive.

And as we said at the outset, it's a very good auto. Prod the throttle from rest and the torque converter squanders revs to get you away smoothly and then blurs the shifts so that you gain speed seamlessly. Back off for a corner and the revs die away. Big deal - that's what regular autos do - but it feels very odd if you're used to the manual Evo. Initially it's hard to get your head around this peculiar juxtaposition of luxobarge waftability and Evo intensity, because the GT-A is still very much an Evo VII - bury your right foot and it really goes.

Turbocharged engines always feel wonderfully gutsy on part throttle and the appeal of the GT-A becomes stronger if you drive it without the accelerator jammed against the carpet. It's grin-inducingly rapid, exceptionally smooth- shifting and slingshot rapid, too. Dynamically it doesn't feel quite as alert as the GSR but that model can feel hyper just for the sake of it (our long-term RS Sprint even more so). So it's not necessarily a downside that the steering feels a fraction less immediate and the ride a touch more supple.

Snap throttle openings are a bit odd, though. The revs initially jump 1000rpm or so, then level out as if the torque converter is firming up, then the turbo boost arrives. It's not a yawning wait for full boost, but it is like having two-stage turbo lag. Perhaps that's why the GT-A has a more stiffly set centre diff - you wouldn't want to be waiting for that to react, too, if you were deep into a corner and trying to play the throttle to balance the car. The active yaw system's influence isn't greatly affected because even in the manual you seem to have to hold the car on full throttle deep into a curve before the rear diff spookily shifts the car's balance into its optimum, seemingly tail-led, angle of attack.
Everyone at evo who drove the GT-A felt the same: at times it seemed really rather good, at others inappropriately woolly. It will tempt Japanese drivers tormented by Tokyo rush-hour, but here in the UK
Evos are bought for their rawness, their resolute focus on pure driving excitement. Anything that detracts from that lessens the reason to own one.