And now Mitsubishi Motors has announced this, the 'FQ-300', a more powerful version with just over 300bhp and 300lb ft of torque. It costs ΂£28,995, exactly ΂£2000 more than the standard 276bhp model, and is identified by a drainpipe-like exhaust, carbon-trimmed boot spoiler, standard-fit front foglamps, and a smattering of FQ-300 badges.

Like the regular Evo VIII, the FQ is effectively a Mitsubishi-approved grey import - full European Type Approved Evos aren't due until next year. For now the official UK importer, Mitsubishi Motors, has to put all its Japanese-spec Evos through Single Vehicle Approval (SVA), which includes adding a rear fog lamp and a speedo marked in mph and changing the convex door mirror glass for flat. The cars are also fully undersealed and get the same extensive warranty afforded all other Mitsubishis.

The FQ upgrade is done here in the UK and the power is essentially gained through a reprogrammed ECU and that chunky exhaust back-box. The rest is standard Evo VIII, which means a stack of premium branded hardware including Brembo brakes, Recaro seats and Enkei five-spoke alloys shod with Yokohama Advan A046s. There's also Super AYC (Super Active Yaw Control, which is said to increase the cornering limit by 10 per cent over the Evo VII), and a new Active Centre Differential (ACD) for the four-wheel-drive system - instead of a viscous coupling it's now a faster-acting and more controllable electronically actuated multi-plate clutch. Together Super AYC and the new diff give the Evo VIII a quite different feel to the VII at the limit, and we had ample opportunity to push the new car hard because the launch of the FQ was based, somewhat ironically, at the Prodrive test track.

The first things that strike you about the Evo are how supportive the seats are and how responsive the engine is from modest revs. Part of the reason the plain-sounding in-line four feels frisky from low speed in, say, third gear, is because the Evo VIII now has a six-speed to match that of the Impreza STi. The main reason, though, is that the FQ's delivery is much more progressive than the STi PPP's, power building strongly from just over 3000rpm and ramping up smoothly towards 6000rpm, instead of arriving in a great rush just before 4000rpm.

On the previous generation Evo the extra effect of the FQ upgrade was quite noticeable, but on the various VIIIs I was able to try, I didn't feel there was any more than the Japanese standard 276bhp. Perhaps the sheer competence of the car disguises it, and competent it most certainly is.

But don't for a second imagine that that means dull. Instead, think effortlessly, amazingly responsive and uncannily well-controlled and tidy at the limit. Through high-speed corners it remains beautifully neutral, even a sharp lift and turn failing to unsettle it. The broad-block tread pattern of the Yokos suggests they're biased towards dry road grip but the Evo is surprisingly grippy and well-controlled on slippery, low-speed surfaces, too.

Super AYC has a greater scope to control the behaviour of the car than AYC had, being able in cornering to channel almost twice as much torque to the outside rear wheel - up to about a 40 per cent difference across the axle. Both the more responsive centre diff and Super AYC are controlled by the same computer and work together like an electronic dynamic stability control system. However, instead of braking individual wheels and throttling back the engine, they seek to employ the power being fed into the Evo's four-wheel drive system. The upshot is that it takes an awful lot of provocation to get the Evo to understeer or oversteer greatly. Mostly it simply follows the steered line, and even when you do induce a tailslide its recovery is quick and very neat.
It helps that the spring and damper set-up of the Evo VIII is finely judged. There's perhaps a little more roll than you'd expect, but this seems to have no detrimental effect on steering response or overall agility. Indeed, on the road the steering can feel almost too sharp occasionally, the expected smidgen of understeer you made an allowance for simply not materialising. The Evo feels light, alert, lithe and its firm ride never feels agitated. It's easy to get into a smooth, fast rhythm on a challenging road, something that can't be said of the Impreza STi. The only gripe is the sticky shift of the new six-speed 'box and the fact that it doesn't feel as absurdly rapid as the previous FQ-300. Perhaps the FQ-320, due soon, will sort that out.

Some 54 UK Mitsubishi dealers are designated Ralliart outlets and they've taken over 230 orders despite not having an Evo VIII in their showrooms. Lance Bradley, Mitsubishi's director of marketing, says these dealers have not only been trained to fettle the Evo but also to deal with grey imports that come in part-exchange. He's confident that 900 Evo VIIIs will find homes this year. That seems a little ambitious, but only because there is a finite number of customers for big-winged 4wd Japanese turbo saloons.

The standard Evo VIII is unquestionably one of the best there has ever been, possibly the best. Shame that on this showing FQ stands for Fairly Quick... relatively speaking, of course.