The available V6 engine is very responsive. It's strong and eager, yet fairly quiet. Passing performance is brisk, even at elevations of 5000 feet. Mitsubishi's V6 is comparable to the Toyota Camry and Honda Accord V6 engines, which are leaders in this class, though it doesn't have quite their levels of refinement. It's just a little noisier and not quite as smooth, yet we wouldn't call it rough and noisy. Mitsubishi's 3.0-liter single overhead-cam 24-valve V6 is rated at 195 horsepower and 205 foot-pounds of torque.

The standard four-cylinder engine is tuned to deliver power for good passing performance and good acceleration from a standstill. In other words, it offers good low-end torque. This 2.4-liter twin-cam 16-valve four-cylinder engine is rated at 140 horsepower and 155 foot-pounds of torque. Mitsubishi's patented dual engine stabilizers virtually eliminate the harmonic vibration typical of large-displacement four-cylinder engines; this system is licensed for use by other automakers.

All Galants come equipped with a four-speed automatic transmission that delivers excellent response in all types of driving situations. We were rarely aware of the transmission at all, which means it does a very good job. Mitsubishi's fuzzy logic computer programming allows the engine and transmission to better anticipate the driver's wishes and eliminate the irritating up- and down-shifting that's still a characteristic of some automatics. All of this electronic gadgetry is transparent and works well.

Ride quality is first rate, effectively damping out nasty stretches of pavement. We were impressed by the noise suppression measures taken in this car. Mitsubishi has done a very good job of isolating the cabin from the suspension, thereby minimizing highway and tire noise. At the same time, Mitsubishi's attention to aerodynamic detail has helped reduce wind noise to a level that's comparable with the best in the class. The Galant may not be quite as quiet as a Camry, but it's quite pleasant.

Handling is balanced in favor of comfort over aggressive response. In hard cornering, there's a little more body lean than you'd encounter in an Accord. Like all front-drive cars, the Galant goes toward progressive understeer when pushed past the limit of tire grip; the faster the car enters a corner, the less it wants to turn. It's quite predictable. While Mitsubishi would like us to perceive the Galant as a sports sedan (especially the GTZ model), its suspension tuning feels more like family fare to us. However, there's nothing wrong with that. The Galant is very forgiving to driver errors, such as braking hard in the middle of a turn; while some cars would spin out under these circumstances, we had no trouble controlling the Galant. The GTZ's suspension uses a smaller front anti-roll bar and a larger rear anti-roll bar, which we assume are designed to help reduce understeer. Steering response in the Galant is accurate; it delivers acceptable road feel once the steering wheel is moved a degree or two off dead center. It does lack a little of what car magazines call on-center feel, meaning there is a small amount of play in the steering.

The brakes feel sure and are easy to modulate. Braking is provided by discs up front and drums at the rear on four-cylinder models, with discs all around on V6 models. Braking performance seemed to be about average for this class. Though more expensive, disc brakes generally offer superior fade resistance to drum brakes. (Brake performance often begins to fade when brakes are used repeatedly until they overheat, such as going downhill on a steep mountain pass.) On the other hand, we didn't encounter any fade problems during our driving, despite repeated hard stops in the Galant. Galant is available with antilock brakes, which allow the driver to maintain steering control during an emergency-stopping situation in dry as well as slippery conditions.