Mitsubishi 380 auto 2005 review

But the all-new family sedan on which so many hopes are riding has a long way to go before it can be called a bona-fide success.

Just how good is this car that is charged with the huge task of turning things around for the company?

We put the 380 to the test this week with some soul searching behind the wheel of the entry level model.

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In a nutshell, the 380 must achieve three things to have any chance of success:

1. It has to shake off the "ugly duckling" image that dogged the Magna.

2. It must be a worthy successor to a car that was pretty good to start with, particularly in light of the number of revisions that it went through in a drawn out life cycle.

3.The car must also be better than the opposition if it hopes to woo back lost sales.

The answer to the first question is of course subjective. Style is a very personal thing and what looks good to one person may appear down right ugly to the next.

For our money, however, the 380 has lost the "goofy" bug-eyed look of the old car, but still manages to retain a strong family resemblance.

Mitsu had the opportunity to get right away from the Magna look but chose not to, with a car that is basically a heavily reworked version of the American Galant.

As a successor to Magna, the car breaks no new ground, but it certainly meets and in some areas exceeds expectations, with plenty of punch, a quiet, super smooth ride and handling that is relaxed and predictable.

Again, Mitsubishi had the opportunity to move away from front-wheel drive, with a switch to either rear or all-wheel drive but chose not to. This was always been a sore point as both Falcon and Commodore are rear-wheel drive.

Magna was offered briefly with all-wheel drive, but this option has apparently been discarded.

The 380's larger 3.8-litre V6 develops 175kW of power at 5250rpm and 343Nm of torque at 4000rpm. That's considerably more punch than the old car, but the V6 is not as hi- tech as the 3.8 in the Pajero.

The engine in our test car was mated to the optional five-speed, sequential auto that allows the driver to change gears manually.

The extra cog is an asset and the transmission performs well, with little hunting between gears.

There's enough grunt to leave the thing in D most of the time, but it is nice to have the sequential option.

Fuel economy is a claimed 10.8 litres per 100km for the auto, but our test car produced heavier consumption at 13.5L/100km. Hopefully, this will improve with a few kilometres under its belt.

Looking inside, our main quibble is with the fit and finish of the car which inside at least is not as good as Magna.

The use of hard, cheap plastics is evident, plastic door release catches painted to look like metal and joining material that protruded between windscreen pillar and dash top at either side.

The seats are supportive and comfortable with an electric tilt function for the driver.

Front and rear leg room is generous, but there is no head rest for the center rear passenger.

Surprisingly, there's also no reach adjust- ment for the steering wheel.

Standard equipment includes climate air, four airbags, ABS disc brakes with brake force distribution, power windows and mirrors, cruise control, steering wheel audio controls, an alarm and six-speaker, single CD based sound system that is MP3 compatible.

Overall, the 380 acquits itself well. It's comfortable, easy to drive and extremely quiet at freeway speeds.

But whether it has what it takes to do the trick for Mitsubishi remains to be seen.

Our test car with auto transmission fitted is priced from $35,990.