Mitsubishi's clever INVECS transmission (it stands for Intelligent & Innovative Vehicle Electronic Control System) was first made available in the Galant over a decade ago. It has now been developed into INVECS-II, and is seen in the Mitsubishi Shogun, Grandis and the Lancer.

In simple terms INVECS-II is a computer-controlled automatic transmission which has the ability to "learn" your driving style, using its Adaptive Shift Control software. As soon as you start driving the computer begins to monitor your driving style, and after a short while sets the up and down-change points to suit, thus smoothing out progress on the road. It's almost like having a person sitting next to you who, having seen how you drive, adjusts the automatic gearbox accordingly.

For the fully automatic mode to be in operation, the gear selector is simply left in 'D'. But on the Shogun, Grandis and Lancer models, if you want to use the manual mode - which gives the driver more control over the transmission, and allows higher engine revs in each gear - then the lever is slid over to the left into another gate, which is Sports Mode.

Now, tapping the lever forward prompts an electronic up-change, while moving it back downshifts. Effectively you have a clutchless gearshift, but you don't need to worry about suddenly being caught out at low speed in a high gear, because when stationary the transmission automatically reverts to first.