There are all these guys with 'k's in their names. They drive fast, hard, in rallies, in Formula One. They come from a country that can have mosquito-infested summers and winters almost too cold for Santa Claus to get his sleigh started.

They get epitaphs like 'The Flying Finn'. And generally they aren't the kind of drivers you might expect to come from a place where the first thing we were told was that 'speed limits are very strict here'.

So, when you come to Finland to try out the latest version of the Mitsubishi Lancer, which has won the famous 1,000 Lakes Rally there four times in a racing/rally career which the brand has had since 1962 all over the world, you wonder: how do these Finns get to be such good drivers?

And then, as we did, you get to run the car along some of these most famous rally sections. Gravel roads particularly. All of them ordinary roads to the Finns who have their homes along them, and who presumably have something of this competitive spirit brewed directly into their daily morning coffee.

But still, you wonder?

And then it clicks. It is the daily routine.

"Annie. I'm going down to the shop to get the paper."

(A little later)

"Annie, I forgot to get the bread."

(Again, a little more later, maybe much more later)

"Annie, I see we need some butter for the bread ... and the evening paper ... oops!)

(And again, sometime seriously later)

"Annie, I'm going for ... the ... (smaller voice) evening ... paper."

And all the time, he (it is ALWAYS a 'he') is practising his rallying on the gravel roads between his home and the (furthest) shop.

So, when in Rome, or in Finland, or in the area of a town which has an unpronounceable name, do as the locals would do on their shopping trips.

Whoops! And yummpppp! And scrarrsscchhhh! And skeeeedddddedddd!!!! Hoooo-waaahhhhh!

Hmm. Shopping CAN be fun!

Especially in a 2004 Mitsubishi Lancer. The high-powered one that we WILL have in Ireland, even if we can't use the excuse of an international rallying/racing reputation to do what it begs to be done.

But, for Mitsubishi Ireland, the bringing back of the Lancer nameplate will revitalise a dealer network which has been struggling to keep the faith since the distributors were told in 2000 that they couldn't have the latest Lancer because the yen mathematics just didn't add up.

Now it is here, with 1.3- and 1.6-litre petrol saloons, and 1.6-litre 'sporty' wagons (a powerful 2-litre will come later). There will NOT be a diesel.

It will be leading back in Ireland a revitalised Mitsubishi that over the next couple of years could bring the brand back to the golden days on the 87/93 years when it won up to 4.5 per cent of market share in this most competitive of markets for Japanese marques.

It will sell, if Paddy Murphy of Mitsubishi Ireland has his way, some 1,000 copies in a full year, over all variants. Which is modest enough in the C segment. But Mitsubishi, in Europe or merely in Ireland, are not aiming for the big time, for the mass market.

Mitsubishi is slotting itself as a 'premium brand', and is aiming its products somewhere between Audi and Alfa. That's a new direction for a name which on this side of the world has lived on a reputation more for reliability (apart from the early experiences of building here as Carisma) than sexy.

(OK, Audi may not be a sex symbol ...)

But a nameplate that goes back as far as 1973, and is now going into its ninth generation, has at least staying power, which in sexy terms is often more important ... yes? No?

So, a pair of us took turns in skidding the latest 2-litre Lancer Wagon around a number of old and new '1,000 Lakes' special sections.

I, not being a Fianna Fail member, have to confess that, as navigator, I lost us once, so that we had to do another 15k gravel section a second time just to get ourselves back on track for our hotel.

(And my driver for the section, Mike McAleer of the Irish Times, didn't complain at all at having to repeat a fascinating bit of the 1,000 Lakes section!)

But he'll tell you himself how much he liked the car ...

Here's the humdrum.

Build quality, on the experience of the equivalent of Kildare unrepaired roads: brilliant.

Roadholding and ride, because both are important when driving with other passengers in mind: hmm, challenging to the segment.

Finish (NOT a typo for the nationality of the host country): pretty good apart from the dirt-cheap internal door-pulls.

I'll tell you more of Mitsubishi overall plans on IrishCar.Com.

But ... as far as the Lancer is concerned, you're going to get a real 21st century option when this one comes up to the Irish market grid.

And you might not get a chance at all for a very improved nameplate if you don't have a decent relationship with your Mitsubishi dealer.

(I'll give advice. But don't think I'm going to be a long term counsellor ...)