2002 Mitsubishi Galant Comfortable, pleasant and easy to live with. By Mitch McCullough, Editor-in-Chief, New Car Test Drive .com

Mitsubishi's Galant is smooth, responsive, and extremely stable underway. Climbing in, it's immediately comfortable, pleasant and easy to drive, requiring no ramp-up time to adjust to its operation. It instantly feels familiar. It handles well and it's fun to hustle around corners. And the Galant offers a good value when measured against other mid-size sedans, particularly the V6 models.

For 2002, Mitsubishi has revised the styling with a new grille, front fascia, and taillamps. Redesigned instruments give it a cleaner look inside.

The Galant model lineup is extensive. Six models are available: DE ($17,707); ES ($18,517); LS ($21,117); ES V6 ($20,417); LS V6 ($22,817); GTZ ($24,157).

All Galants come equipped with a four-speed automatic transmission.

DE, ES, and LS are powered by a 140-horsepower 2.4-liter four-cylinder engine.

ES V6, LS V6, and GTZ models come with a 3.0-liter V6 engine rated at 195 horsepower. All V6 models (ES-V6, LS-V6, and GTZ) come with four-wheel anti-lock disc brakes (four-cylinder DE, ES, and LS models come with drum brakes on the rear). V6 models also come with 16-inch speed-rated P205/55HR tires (four-cylinder models get 15-inch P195/65 tires).

DE comes standard with air conditioning, power windows and door locks, a 100-watt, four-speaker AM/FM/CD stereo, and 15-inch tires. A new seat Deluxe fabric design freshens the interior.

ES is trimmed better and is more popular. ES adds Premium cloth upholstery, new titanium- or bronze-look interior accents, integrated fog lamps, remote keyless entry system, cruise control, dual illuminated visor vanity mirrors, partial folding rear seat trunk pass-through, a cargo net, rear-window antenna, and body-colored side mirrors.

LS trim adds dual front side-impact airbags, antilock brakes (ABS), a nice leather-wrapped steering wheel, alloy wheels (instead of steel), a one-touch power glass sunroof, and a 210-watt Mitsubishi/Infinity CD stereo with seven speakers.

Both LS models offer leather seating surfaces as an option ($1118), which includes a nice leather-covered shifter, eight-way power driver's seat with manually adjustable headrest and lumbar support.

GTZ comes standard with the leather interior and is tuned more like a sports sedan. Distinguished by its color-keyed grille, the GTZ is equipped with a sport-tuned suspension. GTZ also comes standard with traction control.