MITSUBISHI staged a significant corporate coup back in January 2003 when it outstaged its three bigger domestic rivals to produce Australia’s first homegrown all-wheel drive sedan. A long 18 months later, the triple-diamond brand has wheeled out the sportiest AWD Magna, the all-paw VR-X performance flagship, as part of a revised sports Magna range that brings a mild cosmetic upgrade and more attractive pricing. Finally, there’s a sporty (and sporty looking) Magna – with all-wheel drive - that makes a logical alternative to the popular performance large cars from Holden and Ford. But without its regular VR-X stablemate’s manual transmission, 17-inch wheels and 163kW output, is it the bona-fide sports AWD we had hoped for?