The Evolution is exactly that - the evolution of a car that has been improved by every piece of modern technology fitted to it and the Evo is magical. A colleague of mine and I were discussing how the company says the Evo seamlessly melds with the driver's brain - but it's the other way around, Matrix style: the driver melds with the car's computer brain.

So advanced and so beyond my computational abilities sits the S-AWC system, which poises the car just so in order to attack the next apex. You get the impression after a few clicks that the car's got the corner worked out. It knows how many g's you're doing, where the steering wheel is, and how it can best combat under steer on account of the off-camber surface.

It's saying: "Push the accelerator a little more to the floor, mate. I've got your back."

I'm under no illusions that I was doing any work on those canyon roads, or at the Streets of Willow Springs racetrack. I sat behind the wheel, like a good little boy, duly pushing the accelerator, brake and clutch pedals while steering where I wanted to go.

But by golly, it was fun. You could focus on improving your shifts, or analyzing the road surface, or glancing over at the desert scenery. If you're an 8/10ths driver like I am, it's like a load is lifted from your mind by not having to worry about traction in any situation.

The Evolution is exactly that - the evolution of a car that has been improved by every piece of modern technology fitted to it. It doesn't need high horsepower, bullet-like aerodynamics, or fat tires because its computer brain maximizes what's been fitted to the humble economy-car underpinnings.

As competitors go, is it as fast as an S4 or E46 M3? Of course. An STI? Nearly identical.

But for $42,000, even a university education can't buy you a brain as good as the Evo's.
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