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WANNA LOSE WEIGHT without unbuckling your seatbelt? Drive a 1988Mitsubishi LS Wagon minivan over normal highways and streets.

“Normal” means potholes and bumps, and unexpected dips and curves. Itmeans almost any street in the District of Columbia, Los Angeles, or NewYork. Forget those super-smooth test tracks. “Normal” means real.

Okay, climb into the minivan, crank the engine, and give it gas.Whoooaaa! Ride ’em, buckaroo! Hold onto that steering wheel. You’retilting to the left, tilting to the right. Left-right, left-right. Autoaerobics!

Rear passengers, listen up: You’re gonna do the bump ‘n’ whine. Workslike this: LS Wagon hits a bump. Rear passengers bounce up, come down,whine. Up-down, up-down, whine, moan, groan.

Alright, everybody, altogether now: Tilt to the left, tilt to theright, up-down, up-down, dy-no-mite!

Talk about a topsy-turvy, tippy vehicle!

Vans and minivans, being members of the truck family, usually haveless-than-desirable ride and handling. But the LS Wagon’s ride andhandling are close to ridiculous.

Much of the problem stems from putting the engine behind the driver,which creates weird weight distribution. The test van’s rear-wheel-drivelayout and hard-knock suspension system aggravate the situation.

If Mitsubishi could find a way to stabilize this otherwise excellentvehicle, it conceivably could overtake Chrysler’s Voyager and Caravan inminivan sales.

But, alas, the LS Wagon is no match for Chrysler’s smooth-riding,good-handling, front-wheel-drive minis.

Extra gripe: That oddly placed engine creates a horizontal,wall-to-wall hump in the front of the minivan, a kind of Berlin Wall onwheels. The driver and front passenger have no free access to the rearof the vehicle.

Praise: Even with that space-consuming hump, the seven-seat LS Wagonhas one of the best interiors on the market. The two center seats,buckets with armrests and headrests, can be moved backward or forward,or swiveled around.

Also, despite the hump, front-occupant legroom is commendably ample.

Cabin ventilation is terrific, thanks to rear windows that actuallyopen. Rear climate control is tops, too, because of separatelycontrolled rear heating and cooling units.

The instrument panel is well designed. Interior fit and finish areimpeccable.

Head-turning quotient: Matter of great debate. Supporters think it’scute. Opponents say it’s ugly as sin. I vote cute.

Acceleration: Pretty decent. Power comes from a 2.4-liter,single-overhead-cam, fuel- injected engine, rated 107 hp at 5,000 rpm.

Sound system: Electronic AM/FM stereo radio and cassette with fourspeakers and sub-woofer, by Mitsubishi. Excellent.

Mileage: About 20 to the gallon (14.2- gallon tank, estimated274-mile range on usable volume), running with mixed loads (one to fiveoccupants), with heater on part-time. Rolling over the bumpy streets ofthe District of Columbia and the highways and byways of the Great Stateof Virginia.

Price: $16,438, including $1,530 in options and $219 destinationcharge. Base price is $14,689; estimated dealer invoice, $13,000.