Spring Rally: Eclipse Rising
One of the more talked about vehicles at the rally, besides the Ford GT40, was the Mitsubishi Eclipse. It was orange.
Strike that. We were told not to call it orange but Sunset something or other. But man was it orange. In the early
going of the morning the Eclipse was out on the track constantly and someone didn't listen to Mitsubishi's plea "not"
to trash it on the track. The clutch was certainly feeling the effects of what I called the "yahoo" factor. I was
pretty surprised at how some writers totally abused the cars. There was no lack of speed for me and I managed to bring
all the cars back in one piece just fine. But you could smell the burning clutches of a number of cars.
The Eclipse definitely had some abuse and when I got it to the start light, first and second gear were a struggle. There was no quick launch thats for sure. But once into third the Eclipse came to life. This is no muscle car. The 263 hp and 260 ft lb of torque come in a very smooth arc that feels more civil than mean. It was also the first FWD car I took out and the gigantic rubber on the wheels gave off fair amount of squeals in the corners even though I wasnt pushing it fully (although still far faster than any street driver would hopefully). But there was absolutely no loss of control.
The ride was a blast but I wanted more quality time than a lap around the track where youre focused more on the turns
than the car youre in. On the street the Eclipse delivers more smoothness through a quiet ride and tight turning. The
car is positively glued to the pavement through the enormous tire and wheel package (did I mention that already?). The
seating position slings you back into a cocoon like posture. But Ill admit that I got used to it and it became very
natural.
My route on the Wisconsin roads went slightly beyond the recommended one as I headed to the nearby highway where I
could test out a ramp. By the time I merged with traffic the speed was already at highway levels and the acceleration
was effortless. Without gauging the take-off ability because of the clutch, at least the rest of the range
delivered.
But no write-up on the new Eclipse would be complete without commenting on the outrageous design. Those folks that say
it doesnt look like the concept are daft. The reason theyre called concepts is because they havent been taken on the
road where the wild contours could cause driving problems. The Eclipse is still darn close to the concepts looks and
the interior is one of the coolest Ive seen.
Suede two-tone seats scream sport and luxury and even the terra cotta color scheme looks good (Id still go with
black). The instruments look really tiny in pictures but with their blue-lit numbers theyre very easy to read. An
insane Rockford Fosgate stereo system with 650 watts was in this GT model and it was loud, but had about 100 different
settings for every music fan. I still think Mitsubishi missed the boat by not following Scions lead and letting
customers do what they wanted with the stereo. But the system is integrated into the dash so customizing will not be
easy.
Ive always liked a hatch layout with coupes and my favorite car was the 1995 Ford Probe GT I had in college. The
Eclipses cargo area had a large subwoofer integrated into it that wasnt too obtrusive. But there was also a huge rise
running across the cargo floor. It was there to accommodate the rear axle. I swear. So there wont be a truly fold flat
floor. But it probably wouldnt prevent most daily uses. I was still shocked to see it there though.
The price point is going to hurt if it stays at $20K for the base 4 cylinder and $25K for the GT. But if you could get
the loaded GT I was driving at the rally for $25K it would be worth it. Keep in mind these prices are right in line
with the current, less intriguing Eclipse. I just dont think anyone has priced one recently. They will now.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
ells 11:00PM (12/18/2005)
love the exterior styling looks like the one that came out in '95 that my little 12 year old heart lusted after
i think a lot of peeps will pick this up
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Et Tu 11:00PM (12/18/2005)
Where's the image of the front of the car?
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B 11:00PM (12/18/2005)
Should somebody tell Mitsu they put the headlights in the wrong end of the car?
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Steven Gill 11:00PM (12/18/2005)
Well Dave, you should come drive my '95 Mazda MX-6, Probes sexier brother with a better interior. I love my car, even if it does require pretty much taking out the engine to change the water pump.
So would this make you one of the first journalists to have a "published" first drive/ review on the new eclipse? Go Autoblog, where speed and journalism meet for speedy journalism.
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A_B 11:00PM (12/18/2005)
Hugh Jass,
Your car is ready for you.
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David Thomas 11:00PM (12/18/2005)
well no one said there was an embargo ont he eclipse and everyone knows i'm blogging so I guess there is probably a review somewhere else by now. But no I haven't seen one.
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Bryan 11:00PM (12/18/2005)
I had an old '91 Eclipse and really enjoyed it. I think this new model is ugly. Hate the clear taillights that seem to be showing up on more and more cars. What is the material on that lip spoiler - chrome?
And I don't usually play the "looks like a..." game, but honestly, when I saw the first and third pictures above... the back end reminds me of the front of a VW Bug. Call me crazy.
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CEH 11:00PM (12/18/2005)
So it looks like the concept according to the article. Apparently this guy doesn't pay attention to the concept details, because this version (the final design) looks pretty warmed over from the concept. Mistu did it again with this Eclipse ...from excting concept to boring in production.
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TicalWRX 11:00PM (12/18/2005)
Maybe the reason why 1st and 2nd gear were a struggle wasnt because it had been trashed, but because Mitsu trannies just suck and couldnt handle the spirited driving of journalists as well as the other makes. They've had tranny issues for the past 15 years or maybe longer.
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Travis 11:00PM (12/18/2005)
wow, I'm really not digging the looks of that. I hate the "wide ass" look of some cars, and this has it the worst that I've seen. Rear axle, hmmmm? Since I'm assuming that this doesn't have a solid rear axle, do I smell an AWD one in the future?
God, I hate hate HATE it when cars come with an integrated stereo. At least this one sounds good, unlike the Mazda3 which has a crappy stereo integrated into the dash. Not many people replace stereo's now that they all sound relatively ok, but for someone who's disappointed in the stock stereo this can be a dealbraker. I wasn't happy with the Mazda3's stereo, and probably would've replaced it at some point. For $200 you can get a MUCH better stereo than just about anything that comes stock at this price, and its a simple and easy upgrade if you don't have this crappy integrated stuff.
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Dragomir 11:00PM (12/18/2005)
I will buy it as soon as it comes in Bulgaria ;)
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Mpat 11:00PM (12/18/2005)
Ok, let's play word association with the new Eclipse.
Exterior => i got late 90's Mercury cougar
Interior => all i can think of is VW Beetle
I think we're regressing here Mitsu. They need to get sportier with this car, not uglier.
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Industry Vet 11:00PM (12/18/2005)
I don't hate it. I like that it has some personality to it. It's definitely got some Cougar in it though. I hope they send MINI some royalty checks for those door panels too.
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G. Snyder 11:00PM (12/18/2005)
Industry Ve - you may want to take a look at the Mini door panels again, as the only resemblance is the fact that there is a grab bar to shut the doow and a handle to open it. Fortunately a lot of cars are guilty of this mimicary.
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The Dude 11:00PM (12/18/2005)
Reminds me a little of a late 90's Cougar from the 1st pic (besides the taillights of course):
http://www.autointell-news.com/News-1999/march-1999/cougar_4_rear-2-sm.jpg
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Ahkmel 11:00PM (12/18/2005)
Compare the 2nd Generation Eclipse that came out in 1995 to the Cougar and you'll see who borrowed from who.
I believe it is a logical progression for the styling of the eclipse, but more so from the first and second generation than the third (the rear windows scream 2nd gen eclipse). I never really cared for the 3rd Gen, but the 1st and 2nd were great, so obviously I like this car as well. It's too bad about the choice for the powertrain, this would be an excellent candidate to share with the EVO 9.
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Brian W 11:00PM (12/18/2005)
I like how people say the Eclipse looks like other cars, when it's followed the same basic shape since 89.
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The Dude 11:00PM (12/18/2005)
You are right, they copied this '95 Eclipse:
http://www.mcmullenargus.com/gallery/view.asp?image=64307&pub=35
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otakucode 11:00PM (12/18/2005)
Was the photographer too lazy to walk around and take a picture of the front of the car? That's a pretty serious omission. I wouldn't even publish this article without a picture of the front.
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Mat 11:00PM (12/18/2005)
the stereo in dash picture made me :(
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