Rumormill: Mitsubishi Concept-RA may hint at Eclipse for Europe
This is not just rumormill, this is rumors of hints and suggestions made by anonymous people. Just last week we wondered whether Mitsubishi's Concept-RA would lead to a new -- and proper -- Eclipse. What Car? went further, and although citing nothing more than "insiders," said that the red zinger "could be a forerunner for a new Eclipse coupe, which could go on sale in Europe."
True, that's a lot of coulds. But it wasn't so long ago that the Eclipse was an object of desire, and there can't be any doubt that Mitsubishi would love to see those days return -- especially after watching rival Nissan revive brand lust by slowly reinjecting its products with feeling.
Mitsubishi's attempt to mainstream the Eclipse robbed it of the fan base it had and yet didn't grow a new one. We suppose the questions, as always, would be money and the business case, but we for one would love to see Mitsu do that car, right there, in the picture above, as the new Eclipse. If they could get enough other people behind it, we wouldn't be surprised if they did. (Hint: that means it's time to tell them what you think. The comments box is waiting. Europeans are welcome.)
[Source: What Car?]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
1g Eclipse 1:27PM (3/09/2008)
I think this car is awesome, i hope they call it the new eclipse, they could even offer all the variations of it as they did through the 89-94 years with 5 diffrent trim lines, awd turbo, fwd turbo, fwd n/t , and a base single cam for todays rising gas prices, so you can impact all types of people , the awd could be more expensive into the mid 30k range with the fwd even lower say the high 20k n so on, say for someone who likes the look but isnt interested in a speed demon , can shoot for a single cam and spend like 18 grand, just like when the car first came out , appeal to all types of peoples interest dont focus on one thing , i kno they can do it , they have there hands in everything , construction , food products, tvs and vcr/dvd players ,i also hope they dont through a clunky v6 in it either ... that was for the 3kgt , if anything they should put a revised 6g72 tt motor instead of this n/t v6 ?!
Reply
thoughtlesssinner 1:32AM (11/17/2008)
i own the 2008 lancer de, a nice 14k base line fwd car.
i think the eclipse line should rememble the lancer line:
de [14k manual], es[16k manual], gts[20k manual], ralliart[29k MANUAL]. and all have the 4b11 motor. CVT for the automatics up to the gts and ra, they'll slap-stick/paddle shift
additionally the ralliart should be the only awd [from the evo9], and all the others be fwd, BUT gts have the same turbo just fwd. both turbo vehicles should have small turbos, 2.0L I4 gaspowered. gts and ra should have all disc brakes, while the ra gets the BREMBRO package option ;D with a nice stiff supercar suspension.
the base line eclipse's should have around 150hp and 150ft/lbs torque.
the high-line ralliart and gts should make about 220hp and 240ft/lbs of torque.
fuel economy should be ATLEAST 30 hwy and 25 city.
Reply
thoughtlesssinner 1:45AM (11/17/2008)
and also wiegh less then 2800lbs
Reply
Philip 4:32PM (12/02/2007)
There is no reason for Mitsubishi to hang around, with a design like that Mitsubishi would be a real contender again, this car is Hot.
They should also bring us other Cars and Trucks they sell in Europe, Believe me people you'd be amazed how different they are, No Boring restyled Dakota PU, there's looks better than Toyota's.
Wake Up Mitsubishi, America Needs you.
Reply
Grain 5:01PM (12/02/2007)
Yeah, I agree. I miss the old Mitsubishi cars, Eclipse Turbo's and Twin Turbo 3000Gt's. Come back Mitsu, come back!!
JerryB 4:42PM (12/02/2007)
I'd like to see a modern variant of the old Eclipse GS-X with the turbo motor and all wheel drive.
Reply
Trent 4:45PM (12/02/2007)
exactly. Mitsu! we need a new eclipse line, starting with a base 2L I4 w/awd, and moving through an EVO with the EVO's awd and I4!
ocnj179 6:47PM (12/02/2007)
I agree a new GSX would be nice. But if Europe ends up getting it instead of US that wouldn't be so nice
Vince Burlapp 4:49PM (12/02/2007)
Do they have that much cash that they can afford different models for Europe and the US? Like Honda and Toyota?
It's not like the "big' US Eclipse is setting record sales over here anyway.
A sporty car can be small everywhere.
Does that mean we'll get a bigger, bloated Miata next time???
Reply
emdee 4:55PM (12/02/2007)
European checking in! I certainly like the general form and the engine showing is a very nice touch, certainly worth keeping in the final form.
Two things worry me about it though. They'll probably end up pricing it too high for it to become very popular, even if they don't the only affordable model will be the FWD boring version.
The other worry will be that they'll give it a big thirsty V6 when European taxation is moving towards taxing cars with high CO2 output.
What I'd like to see is something that's reasonably priced with small turbo 4 gas and diesels. And make the structure so light that those engines combined with the AWD system make it a rocket.
But yeah, the form factor is certainly very nice though, hopefully they don't mess it up in the final cut. OTOH most Mitsubishi designs of late have been very nicely done, so I guess that's not something to fear.
Reply
cowboy bob 7:40PM (12/02/2007)
A turbo 4 would probably be the answer. It would be light, small in size, powerful, and here in the US a diesel is not well recieved. (unfortunantly) The masses here are not as well informed as Europeans are as to the pluses of diesel. There is a market for a stylish small sports car here, if it is reasonably priced. Younger people would perhaps be the largest market target, and they usually have less money, so price is important. I hope they build it.
Edusan 4:59PM (12/02/2007)
The car seems, ok, but too much of a sketch to consider it. does not seem production ready.
Reply
JerryB 5:15PM (12/02/2007)
What, you don't think the six inch tall roofline and 30" wheels are practical? :-)
Dausman 5:13PM (12/02/2007)
Build it as previously described with the 2.2L diesel engine, build it soon,build it right and bring it to the U.S.
A company like Mitsubishi that built the 3000GT
can certainly build a car as shown here.....perhaps it will eclipse its' competition as none before...the car as pictured above is awesome.Hopefully there would be little or no changes in styling.
Reply
HotRodzNKustoms 5:21PM (12/02/2007)
I would take a serious look at mitsu if they gave the eclipse spyder the Evo motor and awd goodies for a $30-$35 price range. But right now there isn't a mitsu product I think I would honestly buy. Not even the new better looking evo cause it still looks cheap to me.
Reply
wds00746 7:13PM (12/02/2007)
I own a mitsubishi truck, So I can attest to buying mitsubishi products, I would be on board for a new eclipse with this design, and a turbo four with all wheel drive like the eclipse of the early to late ninties. Give it a 2.5 liter 4, with 350 to 375 horsepower, and position it above the evolution.
Reply
EquinsuOcha 5:40PM (12/02/2007)
Please, for the love of little baby jebus, build it like that (with the diesel AWD) and bring it here to the US. I'll go back to work selling them if you do. I swear.
Reply
fm 12:34AM (12/03/2007)
so you can buy it with an employee discount?
EquinsuOcha 6:29AM (12/03/2007)
Nah. I just want to drink the Kool-Aid again. It was difficult to convince shoppers that Mitsubishi made an exciting coupe compared to competitors like the 350Z, Tiburon, Mustang, and G6. The current gen Eclipse is a... nice... car, but it doesn't blow away competition.
Jack 8:23PM (12/02/2007)
I still have a '90 turbo sitting in my garage (ok so it is the Plymouth variant, I did not want the add on spoilers & such)
Mitsu needs to make it what this car was in its day, fairly light weight, SMOKING HOT for the price, and the price was quite low. For $14.500 I got a car that only a 5.0 Mustang could match. From there it was triple the money or more, for a Corvette or Porsche if you wanted to out run me.
Additionally I average 30 mpg with it.
Reply