An interesting way to save a company
Written: Jun 23 '05 (Updated Oct 05 '06)
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Pros: Styling, interior materials, front seats
Cons: Overburdened four, overburdened front tires, driving position
The Bottom Line: Much improved styling, but too many shortcomings. The last of its breed for a reason.
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| mkaresh's Full Review: 2006 Mitsubishi Eclipse |
If there were a yearbook for volume vehicle manufacturers, and in it everyone got a nickname, Mitsubishi's would be "most likely to go under." The company has out-Detroited Detroit in seeking to compensate for off-the-mark products through ever more generous special offers and low-rate financing. Worse, it relied heavily on buyers with shaky credit, such that both parties emerged from the relationship with even shakier credit.
DaimlerChrysler concluded that Mitsubishi's prognosis was so dire that it decided not to help save the Japanese company and sharply reduced the level of cooperation between the two manufacturers. Mitsubishi executives have also seen the writing on the wall; turnover at HQ has been shockingly high.
And yet Mitsubishi refuses to throw in the towel. Like Nissan a few years ago, it is counting on new products to save it. I took the first of these, the 2006 Eclipse, for a test drive to gauge their chances of survival.
This review covers the four cylinder. For the impact of the V6 on the car, go here.
Background
The Eclipse is far from the obvious choice when picking a car on which to base a comeback. It might be the most highly evolved car of its type, but this type is an all-but-dead branch on the automotive evolutionary tree.
Back in the 1970s VW realized it could use the chassis and powertrain of the Golf (Rabbit here) as the basis for an affordable "sports coupe," the Scirocco (later Corrado). In the 1980s, when every volume manufacturer on the planet adopted the Golf's transverse front-drive architecture, they realized they could do the same. And so we got the front-drive sportily styled Honda Prelude, Dodge Daytona, Toyota Celica, Mazda MX-6, Ford Probe, Geo Storm, Isuzu Impulse, Mitsubishi Elipse, Plymouth Laser, Eagle Talon, Saturn SC, Mercury Cougar, Hyundai Tiburon and no doubt a few more I'm forgetting. These "sports coupes" or "sporty cars" weren't really sports cars, but they were close enough for many people, especially since they were more practical and cost less than a true sports car. The segment boomed in the late 1980s and early 1990s.
Then, as prices rose and insurance rates rose even more, the segment dried up. This despite the rise of a "tuner" culture the focused on modifying front-drive cars. In response, most players abandoned the segment altogether. Today the only remnants are the Scion tC, Acura RSX, Hyundai Tiburon, and the subject of this review.
Of the four, the Eclipse stretches the envelope the furthest. In GS trim it is powered by a modestly-sized four, like the others, but in GT trim the engine bay is filled by a 263-horsepower 3.8-liter six. Back in the 1980s this segment challenged conventional wisdom by combining sportiness with front-wheel-drive. Purists claimed that a proper driver's car was rear-wheel-drive, for a balanced weight distribution and a smooth transfer of torque from wheels to pavement.
Now we have a Mitsubishi with twice the displacement, power, and torque of the mid-1980s cars that first broke the mold. The first- and second-generation Eclipses relied on all-wheel-drive to extract the best performance from much less powerful turbocharged fours. Can the new car get by without it in a field now dominated by the rear-wheel-drive Nissan 350Z, Mazda RX-8, and Ford Mustang?
Not only this, but the new Eclipse is larger than those earlier cars. Compared to the 1990 Eclipse, it's nine inches longer, six inches wider, two inches taller, and 750 pounds heavier. It's not only in Detroit that cars become bigger, heavier, and more powerful over time in an attempt to keep up with the competition. Kind of like the dinosaurs. And you know what happened to them...
I suppose that's enough of a history lesson. Time to discuss the car. I personally require a manual transmission. Since only one of the eight Eclipses on the lot had a stick, and it was powered by the four, that's the one I drove. I cannot report at this point how the big six behaves, but when one with a six-speed shows up I'll do my best to be there.
Exterior Styling
The previous, third-generation Eclipse was an eyesore. More Pontiac than any Pontiac, it had heavily grooved cladding that simply ended when the front door did. I for one didn't get it. Other aspects of the car's styling were similarly tacky and crude. Actually, the same could be said of many Mitsubishi's, including the otherwise competent Endeavor SUV.
Well, the new, fourth-generation Eclipse hardly represents a return to tastefully conservative styling. Its ultra-swoopy sheetmetal resembled a late 1990s second-generation Eclipse on some serious steroids. (The new car's bulging fenders just can't be natural.) There are still some wild details, most notably a clear spoiler that visually connects the clear lens tail lamps. And yet it all hangs together reasonably well. It won't create an Audi TT- or 350Z-like sensation, but it will stand out without thoroughly polarizing opinion. If you ever felt anything for the sports coupes of the early 1990s, you'll like this one.
I'm often compelled to discuss the aesthetics of a car's wheels, and the Eclipse is one such case. The 17-inch standard with both engines are an attractive if fairly standard five-spoke design. Their only fault is that the new Eclipse's huge fender openings require equally huge wheels to visually fill them. And with the V6 18-inch wheels are optional. However, these optional wheels have seven relatively thin spokes that look emaciated within the car's voluptuous body. An even larger, more thickly spoked wheel is called for.
Like other automakers, Mitsubishi has been rushing to upgrade its interiors. While I truly wish they'd get around to the Lancer, the Eclipse's turn came first. The new car's interior is a very pleasant place to be. The instrument panel has a stylish curve to it and is composed of a fairly high-grade soft-touch material. Eye-catching details have been sprinkled about the new interior, chiefly around the shifter and the sport-bikesque instruments, and they do their job without offending the standards of taste. Think Nissan, just with somewhat better materials.
And yet Mitsubishi couldn't quite keep its designers under control. Interior upholstery is very much hit and miss. Hits include the textured dark cloth in the four-cylinder car I drove and the dark leather in the V6 car parked in the showroom. The light-colored, untextured cloth in the V6 parked outside was iffy. And the combination white leather / red ultrasuede displayed in the brochure is flat-out "What were they thinking???" Those without a white suit in their wardrobe need not apply. I've seen red-white combinations in cars from the 1960s, and they worked there, but in this swoopy hyper-futuristic coupe--no. Especially not with the ultra-suede. If a Detroit manufacturer put a similar interior in one of its cars it would be the laughingstock of the industry.
Accommodations
Enough about style. How about function? Well, the front seats are comfortable. The standard well-located and -shaped lumbar adjustment deserves some of the credit. The grippy cloth in the car I drove usefully augmented the seat's sizable bolsters.
That's about it for the good stuff under "function." Only the height adjusts in the standard manual seats. I'd prefer if the front and rear height could be adjusted separately, so that the tilt of the seat could also be adjusted. For this feature you need the optional power seats, only available with the six. Even with the power seats the recliner is manual via lever, and thus it can be hard to get the angle "just right."
Okay, I'm picking some nits with the seats. They're pretty good overall. The real problem is the driving position. The swoopy exterior translates into a Scion tC-like distant, steeply raked windshield. While a distant steeply raked windshield is better than a steeply raked windshield that puts the A-pillar in your face, and it makes the car feel larger and roomier than it is, it also distances the driver from the machine and the road. Not my preference. I'd rather a less distant, more upright windshield.
With the seat all the way down the steering column and instrument panel are positioned too high. Yet even in this position both armrests are too low. Unless you have extremely long arms, forget about having a hand on the wheel and an elbow on an armrest at the same time. This could prove tiring on lengthy drives.
Visibility is limited to the side by a high beltline and small TT-ish side windows. Finally, we have rear visibility. Actually, we don't. There isn't much to speak of, especially to the quarters. Gonna just have to trust the mirrors.
The Eclipse's exterior has expanded over the years, but its rear seat hasn't benefited much. Getting back there is a chore, and once there an adult male of average height (me) barely fits. Unless you're short, count on having your head against the hatch and your knees against the seatbacks. Sure, it could be worse, but the rear seats in the Scion tC and Mazda RX-8 are far superior.
The Eclipse remains a hatchback, so cargo capacity isn't bad, especially not with the rear seats folded. That is, unless you get one of the option packages. Did I neglect to mention that there are no standalone options, that every factory option is included in two packages, one for the four and one for the six? Well, that's the way it is. And one of the contents of these packages is a stompin' 650-watt Rockford Fosgate system. Said system includes a huge ten-inch subwoofer whose enclosure occupies a good chunk of the cargo area immediately behind the left rear seatback. If you require, say, a sunroof, leather, or power seats, then you're losing a good portion of the car's versatility in the bargain.
On the Road
This is the second time I've sampled Mitsubishi's 162-horsepower 2.4-liter four. The first time, in the Lancer Ralliart, I was impressed by the engine's midrange punch and smoothness. Well, the Eclipse's extra quarter-ton of mass robs the engine of its spunkiness. In this application it's adequate at best. If you want any thrills from the engine, you're going to have to step all the way up to the 3.8. A shame there isn't something in between the two, as the big engine strikes me as excessive for many buyers.
The shifter in the new Eclipse has moderate throws and a fairly notchy feel. I liked it well enough, though some might prefer a smoother mechanism. The six-speed that attends the V6 might feel different. The clutch took a little getting used to, as it engaged well off the floor. Despite the car's borderline power-to-weight ratio, gearing is not particularly short. In top gear the four is spinning about 2500 RPM at 60. This should at least be good for fuel economy.
My initial impression of the steering was favorable. It requires higher effort than most these days, reacts quickly and precisely, and is well-weighted. Up to five-tenths it satisfies. But turn up the heat a bit and even in four-cylinder form the car's nose-heavy weight distribution takes its due. Understeer sets in early, and the outside front tire quickly becomes overloaded even with a very light foot on the throttle. Think you might want to accelerate out of a turn with the 3.8? I haven't driven the V6 yet, but strongly suspect you can forget about it with twice the power and a couple hundred more pounds in the nose (for a total of about 3500). At the very least the 18-inch tires are necessary. The 17-inch Bridgestone RE92As aren't nearly up to the task. Wider front than rear tires, as on the Grand Prix GXP, might be a very good idea.
Ride quality similarly leaves much to be desired. While the Eclipse's ride was never harsh, it was often quite busy even over roads that appeared fairly smooth to the naked eye. On the other hand, noise levels from all sources are low for a sporty car.
Mitsubishi Eclipse Price Comparisons and Pricing
Base to base, before rebates:
Scion tC: $3,700 less expensive after a $500 feature adjustment in the Scion's favor
Acura RSX: $500 more after a $500 feature adjustment in the RSX's favor
Prices change frequently, and differences will vary based on feature level. To quickly generate these and other comparisons with the specific features you want, visit my Web site, www.truedelta.com. (It's the only site that provides true "apples-to-apples" price comparisons.)
TrueDelta's page for the Eclipse:
http://www.truedelta.com/models/Eclipse.php
Last Words
Overall, the four-cylinder Eclipse doesn't perform nearly as well as its styling suggests it should. Not that this should come as a surprise. Lackluster performance combined with sporty styling pretty much defined the base trim of sporty coupes in the segment's heydey. Mitsubishi should steal a page from Toyota's book and rename the GS the ST, which according to at least one auto magazine stood for "secretarial transport."
If you want anything in the way of driving thrills, you're going to need the six. And even then count on most such thrills occurring with the front wheels pointed straight ahead. Looking through the brochure, I see only one photo where the new Eclipse is in motion with the front wheels turned. What do you know, truth in advertising.
And so, what of Mitsubishi's fate? I don't think the Eclipse is going to save it. Aside from the high-power six, there's nothing here that hasn't failed to work before. The Scion tC meets or exceeds the Eclipse GS in most ways, and costs considerably less. And with a number of true sports cars costing just a bit more than the V6 Eclipse, I don't foresee a large demand for it, either. I suppose the car does have that generous warranty going for it. But will Mitsubishi stay in business long enough to fully honor it?
A Note on Mitsubishi Eclipse Reliability
I cannot practically cover reliability within the context of this review. However, many people are interested in such information, so I've started collecting my own data. Results, once they are available, will be posted to my site, www.truedelta.com, with updates every three months.
Unlike other sources, TrueDelta will clearly identify what difference it will make if you buy an Eclipse rather than another vehicle by providing "times in the shop" and "days in the shop" stats (among others). You will be able to specify the number of years, annual miles, and types of repairs to include in Mitsubishi Eclipse reliability comparisons.
Before I can report results, I need data on all cars--not just the Eclipse--from people like you. To encourage participation, those who help provide the data will receive free access to the site's reliability information. Non-participants will have to pay an access fee.
For the details, and to sign up, visit www.truedelta.com.
A link to this website and alphabetized links to my other vehicle reviews can be found on my profile page.
Some of my reviews of related vehicles:
Acura RSX review
Scion tC review
Recommended:
No
Amount Paid (US$): 19994
Model and Options: GS, no options
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