Eclipse GT Lives Up To Its Name--A Competent, Comfortable Grand Tourer
Written: Mar 08 '04 (Updated Dec 06 '04)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Powerful engine, comfortable ride, relaxed and reassuring in everyday driving or hard running.
Cons: Relatively soft suspension, family-car steering, squeally standard tires, plasticky interior bits.
The Bottom Line: The Eclipse GT isn't a hard-edged, focused sports machine, but it does an exceedingly good job of blending everyday usability with hard-charging acceleration and sporty looks.
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| drive571's Full Review: 2004 Mitsubishi Eclipse Coupe |
My Experience
I recently test-drove a 2004 Eclipse GT at a local dealership. My test drive lasted about half an hour, and covered city streets, freeways, and winding secondary roads. I also owned a 2001 Mitsbishi Eclipse GT for over a year, which gave me a little more insight on long-term reliability of this model. The differences between the 2001 and 2004 models are minor. The styling of the front fascia and the alloy wheels has been mildly tweaked, and the tail-lights have been changed. Some features which were optional have become standard (such as power mirrors and 6-speaker stereo), and ABS became unavailable except on the GTS. Except for these mild trim and styling revisions, the car underneath remains identical, as does its behavior on the road.
Performance
In GT form, the Eclipse's performance is probably its best feature. Its 3.0-liter V6 is an excellent engine, and one that is able to play the role of refined cruiser or hard charger equally well--It feels flexible and relaxed in everyday driving, but delivers satisfyingly strong performance when pressed.
Most magazines quote 0-60 times around 7 seconds flat, and it feels at least that fast from the drivers' seat. Between 2500 and 5500rpms, the Eclipse's engine feels torquey and muscular, slinging the car forwards with a wonderful fluid growl. Wrung out on freeway on-ramps, it revs up eagerly, delivering the satisfying and forceful impression of being pushed back in your seat until you reach about 6000rpms, where the engine runs out of breath (there's little reason to push all the way to the 6200rpm redline, but I find that the fat midrange torque more than compensates for the lack of high-end eagerness).
The icing on the cake is that, when you're done playing speed racer, the engine makes a soothing partner for everyday driving. It's remarkably refined, transmitting almost no vibration to the cabin through the seats or steering wheel--just silky smoothness from idle to redline. It's also surprisingly quiet, and what engine noise there is comes from the growly exhaust, not from under the hood.
When these qualities are combined with the engine's torque, it lends the car an effortless, luxurious feel in everyday driving. Sure, some might say that the V6 engine is too family-car-like compared to the high-strung four-cylinders in rival sports coupes (and if I hadn't driven this car, I might agree), but in execution, this powerplant is one of the best in class due to its torque, flexibility, and everyday driveability.
Transmission/Clutch
I find the Eclipse's transmission to be another one of its strong points. It has short throws and a solid, meaty feel when changing from gear to gear. It requires a bit more effort than most shifters, but its precisely-defined gates make gearchanges feel firm and decisive. The only drawback to the Eclipse's shifter is that the gears don't engage as quickly as I would like. For example, if I'm charging up a freeway on-ramp and want to snap off a quick shift from 3rd to 4th gear, the lever pauses a moment before it slots into 4th. These less-than-lightning-quick engagements are the only real weak point as far as shifting goes.
The clutch, however, is less satusfying. While its take-up is smooth and gentle, it's not as precise as I would like. The engagement point is a bit soft, so it doesn't give you that millimeter-perfect control that you have with, say, a Miata's clutch. On the other hand, it's much more forgiving of imperfect clutch technique than a Miata, and to new drivers, its slight vagueness would provide a reassuring margin for error.
Steering/Handling
Handling isn't one of the Eclipse's strong suits. It's very stable and surefooted, but its behavior on winding roads feels more like that of a good sedan than that of a sports coupe. Its suspension feels soft, disappointingly so by sports-coupe standards, and it lacks the immediacy and aggressiveness of rivals like the Acura RSX and Toyota Celica.
A magazine review I read once described the Eclipse's steering feel as "family-car indifferent," and I think that's a perfect description. The steering feels soft, with buttery-smooth power assist and a ratio that's not really slow, but not quick either. Effort builds in a nice, linear fashion in turns, but its weighting never becomes as hefty as some of its rivals, so the wheel still feels a bit limp on winding roads.
When these winding roads are taken at enthusiastic speeds, you'll notice the Eclipse's stable, forgiving chassis and a relaxed demeanor, but also a fair amount of body roll and a feeling of heavy inertia that you won't experience in many rivals. I've noticed that this car likes to be driven smoothly--you can't just saw the wheel left and right and expect it to hang on. Instead, it helps to gradually feed in the steering angle and let the car take a set before you push it. Then, it rewards you with good balance and a reassuringly predictable attitude. The standard Goodyear RS-A tires tend to squeal too easily, but if you replace these with something more performance-oriented (Yokohoma AVS ES100s, in my case), you'll find that the Eclipse's limits are actually impressively high, with understeer staying mild and controllable, despite the unnecessary suspension movement.
The Eclipse is also an outstanding freeway car, with effortless tracking and good on-center feel from the steering. Think of the Eclipse as a long-distance GT rather than a hair-trigger sports coupe, and you'll likely be quite pleased with its handling. However, if you're expecting razor-sharp moves like those of the Toyota Celica, prepare for disappointment.
Ride
The Eclipse's ride comfort is quite good for a sports coupe, and should be appealing to those who are just looking for a daily commuter with a dash of style. There's some clunkiness over the bumps due to the heavy 17-inch wheels, but the Eclipse's ride is generally much more composed than other sports coupes. It soaks up small bumps and uneven surfaces quite well, and although the suspension is firm enough to cause some mild bobbing on patched freeways, it never feels stiff or harsh. It's also fairly well-controlled over dips and rises, with less floating than in most family sedans. That said, I find the body float especially irritating in such a sporty-looking car, and this relative softness would probably be an annoyance to most enthusiasts. But for a daily driver, the Eclipse's ride is about as user-friendly as it gets in this class.
Interior
The Eclipse's interior excels when it comes to setting a sporty mood, but leaves me underwhelmed when it comes to materials quality. I'll focus on the positives first, though.
Unlike some rivals like the Honda Civic Si and Nissan Sentra SE-R, the Eclipse succeeds in making you feel like you are driving a very sporty car. The windshield is rakishly angled and affords a gun-slit view out, and the doorsills rise up to your shoulders. The driving position is equally sporting, with low-slung seats, and a reclined posture that encourages you to reach out, not down, to the pedals and steering wheel. The design of the dashboard helps, too. It's futuristic and swoopy, with a motorcycle-style hood over the gauges and aircraft-style dash vents that lend the cabin a good dose of visual interest. This interior remains fun to look at, even over the long haul.
But as I mentioned, the materials quality of the Eclipse's cabin leaves something to be desired. It's not that anything looks terribly cheap, and the padded dash inserts are nice, but most of the plastics are hard and thin-feeling, and they sound hollow when you rap them with your hands. The graining on the plastics is mostly rough to the touch, and lacking in the slick feel of Toyota and Honda plastics. Although Mitsubishi didn't seem to sweat the details here, they at least paid attention to the most important interfaces. The things you touch most--the turn-signal stalk, the door armrest, the radio controls--all feel up to the price.
More importantly, the Eclipse's seats are top notch, with excellent support and comfort. They remain comfortable for hours, and are fantastic for long trips. Enthusiasts will be irritated with the lack of lateral support in the corners, but they're perfect for the freeway.
Practicality
The Eclipse doesn't stand tall for practicality, but it's about the same as the other sports coupes in its class. There's room to stretch out in the front seats (except overhead--headroom is a bit tight), and the back seats are predictably useless, except maybe for very short across-town hops. The trunk is actually quite huge, and folding down the rear seats gives you small-wagon-quality cargo room. There's a hump in the middle of the load floor that can impede the loading of really bulky objects, but other than that, the Eclipse has loads of useable trunk space. Being a musician, I have to lug my bass and amplifiers around on a regular basis, and the Eclipse has never come up short for cargo room. Just remember, passenger space is in short supply--consider this a two-seater unless it's really necessary to carry more.
Reliability
The Eclipse has fine reliability, with a rating of Average from Consumer Reports. The average number of problems in brand-new cars is quite low, so this is a good sign. Also, in my personal experience, I've found the Eclipse to be completely trouble-free in the fourteen months that I've owned it. Oil changes and a new set of tires have been all it's needed so far, and the tires weren't a "need"--more of a "want," as I found the standard tires too squeally and wanted to replace them with something grippier.
Overall
The Eclipse GT succeeds admirably in what appears to be its main mission--providing swift, surefooted daily transportation with stylish and sporty looks. It's not as hard-edged as some of its competitors, like the Celica GT-S and Sentra SE-R Spec V, but then it's not trying to be.
The Eclipse is far more comfortable and easygoing as a daily driver than most of the cars in its class, with ride and seat comfort that will please casual drivers. Its torquey engine is also very appealing for everyday driving, displaying a level of smoothness and refinement that's rare in this class, and big power that's readily accessible across the rev range. You don't have to wind this engine up to get that "fast-car" sensation, a quality that daily drivers are sure to appreciate (in comparison, a Celica feels surprisingly flat-footed when driven moderately).
So the Eclipse makes a fantastic daily driver and freeway cruiser. But while it's not the hardest-edged car in its segment, it's not a disappointment to enthusiasts like myself, either. The engine is sweet and powerful, the shifter precise, and while the handling is more family sedan than sports car, it's very stable and predictable--and with aftermarket tires, it can be a reassuringly composed twisty-road runner.
I must emphasize that those looking for a weekend autocrosser should look elsewhere (if I'd been buying new, and had more selection, I probably wouldn't have chosen this car), but if the idea of a comfortable, long-distance grand tourer appeals to you, it won't disappoint. The Eclipse isn't the sharpest or sportiest coupe in its class, but its engine performance and across-the-board blend of capabilities makes it an appealing machine.
Feel free to check out my reviews of some of the Eclipse's competitors:
Honda Accord EX Coupe
Honda Civic Si
Hyundai Tiburon GT V6
Mini Cooper S
Nissan Sentra SE-R Spec V
Scion tC
Subaru Impreza WRX
Toyota Celica GT-S
Volkswagen GTI 1.8T
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 21,497
Condition: Used
Model Year: 2004
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Epinions.com ID:
drive571
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Member: P.J. McCombs
Location: Berkeley, California
Reviews written: 138
Trusted by: 70 members
About Me:
New baby at home: a 1999 Mazda Miata in British Racing Green!
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