2000 Mitsubishi Eclipse Is Less Racy, More Refined

From the May 1999 issue of Car and Driver.As sales of sport-utility vehicles have exploded in the Nineties, buyers for two-seat and two-plus-two coupes have become scarce. Witness the sad demise of the Mazda RX-7, the Nissan 300ZX, and the Toyota Supra, with the Mitsubishi 3000GT soon to follow. Meanwhile, sales in the Chevy Camaro/Ford Mustang/Toyota Celica/Honda Prelude class have also been plummeting as trend-obsessed dilettante drivers have switched their “sport” allegiance from low-slung, high-energy coupes to high-riding, low-performance utility vehicles. As a result, from a peak of more than 800,000 sales in 1989, sports-coupe deliveries dropped to less than 400,000 last year. Although Eclipse sales have been immune to this decline—­sales in the past three years have exceeded the output of the previous seven years—this erosion of coupe popularity set off alarms at Mitsubishi. As a result, the 2000 Eclipse you see on these pages marks a shift away from the turbo-pressurized testosterone-infused Eclipses of the past. Mitsubishi hopes this model—expect it in showrooms this summer—will appeal not only to the boy-racer crowd but also to older buyers seeking rakish machines that also provide some comfort and practicality. Sadly, this search for greater refinement, as well as the desire to cut costs by reducing model variations spell the end of the Eclipse’s four-wheel-drive option and turbocharged engine. As it is, only 15 percent of Eclipse buyers sprang for the turbo last year, and only a third of those turbo cars were four-wheel-driven.Instead, an optional V-6 is now offered in the Eclipse. It’s essentially the same SOHC 24-valve 3.0-liter unit offered in the Galant, but for Eclipse duty, its power is bumped about 10 horsepower to 205 by a retuned, freer-flowing exhaust system. The base engine changes as well. It’s an SOHC 16-valve 2.4-liter four-cylinder with balance shafts—also borrowed from the Galant—that replaces the 140-hp DaimlerChrysler DOHC 2.0-liter four-­cylinder that never won any refinement prizes. This engine also gets a replumbed exhaust, good for about nine more horses than you’ll find in the 145-hp engine that powers the Galant. In keeping with the Eclipse’s sporting mission, both engines will be offered with either a five-speed manual transmission or a four-speed automatic equipped with full manual control, which Mitsubishi calls Sportronic. Underneath, the new Eclipse shares its chassis with the Galant, much as the pre­vious Eclipse did with earlier Galants. That means a strut suspension in front and a multilink layout in the rear. Keen readers will recall that the previous Eclipse employed a control-arm front suspension, but Mitsubishi now feels that it can achieve superior straight-line stability with the strut setup—and save a few pennies in the process. This hardware comes in a distinctive sheetmetal wrapper that’s a complete departure from the rounded, wind-swept lines of the previous Eclipse. The styling comes straight from the wild SST concept cars that Mitsubishi showed off at the 1998 Detroit and New York auto shows in coupe and convertible form. Dan Sims, the chief designer at Mitsubishi’s R&D center in Cypress, California, created both the concept and production cars. He’s not a big fan of the current retro craze, which borrows from past trendsetters. “We should be making mold-breaking cars right now,” he says.
With its distinctive trapezoidal head­lights and heavily straked and sculpted front end, the new Eclipse certainly has a look all its own. Even its rear view, dom­inated by the irregularly shaped taillights, each with three reflector elements, breaks new ground. From the side, this Eclipse has more of a coupe profile than its pre­decessor, but the body remains a hatchback to provide flexible cargo capacity. More on the Mitsubishi EclipseAlthough this new Eclipse is still smaller than a Honda Prelude, it has grown about three inches longer, nearly two inches higher, and fractionally wider than last year’s model. That growth pays off inside, particularly in rear legroom. In the old car, adults had to huddle crosswise in the back seat; the new Eclipse will accom­modate two standard-issue adults. Their heads will still be kissing the hatch glass, however, and their knees will be splayed around the front seatbacks. In front, the seating package is compa­rable to the current model’s, but the styling reflects the concept SST’s twin-cowl dash­board theme. A novel touch is the radio display set into the top of the dash, with various knobs and buttons remaining on a conventionally located panel. A four-CD in-dash changer will be one of the stereo options, and equipment levels will be gen­erally upgraded. For example, power win­dows will be standard across the board.We had the opportunity to drive two Eclipse prototypes—both high-end GT models with V-6 engines. The one with the manual gearbox immediately revealed a more mature, refined demeanor than has any previous four-cylinder Eclipse. The V-6 is impressively smooth and quiet, except at high revs, where it takes on a faraway, Germanic-sounding snarl as it pulls to the 6200-rpm redline. Although the V-6 doesn’t muster any frenzied top-end rush, the car felt plenty quick. We expect that it will probably take a few 10ths longer to reach 60 mph than the old front-wheel-drive turbo model, mostly because the older car weighed some 200 pounds less. Midrange punch, however, is the engine’s trump card, with the instantaneous response you would expect from the larger-displacement, nat­urally aspirated engine. What we didn’t expect was for the steering to be unaffected by this healthy thrust. Except for some loss of self-cen­tering in full-throttle first-gear corners, the steering remains largely unfazed by the position of your right foot.Furthermore, the new model tracks straighter and with better on-center feel than its predecessors. However, when you bend the new Eclipse into a corner, it doesn’t bite into that turn as aggressively as did the old car. Pressed hard, the Eclipse will ultimately lose grip first at its driven front wheels, but this understeer is gradual and easily postponed by modulating the throttle. On our challenging 10Best test route, the Eclipse showed great poise, its sus­pension keeping the body well controlled over undulating pavement while the tires stayed planted on bumps. At the same time, the suspension was filtering most of the major hits from the passenger compart­ment, although some pitter-patter noises came through. Credit belongs not only to the reworked suspension but also to the new body structure, which Mitsubishi says is 41 percent stiffer in bending and 26 per­cent more resistant to twisting. The new automatic transmission proved to be an excellent match for the V-6’s power curve, and its manual override pro­duces crisp shifts. Moreover, the Sportronic operation does little to second-guess the driver, even letting the engine rev into the fuel cutoff without upshifting. Overall, this new Eclipse remains a sat­isfying ride for a demanding driver, although it is perhaps less exuberantly enthusiastic than its frenetic predecessors. In exchange, it delivers greater comfort and refinement at lower prices, thanks to its less complex mechanical specifications. Expect V-6 models to start at $21,000 and top out about three grand higher. If there’s a market for sporty coupes aimed at grown­ups, this Eclipse should be well positioned to attract and hold their attention.SpecificationsSpecifications
2000 Mitsubishi Eclipse
Vehicle Type: front-engine, front-wheel-drive, 2+2-passenger, 2-door coupe
PRICE

Base: $18,000–$21,000 
ENGINES
SOHC 16-valve 2.4-liter inline-4, 154 hp, 163 lb-ft; SOHC 24-valve 3.0-liter V-6, 205 hp, 200–205 lb-ft 
TRANSMISSIONS
5-speed manual, 4-speed automatic
DIMENSIONS

Wheelbase: 100.8 in
Length: 175.4 in
Width: 68.9 in
Height: 51.6 in
Curb Weight (C/D est): 2900–3200 lb
C/D-ESTIMATED PERFORMANCE (V-6 MANUAL)

60 mph: 6.9 sec
C/D-ESTIMATED FUEL ECONOMY
City/Highway: 21/29 mpg Csaba Csere joined Car and Driver in 1980 and never really left. After serving as Technical Editor and Director, he was Editor-in-Chief from 1993 until his retirement from active duty in 2008. He continues to dabble in automotive journalism and WRL racing, as well as ministering to his 1965 Jaguar E-type, 2017 Porsche 911, 2009 Mercedes SL550, 2013 Porsche Cayenne S, and four motorcycles—when not skiing or hiking near his home in Colorado. 
Source: caranddriver.com