Know your enemy: Mitsubishi Eclipse

[Bunta]

I realize the current generation eclipse is considered kind of dissapointing
to eclipse fans. The previous generations looked better, had more interesting and flexible motors, and even came in AWD versions with turbo fun from the factory. This is just about the limit of my knowledge of the Eclipse, and therefore I have little interest in them. I see them (the current generation especially) as being pretty lame. I'm not flaming Eclipse drivers as a whole, I just would like to know if the Eclipse has its good points, and what those are.

They seem to be very popular, probably due to the number of them in the used market. There's probably quite a few eclipse drivers in here, I ask all of you: What makes them special? C'mon, get technical, SCARE ME!!!

I've only ever moved an older eclipse around a parking lot. The motor made neat sounds, that was about all I can say.

[89Turbo944]

OK, well as a DSM owner i can say it is by far the most fun car i have driven EVER. And i have had my chances to drive E46 M3's, all the mercedes lines, vets. LOts of high end cars.

Besides its appeling design 2g specificly and 97-99 models look perfect from the factory.

The 3g eclipses are lame in my opinion, they took nothing from the 2g eclipses. No AWD, no turbo. Nothing that made the car so desirable.

To get technical, well i dont know what to say really.

Honestly the 2g motor may not be the best out there, due to the fact that they have a tendancy to crankwalk. But they are still a pretty stout engine.

They are relitivly easy to tune, have great looks. Handle like a dream. Are fast in a straight line.

They are reasonably reliable.

Check www.dsmtuners.com, www.dsmtalk.com for the tech portion, there is far to much to type on here.

[RACER D12]

Why did mitsu drop AWD and turbo? Anyone know if they are planing on making a 3g GSX?

[89Turbo944]

umm they will not make a 3g GSX but they have a 4G in the plans.







These are the pics so far. We can only hope that it will be AWD, but i dought that we will see a turbo again. Looks like they have taken the idea of displacment over forced induction. Sad really.

There was some talk anout it being RWD but that is VERY unlikly.

To me this thing kinda looks like an Audi TT with RX7 tail lights and a 350Z exhaust. And the front looks like a 350Z got slaped withe a book or something.

But the Eclipse 1G and 2G are amazing cars. Alot of potential for them. There are 1G's running in the 8's and 9's on street compounds. So they are by no means slow.

[RACER D12]

Yea it does look like a Audi TT and 350Z. They riped off so many cars with that its not even funny. More so then the Vett even.

[chales56]

hopefully, they do bring back AWD and turbo, cause that seems to be the reaspn mitsubishi is doing so bad. Like for example i live by the plant were they are made and right now they are about 7 000 cars over stock. which means that many workers are on tempory leave, and the expansion of the factory has stopped. One good thing about the factory there is that the road in front of it is 4 lane divided highway, no houses and no traffic unless the shifts is over, theres a guy in my town who got his gto upto 170 on it.

[Chavez408]

yea DSM's are great lil cars. they can be pretty fast for just a lil amout of money and time.

and about the 3gen eclipse my pops has one its a 02 GT spyder sure ppl keep tellin us its a beautilful car but man the 2 gen eclipse is the best! its just great and i just love those tail lights and its turbo.

also bout the pics that 89turbo posted, thats the concept as he said and i think its umm...interestin..i think mistsu just wanted to get bunch of cars together and make one super car cus i see around 3 - 4 cars in that car and hopefully they change some stuff before the final release. maybe with a few stickers and a big wing from auto zone will give it a more agressive look...j/p

[Bunta]

Yeah, still not too sure I like eclipses.

That concept is sure better looking than the current messy design. I like the way they're bringing back the rear roofline from the 2g. The front roofline/hood looks like a new Beetle mixxed with a toyota. Love the back end especially.

Thanks for the info guys, keep it coming.
I'm still hazy on why they're so wonderful.
The FTO seems like a better idea, wonder
why we never got it here? It was pretty.

[Steiner]

My brother has an Eclipse...except his is called a Dodge Stratus RT. Same car.

[fatninja19]

Originally Posted by Steiner

My brother has an Eclipse...except his is called a Dodge Stratus RT. Same car.

Same car?? Aren't Stratus' 4 doors?? And I dont know of any of them coming turbocharged from the factory or AWD.. ever.

[turbo2nr]

actually the 1st gen 4g63 has the best motor, the head is more free flowin , crank walk isnt present, and i beleive that it has bigger rods, and a better turbo the 14b, the 2 g is a good motor , the 4g63 takes well to mods, supports high boost levels thanks to a castiron block..
i personally dont like the 3g's eclipses, the have nuthing going for them.. no speed, looks wise its not that appealing.. i dont know i think mistu. didnt put the 4g back into the 3g eclipse b\c the evo 8 was commng to the market so i guess they wanted that motor exclusive for that car.. who knows..
1

[89Turbo944]

A Dodge Stratus RT is not an Eclipse. It is really nuthing like it.

[lowsonoma1999]

I have an '02 Eclipse GT 5spd. No, it is not the fastest car out there, but it isn't bad, especially when I'm used to racing a Camaro that runs low 9s in the 1/4. It isn't the best starting point for a racer, but it is a very good driver. I have taken it from Indianapolis to Connecticut twice, making only 1 stop each way. Drive 6 hours, stop for lunch and gas, don't stop again till I'm pulling in my friends driveway. Last time I went I got 33mpg. I have a bad back, and after driving it for 12 hours, it doesn't hurt, which none of the other 9 cars I've owned can accomplish that. Reliabily isn't too bad. Only minor stupid things have gone with it. More luck with it than I did with my Honda. Yes, the 3g Eclipse and the currect Stratus RT are the same car. Interior is exactly the same, you can swap any drivetrain or suspension parts. Rippmods has a Stratus RT they are working on right now, and everything they are putting on it can also fit the Eclipse. One huge downfall of any Mitsubishi is the resale value. It SUCKS. When Mitsu came out with the no payments for a year deal, yeah great for sales, but bad for resale. It also cost Mitsu a lot of money because there were a huge amount of loans defaulted on. That is why the fired their pres. a couple weeks ago, it was his idea. Plus, this puts everybody way upside down on their car. I fell for the deal, but I just cut Mitsu one large check when my first payment was due a year later. But to imagine I still owed full value on the car when after a year it had depreciated more than $10k from its $25k sticker. I am happy with the car for the most part, but I wish I could sell it and get a decent amount of money for it. I have too many cars and could use the money elsewhere.

[Bunta]

Yeah, that's the impression I get from Eclipses in general: a dumbed down sportscar for the masses that will never be worth selling/buying. They really want everyone to like it. I'm more into cars that are not popular in America due to the fact that everyone here loves Luxury and being cooler than their neighbors. This is what I think Mitsubishi has in mind when they sell the eclipse to us. I was hoping there was something to them that I didn't know about.

[rysbrnr]

Bunta,
IMO, I wouldn't even call the 3g Eclipse an "eclipse". It's only an Eclipse by name. They aren't even a true "DSM". It's like you said, the 3g eclipse is a dumbed down car for the masses who like to dance around in their car playing "Dirty Vegas"
Mitsu thinks America doesn't want a "4 banger" ... Americans like "bigger is better" so now we have a V-6 in it. The average American would rather say he has a "VEE 6" than " 4 cylinder" The 90-99 GSX eclipses only accounted for 5% of the total sales of eclipses in the beginning. Now close to half of the 3g's (2000+) we see are the Eclipse GT V6. It just sells better.

What makes them special? C'mon, get technical, SCARE ME!!!

What made Eclipses/Talons/Lasers great were the 4g63 motors that came with the turbo models. Only the 1st and 2nd generation Eclipse's were worthy of anything. One of the cars everyone is jocking now in the US the EVO 8 right? Eclipse are the EVO's little brother. Starting with the EVO 1 they shared the same drivetrain. It was a solid motor boasting more torque than HP. Released in late 1989 the motors had a: cast iron block, oil squirters for the pistons, forged crank, 500hp capable rods, 16 valves, DOHC aluminum "hemi" head, hydraulic lifters, coil pack ignition, knock sensor, intercooled turbo with oil cooler, good OEM blow off valve, and much more. For it's time these things were fairly high tech, made high specific output (195hp/2Liters= 97.5hp/L). How many cars back in '89 made that much power for that little money? Just a handful, IIRC. So yeah, There were pretty special then, and still are now. They have their ups and downs like every car does but you still see them kickin ass at drag races don't ya? There are HUNDREDS of DSM's running solid 12's or better. Maybe not where you live but they're out there. Here's a DSM drag times list.
http://www.dsmtimes.org/awd.htm

It also doesn't cost a lot of money to get these cars hauling ass. The STOCK, unopened, untouched block of the early models will take a 500hp beating and keep on ticking. Try that on a honda! With literally LESS than 500 bucks you can take a AWD model into the 13 second quarter mile range. That's why these cars are so popular. They look nice, and can be made fast for cheap. But worst of all the have a reputation of being fast... which keeps ricers buying non-turbo DSM's and un-willingly classifying the truly fast ones as part of their DSM ricer era. Look, there were just a couple of people who answered your question with any technical content. The majority of DSM owners are ricers... sorry to say, The Fast and Furious ruined the scene. PERIOD! There are 20x more Altezza taillights on eclipse's than their are full exhaust upgrades in my town!
Thanks a lot, Brian Earl Spilner!


Bottom line:

-1st & 2nd generation DSM's,
strong, solid motors.
trannies.... that's another thread!
watch out for the turbo ones especially the AWD and the 1.8 second average 60ft. times. Don't be fooled by the endless array of "riced out" poser DSM's.....who OUTNUMBER the fast ones.

-3rd gen,
nothing to worry about except maybe a highly modded one... even if it makes good power, it's still heavy and FWD.... and ugly.