Over View
The Eclipse Cross is more crossover than Eclipse. There’s no significance in its taking its middle name from Mitsubishi’s Eclipse sports coupe of far-away memory. The styling is full-bodied in the lower half, reflecting Mitsubishi’s 4×4 heritage, but it has a more dart-like upper profile than its boxy rivals. It’s the first complete work of Tsunehiro Kunimoto as he arrived as Mitsubishi’s chief of design. He joined from Nissan three years ago.
Paradoxically, Nissan later took a lifeline shareholding in the troubled Mitsubishi Motors, so you could call this the last pure Mitsubishi. In future, Mitsubishi will donate PHEV and 4×4 expertise to Nissan-Renault. Travelling in the other direction will be Nissan platforms, and presumably, Nissan’s ability to operate at a profit.
The first engine is a new lightweight 1.5 turbo petrol. Mitsubishi’s existing (if modified) 2.2 diesel will follow. We tried the 4×4 version of the turbo petrol, which comes with a mandatory CVT auto transmission, albeit one with fake stepped modes for when you take over-ride control. The front-driver gets a manual, and the 2.2 diesel has a proper eight-speed automatic gearbox.
It’s larger inside than rivals because the wheelbase is long, taken directly from the Outlander, as is most of the suspension. It’s also versatile, helped by sliding reclining rear seats. But the bobtail does reduce boot space.
The cabin style and finish is a whole lot better than previous Mitsubishis. That of course isn’t saying much, so let’s add that it’s into the upper-middle of the rivals.
Driving
The turbo petrol engine spreads its torque over a wide range, so responds well from low down. It also sings sweetly and quietly at the top end. But annoyingly, at 4,000rpm, which is what you use a lot when pressing on, it drones annoyingly.
Just mooching around towns, or in gentle traffic, the CVT is smooth and sane, choosing a ratio that plays to the engine’s low-rev strengths. And yeah, we know CVTs are efficient and light. But floor it and, as they all do, it causes the engine to moan like a dying cow, abandoning correlation between speed and revs, and the reponse to throttle inputs is fuzzy. That makes it irritating and disconcerting to use.
For driving down twisty roads, where you want predictable response through a corner, it’s entirely critical to fix it in one of the the eight virtual ratios via the paddles.
