Marlborough Express - Weekend Express
Eclipse shades the competition
Mitsubishi has refreshed its small/not small (as in it sells in the small segment, but is bigger than a lot of others in the same segment) Eclipse Cross SUV for 2021, with a new look and a load more goodies inside.
IT LOOKS LIKE A SWOOPIER ASX. WHY DIDN’T THEY JUST GO WITH ‘‘ASX SPORT’’?
Why indeed. After all, the Eclipse Cross sits on the same platform as the ASX, but gets a newer, better engine and a much higher quality interior than the ASX.
The Eclipse Cross is essentially the last lingering hangover from the ‘‘Project Global’’ effort between Mitsubishi and Chrysler in the mid-2000s that produced some truly awful cars, although to be fair, Mitsubishi managed to do far better work with the platform than Chrysler did.
The Eclipse Cross is expected to be the last car on the platform following Mitsubishi’s induction into the fragile Nissan Renault alliance, and it is a damn fine thing to go out on.
While the ASX has essentially taken over from the Lancer (which, again, was on the same platform) as the car Mitsubishi regularly jam more kit into while simultaneously dropping the price, the Eclipse Cross is positioned above it, getting that aforementioned newer, better engine and swankier interior.
And that engine is a rather nice little thing indeed.
The 1.5-litre turbo four-cylinder petrol unit produces 112kW of power and 254Nm of torque, which initially seems modest on paper, but in reality is a nicely responsive little unit that is happy to rev and gets its torque down nice and low (it peaks at 2000rpm), making it flexible and responsive.
Okay, it is hooked up to a continuously variable transmission, but the engines flexibility and refinement rounds the worst effects of the CVT off at higher revs, while its delightfully torquey nature down low actually makes the reviled transmission a very respectable partner around town.
WHAT ABOUT THAT NICER INTERIOR?
While the ASX’s interior has improved drastically over the years, it is still quite a plasticky place, with some nasty, hard plastics still lurking.
The Eclipse Cross still has quite a lot of plastic, but they are of a nicer quality. The Eclipse
MITSUBISHI ECLIPSE CROSS VRX
Base price: $43,990
Powertrain and economy:
1.5-litre turbo-petrol four-cylinder, 112kW/254Nm, continuously variable transmission, AWD, combined economy 7.7L/100km, CO2 177g/km (source: RightCar). Vital statistics: 4545mm long, 1805mm wide, 1685mm high, 2670mm wheelbase, luggage capacity 405 litres, 18-inch alloy wheels.
We like: Comfortable, wellequipped interior, eager and refined engine, lots of standard equipment. We don’t like: It’s a bit generic from the rear now, the engine copes with the CVT well, but it’s still a CVT...
Cross boasts a sensible, logical layout that is ergonomically pleasant and comfortable.
SO HAVE MITSUBISHI JAMMED MORE STUFF IN AND DROPPED THE PRICE?
Yes and no. While it certainly has jammed more kit into the Eclipse Cross, this isn’t your bargainpriced ASX here, so as such the price doesn’t get savaged quite so frequently. Not that it needs to, mind you, because while it is more expensive than the ASX, sits smack in the meatiest part of the small SUV price range.
The top-spec AWD VRX model we drove sat at the head of the Eclipse Cross pricelist at $43,990 and was packed full of tech and equipment, such as keyless entry and start, dual-zone climate control, an auto dimming interior mirror, automatic LED headlights, LED taillights, rainsensing wipers, 18-inch alloy wheels, an 8-inch touchscreen infotainment system with eight speakers, electrically adjustable heated front seats, dual sunroofs, adaptive cruise control, blind spot monitoring, rear cross traffic alert and forward collision mitigation.
WHAT HAVE THEY DONE TO THE REAR?
Depending on what you thought of the original, either massively improved it or totally ruined it.
The facelifted Eclipse cross drops the retro 90s-style split rear that had a reflectorised strip running between the rear window and vertical lower glass section of the rear hatch in favour of a more conventional rear hatch with a larger single window.
This means that while you can actually see out if the rear of an Eclipse Cross properly now, it doesn’t look half as cool.
But the loss of the Honda CRXtastic rear window is a small price to pay for the rest of the package, which is an impressively satisfying and capable thing.