Eclipse Cross a polished package
A coupe-style SUV is a worthy reboot for the Japanese maker’s efforts, writes David Linklater.
Mitsubishi is pretty much done with conventional three-box sedans. With the launch of the Lancer Final Edition last year, cars with boots have had, well, the boot from the Three-Diamond brand.
The closest thing you can get to a Lancer now is the new Eclipse Cross, a small-to-medium SUV that sits smack in between the ASX and Outlander in size and price. Makes sense: SUVs are now the dominant species in New Zealand and the default choice for mainstream buyers.
One thing Mitsubishi isn’t quite done with is the platform that underpinned the outgoing Lancer. It dates way back to the brand’s alliance with Daimler Chrysler (1999-2005) and provided the base for a massive number of different models (Mitsubishi and otherwise), including the current ASX and Outlander.
This is relevant because that same platform is still underneath the Eclipse Cross. But you wouldn’t know it, because this new SUV really does feel very new compared with the brand’s existing SUV-showroom.
Not sure it looks entirely fresh, though. It’s distinctive for sure, in the coupe-SUV mould popular with premium European makers. In fact, the ‘‘Eclipse’’ name is borrowed from a 1989 US-market Mitsubishi coupe. But it’s pretty old-fashioned from some angles and that split-glass tailgate might be practical, but it’s also a bit 1990s.
Never mind. The engineering team has worked wonders. The Eclipse Cross has a new 1.5-litre turbo engine, a new-gen Continuously Variable Transmission (CVT) and a body structure that includes a threepoint under-bonnet strut, reinforced cowl and upper-frame, and new spot welding/adhesive techniques at key points.
It all adds up to a polished onroad package. The new engine is impressively refined and the gearbox overcomes Mitsubishi’s reputation for terrible CVTs by being responsive to the throttle but also resistant to flaring at the top end. It’s still possible to catch it out on winding, uphill sections of road, where it will step down in revs, wander a bit and then rev again. But it’s smooth enough that you don’t have to bother with the eight-step pseudo-manual mode (which is unconvincing anyway).
It’s neat-enough dynamically, with good body control and predictable demeanour. But ‘‘onroad’’ it is for now, because both models currently available are FWD only. There’s a Super-All Wheel Control (S-AWC) version on the way in April, which will sell at a $2000 premium.
Being based on the Outlander platform, you’d think this urbanfocused SUV would be a nobrainer for plug-in hybrid power. But there’s nothing planned, apparently, although we may see a mild-hybrid version (by which we mean petrol-electric but no plug) next year.
All Eclipse Cross models get forward collision mitigation with pedestrian detection and lane departure warning.
The top VRX picks up adaptive cruise control (which now works right down to standstill), blind spot warning, rear cross-traffic alert and a colour head-up display.
Coupe-style it might be, but the Eclipse Cross also impresses for its practicality. The wheelbase is actually the same as the ASX and Outlander, so you’re guarantee good rear legroom. The rear seat slides through a 200mm range and the backrest can move through eight stages of recline (16-32 degrees), meaning that you can mix and match passenger and boot space.
The rear chairs are also mounted theatre-style, so occupants are afforded a good view out – not always a given with this style of vehicle.
The exterior door skins wrap around the sills, so they stay clean for your entry and exit in bad weather. Nice touch, although you do have to watch that you don’t ground them when you’re parked next to high(ish) kerbs.
As with the exterior, the interior doesn’t wow you with forwardlooking style but still contains a few treasures. The party trick is a new centre-console touchpad, which is the first such device in the automotive world to work with Apple CarPlay phone projection.
One finger swipe moves the touch-screen menu left or right. A two-finger swipe (like you might do on your Apple laptop) shifts to the next screen or can also be used to change tracks. Two fingers upwards or downwards changes audio volume. And push to select, naturally.
Android users still get full phone projection, including the touchscreen and voice control. But not the fancy finger-control.
It’s a brilliant system, although it was marred in our test car by dropping the connection about every five minutes. Sometimes it would reconnect automatically, sometimes it wouldn’t. Once it just crashed and I had to restart the phone.
It wasn’t just the USB port because there are two and I tried both. It wasn’t my cord because I tried different ones and besides, they all work fine with other CarPlay vehicles. I’ll give it the benefit of the doubt and say it was probably a glitch with this particular car. But it did make me deeply unhappy.
Unlike the rest of the car, which is an impressive SUV-reboot for Mitsubishi and an enjoyable, practical little thing in many ways.
Eclipse Cross is the start of something new for Mitsubishi but also the end of an era. It’s the last new model to be developed by Mitsubishi before the troubled carmaker hitched its wagon to the Nissan-Renault Alliance in late2016. So expect future models from the Three-Diamond brand to be based on Alliance programmes and platforms. Which is not a bad thing, as it’s surely developed this one about as far as it can go... and then some.
Any way you look at it, the Eclipse Cross is a significant model for Mitsubishi.