Test drive Mitsubishi Eclipse 1995 - 1999 compartment
2+2
Sports car and Russian roads. What can be in common between them? It seemed that the Lord God himself could not combine them. But the manic craving of a Russian person for fast driving is not able to destroy the absence of any roads there. And they buy. And they travel to the rapid noble handsome people. They travel right by what is called a proud word of the road in our country. And some are even all year round. And curiosity woke up in us: what is it in the winter? Why did we take the Mitsubishi Eclipse test. Citizen, your nose is broken!
This is the second generation of Mitsubishi Eclipse. The European version is delivered to Russia. It is offered only with a two-liter 16-valve engine with a capacity of 145 liters. With.
What can you tell about the appearance of the ward? Have you ever seen a Japanese with a broken nose? We have not seen before either. And here he is before us. Please admire him. There is no doubt that the Japanese man (despite the fact that the Eclipse model Mitsubishi produces at its factory in the North American United States). It seems that everything is as it should be - low, with narrow cunning heads of headlights, only on the hood of Gorbin. We immediately introduced the final phase of the production of the Mitsubishi Eclipse car: at the end of the conveyor there is a hefty American kid, chewing on some Hamurgger, and when the next car floats past it, he, rubbed his sleeve, grabs a hefty sledgehammer and pounds with all the dope along the hood. Eclipse gets a craxon, and a healthy tumor forms on his nose.
Let's go to the compartment!
Like most sports coupes, Eclipse is made according to the 2+2 scheme. Which, according to the creators, implies: with a certain enthusiasm you can sit from behind, but it is hardly worth counting on amenities. And it’s not that there is really nowhere to fit, just the head thoroughly rests on the rear window. But the driver's seat has as many as six adjustments (counting the headrest) plus to this you can configure the height of the steering column.
Sitting behind the wheel, you find yourself in a kind of minicokpit, limited on one side with a high central console, as if crawling from the front panel, and on the other with a wide armrest of the door. Very convenient - everything is right at hand. The switching lever is unusually littered, but, sitting down, you find it very assistant. Everything else is quite traditional, only the ashtray is too under hand - pushing the bull into a small box between the seats on the go, there is definitely no opportunity. So it’s better Fasten Belt and No smoking, as they say. By the way, belts have a fairly large range of height adjustment.
The instrumental information is traditional and laconic - a tachometer, a speedometer, a pair of pointers and control lamps. Review through the salon mirror, as expected, suffered due to a highly lifted up, on which the spoiler squeal (or anti-wing?) Flaunts. But in the side mirrors sticking out on short stalks, you can clearly see everyone you left behind. It is only necessary to consider that they very much delete the depicted objects.
In such a car you expect to find a trunk where the suitcase with money will fit, but here it is surprisingly quite decent size, and besides, the back of the rear seat folds in a ratio of 50:50. Brunches of the trunk can be pulled by a mesh that is included in the kit and transported vegetables in it, for example, onions there ... In general, the list of standard equipment is much longer than the option of the options. For example, ABS, two airbags, an electric drive of mirrors and glasses and other charms are installed on all machines ... A conditioner, Cruise Control and something on trifles are supplied to order.
Checking on the roads Missing the engine, Mitsubishi cuts off from the parking lot in fresh snow. Soft clutch operation allows you to do without slipping the drives. But it is worth getting on a rolled track - they immediately begin to turn. True, our car is shod in the summer. Now you have to carefully work with gas, and it is better to immediately switch to increased gear and move in innight. The engine easily allows this - 95 percent of the torque it gives out in the range from 2400 to 6000 rpm. Yes, and the moment is good.
Once on the asphalt, carefully sprinkled with salt, we immediately felt at ease. Of course, you can tear the wheels into a slip here. And in the first, and even in second gear. But you can do without it. Then the dynamics can really be felt. Hurrying up, the engine picks up the car like a fluff, significantly pressing the riders into the seats. The programs are short, just have time to switch - the tachometer arrow easily slips the entire scale to the red zone.
To match the agility and brakes - softly, but confidently Eclipse is besieging, and you will come more difficult - it gets up as if they are dug. If the case occurs on slippery coating, ABS comes into effect, so that stability and handling are preserved. But the operation of the anti -lock system is noisy and is very much given to the pedals.
The suspension, as befits a sports car, is hard and energy -intensive. Naturally, the roll in corners is practically absent. But at the same time there is no shaking - on the contrary, irregularities are overcome very softly, and through all sorts of tram tracks the car simply rolls, swaying slightly.
It turns out that those who, in spite of anything, are buying and traveling. The main thing is to put on the weather and roll to your health. Eclipse will be a good acquisition for young and energetic people with decent income, for example, representatives of the world of show business. After all, a catchy sports compartment is an extra reason to emphasize your own personality, to demonstrate your social status. And the price ($ 36,000) Mitsubishi Eclipse allows you to do without excessive material sacrifices.
The editors expresses gratitude to the Diamant, (095) 401-2333, which provided the car for a test.
For the period of the test, the car was insured in the insurance company of the Resa-Garantia, (095) 250-3600, 255-6834, 254-2272.
What else
Hyundai managed to make a car with a very peculiar and attractive design, which is almost the main element of the success of a sports car from customers. And although in some technical indicators it is a little behind its more eminent competitors, the Koreans always have a strong trump card - price. Sales of Hyundai Coupe should be about to begin, and how much it will cost is not yet known, but most likely its cost will be less than Eclipse.
We talked in detail about Alfa Romeo GTV last year. The strengths of this machine, of course, are stunning design from Pininfarina and the progressive design of the engine and pendants, which did not slow down to affect the sled qualities of Alpha. But for everything, of course, you have to pay - the price of GTV in Russia is about $ 45,000.
Opel Calibra does not look so catchy - he has a more strict, classic exterior. But such a style has its fans. Moreover, Calibra has excellent aerodynamics and an excellent German engine. And with the service is simpler. Still, the Opel brand is very common in our country - respectively, the number of service points is quite large.
Squatious
Eclipse means an eclipse. And those who love this car prefer a brighter translation - insanity.
The first to get acquainted with the breathtaking model of the 97th model year was the director of the company Diamant Alexander Smirnov.
Mitsubishi Eclipse this year has changed a lot compared to the previous one. And it personally seems to me that the changes are the most positive. Outwardly, the car has become more interesting and somehow, or something, more modern.
Firstly, it is a youth car. And secondly, as shown by a half-month experience of trade, clearly female. There is even an interesting pattern: if a man travels to Pajero, then his wife (or there, I don’t know who she is to him) buys Eclipse. How many such couples we already had! But this is only there are no children yet: the front is good, but back, you yourself understand, you’re not even planting a baby ...
This is about wives. Their husbands on Pajero, as a rule, prefer to keep incognito. And among people known to the general public - actors, singers, show businessmen, politicians - Eclipse that is new, that old, is not particularly popular. There is nothing to be done, the prejudice is too strong: to create an image, something so huge and courageous is needed. Two to three times more Eclipse. However, Arkady Ukupnik, who not so long ago bought such a car, has a completely different opinion. For some reason, it seems to him that popularity is not created at the expense of the car, but with purely musical means.
At one time, a mitsubishi eclipse soloist of the Kar-Men group Sergey Lemokh, a great lover of all kinds of automotive equipment. Passion is too weak a word, ”said Sergey. - I turn in cars, I'm just sick. I do not have a normal apartment, no expensive equipment, there is no bank account - but I have a normal machine, which is a house for me. I go a lot: only over the past six months I wound up seventy thousand. But Sergey did not like Eclipse. He traveled - and quit. Not interested. I switched to Cadillac.
If in Russia Eclipse loses in popularity to its older brothers producing the same company, then abroad everything is exactly the opposite. The updated Eclipse has made a real coup on the market. Eclipse sales increased by 23 percent per year, despite the fact that the total sales of Mitsubishi decreased during this time. Almost 5 thousand eclips were sold monthly.
Of course, we are proud that we have done such a good car. But actually, the case is not limited by an eclipse. I would like to remind our customers that there are other cars in the Mitsubishi lineup, ”Kevin Ormes considered his duty to notice his duty.
In America, Eclipse even managed to win the title of the most rented car last year. Especially in the southern states, where young childless couples are very fond of taking it on weekends for a trip to the coast.
True, they beat on eclipse more often than usual - right some eclipse finds on the driver ...
Alexander Kalugin
Source: "Autopilot"
