[Baldsparky]

I have to say at the age of 67 and having driven a variety of vehicles over the years the so called experts in my honest opinion talk from where the sun doesn't shine. Ok my reasons !!
My last vehicle was a 2018 Honda CRV awd 2.0 petrol aspirated. According to, and influenced by the reviews and specs I made the plunge and bought it. Within weeks I began to regret my decision. I quickly realised that the cabin experience was frankly like going back in time several years. The whole feel of the car was just not !! Well 2018 I mean it felt like an old technology vehicle. The engine felt like it couldn't pull the skin off a rice pudding. Nothing was likeable. I felt like these expert reviewers must be coming from a different planet and frankly had made a huge mistake listening to them. I know these things are subjective but have to say. Why the hell isn't the eclipse cross up there with the top of the top, when it comes to a mid size SUV that has a fantastic spec for your money and is an absolute dream to drive. Its just so under rated in these reviews and sadly there must be so many buyers missing out because its simply so low in the listings. Why ???
I have had Mercedes, Jaguars, Jeep grand Cherokees overlands and many more. I can honestly say the Eclipse Cross is an absolute gem of a car. 100% would recommend it to anyone in the market. Sorry for the rant, just needed to get that off my chest. A very happy Eclipse Cross owner 👍

 

[Telferstr]

Well said Baldspark, Yes i've read a number of these so called expert reviews and find their comments strange and do not recognise many of the criticisms they make.
Like you I'm very happy with the car and just back from a visit to Edinburgh, a cross country journey from west to east. It ran beautifully there and back. 41.2mpg going and 37.1mpg on the return journey, against very strong and gusty head winds.

 

[Baldsparky]

Well said Baldspark, Yes i've read a number of these so called expert reviews and find their comments strange and do not recognise many of the criticisms they make.
Like you I'm very happy with the car and just back from a visit to Edinburgh, a cross country journey from west to east. It ran beautifully there and back. 41.2mpg going and 37.1mpg on the return journey, against very strong and gusty head winds.

And yet the so called experts are quoting 26 mpg city and 25 mpg highway. Total BS. Like you I find upper 30s to low 40s to the gallon are achievable. So these guys must have feet like Herman Munster 😂👍

 

[Lunatic59]

I couldn't agree more. I've read the reviews and watched the videos, but the difference comes when you get behind the wheel. When I started looking last year, the top rated vehicle in the class was the Toyota RAV4. Every review said it was the best value proposition, so I test drove one. I've said it before, but it bears repeating ... behind the wheel, the RAV4 has the soul of a minivan. The Eclipse Cross has the soul of a rally car.

 

[slippercream]

Glad you all like the vehicle. I myself am pretty critical of the Cross, but mainly due to its transmission (a fantastical, magical device of infinite droll). Everything else, I love. And so does the wife, who drives it as her daily.

What you're describing as having the soul of a rally car is what makes Mitsubishi great - its S-AWC. And, in the case of the Cross, the fact that its engine design is relative to that of the powerplant in the Colt CZT, which itself is very much honed from the same designs as that of the Evo 4G63T powerplant.

Unfortunately, the world doesn't seem to think this is a good thing. And in the EU and UK, you're going to start seeing less and less of Mitsubishi.
Honestly, if Nissan (Mitsu's parent company) can afford to release yet another Z-car, and Toyota can afford to have both the Doopra and 86, I really don't believe the semantics of the "SUV-shopping demograpic" needs to drive Product Marketing targets.

It's been a soapbox of mine for a while (as well as many others who've owned Mitsubishi for decades) - if Mitsubishi stopped following the herd and built to its rally and racing roots... and then hired a marketing firm that made Mitsubishi feel like the "fun brand" again... people would buy.

All this "Small Batch" marketing just sounds like a whiny excuse for not producing what people want --- something awesome. To make "me" feel awesome, every day.
And that's why the Outlander and Eclipse Cross are the longest-sitting vehicles in dealers' lots today. No one thinks it's worth a second look.

Just look at the entries to the Rebelle Rally Eclipse Cross, AP4 Expander, and recent T1 entry at Dakar - how could you even compare that to the MPR and venerable Pajero Evo of old? Mitsubishi really needs to rethink its strategy, top-down. A true shame that the old Pajero plant is shutting down. All the great things that came out of that place...

 

[Willisjamaica]

I would believe a ma

Glad you all like the vehicle. I myself am pretty critical of the Cross, but mainly due to its transmission (a fantastical, magical device of infinite droll). Everything else, I love. And so does the wife, who drives it as her daily.

What you're describing as having the soul of a rally car is what makes Mitsubishi great - its S-AWC. And, in the case of the Cross, the fact that its engine design is relative to that of the powerplant in the Colt CZT, which itself is very much honed from the same designs as that of the Evo 4G63T powerplant.

Unfortunately, the world doesn't seem to think this is a good thing. And in the EU and UK, you're going to start seeing less and less of Mitsubishi.
Honestly, if Nissan (Mitsu's parent company) can afford to release yet another Z-car, and Toyota can afford to have both the Doopra and 86, I really don't believe the semantics of the "SUV-shopping demograpic" needs to drive Product Marketing targets.

It's been a soapbox of mine for a while (as well as many others who've owned Mitsubishi for decades) - if Mitsubishi stopped following the herd and built to its rally and racing roots... and then hired a marketing firm that made Mitsubishi feel like the "fun brand" again... people would buy.

All this "Small Batch" marketing just sounds like a whiny excuse for not producing what people want --- something awesome. To make "me" feel awesome, every day.
And that's why the Outlander and Eclipse Cross are the longest-sitting vehicles in dealers' lots today. No one thinks it's worth a second look.

Just look at the entries to the Rebelle Rally Eclipse Cross, AP4 Expander, and recent T1 entry at Dakar - how could you even compare that to the MPR and venerable Pajero Evo of old? Mitsubishi really needs to rethink its strategy, top-down. A true shame that the old Pajero plant is shutting down. All the great things that came out of that place...

I would think a major company like mitsubishi had rethink and hence made the decision to go all suv/cross over route and the results are showing .... you need to understand that mitsubishi sell strong in other countries...just that usa is a large market... i fail to believe that they have drop their rally fun driving roots... instead they have started a rebuilding process and are following that plan to build a capital to be able to produce and manufacture a sport racr product...but as is now, to do so would be detrimental.... majority of the out cry on social media are basically from sport enthusiasts which are the minority when it comes to vehucle sales..... i can assure you that and evo or it equivalent will be produce ... the eclipse cross was name eclipse cross n not eclipse for a reason ....because mitsubishi doesn't see it as or intend for it to replace the eclipse .... hence borrowing the name wasn't a death sentence as many believe...toyota follow suite by name a name cross over..." corlla cross" ...thats not toyota killing off the corolla??
Wey are now seeing where and new hybrid eclipse cross will be coming out.... and very likely the combine power will be higher than present gen...so i say they are heading in the right direction and doing well..considering the limited resources.

 

[Telferstr]

Fortunately in the UK, Mitsubishi offered both forms of transmission, and as I'm not keen on autos anyway my Eclipse Cross has the 6 speed manual gearbox fitted which is a delight to drive.
As for the future, it is a shame Mitsubishi have decided to withdraw from the European Market as a whole, a decision which is difficult to understand. The Outlander PHEV for example, is one of the best selling vehicles of its type in this market, so why throw it all away. A very strange decision indeed. Obviously the Renault Nissan Alliance has a lot to do with it. The sooner Mitsubishi can untangle itself from this arrangement the better. One little ray of hope could be, that now Britain and Japan have successfully concluded a very wide spread trade agreement between the 2 countries, Mitsubishi may have second thoughts on moving out of Britain.
Just a long hope, but you never can tell.

 

[Lunatic59]

Boardrooms are often times a crucible for very bad ideas and once they start trying to implement them, they realize how really counterproductive they may be. Hopefully this will be the case with Mitsubishi. Mitsubishi has never been a huge player in the U.S. market and have never been a favorite of the reviewers. I can see them having a limited offering here, but when I was buying my car, there was a corporate rep from Mitsubishi at the dealership who pretty much told me that by 2022 there were going to be some reintroductions. I am guessing it's either a hybrid or all electric Lancer.

 

[Faiz]

Boardrooms are often times a crucible for very bad ideas and once they start trying to implement them, they realize how really counterproductive they may be. Hopefully this will be the case with Mitsubishi. Mitsubishi has never been a huge player in the U.S. market and have never been a favorite of the reviewers. I can see them having a limited offering here, but when I was buying my car, there was a corporate rep from Mitsubishi at the dealership who pretty much told me that by 2022 there were going to be some reintroductions. I am guessing it's either a hybrid or all electric Lancer.

Meanwhile Here in Indonesia people would pay more than the normal price to get the Eclipse Cross faster because the waiting list and beacuse the car have to be shipped from japan and not assembled in Indonesia so the number its very limited each month. I even have to wait for 5 month until they deliver the Eclipse Cross to my home, here in Indonesia you can see a mitsubishi car every hundred meters.

 

[mxhdroom]

I've always had a soft spot for Mitsubishi, mainly thanks to their rallying heritage as I'm a bit of a rally fan. We test drove a Ralliart Lancer long ago and an Outlander 10 years ago when we were in the market for an AWD gravel/snow SUV commuter. For various reasons, we bought neither of those. When it came time to replace our Fiesta, Mitsubishi was at the top of the list due to its warranty, looks and relative uniqueness. It was a toss-up between the RVR (Outlander Sport in much of the world, I believe) or the EC. We've now owned our 2018 EC for almost two weeks (!) and I love it. In hindsight, the Ralliart Lancer and Outlander (and no doubt the RVR) would have been great choices as well.

Our roads here are polluted with Hyundais, Hondas, Kias, and any number of North American brand SUV/CUVs (one every hundred meters, as @Faiz says). To @Baldsparky's original point about the CRV, I think that's mainly a case of people wanting what they know instead of knowing what they want. There's nothing wrong with any of those other brands, but I do wish people would do the research, apply some critical thinking, and try something else now and then.

And I would love to see Mitsubishi re-enter the World Rally Championship with the Mirage or a new Lancer. There are new WRC hybrid rules in the works and perhaps that will entice them to re-hire Tommi Makinen and get back at it. It would do great things for their image internationally, and provide more competition in a dwindling field of manufacturers.

Keep enjoying your ECs, everyone.