So Mitsubishi brings a new crossover to market. Completely understandable and probably the smart move. But they name it the Eclipse. This seems a bit odd considering there's hardly any positive image left behind that name after 2 generations of bleh fwd coupes. But on top of all that they have to sell it with the tagline "A classic reborn". Am I wrong or is everyone that sees this going to either be confused or disappointed?
EDIT: title was supposed to be "Have we..." but I noticed right as I hit the post button.
Brian
MegaDork
3/28/18 11:05 p.m.
The Eclipse was one of my favorites in my formative years. I've even started looking at the last gen with desire. I have a soft spot for big FWD 2 doors, a rapidly vanishing segment.
Using that name on a crossover is wrong. Then again Mitsubishi is only staying in business by sub prime auto loans...
Well...you can put two bottles of nawz in there. Big ones. Really big ones.
Erich
UltraDork
3/29/18 5:25 a.m.
That front end looks an awful lot like the Lexus RX to me. And I do mean awful.
Front looks like a budget Lexus, rear looks like they made a 2nd generation of Pontiac Aztec. I'm not sure if any car maker has a less inspiring and more confusing lineup right now.
imgon
Reader
3/29/18 6:29 a.m.
I thought the same thing when I saw the ad the other day. I see no connection between an Eclipse and a cross over. Just sullying the name of what once was a decent model of theirs.
slefain
PowerDork
3/29/18 7:51 a.m.
For potential Mirage buyers who still have horrendous credit, but can afford higher payments on their 96 month loan (for now). They will be plentiful on the buy here/pay here lots once the repos start processing.
By “unconventional” do they mean yet another mid-sized crossover? Hardly unique.
I guess they use the name because it’s something people might actually remember and associate with Mitsubishi. They probably should have just called it the Lancer, or even better, the Zero...
i suspect this is an attempt to capture old Eclipse drivers who are now all grown up and need to drive their baby mommy’s kids around when they have them while the new baby mommy is working the pole down at the Local club.
Grizz
UberDork
3/29/18 8:14 a.m.
We did talk about that I'm pretty sure.
It even made my mom mad when she found out about it because she had fond memories of driving a turbo eclipse on the back ways to work for years.
aircooled said:
I guess they use the name because it’s something people might actually remember and associate with Mitsubishi. They probably should have just called it the Lancer, or even better, the Zero...
That's brilliant! You should be in marketing!
They probably named it the Eclipse because it’s the last vehicle from Mitsubishi we’re likely to see in the US?
Duke
MegaDork
3/29/18 11:46 a.m.
Why did Chrysler name their nice, modern, clean-sheet-design minivan after a giant bucket of uninspired suck?
Nobody even liked these things when they were new.
Suprf1y
PowerDork
3/29/18 12:18 p.m.
Ladies and gentlemen, I give you...
The Chevrolet Nova!
Nothing new
Suprf1y said:
Ladies and gentlemen, I give you...
The Chevrolet Nova!
Nothing new
At least that was still an economy car, like the earlier Nova.
pres589
PowerDork
3/29/18 12:50 p.m.
I think we talk about Mitsu being a lost and confused car company quite often for many different and accurate reasons.
I assume they make money somehow but I don't understand that aspect of the company.
Anyone else remember Mitsubishi's super annoying "What's your excuse?" radio pitchman from around 1999? I want to hear him call Mitsubishi management.
Suprf1y said:
Ladies and gentlemen, I give you...
The Chevrolet Nova!
Nothing new
That one's a bit more defensible - plenty of original Novas were also fairly basic four cylinder, four door economy cars.
I'm starting to see Mirages pop up in the ~$5k range with low miles. I mean for the price can they be 'that' bad for a newer inexpensive beater that gets 50+mpg? Maybe I'm overthinking that because I used to own an Asspire so can relate to the diminutive size and double digit HP.
Suprf1y said:
Ladies and gentlemen, I give you...
The Chevrolet Nova!
Nothing new
....and quite possibly the most reliable Chevy or GM product you could buy at the time
Replace the LRR tires with some decent rubber and the new Mirage is essentially the modern Geo Metro by pretty much every metric. Add a rear sway bar and it's better in every way.
pres589
PowerDork
3/29/18 3:01 p.m.
Is there an off the shelf rear swaybar for the current Mirage?
And agreed on the Chevy Nova of the 80's being a good then-modern interpretation of the original Nova. Unlike the Eclipse then vs. now.
There is a couple of sway bars available for the mirage, I bought mine for under $125 as part of a group buy. Huge improvement for tiny $. Going down to 13" rims improved the ride and gave me better tire options.
NGTD
UberDork
3/30/18 11:09 a.m.
Mitsubishi stopped building the Evo.
/thread
Mitsubishi has E36 M3 on the North American market for the last 20+ years. They gave us mediocre versions of decent cars overseas and then somewhere in the 2000’s forgot how to design a decent looking car. The only way they sell cars is by offering stupid good rebates and most of the dealers have been pushing “Bad Credit? No Problem!” and they still come out on top, because 2016 they had a great sales year.
Mike
SuperDork
3/31/18 12:26 a.m.
Of course, the crossover is named Eclipse.
In other news, the Ford Escape is now the Ford Mustang X.
The Honda Crosstour is now the Honda S2000 all terrain.
The Murano is now the GT-R CrossCabriolet.