Here's the last review for the year and a Christmas Special at that! The Mitsubishi Eclipse 2G

The second generation of the Mitsubishi Eclipse is a memory of the era of the early 2000s ricer or tuner culture (depends on who you ask), but is the car a product of a bygone era or something much more?

Starters:
The 2G Mitsubishi Eclipse was released in 1995 to replace it’s aging DSM (Diamond Star Motors) predecessor 1G Eclipse (which was sold alongside the Eagle Talon and the Plymouth LAZERRRR) while the Laser dropped out of production for the 2G model, the Eagle Talon kept running with the Eclipse until 1998 when it when out of production (the Eclipse wouldn’t follow until a year later). The 2G Eclipse was subject to pop-culture exposure from films like The Fast and The Furious to games like Need for Speed Underground 1 & 2.

Styling:
It’s taken a modest shift to the weird bubbly styling of the original car, while the pre-facelift model looks a bit weird, especially with the oddball front bumper, small spoiler and orange indicators, the weird spiral-y OEM wheels don’t help matters also the sloping front looks like it got squashed down gradually. The facelift is a little bit more decent with a curved and elevated spoiler (GS-T and GSX models), more aggressively styled front bumper and a slightly flattened out front end and some 5-spoke wheels. But the design only gets worse 3G onwards.

Engine:
Varies between trims, either the Chrysler-sourced 420a N/A engine for the RS and GS (US only) the N/A 4G63 for the GS (Euro only), N/A 4G64 (Spyder GS) or the turbocharged 4G63T that it shares with the Evo (GS-T, Spyder GS-T, GSX), There’s some slight popularity to the 4G63 engines as a whole due to their robustness and abundance of aftermarket parts. All of these engines are either coupled to a 4 speed automatic or a 5 speed manuals. All of these engines are coupled to a FWD drivetrain as well with the exception of the GSX which is 4WD.

Versatility and practicality:
Also varies between trims, you’ll get either basic stuff in the RS and GS to cool creature comforts in the GS-T and the GSX (there’s too many to list) there’s not a lot to say about this apart from the fact that you can fit your normal shopping in the boot due to its hatchback boot lid and put the dog in the back.

Pricing:
These cars are hard to come by especially in the UK, but I couldn’t find any UK listings so if you’re looking for one elsewhere then look in Japan (well, you can TRY) or suck it up to a RHD model in Europe or the US.

In conclusion:
Well, there’s not really much to say. I’m not a big fan of this car but it has been a staple in the car culture and it’s easy to see why but I was never a fan of it in the first place and it was never an extremely exciting car to me. Just it’s younger and older brothers, the 3000GT/GTO and the FTO.

Final grade: B

It’s a well-known car but it’s not very common in Europe or the UK and I don’t find it interesting.

Would I buy it?: No, due to its non-existence in the UK.

Sorry if it’s lacking but it was requested by a user and I shouldn’t have waded in too far that way.