First. Car. LIVE! #10: [Mitsubishi Eclipse GSX] Rate it in the comments below.

Intro: The 10th episode in a series, some dedication finally. I said i was going to make it special, so here i am with my favourite car of all time.

Specs

What can i say other than it has the almighty 4G63T taken straight from the Evo I, because it’s the 6-bolt pattern.
2.0L, inline-4, DOHC, 16V with 215HP and 290Nm.

Description

This was the poor man’s Evo and it shows. It’s compiled of unused Evo parts from all generations and part that would be later used on newer Evo generations.
The engine, as i said, was taken from the Evo I. The drivetrain, i’ve heard it was taken from the Evo 3. And the ECU was later used on the Evo 9, since some people realized they are mostly identical and you can flash almost the whole the Evo 9 tuning file into the 2G Eclipse.
Obviously greatness did not come without its problems.
All models before 1997 had a huge issue that could cause permanent damage to the engine, crankwalk. Although not many incidents have been reported, Mitsubishi took action and in 1997 they fixed the problem, while also adding a Limited Slip Differential as a bonus option when buying a new Eclipse. Now the crankwalk only appears at over 400HP if not treated correctly.
It didn’t receive many updates, just one in fact, the facelift.
But on the facelift, it lost the signature GSX black lips.
The two variants were called 2GA and 2GB respectivelly.
Neither it had many limited editions. The only edition was the OZ Racing’s 10th Anniversary Edition on which the facelifted Eclipse received OZ rebranded Enkei rims and a badge stating it’s the limited edition, badge which was often removed by car sellers so not many of them are left.
Anyway, the car was a 90’s icon and probably the most important 90’s tuner out of all, defining the line between two tuning eras, as Donut Media stated.
Just like in the ads and brochures, it’s “Built For Living”.

Mods

As for the mods i’d start with molding the 2GB spoiler into the 2GA one, just to make it a little taller, but keep the width of the original one. Still on the subject of body mods, i would track down a rare front lip extention, the Tsunami Softline, and paint it the same gloss black as the original lip. Finally, i would extend the hood a bit over the headlights, not too much, juat a little to make it a bit angrier.
At the engine, i won’t do much, since i don’t need too much power. Just get a new free flow cat for the exhaust, a HKS exhaust tip and a HKS air filter. And obviously everything optimized with a chiptune. Finally, it would have 250HP, which is more than enough on a permanent AWD car.

Budget

If i could find the right Eclipse, this project wouldn’t cost more than 2500-3000€. But since it’s a rare car around here i doubt i would even find one. These appear once in a blue moon for sale and they get sold a few days later. It’s an Evo in a way sportier body afterall.

Conclusion

Dreams need to be chased, Eclipses need to be observed.
This is the ultimate first car in my opinion.
AWD, powerful and good looking.

Scores
Last Score:
7.54 Mercedes A210 Evolution AMG
Best Score:
8.90 Citroen ZX Coupe 16V