Sunny disposition from Eclipse

It’s hard to pigeonhole the Mitsubishi Eclipse into any one category, with its combination of traits and features. It stands out more than any other car in Mitsubishi’s line-up with its rakish, coupe’d and muscular stance; the silhouette and proportions are pure “sports car”.

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The powertrain (FWD, with a big V6) makes comparisons with more traditional (and expensive) sport machines from Europe, most of which tend to be all-wheel or rear-drive; so it’s hard to make a head-to-head comparo.

My Autonet tester was a GT-P trimmed Eclipse, a well equipped two-door, see-and-be-seen ride done up in bright yellow and boasting the larger of the car’s engine choices - a 3.8 litre V6 hosting 265 horses under the hood (lower trim Eclipses use a 2.4 litre four-banger). If you want to be showoff-y, the Eclipse will squawk and chirp with the best of them, and blast to the redline (6500 rpm) very quickly in any gear.

It’s fast, to be sure, and Mitsubishi’s manual transmission is the way to go if you’re looking to get the best from the engine. The close-ratio six-speed stick has perfect feel, at least for my driving style. Easy gates make for intuitive, quick shifts whether winding the car up to highway speed or bringing on the engine braking when approaching winding turns. Sure, you can get it with an automatic (an available five-speed slush box will add $1,200 to the price) but why would you?

The low-slung vehicle sticks to the road well and holds itself rigidly upright in the turns. A rack-and-pinion, power-assist steering setup keeps the feel of engaged driving alive without a lot of vibration from the wheel.

The interior also feels like a sports car, with leather trimmed and supportively-bolstered bucket seats facing a sculpted dash that appeals to the eye. Mitsubishi didn’t go nuts with a space-age theme for the layout; the cabin has a modern feel without looking like it will become dated quickly.

Control and information displays are kept simple, intuitive and uncluttered. Everything is easy to find and operate, and within reach.

Creature comforts are attended to, with adjustable power driver’s seat (and heated seats, up front) and a soft-touch feel to the plastics and polymers of the dash. The GT-P incorporates an upgraded audio system, with 650 watts of Rockford Fosgate sound pumped from nine speakers, with a big subwoofer taking up room in the trunk. The hatch opens wide, and otherwise provides fairly good cargo area for a sport-themed vehicle.

It’s a tight cabin overhead, however; with the moonroof of my test car cutting into the headroom enough that I had to lean the seat back more than I wanted to in order to fit into it. Forget about the rear seats, as well. Although the Eclipse has rear seats, they are strictly for Hobbits.

Visibility from within is hampered by the bodystyle. As you will find in most sport coupes, the car is designed for going forward, without much thought to what’s behind it. It’s when you have to put it into reverse, though, that the compromised rear visibility becomes an issue. The narrowed windows (and rear spoiler, that bisected the rear window view in my test car) and fat pillars severely limit the view.

Outwardly, the Eclipse has gained a better looking front end for 2009, borrowing the grille style of the company’s Lancer; a trapezoidal black-on-black face that looks appropriately menacing.

The car’s proportions are nearly symmetrical, with a slightly longer overhang at the front than at the rear, and 18-inch wheels (on the GT-P trim) helping to balance the curbside appearance.

The summary is that the Eclipse delivers a pretty fine sporty two-seater, wrapping good looks with more than-ample-performance that keeps the fun factor at high levels; and manages to make a case for itself economically as well.