2019-04-01 CAR UK (1)

136 CARMAGAZINE.CO.UK | APRIL 2019

Partial Eclipse

of our heart

If you can deal with its eccentricities, the Eclipse Cross does a solid

job of coping with anything daily life slings at it. By Steve Moody

Mitsubishi Eclipse

Cross

Month 7

The story so far

Top-spec version of all-new

SUV from a company with

some serious SUV heritage

+Rugged yet nimble chassis;

fuss-free capability

• CVT; thirsty; too many
  alarms

Price £28,165 (£28,705 as

tested) Performance 1499cc

turbo 4-cyl, 161bhp, 9.8sec

0-62mph, 124mph Efficiency

40.4mpg (official), 30.2mpg

(tested), 159g/km CO2 Energy

cost 18.3p per mile Miles this

month 1459 Total miles 5971

Just prior to the Eclipse Cross

leaving at the end of its seven-

month spell it blotted its perfect

copybook by having the temerity to

get a slow puncture.

So slow in fact that the first time

the tyre pressure warning bonged,

I filled all four tyres and it went

quiet for about 10 days. Then it

bonged again, and again, and again,

as the slow puncture became a

medium-speed one.

Not handily at all, the realisation

that this was a bit more serious than

I’d thought happened at 2pm the

day before I was to take the family

on a 300-mile trip. I tried to get a

new tyre from Kwik Fit, for whom

‘ kwik ’ was in fact four days, while

other tyre fitters were no better.

I rang my local Mitsubishi dealer,

Close of Peterborough, who said

bring it in straight away, they would

find a spare mechanic, and would

either repair it, or take one off their

demo car. Two-and-half hours later,

they had removed the small nail and

mended the tyre, and even given the

car a full valet too. Brilliant service.

This sums up running a

Mitsubishi. The cars aren’t as slick

as some others, but if you want solid

reliability (you really can’t blame the

car for that puncture), ruggedness

and no frills, as well as quick service

and problem-solving spirit from

dealers, then they really deliver.

The things people would struggle

to live with on our car would be the

CVT gearbox, weird rear styling and

poor fuel consumption. I would opt

for the manual to cure two of those

ills, and did opt for a healthy layer of

mud to mitigate the other one.

In the mildly annoying camp

would be the endless alarms. Even

the boot gives off a beep when

you open it. Usually only those

that are powered do this, but the

gas-strutted manual bootlid on the

Eclipse Cross does too.

I came away impressed by the

chassis, which allows the Eclipse

Cross to be surprisingly nimble,

and the traction from the four-

wheel-drive system. I drove the car

through a Lincolnshire winter, and

it was only once it went back and

the next car spent half its time with

the traction-control light blinking

that I realised what little fuss the

Mitsubishi made of those roads.

The simplicity of the infotain-

ment (even if it looks like Sir Clive

Sinclair designed it before he was

a Sir), amazingly bright headlights

that scare even the most suicidal

deer away, rear seats that move into

all sorts of yogic positions and a

workmanlike, tough cabin, and the

Eclipse Cross is a crossover for those

who need their family daily driver

to do more beefy work than just the

shopping or school run.

@Sjmoody37

If you want

solid reliability,

ruggedness

and no frills,

a Mitsubishi

really delivers

Goodbye

The form may be

questionable but

there’s no doubting

the Eclipse Cross’s

functionality

Logbook

Count the cost

Cost new £28,705 Private sale

£21,260 Part-exchange £20,270

Cost per mile 18.7p Cost per mile

including depreciation £1.65 Simon Thompson