2019 Mitsubishi Eclipse Cross vs 2018

What's the difference?

I didn’t expect to like the Eclipse Cross as much as I did. It is well equipped, packs a modern peppy engine, has a spacious cabin and a surprisingly usable boot. 

Sure, the interior looks like it could be a decade old, but it’s augmented with all the right things and makes for a comfortable place to be.  

I’d argue you don’t need to spend $1000 on the gloss-black plastic additions, but instead consider the next grade up (the LS) as it has improved safety inclusions and other enhancements for a small additional cost.

The Eclipse Cross Exceed is evidence of Mitsubishi’s drive towards more distinctive, youthful designs, and there’s no doubt it stands out from the small and medium SUV crowd. It’s space-efficient, well specified for the dollars, and spot-on in terms of active and passive safety. But the high-tech drivetrain delivers only modest performance without the fuel economy gains you’d expect in return, and some dynamic shortcomings (overly light steering, average cornering grip) counterbalance positives like a quiet, comfortable ride, and great brakes.

The Eclipse Cross is like nothing else on the market. The front of it has been brought in line with Mitsubishi’s current 'Dynamic Shield' design language that features prominently across the Outlander, Pajero Sport and new Triton ranges. Unlike the traditional shape of the Qashqai or insectoid looks of the Sportage, the Eclipse Cross is a dead-set over-commitment to right angles. 

Around the back things get a little odd. The rear light clusters clasp the rear from the roof down, then the bumper curves out giving it a strange bulbous look. To confuse things further, there’s a split rear window with a light-bar spoiler running across the middle. 

It’s a lot to take in. For what it’s worth, I don’t hate the look of it, but I can see why it could turn some potential buyers off.

The black highlights on our car look a smidge better than the standard grey-on-chrome fittings, but again, I’m not sure if they’re worth an extra grand.

The 18-inch alloys fill those wheel arches well, and present good value at this price.

The cabin design of the Eclipse Cross looks the same as pretty much every other Mitsubishi and wouldn’t have looked out of place in a Lancer from 10 years ago. The brand’s interior design language has moved at a glacial pace since 2007.

The materials are marginally better than those days, though, with tactically placed soft-touch surfaces in all the right places and a mix of silver chrome and gloss-plastic that’s cheap but effective.

Better bits include the wheel, dash and multimedia screen, while the transmission tunnel area is a bit clumsy. 

The huge manual handbrake takes up so much room next to the driver that there’s padding in it because you have no choice but to rest your arm on it, and there are a plethora of blanked out buttons for the all-wheel drive system from higher grades.

The seat material is a thoroughly padded synthetic with a rather odd pattern on it. It’s surprisingly comfortable in both seating rows.

A shrinking violet this car is not. Put the XR-PHEV concept cars next to the production Eclipse Cross and their close evolutionary relationship is clear.

Specifically, the aggressive ‘Dynamic Shield’ nose treatment, complete with angry, angular headlights and jagged chrome highlights outlining gigantic apertures for the fog lights and indicators.

Then there’s the dramatically chiselled trench running from the middle of the front door, in parallel with the lower edge of the side windows towards the rear, balanced by a distinct character line below it.

That deepening channel turns the corner at the rear of the car where it meets with a suitably asymmetric and complex light cluster, which in turn connects with a raised bridge dividing dual rear windows, housing an extended tail and stoplight bar (with a roof spoiler above, and a faux diffuser below). Suffice it to say there’s a lot going on.

Climb inside and although things are more conventional, pointy surrounds still extend from each side of the air vents in the centre stack, and bright metallic-finish elements that define the upper and lower sections of the dash morph into flying buttresses that sweep down to form the edge of the lower console.

A 7.0-inch media screen stands proud on the dashtop, and a small two-piece hood forms a Star Wars-ey cover for the instrument binnacle. Each to their own of course, but overall, it feels like an arm wrestle between curves and angles ended in stalemate.

Due to the centre console issue in 2WD variants with the handbrake sticking out, space is a bit limited for your arms. 

There are plenty of storage areas for front occupants, however, with some huge cupholders (that also have an ambient light in the bottom of them, nice touch) a storage trench under the air-con that also hosts two USB ports, a 12-volt outlet and oddly the 'Eco' mode button, as well as a big centre console box with a removable top section for smaller objects.

The 7.0-inch touchscreen is great to use and not too hard to reach for the driver, although the lack of a volume knob (there are touch buttons on the sides) will irritate passengers.

For some inexplicable reason Mitsubishi have chosen to include a touchpad as an alternative to controlling the media functions. It is similar to the much-maligned units in Lexus models and seems utterly pointless to me. The touchscreen is easier to control in every conceivable scenario. I only found the tactile home-button below the touch-pad to be useful.

The rear is left with slightly less amenities, consisting of a bottle-holder in the door and a flimsy drop-down armrest with two cupholders. For an SUV this size it’s a bit of a let down to not get vents in the back of the centre console for rear passengers, although air conditioning is provided to the rear via vents under the front seats.

I found leg and headroom was excellent in both rows for me at 182cm tall. It’s a truly spacious and comfortable cabin, if a little plain.

The boot loses out courtesy of the sloping roofline with a minimum space of 341 litres but there’s a trick. The back seats are actually on rails, so you can move them forward to extend the amount of available room. With them fully stowed forward, space is boosted to 448L.

With the seats folded flat, max space is an average 1122L.

At just over 4.4m long, 1.8m wide and close to 1.7m high, the Eclipse Cross does indeed rub shoulders with the largest ‘small’ SUVs and creep up on the key dimensions of more diminutive ‘medium’ models.

Worth noting, though, that it sits on the same platform as its smaller ASX sibling, with which it shares a 2670mm wheelbase. So, what’s the point? Why the bigger body on a relatively compact wheelbase?

The big difference is the Eclipse Cross borrows a sliding rear seat mechanism from the larger Outlander, offering a 200mm choice between maximum rear legroom and additional cargo space.

Mitsubishi gets the efficiency of using the same underpinnings for two models, while giving the larger car the flexibility to take advantage of its greater overall length.

The sliding function works in concert with eight reclining steps for the backrest (from 16 to 32 degrees), which also splits and folds 60/40, so you can have max legroom on one side and max boot space on the other. Smart.

There’s plenty of room up front with a medium-size glove box supplemented by a large covered bin between the front seats, as well generous door pockets with dedicated space for full-size bottles. You’ll also find a 12-volt outlet and two USB ports.

Even with the rear seat set as far forward as it will go, head and legroom in the back (for this 183cm tester) is good. Three grown-ups across the rear is also do-able for more than short stints, although there are no adjustable air vents for rear seat passengers.

Rear storage options are modest, with a pair of small cupholders in the fold-down centre armrest joined by map pockets on the front seatbacks and bottle holders in the doors.

As mentioned, cargo volume varies in line with the position of the rear seat, offering a modest 341 litres with the back seat in its rear position, and a healthier 448 litres in its forward location. In the latter mode our three-piece hard suitcase set (35, 68 and 105 litres) or the carsguide pram were swallowed without fuss. Folding the rear seat completely opens up a claimed 1122 litres of space.

Worth noting the lack of tie down hooks in the boot, although the standard cargo blind can be located in various positions, depending on the load being carried. Plus, (black) roof rails are standard.

The spare tyre is a space-saver, and if you’re keen on hooking up a boat or van the AWD Eclipse Cross’ towing capacity is a hefty 1600kg for a braked trailer and 750kg unbraked.

At $38,500 (before on-road costs) the Exceed AWD sits at the top of the three-tier Eclipse Cross line-up. And in the same way it manages to span the physical space between small and medium SUVs, it pulls off a similar trick in terms of price and features.

At that ‘just-under-$40k’ price point the Exceed lives up to its name by meeting or just tipping over the dollars required for the flagship versions of key small SUV players like the Mazda CX-3 Akari AWD, and Subaru XV 2.0iS. 

But you’re weighing in around mid-range of the medium SUV pack, in line with the likes of the Mazda CX-5 Maxx Sport, Nissan X-Trail ST-L AWD and Toyota RAV4 GXL.

The standard equipment list is lengthy, including 18-inch alloy rims, LED headlights (with auto-levelling), LED DRLs, front fog lights, privacy glass, leather-trimmed steering wheel and gear knob, dual-zone climate control air, electric ‘panoramic’ sunroof, keyless entry and start, head-up display, auto headlights, rain-sensing wipers, cruise control, partial leather trim, electrically-adjustable driver’s seat (with heating for both front seats), a 7.0-inch media touchscreen managing the ‘Smartphone Link Display Audio’ system (including Apple CarPlay and Android Auto connectivity), and six-speaker audio (including digital radio).

There are seven colours to choose from, with white the only no-cost choice. Any of five metallic and pearl finishes will set you back $590, and the single premium colour ‘Brilliant Red’ costs a not insignificant $890.

There’s also a heap of safety spec and tech we’ll look at in the safety section below.

All Eclipse Cross variants get the same 1.5-litre four-cylinder turbocharged engine.

Outputs seem decent on paper, at 110kW/250Nm, but max torque is available from just 2000rpm, giving it a strong, punchy feeling as soon as you hop on the accelerator.

It certainly feels better than the lacklustre 2.0-litre non-turbo units in both the Qashqai (106kW/200Nm) and Sportage (114kW/192Nm).

The Eclipse cross can only be had with a continuously variable transmission (CVT). It was surprisingly unobtrusive, making little noise and it didn’t burden the accelerator pedal with much of the signature CVT rubbery response feel.

The ES and LS grades are front drive only, with the top-spec Exceed offering all-wheel drive.

The Eclipse Cross Exceed AWD is powered by an all-new, all-alloy 1.5-litre, four-cylinder turbo-petrol engine featuring direct and multi-point injection to optimise charge density and fuel-efficiency.

It also uses Mitsubishi’s ‘MIVEC’ variable valve timing (inlet and exhaust) and boasts an integrated cylinder head and exhaust manifold design, as well as a resin intake manifold which reduces weight and incoming air temperature.

It produces a not too hot, not too cold 110kW at 5500rpm and 250Nm from 2000-3500rpm. Drive goes to all four wheels, firstly via a CVT (Continuously Variable Transmission) featuring a ‘Step Up Shift’ system that allows manual changes via column-mounted paddles through eight pre-set ratios.

Then, Mitsubishi’s ‘Super All Wheel Control’ (S-AWC) is an electronically controlled 4WD system using a viscous centre diff to manage torque distribution between the front and rear axles. It also ropes in the ASC and ABS systems to fine tune drive delivery left to right, with ‘Active Yaw Control’ (AYC) bringing the brakes into play to help keep things under control in quick corners (especially on loose surfaces).

Official combined figures rate front-wheel drive Eclipse Cross variants at 7.3L/100km. Over my week of testing I landed on 9.0L/100km, but this was with mainly urban driving and some occasionally intense bouts of acceleration. Prior to the second half of the week it was averaging roughly 7.5l/100km. I believe a more forgiving driver could easily get it below 8.0.

Despite the turbocharger, the Eclipse Cross drinks a minimum of 91 RON regular unleaded petrol. It has a 63-litre tank.

Claimed fuel economy for the combined (ADR 81/02 - urban, extra-urban) cycle is 7.7L/100km, with the Eclipse Cross emitting 174g/km of CO2 in the process.

We couldn’t match that, recording a relatively thirsty 10.7L/100km (at the bowser) over exactly 322km of city, suburban and freeway running.

The 1.5-litre turbo runs happily on standard 91 RON unleaded, and you’ll need 60 litres of it to fill the tank.

I wasn’t expecting much from the Eclipse Cross. The ASX and Outlander a size above and below lack personality behind the wheel, so I was surprised to find the Eclipse Cross was better than it has any right to be.

Unlike its stablemates, it feels light and agile and the 1.5-litre was responsive and strong. So strong that it would make the wheels spin from a standstill under heavy acceleration, although it wouldn’t try and pull the wheel out of my hand (torque-steer) which is a good sign. 

Steering was accurate if a little light and engine noise was minimal. Tyre noise (not helped by the large alloys) and thudding from suspension components began to build up at speeds faster than 70km/h.

Unlike some front-drive SUVs it never felt too front-heavy and handled admirably through the corners.

This is probably due to the Eclipse Cross having a multi-link rear suspension set up rather than a cheaper torsion-bar. The rear would still become notably unsettled over bumpier corners, however.

The spongy seats and long suspension travel helped elevate you from the worse bumps on the road. For a comparison – It didn’t feel as stiff or sporty sporty as something like the Mazda CX-3 or CX-5, but not as soft as the Nissan Qashqai or as heavy as the Sportage. 

When asked to jump on the scales the Eclipse Cross Exceed registers 1555kg, which is around 200kg more than an AWD Mazda CX-3, and only 10 kegs less than a similarly specified CX-5. 

So, no featherweight, but acceleration is still brisk enough with maximum torque available from just 2000rpm, although the ever-flaring CVT does its best to knock the edge off. Even in manual mode changes are slurred and slow.

And here’s an essential tip. Only press the ‘Eco’ button if you’ve been advised by your doctor to under no circumstances allow your body to produce adrenalin. It instantly softens the throttle, amplifies the CVT’s dampening behaviour and sucks out your will to live.

Sadly, one thing that’s unquestionably light is the electronically assisted steering. Great for parking, but as speeds rise, while the car points accurately, weight and road feel don’t join the party in any meaningful way.

Suspension is strut front, multi-link rear and ride quality is good. Noise levels are low, the seats are relatively firm but proved comfortable on longer runs, and despite the busy styling, ergonomics have been well thought through and the Eclipse Cross is easy to operate (with one exception, which we’ll get to).

Standard 18-inch alloy rims are shod with 225/55 Toyo Proxes R44 rubber, a ‘low energy loss’ tyre that’s quiet and undoubtedly fuel economy-focused, but despite the on-board S-AWC and AYC tech, putting the Eclipse Cross under pressure in quick cornering highlights limitations in terms of outright grip. Nothing dramatic. The car remains predictable and composed. Just don’t expect F1-style levels of adhesion.

Brakes are discs all around, ventilated at the front, and stopping power is progressive and consistent.

The S-AWC system offers ‘Snow’ and ‘Gravel’ modes , but during this test we stayed firmly on the bitumen with ‘Auto’ selected. If you are heading off-highway however, it’s worth noting the Exceed’s 183mm ground clearance, 18.8 degree entry angle, and 29.2 degree departure angle.

Random niggles? That raised element cutting the rear window in two is just as annoying as you’d expect it to be. It’s a pain in the Toyota Prius, as it was in early Honda CR-Xs, and remains so in this car. Honestly, who signed that off? The faux carbon elements around the cabin aren’t fooling anybody, and the touch-pad controller for the media system is laggy and unwieldly (the ergonomic exception mentioned earlier).

The Eclipse Cross Exceed is loaded with active and passive safety technology. It sailed through ANCAP safety assessment in December last year, qualifying for a maximum five-star rating.

Active safety runs to AEB (which Mitsubishi refers to as ‘Forward Collision Mitigation’), adaptive cruise control, lane departure warning, blind spot monitoring, lane change assist, rear cross traffic alert, ASC, traction control, ABS, EBD, EBA, ‘Emergency Stop Signal Function’, hill start assist, and auto high beam.

There are three top-tether child restraint anchor points, with ISOFIX mounts on the two outer rear positions.

The Eclipse Cross Exceed’s ‘Ultrasonic misacceleration Mitigation System’ also comes into play when the driver hits the accelerator by mistake when stationary or at speeds up to 10km/h, reducing the chance and severity of hitting anything four metres in front or behind the car.

There’s also a reversing camera, front and rear parking sensors, and Mitsubishi’s ‘Multi Around Monitor’ giving a bird’s-eye-view for slow speed manoeuvres. Impressive for a car at this price-point. 

But if all that still isn’t enough to avoid a crash you’re protected by driver and front passenger head and side airbags, as well as full-length curtain airbags, and knee bag for the driver.

There are three top-tether child restraint anchor points, with ISOFIX mounts on the two outer rear positions.

The Eclipse Cross is covered by Mitsubishi’s five-year/unlimited kilometer warranty. That’s up to spec with most competitors like Hyundai, Honda and Mazda, while beating out the less-than-impressive three-year warranties offered by Suzuki and Toyota.

The competitor to beat is still the Kia Sportage with its seven year/unlimited kilometer coverage. Mitsubishi offers capped price servicing, but for some reason it only lasts 36 months, two years shorter than the life of the warranty. Strange. 

Regardless, the Eclipse Cross requires attention every 15,000km or 12 months and costs $300 for the first service then $400 for the remaining two.

Mitsubishi offers a five-year/100,000km warranty, and a five-year perforation warranty. And under the ‘Diamond Advantage’ banner the brand bundles that warranty with four years roadside assist and three years capped price servicing.

Recommended maintenance interval for the Eclipse Cross Exceed AWD is 12 months/15,000km, with service pricing lining up as $300 for the first year, and $400 for the second and third.