Yeah, a buddy of mine, who lives in NY now, called me up last night and asked if i could meet him for a beer at our regular bar, and i said well hell ya! Now keep in mind, the last car I saw this guy driving was a ****ted out Plymouth Laser, base model, and before that he had an Escort that was usually 50/50 whether or not it was going to start. So I pull into the parking lot of the bar, and hes leaning up against a Black 2006 5speed V6 Eclipse. He's not huge into tuning or anything, just wanted a nice, fast, girl attracting car that he could do minor things here and there to. Its a pretty sharp looking car, but desperately needs to be lowered (you guys think MY wheel gap is bad, you should see his..). Anyway, before we go in for our beer, he tosses me the keys and says lets go!

So, did a little city driving on the way to the highway, and got used to the transmission. The clutch is really long. When you pull your foot off of it after shifting into gear, it doesnt grab until RIGHT before you let off. WHich is way different from the civic, so needless to say I rode the clutch a couple times trying to get a feel for it. The shifter felt phenominal, so short and notchy.

Then, I hit the on ramp in first, and when I grabbed second (HARD!), the tires broke lose for about a second, then the car just pulled. Through the rest of the gears, it was SOOOOO smooth, the power transfer was glorious, thats right, glorious! It started to rain really hard about half way through my drive, but the car didnt even THINK about hydroplaning, it just pulled and pulled and pulled through whatever we hit. The stock sound system is very nice (for a stock set-up obviously). Its very Ergonomically friendly, pretty much everything seemed to be right where it needed to be. The seats were very comfortable, and didnt allow me to move an inch side to side. The all-wheel disc brakes were fantastic. Overall, for a brand new car, it was pretty nice.

....and now for the downfalls. This car is a frickin' beast, its so heavy compared to my Civic that I literally felt like i was driving a big chunk of metal. The blindspots are massive, you have to trust your mirrors 100%, no exceptions. I mentioned the wheel gap before, it needs to be lowered immediately. The tails are nasty, all clear with colored bulbs. And it'll be interesting to see how the transmission holds up over time.


Overall I'd give it about a 6.5

 

nice nice..i wouldent of mind giving one a test run, i think they look cool enough..havent seen any modded yet

 

Theyre looks dont really get me all jacked up but I can see they are heavy as hell.

 

my friends dads girlfriend has an eclipse. he used to take me for rides in it (needless to say i wasnt allowed to drive it). auto tranny...and i wasnt driving it, but it was still pretty damn nice. the sound system was awesome for a stock one, and i'll agree with you on the wheel gap too. but the interior is damn nice.

hes trying to get his dads girlfriend to trade it in for a manual...i dont think she'll go for it.

 

I don't like the eclipse cause it is BUTT ugly and it is heavy as hell. For the money, i would much rather get one of the new SIs. THey look better and prolly handle better.

 

the only eclipses i like are the 1st gens

 

First time I saw one I thought it was a Nissan 350Z. I kinda like the new body style over the old ones. I'd drive one, but not own one.

 

I would drive one just to see how it drives but as i stated before, i wouldn't buy one. Sometimes when i look at the car on the street i think that mitsu took a car magazine and pasted together parts from other cars to make one really ugly car.

 

Isn't that the same model as the Plymoth Laser and the Eagal Talon arround 90-91 ish

 

i like second gen eclipses...and the new one if you lower it a lot.