has anyone noticed that as soon as a car model starts to moove away from its roots, it becomes unpopular, slow-selling and often killed off? look at celica... a lightweight turbo coupe wit AWD not screaming that the person driving it likes the same gender will definitely satisfy customers and provide increased sales... everybody happy

Coming from someone who owned a 91' TSI AWD I agree the ecipse got raped past 99'. It was totally changed from a tuner car to my girlfriends commuter. They tried with the big V6 to stir up some male buyers again, but even my Altima that I have now will run that car wheel to wheel and its a 4 door daily driver sedan! Let's all pray they get get another performance car on the market in the low 20's rather than having to shell out 35+K for an Evo just to get something with some tuner potential. Hell I would take an AWD ralliart version of the lancer evo with ~230hp like the STI and WRX even. At least you have a solid platform to start modding from unlike the V6 NA which limits you to very few mods or Nx.

I still own a 1g, albeit under the Eagle Talon TSi AWD moniker. Driven hard, and 220,000mi on the odometer. I was planning on picking up a newer 3000gt in the spring but I'ld be willing to wait another 3 or 4 years is something remotely as illustrated is coming to the market.

I used to own 2 TSI AWDs, a 91 and a 92. Loved them. Still have a Galant VR4, and looking to replace it with a AirTrek Turbo (The low rider version of the old Outlander).

Mitsu lost it past 99, when it bloated up the Eclipse and lost its Turbo and AWD.

Good to see Mitsu going back to its roots.

I owned a 91 Eclipse it was the best car I have owned in my life, I lost it in an ice storm in which it was pouring down rain and about 28F outside, had a low speed collision with some rednecks Truck, and the 2 foot long hitch extender with chrome ball went right though my radiator and damaged my engine block.

The 99 went pretty badly, it wasn't a bad body, actually it was pretty decent looking, but it lost the edge, if you think about it the GTS V6 output was about the same as the 4G63 in the G2 body, but no AWD model and the weight and the softly sprung suspension let the fun out of the package.

The 2006 has not been out that long and I rather think it's a Fairly decent car, it has style in spades, I honestly feel if Mitsubishi put a light pressure turbo 2.4 in the car making about 280 HP, and set it up with a basic AWD system, and went over it to trim some weight it would come out quite well for the enthusiast. They could do a Turbo non AWD version tune the engine down to about 250 HP, and Finish things up with a non Turbo version after tuning the 2.4 to wring out about 180 hp. Price them about like this GSX 28K, GST 24K and GS 19K and watch the profits roll in.

This concept is hot and I hope they follow it's styling for the next Gen which I can not see coming out before say 2010 as a 2011 model. Keep the weight down and give the Eclipse fans back the goodies they miss. Though I have to say the rear profile concerns me, The G1 car was my favorite inside and out of the Eclipses and part of what I liked was the hatch, I had a useful if not large back seat, and room in the hatch to move most anything I could want, heck I moved 2 times using only my Eclipse.

Anyways what made the G1 so good to me.

1) the Interior was nice, it felt like a cockpit and even being quite tall I had abundant legroom.

2) it was a very scrappy little car that was light, had some power and was fun to drive, and it even gave back decent fuel economy I average about 24~25 mpg over the time I owned it.

3) the car was actually useful there was enough room in back that I used it to move 2 times, I drove all the way across the nation in it, and slept in it on the side of the road on the way, and a few times in a Pinch I had 4 friends in it, and it was cramped but it still had 5 full sized adults in it without any problems.

Anyways I know I am not the only person that loved my G1, because I see a lot of them still on the road, and most of them look to be fairly well maintained.

I had a 1991 TSi AWD as my first car in high school. Being my first car, I had some great times with it (molesting the rednecks 5.0 was one of them, along with all the Honda's.). Luckily, I was in the autoshop class as I replaced / upgraded nearly everything on it (I couldn't imagine what labor costs would have been for all the work I did to it).

But as soon as I was out of HS and lost access to a shop, I ended up selling it and bought something more reliable for college (1995 Prelude VTEC).

In all, the Talon was a fun car but very maintenance intensive (but what can you expect of an older, turbo AWD car?). I purchased it in 1999 from its 2nd adult owner w/90k on it and no mods (rare, even for 99). The second day I had it the harmonic balancer pulley toasted itself as I started it and I ended up having to have it towed to my HS autoshop, which was rather embarasing. In retrospect, I wish I would've taken out a loan and bought a used Miata and boosted it.

It would be really neat that the production vehicle looks (almost) exactly with the concept. The new Ford GT production vehicle almost looks like the Ford GT concept vehicle. This (above) would sell well it it retains the looks of the concept in the production vehicle.

The art looks awesome, I hope it looks close to that. The 2.2 L turbodiesel with 200hp/310ft-lb is very interesting. Diesel is $0.50 more per gallon than gasoline in my area, though (what's up with that?). Can you say biodiesel sports coupe? =D Keep it under 3000lb and give it a tight suspension and it will sell like hotcakes at 20-25K. The Hyundai Genesis coupe will be one of it's many competitors. Good times ahead!

Agreed with Kell: this could be a biodiesel sports car sold in America (because simply, people would rather make their own right now) and so long as the total car is 3000lbs or less, it would prove many people wrong about how diesels will be heavier than their gas counterparts (remember, its the total car weight, not the engine weight alone, that determines acceleration).

As far as Mitsubishi losing its way, I do agree to that, but I do not agree to that "whenever a car company moves away from its roots, it suffers." Look at GM, Ford, and Chrysler. Its the addiction to "the roots" that hurts these companies most.

I have 2006 GT Eclipse 6 Speed Manual and it's damn nice car. I can smoke out any previous gen eclipse including those with turbo and AWD. Not sure what are you saying but V6 24Valve 263Hp engine needs some good driver, and it's really fast car....

Well Luka I know of a 1991 Talon that is streetable and runs the 1/4 in the 7's with a trap speed of over 150 mph. Let me know when you smoke that car out. Seriously though regardless of what some people say about the 2006 being faster on the 0~60 it's really not, the G1/G2 Turbo AWD cars were frequently tested as 6.3~6.9 second 0~60 machines, the tests I found for the 2006 ranged from 6.1~6.8, with most being around the 6.6~6.8 range. That is before you even get to handling, or the fact that anyone with $500 and a spare weekend could get the G1/G2 car to hit 60 in the 5.5~6 second range, or the fact that the 2.0L 4G63t in the G1/G2 Eclipse can be built to produce over 1000 HP at the wheels if you have the money to have it done right.

Luka,

Even a POS Mustang GT can smoke your ass. The Eclipse needs to get back to its roots.

Just look at the models, the Eclipse went from "Gran Sports - Turbo" in the 1g and 2g years, to "Gran Tourer - Sport" starting with the 3g. From a sports car to a tourer, I don't blame Mitsu for making the car the way it is. They were just trying a different market. And probably setting the stage for the evo. I mean, if the 3g eclipse were turbo, awd, and a coupe, who would buy the evo? Also, a replay of this scenario took place back in the early 90's witht the Galant VR4. Mitsu lost sales on that car because more people opted for the eclipse coupe.

It's funny how the Eclipse concept art always looks spectacular, but somehow three things happen before the vehicle makes it to production:

1. Ride height is raised 2 inches to accentuate huge wheel wells, providing cushy ride for soft buttocks.

2. Wheel size shrinks by 2 inches to accomodate lower performance tires (correct me if I'm wrong but usual Eagle RS-A).

3. Sexy/"Exotic" body lines get flattened out so the car resembles either a box or an armadillo.

Mitsu likes to lose things in the concept to production translation... they want this car to be banal and poor performing. Otherwise, why buy the EVO?

the evo is way better than the eclipse will ever be!! mitsu should get rid off the eclipse and bring the 3000 GTO back (3000gt in america)

Lets hope Mitsu hurry up and release this car. Current Eclipse was based of a 2002 concept and when it was released in 2006 by than every automaker moved away from jelly bean body form, now it looks like it's from last a Millennium.

I had 8 Eclipses in total over the years and it's true 3g and 4g eclipses have no style nor performance. Evo X is sure exciting but not everyone wants to drive a 4dr

And just looking at the sales number in 9 years from 90 to 99 they sold over 1 million Eclipses, that's how popular the older models were. New once? Not so much.

This consept car looks nice, but i can guarante that it WONT look that way if its produced. Rims is 8" smaller,not carbon hood etc.

And i agree with the guys above. The eclipse just got fuckt up after 99. They should just have changed the name imo! you can see on the car marked that the 1g-2g are much more attractive. But i hope this new model will bring the eclipse back to its basics.

that car is pimped out
peace out

that car is pimped out
peace out

that car is pimped out
peace out brother

that car is pimped out
peace out brother