Mitsubishi Eclipse Cross review and buying guide
If a Kona or ASX is too small, but you don’t need something as big as Forester or Sportage, a Mitsubishi Eclipse Cross is the slimmer, midsize, budget-SUV for medium families
The Mitsubishi Eclipse Cross has been around for a few years now, but it’s never really made sense.
The ECross is bigger than the ASX, but smaller than the Outlander, so I’ve not really understood the point, given that it’s heavier than the small SUV and smaller than the medium one. It just doesn’t really fit. Why would you pay thousands more for an Eclipse Cross over an ASX, when it doesn’t go as well (because it’s heavier), but doesn’t have the cargo or passenger space of the bigger Outlander?
And then there’s the competition. Eclipse Cross is not as refined as a Kia Sportage or Mazda CX-5, but that's an advantage if you want a slightly cheaper alternative.
But that’s where it starts to make sense, because against a Seltos or CX-3, the Eclipse Cross is the superior option by virtue of added space for people and their endless stuff.
Families, generally speaking, dob’t need an SUV to be light and zippy. Wrong application for an SUV. Families need space for them and their junk. You need room for a pram, a child restraint and the shopping. You need cubby holes for your phone, wallet, keys, moisturiser, your Aldi shopping token, the kids' various toys, their empty packets of food, the brolly, your sunnies, their sunnies, and somewhere to put both yours and hubby's coffee cups, and that fake woodgrain water bottle which is all the rage these days.
SUVs are a compromise: here’s why_
Now the Eclipse Cross starts to make sense. It’s longer overall and longer in the wheelbase compared with an ASX, the Kia Seltos, the Hyundai Venue, Mazda's CX-3 and the Subaru XV. This means there’s more boot space (thanks to overall length) and legroom (wheelbase).
If you’re not considering more than two kids and you’re not the kind of person who drives around with half their worldly possessions in their boot and back-seat, it’s a very functional vehicle.
Pricing versus the other vehicles you might be considering?
Living with Eclipse Cross
The ECross boot is a very functional space, certainly moreso than the vehicle’s overall size leads to believe.
Lengthways you get 900mm of floor to the bottom of the row 2 backrests, and 740mm to the top of the back seat owing to the quasi-liftback shape. The tailgate has rather a lot of rake angle which is what gives it a sleekish, forward design. You can decide if you find it pleasing to look at or not, but i’m more of a function over form kinda dad these days. Happily, that design doesn’t take much away from said bootspace.
You get 995mm between the wheelarches, and 1300mm at its widest point up near the rear bumper. There’s room for a pretty big pram (even a double, I’d argue) before putting other bags and toys etc around it in various available holes.
Most prams collapse pretty small and neat these days, so you’re unlike to take up all 770mm of height between the floor and the roof, obscuring the rear view mirror.
The boot opening/aperture is 975mm at its narrowest, 1045mm at the widest point, and because of the forward rake angle, the opening is 670mm ‘deep'.
I managed to haul my mobile gym gear including a medium size wooden box full of weights, an old tyre and a bar in the boot along with the kiddo's bike and helmet - and with the cargo blind in place. And I hate cargo blinds; but this one could stay, happily, and not be hurled into the garage onto the pile, but only if you’re a minimalist packer and tend to only take what you need. If you treat your car like a portable shipping container to store junk in, you’re going to run out of room eventually, and this is a bad idea because all it does is cost you fuel in moving all that weight around.
Speaking of, when you do load the Eclipse Cross up, as I did with moderate weight, it really does slow you down, which I’ll get into in the Engine & Transmission section of this review because that’s where it matters whether you choose this or an Outlander.
Installing a child restraint is fairly easy, but not the easiest. Thankfully, the ISOFIX points are immediately accessible sitting in plain sight on the back seat. And don’t worry, you don’t feel them when sitting your own bum on the seat because they’re inside the apex of the seat-back and base - unless you have a wedge-shaped rear end, you won’t notice them.
Clipping the top tether in is straight-forward and not a reaching exercise in the slightest, and the cargo blind doesn’t get in the way. What does make things a bit awkward is the top seatbelt loop for the centre ‘seat’ (if you can call it that; it’s not really a seat you’d wish on anybody you care about for long trips). If you’re in the boot attempting to fold the backseat down using the top-left latch release, you have to navigate around the seatbelt. Likewise, if you’re stowing something big and bulky like a TV or flatpack furniture, the seatbelt might get in the way.
There’s not an abundance of headroom or legroom in row 2, but it’s better than the ASX. You’ll want to watch your head loading kids in and out, but thankfully the back doors open wide enough that they don’t get in the way, unlike some.
Use a towel under the child restraint to protect against tearing or stretching of the fabric as you tighten the top tether.
There’s a lot of plastic and grey cloth trim in the mid-spec version of Eclipse Cross which I drove, but honestly, that’s okay. It stands the test of time better than leather if you have particularly destructive kids. Use a towel under the child restraint to protect against tearing or stretching of the fabric as you tighten the top tether, and you’ll definitely need to remove the row 2 headrest in order to properly install the child restraint, because the headrest is quite large and stops the restraint sitting flush against the seatback.
Also, that almost-cramped backseat area means your kids will be able to reach the door latches and window buttons - so make sure you have the child locks engaged on both windows and doors.
The good side of having a smaller SUV is the ability to reach, fit, get into and out of, and pack it. In a seven-seater, unless you're six-foot-five, you’ll often struggle to properly reach the back of row 2 without climbing into the boot cavity. I do, anyway; average height.
Your Ultimate Child Seat Installation Guide: Common mistakes and getting it right_
Furthermore in the back-seat functionality, it’s comfortable enough for kids and adults, but long trips will be a bit cramped in the knees for taller teens or grown-ups.
The centre armrest folds down with cupholders, which is great, except it’s got an unusual angled kink on one side, but not the other. This is fine, except the whole back-seat is already narrow enough that the armrest is blocked by the child restraint. So kiddo can’t have his water bottle within reach.
If the angled kink was on the LH passenger side, it would be fine. And just FYI, be default, kids’ child restraints should always be fitted on the kerbside, which is the left hand side in Australia, obviously.
Being small, again, mean kids and their things are reachable from the front seat, particularly the driver's seat. Now, clearly you shouldn't be doing so while driving, but when parked etc., it’s a massive help to grab bags, dropped toys or food and also when passing things to the backseat driver.
Quite clever is the ability to stow the cargo bind down on the boot floor, with notches in the plastic trim designed to lock the spring-loaded tongue. This can keep items from sliding around and hitting the tailgate. You can also tuck it under the boot floor, locking into the same set of notches.
I quite like the boot having a lip edge which, again, helps prevent stuff falling out in the event they slide backwards while driving. It’s easy to open the boot and find stuff tumble out, especially if you park on sloped streets or steep driveways. It also means when lifting heavier things into the boot, you’re more inclined to lift over the lip edge, rather than lift to a perfectly flat bootlip and slide the item in - scuffing and scratching the typical plastic or chrome strips some cars have.
It’s also quite practical having a quasi-liftback style boot hatch because it means the tailgate doesn’t stick out very far from the rear bumper. If you reverse into parking spaces, especially underground carparks where often it’s a felt concrete wall behind you, generally you can still get the boot open and fit the front end of the car inside the lines. Same goes if you’re in a tight space with a car close behind, you don’t have to stress too badly with Eclipse Cross when it comes to getting things in and out in confined spaces.
Having said that, you need to be observant when opening the liftback tailgate, because it sticks quite high into the air, so be wary of overhead pipes and trees etc.
Folding the row 2 seats down does not leave you with a flat floor, so keep that in mind if you need to cart home long things that aren’t supposed to bend. Removing the headrests helps somewhat, but not completely.
Folding row 2 does not give you a flat floor.
Also, in trying to solve the issue of a snazzy seatbelt loop over the centre rear passenger’s shoulder, it’s actually fixed, as far as I could see. I didn’t try to detach this plastic hoop, so the seatbelt stretches all the way up to the reel inside the plastic boot lining, which you can see in the image. Unclipping the seatbelt will probably solve this issue.
When you go to unlock the row 2 seat to lower it, it’s nice to have it within arm’s reach, and the cargo blind does fit nicely into place with no glaring design problems in terms of access and functionality. You can even get your hand in between the cargo blind and the top of the row 2 seatback I order to clip in a top tether from the child restraint, which is so under appreciated.
Unfortunately, the Eclipse Cross is limited to a space saver spare wheel under the boot floor, which does limit your speed to 80km/h.
This isnt so bad on small and medium SUVs because they’re relatively light; it is much worse for large, hravier SUVs using narrow space aavers, like Mazda CX-9 for example (an otherwise brilliant vehicle).
The benefits of a space saver in a vehicle like this is that the mums, older people and younger drivers who would typically buy one, are not forced to lift and replace a much heavier full-size spare, which has the potential for injuries. These owners would just need to be ultra diligent in getting the proper tyre replaced as soon as possible, because 1. Space savers are dynamically unsafe and 2. It’s important to have that spare back in its underfloor compartment quickly in case you get another puncture and get left stranded without a working spare.
Outward vision in Eclipse Cross is generally pretty good, thanks in part to the Subaru inspired side mirrors mounted on the lpwer doors (rather than in the corner of the window).
Vision is also particularly open from row 2 forward, thanks to the large windscreen and downward sloping door/window line.
But behind row 2 it can feel a bit dark back there due to the very fat C pillar behind the rear doors and the thick frame of the tailgate and rear window. Although this can be a good thing when you want kids to fall asleep back there.
Headroom for grown-ups is average, but would be quite bearable for short to medium trips. Not that I have 6ft teenagers to test in there. If you’re tall, or your in-laws are, test them out back there, if possible.
Legroom is decent too, similar to the outgoing Kia Sportage but not quite as generous as the Outlander (also being replaced very shortly). If you’re looking for rear legroom, for taller kids, maybe have a look at the mid-size options, especially if you do long trips. In fact, you might find better all round value in getting a slightly bigger vehicle than Eclipse Cross, but slightly lower in spec level because there’s plenty of crossover between top-spec EC and lower/mid level large SUV.
The cloth seats are reasonably comfortable to use around town, but I can guarantee they’ll be getting pretty hard after a couple of hours on the road, so you’ll want to take breaks and shake your sillies out. The interior is decent enough, with plenty of durable plastics (which obviously become more leather as you go up the range to Exceed). There’s also a good slab of glossy piano black on the centre console, so be wary of rings, keys and fingernails.
Good alternatives to Eclipse Cross
2021 Subaru Forester Review: Finally, a mid-size SUV with fight_
2021 Hyundai i30 N-Line Review: Which suits you, sedan or hatch?_
2021 Subaru Outback review: The SUV wagon for adventurous Aussie families_
Engine and transmission
Eclipse Cross, like virtually every other Mitsubishi has one powertrain for all variants, which in this case, is a 1.5-litre naturally aspirated petrol four-cylinder engine offering 110kW at 5500RPM. Now, that’s not exactly a powerhouse, but if you’re not interested in straight line performance, from a family SUV, that’s going to be adequate for most of your driving.
Where it becomes a bit underpowered is when you load up with lots of stuff and start needing to overtake on the freeway, pull out of blind corners, and get up steep hills. I would also suggest you shouldn’t be trying to pretend your family SUV is some kind of grunt machine. For most people buying a vehicle like this, 110kW will be fine.
The gearbox is a CVT, which means continually variable transmission, so it doesn’t have normal gears like mum and dad’s old car. It’s essentially one gear, which is actually a belt and pulley system, with computer-programmed ‘steps’ to simulate gears. And generally, it drives pretty well.
But don’t expect anything other than reasonable performance from this powertrain. It’s not exactly quick, but nor should it be. Drive it like a sensible human being, and if you do need to overtake or pull out from an intersection quickly, put your foot down.
The AWD models get a slightly smaller 60 litre fuel tank compared with the 63 litres in 2WD front-wheel-drives. And the AWDs weigh a little more than the 2WDs, with fractionally worse fuel economy.
So, be certain you actually want or need all-wheel drive.
Driving Eclipse Cross is a pleasant enough experience, given that it’s not big and cumbersome.
It’s a fairly agile car to move through traffic and a good, tight turning circle makes it pretty slick to reverse parallel park. The bonnet isn’t especially long, so close-quarters forward parking shouldn’t be causing many cold sweats.
However, if you’re not particularly good with spacial awareness for the front bumper, the nose - where the leading bonnet edge slopes away into the grille and bumper section - it kinda extends the actual front of the vehicle by several inches. So, if you’re getting too close, or if you're short, or if you haven’t adjusted your seat correctly, you may lose sight of how close you actually are.
It handles and manoeuvres very similarly to a Kia Sportage or Mazda CX-5, but without the higher quality feel. The transmission can be a little bit prone to surging in moderate-speed situations between second and third gears, at around 60-80km/h and stop-start traffic. But to be fair, it’s not awful. It’s just how the CVT has to respond in unpredictable traffic conditions.
Transmissions: Which one works for your driving?_
While I didn’t get to use the Super All-Wheel Control feature on any gravel or dirt roads, the LS AWD version I drove comes with an on-demand electronic AWD system that will be handy for anybody with a steep driveway, who lives in rural areas with plenty of dirt roads, or if you live or visit very hilly suburbs where taking off in the wet or on leaf-littered or loose-surface roads could cause wheelspin.
Even in the rain, I never got any feedback like it was struggling for grip. The regular AWD system seems quite competent and seamless. But I’m also a fairly conservative driver, so throttle input is definitely a part of how the tyres will respond in adverse road conditions.
One benefit for Eclipse Cross is being light, so it requires less tractive effort from both the engine and tyres to get moving, particularly in the wet. If you were to fill the car with people and stuff, and you put your foot to the floor on a hill, I’m sure you’d get the wheels to slip.
I would encourage you to opt for the AWD version of Eclipse Cross if you can, just to give you better grip in wet weather. And remember, AWD doesn’t offer you more traction or send more power to all four wheels or any of that nonsense. AWD simply splits the available power between four wheels instead of two. It simply reduces the likelihood of wheelspin by sending 25 per cent power to each wheel (4) instead of 50 per cent to two.
Conclusion & choice
Eclipse Cross gets a lot of things right, especially when it comes to value and simplicity.
I know everybody seems to want everything for nothing, but there’s also a lot of consumers who pay a lot of money without fully considering what they’re getting for it.
I think Eclipse Cross is a better vehicle than the ASX by virtue of being able to do more for similar or a small amount more money.
It gives you better options in terms of space, functionality and reliability, without gouging your substantially more for it.
And the spec-level is pretty good, between LS AWD and the ASPIRE.
LS AWD gives you LED front fog lights, privacy glass, roof rails, smart key with one-touch start, lane departure warning, rear parking sensors, rain sensing wipers, auto dusk sensing headlights and auto high beam.
ASPIRE, which is 2WD only but the better value package for $500 less than LS AWD, adds the premium sound system with eight speakers (although the standard stereo I tested was decent), dual-zone climate control, combo micro-suede / leather seat trim, heated front seats, powered driver’s seat, eight ‘corner sensors’ (4 front & 4 rear), 360-degree camera, adaptive cruise control, rear cross traffic alert, blind spot warning, lane change assist (if you really need that), and electrochromatic rear view mirror.
I drove the LS AWD and it did everything you could want for a really good price; you just need to decide if you want AWD specifically, or the safety features. I’d recommend the safety gear first.
I think Eclipse Cross is let down a great deal by the space saver spare wheel, which, for a vehicle purporting to be an adventurous device, doesn’t make sense.
When you drove long distance, something Australia is renowned for, the risk of a flat is high. Crawling home at 80km/h is not adventurous, and can be dangerous for traffic around you trying to overtake on unfamiliar, regional roads.
I would also caution against getting too brave with that AWD system. This is a soft SUV designed for very light off-roading, on well maintained dirt and gravel roads.
And having said that, as a value proposition, Eclipse Cross has a serious problem when it comes to the pricey end of the range like Exceed and the Hybrid ($50K), and that problem is Mitsubishi's old rally rival…
(Versus a Subaru Outback or Forester)
I’ve gotta say, the value for Eclipse Cross gets kinda less compelling when they’re asking $44,000 for the Exceed AWD, driveaway.
A Subaru Outback for $45,000 driveway offers much more room, a more powerful engine with a better drivetrain and superior all-wheel drive system, and it has a massive boot complete with built-in roof racks and a full-size spare wheel. Outback also has a much nicer cabin and it drives much more refined on the freeway and semi-rural roads. A Forester also has much better ground clearance and sounds gnarly. You can read both my reviews on Subaru Outback here and Subaru Forester here. If your family loves heading into the country down dirt roads and on farm tracks, I’d suggest giving them a test drive.
I recommend the ES AWD or Aspire for its value, but beyond that, Eclipse Cross is a bit dear - but go for a test drive and see if it fits you by taking as much of your regular stuff as possible, like the pram, the kids’ child restraints and try to vary your test drive with some back roads, freeway and don’t just take the dealership’s regular route around the block.
If you’re interested in the Eclipse Cross and have questions, or simply want to save on one without having to visit a dealership, click the link below.