"Akio Ohtori - RIP Oppo" (akioohtori)
01/24/2020 at 12:34 • Filed to: Rental Car Review
3
25|
"Akio Ohtori - RIP Oppo" (akioohtori)
01/24/2020 at 12:34 • Filed to: Rental Car Review | 3
| 25 |
Well it is work travel time again and you know that that means! Corporate policy rentals!!! This time around Budget served up a Mitsubishi Eclipse Cross as my “compact” rental. Given this is vehicle that generates a lot of scorn based on its name, rightly so, I was interested to see how it is as an car.
Lets get a few things out of the way:
The Name
Just to get it out of the way, yes.... they should not have named this car the “Eclipse”. This is not an Eclipse. No idea why they chose to revive the name of a relatively mediocre sports car, but they did.
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It looks like a redesigned Pontiac Aztek. The problem with that is the Aztek is know as being one of the ugliest vehicles ever made, even though compared to modern vehicles its styling is conservative ... bordering on modern.
ANYWAY, I say that to say I think this vehicle is pointlessly ugly. Though, to its credit, it is different.
The Good
Aside from those two notes, I am shocked to say I liked the Eclipse Cross. The 1.5L turbo-4 engine felt peppy and eager, if not fast, and the 6-speed automatic* was fairly willing and unobtrusive overall, with kickdowns happening when you expect and power delivered efficiently.
*Looking at the Mitsubishi website it might be a CVT?
I have some nitpicks about the interior, but overall it was pretty OK for an economy car (though with the MSRP starting at $23k it isn’t that cheap). On my rental spec model, t he radio is a basic double DIN unit that is functional, easy to use, and doesn’t look like a touchscreen glued to the dashboard. The climate control is a simple automatic unit, no dual, and works well. The gearshift is traditional and functional and the parking brake is manual. The side mirrors are big and have built in convex mirrors. Cruise control worked well and never made me a problem. Everything basically just works as it should and I appreciate that.
Rear cargo space was on-par with your average hatchback, and that is fine. Rear passenger space looked fine, but I didn’t bother testing it.
Headlights and wipers worked well, though I did miss having automatic wipers as the intermittent setting was a bit willful. Due to the split rear glass, the rear wiper only operates on the top half, which is hilariously unhelpful.
The trip computer and I had an interesting time together. When I picked up the car it said I had 400 miles of range. When I filled up before dropping the car off it said I had 380 miles of range. I had traveled 140 miles. I assume this is because the guy before me thrashed it, but it was a fun game to play.
Speaking of gas and miles, I traveled about 140 miles, with about 110 of that highway and the remainder slow, stop and go, city driving. Overall trip average was 27 MPG, which is respectable, if not remarkable.
The Nitpicks
I said I liked the car. I didn’t say I liked everything about the car. So lets begin!
The climate controls are recessed into the dash and hard to get to.
The handbrake was clearly designed never to be used, with a long throw and awkward operating angle.
The reversing camera was basically useless. L ow feature, low resolution, and low clarity. I guess that is what you get when you mandate something but don’t specific a minimum acceptable quality.
The headlights and dash dimming were not automatic. As such, if you turned on your headlights on an overcast day you couldn’t read the dash at all unless you adjusted the brightness. Dash brightness was a button that cycled through the options.
The seats were OK, but didn’t look or feel like they’d wear well.
The gas mileage was fine, but being a relatively small car with a relatively small engine, it wasn’t as good as I expected.
I don’t like the look of it.
The double din radio didn’t appear to have Android Auto or Carplay. (Though it looked easy to replace so there is that.)
The handle to close the rear hatch is on the passenger side.
I guess it would have cost more to put one on the drivers side too?
Overall, not a bad showing.
Would I buy one?
No. Of course not.
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Probably not? It isn’t that cheap, and with so many competitors I can’t imagine I’d settle on the ugly
Mitsubishi.
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Probably not. The Outlander Sport comes with more engine options for the same price and without the controversial name or styling.
Overall?
I wouldn’t say no to one at the rental desk and might even pay a bit extra for it. It is a good car betrayed by bad styling and marketing, but ultimately is still a compact crossover and therefore will never excite me.
dtg11 - is probably on an adventure with Clifford
> Akio Ohtori - RIP Oppo
01/24/2020 at 12:40 |
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A solid review on a mediocre car. I’m not a fan of the name and the styling could be better, but I appreciate that Mitsubishi is at least trying
fintail
> Akio Ohtori - RIP Oppo
01/24/2020 at 12:43 |
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I have to imagine 75% of these go to fleets.
Under_Score
> Akio Ohtori - RIP Oppo
01/24/2020 at 12:44 |
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Rental agencies need to evolve so that you can choose a specific car. Let’s say there’s three cars: a Sentra, a Grand Caravan, and an Elantra. Go online, choose the Elantra, and pick it up the next day. They may not be desirable, but it’s better than being completely surprised.
Highlander-Datsuns are Forever
> Akio Ohtori - RIP Oppo
01/24/2020 at 12:45 |
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https://oppositelock.kinja.com/in-case-you-didn-t-see-this-last-night-1834811192
Very interesting car. Good for not long trips.
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Highlander-Datsuns are Forever
> Under_Score
01/24/2020 at 12:45 |
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Elantra is always a good choice when the others are a Versa and a dodge grand caravan.
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Akio Ohtori - RIP Oppo
> Highlander-Datsuns are Forever
01/24/2020 at 12:48 |
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Brown!
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Highlander-Datsuns are Forever
> Akio Ohtori - RIP Oppo
01/24/2020 at 12:50 |
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I think my review was: Top heavy, slow, plasticy.
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Akio Ohtori - RIP Oppo
> Under_Score
01/24/2020 at 12:52 |
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I have mixed feelings there. I like the roulette version of it, but if the rental agency isn’t busy they’ll often let me choose within my class. Sixt is really good at letting you choose an National has the Emerald Aisle which lets you choose anything from what is available.
I think it’d be hard to do what you describe because as far as I can tell they never know what they’ll have at any given time. Between sudden maintenance, customers returning late, discretionary upgrades, and employees just taking random cars (which apparently they’re allowed to do) I think it is just a crap shoot what is available.
For Sweden
> Under_Score
01/24/2020 at 12:54 |
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My man, the agency you seek is National
412GTI
> Under_Score
01/24/2020 at 12:56 |
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That would be great but nearly impossible given the size and unpredictability of returns, wrecks, maintenance , etc. When I worked at Enterprise it was usually a tossup whether we would have the exact car class a customer reserved.
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412GTI
> Akio Ohtori - RIP Oppo
01/24/2020 at 12:58 |
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I too don’t really get the point of reviving the Eclipse name. It’s not like anyone buying these was likely intrigued by the name. I will say I have seen a surprising amount around my area, unfortunately , because that rear end is SO ugly to stare at in traffic.
SBA Thanks You For All The Fish
> Akio Ohtori - RIP Oppo
01/24/2020 at 13:06 |
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I got handed the keys (at least it still has something resembling a key) to one of these recently on a Budget rental. I was a little surprised, since I think I’d requested the “Economy” category... but it looked like they had a bunch on the lot.
The plastics are indeed cheesy, the performance actually better than one might think... but I was completely underwhelmed by the 26 MPG I got. I recently got, on multiple Budget rentals, in excess of 41 MPG on Passat R-line 2.0's that had more seating room, better performance and comparable (if via trunk and rear seat) hauling capacity.
If Mitsu wants to attract the bargain basement shopper in this category of Blah SUVs, at least put some effort into fuel economy. I wouldn’t throw the keys back at the Budget Rental Agent next time but I’m not sure what Mitsubishi thinks they are doing here...
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Akio Ohtori - RIP Oppo
> 412GTI
01/24/2020 at 13:07 |
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Yeah I don’t remember it being as popular as many of the other, similar cars of the day. I guess they just figured it couldn’t hurt at this point? Or, conversely, all press is good press?
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SBA Thanks You For All The Fish
> Highlander-Datsuns are Forever
01/24/2020 at 13:09 |
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Fuel economy is bewilderingly bad. I got mileage in the same neighborhood as I got recently on a Silverado 1500 with Cylinder De-activation. Either the Chevy is punching above it’s weight class or the Mitsubishi guys are just phoning it in. I think it’s the latter.
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Akio Ohtori - RIP Oppo
> SBA Thanks You For All The Fish
01/24/2020 at 13:12 |
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When I saw they’d given me a Mitsubishi I was worried it was a Mirage. Anything is better then that hateful death trap.
RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars
> Akio Ohtori - RIP Oppo
01/24/2020 at 13:18 |
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But at least the Mirage isn’t another crappy boring crossover in a sea of crossovers!
I quite like the Mirage
, but
I am weird!
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Akio Ohtori - RIP Oppo
> RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars
01/24/2020 at 13:28 |
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I’d rather walk.
Keeping in mind I did drive it in Houston which isn’t exactly it’s comfort zone.
And in a manual it might have been a giggle.
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Under_Score
> For Sweden
01/24/2020 at 13:29 |
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All of the 2014 model year sedans! Awesome!
Textured Soy Protein
> Akio Ohtori - RIP Oppo
01/24/2020 at 14:09 |
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On the dash dimming, are you sure it didn’t link to the headlights? Some cars when set to their max dimmer setting will keep the dash lights bright with the lights on, so you can see the gauges if you want to use your lights during the day.
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Textured Soy Protein
> Akio Ohtori - RIP Oppo
01/24/2020 at 14:10 |
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The 1st & 2nd gen Eclipses with the 4G63 were super popular tuner cars during the 90s and 00s.
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RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars
> Akio Ohtori - RIP Oppo
01/24/2020 at 14:49 |
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I would only want one with a manual. I do like my small, cheap basic cars :)
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Akio Ohtori - RIP Oppo
> Textured Soy Protein
01/24/2020 at 15:18 |
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Best I could tell there was a dimming setting for headlights off and one for on. So if you turn the headlights on it goes to the last headlights on setting. Similar to most cars, I guess, but unlike most cars the displays and gauges aren't readable without illumination.
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Textured Soy Protein
> Akio Ohtori - RIP Oppo
01/24/2020 at 15:34 |
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I think you’re right. I went and looked up the manual. It says this:
So yeah, there’s one brightness setting for the lights on and another for the lights off.
What I was describing before was how my old Mazdaspeed 6 worked . The gauges were such that they needed to be lit to see them.
That car didn’t have DRLs or automatic headlights, so I tended to drive with the lights on during the day. But, the dash lighting would go dim with the lights on and that would make the gauges hard to read. The dimmer switch was this little wheel:
For most of its range, it was freely spinning, but at the brightest setting, there was a little detent where if you pushed it up past the detent, it’d keep the dash lighting on its daytime setting, even when the lights were on.
Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available
> Akio Ohtori - RIP Oppo
01/24/2020 at 16:53 |
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I am very surprised that it not only didn’t have automatic headlights (present on my 8 yr old base model Cruze) but at the conundrum of the dimming, which you discussed with Immoral Minority. It seems as though the development time was unexpectedly shortened, which would explain the general lack of sophistication but good basics.
thatsmr
> Akio Ohtori - RIP Oppo
01/24/2020 at 23:52 |
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Noticed my first one today on the freeway tried to figure out wtf had such an ugly tailgate. I remember the outlander reviews i read saying they were a good argument for buying something else used