I've driven concept cars before. It always sucks. The drive usually takes place in some giant parking lot on a scalding hot day. You spend the first 15 minutes promising not to drive the thing faster than 15 mph and the second 15 minutes driving the thing 15 mph. Because concept cars usually cost millions of dollars to build, you make nice, abide by the rules and go home thinking, "Man, that sucked."
Although it's cool to be allowed to drive these one-offs, most concept cars are pushing their limits at 12 mph. At that speed, their chassis flex, their suspensions run out of travel and their engines begin to weeze. Most lack working gauges, or seats that were actually designed to fit the human body.
Remember, these things are hand-built, wear paint jobs that cost more than my house, and are really designed to sit on a revolving stand at an auto show. The ones that do run, do so just to make it easier to get them on and off the trucks. Well, that and so I can drive them around at 15 mph.
So when Mitsubishi asked if I would come out to a giant parking lot on a scalding hot day and drive the Eclipse Concept-E, I figured I would show up, make nice, abide by the rules and go home thinking, "Man, that sucked."
I was wrong. It didn't suck.
Oh, it was hot, and the Eclipse-E, which debuted at January's North American International Auto Show in Detroit, was puking coolant most of the time because of an airflow problem in the nose, but I had fun. They actually let me drive the thing faster than 15 mph. In fact, they let me drive it as fast as I wanted. And the driving course wasn't a wimpy little circle, which is normally the case. It was an actual autocross course, with hairpins, braking zones and long straights to feel the acceleration provided by the Eclipse-E's unusual drivetrain.
In its nose is a 3.8-liter DOHC 24-valve iron-block V6 sending power to the front wheels through a four-speed automatic. Then there's a second electric motor, which Mitsu calls "E-Boost," powering the rear wheels. The battery pack runs down the car's spine, keeping the center of gravity low. Other mechanicals include EVO brakes and ridiculously large 20-inch wheels, measuring 11 inches wide in the back, wearing humongous 275/35R-20 tires.
With both powertrains activated, Mitsu says the car has 470 hp. Which makes us think Mitsu's engineers have a severe drinking problem. Foot to the floor, the automatic trans shifting for all it's worth, the Eclipse-E felt about as quick as maybe an SE-R Spec V, which is tested in this issue on page 122. That either means the Eclipse-E weighs as much as a space shuttle, or that 470-hp number is right up there with my having a 180 IQ. We're not sure which, because Mitsu won't tell us how much the Eclipse-E weighs, but the company does say the E-boost adds 200 hp to the car. I'll tell you the car felt heavy in the corners.
You sit low in a seat, which is not really designed for the human body. None of the gauges work, but there's an ignition key and array of Auto Meter dials hidden in the console. The cowl is high enough to be hard to see over, and the car's glass roof fails to keep the sun off my bald spot.
Through the course, which I navigated at speeds (I'm guessing) between 10 and 40 mph, the car drove like a one-off prototype. The chassis creaked enough to cause me to slow at one point, and I thought the windshield might burst, but I really think I could drive the Eclispse-E down the Santa Monica Freeway without much trouble. Even the suspension's compliance was way ahead of any other concept car I've driven.
Mitsu says the Eclipse-E hints at the styling of the next production Eclipse, and we think the direction is a good one. But we're a bit worried about the growing size and heft of the car. This show car is big at 170.1 inches and rides on a long 103.7-inch wheelbase. And Mitsu says the production car will be even bigger to try and squeeze a usable backseat into the package.
When the hot day in the big parking lot was over, I walked away wondering if Mitsu's engineers knew what the hell they were doing. Then I climbed in our Project EVO VIII to drive home. They know. They know better than anyone on Earth. Let's hope they don't forget it.
Gone Racing
I'm pleased to announce that for the entire 2004 Speed World Challenge season, Sport Compact Car is a co-sponsor of the RTR Nissan Sentra SE-R Spec-V driven by Peter Cunningham, the winningest World Challenge driver in history. We have many stories planned with the team over the next coming year, and to kick it off right, we sent Dave Coleman to crew for Cunningham at the Sebring season opener. Check out Dave's adventure on page 134.