![]() In addition to Bluetooth, all models include Android Auto and Apple CarPlay – and you’ll want that to hook up your phone, because navigation isn’t available on any trim. The base model, which starts at $27,998, includes 18-inch alloy wheels, fog lamps, heated mirrors, heated front seats, automatic climate control, 7-inch infotainment system, driver’s knee airbag, tire pressure monitoring system, anti-theft alarm, and satellite radio. American buyers can get a base model with front-wheel drive, but all Canadian trims have all-wheel drive. Mitsubishi tends to be generous with its features list, and the Eclipse Cross carries through on that. Far too many automakers require you to access these head-up adjustments by digging through multiple pages on the centre screen. The GT includes a head-up display, and Mitsubishi gets some redemption by including toggle switches to instantly raise or lower the height and brightness of the display. ![]() There are buttons and dials for the climate control, the heated seats, and drive modes (although the switches to adjust the mirror are a bit awkward, as they’re perched atop the door pull). The volume and touchpad aside, the Eclipse Cross’ controls are very straightforward, always a plus in my book. Perhaps it’s a personal thing, but I find there’s a disconnect when swiping the pad to see what’s happening on the screen, versus just tapping the glass directly. I’m also no fan of the touchpad on the console, apparently put there for ergonomic reasons if you don’t want to reach forward to operate the infotainment system with its touchscreen. Honda learned the error of its ways and reinstalled one, and you can, too. Yes, I can adjust the stereo squawk from the steering wheel, or by tapping the glass on the screen, but nothing – nothing – is better than simply reaching over and giving a dial a quick spin. I have two words for you, Mitsubishi: volume dial. Up front, there’s an open cubby in the centre stack for small-item storage, as well as a covered cubby box, but that’s about it, since the infotainment’s touchpad and the drive mode selector occupy a considerable chunk of the console. The GT comes with a premium stereo and its subwoofer chews up some of the rear cargo space, too. The rear-end styling gives it a narrower liftgate, and correspondingly pinched cargo access, than most competitor models that have wider hatches. With its sloping rear roofline, the Mitsubishi requires taller rear-seat occupants to be careful they don’t whack their noggins getting in, and there’s less headroom back there than in the front seats. The GT then adds a head-up display, the aforementioned LED lamps, and a multi-view camera. The next-level-up SE adds blind-spot monitoring, while the SE Tech Package slides in adaptive cruise control, emergency front braking, lane-departure warning, and automatic high-beam headlamps. The base ES gets a back-up camera, but that’s mandatory on all new vehicles a tire pressure monitoring system is also included. The lower trim levels don’t share all of the GT’s higher-tech items. The Eclipse Cross has been named a Top Safety Pick by the US Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS), but there’s a caveat: while all trim levels have the highest “Good” ratings for crash protection, only the top-trim GT has both the emergency front braking and the LED headlamps that put it over the edge into the Top Pick category. There is some styling redemption by the interior designers, who gave the cabin a handsome, well-finished look, thanks to metallic accents that blend the dash with the centre console, and echo it with matching door pulls that are set far enough back to provide enough leverage when closing the door. At the rear, a handsome arch over the rear wheels is mimicked by an unsightly bulge around the liftgate – and that panel is split into two panes, with a bar that cuts right across the scenery in your rear-view mirror. Up front, everything starts out fine with the well-integrated headlamps and chrome bars, but then there’s that black hole of a grille (made worse with the sharp contrast to my vehicle’s $300 pearlescent white paint) and the cartoonishly oversized coves for the fog lamps. “Polarizing” is the perfect word for the Eclipse Cross’ looks, and I’m pretty much on the negative side of the term. There are five trim levels and my GT was the top of the heap, priced at $35,998. It came to Canada under its own name in 2002, but recently dropped all but one of its cars in favour of an almost-all-SUV lineup, including my tester, the 2019 Mitsubishi Eclipse Cross. We first got to know it when its vehicles were rebadged for the Chrysler Corporation many decades ago, creating cars like the Plymouth Sapporo and Dodge Stealth. Mitsubishi has always been a bit of an outsider in the Canadian market.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |