Drivers who remember the hard-core appeal of the GS-X AWD Diamond-Star Eclipse, be warned. It's not even close.  
 
The new Eclipse GT continues the Galant-platform front-wheel drive coupe' ethos of the Eclipse, but without any real sporting edge. Instead, the current top-end Eclipses are basically family sedans with a body kit.  
 
Platform cars can be good - witness the top-end Golf-platform Audi TTs. The Eclipse however makes too many practicality sacrifices for appearance, and too few for performance.  
 
A heavy car for a front-driver, the GT dynos about 50 horses short of the crankshaft power output claimed. (c. 147 for autos, 160 or so for manuals.) Though that's a big loss, it's still too much for the chassis to handle. Considering the car weighs over 3100 pounds, the GS indifferent four-pot mill is hardly worth considering. Better straight-line performance and cornering thrills can be obtained from a cooking Mazda MP3  saving the driver $7,000, and gaining in rear seat room.  
 
While arguably resisting understeer better than some older Eclipse front-drivers, the inherent lack of grip of the FWD drivetrain simply doesn't work when married to an overweight platform, and soft springing that exacerbates weight transfer away from the drive wheels.  
 
In short, at anything other than a straight line, in the dry, wheelspin dramatically limits any attempt to make progress. Civic DXs will blaze past when there's standing water. Cornering in the dry on stock rubber similarly brings out the lack of corner-exit drive, and a sinking feeling as applying power has the nose of the car heading for hedges and low-flying pedestrians.  
 
And while queasy, low-speed four-wheel drift feels fun in a Subaru Impreza, two-wheel drive wheelspin impresses no-one.  
 
So as a performance vehicle, the Eclipse is a lousy effort. FWD performance cars have to be light to get around their weight-and-power distribution handling disadvantages, get that power to the road, and avoid dangerous and irritating torque steer. For example: the Civic Type R; the Renault Clio 172.  
 
American drivers seem not to have noticed, which is why Nissan wows them with the likes of the current VQ-equipped 3.5 Altima. Apparently, to some, high-performance means a barge that pinballs violently between the Armco if the driver is foolish enough to unleash its 250 horsepower.  
 
So whats good about it?  
 
The handling setup has its good points. Despite low-profile 215/40 VR-17s, the car works quite well in straight line cruising. The car wont tramline noticeably, and its soft, reasonably damped suspension is effective at insulating the driver from poor road surfaces.  
 
While the nose of the car will push horribly wide and is difficult to place accurately (even absent throttle-understeer) in sub-50 mph cornering, the steering setup gives a strong on-center feel with considerable stability, and the vehicle will track straight with a bare touch  or none - on the wheel. In faster corners, the car is pleasant and predictable, like a good mid-size family sedan, though the V6 needs attention to stay in the upper reaches of the rev-range if meaningful drive is to be made.  
 
Brakes feel powerful, if slightly over-servod at low speeds (like most cars), but above 70mph are less good. Worse, the soft springs encourage the back to pass the front if hard braking is attempted from high speeds, especially on mild uphill inclines.  
 
Though some reviewers complain about the engine note, people who like the sound of a V6 will find it pleasant around town. The exhaust system has obviously been tuned to give it its mellow burble  much quieter and less Harley-like than a Ford pushrod V6  just off idle. This turns into a pleasingly smooth, turbine like, big-multi roar as you approach redline.  
 
The manual transmissions slight notchiness is hidden by a solid, heavily-weighted throw that gives it a quality feel, though not one conducive to the fastest upshifts. Combine the substantial feel of the shifts with the excellent engine note, solid, meaty steering and reasonably powerful brakes, and, the overall impression is one of distinctly non-agricultural engineering.  
 
The interior, as long as the options packages are taken (and if youre spending over $20k, why not!), is very good for a low-end coupe. Surfaces are substantially less "plasticy" than the new Celicas, with interesting shapes and flowing, well coordinated lines, while being more adventurous than the likes of the new Impreza. Touching surfaces, such as wheels and interior handles feel pleasantly solid, and flimsy paneling is saved for the bits you dont normally see or touch. Leather, though not exactly top-quality or extensively used, is infinitely preferable to the cheap n nasty Mitsubishi cloth. The Japanese should really leave velour to Saab, who know how to make it work.  
 
Interior room, though limited in the back, is decent. As with many such 3-doors, its always better for the front-seaters, and bad elsewhere There is a distinct lack of headroom for any drivers over 6 feet tall (strange, given the target market), but windscreen rake is less aggressive than the atrocious Mustang, or even the Volvo V70. However the lack of headroom and the large blind spot and rear pillars simply worsen the inherently poor all-around visibility.  
 
Reverse parking is quite tough unless seat belts are released, and the head is stuck right out of the window. Visibility down the nose is average or sub-average for tall drivers, who will have to keep their seat pretty close to the floor. And if you want to avoid side-swiping people, headrests must be kept firmly in their stowed position at all times.  
 
Perhaps a pattern can be seen emerging? This isnt much of a sports car, but as long as you pay for the options, its a good GT in the classic mould. Its a heavy car, with handsome looks, an engaging (if not over-powerful) big-hearted engine, a good (factory option) premium sound system, a solid feel at the controls, and good long-distance comfort and decent luggage space for 2.  
 
As such, its best for munching miles in comfort, rather than attacking racetracks, backroads and highway on-ramps.  
 
But if you want to spend the money on that, why not stretch a bit further, and get a 325ci  a machine that delivers quality, luxury, handling, highway manners and looks to beat the Eclipse, for a small amount more.  
 
And if you like performance, youll more likely prefer either the raw uncontrollability of a true modern muscle-car, or the precision and ability of modern compacts like the RSX or Impreza.  
