New Tuner Look for Mitsubishi's Attainable Exotic

Mitsubishi's sporty Eclipse will be undergoing a mild facelift that will be shown

off at Chicago. The overhaul is a bit like Extreme Makeover: Sport Compact Edition, where the curvy, concept car-like Eclipse takes a trip down to the local tuner shop.

A big part of the Eclipse's new look is to do with its restyled bumpers. The front bumper gains a strip of matte black, which brings it closer in line to the Lancer (and Evo) family. At the back, the Eclipse's rear bumper promotes an elongated look, and features detail that accentuates its twin tailpipes, not to mention its new giant rear spoiler which takes the place of the previous clear lip spoiler. New painted alloy wheels, HID headlamps with projector beam lenses and a choice of three new colors, including eye-searing Solar yellow, round out the package.

Mechanically, the Eclipse continues more or less unchanged. The base GS

model features a 2.4-liter 162 horsepower inline-four which provides decent performance and strong fuel economy, while the GT model's V6 engine gains 2 extra horsepower thanks to a new sport exhaust system that's less restrictive. Total horsepower maxes out at 265. Mitsubishi has also added stability control to the Eclipse's arsenal of safety features, previously unavailable.

The revised version of Mitsubishi's “attainable exotic” will be on sale later this year.