Mitsubishi Eclipse Cross (2018-2021) Review

The Mitsubishi Eclipse Cross was the car for you if you wanted an easy-to-drive SUV that didn't cost a fortune to run, yet could roll up its sleeves and deal with serious off-roading if needed.

That said, it was far less utilitarian than the Mitsubishi Shogun Sport. Inside, the cabin looked reasonably stylish, a sensibly specified infotainment system came as standard and your passengers got a reasonable amount of space. Only the small boot let it down.

It’s not so much that the Eclipse Cross wasn't a good car, but its weaknesses were readily exposed by the quality of the competition it was up against. 

The Mitsubishi’s Dynamic trim level is still the one we’d go for. Its front and rear parking sensors made it even easier to park than the standard car, its wing mirrors folded away and you also received luxuries such as dual-zone climate control and keyless entry. 

Choosing an engine was, and still is, easy. There was only one available: a 163hp 1.5-litre petrol. It was reasonably smooth and quiet when launched but was no fuel sipper. If you’re only going to drive on-road, we’d stick with a manual model with two-wheel drive. Need extra grip? Then you’ll want the four-wheel drive version with the automatic gearbox.

There were many. One of its biggest problems is that it had numerous rivals. 

The Skoda Karoq felt better built inside and had noticeably more interior space. On the other hand, the Peugeot 3008 was truly desirable with smart looks and a space-age interior. If a sportier drive was a priority, the SEAT Ateca was decent. Fuel efficiency? The Toyota’s C-HR was king. 

Mitsubishi still makes the Eclipse Cross, but not for the UK. The brand stopped selling cars entirely to the UK market in 2020. However, the new Volkswagen Tiguan and Skoda Karoq are modern alternatives.

Many of the hard plastics in the Shogun Sport made way for soft and spongy materials that felt expensive. Cheap plastics could still be found on the door tops and instrument binnacle. 

Faux metal plastics framed the instruments behind the steering wheel, flowing from the centre console to the passenger side of the dashboard. This broke up the vast swathe of plastic.

Regardless, the Eclipse still felt dark and dingy and even moving up the model range didn't allow colour injection. Those looking for a young vibrant SUV were better looking elsewhere.

That wasn't to say there was no reason to upgrade from the basic Verve model. Going for the Dynamic version of the Eclipse Cross brought Mitsubishi’s ‘high grade’ fabric seats with silver stitching and chrome interior door handles, while its LED interior lighting gave brighter white lights rather than the dull yellow emitted by the old-school filament bulbs.

The range-topping Exceed trim received a full leather interior with orange stitching and twin glass sunroofs.

The Mitsubishi Eclipse Cross’ infotainment system did the job rather than wowing you with technical excellence. 

Its seven-inch display was smaller than you’d find in rivals – even a basic Skoda Karoq had an 8-inch screen that could be upgraded to a 9.2-inch system.

In the Mitsubishi, you could, unfortunately, also forget about getting a digital instrument binnacle like the one fitted as standard to the Peugeot 3008. 

That said, it did get the fundamentals right. The screen was atop the dash; it was easy to glance at when driving.

Okay, so the menus weren't logically laid out and no model received factory-fit sat-nav but that unlikely mattered. Why? Because Android Auto and Apple CarPlay were fitted as standard, you could skip the misery of the Eclipse’s menus by using the more intuitive layout from your mirrored smartphone. 

Doing this meant you also got live services offered by high-end sat-nav systems – so you could route around congested traffic and find parking spaces near your destination. 

It also meant you could play iTunes or Spotify on the car’s six-speaker stereo. If you needed more punch, upgrading to the Exceed model brought a nine-speaker Rockford Fosgate system.

There was no shortage of room in the Eclipse Cross for two adults sitting up front. The large transmission tunnel running between the front seats meant you wouldn't bang elbows with your front passenger and, even with the glass sunroofs, there was still loads of headroom.

The back seat was more of a mixed bag. The Cross’ sloping rear end ate into headroom so tall rear-seat passengers would've found their hair skimming the roof lining. That said, the floor was flat meaning there was plenty of space for feet. 

As well as reclining, the Mitsubishi’s back seat also slid back on runners so passengers could sit back and stretch out on longer journeys.

Doing this, however, meant the Mitsubishi’s relatively small boot got even tinier – shrinking from 448 to 341 litres, less than you would've found in a family hatchback such as the Volkswagen Golf. It was also miles off the 520 litres a Skoda Karoq offered and left plenty of room for adult rear-seat passengers.

It wasn't all bad for the Mitsubishi, though, the boot lid left a big opening to aim your luggage through, there was a small lip to lift it over and, with the rear seats folded away, you got a flat, if slightly sloping boot floor. 

Child seats were also easier to fit. The back seats slid back as far as they could go, leaving plenty of room for a child seat. The Isofix points were marked, and the car didn't have the losable plastic covers fitted to others of the same era.

Interior storage was also excellent with the Mitsubishi offering a large glovebox, front door bins, and a huge storage bin under the front centre armrest. Dynamic and Exceed were the only two versions that had a rear armrest. 

As previously mentioned, only one engine existed – a 163PS 1.5-litre four-cylinder petrol.

It was decent, getting you from 0-62mph in 9.7 seconds while sounding quiet. It had enough pace to keep up with town traffic and had no issues getting up to faster speeds when joining the motorway.

The six-speed manual gearbox wasn't so good. It could feel resistant as you moved through the gears and the snatchy clutch pedal made it tricky to drive smoothly at slower speeds. 

There was an automatic option – a CVT –  on all but Verve models – but with it fitted, the car was half a second slower to 62mph and, if anything, the performance felt duller than that. Go for an overtake and it held the engine at a constant speed, leading to a monotonous drone could've done without. 

Unfortunately, four-wheel drive only came with the automatic gearbox.

The Mitsubishi Eclipse Cross travelled quietly on the motorway once up to speed, with limited road noise or wind whistle. The latter was particularly well suppressed in Dynamic versions and above which had an acoustic windscreen. 

Cruise control, meanwhile, was standard so you didn't need to modulate your foot on the accelerator for hours on end on long journeys.

At those sorts of speeds, the Mitsubishi’s engine noise faded into the background but when accelerating to a cruise, its purposeful tone turned harsh.

The Mitsubishi Eclipse Cross got a five-star crash rating when it was evaluated by the safety body Euro NCAP in 2017.

A whole host of safety kit came as standard. All models got seven airbags, automatic emergency brakes that worked at speeds of up to 50mph, a lane departure warning system and a warning buzzer that sounded if you had a flat tyre. 

All models also got Active Yaw control on the front wheels, so the car remained easy to control even when steaming into a corner carrying too much speed.

If you wanted more safety kit then you’d have opted for the Exceed model, unfortunately, you couldn't add safety packs without spending big on the top-of-the-range car. Exceed trim added active cruise control, which as well as holding you at a set cruising speed like the standard system, could also accelerate and brake, keeping a safe distance from the traffic in front. 

You also received lane change assist, so if pulled out in front of hidden blind spot traffic on the motorway, it sounded a buzzer and showed a warning on the corresponding wing mirror. A somewhat common feature now. 

Mitsubishi offered a five-year warranty, meaning later cars should still have a year or so left. It doesn't currently rank in any bad or good lists, but Mitsubishi is third from the bottom in the latest HonestJohn.co.uk index.

The Eclipse Cross made a few 'most reliable family SUV' lists and some owners reported that no cars (up to five years old) had any issues. 

The Mitsubishi Eclipse Cross won’t cost a fortune to insure. Basic Verve cars sit in group 18 (out of 50) while First Edition cars start in 20. The range-topping Exceed is group 19 for the manual and 20 for the auto, a running theme across the range. 

Unfortunately, you won't save much on tax as all cars emit a fair amount of C02. The entry-level Verve emits between 154-170g/km, meaning it'll cost you £680 for the first year before defaulting to £190 thereafter.

Things are much the same across the range, but the most expensive is the Dynamic 4WD auto (registered between 1 April 2020 and 31 Aug 2021). These emit nearly 200g/km of c02 and as a result, you'll be £1,650 lighter after the first year. 

Basic versions received climate control, auto lights and wipers, cruise control and tinted rear windows. They also had a seven-inch infotainment screen with Apple CarPlay, Android Auto and a rearview camera.

Design SE cars represented a styling pack rather than a standalone model. They got 18-inch wheels, which didn't look as lost in their arches as the 16-inch versions fitted to the basic car. Design SEs were limited to three colour choices: Frost White, Atlantic Grey and Lightning Blue. All were available across the range.

Levelling up to Dynamic meant more kit. These received an auto-dimming rearview mirror to cut out dazzle, dual-zone climate control, wing mirrors that folded away, front and rear parking sensors, a head-up display, heated front seats and keyless entry. 

Likewise, these also received extra flashes of chrome on the grille and below the doors, making them look a little more premium.

And finally, the Exceed. Twin glass sunroofs let in ample light, there was an uprated stereo, a full leather interior and active cruise control.