2004 Mitsubishi Eclipse GT 0-60 Times, Top Speed, Specs, Quarter Mile, and Wallpapers - MyCarSpecs United States (2023)

Dover White

Kalapana Black

Machine Green

Steel Blue Pearl

Sterling Silver Metallic

Titanium Pearl

Torched Steel Blue Pearl

Ultra Red

Midnight Interior

Sand Blast Interior

Part of the Mitsubishi business conglomerate, Mitsubishi Motors has earned its place on the Japanese and international car market. The company's history starts sometime in 1917, when the first Mitsubishi model, a seven-seater sedan based on the Fiat Tipo 3, rolls off the assembly line. Not very successful, production was discontinued after just 22 models were built.

True production begins after the merger of Mitsubishi Shipbuilding and Mitsubishi Aircraft Co. in 1934. Concentrated on building aircraft, ships, and railroad cars, the company found time to make a prototype sedan in 1937 which it called the PX33. Sadly, it was mainly for military use as the war approached.

Only after the war did the company really got into car production with a small three-vehicle vehicle, the Mizushima and a scooter with a funny name, the Silver Pigeon. Then came the split of the former conglomerate, because the conquering Allies did not see with favorable eyes Japan's industrial development.

A decade later, things in Japan were looking up and personal transportation became an issue again as more and more families afforded cars. Enter the Mitsubishi 500, a sedan for the masses, and later the Minica small car and the Colt 1000 in 1963. With sales rising, the remnants of the Mitsubishi conglomerate were united once again in 1970.

The next step for the company was to ally itself with a foreign company, Chrysler in this case, which bought 15% of the Mitsubishi, which afforded the Japanese manufacturer the license to sell rebadged Galants as Dodge Colts in the States and as Chrysler Scorpions in Australia.

In this way, Mitsubishi was able to raise numbers in production and set up a series of dealerships around Europe. But if for Mitsubishi things were looking up, the same could not be said about its American partner which was forced to sell the Australian manufacturing division in 1980.

Two years later, Mitsubishi would enter the American market under its own name with the Tredia sedan, the Cordia and the Starion coupe. The car quota was established at 30,000 vehicles but the Japanese were keen to increase that number and they began a campaign of active advertising. By the end of the 80s, Mitsubishi had achieved 1,5 million units produced worldwide.

In order to bypass the strict import regulations and to ease the tensions between the two companies, Mitsubishi and Chrysler founded a new vehicle manufacturing company in Normal, Illinois under the name Diamond-Star Motors which started production in 1987. The models that came out of this plant include the Mitsubishi Eagle, the Eagle Talon and the Plymouth Laser.

In 1988 the company changed its status from being privately owned to public. Mitsubishi industries remained the largest stockholder with 25% of the company, while Chrysler upped its share to 20 %. Later, in 1992, it reduced the equity to just 3% and even sold its interest in Diamond-Star Motors, leaving Mitsubishi as the sole owner.

In 1995, Mitsubishi Motors changed its name to the current on from DSM as it was previously known on the American market. Also, it opened up a new North American Manufacturing Division in 2002.

In 2000, Mitsubishi sought a new partnership with the newly formed Daimler-Chrysler concern which cost the German-American group $ 1.9 billion, $ 200 million less than the original price once the defect cover-up scandal came out. It seems that Mitsubishi had systematically covered up defects in its production cars as far back as 1977, involving anything from failing brakes to faulty clutch systems. When the news was disclosed, the company was forced to recall 163,707 vehicles for free repairs.

That, coupled with a economic crisis in the Asian region caused Mitsubishi a loss in profit and even the need to downsize in order to cope with falling demand. A new breed of cars, revitalized models and forward thinking was what brought Mitsubishi back on track. The Mitsubishi i, a small car perfect for the Asian market and the new Lancer and Outlander were enough to put the company back on the market. This lead to the first profitable quarter at Mitsubishi in four year to be declared in 2006.

debugkenzi, 05/31/2008

2004 Eclipse

Went to test drive the car and immediately feel in love with it. We wanted to see how the handling was, and found going 65 around a 40 mph curve is a breeze. It pulled right into the curve, and didn't make me adjust at all. All in all, wow!

barberpickle, 01/25/2009

Crash!

This is my second Eclipse RS, the 1st was a 1999. Unfortunately, I may have to be on to my 3rd. I was hit by an 18-wheeler in the 1st & was hit 2 days ago for the 2nd time in the current. This car is incredible for safety. Despite the fact that I have been hit 3 times, even when the damage was extensive, I walked away. The current one may be totaled, in which case I will go on to a newer model, but my experience with this car leaves me no doubts about it's safety - just the invisible "hit me" sign which appears to come with the ones I've bought. AND, the mileage has been terrific. I avg 27 back & forth to work, and up to 40 on the highway! I LOVE this car!

hardwoodgeodesic, 06/08/2008

Fun Car

I love to drive my car but it is having an issue and the dealer does not know what's wrong because there are not codes. The good thing is that my warranty is not up till 12/09. It's not a fast car but it's a blast to drive it corners great and has tones of low end power.

radiationhig, 12/31/2008

2004 Mitsubishi Eclipse GT

This is my second car, and during the time after my first car and before I bought the Eclipse, I test drove an 04 Focus SVT, 03 Acura TL, 05 Scion TC, and many other countless cars. The Eclipse has got to be my favorite, by far. The downfall about MINE is it's an automatic, but that may actually make it better in the end. My cup holder doesn't get in the way because of that, I haven't had any problems with the interior design except the back seats, not even my shorter friends can sit back there without bumping their heads on the rear windshield. But, this doesn't bother me bc I don't sit back there, and they need their own cars anyway haha

astonishedtanning, 07/29/2019

2003 Mitsubishi Eclipse

"Speed demon."

I love this car with my entire heart. It's quick to pick up speed, the handling feels terrific, the steering wheel isn't extremely loose like most cars, and she sounds and drives like a dream. My favorite part is the take off and acceleration. Upon flooring this car from a stop, you WILL make heads turn. She sounds THAT good.

egretpunctured, 05/08/2019

2001 Mitsubishi Eclipse

"Unexpected problems with no easy fix."

First I should note that I have driven this thing all over the west coast, from LA to Seattle, and before that it was used by some wannabe racer, so there was a lot to fix up, but none of it was purely mechanical aside from the air intake and that was for a CA emissions thing, it was basically returned to stock, aside from new headlights (because the ones that it comes with have awful light throw, you'd think someone just taped flashlights to the front of it). I've had this car since 2008/2009 when it had around 65,000 miles on it. For the first few years it was actually quite alright (aside from the major issue I'll mention in a moment. I knew this car was never supposed to be a sports car and I didn't want it to be, I enjoyed just having a good V6 5-speed that got good gas mileage for the time. This is where things start to fall apart, sometimes literally. First, it started not holding the revs and would stall, turned out the ECU needed to be replaced, like that's nothing minor and I have no idea why, but replacing it fixed it but it appears that another ECU problem exits. A few years back I found I was having an issue where the alarm would go off on it's own. Since the alarm horn no longer works the high beams just flash which is just wonderful for the battery. Sometimes it shuts off and does it again later, it seems to be when there's moisture in the air (but that hasn't been always consistent) so I have to assume there's a short somewhere but from my understanding it could also be an ECU malfunction. Prior to bringing it up to Oregon about $ 4,000 worth of work had to go into it to keep it reliable, even then, I had to replace the distributor because it just went out one day. That was a pain because the parts that the shops get don't have to correct specs so the shop had to replace some parts in the new distributor with good parts from the old one in order to work. On top of that, other electrical issues I've noticed, the rear wiper doesn't fully work anymore, it just stops where it wants to (which further leads me to believe the ECU is still having issues). The AC also stopped working(revs like it wants to start but then just flashes the AC light) and I haven't brought it in to be looked at out of fear that it'll be extremely expensive. This coupled with very cheap dash materials, bad switch gear for the radio (radio knob doesn't work properly anymore) and the insane costs of maintenance on it just makes it not a great car to buy used, especially if it hasn't been babied. As for handling, it was much better before having the shocks and struts replaced, for some reason that made the handling worse(and the car as a whole more bouncy, you'll certainly learn to avoid any road imperfections), but again, I haven't bothered with it because it would cost too much to deal with. This car has enough power in my opinion, but I'm no enthusiast. Honestly, if it wasn't for the ECU and alarm issue It would have a higher score, but when the core computer functions of a car become faulty it's not a good look. especially when everything is based off of the car's computer these days. Other issues: Cheap headliner, unreliable sunroof, bad rear hatch lifts (I've had it fall on my head before, I just think they're too small for the weight of the hatch), hard to service, car drives like it's much larger (bad turning radius), center speaker easily breaks, paint easily oxidizes.

cookeroxidize, 01/27/2018

2003 Mitsubishi Eclipse

"Best car ever!"

I bought my 2003 Mitsubishi Eclipse GTS in July 2002. It now has 161,000 miles on it and has not had any problems. It always starts and runs. The original brakes lasted over 100,000 miles and its still on the original clutch. It has been the most amazing and reliable car Ive ever owned. Its fun to drive and still can get up and go like it was new. I never liked the black and blue interior but really I dont notice it after all these years. The only difficulty Ive had with it is remembering the get it worked on and belts changed and fluids flushed and such as it has always ran great.Read less