I love the second generation Eclipse.
I have a white '95 RS 5-Speed out in the driveway and it's a blast to drive. It only has around 139k miles on the clock, and I'm the second owner so it's always been well taken care of. Since it's a '95 it has the original bumper design, which in my opinion wards off a lot of the rice-burner status the car has gained over the years (Thanks for nothing F&F
). Not to mention the original design cues lend a much more subtly aggressive and performance oriented look to the car vs the flash without substance look the mid-year re-design started in '97 gave it.
It's not the fastest car on the street, or even the best Eclipse trim of that Generation (GSX) by any means. But, it has a superb feeling manual transmission, nicely weighted hydraulic power steering, a hydraulic clutch with good feedback and very capable independent suspension all around.
It has since been supplemented, but not replaced, by my new daily driver; a 2011 Kia Forte 5 SX Hatchback.
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I managed to fine one with only 24k miles, the optional 6-speed manual and in Corsa-Blue-Metallic which I think is just about the best color that Kia has in it's lineup at the moment. It's tiny yet spacious, with a lot of rear legroom even if the seats are all the way back and reminds me a lot of my old '89 RT-4WD 6-Speed EF Civic wagon. I got lucky it wasn't the leather interior, as the standard SX seats have nice alcantara/suede upholstery and are bolstered far more supportively than the leather ones are. The engine is a rev-happy guy, yet at 2.4L of displacement and being a DOHC it isn't as small proportionately as the Honda's was which meas more power with less legwork and rowing at the shifter, which by the way is cable operated just like on my old Wagon.
Some nice touches also include:
Hydraulic power steering that is worlds and away better than the electronic crap found in 90% of cars out there lately. The setup on the SX's steering completely changes the way the car handles vs the Base, ECO and EX models which have limp and unresponsive steering that is weirdly heavy at low speeds and uncomfortably light at higher ones.
Manual/Auto driver's side window motor. Coming from every car I've owned having had roll-up manual windows I've become a bit of a control freak in that department. I want my window to only go as far up or down as I want instead of all the way as standard on pretty much every other car ever made. This setup makes everything simple. If I want it to auto down just tap, if I want it only a bit or mostly down: hold until satisfied.
One touch open-close sunroof. Coming from the Eclipse this makes it a lot more fun to mess with the sunroof in traffic or at a red light as I no longer have to hold the button down and wait as I open/close the glass to where I want it.
4-wheel Disc Brakes with ABS. This may sound like a basic feature for everyone who's driven a remotely newer car, but I've never had ABS, and have always dealt with the pain that is rear drums which are a pain to service, expensive to replace and provide significantly less stopping power. The ABS is a cool touch for an emergency situation, but I do miss the firmer and more reassuring pedal feel, along with greater brake control that a car without ABS provides.
Halogen headlamps and fog lights. I don't have anything against HID's and LED driving lamps per-se, as long as they're in a proper projector housing and the car was meant to have them that is. Otherwise I think of them like the useless bling and extra tacked on flash that makes a car into a riced out parody of itself, instead of a clean-cut and sleek looking vehicle. Halogen headlamps on the other hand have a timeless look to them that helps the car look sleeker and keeps it from becoming dated the way a lot of the competition will over time.
Things I don't like:
Traction control. Every time I've managed to get a really fun drive started I'll have forgotten to turn this off and it'll come in to bite the wheels with a blip of the brakes robbing all the fun lest I somehow fly off into the patch of water4, ice or flaming death the computer thinks I've somehow hit.
Torsion Beam rear suspension. This is the first car I've ever had with a non 4-wheel independent setup and it's something I always miss to a degree when driving it. It's not anywhere near as bad as the majority of other torsion-beam rear suspension cars out there. In fact you can't really tell unless you push the car to where it feels like it might roll, which I feel to be an achievement considering today's money conscious car buyer. Still though, I know that were I in the Honda or my Eclipse I would have been able to hit that one turn or those fun back roads just that much harder.
Also, I really miss getting to drive the 2000 Focus ZX3 Hatchback my sister used to have. The control blade suspension was surprisingly fun, and the DOHC Zetec unit under the hood was a lot peppier than you would expect from anything Ford made in that era. It took a fully loaded semi to the trunk like a champ though, and kept me and Kelsey alive, albeit in pieces.
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