Mitsubishi Eclipse
The Fast and The Furious
Mitsubishi Eclipse replica
This page will list and describe everything we know about the original Mitsubishi Eclipse form the Fast and The Furious as well as how close to the original car our replica is.
So firstly a bit of background inforamtion on the 2nd Generation Mitsubishi Eclipse. It was never made availble in the UK, as far as we are aware it was mainly sold to the US market with some also being sold it eastern Europe. We know of only 9 Eclipse in the UK and we own 2 of them! The 2nd generation was produced between 1995 and 1999. There was a slight cosmetic change in 1997 which meant that 1995 - 1995 were know at the 2ga (2nd generation A model) and the 1997 - 1999 were known as 2gb (2nd generation B model). From the outside the car came with a subtle change to the bumper and headlights.
Engine
Our most commonly asked question by far is what engine are we running. So lets first start with the possible options. In the US there were 3 possible variations
In Europe the possible engine vartions are slightly different.
The 4G63T engine was actually the same one used in the early Mitsubishi EVO 1 - 3 and the same black in next next generation EVOs with the Cam Belt moved onto the other side of the engine.
In the movie there is no definative answer to what engine nor to what drive train was running in the car. There are many reference to a turbo on the car plus many sound effects. But where the bonnet is lifted before the first race the engine is actually the 420a which never had a turbo availble for it.
This picture shows waht the movie car had installed as far as we can acuratly confirm. As our car is the European import the 420a engine was not availble. So we are currentley runniong with the 4G63 N/A engine. Our other eclipse is the FWD 4G63T engine. Our Engine bay still needs a bit orf work to make it look really prsentable and some custom hoses will be on order soon along with a polished valve cover. Some Higer performance HT leads along with a new air intake are on the list of projects for the engine bay.
Wheels
Wheels can really make the car what it is. The ones on the original movie car were the Lenso S7 or the Axis Se7en wheels and hey were 18". Anyone following us on facebook will know that we have litterally looked every where in the worl for a correct set of wheels for the car. As ours currentley sits on Evo 8 wheels. We found a set of 17" after months of looking we found a set of 17" wheels but didnt quite sit right on the car. We then noticed that the Honda Civic FN2 wheels were extremly close to the design. There was also the option for the newer verion of the Lenso S7 called the Lenso S73 although this did have a deeper dish and again didn't quite look correct. So we purhcased a set of Civic FN2 wheels and had them compleltey refurbished.
The day after they were picked up we fianlly found a set of the original Lenso S7 wheels in 18*. Oddly enough these were brand new and in origianl boxes! No question about buying them, purchased and paid for within seconds of finding them. Although they have not yet been fitted to the car.
Body Kit & Exterior
The closet body kit i can find to the movie car is called the "blits" part number "FK97MEBZ". Comes complete with side skirts 2GB front bumper and also rear bumper. In addition to the body kit there is the non functional roof scoop which appears to be a custom design. Plus dont forget to add teh ARP spoiler to finish off the back end. There is also a pair of external bonnet catches normally used in race/ rally cars. The movie car also had all windows (excluding windscreen) tinted. The wing mirrors on the car were also non - standard. There is of course many vynl decals on the car which really does make the car stand out and be a true on of a kind.
Our car carries all of the external modifations that are on the movie car, although our roof scoop is slightlty different and we do not have the external bonnext catches and the wing mirros on our car are standard. We still have to tint the windows i nthe car and will be doing so as soon as we have finished with the interior mods. The decals are as close as possible and we have made the addition of one more decal in tribute to Paul Walker.
