Comfort One side benefit of the 2006 Mitsubishi Eclipse’s increased dimensions is a roomier passenger compartment with improved accommodations for the driver and front seat passenger.

One side benefit of the 2006 Mitsubishi Eclipse’s increased dimensions is a roomier passenger compartment. Rather than spread the additional 2.1 cubic feet of space around, however, designers dedicated it solely to improving the accommodations for the driver and front seat passenger.

Up in these choice seats there’s an extra half-inch of headroom and an additional half-inch of legroom, along with almost two more inches of shoulder and hip room. Combined with a standard tilt-adjustable steering column and supportive bucket seats, this additional space makes it possible for a wide range of different sized individuals to find a comfortable driving position.

While the room up front is good, the back seat is another story altogether. In fact, the rear seat passengers have actually lost an inch of legroom and a half-inch of headroom. In real world terms this means the back seat is no place for an adult, at least not an adult you like. Instead it may help to think of it as a nicely padded shelf for gym bags, briefcases, and the like.

As a matter of fact, that extra space may come in handy given the fact that the interior’s storage options are limited to a small center console, glove box, and map pockets in the doors. In an era when we’re all spending more time in our cars than ever before, the lack of handy compartments or trays for cell phones and other modern paraphernalia seems like an oversight.

Raise the rear hatch and you’ll find larger items fit easily through the wide opening, though a long reach between the rear bumper and the cargo floor is a recipe for back pain when loading and unloading heavier items. There’s slightly less room in the cargo hold than in the outgoing model, but a 50/50 split-folding rear seat back helps make up for it with added cargo carrying flexibility.