autoevolution
 

Throtl Introduces Modernized Fast and Furious Mitsubishi Eclipse GSX Build for SEMA

The very first car appearing in the well-known Fast and Furious franchise was a green Mitsubishi Eclipse. Today, it's one of the most iconic cars in the film. Now it's getting a modernized tribute from the folks at Throtl.
Throtl Eclipse GSX 6 photos
Photo: Via Throtl
Throtl Eclipse GSX SEMAThrotl Eclipse GSX SEMAThrotl Eclipse GSX SEMAThrotl Eclipse GSX SEMAThrotl Eclipse GSX SEMA
In the film, the car is badged as a GSX trim. That was the only trim that used all-wheel-drive in combination with a turbocharged engine. In reality, that movie car was just front-wheel drive. That's not too shocking, though.

Many movie cars are far from the condition they seem to be. Some cars from this same franchise have used bathroom mat fabric for their interiors. Even the original Eclipse was nowhere near as fast as the movie pretended it was.

This tribute car, though, is the real deal. The nitrous is really too. In the back of the Eclipse sits two bottles of NOS just waiting for the right moment. Inside the cockpit, two fixed back Sparco racing seats keep occupants in place. They're finished in leather for just that extra little bit of luxury.

Each seat gets its own individual Sparco harness too. A matte black removable Sparco steering wheel complements them perfectly. Of course, it wouldn't be complete without some serious modernization.

Instead of the same traditional NOS setup from the original, the guys at Throtl mixed it up a bit. They added nitrous purge valves to this build.

They even gave a little tribute to Paul Walkers R34 Skyline from the second film in the process. The purge valves are installed near the top of the hood providing a sort of geyser effect when activated.

Custom underglow and puddle lights are a main feature of the build as well. The whole car sits on air suspension. Inside the trunk is a huge subwoofer. A custom diffuser sits at the rear of the car, and above it is a very modern and very large spoiler.

That's great, too, because this GSX isn't using a stock turbo. In fact, the turbo on this Eclipse is from Forced Performance. The guys custom-welded the piping for the whole setup to ensure it had proper power levels. Today, we know they have a simple base tune on the car but no word yet on actual horsepower.

We've seen a bunch of tribute builds to this particular Mitsubishi Eclipse GSX. They're all cool and they're all special in their own way. We can't think of any other that has gone as far as this one from Throtl though.

Modernizing the platform clearly improves the everyday drivability without detracting from the original mission of the car. It'll be at SEMA throughout the show. Once SEMA finishes, the crew plans to take this thing racing for real. We can't wait to see how it does on the track!


If you liked the article, please follow us:  Google News icon Google News Youtube Instagram X (Twitter)
 

Would you like AUTOEVOLUTION to send you notifications?

You will only receive our top stories