It was Eric Clapton and Robert Cray at the Air Canada Centre, and I was on the way to my very first major concert event. At 24 years old, I grew up fascinated by cars and machines, not music and bands, but my father was on board for the show carrying a full arsenal of blues CD's from years gone by in order to give me a primer on the music we were going to experience.
In what was perhaps the most fitting vehicle possible for my Sunday afternoon road-trip, I found myself on route to downtown Toronto in Mitsubishi's hot new 2007 Eclipse Spyder- fitted with, among other things, a really enormous stereo system.
It's the powerful sounding music and impeccable reproduction of even the highest and most challenging notes that serves as the ultimate test for a car audio system. For a factory setup, the Rockford-Fosgate system fitted to my test car did a bang on job.
With 650 watts, nine speakers and a subwoofer poking its face through between the rear seats, this was an audio system that could knock family
photos off of a living room wall from a half mile away. As I found out, it was powerful and well equipped in a number of other ways, too.
What was I doing in a hot new convertible in the middle of September? Easy- autumn brings a whole new dimension to the topless experience. With heated leather seats and a powerful heater, taking in the emerging fall colors with the roof down was a magical experience. Even with temperatures struggling to peak over 5 or 8 degrees, I remained sufficiently warm with a light coat on. Becides, if it were 30 degrees in the summer, I'd have the roof up and the A/C maxed anyhow.
As far as a convertible goes, this is about as roomy as they get. When the red and orange leaves give way to the dark night sky and stars overhead, the roof re-installs with the press of a button in about 20 seconds. A gorgeous set of instruments and controls illuminated in a selection of vivid blues, oranges and greens speckled about the cluster accompanies
drivers after dark. It was a relaxing place to spend some time in here, and my only concerns were the awkward placement of the power window switches and an abnormally bright high-beam indicator which I found distracting during late-night drives.
The Spyder drew stares all week long, and everybody I spoke to commented on how great it looked. One word was almost always used in the description- "sexy". With its supple edginess, smooth lines and rounded-off tail trimmed with a tiny lip-spoiler, Mitsubishi has created a scandalous looking body that takes cues from some of the most sought-after convertibles on today's market. In no way does it look like they simply chopped the roof off of a coupe. With the lid on or off, it's beautiful from any angle- and the fabric roof retracts beneath a body-colored cover for a seamless transition between the interior and exterior of the car. There is some Audi TT, some 350Z and even a hint of Aston Martin in the front end, if you crouch low and cover the diamond-star badge. In terms of visual bang-for-your-buck, this thing is off the page.
 |
| (Photo: Justin Pritchard) |
It's the powerful sounding music and impeccable reproduction of even the highest and most challenging notes that serves as the ultimate test for a car audio system. For a factory setup, the Rockford-Fosgate system fitted to my test car did a bang on job.
With 650 watts, nine speakers and a subwoofer poking its face through between the rear seats, this was an audio system that could knock family
 |
| (Photo: Justin Pritchard) |
What was I doing in a hot new convertible in the middle of September? Easy- autumn brings a whole new dimension to the topless experience. With heated leather seats and a powerful heater, taking in the emerging fall colors with the roof down was a magical experience. Even with temperatures struggling to peak over 5 or 8 degrees, I remained sufficiently warm with a light coat on. Becides, if it were 30 degrees in the summer, I'd have the roof up and the A/C maxed anyhow.
As far as a convertible goes, this is about as roomy as they get. When the red and orange leaves give way to the dark night sky and stars overhead, the roof re-installs with the press of a button in about 20 seconds. A gorgeous set of instruments and controls illuminated in a selection of vivid blues, oranges and greens speckled about the cluster accompanies
 |
| (Photo: Justin Pritchard) |
The Spyder drew stares all week long, and everybody I spoke to commented on how great it looked. One word was almost always used in the description- "sexy". With its supple edginess, smooth lines and rounded-off tail trimmed with a tiny lip-spoiler, Mitsubishi has created a scandalous looking body that takes cues from some of the most sought-after convertibles on today's market. In no way does it look like they simply chopped the roof off of a coupe. With the lid on or off, it's beautiful from any angle- and the fabric roof retracts beneath a body-colored cover for a seamless transition between the interior and exterior of the car. There is some Audi TT, some 350Z and even a hint of Aston Martin in the front end, if you crouch low and cover the diamond-star badge. In terms of visual bang-for-your-buck, this thing is off the page.