How Do You Fit a Wide-Bodied Eclipse Through a Doorway? Easy - Throw a Twinkie into the Next Room
It’s Saturday night and you and your friends are getting ready to hit the hippest club in town. What do you do if you want all eyes on you? If you’re like Moe, you’d be decked out from head to toe in tight latex, and if you’re like Jonny, you’d bat your eyes with that come-hither look and strut your stuff. Isn’t it crazy how some people put in so much time and effort into getting some attention for one short night?
For Rob Brittingham of Miami, Florida, getting noticed is no problem at all. Well, especially now. Everything happened when a guy, who was starting up his own company, took one look at Rob’s Mitsubishi Eclipse and offered to hook him up with a body kit for it. Rob dug the sketches of the wide body kit and he agreed to be the guinea pig for Quwhees Designs. Sometimes, it’s just that easy.
The Quwhees body kit was fused to the stock body and the original fenders were rolled severely to allow for wider tires. The kit looks molded, but if you look closely, you can see that it’s actually not. A sandable epoxy gives it the look without all the hard work. When the kit was finally installed, Quwhees owner Alvero Joffrey and Rob went to Berjam Paint & Frame in Miami for the perfect color. Rob picked House of Kolor’s Candy Blurple (this is a mix of blue and purple, get it?). It had to be sprayed and painted twice to get the color just right.
Inside the cabin, the Eclipse loses none of its showtime flavor. It’s filled with a custom street rollbar, triple A-pillar pads, and a custom-mounted air/fuel controller in the center console. An HKS EVC is placed in the glove box with an A’pex ITC that’s used to fine tune the timing. Indiglo Autometer gauges help Rob keep up to speed on the car’s motor functions. The back seats have been removed, and now a rear fill (part of the sound system) is in its place. Finishing off the ICE is a Kenwood head unit, Xtant amps, and speakers from Xtant, Boston Acoustics, and Polk. It was then wired with the monster cables to wrap everything up.
OK, enough about looks, let’s talk performance. Rob had a 20g Mitsubishi turbo already installed before any of this began. Along with the turbocharger are a Type R blow-off valve from GReddy and a wastegate from Turbonetics. Most of the components under the hood are simple and clean. But a new engine is in the works to change that from clean to destructive.
The big beauty also sports a set of Falken GRB-II tires that are wrapped around the sleek Enkei wheels, which wasn’t the easiest thing to do. Rob says he had a tough time making the wheels fit, but after much patience and persistence, he made it happen (which is also Jonny’s motto at the clubs).
And what makes the Eclipse come to a halt? Well, Rob wanted the brakes from a Mitsubishi 3000GT VR4. His friends told him that the 12-inch brakes (with 4-inch piston calipers) weren’t going to fit, but that didn’t stop him. He let them believe what they wanted as he went after what he wanted. Sure enough, he got things his way and now the 3000GT brakes sit snug behind the wheels. The car’s handling comes from Ground Control coilovers, Tokico 5-way struts in front, RM Racing antiroll bars, and Energy Suspension bushings.
Rob and his Eclipse have a lot to look forward to. Having won a few shows already (including Hot Import Nights), he’s determined to do much more to his car—his way. He has already proved that his personal flair has accounted for what he has done so far. And with the additional mods, it’ll be ready to hit the tracks soon. So, if you happen to come across a road opened wide, be on the lookout. You may just catch this ride in action.