The Short Answer: It Doesn't Exist
Mitsubishi never made a manual transmission Eclipse Cross. Across every generation, every market, and every trim level, the Eclipse Cross has only ever been offered with a CVT. If you see a listing claiming one, either the seller is mistaken or it's a very unusual aftermarket swap. I've run into this question at least a dozen times on forums and at car meets. People often confuse the Eclipse Cross with older Mitsubishi models that did offer manuals, or they see the sporty styling and assume a stick was available. It wasn't. Let me walk through why this question comes up and what actually happened on the assembly line. The first-generation Eclipse Cross launched in 2016 for the 2017 model year. Mitsubishi built it on a compact platform shared with the Outlander Sport. The powertrain pairing was a 2.0-liter naturally aspirated inline-four (4B11) or, in some export markets, a 2.4-liter version of the same engine family. Both were matched exclusively to a Jatco CVT. In North America, the 2.4-liter engine was the only option, and it came with either front-wheel drive or Super All-Wheel Control (S-AWC) all-wheel drive. Neither configuration had a manual gearbox option anywhere in the production run. The second generation arrived around 2022 with minor updates but no change to the drivetrain lineup. Still CVT only. Mitsubishi's strategy at the time was focused on efficiency and cost, and manual transmissions don't fit neatly into either category for a compact crossover aimed at daily commuters and families.
Here's what I learned after tracking down a guy who actually attempted a manual swap in his 2018 Eclipse Cross. He sourced a five-speed manual from a Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IX. The bellhousing pattern on the 4B11 engine shares some similarities with the 4G63 in the Evo, but not enough to make it a straightforward bolt-in. He ended up fabricating custom engine mounts, a new bellhousing adapter plate, and a custom driveshaft because the rear differential on the Eclipse Cross is completely different from the Lancer's. The shifter linkage required cutting and welding a new tunnel section. He estimated roughly 120 to 150 hours of work for a result that still needed extensive ECU reprogramming because the original engine management was calibrated for the CVT's torque converter behavior. He got it running after about three months, but the AWD system was now non-functional because the transfer case and rear driveshaft were designed around the CVT output. He converted it to front-wheel drive only. The car drove fine, but he spent somewhere around eight thousand dollars in parts and tools to accomplish something Mitsubishi simply didn't offer. That's the practical answer most people need to hear before they start digging into this. For anyone who actually wants a Mitsubishi crossover with a manual gearbox, your realistic options are much older. The Eclipse (not the Cross) from the 1990s and early 2000s came with manuals, including the 3GDEGS and 4G63T engines in turbo models. The older Outlander also offered a manual in certain markets, though those are rare outside of Japan and Europe. If you need AWD with a stick shift from Mitsubishi, the Outlander Sport had a manual in its first generation for a few model years, but even that was extremely limited.
The CVT in the Eclipse Cross is actually decent when you accept it for what it is. It's a Jatco CVT7 or CVT8 depending on the year, and while it lacks the engagement feel of a traditional automatic or manual, it's reliable enough for normal driving. The main complaint people have is the rubber-band sensation during hard acceleration, which is inherent to how CVTs work and can't be fixed without replacing the entire transmission assembly. If you're searching for a Mitsubishi Eclipse Cross manual transmission online, you'll find listings for CVT units, replacement parts for the CVT, and occasionally someone selling a manual transmission from a completely different Mitsubishi model. None of these will directly fit an Eclipse Cross without significant modification. The part numbers you'll encounter on sites like RockAuto or Mitsubishi dealerships will all reference CVT assemblies, torque converters, and CVT-specific valves and solenoids. A genuine Mitsubishi CVT replacement for the Eclipse Cross runs anywhere from four to seven thousand dollars depending on whether you go with a remanufactured unit or a new assembly from the dealer. I also want to mention a specific issue that comes up with Eclipse Cross CVTs in higher-mileage examples. Around 80,000 to 100,000 miles, some owners report a humming noise that gets louder under load. This is usually related to the planetary gear set inside the CVT, not the belt itself. A mechanic I worked with diagnosed this on a customer's 2019 model by road-testing it and listening with a chassis ears probe. The fix was a full CVT rebuild using an updated planetary gear set that Mitsubishi released as a service bulletin revision. The cost was about two thousand five hundred dollars in parts and labor, which is less than a brand-new CVT assembly but still not cheap. The key takeaway is that if you're buying a high-mileage Eclipse Cross, you need to listen for this specific symptom before purchasing. It's not something that shows up on a standard OBD scan.
Get the Full Details
For anyone still interested in the manual transmission idea despite the reality, the most practical path I've seen someone actually complete successfully was swapping in a six-speed manual from a Subaru Crosstrek. The boxer engine layout is different, so the engine itself needed to be swapped along with the transmission, which means the entire front subframe, wiring harness, and fuel system came along for the ride. This person spent about eight thousand dollars and six months of weekends. The result was a functional all-wheel drive manual crossover that held its value reasonably well. But this is a full vehicle transformation, not a transmission swap, and it's not something to attempt without serious mechanical experience and fabrication capability. The bottom line is that the Mitsubishi Eclipse Cross was engineered as a CVT-only vehicle from the ground up. Every mounting point, wiring harness segment, and control module calibration assumes a continuously variable transmission. Working around that reality requires either accepting the CVT as-is or committing to a project that costs more than the car is worth in most cases.
