Prelude or Eclipse GSX?

i totaled my GS-R, and i'm looking at either going with a 97' Prelude, or a 97' GSX. (not to say anything bad about integs, since i LOVED my car) i think i'm ready for a change, but i'm not sure with route to take. which would you recommend and why?

Thanks.

You should compare the pro's and con's of each. Like turbo vs. no-turbo, All wheel drive vs. 2 wheel drive, 200+ HP vs. I don't know HP.. Get my drift?

What kind of Prelude is it?

i would be hopefully looking at a SH, but if not, then the regular model.

that's another thing, i don't really know much about turbos. the biggest resource i have is my step-bro who has a 1G GSX

A friend of mine has a Type-SH and it is fast, But I have driven a GSX and it is faster. But if you slap a turbo in that Prelude it would dominate the GSX. Turbos are easy my friend. There are tons of web sites that will give you all the info you could handle. Plus all the great people here at Automotive forums will help you will anything you need.

thanks for the input. but i'm gonna go with a turbo, then i would much rather go with the GSX rather than putting one on a 'lude. plus, i live in CA where nothing seems to be legal on any car :(

what about other factors, like reliability, maintenance, cost of up keep, etc.

ultimately, i want something that's fast, handles well, has good value, looks, and will overall just work whenever i want it to.

GSX GSX GSX all the damn way, If you can afford one get it. Dont listen to what the Eclipse boys say GSX"s ARE RARE!!, Idc who says you can find them cheap you CAN NOT, they are rare and expensive ass cheap build quality cars. But Go with the GSX man, the engines are cheap to replace and its fast as shit and attracts more teen pussy then Rkelly concerts.

I haven't really heard much on the GSX. I know All wheel drive could get spendy to have to work on. I have heard of the turbos getting tired. But thats just natural. As far as i know, just change the oil regularly and take good care of it and there shouldn't really be any problems.

personally I would say get the prelude. I do like the look of the eclipse, and I almost bought one myself, but everyone I know who has one, or had one for that matter had nothing but problems with them. True they are fast, but they are not very reliable. A honda motor will outlast an mitsubishi motor 2 times over. I guess it all depends on what you are looking for. Something fast, that is easy to get faster, for cheap=GSX. Something moderatly fast, that will last along time, and probably be less hassle=prelude.

man, i wish i knew how to start a poll with this question

man, i wish i knew how to start a poll with this question

You will have to start a new thread. Just click post a poll at the bottom I think it is and then you will need to type in your choices.

I vote prelude or maybe a EVO if you are thinking about going to the DSM world, the GSX is by far a nice car but it would be getting kind of old age and probably high miles, and to get alot more hp out of it you would have to upgrade alot of things anyway. But I don't know what kind of money you are looking to spend either.

go dsm once you get a turbo you will never want to go N/T again :iceslolan

Gsx

get a used RSX (s)... a newer age prelude might cost 10gs+ ....maybe you can find it cheaper but i found some rsx-s at craigslist for 13gs. RSXS are hella fast too bro...it's a newer/fancier look, low mileage, and has a HONDA Motor!!!

or move to a type r, si, G3 rx7, m3...yaaaa

i'm bretty bias towards honda, but i'll try and stay away from that in this... if i were you, i'd go with the prelude.. they are so much more of a reliable car than the GSX... if you're looking for something that you don't have to take to the shop every second week, go with the prelude. my buddy got one a few months ago and he hasn't had a problem yet, don't expect he will for a long long time. AWD spells trouble when dealing with mitsu. that's all that i can say.. if you're looking for a fast awd car.. go with a wrx.

go with the prelude, you won't be disappointed

i would say prelude...my boy has a gsx and its problem after problem...hes already went through 2 trannys among other problems but hes got dough, and dont get it twisted dropped preludes attract a lot of teen pussy too!!!

GSX= quick but junk. Bad for reliability. You will be puting some "ching" to keep that thing on the road. Prelude all the way if you want it on the road more than in the shop.

GSX= quick but junk. Bad for reliability. You will be puting some "ching" to keep that thing on the road. Prelude all the way if you want it on the road more than in the shop.
:werd:

what about other factors, like reliability, maintenance, cost of up keep, etc.

ultimately, i want something that's fast, handles well, has good value, looks, and will overall just work whenever i want it to.


if you want reliability , then this isnt even a question ... Prelude all the way ... it isnt to far behind the gsx as it is , and a few bolt ons will put you where you need to be ... the gsx has alot of potential , but it will never be on the road at all !! not to diss mitsubishi , but the older eclipses are horrible for reliability !! if you loved your teg , then definately get the prelude .... :2cents:

o yea , all of you kids thinkin that your car will get you some pussy need some serious coaching !! :loser:

for this question, i would have to say the dsm... i went to the track yesterday and there were tons of tsi's and gsx's all over the place, and they were fast too. also, im sure hondas have beter reliability that the dsm's but about half of the dsm's there were the older gens, all running fine.. my first race was actually against the last model talon tsi, this was my first race ever at a track:
tsi(gsx) me (gsr)
r/t: 1.035 0.955
60': 1.92 2.39
330: 5.872 6.61
1/8: 9.20 9.99
MPH: 73.83 72.59
1000: 12.13 12.89
1/4: 14.56 15.33
MPH: 92.24 91.80

What you people easily look over. That the GSX and the Prelude will be the same price. With a prelude you get relaibility and a decent looking car... and it stops there.

The GSX has much more potential, i mean much more. Not even a comparison if we are comparing speed. The GSX has a better interior, body style, feel, AWD, suspension.. the works. Its not even in the same class of car.

What i notice when you say should i get a prelude or a gsx, you completely overlook the gsx because of honda dedication. The gsx has awd.. Thats the main reason you should buy it. Awd is worth it all. The fact that it is a turbo car is good, but bad. You can put these cars into low 14s with 300 some odd dollars. Its a no brainer : Eclipse GSX

If you want a decent car thats so so fast, and reliable go prelude. If your looking for speed. eclipse all the way.

What you people easily look over. That the GSX and the Prelude will be the same price. With a prelude you get relaibility and a decent looking car... and it stops there.

The GSX has much more potential, i mean much more. Not even a comparison if we are comparing speed. The GSX has a better interior, body style, feel, AWD, suspension.. the works. Its not even in the same class of car.

What i notice when you say should i get a prelude or a gsx, you completely overlook the gsx because of honda dedication. The gsx has awd.. Thats the main reason you should buy it. Awd is worth it all. The fact that it is a turbo car is good, but bad. You can put these cars into low 14s with 300 some odd dollars. Its a no brainer : Eclipse GSX

If you want a decent car thats so so fast, and reliable go prelude. If your looking for speed. eclipse all the way.

the gsx may have more potential, but potential means nothing when it is sitting broken in your garage. sure you can run low 14's with $300 into it.. you'll be happy until something breaks.. and more than likely that won't be too far away, i may be slightly bias towards hondas, but it seems as tho you are bias towards mitsubishi. body style is all matter of opinion, as is feel. awd is a great option but not on an eclipse.. my friend owns one and he has problems with it weekly.
like i said.. if you're looking for a fast car, go with the prelude...
if you're looking for a slightly faster car, but enjoy paying rediculous shop fees, go with the GSX :2cents:

the gsx may have more potential, but potential means nothing when it is sitting broken in your garage. sure you can run low 14's with $300 into it.. you'll be happy until something breaks.. and more than likely that won't be too far away, i may be slightly bias towards hondas, but it seems as tho you are bias towards mitsubishi. body style is all matter of opinion, as is feel. awd is a great option but not on an eclipse.. my friend owns one and he has problems with it weekly.
like i said.. if you're looking for a fast car, go with the prelude...
if you're looking for a slightly faster car, but enjoy paying rediculous shop fees, go with the GSX :2cents:
yet half of that statement is complete BS. Go over to the Dsmtuners.com forum read and learn. Eclipse being "broken every other week" is complete bull. When you hear about peoples eclipses broken its the fact that they are running ridiculous times and dropping the clutch at 7 grand trying to launch an AWD car. You put that much power to the wheels on any car your going to have problems. When you say eclipses have problems you might be thinking wrong. The GS/RS models do. As they have the shitty 420a motor (non turbo).

Obviously im not biased towards any company because i always look into many different manufacturers for cars and right now i might be considering integra GSR.

Yet point being, the GSX is more bang for the buck by far.
Thing is, the honda is much more reliable. Yet the mitsubishi isnt a shit box by any means neither. Not many people have problems with their eclipses at all, its when they start doing ridiculous stuff is when problems happen. Such as running low 13s and beyond.

DSM's are junk, I had a 95 eclipse turbo with 55,000 miles on it here at the lot. The car was a piece of shit. It leaked oil out of every place it could. The head gasket was shot, The transfer case was loud. Absolute garbage. We won't have another one here.

I mean come on!!!! 55k on an all stock car and it was garbage? give me a break. Not to mention timing belt problems on those damn things.

In my opinion, If you go with a DSM, you an absolute moron and Im not even the biggest HONDA fan. I like Domestics.

Go with the prelude. The DSM is absolute garbage. I have had friends with them and they have the common weekly problems.

The GSX has much more tuning potential. The 4G63 engine has been around for over a decade and there are so many parts out there that its rediculously cheap and easy to make those things fly.

BUT once you start to put any amount of power to the ground with the GSX you will start running into problems, usually transmission problems. Also there is the dreaded crankwalk. Reliability is the only real problem with the DSM, if you can forget that its a chick car with a cheap interior and poor handling.

The Prelude doesnt have the tuning potential, it will cost you much more to make it faster, but when you do you'll have a better looking nicer ride. Sadly the prelude is FWD. If you can deal with dropping serious money on an FF...

Either way, I would still pick the DSM over the Honda, but thats because those are the only options you provided, I can think of a dozen better, faster, more reliable cars with just as much tuning potential.

Remember the old saying....

Cheap, Reliable, Fast....... Pick two...

I have one friend who never did anything to his GSX. It was completely stock, and he never ran it hard, yet he had it in the shop on average of once a month for one thing or another. Since you have already owned a honda, I would say stick with it, becasue going from a car like the GSR which is very reliable, to a car that is not as reliable, is just going to make it seem that much crappier. Personally I really like the GSX body style, even better than the prelude, but in my mind, reliability is eveything. You need to think of how important having a reliable car is to you. Would you be totally screwed if your car broke down for a week, i.e. getting to work and school. Not to mention how much you are going to have to spend to keep it up. When you say there is more potential in the GSX that is not wholly true. Don't forget that the prelude has very strong aftermareket support, so all the money you would spend on maintaining the GSX could get a prelude as fast as a GSX, and you would have a much more reliable car. Honda motors are known to run into the 300,000's when maintained. Personally I would get another integra, or a RSX, but I can see why you want a change, it can be nice sometimes. Good luck!

some people here need to gain some knowledge www.dsmtuners.com

(not to you lachaen)

I dont know about poor handling, my car handles like a charm easily the best handling car ive driven out of civics/preludes/integras/ etc.

Ive never heard any transmisson problems. Our trannys are actually pretty strong. Its the clutch that you need to replace if you want to do some awd launches. talk to anyone around, crankwalk is over rated. Half the people who say they had crank walk it ends up just being something stupid like they need a new clutch. Actual people who have suffered crank walk it usually happens at the beginning ages of the cars. As for the turbo blowing at 50k.. who ever drove the car before you must of not known what an oilchange was. That or boosted the hell out of it. Turbos last if they are treated right. Regular oilchanges and keeping the boost at a respectable level. (12 psi stock on a 2g)

I personally think it would be pointless to buy a prelude if your looking for speed. Fwd + its not a good motor to turbo.

Our trannys are actually pretty strong..

THERE! right there... i'd call that defending with bias.. and i might not be the all knowing car god, but i know i don't like those cars one bit... my opinion is.. if it's not a honda or a supercar... i don't like it:rolleyes:

yet half of that statement is complete BS. Go over to the Dsmtuners.com forum read and learn. Eclipse being "broken every other week" is complete bull. When you hear about peoples eclipses broken its the fact that they are running ridiculous times and dropping the clutch at 7 grand trying to launch an AWD car. You put that much power to the wheels on any car your going to have problems. When you say eclipses have problems you might be thinking wrong. The GS/RS models do. As they have the shitty 420a motor (non turbo).

Obviously im not biased towards any company because i always look into many different manufacturers for cars and right now i might be considering integra GSR.

Yet point being, the GSX is more bang for the buck by far.
Thing is, the honda is much more reliable. Yet the mitsubishi isnt a shit box by any means neither. Not many people have problems with their eclipses at all, its when they start doing ridiculous stuff is when problems happen. Such as running low 13s and beyond.

I agree completely I think that dsms are not all that unreliable sure they are not hondas but they are great cars anyways. I have an 97 rs with the 420a and 116k miles and has had no problems.And no I am not biased because I am selling to buy an integra. And not trying to start arguments here but most of you honda people are just saying that with no personal experience with them at all. You just say what everyone else is saying and of course you guys would say crap about eclipses because they are your competition and usually smoke hondas.

I personally think it would be pointless to buy a prelude if your looking for speed. Fwd + its not a good motor to turbo.

He never said that he wanted to tubo the prelude. If he wanted turbo in the first place he would not be asking about the prelude, he would be looking at other cars that have turbo already. Also preludes are not that much slower than a GSX. Neither of these cars are what you could call Fast, but they are moderatly fast, with the GSX being abit faster. Also just because your car hasn't had any problems yet, doesn't mean that other people with the GSX's have not. And I am not trying to say that the GSX is crap by any means, but you you can't deny the fact that the GSX dont have a good tack record. People on here who have had first hand experience arn't lying when they say they had problems. Obviously not every GSX is going to be that way, but the majority have had problems.