First start

whenever i start up my car, cold it has a little knocking/ticking sound maybe like the lifters or something.. but after it sits for a minute it goes away.. i thought it was the fans in the front but it isnt.

Also, while i'm posting my general problems/questions.
My temp gauge ranges it will not be constant, doesn't matter if it is idling or running down the highway, it will go from half way to 3/4 to hot but only for like a minute and then drop back down. I have had this checked numerous times and no one can find anything wrong.

Another thing, I have a 96 RS nt, with 135k miles on it and it doesnt seem like it runs at 140hp or around there anymore. I have not had it tested for exactly how much hp it is capable of. It just doesn't "feel" as fast as it used to. Thanks for all of the help. I am new and learning.

Does anyone have any recommendations on tires to get also? some ideas.

With it being cold, my car ticks for a little bit too. It just started not too long ago but it doesn't seem like anything is wrong. I am not saying that you should ignore it, though.
With tires, Yokohama has been treating me a lot better then Nitto has. Within 3 months, I had two Nitto's blow out on me. Waste of money IMO.

Thanks for the reply duckydsp, Yeah my eclipse did not tick at first when I started it till a couple months ago. Anyone have an idea on the temperature problem/variance and the possible HP issue?
I'll check into the tires also duckydsp, thanks for your reply.

lifter tick is common. valve train is likely to make noise when it's cold, don't worry about it.

also, your car feels like it has less power because it probably does. there's 135k on it, you will have less compression than a freshly built engine.

That is what I was thinking joeWagon. Is there anything that I can do to help this or gain more hp? My car is stock. So almost anything would help.

To get some more power just do what most nt drivers do, (myself included) do intake, header, exhaust. just some fairly inexpensive bolt ons that you can do yourself in your driveway and notice good power gains. I have AEM V2 (probably a waiste) any cold air would be just as good, then I have GReddy 4-1 headers and Apexi cat back exhaust. A pretty good setup IMO. Any kinds will work good too, just dont go cheap.

Yeah tomorrow I am going to make my own intake, instead of buying one of the AEM from what I have heard from everyone it is tons cheaper and it works just as good. If anyone would like to comment feel free as I am open to suggestions. Thanks.