New GST

[Alax54]

I just purchased a 1995 Eclipse GS-T. I'm really excited about this! The first things i'll be doing to the car are fixing some imperfections in the paint (it's black - oxidation). But, I have some money saved up, and was looking to purchase some upgrades for my new vehicle. The car, atm, is completely stock aside from the following aftermarket parts.

-Type S BOV
-Intake (unsure of brand)
-Muffler (unsure of brand)

As experienced Eclipse tuners, what should I add next to the car in terms of aftermarket upgrades? I'm looking for performance mods, so please don't list rims or anything like that.

[joemathews]

Congratulations on the new purchase! We're always delighted when a new DSM owner comes into the forum and introduces him or herself .

Check out the DSMtuner.com upgrade path for 2g turbo DSMs. That should give you an idea of everything you will need to support an eventual turbo upgrade, and that is the path you should gradually move toward.

Personally this is the order in which I put things on my car:

1) Gauges and turbo timer
2) Wheels
3) Air filter, 1g bov, and upper intercooler pipe at the same time
4) manual boost controller
5) exhaust

You already have a nice bov...perhaps an aftermarket UICP. I assume it is a Greddy type S (as opposed to an HKS?). Look at your UICP "L" pipe that the bov is mounted on, and see if it is a metal 2.5" pipe as opposed to a plastic piece of shit. If so, that is one thing you won't have to upgrade!

As for intake, do you have both an aftermarket filter and a hardpipe?

My personal next move would be to put a boost gauge on the car if it doesn't already have one. That should run you about $35 for a used autometer. Next move I would do a custom 2.5 or 3" exhaust from the turbo back, or if you can't afford that now, just from the flexpipe on the stock downpipe back.

Welcome to AF .

[JoeWagon]

Check out the sticky threads. There's a lot to think about, so what kind of goals do you have with the car? For example, if you bought a nice intake now, it might not fit on a bigger turbo when you upgrade.

Also, don't get a muffler. Buy a catback and plan to get a downpipe later, or buy it all now. There's no sense in paying to weld a new muffler for the performance it gives.

I'd get a boost gauge, K&N FIPK, chop the dump tube in your intake, new BOV with upper intercooler pipe instead of using an adapter, a manual boost controller, then exhaust.

[joemathews]

Yeah, Joe's right about the mbc as well. Basically at the same time you are ready for exhaust, you'll know if you need a mbc. Your boost gauge will tell you how much you are boosting, and if it is 17 psi+ you definitely need a mbc before exhaust! Might as well buy a mbc first--good call Joe .

[scottsee]

it took me 6 months before i put my first mod on my car. i basicly did the same thing. i did the boost controlle sylinoid mod, and dump tube hack, and evently bought a k&n fipk with injen intake pipe. it makes all the diffrence in the world when it comes to the sound a tubo is suppose to make!!! i also got rid of my stock uicp and bov and replaced it with dejontool's hard pipe and used 1g bov and the Manditory boost gauge. for about 2 weeks i was happy. with the boost controle sylinoid mod i didnt need a mbc, i was hitting 16psi all day strong. it wasent untell i started going to the track that i splerged 20 bucks and bought a MBC. how far do you want to take your modifications? how much $ you got?

[Alax54]

I have about 700 for my first round of upgrades. If I wanted to wait a month i'd have about 1G. I don't want some 500 hp monster, as this would require too much money, but I would like an increase in HP. Perhaps a 16G somewhere down the road.

Thank you all for your suggestions. I think i'm going to get the gauges situation taken care of first, and maybe exhaust.

As far as my plans for the car, I would like a sleeper.