The BIG DSM Question. Help me out!

[Blitz_Runner]

Ok guys and gals. I searched and couldnt find what I was looking for on here, so heres the Q. I drive a 93 honda civic, its SLOW! 1.5L 4cyl. Its reliable but not fast, or crazy fun to drive. I want to buy a 95-99 Eclipse bad. Are they worth it? I love the styling and performance of that gen (even with the posibility of getting crankwalk) and I need some info on what DSM owners say themselves. I hear people say Eclipses are fun for a while but they die quickly, and that they are unreliable. I have also heard that the reason for that is because alot of eclipse drivers beat the living shit out of their rides. What do you guys think? If you take care of a eclipse will it last? Do you constantly have your ride on jack-stands? Another question is about the "cheap tuning" of DSM. Are they really easier/cheaper to make quick compared to Hondas and Toyotas? B series and K series of Honda engines can be tuned very fast but its so pricy! I just need some feedback on this kinda stuff. I'm not trying to diss DSM's in any way or form, I just need a ride to last me about 5 years or so and not poop out on me. Alot of people say that DSM's kinda come ready for boost straight from the factory, how true is that? Do the internals hold up that well under boost? Sorry if I'm asking to many questions lol, I just need to finaly decide if I'm going to become a dimond star dude or stick with the H. I have never driven a Eclipse so I dont know how well they perform. Thanks for any info you can give me, I am only looking into getting a 95-99, not the gen before that. I just cant get into the styling of the 90-94's. Hit me back, Thanks.



If there is a thread about this kinda stuff on here, I missed it. Direct me to it if you know of one.

[defiancy]

Originally Posted by Blitz_Runner

Ok guys and gals. I searched and couldnt find what I was looking for on here, so heres the Q. I drive a 93 honda civic, its SLOW! 1.5L 4cyl. Its reliable but not fast, or crazy fun to drive. I want to buy a 95-99 Eclipse bad. Are they worth it? I love the styling and performance of that gen (even with the posibility of getting crankwalk) and I need some info on what DSM owners say themselves. I hear people say Eclipses are fun for a while but they die quickly, and that they are unreliable. I have also heard that the reason for that is because alot of eclipse drivers beat the living shit out of their rides. What do you guys think? If you take care of a eclipse will it last? Do you constantly have your ride on jack-stands? Another question is about the "cheap tuning" of DSM. Are they really easier/cheaper to make quick compared to Hondas and Toyotas? B series and K series of Honda engines can be tuned very fast but its so pricy! I just need some feedback on this kinda stuff. I'm not trying to diss DSM's in any way or form, I just need a ride to last me about 5 years or so and not poop out on me. Alot of people say that DSM's kinda come ready for boost straight from the factory, how true is that? Do the internals hold up that well under boost? Sorry if I'm asking to many questions lol, I just need to finaly decide if I'm going to become a dimond star dude or stick with the H. I have never driven a Eclipse so I dont know how well they perform. Thanks for any info you can give me, I am only looking into getting a 95-99, not the gen before that. I just cant get into the styling of the 90-94's. Hit me back, Thanks.



If there is a thread about this kinda stuff on here, I missed it. Direct me to it if you know of one.

Well first off. DSM's are like any other car, if you beat the shit out of them you are going to have problems. But I have had my car for almost a year and I have never had one major problem other than the compressor crapping out on me. Other than that it runs great and it has 94k miles on it. Mine is pretty modified so it runs great for what it is much faster than most any hondas I run into. Bottom line, if you baby it, it's going to last, but if you beat the crap out of it, you can have a lot of fun and have problems but fix them and just have more fun.

The GS-T and GSX's come stock with a turbo from the factory, So they are already boosting stock. A GS-t Is a front wheel drive vehicle while a GSX is a all wheel drive vehicle. Most people will recommend that you go with a GSX as I will. They are a little pricier than the GS-T but well worth it.

The internals on a 95-99 are good for about 400hp which on a DSM is quite an impressive range. And very capable of being a low 12 high 11 second car. DSMs are also very very cheap to mod in my experience. Most of the mods you need to start with you can make from home depot if that tells you something. But the aftermarket selection is very big and diverse.

Your best bet is to find a GSX or if you can't a GS-T and test drive it. I guarantee that it'll just take one drive of the car under boost and you'll love it. Now my recommendation is keep your honda as a daily driver and your dsm as your project. It'll cut down on dsm maintenance.

I think I got everything there, so if I didn't just ask.
I

[david-b]

Car will always be on jackstands... not so much of work that needs to be put in, but because of the work and time you WANT to put in. Fun cars to drive, even the N/Ts are fun. They are faster than a civic, and can easily get passed civic SI's. Go with a turbo though, if you're looking for speed.

They're inexpensive, smooth, aggressive, and a sexy beast. Very fun and worth while.

[Shpyder]

I highly reccommend buying a 2G eclipse with a 6-bolt swap already done. There are tons for sale on DSMTuners. The 4g63 engine is one of the strongest i-4s ever produced. It can handle boost and hp that its competition can't touch, right out of the box. So yes, it's a bad ass motor. KEEP your Honda as a daily driver. Get the eclipse to have some fun. Just 2 cents from my experience.

[defiancy]

Originally Posted by Shpyder

I highly reccommend buying a 2G eclipse with a 6-bolt swap already done. There are tons for sale on DSMTuners. The 4g63 engine is one of the strongest i-4s ever produced. It can handle boost and hp that its competition can't touch, right out of the box. So yes, it's a bad ass motor. KEEP your Honda as a daily driver. Get the eclipse to have some fun. Just 2 cents from my experience.

[Gsx_hooptie]

The "Read Before Posting" thread has links to answer all of these questions. 1000aaq would be your best bet.

DSMs are cheap fun.

Cheap: Interior panels fall off, your window falls off its track, your door locks go out, your door handle falls off, your factory alarm malfunctions, the hatch struts die, the antenna never descends... and so on. Notice that none of that is under the hood work. You either live with it, or learn to fix small crap that goes wrong in a jiffy.

My car spent more time on jacks that on the road, but that was by choice. It's not just a car, it's an addictive hobby. My car hit the garage by necessity rather than choice only twice. Once because of the dealer, once because my tranny needed work.

CW is overrated. Just ask Shpyder.

Fun: Early mods are cheap. Strong internals. 2k worth of mods in the right hands sends a gsx to 12s.

[Black97GST]

All of these threads should answer your question. So go out and get one! and YES lol you can make a turbo Eclipse blow the doors off of a Civic (from the factory) with a lot less money than you would spend trying to make a Civic blow an Eclipse turbo away. Bottom line: They are DEFFINANTLY worth it.

Edit: Once the Eclipse is modded, you won't even care about some of the stupid Honda ricers (not all, but most) or caviliers or sunfires ect..... anymore. Instead you will be looking forward to catching a light with an EVO or WRX ect....

[EDMUND65]

im selling my 92 n/t if interested lol

[l_eclipse_l]

Test drive one and your questions will be answered. You will want one from the time you sit down. Do maintenance and treat it like it's worth a million dollars, and your problems will be limited. I know it was already mentioned, but the 2g turbo eclipse is a bad ass car. The N/T leaves you wanting a little more in the power category, but it just looks so damn good that you won't really care most of the time, unless you pull up to something with a little muscle to it.

I have owned mine for 1 yr 3 months now, and the only problems I have had are a broken door handle and a squeeling belt, that dosn't seem to go away, so I deal with it. That and the fact that people tend to like to fuck around with your car because it looks so damn sexy...but thats another story for another day. (clenches fist in rage).

[Nayr747]

Originally Posted by Gsx_hooptie

Cheap: Interior panels fall off, your window falls off its track, your door locks go out, your door handle falls off, your factory alarm malfunctions, the hatch struts die, the antenna never descends... and so on. Notice that none of that is under the hood work. You either live with it, or learn to fix small crap that goes wrong in a jiffy.

I don't think it's fair to say that's true of all DSMs. Everything you mentioned works perfectly on mine. Although who knows when it gets up in the miles.

DSMs are known for cheap speed because they have an iron block and are already set up for a turbo, stock. So 400 hp in a DSM requires none of the internal$, $4000 turbo kit, etc that other cars would require. Some people spend less than $1000 and run 12s.

Is it worth it? Well I was at a stop light and needed to merge right after the light. It turned green and the Miata next to me went. I have never launched my car before but I decided to try real quick and get ahead of him. I got into second and started to merge. I thought "hey, I got in front of him pretty quick." Then I looked in my rear view mirror. He was WAY back. DAMN!

[gthompson97]

i agree with Nayr...everything you listed as not working works perfectly fine on my car. i replaced the hatch struts ONE time because they were starting to get weak, but the hatches aren't exacly real light, especially if you have one of the spoilers too. and for like what...$12 each and 5 minutes of work you'll no longer have that hitting your head. plus mine were 8 years old, things wear out after awhile.

and the blocks have been proven to hold over 500hp on stock internals.

[ShortyDTP]

Everybody forgot how the 2nd gens will get you pussy!!! Ladies Love the 2nd gen!!

[Blitz_Runner]

Hey thanks guys, that helps alot! I know now that I MUST get one lol. If I can't aford a GSX or even a GS-T I was thinking of getting a GS and turbo'ing it. I dont know if I can afford the insurance on a turbo model so should I just boost a base model? My friend has a 97 GS with a lot of mods because his dad owns a shop, so maybe I can get him to hook me up. He runs a turbo set-up he got off e-bay and it runs really well/quick. If all I have to spend on a turbo and all the stuff I need to get her running properly is about $1k, should I go for the e-bay stuff? Thanks.

[defiancy]

Originally Posted by Blitz_Runner

Hey thanks guys, that helps alot! I know now that I MUST get one lol. If I can't aford a GSX or even a GS-T I was thinking of getting a GS and turbo'ing it. I dont know if I can afford the insurance on a turbo model so should I just boost a base model? My friend has a 97 GS with a lot of mods because his dad owns a shop, so maybe I can get him to hook me up. He runs a turbo set-up he got off e-bay and it runs really well/quick. If all I have to spend on a turbo and all the stuff I need to get her running properly is about $1k, should I go for the e-bay stuff? Thanks.

Don't bother with turboing a GS. You can find a turbo model for the same price as what you would put into that gs to turbo it and then some. Also there is way more potential with the GS-T and GSX models. You have to remember that the gs/rs have different engines than a GS-T/X so whatever you do to the gs will be no where near as good as a gs-t/x. Also insurance isn't to bad. Especially if you just have liability. I think my full coverage on my gs-t is like 100 bucks a month or something.

[Blitz_Runner]

Ok, thanks. That pretty much narrows down my search for the car then If I wanted to make more power with the GS-T/X would I be able to replace the stock turbo with a bigger one and change the set-up to have a BOV instead of running the exhaust back into the system and doing some other minor changes like that? Or would I need to change alot more and get a whole setup with the controlers and all that jazz. Sorry, I dont know much about factory turbo'd cars. >_<