New to N/T 2.0 -- a few questions and comments

[91Bomb]

Just bought a '92 eclipse a/t 2.0 N/T -- had a '91 talon fwd turbo a/t for the previous 8 yrs until the engine caught fire 3 mths ago.

Did a compression test on the new car: 188, 190, 195, 180. Pretty good for a 147,000 mi car.

I was surprised to see an eco/power mode for the trans -- I thought that was only used on turbo models

I looked under the car and it appears to have 2 cat convertors Was I seeing things or what? My '91 only had one. (WRX uses 3 : )

I noticed that the steering wheel is not as meaty as the one on my old turbo 1g -- is that a talon thing or a turbo thing? Anyhow, I plan on swapping in my old one soon.

I WAS looking for another 1g turbo fwd a/t but nothing came along that was worth buying so I decided to get a n/t and save some money in the process. Epa fuel mileage for a 1g fwd turbo a/t is only 19/23 vs 23/29 for the n/t and of course the n/t runs on regular gas

I don't plan on modding at all and am going to try and drive more civilzed than I used to.

My impressions after driving the n/t for 2 days is mixed. Part of me wishes I had gotten my turbo motor rebuilt 6 mths back. I would've gotten the 2g 8.5:1 pistons, boost gauge, egt, datalogger, new tires and struts and would've been running pretty strong. The other part of me is glad to be back in the old familiar cockpit of the 1g and not having to stress about turbo warm-up and cool down, monitoring gauges and logs, and generally obsessing whether the car is STILL running at 100% before, during, and after pushing the car at or near its limits on a daily basis. (I guess that kind of worry is much less if you have deep pockets which I don't) I'm going to just try and drive like a sane person for now and enjoy the improved gas mileage and not have to be constantly worried about breaking things from stressing out the car from racing around all the time. That is the up side of the n/t for me right now. Maybe down the road I'll get back into the performance game again with another 1g turbo or a WRX or something but right now having things more simple doesn't feel that bad either. Oh yeah, I was without a car for the last 3 mths while looking for that turbo a/t so it feels good to be back on the road again

 

[ClevSilverEclip]

Congrats bro! The N/Ts are great economy cars - filling up on regular is just great for the wallet.

They're also pretty fun if you like to swing them around a bit because they're decently light (although by no means kart-ish like earlier Hondas/Acuras), see if you can't locate a decent set of aftermarket 17x7 rims and pop on a set of 225s, the difference in unsprung weight plus the added traction will definitely be noticeable when you toss her around. AS you're concerned about economy, I wouldn't worry too much on the weight issue or even bother getting new rims, something used but in good shape will do you just fine.

Just remember that they're not straight-line machines unless you can build up a good bit of steam with a long, long run. Also, as you're coming from an AWD, be aware that your braking distance will differ a bit, too, despite the weight advantage you enjoy currently.

Can't help you with the "Pwr/Econ" issue, as I've only owned a stick-shift 1Gb, but yes, the difference in steering wheel rim diameter is definitely an upper trim level vs. lower trim level thing. Lacing on a ring of leather will work wonders, but seeing how simple it is to replace the steering wheel in a 1G, you might just want to look into some more affordable aftermarket steering wheel options. a 350mm overall diameter wheel with thicker rims will simply feel great.

What you're seeing on the piping should be resonnators. I am fairly certain that 1Gas and bs should have only one cat.

Enjoy!

-A

 

[91Bomb]

Yeah, not as KARTish as the civics but personally I don't like cars that small and light anyhow. My father owned a '96 civic EX and I just never liked it as a driver or pasenger. I still have my '91 Talon TSI fwd a/t so I'll probably wind up swapping steering wheels. Possibly I could swap the springs too for better handling (would that be a major PITA to do?)

Right now I'm having trouble with the car being VERY sluggish and above 3K rpm it doesn't want to accelerate much at all -- I strongly suspect the cat convertor is to blame so I'm going to remove it and see if that's the problem. I'll report back on that once I get around to removing it.

If I swap the steering wheel, springs, and add 5hp from the cat removal I think I would like this car much better.

BUT, I had my TSI for 8yrs before the engine compartment went up in flames and it's been a bigger loss to me than I would've ever imagined! I guess the fact that I had it for so long coupled with the fact that I really enjoyed it so much is why I miss it so much. -- I think I'm going to keep my eyes open for another 1g turbo fwd a/t and if the right one comes along (engine condition, color, interior) maybe I'll buy it. I kind of wish I would've gotten the engine rebuilt 6 mths ago when I still had the chance to do so. Oh well, at least there's still plenty of 1g's out there with turbo's and a/t's so sooner or later there should be one available if I decide to go that route.