GSX? The 11 second dilemma

[infernal]

I just recently did my inspections on my gsx. Great condition especially for its age. It's a 98 and looks like its been lady driven through a gravel pit. Few dents here and there, nothing insane... no love stains. I'm happy with my car, but its slow as dog shit. Time for mods I thought, so I crack out the compression tester and score a 165 across the deck; beer time.

I live in Alberta... Western Canada before you ask, and I keep being slammed with the "dsm's are cheap crap" talk that generally goes around. I just sat down with the service manager of my local misu dealership and essentially is trying to convince me to ditch the GSX and go straight to a stage 3 srt... Hate the look, how the hell do you pick women up in that?

He's owned 2 talons and an eclipse and essentially said if my goal is to run in the high 11's with slicks and race gas, I better have a second job to pay for the parts that constantly break. Ive been advised if that's my goal, to look into the SRT as it's a reliable daily driver. Again, ugly as sin car... but it's the ¼ and reaction times on the slips that matter gentlemen, not the fact that its an ugly neon.

I'm curious what to expect to break on this car? I'm very new to the DSM world and haven't had any major breakdowns.... Yet. At what point am I going to regret this car? Can I put her into the high 11's (11.8, 11.9) without having the major drive train issues I keep hearing horror stories about?

I have about 10 grand to put into this thing right away. Have planned for a turbo upgrade, suspension mods... but what scares me is the tranny, axles and difs. Is this car built for this sort of job, run after run or am I going to be forced into an ugly ass neon to get the job done?


Please note im not really interested in dropping 6 grand on a new transmission and god knows what else just to get the platform stable. I'm looking for the brutal and honest, will the car take the abuse I'm about to put into it... I know I know, you have to pay to be fast. But there's a point where its just financial suicide without deep pocket sponsors. I know the SRT platform IS stable with a stage3... and DOES consistantly run high-mid 11's on race gas with few repair bills. The guy that runs his did 250+ pulls last summer and the beat purrs like a kitten.

I'm using the SRT as an example... It just smells too good to be true. If there's another platform for the job, what is it? Gen 1 DSM AWD? I need to feel confident in this car as a daily driver AND a track car... I seek the impossible...

Thanks for the replies in advance...

 

[1g_tsi_awd]

"Cheap, reliable, and fast... Pick two because you can never have all three."

You can get a rebuild for like 1k, high 11'2 aren't that hard to achieve. It will cost money, but any car will. Many many people do it with DSMs...

 

[JohnCIV_Talon]

I would just buy stage 3, and it costs no where near 6k. It holds 600hp which is faster the 11's. sheptrans.com.

 

[EclipseTrbo420A]

Cheap Reliable Fast --- You can pick two of them.

Upgrade the tranny and PM a guy named super95awd hes gone 10's in his 99 gsx

 

[Talesin]

Read the tech articles, and the upgrade paths. Focus on hitting a 12-second quarter before you look to hit 11s. Research, read about others' setups, and look at how they got there.

Just remember, an SRT-4 is just a 2G N/A (420A, still FWD) with a turbo setup slapped on. Hitting an 11 in an SRT-4 isn't as cheap as your service guy is making it out to be, and yes, they'll still break parts. Any kind of car starts to break parts when you dramatically exceed the stock designed output.
And a new tranny wouldn't run you six grand. Hell, take a look at the stuff Shepherd puts out (www.sheptrans.com). With all the bells and whistles, a Stage 4 *new* tranny (no core) from him will run just under four grand.

I'd stick with the GSX. You're going to hit a plateau where the AWD will become more a drain than the initial launch is worth, but the only way to get past that is to swap to RWD... which isn't worth the cost, time, and complication involved.
Besides. Given that a GSX is the second four-banger to run a seven second quarter mile, and the first four banger AWD... there's gotta be some real potential there that's missing from the SRT.

 

[1993eclipseGS]

I have a fully built srt4, I don't even want it. I just bought it new 6 months ago and built it, And wasted a ton of money. I'd rather put all that extra money from buying a new car into your GSX. Were you ever in a fully built fwd car? I was, Mine. I could blow the tires off at 120 rolls on a basemap and 15psi. It's fun for a few minutes. I parted mine back out after 2hrs and now it sits in my garage with the engine back on the stand, and I drive my gsx.


You don't need slicks on an AWD to run 11's, And you don't need a second job, Unless you're working for $5.00 an hour or something ridiculous.

 

[1993eclipseGS]

Just remember, an SRT-4 is just a 2G N/A (420A, still FWD) with a turbo setup slapped on. Hitting an 11 in an SRT-4 isn't as cheap as your service guy is making it out to be.

Bone stock srt4 engines have been proven to handle OVER 520whp already on a bone stock block. Guys are actually running pretty fast times for cheap, Unless they are like half the idiots that own one and don't know anything about a car, Or how to drive. All you need is slicks, And a few minormods to go fast. I went 13.5 the day after I got mine before I built it, Bone stock. Which is slow, But not for bone-stock.

 

[Warharan]

Think of it this way. There is a reason why MB, BMW, Porsche, and Ferrari don't make FWD cars. Especially performance cars. Leave the FWD car for a gas saver economy car, not for a race car.

 

[nightspeed87]

I just recently did my inspections on my gsx. Great condition especially for its age. It's a 98 and looks like its been lady driven through a gravel pit. Few dents here and there, nothing insane... no love stains. I'm happy with my car, but its slow as dog shit. Time for mods I thought, so I crack out the compression tester and score a 165 across the deck; beer time.

I live in Alberta... Western Canada before you ask, and I keep being slammed with the "dsm's are cheap crap" talk that generally goes around. I just sat down with the service manager of my local misu dealership and essentially is trying to convince me to ditch the GSX and go straight to a stage 3 srt... Hate the look, how the hell do you pick women up in that?

He's owned 2 talons and an eclipse and essentially said if my goal is to run in the high 11's with slicks and race gas, I better have a second job to pay for the parts that constantly break. Ive been advised if that's my goal, to look into the SRT as it's a reliable daily driver. Again, ugly as sin car... but it's the ¼ and reaction times on the slips that matter gentlemen, not the fact that its an ugly neon.

I'm curious what to expect to break on this car? I'm very new to the DSM world and haven't had any major breakdowns.... Yet. At what point am I going to regret this car? Can I put her into the high 11's (11.8, 11.9) without having the major drive train issues I keep hearing horror stories about?

I have about 10 grand to put into this thing right away. Have planned for a turbo upgrade, suspension mods... but what scares me is the tranny, axles and difs. Is this car built for this sort of job, run after run or am I going to be forced into an ugly ass neon to get the job done?


Please note im not really interested in dropping 6 grand on a new transmission and god knows what else just to get the platform stable. I'm looking for the brutal and honest, will the car take the abuse I'm about to put into it... I know I know, you have to pay to be fast. But there's a point where its just financial suicide without deep pocket sponsors. I know the SRT platform IS stable with a stage3... and DOES consistantly run high-mid 11's on race gas with few repair bills. The guy that runs his did 250+ pulls last summer and the beat purrs like a kitten.

I'm using the SRT as an example... It just smells too good to be true. If there's another platform for the job, what is it? Gen 1 DSM AWD? I need to feel confident in this car as a daily driver AND a track car... I seek the impossible...

Thanks for the replies in advance...

If i had ten grand to dump on a 2g id do the tranny from shephard like mentioned earylier and then id do the suspension so it will be solid, and that should only be another grand max for everything ( struts, motormounts, bushings, shocks) so that should only be like 4k spent right there supposing you were doing it right... Then lets say a big turbo upgrade, fmic + pipeing, dsm link, full exhaust from manifold back, intake system, bov and mbc, cams pistons and rods, race tires and rims, and say some nice gauges and logging soft ware and that should finish off that ten grand but just with that you should be able to pump out over 500whp with a nice tune on just the stuff I mentioned ( and put it down reliably. ) On top of that with excellent driving and launching techniques and a ton of weight reduction you could be in the tens.
Yours probably feels slow to you stock because a 2g gsx is heavy as shit, id think it would initially be a little easier to run faster times on a 1g if the suspension was set up right.

But honestly it doesnt take that much to make these cars go fast ( even for the fwds )
I mean my friends 1g awd laser hit like 12.1s on a 14b ( stock turbo ) and broke to like 11.9 i believe with the 16g. And he doesnt have very many mods, just good driving and a good tune...

I have a fully built srt4, I don't even want it. I just bought it new 6 months ago and built it, And wasted a ton of money. I'd rather put all that extra money from buying a new car into your GSX. Were you ever in a fully built fwd car? I was, Mine. I could blow the tires off at 120 rolls on a basemap and 15psi. It's fun for a few minutes. I parted mine back out after 2hrs and now it sits in my garage with the engine back on the stand, and I drive my gsx.

Srt-4s have a 2.4 power and torque band on fwd thats worse than going 2.3 stroker on a fwd dsm IMO.

 

[turbo90gsx]

10,000 dollars is alot of money to play with. I would say a 6 bolt with a 50trim, cams, suporting mods, and a good transmission and clutch would get you to your goal.

 

[1993eclipseGS]

I hit 30psi in my srt4 on a Holset HX40, At 3500rpms, If that. Those motors spooled up a big turbo, FAST.

 

[nightspeed87]

I hit 30psi in my srt4 on a Holset HX40, At 3500rpms, If that. Those motors spooled up a big turbo, FAST.

Exactly my point...

If those cars were a little lighter/smaller, with awd and a higher rpm peak id say it would be pretty potent.

 

[JohnCIV_Talon]

It would pretty much be a evo.

 

[nightspeed87]

It would pretty much be a evo.

Well sort of, more like a 2.4 evo.
But then again I think the evo would still be better suspension/chasis wise.

 

[tkelly27]

You could just as easily get a Cobra, LS1, or an EVO into the 11's as an SRT-4 (especially with $10k to mod it!). More easily in fact, and then your ride won't look like a skittle.

With $10k to play with, you're going to have a hell of a DSM. However, nobody can give you a warrentee with your 11 second car. If you want that, you'll have to get a ZO6

There are DSM'ers who are in the 12's with stock turbos, stock everything. They abuse them, and they ask for more. There are also DSMers with $50,000 rides that break every time they go out to the track. It's all in how you've set your car up, if you know what you are doing, and sometimes, a little bit of magic...

 

[LordZed]

You could just as easily get a Cobra, LS1, or an EVO into the 11's as an SRT-4 (especially with $10k to mod it!). More easily in fact, and then your ride won't look like a skittle.

With $10k to play with, you're going to have a hell of a DSM. However, nobody can give you a warrentee with your 11 second car. If you want that, you'll have to get a ZO6

There are DSM'ers who are in the 12's with stock turbos, stock everything. They abuse them, and they ask for more. There are also DSMers with $50,000 rides that break every time they go out to the track. It's all in how you've set your car up, if you know what you are doing, and sometimes, a little bit of magic...

Exactly! It's totaly capable of running 12's all day long. Just a good tune and the right parts make all the difference. Don't buy a damn Neon. I mean come on! I'd rather see you go out and buy a used 02 Z06 for the same price than drive a Neon. DSM's can be great if you do it right the first time and pay attention to everything. With 10K, you should be able to preform some pretty hot 1/4 passes without to many issues.

 

[JohnCIV_Talon]

Alot of times are in the driving also. You see some guy running 12.7 with a 2.2 60" and then theres guys with way less power running 12.7's on a 1.7 60.