91 Talon TSi AWD

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baby_evo submitted a new DSM Profile :

91 Talon TSi AWD

Read more about this vehicle here...

 

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After searching for about eight years, I finally found my unicorn: an unmolested 1991 Talon TSi AWD. These are the pictures from the ad I responded to. The seller said he got 100+ hits on the car -- I happened to live 30 minutes away and was ready with cash in-hand, so I won

The car was in generally good shape: rust-free and running. It was missing carpet on the driver's side and was sorely in need of a paint job but beyond that I couldn't see (or hear) any obvious problems.

 

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After driving the Talon home for the first time, I got a text from the previous owner saying: "Now you've officially driven it more than I have!" I'd known it was a garage queen but I figured he'd at least taken it out once in a blue moon. Guess not!

The next morning I was excited to play around with it, but, in true-to-form DSM fashion: it wouldn't start. The battery seemed okay so after some poking (read: banging) around I figured the starter had died, so I ordered a new one. In the meantime, I decided to attack the carpets, which were thoroughly nasty. I'd also ordered a new shift knob because the stock one is hilariously phallic.



Upon removing the seats to examine the carpet, I found a bunch of change, fingernail clippings,and a spare windshield wiper(???).

 

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The carpets were completely unsalvageable, as you can see by the pictures above, so I decided to rip it out and replace it with black carpet. Eventually I'd love to do a full interior color swap (I much prefer the gray/black to the tan/brown scheme) but that's fairly low on my list of priorities.



Underneath the carpet was straight-up dirt and moss. MOSS. It looks like there had been some water damage on the front driver's side. It took me three solid scrub-downs and an entire roll of paper towels to cut through the layers of caked-on gunk.



Taking apart the center console was a fun new adventure (oh, by the way, I've never taken apart a car before) and luckily not too complicated. Now that the old carpets were out, the floors were clean, and everything else was out of the way, I could start installing my new carpet.



In the meantime, I replaced my starter and was super excited to have my car running again.



Except it didn't. Damnit.

Thankfully, I'm fortunate enough to have some extremely knowledgeable friends who suggested disconnecting the clutch safety switch, and therein I found the problem: there's ordinarily a small piece of plastic that engages the switch, preventing the car from being turned on without depressing the clutch pedal. That little piece was missing. I theorize that it fell out the first time I drove it. By disconnecting the switch altogether, the safety mechanism was removed and now my car can start without pressing down any pedals! Let's call it a feature, not a glitch.

So that means the new starter wasn't really necessary. Oh well. But hey, always good to have new parts, and I also got elbows-deep under the hood and was able to get cozy with an unfamiliar engine.

 

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While pulling out the back seat, a couple of random sockets fell out of the seatbelt holes, including a 10mm. I'm choosing to believe it was a gift from the DSM gods.



I also found a secret compartment in the armrest that contained a surprise: condoms that expired in 2003. Props to the previous owner for being safe!



Laying in the new carpet was tricky but the one I bought from RockAuto was pre-molded so that made it easier. Still, we had to cut all the necessary holes and trim the edges down.



It took a few hours and a lot of work, but after clipping it in and reinstalling the center console piece, the carpet started to look pretty good.



While I was working the carpets, I got up close and personal with the doors and decided I needed to do something about those too: the carpet on them was still beige (and stained), the plastic/vinyl was scratched af, and there were rust stains on the speakers. So my plan is to dye the carpet and spraypaint the vinyl black. I also plan to spraypaint the armrest (which is currently dark brown). Eventually I'd like to do the entire dash black but again: priorities. My wonderful husband (who's been my #1 enabler throughout this process) kindly took it upon himself to order me some new speakers since the old ones were beyond repair.



Next steps: finish up with the new carpet, dye the old carpet/vinyl components, get the seats back in, and finally drive this thing! It's officially registered at the DMV (accidentally typed "DSM" first, hah) so it's ready for the street. I anticipate a whole new set of problems cropping up as soon as it's out and about, but we'll cross that bridge when we get to it.

Other exciting plans coming down the pike: coilovers c/o RedShift Motorsports! Cannot wait to get those on. I've also started researching exhausts and intakes (very open to suggestions -- this is all new to me).

I've been (playfully) teased for wanting to turn a 1G into an autocrosser, but I'm a believer. Maybe it won't be nationally competitive but with a few tweaks I have faith that it will be a blast on course.

 

[pat white]

by the looks of the doors and floor u got urself an awesome car there ..congrats!

 

[baby_evo]

Oh man, there's so much to write in this update! So many exciting developments with this car.

Last season, I took the Talon to an autocross school event where I was instructing. For funsies, I decided to take it out on an instructor run, just to see how bad it was.

The brakes were awful and the steering was wonky, but holy cow it was fun as hell out on the course. That was the first time I'd driven it in anger and I immediately saw the potential. After that, I started bringing it to autocross events as a competition vehicle, using my Civic's beat-to-shit take-off tires from the previous season (conveniently, the wheels are interchangeable).

Up to that point, the only work we'd done on it was maintenance/restorative. We'd replaced the timing belt, spark plugs, etc., just basic stuff to keep it happy, but no fun or go-fast mods. The exception to that was that we'd installed new Redshift BC coilovers because the original shocks were fubar'd. The BCs have a 12/10 spring rate so the car was plenty stiff after that. As an aside, the owner of Redshift, Chris Shenefield, is the suspension GOAT. He's worked with DSMs before and if you need coilovers, he should be your go-to.

The brakes were extremely sketchy for my first few events -- I had to stand on them using my full body weight, at which point the car would lock up and in many cases run right through a wall of cones. We replaced the master cylinder and brake booster, and added some grippier pads, which completely fixed the issue. The power steering was also extremely choppy and inconsistent, so we replaced the power steering pump and flushed the lines. The issue wasn't completely resolved after that, but it became much more manageable.

I spent the 2024 season racing in STH primarily against two main competitors, both good drivers in 300-400hp GTIs. At a handful of events I managed to beat one or both of them, and ended up 3rd in class for the season right behind them. That was confidence-inspiring because my car was on ancient tires and had had the aforementioned issues for most of the season. It also had no engine mods at all and was running with stock power and boost. And it was able to mostly keep pace with properly prepped GTIs!

My build plans really kickstarted at the end of the season, after one of my competitors put down a flyer on his last run. He beat me by 2/10ths of a second after I'd been faster than him in all of my previous runs. I'd had my hopes up and I don't care for losing, so I decided at that point that it was time to get serious and start building the Talon to its fullest potential.

"This isn't even my final form." - My Talon, probably.

Many months and hours and dollars later, my Talon is about 90% ready to go for the new season and I can't wait to see what it can do. I'll post the full list of mods in the next thread.

 

[baby_evo]

Oh btw I did eventually finish the interior and I was very pleased with the outcome, if I do say so myself.

 

[baby_evo]

Here's the current list of work done on my Talon (in no particular order):

• Hood props because the hood weighs like 500lbs
• Walbro 255 fuel pump
• Boost control solenoid
• 2.5" intercooler piping
• 3" turboback exhaust with high flow 100-cell catback (I am now the most hated person in my neighborhood)
• 1G BOV lower port mod
• Divorced O2 housing
• Kigley oil pressure regulator
• ECMLink v3
• Redshift BC coilovers
• Shifter bushings
• Torque Solutions motor mounts
• 225/45/17 Vitour P1 tires
• Evo 9 Enkei wheels (stolen from my husband's Evo -- thanks, honey!)
• Brake master cylinder and brake booster
• New OE-fit rotors and calipers
• Hawk HPS street brake pads
• Power steering pump
• Basic maintenance stuff: timing belt, water pump, various hoses, spark plugs, etc.

Future plans:

• Tuning/dyno appointment scheduled for 4/9
• New radiator (we ordered this one but it doesn't fit -- going back and forth with Mishimoto to get that resolved)
• Eventually I'm going to paint the car and try to make exterior look pretty; "patina chic" doesn't suit it

 

[baby_evo]

Updated 3/28/26​

Tl;dr:

• 1991 Talon TSi AWD
• Bolt-ons and gentle tune but otherwise stock and unmolested
• 145k
• In excellent mechanical shape, runs and drives great
• Some minor aesthetic/old-car issues
• In Maryland — within easy driving distance to DC, Baltimore, Delaware, Philly area, NJ, NYC, etc.

About this car:
I was incredibly lucky to find this car in 2020 — it was completely stock living in someone’s barn near Newport News, VA. It ran great but needed a bit of TLC, namely the brakes and suspension were completely shot. Oddly enough, though, it ran perfect compression test numbers right off the bat.

I didn’t intend to turn it into an autocross car, but after taking it out for a test run at an instructor event, I realized it was much more capable than I originally thought. We spent winter 2024 prepping it for the 2025 season and I had tons of fun campaigning it.

It’s still mostly still unmolested, just has basic bolt-ons and a gentle tune. 145k miles on the odo. Original engine and turbo.

We recently bought a house and unfortunately we’re needing to downsize a bit, so I’ve decided it’s time to let this project go. (We also live in a neighborhood with an HOA, and the 3” exhaust isn’t making me any friends.)

Build details:

• Hood props
• Walbro 255 fuel pump
• Boost control solenoid
• 2.5" intercooler piping
• 3" turboback exhaust with high flow 100-cell catback
• EFI Specialities tune
• 1G BOV lower port mod
• Mishimoto radiator
• Divorced O2 housing
• Kigley oil pressure regulator
• ECMLink v3
• Redshift BC coilovers
• Shifter bushings
• Torque Solutions motor mounts
• Brake master cylinder and brake booster (note: this is the model with an LSD and no ABS)
• New OE-fit rotors and calipers
• Hawk HPS street brake pads
• Power steering pump
• Basic maintenance stuff like timing belt, water pump, various hoses, spark plugs, etc.

The good:

• Runs and drives great — no issues after two seasons of autocrossing. Drove it 7 hours down to Bristol, TN, and back without a single problem.
• Updated interior. Original seats are in great condition.

The bad:

• Mostly just normal old DSM stuff:
• No AC. The components are there but needs new o-rings, etc.
• The head unit is wonky and the tape deck doesn’t work. I can play music with a BT transmitter but only the front speakers work.
• The rear wiper gasket leaks, which can let rain water into the hatch.
• The driver’s side window occasionally goes off the track.

The ugly:

• The paint is basically just a suggestion.
• Fairly big dent in the front PS fender.
• There is one (~1.5”) patch of rust on the drivers side rear quarter panel.
• Some plastic interior panels have cracks. They’re not super offensive but they’re there.

Parts and extras:

• Head gasket kit and water pump, bought but never needed (will include with car).
• OE 7cm turbine housing, brand new (will include with car).
• CTS-V big brake upgrade, never installed, still in box (asking $400).
• Seat brackets ($100/each).