Brand Spankin new

[Nautilus]

Alright well... I'm gonna be honest, I have ZERO experience with DSM's ... coming from mostly american muscle style motors and trucks... aka current ride 2005 Dodge Ram 5.7L HEMI.

All I heard for about a year was how much my buddies DSM broke down, but of course that could just be that he's retarded and cant do upkeep... but are they really that bad?

I want to get into a new style of car, an import with power... I was looking at other cars such as evo's and Lancer Ralliarts, but I'm not a huge fan of the Ralliart and the EVO is still to much to buy (on my budget anyway)

I am looking at a 97 GST Eclipse, if anyone could give me some insight as to how long it will run and how much power I could expect from one it would be awesome. I will be using it as a daily driver most likely ... dang gas prices eat my truck alive, so any of you crazy DSMers let me know how that works out would be awesome.

Of course I will change the oil, change the belts hoses and plugs, and get it checked out head to toe by a "professional" (Meaning I dont get paid for it, so I'll leave it on them if they screw something up)

So...

1. Whats the life on one of these bad boys, (round 75k miles already on it)

2. Whats the maintinence on it like (how often will I be working on it/putting it into the shop because I dont have the garage to pull an engine, )

3. What kinda power can I expect completely stock... (I will be putting a new CAI, UDP(if applicable) etc etc.

And last but not least, anyone know a site that pretty much specilizes in DSM/Eclipse mods, that I can take a look at. Kinda like RRM does for EVO's if any of you know about that.

Thanks for reading my very painfully newb ramblings, and thanks again for any help.

Kevin

 

[silver bullit]

Alright well... I'm gonna be honest, I have ZERO experience with DSM's ... coming from mostly american muscle style motors and trucks... aka current ride 2005 Dodge Ram 5.7L HEMI.

All I heard for about a year was how much my buddies DSM broke down, but of course that could just be that he's retarded and cant do upkeep... but are they really that bad?

I want to get into a new style of car, an import with power... I was looking at other cars such as evo's and Lancer Ralliarts, but I'm not a huge fan of the Ralliart and the EVO is still to much to buy (on my budget anyway)

I am looking at a 97 GST Eclipse, if anyone could give me some insight as to how long it will run and how much power I could expect from one it would be awesome.

Of course I will change the oil, change the belts hoses and plugs, and get it checked out head to toe by a "professional" (Meaning I dont get paid for it, so I'll leave it on them if they screw something up)

So...

1. Whats the life on one of these bad boys, (round 75k miles already on it)

2. Whats the maintinence on it like (how often will I be working on it/putting it into the shop because I dont have the garage to pull an engine, )

3. What kinda power can I expect completely stock... (I will be putting a new CAI, UDP(if applicable) etc etc.

And last but not least, anyone know a site that pretty much specilizes in DSM/Eclipse mods, that I can take a look at. Kinda like RRM does for EVO's if any of you know about that.

Thanks for reading my very painfully newb ramblings, and thanks again for any help.

Kevin

1 Depends on the condition and how well it was taking car of
2 see #1
3 stock or 1000, depends on your goals.
4 check the vendors on here.

 

[91 Turbo Mitsu]

#1 Gotta agree with silver bullit. It all depends on how well it has been cared for. I have a 91 GST with 180,000 miles on it and still runs good. If someone had it and tinkered with it without the proper knowledge it could blow up by 80,000 miles.
#2 Maintenance is like any other vehicle. Right out of the gate I recommend a new timing belt&balance shaft belt immediately to prevent valve damage.

Tell the owner you want to take it to your mechanic and have it checked before you purchase it. Have the garage do a compression test and cylinder leak down test and that will give you an idea about the condition of the motor.
#3 I think stock power output is like 170???. If you have enough money you can build a motor that puts out 8 or 900 horsepower. Theres an old boy in Bethel,Maine with a rwd converted drag car that put out 894 to the rear tires with the little old 4 cylinder. So you are only limited by money.An easy upgrade is to run a 14b turbo from a 90-94 Eclipse turbo w/ a 5 speed. It makes more power than the t-25 on the car.
#4 As silver bullit said check here. This website is a cornicopia of info on our cars and great vendors. Good luck and I hope this helps you. Travis

 

[spyder97gs]

If you keep your timing belt components up to date and don't beat on the car all the time, you will get ALOT of use out of it.

 

[DSM4me44]

The less modifications you and the easier you are on the car, the longer it will last. Basic maintence helps too. More horsepower equals shorter life. This applys to every car.

Prepare yourself by buying a manual of some sort (Hayne's, etc) and be able to use the search function here on DSMtuners and you should be ok.

 

[oldman420]

All I've realized about owning a DSM is that once you start upgrading it's a neverending story. If you intend on keeping it a fairly stock DD, with some ok power, it's like any other car. Except you have to replace your t-belt every 40 000km

 

[Joe-GSX]

DSMs are a lot of fun. The problems start when you start moddin' them.. If you take care of it it will take care of you though. By the way, I'd have to say this website is the best DSM site out there. Like others have said, use the search option. You'll learn to love it!

 

[knochgoon24]

1. Whats the life on one of these bad boys, (round 75k miles already on it)

Well, my car has 208,xxx miles right now. The previous owner was neglected to ever change the timing belt. Finally, after 161,xxx miles, it broke on him. Otherwise, my car would probably still have the original motor.

2. Whats the maintinence on it like (how often will I be working on it/putting it into the shop because I dont have the garage to pull an engine, )

I'm at college and don't have a garage at home either. Any maintance I have had to do has been done either in a parking lot or in my gravel driveway at home. Every once in a while, you might hit a major problem (like all 10 year old used cars, especially forced induction). Make friends with someone who has a garage because all but the most serious repairs can be done in a day.

 

[Nautilus]

So what kind of problems would I Run into modding it? Is it worse than any other car? Say you add 50hp... is it jacked or is it just a misconception, or are yall saying its easy to do it wrong...

 

[jking29]

Read this first: Tech Guide: 2G 4G63t Upgrades - DSMtuners This will tell you all you need to get started. As far as reliability, as long as you do proper maintenance on the car dsm's can be fairly reliable. Just like any car that is modded, you reach a point where reliability is sacrificed for power, but IMO a 300 whp dsm can be just as reliable as a stocker if modded correctly.