Does a DSM make a good first car?

[G-Ride]

I'll be turning 16 soon and im eager to do a bit of racing. My brother said i shoudlnt get something too powerful but something i can learn on. So i was wondering wether an eclipse would work out or any other DSM.

 

[Twizzle]

if you dont have a job, or arent willing to pay for repairs more often than a honda/toyota.... then no, this isnt the car for you. if you plan to keep the car stock, you might not have a problem. i hope you dont mean racing on the street....thats not only stupid, but your only 16. race legally!

 

[G-Ride]

if you dont have a job, or arent willing to pay for repairs more often than a honda/toyota.... then no, this isnt the car for you. if you plan to keep the car stock, you might not have a problem. i hope you dont mean racing on the street....thats not only stupid, but your only 16. race legally!

yea im racing legally w/ my brother. If i went illegall he would kill me . What would you recommend then if not a DSM?

 

[DevilSperm]

a n/t dsm is a good first car, not too fast but pretty reliable...although my old 1.8 actually hauled some ass...at least it felt like it

 

[G-Ride]

a n/t dsm is a good first car, not too fast but pretty reliable...although my old 1.8 actually hauled some ass...at least it felt like it

whats n/t mean

 

[NickBsGST]

means Non Turbo


Theres 4 models of eclipses(not including spyders)

RS(1.8) GS(2.0) GST(2.0Turbo FWD) and GSX(2.0Turbo AWD)

oh those are 1g's too

the 2g's are all 2.0 i believe

 

[DevilSperm]

the 2g's are all 2.0 i believe

yeah..and actually my 2g n/t is one of the best cars ive owned...the door locks went out and the starter went out but other than that i have had no problems with it since i bought it...its decently fast (not compared to a turbo) and last week i got 480 miles on 1 tank of gas with the a/c on

 

[G-Ride]

Would i be decent with a n/t ?

 

[Twizzle]

i just remembered something... you cant race until your 17 at any track, and even then you need a parental waiver. youll have a whole year before you can even drive by yourself, an n/t would be fine, you could always sell it and get a turbo when your 17.

 

[Just Nasty]

street racing is more fun but

I say if you're mechanically inclined then find yourself a nice turbo DSM thats stock and in good condition.
If you don't want to go that route then I would look into some 93 or 94 Mustang Cobras or an LS1

 

[kpt4321]

i just remembered something... you cant race until your 17 at any track, and even then you need a parental waiver.

Just because your state or your local track is like this, doesn't mean his is.

My first time ever racing at the track, I ran a 13.5. I was 16 at the time.

 

[kpt4321]

I'll be turning 16 soon and im eager to do a bit of racing. My brother said i shoudlnt get something too powerful but something i can learn on. So i was wondering wether an eclipse would work out or any other DSM.

The main question is if you and your brother are mechanically inclined, and if you have a decent job. You'll need to know what you are doing to work on any higher performance car, like a DSM. You also will need a decent job to pay for the necessary maintainance that comes with buying a used car, and that comes with making more power.

 

[G-Ride]

The main question is if you and your brother are mechanically inclined, and if you have a decent job. You'll need to know what you are doing to work on any higher performance car, like a DSM. You also will need a decent job to pay for the necessary maintainance that comes with buying a used car, and that comes with making more power.

I'll be doing filing at my dads practice. I'm not to sure about the mechanically inclined. I just want to be able to win some races and have fun tinkering with my car.

If not a DSM what car would you recommend?

 

[midnght]

I recommend a nice 1G awd. You will be decent enough to do VERY minimal stuff yourself and still be fast enough to have fun. The AWD is an advantage for you in the weather aswell.


Don't do much to the car and remember the more you do the more likely you are to breaking something. If you do infact, buy a DSM, please read up on here and learn somethings about your car before you just start replacing this and that. You will learn alot by just thinking of a subject and then doing a search on it. Learn from others and you will soon be up to speed.

 

[Twizzle]

just like what midnight stated.. dsmtuners is very valuable.. i think ive learned more on here in a month than i have in 10 years of schooling (haha)... that engine pictorial helped me a number of times and i love the search button, every problem ive faced, has been answered by someone else at some other time in these forums.

 

[DeanCorleone]

Yeah well... I don't know. DSM's are nice, fun cars, but also need alot of work to maintain (as everything else.)... If you don't have a job, don't have that income.. don't get our cars. Maybe a N/T or something - your 16, and already thinking about racing, you can say you want to race legally on the board all you want, but c'mon. Anyways... at 16... your first car - your gonna run it at every light, beat the ish outa it day after day, after day... get a honda or something, something that doesn't have enough power to really even break. I'm not trying to be rude or anything, or rack on a honda, but its stepp'in stones, I started witha 91 Cavi that I bought for 200 bucks, went to a 86 Olds Cuttie Suprme, 94 Nissan Sentra SE-R (...poop) and now my 95 GS-T, Which I've had enough problems with. But thats part of what we do, make stuff break so we can fix it.

As a first car, get a first gen cheap, AWD if ya can' like Chad above me said... good luck.

 

[truECLIPSE]

an eclipse or talon n/t 2gnt is a good first car, you can learn to "master" manual transmission without having to worry about messing something up. Plus they look great and you can always turbo it for great performance

 

[G-Ride]

What years are 2gen talon/eclipse and what do you think is the price range? Should i just read the sticky's in the n/t section to get a general background?

 

[truECLIPSE]

For the eclipse and talon 2 generations are 95-99 for the n/t you could probably get a pretty good deal on it for under 10k in really good condition. read up on the 2gnts n/t so you are sure its right for you

 

[G-Ride]

For the eclipse and talon 2 generations are 95-99 for the n/t you could probably get a pretty good deal on it for under 10k in really good condition. read up on the 2gnts n/t so you are sure its right for you

Thank you very much

 

[oldmopwater]

Get a turbo my first car was a 1g tsi depending on the previous owner you may have problems. But after the first year of maitenence you should be fine.

 

[Talon4ever]

My first car is my Eagle Talon Tsi AWD. I was 16 when I got it and just turned 17. It wasn't running at the time but my father is a mechanic and he rebuilt the whole motor. The timing belt went and bent all the intake valves. Yes these cars do need mechanical knowledge to keep them running. But this is what websites like this one is for, to help people who need it. When my motor was getting rebuilt I read everything I possibly could and found out all the important things to know about my car. That way when the car was running I already knew all about DSMs and what kind of cars they were. I know about the whole street racing thing and I don't do it. With a car with this amount of power you need to know when to use it. I go to the track because if I get caught racing on the street I can say bye-bye to my pride and joy. I think a turbo DSM is the perfect first car because it provides just enough power. Just do you your research and learn all you can about them before you buy one.

 

[iNdo]

i got my 97 RS (first car) in decent condition for $5,000 (including texas) from a dealer. GL www.kbb.com for kelly blue book i think. That will probably help u out some.

 

[Mystic511]

You're posting on a DSM message board so obviously everyone is going to say yea, get a dsm as your first car.

I actually recommend an Acura Integra GSR. It's not too slow, it has great handling capabilities, and it's something that can grow with you as opposed to something you have to master.

You can start off racing naturally aspirated, when that's too slow for you, pop on a turbo kit and run 13's, all while trying to master the fwd launch.

THEN, upgrade to a turbo all wheel drive DSM and you'll appreciate it all alot more.

 

[Twizzle]

....or jump from a '94 100hp civic dx sedan, straight to '90 gsx b16g awd powah! , i regretted it for the first few weeks because i had no idea what i had gotten myself into, but once i read ALOT and researched hours after hours, its really not as hard as you think it is. i dont have any mechanical genes whatsoever, and so far ive done quite alot of work myself with minimal tools. the DSM is very lucky to have such an intelligent and helpful community. i think the biggest problem, as already stated is that for one reason or another... your car WILL be on stands more than you could imagine.