New to 2g dsm cars what to expect?

[TonyB]

well im a newb to the Mitsubishi eclipse, im about to pick 1 up this week hopefully on Thursday if not then a few weeks later. I was wondering what to expect with a 1999 eclipse rs. Im wanting to do a motor swap with forced air induction. the dsm im looking at getting has 103k plus miles on it and im thinking about doing a compression test and all the good stuff... might have to replace some seals to.

I was with a civic team but lost my car to a repo now im getting back in to the tuner life and thought this may be a good upgrade from a civic.

 

[Zdrummer15]

Doing a 4g63t swap into a 420a car is not cost effective at all since the engines mount on opposite sides. If you want the performance of a turbocharged DSM, then just buy a turbo DSM, you'll be much happier in the long run, not mention you can then get awd.

 

[TonyB]

ok thanks for the info. anything else i should be aware of?

 

[brandon1239]

First thing you should get is a good set of tools. And just get a gsx or tsi, its a better way to spend your money than swapping motors

 

[TonyB]

well i got the tools.

for some reason it is hard to find a gsx out here in okc...

 

[dantej]

theres a 96 gsx in ada on craigslist

 

[TonyB]

ill look into it.

 

[Zdrummer15]

It took me awhile to find an awd DSM, but I can tell you it was well worth the wait. If you're lucky enough to find an unmodified one like I did, they are the best to buy as you'll always know exactly what's been done to the car.

 

[TSi Kid]

my first car was a 95 2g NT it was my first car and it was pretty fun.
i sold it and got a 91 tsi awd and it was proboly the best decision i've made
make sure you have money to put into these cars, dsm's aren't cheap the maintain.

 

[TonyB]

right right. thats 1 reason why i like doing motor swaps. you can build and set it just how you want it and not have to figure out some1 else hammy downs.

my first car was a 95 2g NT it was my first car and it was pretty fun.
i sold it and got a 91 tsi awd and it was proboly the best decision i've made
make sure you have money to put into these cars, dsm's aren't cheap the maintain.

so i hear. my friend has a evo8 and damn ive done most of the work on it. just was wondering if eclipse have the same rep.

in just the 4 months he had it i replaced the starter, clutch, fly wheel, did the oil changes, put in new spark plug wires.... and some paint work but thats on another note.

 

[Zdrummer15]

DSMs get a bad rep for being unreliable, but people have to realize they are 11-20 year old cars so some parts are naturally going to wear out just like any other car of that age. The other reason they get that rep is because of the fact that the turbo cars are quick, fun cars. Because of this many people previously beat on them and/or didn't properly maintain them. If you find a DSM running well and perform all the proper maintenance before modding it and continue good maintenance throughout the time you own it, I think you'll find out it the car isn't that unreliable.

 

[JAX2Ganey]

Please don't get a N/T, it is not worth it. I had one and they don't have potential. TSI, TSI AWD, GST, or GSX is the best way to go.

 

[TonyB]

DSMs get a bad rep for being unreliable, but people have to realize they are 11-20 year old cars so some parts are naturally going to wear out just like any other car of that age. The other reason they get that rep is because of the fact that the turbo cars are quick, fun cars. Because of this many people previously beat on them and/or didn't properly maintain them. If you find a DSM running well and perform all the proper maintenance before modding it and continue good maintenance throughout the time you own it, I think you'll find out it the car isn't that unreliable.

right right. well i have no problems with doing maint. just gives me another excuse to toy with my car.

Please don't get a N/T, it is not worth it. I had one and they don't have potential. TSI, TSI AWD, GST, or GSX is the best way to go.

well you guys just changed my mind about the n/t all tho it would be fun to see what kinda numbers i can get out of it. but i did just email some1 about a gs model not sure if its the gsx, gst, or gs he didnt mention

 

[white92talontsi]

Please don't get a N/T, it is not worth it. I had one and they don't have potential. TSI, TSI AWD, GST, or GSX is the best way to go.

I agree but they do have potential but they cost alot more to make fast. By the time you buy the RS, Turbo charge it, Buy all the supporting mods, Blow the engine then have to rebuild it you could have bought yourself a decent Turbo car that has nothing but bolt on's and still be faster than the RS you just sank all that money into and blew up.

My advice, If you are dead set on a 2g then save, save, save.(good things come to those that wait). Look for cars that are 6 bolt swapped already if you can

If you want to get into it as cheap as possible and want to go as fast as possible then I suggest a 1G. They are very very cheap to get now-a-days. Buy from someone that knows there stuff. Like I said you can run across alot of 400+hp 1gs for around the 5-6k mark. You would end up sinking alot more than that into a N/T eclipse and not have anywhere near the potential of the 1g turbo car and no where near the reliability.

Just My opinion, dont waste your money on a Neon powered eclipse. Sure people make alot of power with them but I personally dont care for the 420a and yes I have had one.

 

[BLINKY619]

Yea that's true i mean im new here but all i have to say is that i had a 96 eclipse non turbo and now have a 97 gst and man trust me its a whole lot different i mean about the power its really fast

 

[TonyB]

Yea that's true i mean im new here but all i have to say is that i had a 96 eclipse non turbo and now have a 97 gst and man trust me its a whole lot different i mean about the power its really fast

so really the only diff is power. so right now if i just wanted to use the rs for going to work n maybe some fun at the track i can run with a rs and do a i/h/e and some beauty mods like cf oem hood, fogs, maybe a oem front lip with some te37s and a nice drop then worry about turbo and all that later. getting a rs for a few gs now wouldnt be to big of a deal.

 

[BLINKY619]

Well if you want to go that way go for it but if you are really interested on making more power i would go with a turbo dsm because they come built for turbo and could easily crank it up to 15 psi with stock internals with no problem and for the non turbo rs ull be going with 6-8 psi i think

 

[manny correa]

like said above! maintenance!! buy yourself tools and a CHILTON/HAYNES repair manual! you will be set! and of course the help on this forum will always be around when you need it! BUT do search before asking...(you will learn alot, and soon enough this site will be a learning addiction! )

 

[BLINKY619]

like said above! maintenance!! buy yourself tools and a CHILTON/HAYNES repair manual! you will be set! and of course the help on this forum will always be around when you need it! BUT do search before asking...(you will learn alot, and soon enough this site will be a learning addiction! )

very true

 

[constant_proj21]

GS/RS..crap. Rs' are really ugly IMO. Take your time, find a nice turbo one, and enjoy that. You could always find a shell, build your own motor, and that way you can rest assure, that the work was done right.

 

[dantej]

i had a 91 n/t and it was ok but then i found my 92 awd and i love it. it so much better than a n/t

 

[Zdrummer15]

so really the only diff is power. so right now if i just wanted to use the rs for going to work n maybe some fun at the track i can run with a rs and do a i/h/e and some beauty mods like cf oem hood, fogs, maybe a oem front lip with some te37s and a nice drop then worry about turbo and all that later. getting a rs for a few gs now wouldnt be to big of a deal.

The difference is power and the fact that you can get awd on a turbo car. Yes an RS or GS will be fine as a daily driver and you can make it look just as nice as any turbo DSM, but if you ever want to have a high performing DSM, don't buy a 420a car. As someone said earlier, it's fully possible to build a high performing 420a car, but it's highly impractical if you ask me. For the money you would have to put into a 420a to get to the performance level of a stock 4g63t powered car, you could have built a 12 sec 4g63t car.

 

[TonyB]

nice thanks for all the info guys

 

[atruepretense]

nice thanks for all the info guys

420a's are amazing engines but have no real potential without globs of cash. Save up, and search carefully for a stock TSI, GST, or GSX. AWD is awesome, I absolutely love my AWD and having a turbo just puts a smile on your face. Nothing better than hearing "Whoosh!" after every shift. But, definitely look around carefully, you might just find one for a steal, i did.

 

[shadoof77]

get the 4g63t. its so much easier to start with. your not gunna wanna buy a car just to swap out the engine. or atleast i wouldn't. just my opinion

p.s. i drove to virginia to get my gsx.