Reliable 1g DD for very long commutes

[4gfun]

I try to avoid posting in the newbie section but I can't find a section that would encompass my overall goal.

I bought my 1gb 93 TSI AWD 5 spd as a beater to make 130 mile round trips to DC and back on a daily basis. The DSM is essentially stock. I reserved my 93 Escort GT for that duty for a few years and really had few problems.

Commutes in each direction usually take just a little bit over an hour if there is no traffic.

However, several days a week traffic can regularly make it take 2-3 hours in each direction. Backups can regularly be 30 miles long several days per week.

I know that I should have probably kept the Escort, but promised it to a friend. I also became bored with the platform and love the support that the DSM community can provide.

I bought the car for these reasons:

1) Like to be able to swap plenty of parts back and forth with the GVR4.

2) The low coefficient of drag on the highway (.29) as a possible boon to fuel efficiency in the long run.

3) Since the commute is awful, I'd rather be in something that I like.

4) We get ice storms and snow storms during the winter, I prefer AWD for when that is happening.

Plan of action for Reliability and good gas mileage:

1) Keep boost low.
2) Gates Blue Belt. (overkill but I can't argue with some bad memories sniff sniff)
3) Normal range spark plugs for better combustion
4) 10w-30 Synthetic with good oil filter.
5) Balance Shaft Removal
6) Lighter fluids in T-Case, Tranny, and Rear Diff (MTL and/or Synchromesh)
7) Give the GVR4 the Talon's 4 bolt and downgrade the Talon to a 3 bolt...less drag
8) A bit more air in the tires...nothing too crazy though.
9) Coolant flush and fresh coolant (car has a Mishimoto Radiator already)
10) Fail safe stock temperature thermostat

Thoughts?

Thanks

 

[Kapok6]

Sounds like a good start. A good friend of mine has a 91 auto awd that is completely stock. He dd's and doesn't have any extraordinary issues. Trans started whining around 130k I believe so he put his spare in and no issues.

I wouldn't see there being too many serious issues as long as you keep it close to stock and properly maintain it.

 

[4gfun]

Thanks for your thoughts. I can't imagine things would be that bad if I properly maintain it which won't be an issue. The problem is always avoiding the temptation of turning a DD into a monster....and the DSM to me personally is in a better position to be the ultimate monster than a GVR4 (weighs less and better aerodynamics).

The GVR4 is already modded enough where there is no turning it back. Wish I could get a closer job that paid well or I could afford to move closer or living closer gave the kids a safe yard to play in. Then the GVR4 could be my daily. The GVR4 is too rare (on paper to daily IMHO)...but the mass produced 1g seems almost as hard to find these days.

First stop for good paying jobs starts around 38 miles away...but you still need to take a 30k pay cut to work. Might as well drive the next 27 miles to DC which ironically are the least congested. It gets congested the further out from DC you go to a degree because everyone wants the same thing.

Sounds like a good start. A good friend of mine has a 91 auto awd that is completely stock. He dd's the and doesn't have any extraordinsy issues. Trans started whining around 130k I believe so he put his spare in and no issues.

I woulent see there being too many serious issues as long as you keep it close to stock and properly maintain it.

 

[iaintmaci]

Honestly, I have a lot of stuff done to my GSX. I am running a 14b at 16-18 psi at the moment. I have 880 injectors, a VRSF front mount, swapped it over to sd, have a full 3" back exhaust. My Eclipse is my primary transportation. I see 30+ mpg on this thing everyday when I travel. If you can get a good tune set up, you can have a very reliable car. Its the heavy left foot that usually kills the gas mileage. I made a 190 mile trip on Friday, and I believe I only saw any kind of major boost when I was hitting the on ramps.

 

[Kapok6]

Thanks for your thoughts. I can't imagine things would be that bad if I properly maintain it which won't be an issue. The problem is always avoiding the temptation of turning a DD into a monster....and the DSM to me personally is in a better position to be the ultimate monster than a GVR4 (weighs less and better aerodynamics).

The GVR4 is already modded enough where there is no turning it back. Wish I could get a closer job that paid well or I could afford to move closer or living closer gave the kids a safe yard to play in. Then the GVR4 could be my daily. The GVR4 is too rare (on paper to daily IMHO)...but the mass produced 1g seems almost as hard to find these days.

First stop for good paying jobs starts around 38 miles away...but you still need to take a 30k pay cut to work. Might as well drive the next 27 miles to DC which ironically are the least congested. It gets congested the further out from DC you go to a degree because everyone wants the same thing.

When done right, GVR4's are secksey.

As for the 1G's, yes, AWD 1g's are continuing to get harder to find as more and more are biting the dust/hitting the junkyards. People have moved on to 2G's and Evo's. Shoot, even Evo's are hitting the junkyards now.

 

[gixrman]

I do that commute everyday. Where are you coming from? I come from Frederick and there's a back way when traffic sucks.

 

[DSM1G90]

My Laser is bone stock and have OEM parts for the belt and accessories along with NGK plugs.

Thing is my DD and have been on the freeway for over 27K - from Seattle to LA - of my 32 K miles I've out it in since I tagged it over 5 years ago.

Lock the cruise on at 80mph and let the thing fly like the wind on the freeway with no issues of any kind.

I did have an overheating issue shortly after I got the thing, but a bad t-stat along with a horribly plugged radiator was my cause of overheating.

A new T-stat and cap along with a serious flushout of both radiator and block to rid of all sludge, rust and corrosion keeps my coolant nice and green for my freeway hauls.

And..."bummer!", Now my coil went out and waiting for a new one to come in to get me back on the road.

-

 

[WOTDSM]

Hopefully I can be of assistance.

First things first, I think you're on the right trace but I noticed a few things in your post that I wanted to address.

1. Don't use synchromesh in a dsm trans. It will kill our synchros. I have had good luck with redline mt85
2. Might I recommend saving some coin and getting a continental timing belt? Its the OEM belt for our car that Mitsu resells at a 300% markup and use a brand new OEM auto tensioner with new pulleys
3. I find a good balance between tire performance at about 38 psi. Doesn't wear out the center of the tread and doesn't give too stiff of a ride and gets me about 20 mpg (E85 lean burning).
4. May want to invest in DSMLink and flash a more conservative tune as the stock 1g map uses A LOT of timing, even for E85.

I daily drive my 92 AWD and I drive it quite hard. These cars are very reliable and arguably bulletproof (minus the trans) as long as you take care of them. Sounds like you have a good starting point.

 

[joescool2008]

Newer injectors help with better atomization for fuel economy. A set of PTE 680's with dsmlink to tune will help mileage a good bit. Past that I would just make sure you have a K&N filter and a solid exhaust, I wouldn't go more than 2.5" though or you will have to fix the boost creep issue. Also NGK wires seem to be great on stock setup as well.

 

[Techmonster23]

That's a really long commute with so much traffic to be driving a 5 speed. I think for a ride like that I'd need an auto just for the frustration that stop & go traffic can be.

That being said I've got a 10-15 minute commute with traffic and I don't mind a manual .

 

[Derail20T]

I think you should be fine commuting as long as you keep up with the maintenance. I bought my car last October, and drove it 5 hours to get home. I got back to town at 4:30 and had to work at 5:00. While I was driving I thought to myself that I was crazy... I didn't really have any clue about the reliability of the car when I bought it, yet I traveled 400 miles away to pick it up when I had to work that same night! I made it though with no problems.
Now that I'm going to the track, I drive an hour and a half away, run 10 - 15 passes and drive home. I've made it home every time. Sometimes a little worse for wear, but I still make it!

 

[4gfun]

Thanks...what is the most over 30 mpg you have seen?

Honestly, I have a lot of stuff done to my GSX. I am running a 14b at 16-18 psi at the moment. I have 880 injectors, a VRSF front mount, swapped it over to sd, have a full 3" back exhaust. My Eclipse is my primary transportation. I see 30+ mpg on this thing everyday when I travel. If you can get a good tune set up, you can have a very reliable car. Its the heavy left foot that usually kills the gas mileage. I made a 190 mile trip on Friday, and I believe I only saw any kind of major boost when I was hitting the on ramps.

You are coming from Frederick and I am coming from the Fredericksburg area...2 different animals in 2 different States (VA vs MD).

I work with a few folks that come from Frederick and since it is about the same mileage from DC they are astounded at how long it takes me to get to work as compared to them. I think I am going to pack up and move to Frederick. There are only 2 ways in/out here. 95 and Route 1 which back up horribly. There are no ways around since the water is on one side and Quantico Marine Corps Base (several times the size of DC) is on the other.

I do that commute everyday. Where are you coming from? I come from Frederick and there's a back way when traffic sucks.

To the other posters, thanks for all of the ideas. I don't think straight MTL is too thin though. I am running the EVO MTL cocktail in my GVR4 and that is working fine. The EVO MTL cocktail is MTL-MT90-MTL as opposed to the DSM MT90-MTL-MT90....so I assume I am running something like "MT83" if there were such a thing. I could be wrong about MTL not being too thin though.

 

[SmoochDarling]

Keep up the maintenance, check levels often. Change your timing and balance shaft belt. KEEP THE BS shafts. They were put there a reason.

 

[DSM1G90]

As for MPG: Stay out of much boost as possible ! Every time you move lead from the lower extremes to the foot, you use up quite a lot of fuel just to get that 3400 LBS of VR-4 to move from a slow roll up to highway speed.

Thus, shift sane, easy on the gas pedal between shifts. Another help is to air the tires (stock tires) up to 35PSI to reduce rolling resistance....and that's including winter driving.

And if anybody tell you that keep your tires underinflated during winter snow driving, they definitely need some intelligence examinations. For if you soften up tires, you're prone to lose more traction, have lesser MPG, more wear on the tires, than keeping them aired up tight.

On my freeway travels with my LASER, I can manage 26-29 MPG on these straight drives.

I use Redline MT-90 in my tranny...and it's time for a fluid change this year.

 

[iaintmaci]

I have been as high as 34-35 mpg so far. I still have a ways to go on my tune. Also, I live about an hour south of Pittsburgh, PA. We don't have the flattest roads around here. I am waiting for August so I can see what it gets on the way to the shootout.

 

[4gfun]

I am more concerned about the TSI AWD than I am about the vr4...VR4 is not going to be my daily much longer.

Thanks for all the tips....looks very doable.

As for MPG: Stay out of much boost as possible ! Every time you move lead from the lower extremes to the foot, you use up quite a lot of fuel just to get that 3400 LBS of VR-4 to move from a slow roll up to highway speed.

Thus, shift sane, easy on the gas pedal between shifts. Another help is to air the tires (stock tires) up to 35PSI to reduce rolling resistance....and that's including winter driving.

And if anybody tell you that keep your tires underinflated during winter snow driving, they definitely need some intelligence examinations. For if you soften up tires, you're prone to lose more traction, have lesser MPG, more wear on the tires, than keeping them aired up tight.

On my freeway travels with my LASER, I can manage 26-29 MPG on these straight drives.

I use Redline MT-90 in my tranny...and it's time for a fluid change this year.

Care to spill out a bit more about how you are getting that great gas mileage?

Thanks

I have been as high as 34-35 mpg so far. I still have a ways to go on my tune. Also, I live about an hour south of Pittsburgh, PA. We don't have the flattest roads around here. I am waiting for August so I can see what it gets on the way to the shootout.

 

[DSM1G90]

Care to spill out a bit more about how you are getting that great gas mileage?

Tires at 35psi (stock 205/55R16's on Plymouth "Lace" rims), shift sane and use boost sparingly, keeping system tuned, all stock setup - no mods of any kind, use cruise control so the motor RPM's stay close to constant which uses less fuel in the long run - (and I know that I'll get flamed for this one...) and I use 87 Regular - fuel that burns hotter and cleaner to get more performance out of the higher BTU produced...and never have any knock problems due to very low carbon buildup with the hot fuel used.

It's the carbon buildup that gets people into trouble with knock-mainly due to the sudden rich demands that the turbo uses (just think: you inject more air, more fuel is needed to keep things in a balance and more fuel used at times will cause a very rich situation) when needed. And this reduces MPG in a heartbeat.

You use the higher octane fuels that has more additives for anti knock, it reduces the BTU output...and a lot worse when one uses E85 fuels since alcohol has very low BTU output while it really raises the octane level.

 

[99ECLIPSEGSXDSM]

I've been stuck in DC traffic and it's freaking horrible. I drove my 99 120 miles round trip for a little and worked good.

 

[Auto RS T]

Besides what all has been recommended. Make sure the cooling system is tip top. From the condition of the coolant all the way to the FANS working properly. Last thing you want is to be sitting in traffic halfway home and it starts getting hot with nowhere to go.

 

[Ghost_92TSi]

Keep up the maintenance, check levels often. Change your timing and balance shaft belt. KEEP THE BS shafts. They were put there a reason.

Same reason as that POS sandwhich "oil cooler"? Although I'm sure you have the legit air oil cooler. I ditched both, two less reasons for something to break.

 

[DSM1G90]

Yea, i've got the classic air cooled, oil cooler.