So not that I want to race them, but I've noticed a couple DSM guys hang out in this section, so I wanted to see what was up. The other day, I was driving around one, his music was blaring, and he heard the whine/whistle from my car, and I think he wanted to go.

He kept speeding up under boost, and I could hear the wastegate. Sounded great, but everytime he got on it, there was a puff of black smoke coming out from his tailpipe, so he was running rich. I've seen a couple other turbo DSM's in town when they were under boost or got on it, and they all seem to do the same exact thing.

I've never researched it, but with a DSM, do most enthusiasts go to an FMU whe they turbo it? That would explain the little puff of black smoke (poor tuning essentially), if not, why do they all run so rich?

assuming he was running 300-400whp, I'm assuming they are AWD, are they capable of decent ET's or times around a track? Or are they pretty much just quick street cars?

what kind of reliability do they see?

(I'm just interested in leaning about these little buggers, they seem to have some pep to them)

 

DSM as far as Talon's and Eclipse's vary (I will exclude the Laser).The turbo engine (4g63T) same engine as in the Lancer Evolution 1-9 (though not exactly the same in the DSM's) has good potential though many have problems with crankwalk.There is also a few N/A engines (4g37, 4g63, 420A, 4g64). The only ones that are AWD is the GSX and the TSI AWD, the rest being FWD. I used to have a 97 GST (FWD Turbo) and it was actually pretty quick and easy to get power from.

 

now if they are completely shaved (the ones in town that I've seen only say Turbo, and the body work is insanely good), how do you tell what they are? I mean are there any clues as to whether or not they are a TSI?

 

You will see it broken down on the side of the road, then you know its a TSi

 

LOL, I was waiting for that one. Thats all Ive ever heard about these eclipses and talons, you spend more time fixing then driving....

 

Not sure about first gens. I think as far as Eclipses 95-96 the muffler was dual tipped and the emblems.97-99 turbo models came with the high rise, dual tip muffler, and I think the GSX had GSX specific wheels.Isn't that much diff exterior wise. Some of the cheaper models didn't have skirts and whatnot and the Spyder wasn't avaliable in a GSX. Not sure about Talons I'm pretty sure the "high rise" was an option for the ESI aswell. My GST had over 114,000 reliable miles on it though many have problems.

 

guys, how can you be this ignorant?
crankwalk was not very common, and it only happened to 95/96.
They get their bad name and rep from their white trash drivers... no maintenance, just beat on it all day.

You put 2k into a stock awd dsm, and then put 2k into a fox, evo, wrx,f body,etc and the dsm will always be faster. Cheap for fast, but they are seriously junky cars.

 

why exactly, what is so special about the dsm that would make them faster than rest mod for mod ?

 

Both of the ones that I've seen had one muffler, not a fart can, and they sound really mean, especially for a four cylinder.

Both of them are very understaded. Actually one has turbo written on the trunk, but that's about it. Other than that, no badging, nothing. Like I said, great body work.

 

Reliability is a major issue with those cars. I think it's mostly just the ricer croud that cheaps out on parts and don't really do a whole lot of maintenance though. I really wouldn't mind one. I almost bought a '92 TSI AWD 5speed for winter, then do some modding in the spring, but the guy had sold it by the time I got ahold of him. The good thing is that they're cheap, and cheap to make very fast.