Well I'm doing something I told myself I'd never consider, look at a DSM\EVO. Now that we've got a little girl, the Syclone being a 2 seater isn't going to work and an 03 Cobra has no business playing in the snow.

I have had several friends with DSMs, and all those stories have ended poorly. I've known a couple people with Evos, most people have been okay.

My question is this. Once both of these platforms are mildly built, would you put them on the same reliability level?

I've seen a couple posts where people mention that DSMs have young owners with no money, and I can see that. But if we remove the ****ty cars, poor owners and look at the cars that have maintenance logs that are low owner number cars, platform to platform what's your feelings on the matter?

4 doors are nice, but to be honest I've always had a sweet spot in my heart for the 99 style GSX. Both inside & out. Loved the seating position, ride, looks the whole ball of wax. Problem has always been the reputation.

As the owner of two niche sports vehicles, one built in 1991 and the other having had 600whp before throwing a fireball through the hood, I understand the little things add up and how cars like this really need to be looked after. So forget about that kind of stuff. I also understand a 1999 will consume more older parts than a 2005 or newer car.

I'm wondering underneath it all how reliable the DSM transmission, rear, axles & general car hold up compared to the EVO transmission, rear, axles & general car hold up when they're built.

Imagine a 600whp evo & 600whp dsm both built with the standard recipes. You have to throw down $1000 to bet which one stays together the longest, what do you pick?

Part of me knows I'm going to have to look for an EVO because there simply aren't enough clean low mileage DSMs in existence anymore. But man do I have a sweet spot for that car in my heart.

 

A evo takes all that they learned over the years with the dsm and fixed it. It is all around a stronger car. and can take a beating and come back for more. That said if you want a dsm. get one just buy the best parts you can. And make sure it is built right and you should have no reliability issues. my .02cents

 

I've had both a dsm / 3- 1g's and 1 -2g dsm. I have to say that my EVO has been a lot more reliable.

Now lets talk details..some of my 1g dsms were not modded heavy, just had bolt-on's a stock motor but there was always something small messing up or going bad. I just was always wrenching on it. For my built 1g, had 60trim turbo running 35+psi on it and it pulled like a bat out of hell! BUT I wouldnt say it was reliable.

About 4 years ago I bought an evo, I have to say, right when I sat in the car HUGE DIFFERENCE. The car has a better built quality all around. I've been driving it for 4 years and most of the years I was daily driving it. I love it and just cant imagine myself going back to a DSM. Now I have taken my family members in a long trip in the evo (12-13hours) and wasn't scared of it breaking down.
I guess an EVO is a DSMon roids without the side effects!
Just my 2 cents.

 

Thanks, appreciate your response!

 

I'm not going to try and start a pissing match here... but just a few things.

1. The Evo is a homologation car. That is/was the entire reason it existed. It was a drivetrain, bolted into a modified chassis. Evo's have no issues with reliability. They have issues with owners that don't/can't/or are unaware of how to properly maintain them.

2. The DSM is a great car, but that relationship between Mitsubishi and Chrysler was sort of... odd. I know the Eclipse doesn't have a ton to do with that relationship, but you still have a car that is essentially "American" with a slightly de-tuned drivetrain in it. Again... I think these cars are reliable, but after years of suspect ownership, and modification principles... by the time people were getting it right, many of the cars suffered.

Please take those points as... those cars are different, and not as Japan>DSM.

3. Reliability on any vehicle that you have to heavily modify critical systems (Air, Fuel, Spark) has potential to suffer in terms of reliability. This is more-so the case if you have no idea what you're doing. There are plenty of people though that have 600hp Evos they're using as a daily driver... why, I'm not sure, but that's neither here nor there. On the other side of the coin, I know plenty of Evo's that are very basically modified, that have tons of issues. This is no doubt because of owners that aren't handling the vehicle properly, owners that expected it to be a Porsche simply because it's faster than them, or owners that were forced to cut corners. I always say... the Evo is a god car. It takes a crappy driver and makes them exceptional. But the car will suffer. I'm sure you're aware of the "death whine" on the transfer cases. If you look through my posts, you'll probably at some point notice that there is no shortage of people trying to launch their car improperly, and people running WAY more clutch than they should. Coincidentally... the T-cases get a reputation for blowing up. Does that make the car unreliable? Or illustrate an ownership/driver issue?

Taking a car and doubling it's horsepower is going to result in various issues with wear and tear. That's just a fact of the hobby. If you're looking for reliability, buy something making that power new, and use it's warranty. That said, if you have the know-how, and the resources, I don't think a DSM, or an Evo is an unreliable car at reasonable power levels... but 600hp probably isn't a "reasonable" power level, and if you haven't had a chance to drive an Evo at sub 400whp, I think you'd be surprised at how capable a platform it is.

 

Owned both an Evo and Eclipse GSX with around 500 HP and Evo is by far the better vehicle all around. Just sitting in the car you know this thing is built to move. My GSX (98) felt like it was made to be more of a luxury car with heavy leather seats and the way it drove. Just didn't have that Evo feeling. And maybe that is because its 8 years newer.

 

Well if you dont consider 400lbs vs a 1g a disadvantage then..... yeah
Then again if your doing it for kids why wouldn't you want a four door?

 

Just get the Evo and be done with it you will have a better platform and very thing else that follows like the respect.

 

The Evo will be more reliable, but more expensive. I can daily drive mine year round with out worries or issues, but I'm pretty meticulous about maintenance.

 

The DSM transmission becomes an issue much sooner than the EVO transmission. If it is a 2g the engine and Turbo also suck stock. However if you are building a drag car a dog box is expensive for either. However a DSM comes factory with an auto so a drag car DSM is cheaper to start and cheaper to get to full drag auto. For a daily a 600whp EVO can be reliable if you aren't a monkey driving it.

 

I'm a dsmer so I have to vote dsm, buy a gsx or tsi in good shape and put all the extra money you would've spent on an evo, and modify the dsm. You will end up with a much faster car, just make sure to take care of it like any other vehicle and reliability will be no issue.

Mind you as your little girl grows up, she will find little leg room in the back of that dsm, same for my daughter...now we always drive the truck around. My dsm is now just my toy

 

Before I bought my Evo I was looking around for clean 2G AWDs and they are still out there, but they're going to be really hard to find up north. I have a soft spot for the 97/98 TSi AWD but that's probably because I used to have a Talon. Have you driven a 2G GSX and an Evo? I feel like if you have there wouldn't even be a question. The Evo in stock form is so much better than a DSM it's not even funny. And, as already mentioned, the insurance purposes only "rear seat" in a DSM is worthless.