Hahaha, this is a solid plan. I think we are o the same page.

 

i think you can lease Mazdaspeed 3's for around 300 a month

 

This is not acceptable! Move to Illinois and get a job. I would do it in a heart beat.
There are still jobs to be had. Example a maintenance job in a school pays $25 per hour also a janitor makes $17 an hour add in a few overtime hours and you talking 600-700 a week. Don't give up! You can do it.

 

i'm sorry to hear about the breaks, but i know many of my own friends and family becoming victims of the economic climate. you do what you have to and regardless of the timing, you can always get back into tuning once things start improving.

here's to wishing you much luck in the near future.. both with the job and your next ride.

 

Sucks to hear that. Hope you had fun while it lasted. Hopefully you find a job in the near future and can jump into an evo again. Goodluck buddy.

 

I don't want to own anything other than a Mitsubishi, I'm going to weather this storm and stick with Mitsubishi. I'm really starting to lean toward the Starion/Conquest or GS-X/TSi. I'm trying to keep cost at a minimum and know the Starion was a rather reliable car that was fast (for it's day). I seem to have a hard time coughing up 10 to 15K for a GS-X, esp. if their modified! Like Noise said I can buy a WRX for what people are asking for VR-4's and GS-X's. I'm not crazy about RWD, however the Starion is rather easy to work on and it puts up good numbers when modified. I'm going to miss my X, however it's unattainable at this point and time, my daughter comes first and foremost (as I'm sure many of you understand)!

 

my aunt had a starion and i loved it. i nearly got it as my first car but she donated it to a church. it was a red 5 speed and i still have lots of fond memories of that car. if it would make you even half as happy as i am in remembering it, you've got to find one

 

Maybe Dave can come in this thread and post a picture of that sweet Buschur Racing Starion (is a 2 wheel launch pic too much to ask?). I remember seeing that thing in action at the DSM shootout years ago. What a mean car.

Also had to post this for you in this thread:

 

wish you luck

 

Love the crank walk pic!

 

I've had a 97 GST, 99GSX & 91awd 1g. Crank walk is more common in the 95/96- 7 bolts, it can happen in 97-99 but the issue is the oil squirters in the new years, not flowing enough I believe but I never had a problem.

Being that money is a concern your average good condition GSX, not modded is going to run you 6-9K. Check dsmtuners for some.

If you go 2G get the suspension and brakes done asap, they are garbage, other than that it's a 4g63 so it has the same build path as an Evo motor but the stock rods/pistons are crap as well and can't take much over 400 safely.

Might I suggest a galant vr-4 ? galantvr4 on the net. Besides the look of the 2G, which I always loved, the vr4 you could always convert it to a V or VI I believe with some new body panels plus the rear ends of the 1G's and Vr4's are superior to the 2G.

2G was made to look good and have a good amount of go for what I like to label "snappy drivers" - you know people that drive miata's, mazda 3's etc and are happy with that kind of power. It was fortunate enough to have the 4g63 but the rest of the car is about as cheap as today's 3G's. /rant

 

I've had many old DSMs back in the 90s including 3 Gen1 Talons (AWD), 2 Gen1 Eclipses (AWD) and 1 Gen1 Laser (FWD). All stock, not modified and over 100k miles. They are very reliable IMHO with the exception of their transmissions.

That being said unless you are willing to deal with old car issues I would suggest sticking with something much newer. I had a rule every time I bought an old DSM, I changed ALL fluids immediately, did a tune up, installed timing belts and water pumps and got 4 wheel alignments.

You can't go wrong with a Starion or Conquest except for the fore mentioned old car issues. One of the main problems with them is the A/C. It's hard to find parts for the automatic climate control in those cars. It can be retrofitted but it is a decent amount of work. They are classics though.

Good Luck!

 

My personal favorite for 2g's is the 97-98 talon tsi AWD

 

I have owned two DSM's, my current '98 GS-T and a '91 GSX.

Crankwalk is overrated. I worked at a Mitsu dealer for six years and the techs had all said they had at least seen it, had been trained on what to look for, but that far more cars didn't have it then did. I put about 88K miles on my 7-bolt before I beat the bearings out of it and replaced it with a 6-bolt. Mainly I did it because most engine builders won't touch a 7-bolt for fear of CW, so I just went ahead and did the conversion.

DSMs have their issues, but there isn't a more documented tuner car on the planet I don't think. So many people have played with them, broken them, and fixed them that you aren't hardly going to run into a problem that isn't already solved and the issue posted on the net that you can find in like, ten minutes of searching. And the solution is fairly simple and cheap to do. Its still the best entry level tuner car on the planet, I think. So much potential for so little money.

Oh and 2Gb ('97-'99 Eclipse) is the best looking DSM hands down.

 

Why not just buy an evo 8 thats gots some miles under her belt? Payments would likely be wayy less than your X payments were.