Hello All!

So I'm new to this forum, but I guess everyone has to make their start somewhere...

A little bit about me. I'm the youngest of 4 boys in my family, the oldest being a mechanic (along with my dad's entire side of the family). I like to work things in my spare time... I use to drive a 96 dodge neon, but something was always wrong with it... My oldest brother has a 91 Talon Tsi (and is turboing an R/T Dakota), 2nd oldest has an SRT4, so turboed cars aren't uncharted territory.

After I got my new job and actually had money to spend, I decided that I should get a car with a loan to build some credit... I bought a Mustang GT earlier this year thinking it's what I wanted, but after 6 month of the loud exhaust and drone on the highway (and the creepy old guys giving me grins), I've changed my mind...

I've always liked the appearance of 2G eclipses / evos, and living in MD where we get both extremes of weather (10 degrees in the winter last year / 90-100s in the summer), AWD is looking really attractive. I've read a lot of forums, but I haven't seen one that compares them side-to-side on more than one thing at a time, so here's my question / list of questions.

Comparing the 2G GSX to the Evo, which is...

easier to work on? (to fix, maintain, or make faster)
less expensive to work on? (Assuming that I'll do my own work on my car)
[Edit: less expensive meaning part-wise in general, either OEM or aftermarket]
more comfortable?
more reliable?

You can compare interior / performance / engine comparison as well, but I've already heard plenty about those

Thanks in advance for the help!

Adam

 

IMO, I think the 2g Gsx would be cheaper to build and can be very comfortable. The evo is a bit mor expensive to mod but usually a little easier to get to your goals because of the many shops that stand behind there products for the evo.

Since youre a bit younger I would sugest the eclipse, easy to mod and with enough research can be very competitive to most high power street cars today. P.S don't rule Auto awd eclipse's very interesting whats been happen in that arena lately.

I base my comment's from owning a awd 7g Galant and an Evo IX. Basically built the AWD galant from talon tsi parts in local JY.

 

Having owned both, the 2g will be a much cheaper car to make what you want out of it. Insurance will be*much cheaper and imo will be a better starting platform. Everyone bashes 2gs for being super unreliable but it's all in how you take care of it. An evo can be just as troublesome if you don't maintain her, or if you buy one that has been abused.

Are you looking at evo viii's and ix's or x's?

There is a huge difference between the 2. Personally I like the x better. It's bigger over all and a little slower but the ride is much more comfortable.

Depending how much money you have to work with I'd start looking at 2g's that are in good shape. You can build a bad *** 2g for 12k including price of the car where as evo viii's with high mileage and many issues start around the same ball park.

If the awd system is a big factor evos have a much more advanced system than 2gs. Both are great in the snow with the right tires but the evo has the edge there.

 

Hey man, welcome!

I had a 1g tsi, loved it. 2g tsi, loved it but would get 1g (90-91) any day over the 2g.


Here is what I posted a couple weeks ago in a reply to someone else.
"Originally Posted by Cellar Door View Post
Haha, you will get over it. My 2g dsm was running 26psi on a gt35r with meth on a stock block, except HKS 272's with all supporting things. Yeah, that was a train and it felt nice sitting next to porches and ferraris that clog up downtown Toronto where I live. Armed with a electric, dash mounted exhaust cutout, it was a rush to intimidate whatever wanted to stare me down. ..she's gone now but it's for the best. Here's a few pics of her if anyone is curious.

http://imgur.com/a/r5L0M

4g63 has no low end, I don't care what anyone says, unless you were running the 13b snail that come on 1g auto. 14b (5spd) was already lacking the instant pick up. Mivec smooths out the power band nicely. Get it tunned and some of the train feeling will come back.

I was very happy with the stock pick up on the 94 we have here in Canada. A month ago I had the chance to use a AP with a 93 stage 2 map cobb for a day - this will definitely be my next purchase. Need to ride that warranty out.

5 years ago I would think the stocker was not bad *** enough, but now I enjoy it's balance of a dd with awd and good power/reliability."


Having said that, here is a quick rundown as far as your questions go:

easier to work on? (to fix, maintain, or make faster)
-2g, Evo is a lot more high performance stock, parts are theerefore more $$
-Evo is easier to maintain if you ask me. DSM should only be owned by mechanics, simply because that damm and I'm using the work lovingly here, will be on a hoist every other week
-4g63 will give you huge power, easily, I ran a gt35r @ 26psi with meth making close to 500whp on a stock block with only 272 cams, meth, fmic, and suporting fuel. STOCK block, metal headgasket.

less expensive to work on? (Assuming that I'll do my own work on my car)
-depends on what you are working on. Sky is the limit here, ask you bro

more comfortable?
-Evo X for comfort hands down but 2g backseat 10x better for sexytime.

more reliable?
-Evo, hands down!

You can compare interior / performance / engine comparison as well, but I've already heard plenty about those
-2g awd does not track well in snow, unless you have proper snow tires. Even really good seasonal will see you drift to one side.


Get the Evo if you can afford it. 2g dsm are hard to find with no rust, the strut towers are a huge rust problem. Other then that if you get a 2g you like in with good body then its your choice. I would only go back to a 1g and that is only as a weekend warrior.

cheers

 

The AWD system is a big factor to me. I'd like the car to be closer to a DD than a WW, so it's going to see snow more than once a year.

Gregalmighty: I like the X's the most from a visual and realistic standpoint, i like the advance in electronics compared to the other evos, I want to try out one of the SST's , they look like youvcould either love or hate them lol I drive people around a lot so the size is good, but I've also been looking at ix's too. I was thinking the insurance for an Evo X at my age would probably kill me haha but at the same time, I'm paying insurance on an 06 Mustang GT so it could be somewhat similar.

Cellar Door: I meant less expensive as in which one has less expensive parts in general, not just for a build... Sorry, I should have specified... But you answered it in the first question regardless

Thanks so much for the info guys!

 

I've owned both a evo 9 and a gst. In fact i've owned 3 gst.

The evo is all around a better car but, its also a much more expensive car.

I'll do a pro con list

2G eclipse
+ Totally easy to find any parts you need cosmetically for next to nothing
+ The cars been done a billion times so its pretty much universal to build
+ Sexy coupe look is more sutable for you younger driver
- Some awful placements of parts
- crank walk it happens, only 99s solved the problem.
- The interior quality just isnt up to the evo.

evo
+ Faster stock and more reliable stock
+ Recaro seats and usable back seats
- Moronically high insurance
- Over priced beyond belief parts (however they're normally backed by quality)


Just know when you're buying either one of these cars try to get them as close to stock as possible and if no try to get a work history of whats done to it and by whom.

Finding a nice 2g eclipse now is damn near impossible. Just have $5-10k to purchase a good base and another $5000 for a new paint job and fixing all the crap wrong .

 

I've owned 2 GST's and 3 Evo X's
I think almost everyone I know that owns an Evo also owned a 2G at some point
go with what you can afford man, you don't want to be strapped so bad you can't enjoy your car. If a 2G fits your budget better, get that now. You can get an Evo anytime you want too. A well built 2G has good street cred too.

 

Evo if you can afford! Better all around, costs 10x as much. Bang for your buck power is DSM life. More maintenance going that route though. +1 for unmolested either way. Both are great cars.

 

So true, I had a GSX at age 19, and now I'm on my second evo 8 and have owned 2 other eclipses.