I may be buying a project car, or older play car. I have my 1998 Honda Accord so I can have anything RWD or whatever. I was wondering if I should buy a built 1G DSM... How reliable are they, considering it would most likely be almost done? I'd most likely buy the car, change some things cosmetically and or mechanically for my own touch but I found a CLEANNN 1G Turbo DSM claimed to be 10 second car, 2.3 Buschur stroker kit (6 bolt)... the works... It was $8,500 bucks! But looked spotless. Now I'd be looking at hmm, more like $5-6,000 dollars but what can I get for a 1G DSM with that? Would I be able to count on it being a play car for the track and some often rips and cruises? or would the thing be fast crap?

 

I know a guy selling one for 10 large that I think is worth every cent.

They can be fantastic cars for the money if done right, but you'd better know your stuff before you get into one.

I owned one for a while and built it up to what I considered to be an amazing car but with my move out of the states and also owning a DSM, It just didn't make sense to keep it. They are fantastic cars though if modded well.

An alternative might be a FC LS1 rx7, but you would probably end up spending more than 5-6K and the car (arguably) wouldn't be as solid of an all around performance car.

For me, the weak link of the DSM's will always be the transmissions. They just can't take the power or shift nearly as well as the Evo. Also, the chassis isn't nearly as solid and the handling isn't nearly so fantastic as the Evo. It's not really fair to compare them to Evo's though, but it's inevitable to try and do so. The 2g's had a better suspension than the 1g's but I think the build quality was worse, though they do look a bit better and the interior is more modern.

It's a tough call, but I can tell you that for the money, you could do a hell of a lot worse than a DSM for a fun project car.

 

Well see, fast is important but fast is not worth a DAMN if it's not on the road. Would this car fit the bill according to how I feel?

 

my DSM handles like its on rails....... i dont know why people bash DSMs.. it has been the best car ive ever owned.. and im on my 2nd one... if you build it right and maintain its.... its just like any other car........

 

It sounds like you value reliability quite a bit, so I'd have to say no, this is not the best car for you. Over the course of time, I have found DSM's to be unreliable, even if done properly and taking the proper precautions.

It pains me to say it, but they are just not the most reliable cars when modified. Turbocharged cars require more diligent maintenance and the fact is there are more potential things to go wrong than on a NA car. Also, the transmission problem will constantly be an issue on the DSM. A high dollar clutch (quartermaster or tilton) with a 4 spider gear center diff or spool will help things, but it's not a for sure deal.

 

I can't agree anymore. If you take care of the car and do it right you will not have issues. These cars were designed for 200 crank HP. Throw a 16G on and some supporting mods and you double the HP output. They are also almost 20 years old. People say they are so unreliable, well tell me what 10 year old car with double the HP is reliable and you can but it for less than 5K? They just take a little more care than your average Honda, but as a result you get sick power and AWD.

 

thank you.....

 

I agree with blackbichGSX. I owned a DSM for 13 years before I got my evo. I took care of it and it took care of me. We did have a few incidents mostly due to my fault or dealer(warranty).

Oh if you do buy it. I hope you are mechanically inclined. Not because they are not reliable but good mechanics that work on DSMs are hard to find.

 

Depends of what you want, the 1Gen or 2 gen are awesome cars for the 1/4 mile track with the proper mods, all you have to do is look at the dsm shotouts, there are plenty of 8 and 9 sec cars in the nation.

I prefer the 2G AWD over any other Eclipse ever made. I would never recommend anyone to get a FWD if you ever consider going to the 1/4 mile events.

In the past 12 years I owned (currently own) 4 Eclipse turbos and that tells you how hooked I am to these cars. Parts will always be cheap and now days you can get serious rebuilts that 12-15 years ago weren't there.

Companies like Shepperd,TRE,DSM link,AMS,Buschur make the DSM inmortal. A DSM will always be the cheap track version of a Evo for the 1/4 mile and that is the primary reason why I replaced my Evo for the Eclipse. I drag race every other week and the Eclipse is a pleassure to take it to the track.

If you don't care about looks then get the 1G, but in my opinion a 2G DSM is a car that you can't let pass. Try to get them with the optional rear factory LSD(only on the AWD versions). 97-99gsx came with rear lsd stock.

Carlos

 

Amen Carlos...

I'm on my.......5th DSM

Actually my last DSM blew it's motor at the track, but it was my fault, I was meaning to do the headgasket for ages, but couldn't resist a night at the track when I was supposed to be spectating. I guess at 160K on the clock I was asking for it? Hmm..

The 2g I had was my favorite, which is probably why I kept it so long.

Now a friend of mine and I are building a project 1g to make it fast as dirt and to track it.

New england has plenty of good mechanics, but you must learn how to get your own hands dirty, or you won't understand the beast.

Is it reliable? I can say if you have bad luck, maybe you get a lemon, but out of all 5 that I've owned, I couldn't say any of them at all were unreliable!

Good luck!

 

^^ I agree with you completely. That is the reason why I build my cars from zero. It is so much more fun to do the bolt ons yourself and learn that way how everything works. In the process you obatin soo much experience and knowledge that builds confidence on yourself on a way that on your next car you will be eager to do the same.

It is nice to get a car with the mods already bolted and tuned and all that but there is no replacement for getting involved and getting the car built on your own specially when you go to the track and dyno and see the improvements that you achieved on your car.

Carlos

 

I bought a build 1G dsm 2 years ago for a killer deal and one clean car but 2 months later that thing started to fall apart, Never buy a really build car you just don’t know how it was build and how they drove the car it may look nice clean but you just don’t know how its going to drive in 2 months. Buy stock and build it your self.