Psythik

My grandpa felt pity on my brokeass for totaling my Lancer and going without a car for over three years, so yesterday he surprises me with an Eclipse. This was extremely generous of him and I couldn't be more grateful. That being said, I can't help but be disappointed by its performance. It's so bad that I think there's something wrong with it.

Other than being slightly heavier, this car is superior in every way to my old 2003 Lancer OZ. The damn thing barely put out 120 horses, yet felt like an F1 car compared to the Eclipse. I don't get it. I throw it into first, floor it, and it slowly starts to accelerate like it's a damn tank. Not even the slightest bit of wheel slip or even a hint of power. It feels like it's 100hp short of its advertised spec.

Is this supposed to be normal? I've never owned an automatic so I don't really know what to expect from them. Is there some sort of secret to getting this car to move its lazy ***? Launch control, maybe?

I've noticed that it seems to accelerate a lot quicker if I leave it in D, which helps lead me to believe something is wrong. I've also read that the transmission adapts to your driving style; maybe an old granny owned this car last (which might explain why it looks brand new) so it's just a matter of resetting something?

I do plan on upgrading the intake/exhaust once I can afford to do so, but what else can I do to fix/unlock the full potential of this car? I'm hoping it's an easy fix that won't cost me anything...

EMonz57

iTrader: (6)

Hate to break this to you but you have a slow car plain and simple. I have owned 4 different 3G eclipses. The RS\GS are slow. The GS Spyder is even slower and the GS spyder with auto is the slowest of them all. These cars usually put down about 100-110WHP. The spyder is more than a slightly heavier. It is extremely heavy. If I recall 3G sypders were around 3900LBS that is HUGE for a car rated at 150bhp. They are tanks, awful turning radius, power/weight, handling. They are basically econo cars that are dressed slightly sporty.

Psythik

So Lancers actually are faster than Eclipses? Surprising. I'd feel bad if I just turned around sold it, so I guess I'll have to just deal with it. Still, is there anything I can to to make the transmission behave at little bit more sporty? Even a 60hp 80s Honda can peel out somewhat if it's a manual and a competent driver is behind the wheel.

EMonz57

iTrader: (6)

If it were a manual you could spin a front tire lol yes one front tire. The auto tranny blows. I don't know what a stock OZ runs but I do know that the 3G 4g64 cars run like 17s in the 1/4. The good news is when you get some money saved up there is a possibility to swap the Evo8 head on there and build the bottom and run any number of Turbo kits that fit on Evos as well. You just need to have a manifold that spaces the turbo away from the starter (I tried this back in 2003 with a Evo7 stock turbo/manifold) None of that will help the tranny situation, you would prob want to talk to some people who know the auto better as mine were all 5speeds except for my last which was my wifes car.

I can tell you I have personally watched a close friend run his auto GT spyder for a few years with a turbo kit made by Tearstone. The car was not crazy fast but it was pretty quick.

Psythik

Hmm, well I don't like automatics at all (especially after today) so I doubt I'll blow that much on a Turbo kit or head swap. I'll probably just do the intake/muffler upgrade, and possibly an ECU flash if it's worth the money, then sell it after a year and get myself a proper 5 speed.

Oh well, at least it'll make for a nice cruiser on those warm summer nights. I can't wait.

Apexaholic

Intake, header, exhaust and a nice ECU flash will get you some power maybe 20% more. You can use ECUflash and Evoscan on the 2001+ Eclipses for tuning. Makes it pretty easy.

Check out club3g.com for tuners, parts, etc. I am sure you can add some go fast parts for cheap and be happier with it.

That being said, yes you do own the slowest, heaviest 3g made. Sorry.

Psythik

Well guys, I took it to my mechanic anyway and it turns out that it needs a new EGR valve, and something is broken in the SportTronic (I forgot what he said), which explains the poor performance in sequential mode. So it turns out I was right. I knew it was just too slow, even for a slow car.

Kendogg

It sounded like something was wrong. I have a 08 spyder auto, and it is kind of slow during normal operation. But if you floor it, it has some get up to its step

EMonz57

iTrader: (6)

Truth