I'm interested in getting an eclipse, and I was woundering if you guys could help me out on a little info. about buying one, and on some info. on the eclipse itself...So bare with me, ok?

Could anyone give me a little personal info. on the Rs, Gs, Gsx? I'm not really looking for a racing vehicle, but something with good performance, as far as acceleration on pick up, and something that's decent on gas milage, with the possabilty of boosting it's performance in the future. I'm looking to only spend somewhere between $3500 to $4000.....Which is going to be somewhere around an 1997 to 1999 model around my area...used. An automatic would be nice, but I've heard that if getting an Rs I would need to get the manual for better pick up becouse of lack of hp with the Rs. But I'm also thinking about the Gs or Gsx. Could you guys help me out on the differance of the model variations? I also have no clue in what to look for when purchasing one....Like what should I pay attention to when it comes to buying one. Things like specific areas which may be poor signs of engine trouble in the eclipse or faulty electrical emmisions problems.
Basically in a nut shell....I want something quick, responsive, good fuel economy, that looks sweet, and possably one with 18" alloy rims.....Could you guys point me in the right direction on what model of the eclipse could help me narrow my search down? And what problems that I may encounter while owning one?

Thanks a bunch [sm=icon_cheers.gif],

-Shadow-

 

just to kinda give a short answer on the types
RS/GS = non turbo engine. front wheel drive. The rs is just kinda the base model of the 2 having less options.
GS-t = Turbo engine. Front wheel drive.
GSX = turbo engine. all wheel drive

Seems to me its all pointing toward a GS-t for you except if you can put alittle more money than 4k then it wouldbe alittle nicer one. For the 4k you could easily get a really nice GS but i dont know if it would have the performance your looking for. First i would decide which model is best for you and then we can help you on what to look for. Both N/T and turbo can be reliable. And of course both can have there share of problems. The RS/GS will get alittle better gas mileage but with either car your gonna get around 22-26 mpg average. The GSX i think youll find will be a bit higher price than your looking for, or they will be beaten to death if they are cheap. So heres kinda my opinion ofa scale 1-5 (1 being worst:

RS/GS
Performance = 3
Gas Mileage = 4
Price = 5
Reliability = 4
Potential = 3

GS-t
Performance = 5
Gas Mileage = 4
Price = 3
Reliability = 3.5 (depends on the previous owner)
Potential = 5

So it all depends on whats alittle more important to you. Price or Power?

 

you say you are looking for a "responsive, good performance and good gas mileage" both the turbo and n/t models are responsive, if you don't floor the turbo models every straight away they all have decent gas mileages, AS TO THE PERFORMANCE! can you be a littlebit more specific? are you looking for 150whp? 200whp? 300+whp? this is a very vauge description... i have a 99 GS with cold air intake, full header back exhaust, b&m short shifter, ported and polished throttle body, greddy grounding kit, and EGR Blockoff kit and i'll outrun every eclipse (non turbo), neon (not srt4), civic (keep up with SI), accord (non h22)around here... so it's really a model of perfomance in YOUR eyes... let us know which one you decide on and we'll see what we can do to steer you in the right direction.

 

Thanks for the replys fellas!....I thought that no one would reply since I really hadn't had a clue.

To be a "little more specific" about the performance was to get just an all around, overall example of what models were what....If that helps.
I assumed with the turbo, it would be much more powerfull, with much more hp, But I didn't know if the Rs or Gs could be souped up somehow if I decided that I wanted more hp in the future.
You know how the local high school kids are installing the performance mufflers etc. and think that they're D.E.J? Ta, he, he....I'm not really looking to go that route.......to the extent of racing, or seeming so.
I'll be 100% honest with you. Right know I have an 1993 isuzu pickup (2.0 4-cy.) That is so slow, that It's almost dangerous. I've owned a few mitzz' in the past and I've loved the reliabilty and even the stock performance on all of them.
I only have the 4k that I mentioned, so like "the engineer" said, if I found a gsx for around that price, it would be most likely have been beaten down in some shape or form.
So I guess my choices are somewhat limited because of my lack of finances.
I'm just woundering, if I were to get an Rs or Gs, say by a private owner that has a clean title/background and hasn't had his son run the vehicle to ****, would there be an option for potential to increase the hp by possably adding some type of chip, ram air, performance exhaust kit etc. to give me that get up and go that I may need at anytime without getting 210 hp right off the bat?
I'm a little on the conservative side when it comes to pampering my vehicle......But I look at hp in a vehicle the kind of same way that I look at a firearm for home defense.....You may never have to use it, but if you do, it's always there....Ya' know?
Say if I decided to get an Rs or Gs and if the potential is there....Could you guys, or possably anyone on the forum point me in the right direction to give me ideas to better its performance, as in 15% hp here and there? Or would it be in my best interest to just have a wishfull thinking approach, and hope that I can find a Gs-t for a little more cash?
My mech. background in automotives is some what reasonable.....But to swap an engine, or anything along those lines would probably pushing my knowledge a little to the extreme.
Again, thanks a great deal for the reply, I'm learning.....Slowly.
Take care,
-Shadow-

 

if you get an RS or GS... you are basically stuck under the 130whp mark unles you spend some money! they are 140bhp off the line, over 9-12 years its dropped. there are no realistic engine swaps for the car. your best bet is to hook up a 50-65shot to the car and hope it doesn't blow up... but, eventually, it will. the only other way to get the 15+%hp increase is to turbo the car, even if you hack the hell out of the kit and buy parts here, there, everywhere the minimum you are looking at is about 2k to run it safely, after you do this you are only allowed to go up to about 8 or 9lbs of boost before you have to replace the piston rings, at 12lbs the rods give, at 17 the pistons are crap and at 20lbs the head needs a rebuild. if you are seriously looking for some decent usable power go w/ a gs-t or gsx.

 

From whatI know (not much just figured I'd try to feel smart) and from what I read I would recomend a GS, this is why. (back me up or tell me if i'm wrong "engineer")
1. If your not looking for anything racey or ricey then this is the in between of a 12 gauge shot gun and a civil war musket.
2. you could do a little bit with the car like cold air or short ram intake, full exhaust kit, heck a little port and polish and this will get that DSM breathing a little bit. Also adsm link ( a device that helps tune your car) and a little tunning could help,but turbo is not recomended with your budget, I alsoheard from Jhonny ricer a few decals will give some nice horsepower ( haha jk about the decals, look up johnny ricer) and I believe there is some contreversy on the chips.
3. This of course cannot be all done at once b/c you only have about $4,000 to buy a car but, little steps and one day you'll have something to be proud of!!

 

Im going to expand on what engineer said

GS/RS

Potential - 1 - basically you will never break 15/sec quarter mile without crazy money
Reliability - 4 - they have a slight head gasket reputation for blowing
Gas - 4 - they are fairly decent... but they are no honda gas mileage
Price - 4 - they are reasonably priced for what they are
Performance - 2- basically you are going to be running about 100hp to the wheels... that sucks if you ask me. The only mod that will give yo udecent power is a turbo kit and not many people want that hassle... not to mention it can cause you problems.... BIG problems.

GST/GSX (the turbo models... GSX being AWD and GST being FWD)

GST:

Potential - 4 - They respond to mods VERY well and have a huge aftermarket.
Reliability - 3- they are known for breaking down... however this is mostly due to abuse from previous owners. Find one owned by an old man and you will be fine
Gas - 3/4 - If you drive the car like a ***** and stay off boost entirely you should be able to pull the same gas mileage as the GS/RS. However if you drive like me and go pedal to the metal a lot...and have a few mods.. you are likely to have less than 20mpg... its very driver dependant with this car.
Price - 5 - I say 5 because they are great value for money. The are a little more expensive than the GS/RS but well worth it!
Performance - 4 - I say 4 because its front wheel drive so that limits it a little. However they are pretty fast with little money

GSX:

Exactly the same, only performance and potential are better because of AWD and same great value for money.

I can almost head you thinking it... well.. why not put a GST/GSX motor in the GS/RS? Well, unless you want to spend 10k on it... knowing that a GST is half that... go for it : )

 

i was thinking about telling him about the swap but i figured i'd let him ask before i go all "ms cleo" on him lol. as for DBIGGS DSMLink is only created for the turbo models. The DSM link would also be a dumb idea to buy b/c it's overkill for the 420a you won't need to deal with timing at all so a SAFCII would be plenty for the car. I've heard on another forum that ppl hooked them up to theirs and after a full dyno tune, only got about 4-5whp. Short and simply put, if you want performance, get a GS-T or GSX. I'd say the GS-T b/c by the way you are describing what you want you won't be pushing enough to spin through 3rd.

 

I tried......

 

you're learning. i was in the same boat as you a while back. you're on the curve, just learn as much as you can... i started just reading up on a lot of crap when i first started. i'd read magazines and whatever i didn't understand i'd look up and learn about it. also check out http://auto.howstuffworks.com/ they have great reads on a lot of things like turbo's, superchargers, nitrous. and a great article on v-tecs and cams.