Mitsubishi Ecplipse for a first car?

Question

Is it a good choice or should i go for an rx7 or 240 sx?

Answer 1

rx7 is very tunable and extremely fast. 240 sx is zippy, fun and reliable.

The RX7 is very light and I've known guys who've tuned them and they broke the wheels loose at 70 when you floored it. The problem is last time he broke his wheels loose he spun his car out and wrecked on the freeway.

If you get a turbo eclipse, they're fun too. Lots of tuning options, the base engines though are pretty vanilla.

Answer 2

Depends on what you are looking for. The DSM's can be very fast cars, but they have a much different set-up then the RX-7 and the 240.

Right now, most people are using the 2nd Gen cars. For speed, you will need the turbo version. If you can find one, there is an AWD turbo. Otherwise, you will be looking at a front wheel drive. The problem with FWD is the habit of understeer and torquesteer. The 4G63 is a great engine, and modifications are plentiful. Just be careful, they have a spotty reliablity history and are notorious for weak transmissions.

The RX-7 is a very intresting car. The Wankel Rotary engine can generate great amounts of power, but has a habit of blowing up. If you can make it fast and reliable, it would make a great autocrosser. Downfall would be the fact that very few places have any experience with a Rotary engine and performance parts will be a bit pricy.

The 240 is a great car. The engine, K24, is a strong and torquey engine that has power potential on it's own. However, there is an easy engine swap for the SR20DET. The SR is from the Japanese version of the car, the Silvia, and will make about 220 hp right out of the box. With simple and reasonably affordable upgrades, you can make nearly 300.

The biggest concern would be the drive layout. If by "first car" you mean that this will litterally be the first car you will ever own, then I don't think the rear wheel drive RX-7 or 240 is a good idea. The driving charecteristics for RWD cars are a bit harder to learn then that of a FWD or AWD car. Understeer, while not good for racing, is better and easier to deal with the oversteer.

Let me break down the difference. With understeer, once the tires have lost traction, the car will slide straight no matter what direction the tires are pointed. Because the front tires serve double duty, propelling the car forward and changing direction, once grip is lost the forward pull is lost too. Simply by letting off the gas, the car will come back into control.

With oversteer, once the tires break loose, things get really intresting. The back tires will be pushing the car forward when they have to fight the drag caused by wheels that are not facing forward, they will break loose. Once that happens, the rear of the car will start to swing out to the outside of the turning ark. This will cause the car to spin in a circle unless you know exactly how to countersteer. Countersteering is something that is learned with driving experience and wouldn't be covered in drivers ed classes.

Best car? In my opinion it would be the 240.

Safest car for a beginner to drive? The Eclipse.

Answer 3

Yes, very good for a first car. I'm assuming that you're going to buy one within the 1st or 2nd generation, not 3rd or 4th. The Mitsubishi's have quite a large cult following. The DSM trade mark (Diamond Star Motors), has been known to have very fast 2.0L engines. Brent Rau and John Shephard (SP?) own two of the fastest. They are low-maintenance, low-cost, and what you put in, you get out.
Some of the only vehicles where you can actually do free modifications to the engine.
Likewise, the RX-7s are great cars. They had quite a crowd buying and building even before the Fast and the Furious came out with Vin Diesel behind the wheel. Rear wheel drive and front engine make for a lot of quick, off the line pulls. The rotary engines are more than bullet-proof, however, when/if you wreck your engine, you may as well say good bye.
The 240SXs are quite nice. Coming with both the SR20DE/T and the KA24DE. These vehicles have been very popular in the drifting crowd as they have the near-perfect transmission and torque levels for the style of driving. The SR20DE was also in the Nissan Sentra SE-R of the early to mid-1990's. The KA24DE was in the Altima as well, though neither cars were rear wheel drive.
Your best bet would be to choose which vehicle you like best in terms of capability on the street (daily driving), on the track (1/4 mile), and low cost for right now, and for the future. And, cost for replacement parts, performance parts (if that is what you wish), so on and so forth.

Answer 4

AS always buy the very best car you can afford. RX-7 engines twin turbo are extremely complex and costly to replace every couple years. 240 sx has not been made in over 12 years. First car?? Buy something like a 10 year old grand mother' car Ford taurus? 1999 Pontiac GTP? Pick Up truck for work? car keep insurance low learn to drive and not wreck. Insurance cost will kill off any dreams of building a drift car until you are 25 years old. Just depends if your wealthy jump right on in.

Answer 5

okay, what type of Eclipse are you talking about? 90-94? 95-99? 00-05? or 06+

i have a 2007 Mitsubishi Eclipse Spyder GT V6 3.8L 260hp 258lbs of torque...the only bad thing is that its FWD....and an AWD conversion costs about 15,000 dollars...it works great, the only problem i had with it so far was that the top wouldn't close once and thats because the computer inside it wrote a code by itself...and it was a function like a normal function....the best thing for you to do is just buy a GST or GSX 2nd generation eclipse (95-99) or buy a 2nd generation RS or GS and buy a 4g63 motor to it and install it in there

Answer 6

I have a 2003 Mitsubishi eclipse GTS
It is my first car, and I love it. It's very easy to get used to. Very smooth turning, smooth acceleration, and smooth breaking.

Very very minimal maintenance, great drive. I recommend it completely.

Only downside: You have to use Premium gas. Or you can clog the fuel injectors and mess up the catalytic converter. (I tried using regular.. My car spent a day at the dealership) Other than that, the 3.0 litre 24 valve v6 isn't too much of a gas hog, unless you drive it hard.

Answer 7

For a first car, buy a 2006 Kia Rio or newer, they are cheap, but will last you a while, don't buy any kia older than 2006 or you will get mechanical problems