1989 Eagle Talon TSI AWD review from North America

Where should I start?

For one I bought the car with a JDM motor, 91 transmission and a 4bolt rear end.

Day 1: Clutch starts slipping; $500.

Day 15: After arriving at work, I see oil dripping from the turbo cooler return line.

Day 28: Transfer case leaks.

Day 45: Turbo oil feed line leaks.

Constant: leaking from valve cover, oil pressure sensor, oil pan, drive shaft yoke.

Hits the fuel cut past 5k RPM.

Alignment is never correct.

ISC can't control the idle when hot.

Interior squeaks and rattles everywhere.

Belts squeak.

Sun roof is not working and leaking.

Horn works only when the car is cold.

Gets terrible 15MPG and takes premium only.

Terrible design of the trunk with a spare tire being in the middle.

Driver's side axle support bearing breaks loose, axle pops out of the tranny.

Power steering pump cries when the car is cold.

Plus many many more.

The car is the greatest piece of junk I had ever owned. Do not buy any DSM products if you want a daily driver. Those cars are crappy made and are completely worthless. I hated working on this car, because I was dirty every day from laying under it or on top of it. Something is always broken, about to break or being fixed.

The people who own DSMs, for some reason find it funny and appealing to rebuild their motors, rear ends and transmission because they constantly break.

I didn't. My Talon was leaking virtually every fluid through the course of time I owned it. I got weary of fixing fluid leaks, boost leaks, and replacing things that should not just break.

Do not buy this car if you want an affordable sports car. These cars are not. They are somewhat quick once the turbo kicks in. But not fast in a stock form in any way.

Those who think that AWD DSMs can be launched all the time and they rape mustangs are full of crap. T-cases of DSMs are terrible and they will blow even if you launch the car at 3k.

Interior quality is atrocious. Plastic panels buzz all around you, with different frequency depending on RPM you are in.

Gear ratios are terrible. You are at 3k RPM at 60MPH. Not exactly good for fuel economy.

As for handing and acceleration. My DMS spends most of its time on jack stands. On those divine days it ran, it was fun to drive and it handled great. But those days were rare and far apart.

The car was extremely unreliable, extremely uncomfortable and to be honest, not that fast. Power band on NOT heavily modified DSMs is rather poor. There is little to no LOW end torque, and turbo starts pushing only the hot air past 6k RPM. So you end up with the car that performs best in mid range... not exactly a good place to perform.