1995 Eagle Talon TSi AWD review from North America

When I bought the car from the previous owner, it was ghetto rigged and ghetto modded.

Fuel pump sending unit leaked because it was twisted by the ricer mechanic.

The car had boost leaks like crazy because of cheap hose clamps and ghetto intercooler routing.

The car also had oil leaks, but that was because of cheapness on the owners part, had the PCV valve blocked off and crank case pressure was crazy high.

The car also had cracked leather seats, but were replaced.

Passenger side window rolled up slowly, but that was because the X-frame on the window regulator was off alignment.

The car needed a wheel bearing changed, but that's normal from age and abuse.

One injector locked up, but that was from high turbo boost pressures on stock 450cc injectors.

This car is truly a beast. I bought it for $3500 from a friend who did a handful of mods. He wasn't a very good mechanic however, and messed up a lot of parts that he worked on.

I bought the car for my 18th birthday 2 years ago. When I test drove it, it would cut out and the engine would turn off, but that was because of the big injectors and high pressure fuel pump. I replaced the injectors with stock ones and the car picked up in performance.

The car has a big 16g turbo, front mount intercooler, air intake, open downpipe (no exhaust), walbro 255 high press. pump, KYB AGX shocks, ACT2100 clutch, and new rear differential replaced for free under recall from Mitsubishi.

The gas mileage is about 20 miles to the gallon city and about 25-27 on the highway. I usually get like 12mpg though because I'm always flooring and beating it!!! :D.

I would not hesitate to drive the car across the country and back. It has taken an amazing amount of abuse during its life, and it's still standing strong, asking for more.

This car will beat other cars that cost twice as much, I have ran consistent 12 second quarter mile times and that's not even pushing the engine to its limits. It destroys N/A LS1 and LT1 Camaros, Mustang GT's, any Honda with similar hp, BMW M3's, basically anything that tried to run me got eaten alive.

Straight line performance is of biblical proportions. Rev the engine to 5500RPM's and quickly slip the clutch while applying wide open throttle and the car rockets off. Before the clutch pedal makes it back to the top, it's time to step on it again and throw it into second gear. I have topped this car out at 163.5mph using a friends GPS system, gear limited, not power limited. With some bigger wheels or longer 4th and 5th gear I'd say its 175mph capable on the same hp.

Handling is truly amazing on this car. It sits rather high because of the AWD configuration, but will outhandle cars that are slammed to the ground. From the factory the car has two swaybars in the back. You could buy a stock TSi AWD/ Eclipse GSX, and put some nice tires and a swaybar to the front and take it to the nearest SCCA autocross event and be in the top 5 if not top 3 of your class with some seat time.

Think of this car as a slightly detuned version of the Lancer Evolution, it has the same engine, except not as hopped up. This was so that the Eclipse and Talon would compete with the Integra, and they don't compete, they straight blow it out of the water.

These cars will most likely need some maintenance since they're fairly old, the newest model of the Talon is 12 years old, and the Eclipse GSX is 10 years. Most people buy these cars because they're fast and cheap, beat the living hell out of them, and sell them when they start having problems. Be on the look out for neglected cars, there is a lot of them.

These cars are well worth the money if you find the right one. But if you buy someone else's rag, expect to dump a lot of money in it to keep it reliable. That's why these cars tend to have a bad reputation. My car is amazing and I intend to keep it until I start a family, and even then if I can afford to keep it, I will and give it to my kids one day.

DSM for life. Every day, forever.