1990 Eagle Talon TSi from North America - Comments

Talons are the biggest piece of CRAP, two of my friends had the same car and they say the same thing as I do...CRAP. keep in mind that I never beat on this car, use synthetic oil and maintain it very well, but I stopped driving it and bought an ACURA, am in the process of selling the talon.

A month after buying the car the AWD failed and we all know how much that is to replace.

Complete suspension is crap.

Brakes and rotors are crap.

E-brake cable snapped.

Power windows barely work.

Brand new timing belt somehow snapped, causing all my valves to shatter, new head gasket, head got shaved.

A/C stopped working, belt somehow snapped.

Gone through 2 water pumps.

3 alternators.

4 battery's.

Have to use a wood stick to hold up rear latch.

Leaks oil all over the driveway, forced to park on the street.

Nomatter what I do, the transmission grinds from first to second and second to third and they all grind if you shift faster then your grandma.

Check engine light won't go off and turbo gauge stopped working.

Turbo has never worked right so I changed it, put brand new one in and that ones a piece of crap aswell.

Changed radiator twice.

Engine always smells like burning oil and the interior always smells like fried electronics.

Reminder that I treat this car like gold.

Although this car is very unreliable its still very fun to drive.

Talons are fast cars if you have the 195hp and traction off the line is amazing with the AWD no-matter what the weather is like.

Cause of the small displacement, you won't feel the pull as much and a V8.

Anyone who says there stock talon can outrun a stock fox style 5L mustang must be racing someone who can drive a mustang cause my brother has one and off the line the talon holds its own, but could never beat one through the 1/4 mile. We own 2 performance shops so we know how to drive.

Anyways talons are cool little cars, but reliability is not something that comes with it when you buy one.

I own an acura 3.2cl, and a 2002 lincoln navigator, and a 2003 ninja zx6r and the talon is the only vehicle that isn't in my driveway.

I think you've got a lemon. I've seen many people with Talon's and have had a lot of fun... only doing routine maintenance. Go easy on the Talon, it has its issues, but if treated right, I'll treat you right.

It also sounds like you pounded the tar out of it, and shut your car off right after, not letting the car cool down properly... IE. Your reason for going through turbos etc...

If your gears grind like that.. just double clutch. it's probably the synchros - if you actually knew anything about cars you could probably make that diagnosis yourself.

Okay, obviously you must be doing something wrong. I've owned my Talon TSI AWD Turbo for a about 6 months and the only costly thing I've had to do to it is get a new clutch installed. The grinding that you have, try some tranny fluid or some gear lube. The power windows, the latch stands, the AC, and everything else you have described are cheap, inexpensive, driveway fixes. Just because you used synthetic oil doesn't mean you were taking good care of it. And, obviously, if your leaking in your driveway, the oil isn't really being used. But, if you think that its too much of a hastle keeping the Talon in good running shape, let me know. I would have no problem taking it off your hands.

OK who ever said that a 5.0L mustang can beat a tsi talon is absolutely WRONG my buddy owns 2 talons a stock one and a done up one my other 2 buddies own mustang which happen to be 5.0s one stock and one done up and the stock talon screws them both up and its stock and the guys who own the stang drag race 4 a livin so no its the car not the drive think AWD vs. RWD. RWD spins AWD doesn't there rts are the best out there the worlds fastest street legal car right now is a 1990 eagle talon owned by john shepard look him up on youtube it runs 7s in the 1/4 mile no other street car can doo that it has 300hp per piston that means it has 1200 hp trust me I've done my research lol.

Please don't start the 5.0 vs DSM thing. Cars post pretty much identical 1/4 mile times. Off the line talon will take the mustang (you all can figure out why), mustang will catch up on the top end.

I agree with the guys backing the Talon TSi!! I own a 1990 Eagle Talon TSi with a Cyclone Import Engine. Off the crate it has 225hp, and with all of my small and cheap add-ons, the HP gain is around 250. I've also owned a 93 5.0 with small and cheap add-ons, and would pick my Talon over the STANG any day of the week! You just can't beat these little cars!!!

I would say DSM > Mustang. I have a 90 tsi and what late 80s or early 90s turbo car doesn't have its fix here and there; they were a sports car and you are 2nd hand and so on, not the 1st owner, so therefore the car has been beaten here and there, so yeah like I was saying, DSM FTW.

Well it's wrong that you are comparing cars that are 12 years of age difference. When your Lincoln is even 8 years old, it will be in worse condition than the Talon ever will be (you will be towing it to the scrap yard with your Talon) and the Lincoln will cost you a lot more than what it WILL cost to fix your Talon (especially if you only have a few oil leaks, again it's 18 years old). It will be like all Lincolns and have a million electrical problems.

I have 1990 Talon non turbo for 3 years now, and the only problem I have had with it is the alternator, and I race it every weekend, and all I know is that it likes to play with 5.0Ls.

Alright just throwing me 0.02 in, I've owned 4 Talon TSi's (3 AWD turbos and one FWD turbo). And I have loved all of them, the one I have had now for the last 4 years as my daily driver has been very dependable, it's gone from stock to modded to all hell, and I have still driven it for the past year modded. The original poster talked about the AWD stopping to work and the other load of problems, they are all simple fixes, it just takes someone willing to get their hands dirty instead of sitting there complaining about it. And the whole DSM vs. Mustang thing, I'll just sit back and laugh. The Mustang could never live up to the performance and ingenuity that goes into a DSM.

I have a 90 Talon with 55k and some extensive bolt on mods (pte 50 trim, 680cc injectors, ridiculously large intercooler, aem ems, trans, suspension, sagging roof liner, etc...)

I had to replace the ECU with an AEM as the stocker blew up (so there were some initial reliability issues), but having now had the car sitting for 5 years in a temperate field with rat nests in the engine bay and coil wires eaten through, all it needed was a plug, wire, and oil change to be purring like it's brand new. Started up first time. I even had to use it to tow out the car we rented to tow the Talon out of the field after that car got stuck!!

Great and reliable engine, the 4g63, and this one is making 450+awhp on 91 octane pump gas.

I have had and still do have many modified FI german cars, and a couple domestics, but am still fascinated by the resilience of the Talon, especially considering the cheap cost of entry. It's impossible to get my sc'd e36 M3 to the Talons power level without some major engine overhauling, and 10 times the cost as it's only pushing 380rwhp with 20k worth of upgrades. Maybe you got a lemon... Good luck with it if you still have it!

I have a 1990 Eagle Talon TSI, and the only problem I had was the turbo blew ($200 fix). This small car, when running right, pulls so hard that you would think you're driving a Trans Am. Mustangs are slower than a 1990 TSI, so I don't like to compare them, I used to own a built 1996 Pontiac Trans Am with an LT1 engine, and this Talon is just as fast if not faster.

Reliability isn't an issue because I don't beat the heck out of this, it's a daily driver. For being 19 years old, you should expect any car to need a little TLC. If you're not willing to bring the car back to its glory days, then sell it to someone who will.