Cheap AWD car?
 

My poor Civic Ep3 can barely handle the snow and I am betting I can get around 5-6k for her. Was thinking about how awesome it would be to have an AWD car, that and someone wise once said, "life's too short for FWD" (so true). I have some money in the bank and would like to put it towards an AWD. My budget is around 7-8k and I am leaning towards the DSMs, i.e Eclipse (GST?) and the Talon TSI's from the 92+ years. How reliable are these cars? Do these Talons share the exact same engines as the Mitsu counterparts? Can I even find one in my budget? Any other suggestions are welcome

I would lean towards another AWD car. Perhaps a older gen a4 quattro or older wrx impreza.
I may be biased but most of my friends or acquaintances Eclispes and Talons.. are either in a shop or storage because they don't run well lol.

Get snow tires. But yeah I have a buddy with a eclipes and everytime I see him, theres always a new problem.

For the Eclipse's the AWD version is the GSX (turbo AWD), NOT the GST (turbo FWD). Are they reliable? Generally not. Yes Eclipse's and Talon's share the same parts as they are basically the same car. You should be able to find either an Eclipse GSX or Talon TSI AWD within your budget.

EDIT: I've owned a 2G Eclipse GSX before, I was constantly having issues with it.

http://static.cargurus.com/images/si...-pic-8293.jpeg
Or this beast

fuckk :megusta:

http://vancouver.en.craigslist.ca/va...803738646.html

Imma scrap my g35 soon and get a AWD.

Lol reliability and DSM in the same sentence?

I think the best option is just to get a set of winters with wheels for your EP3, if your car isn't slammed the weather we get here won't be too bad with winters. Don't forget that AWD doesn't mean you will stop any better if you don't have winters.

I've got a DSM. 95 Talon TSi AWD, which is the same as the Eclipse GSX. For a car with 200k on it, it's been pretty good. I've had to change the rad. That's really about it. Very practical, AWD, fold down rear seats, not too bad on gas. Since I lowered mine, it's lost a lot of its practicality however. Was considering an Audi A6, but they have way too many problems, as well as the other models.

Seriously, I did some research on the turbo quattro A4s and A6s, and they seem to be nothing but trouble..

Are the suzuki sx4's in the price range already?

nvm

^This.

For some reason a lot of people believe that if you have AWD, you're good to go for anything, anywhere. This is not true. Obviously AWD handles the best in the snow, but that doesn't mean you don't need snow tires. Hell, my friend has a damn Evo and still needs snows.

Unless you really wanna change cars, just spend your money on some snow tires and drive safe. I've seen Tercels and Echos pull through just fine with snow tires.

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Buy proper snow tires for it.

Get snow tires for your EP

I had GSX before, reliable? HA! don't even think about it, poured in more than the car's price to fix it in the 5~ years that I've owned it.

Because after all, having AWD only meant you can get going quickly, doesn't mean you can STOP quickly.

BTW a good set of snow tires got me through many times cross country through rockies, white outs, covered highways and last snow dump in vancouver with ease in my RWD Lexus.

2007 Suzuki SX4

If you are looking for a car to tackle snow, this is what I would get. It's reliable, it's newer, higher ground clearance? and within your price range.

Subaru Justy

Cheap AWD

I would love me an awd but my front wheel drive car is fine with snow tires. I made it all the way up to a cabin with unpaved roads at Mt Baker a few winters ago and clearance was my biggest problem, not grip. I did rip apart some plastic that was under my engine tho heh.

http://a6.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphot...02648163_n.jpg

Should never have lowered it 2", lol. But it's made it through winter thus far, and multiple camping trips to Chilliwack Lake, Golden Ears, and plenty of crappy highway.

where was that taken?

I love it when I hear people say,

"man I need awd for winter"

no you dont, my civic EG has 205x50x17 winter tires with studs,

and I was flying past huge 4X4's on the coquihalla.

its all about the tires, not about the drivetrain

I love it even more when they insist they're right, and there's little Toyotas cruising along just fine.

I love it when people in the lower mainland base their car buying decision off the <10 days a year we see snow and then consider it a free pass for having to get winters.

Abbotsford, yesterday. I think there's even more snow on the ground today.

Exactly! There is a big misconception on Talons and Eclipses. The only dsm's you have to worry about are years 93-96. Some of them are known to develop crankwalk over time. Other then that they are solid cars if taken care of. The "bad reliability" issues arise because the car can develop a lot of power relatively easy. The ones that have issues are usually because at one point in time a young kid purchased it who installed a manual boost controller then boosts it up to 20psi without upgrading the fuel system or ecu. Then goes out and repeatedly does 5000rpm awd launches off the line. Of course this car will eventually have some problems.

One of our technicians has a 92 talon with 310,000kms on the stock engine that is daily driven running 30psi with meth injection and making 450hp at the flywheel. He drove with this setup for years. This is an extreme example, but it's all about maintenance and not abusing the car. A 300hp dsm can be a fun reliable car that works in winter and summer. Just my .02 rant;)

On another note, I'd stay away from Audi's a lot of $$$$ to maintain. WRX's are good cars in stock form, the drivetrain can't reliably handle power levels over stock. But unless you're not happy with your civic you should just get a proper alignment and snow tires. Civic's with snow tires are great in the snow.