I took a friend autocrossing this weekend and I think he's got the bug. He sent me an email indicating he's looking at an Eagle Talon and/or Conquest. I haven't seen too many of either at autocross events (I know they are popular with the drag-racing crowd). I know neither is a favorite at national level events either, but beyond that, don't know much about 'em. (Other than, yes, I know a lot of them have been wrenched on by people who don't know what they are doing. My friend is savvy enough to sort those out.) Thoughts?
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June 29, 2010 6:22 a.m. kazoospec New Reader
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June 29, 2010 6:36 a.m. Raze HalfDork
Conquest is on my bucket list, Talon/Eclipse not so much...
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June 29, 2010 6:43 a.m. mw HalfDork
A friend of mine autox's a 1g talon. It's pretty quick on a local level, but will likely never be a national contender. He did attend Nationals last year and ran in SM (under prepped). He seems to really like it. His chasis is starting to rot, and he plans to swap all his parts over to a new shell.
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June 29, 2010 6:53 a.m. alfadriver Dork
Unless you are the type who want to go to nationals, I find it important to run what you LIKE.
That being said- DSM's have done well at challenges - (look at 2nd place in 2004's autocross), and they are the reason SM was formed in the first place (thanks Dennis Grant).
Competent cars.
If you like the car, and it's reliable, you'll stick to autocrossing.
Eric
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June 29, 2010 7:12 a.m. Gimp Dork
STX 2nd gen Eclipse could be a fun car.
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June 29, 2010 7:25 a.m. maroon92 SuperDork
Conquest in Street Prepared!
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June 29, 2010 8:05 a.m. Armitage Reader
2nd gen DSMs have front double wishbone and are generally considered better for AutoX, though they weigh more in full street trim.
In 1Gs, watch out for power steering cut at high RPMs in 1st gear when lifting. It can ruin your run. An easy mod to the P.S. pump fixes this problem.
Also in 1Gs (I don't know much about 2Gs really), you may want to consider eliminating the passive rear toe built into the trailing arm to reduce the awful understeer these things have out-of-the-box. There are off-the-shelf solutions or you can DIY ( http://www.jakelatham.com/1gDSM/projects/rear_suspension/ )
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June 29, 2010 8:24 a.m. Buzz Killington HalfDork
we have a guy who runs a 2G Eclipse in SM. It's a fairly quick car.
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June 29, 2010 8:33 a.m. ReverendDexter Dork
There's a local guy here in a 2nd-gen Talon TSi. He's quick in that thing. I can't speak as to how it would work out in SCCA-style classing, though.
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June 29, 2010 8:34 a.m. jstein77 HalfDork
Armitage wrote: In 1Gs, watch out for power steering cut at high RPMs in 1st gear when lifting. It can ruin your run. An easy mod to the P.S. pump fixes this problem.
I wrote a GRM article on the 1G back when they were new, and complained bitterly about the power steering lockup issue. It occurred in every gear, not just first.
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June 29, 2010 8:38 a.m. WilberM3 Reader
we have a guy running a talon awd with big slicks, i think turned up boost, cut/rolled fenders, and some suspension that looks pretty quick around the course.
if it werent for all the morons that have owned/damaged so many dsms i'd probably want one but theyre all broken up here in the tempting pricerange. besides conquest/starion box flares + rwd = win.
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June 29, 2010 9:08 a.m. Tom Heath Webmaster
Dennis Grant (one of the founding fathers of the Street Mod class) used to campaign a pretty nasty 2G Eagle Talon.
There's a ton of information on his site... Clicky clicky...
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June 29, 2010 9:08 a.m. westsidetalon New Reader
Our 2004 GRM Challenge 1st gen Talon did rather well in autox that year. That year was the road course which really allowed a great launch and enabled the car to USE its boost much more. Other then that I still feel them to be understeering lead sleds stock. Money may overcome that, but not sure.
