Faults:
The previous owner changed the head gasket, but other than that with basic maintenance the car has yet to give me a problem (and I'm always tweaking it for more performance). Must be because the car is made by Mitsubishi and not Dodge!
If you are lucky enough to find/buy/own one of these cars (or plan to), buy any spare parts for it you can find...NOW! If you go to your local Dodge dealer trying to get parts, they basically laugh at you.
General Comments:
If you get the opportunity to buy one of these little demons, do it! It's a rare little car, and as far as I'm concerned no other (stock) pocket rocket even comes close. I've owned Civics, Rabbit, Festivas, heck you name it I've owned it.
Even with it's puny ultra-restrictive exhaust (with no less than 3 cats) this thing pulls HARD. The turbo is probably the smallest I've ever seen (and runs out of breath very early -- maybe 4500rpm), but sounds great and works pretty good for the car (though if you're like me you'll be upgrading to a larger one).
Like the other poster said, the handling is quirky. Takes a while to get used to, but once you're comfortable with it the car can be tossed around with ease. I wouldn't want to do any high-speed canyon carving with a Porsche, but for around-town corner throws it performs grand.
The interior is simply hideous (especially the Burgundy color). All aspects of it. I tore everything out the day I parked the car for the first time. That's all I can say about that.
Body integrity? No rust, rot, or corrosion whatsoever. None. Zilch. Nada. Granted I'm on the west coast, but I've owned PNW Rabbits that had loads of cancer. Sheet metal seems a bit thin, but that's just fine by me (less weight). Speaking of weight, the car is a svelte 1900 lbs or so fully loaded (not that there are many options to speak of). What does a new Civic Si weigh? 3300lbs or so? No thank you.
With a few low-cost (or free) mods (bye-bye exhaust), you'll be embarrassing just about everyone in town (and scaring the s**t out of your girlfriend). =D.
30th Jan 2007, 13:10
Great review!