26th May 2004, 12:06

I have a '99 turbo spyder and I too find 1st gear hard to shift into as well as 3rd. I believe the problem is that the master or slave clutch cylinders are going. I find the car to be a fairly well built car. The engine is very strong and has never given me a problem. I agree that the transmission should have been 'beefed up' a little to handle the HP and torque produced by the engine/turbo. As far as the turbo being too small I find that it gives the car a very distinct advantage over other turbo cars. Because of its small size it is able to windup very quickly making the car extremely fast off the line. While it doesn't help a whole lot top when driving over 75 or 80 mph It's fine with me. It's a small nimble car that is much more fun to speed on windy back roads than on large highways.

11th Nov 2005, 11:51

My 97 GST is a total dream! It has 146k miles on the engine and tranny, and 70k on the turbo. I haven't had any major problems with it. The one thing I can see becoming a problem are the seal on the block. It is starting to leak a little bit of oil, but it leaks and burns less than half a quart per 3k miles.

In general, this car is very affordable to mod and not hard to maintain. It isn't as hardy as a Honda when it comes to maintenance, so keep on top of it and you won't have any major problems with it. If you are gonna bring it above 290-310 hp, the block will start to rock... best bet is to look for a higher threshold block. (check out "front-clips" from Japan... save time and money on the engine swap by buying the entire front end.)

All in all, the car is a ton of fun and highly recommended for those that take great care of their cars.

4th Dec 2005, 19:11

I don't know all that much about my gs-t, but I was looking under the front left tire and I see a big sidewall drenched in liquid..I'm not sure what it is.. maybe just water?? the car doesn't leak at all tho.. so maybe I'm OK.

21st Jul 2007, 21:22

I own a 95 GS-T, it has a new engine with 60k miles, I grind going into second gear, and my repairs needed are as follows, New slave and master cylinder, new belt, new seals, new brakes due to warped rotors, but overall the car puts out great power for its 2.0L, I am pleased with the performance it puts out, just need to make minor repairs and should be in good shape, for it being over ten years old not much to complain about with this car.

16th Jan 2008, 17:43

Easy way to get rid of crankwalk is to replace your stock 6-bolt crank with a 7 bolt crank. If you have the $$$ to replace your stock crank on your 4G63 motor (they come in the GS-T and the GSX models), then definitely, DEFINITELY replace your crank with a 7 bolt before it's too late. If you want more information, please go to www.DSMtuners.com; they have everything you need to know about your Eclipse needs.

25th Jun 2008, 19:40

I have a 97 gs-t spyder and it has about 82,000 miles on it. I've replaced the turbo, clutch, spark plug wires, slave cylinder. My car is really slow to speed up from 2nd to 3rd gear when I wanna pick up speed. I have an injen air intake, that might be the problem. The top leaks like crazy. The gears grind in 2nd and 3rd gear. This was my dream car until I had to start replacing almost everything. I didn't think I would have to replace the turbo so soon, the oil seals were leaking and smoke was coming from the back of my car. BUT... I do love this car. It's a fun car when it is working right.

21st Dec 2008, 23:19

1997 GST Spyder, grenaded at 100,000 miles. Always garaged, parts still cracked. The dash, the plastic little pieces the seat no one sits on... you get the idea.

1st rebuild lasted 200 miles, mechanic incorrectly installed wrong mains due to the myriad of options available according to which block you have.

All in all, it's fast but not much else. Poor man's MR-2 but slightly better than a Mustang. (better styling but that's about all, equal on build quality)

Top motor stopped at 50k, turbo went at 60k, suspension gone at 85k, and engine crank walked at 100k. Now it sits in my garage since 2002. It died almost to the day at five years...

Disposable car, really, 60 payments and it expires.

3rd Feb 2009, 21:33

I have a 1997 GST. I thought I was the only one with this problem, but I love the style of the car.

Oh yeah, I rebuilt the motor twice.

5th Mar 2009, 21:14

I have a 1997 Eclipse GST convertible and also a 1997 3000 GT VR4. The GST has about 94,000 miles with no problems until recently when the clutch pedal just goes to the floor and I do not know where the fluid has gone. I love the car even though I get burned eyeballs when driving on sunny days.

The comment about warped rotors sounds like the story you often get from mechanics who want to sell you new ones. Typically, the problem is that material from the pads is deposited unevenly on the rotors causing that annoying vibration and pulling side to side. If the pads are still there, try driving with the brakes on for a while (No, not hard on) to try and wear the deposits down. When a mechanic says the rotors are warped, ask to see a sample. I switched my front brake pads to ceramic and think that they are awesome.

Enjoy, Paul Wyatt.

13th Nov 2009, 13:39

The guy that wrote this review just got himself a very hard used DSM.

I have owned 3 of these little machines, and all have been great. They all do have their small problems that are typical, and I'll tell you what they were, considering I've owned 3 and know what I'm talking about.

Ball joints are a problem you should look out for around 60-90 thousand miles. Once you start hearing the front end of the car making a squeaky grinding noise when you turn the wheels or go over a bump, it is more than likely a ball joint. 2 out of the 3 I've owned had this problem.

One other problem is the master and slave cylinders in these cars have a problem with going out too easy. Replaced that on 2 of my 3 DSMs as well.

Aside from that you got your normal wear and tear on these cars. You can't take advice from someone who just happened to end up with a hard used model like this guy.

The joys of these cars around where I live is that there is a rare batch within 200 miles. I'm not hating on Mustangs because they are fast and nice, BUT THEY'RE EVERYWHERE. These 4g63's are definitely desirable if you want something that stands out and looks good with above average power. The car is a head turner, and if you're a single guy, then I've found that girls LOVE my car.

If you got a stock engine, you haven't got much to worry about aside from wear and tear parts, and also note you better change the timing belt by 60,000 miles, cause if that baby goes, then you're gonna have a big issue on your hands and will be finding yourself more than likely buying a new block.

For those of you who want to mod and tune your car, MAKE SURE you change EVERY belt, fluids, and just anything that would be a good idea to tune back up FIRST, then proceed with modding.

As far as the tranny goes, I've never had a major one until now (possibly cause my clutch is getting very weak too, not sure yet), but it's not because the car has a bad transmission, it's just cause my car is not stock and it's hard to lay off the throttle when you hear that turbo winding up, about to snap your neck back in the seat.

I'll probably never own another sports car other than these little guys, cause when you're flying down the road in one of these, it makes you feel like you have complete control.

These cars are getting harder and harder to find for the money and in good good condition, so if you've got one or are thinking about buying one, learn the market and don't get robbed. These go for over retail value in today's world so be a smart shopper!

Hope this helps a lot of people who are thinking about buying one of these. If you're not convinced I know what I'm talking about, I bet most you guys don't even know what the car is truly named after. Yep, not a actual eclipse you'd see from the moon or the sun, but it's actually named after a Japanese racing horse that was named Eclipse back in the day. Yeah so there you go, some info from a true die hard Eclipse/Talon fan. Thanks.

9th Dec 2009, 10:06

Don't listen to the person posting about replacing the 6 bolt crank with a 7 bolt, they are wrong. There are so many ways they are wrong it's not even funny.

The motor in the 95-99 GST and GSX's are 7 bolt (7 bolts on the flywheel) motors in the first place. These are the ones most prone to crankwalk. Any motor made past 1992.5 ish is also a 7 bolt motor.

A lot of people have swapped the 6 bolt (89?-91 and some 92's) into the GST and GSX. It's less prone (emphasis on less) to crankwalk, although 6 bolt motors do crankwalk (it's just a matter of 100 times less than the 7. They 6 bolts use heavier duty parts and put out about 15 less hp, but they take abuse much better than the 7 bolt 4g63t engines. Well, that's the rant, just don't swap a 6 bolt crank out with a 7, that is completely pointless, and not to mention, impossible if the engine is a 7 bolt motor to begin with.