14th Mar 2007, 17:02

I'm a UK driver of a 98 Spyder and, despite the leaky roof, I love it.

Does anyone have a part number for the seal that fits between the windshield and the roof though... could do with ordering one before I get the roof tightened.

25th Apr 2007, 19:35

I bought my Eclipse GS Spyder in April 1997, and have had almost no problems with it. Yes the roof leaks and the back window sitching has come undone and needs to be fixed. I had that problem with the roof bar bending (fortunately was under warranty) and had a starter solenoid die on me a few months ago. Needed clutch work done a year ago. But in 10 years of owning this car I have spent less than $1,500 in repairs, most of it being the clutch, which is gonna wear out in 10 years of mostly city driving in any car. If you take care of your car and don't abuse it, it will last.

The GS is not a race car, but it handles great, very rarely I have ever heard the tires squeal even when taking very fast sharp turns.

I plan on keeping this car until it dies, I love it. It helps I park it in the garage at home and have covered parking at work though. In heavy rain storms, I take the minivan.

19th May 2007, 08:51

I'm from Boston mass, and I to just purchased a 97 eclipse spyder for 6,000. It's red w/t tan interior auto. And yes, I have had some problems to. The first day I picked the car up from the dealership the top broke. The dealership did find a new/used top for $800.00 and installed it. There is an after market kit for this top. It still has a little problem recomclearing the back seat, but I just gently pull it over and it is fine. And yes like most convertibles mine does leak. I recommend a fitted weater proof car cover or garage the beauty. The spyder runs fine although a bit under powered it drives smooth on the highway, I cruise @ 80mph no problemo. I would like some advise on after market parts. My spyder idles ruff and hesitates when you push on the gas, but once you get going it smooths out. Bottom line is that the SPYDER is one sexy litte conv, but you probably would not want it for your only car, unless your single and don't care about lack of space. I want to hook my little baby up! She has the looks now she needs some muscle. PEACE!

20th Jun 2007, 02:08

Man, I have a 98 GS Spider and I don't know what to put on it. Well first, are there are any performance parts for a 2.4l eclipse motor, or are swaps the only thing you can use to make it faster is nos...

18th Aug 2007, 14:36

I own a 97 Spyder GS, and I'm currently in the process of doing a lot of mods to it, including R type body kit, turboing it, brakes, coils etc.

If you plan on turboing your Spyder GS, then make sure you do a lot of research, because if it's done wrong, you can seriously damage your engine.

There is a kit you can buy on http://siriusperformance.myshopify.com/, but as to whether it's a really good kit, I'm not sure, cos I'm doing my own turbo.

If your budget is somewhat restricted, then I suggest smaller performance mods, i.e.: high flow air filter, cat back exhaust, headers, performance sparks and wires; that should do the trick for you.

31st Mar 2008, 12:16

I left the previous post about a week ago... and I got my top to stop leaking!

I'm not sure if every year/model has this problem, but I know that some owners of 99 spyders complained of a problem with one of the support bars in the roof not going down right when you open the roof. This is caused from worn out elastic that is supposed to pull the support bar back, but because it is old and no longer stretchy, it does not pull the bar back. Instead it bends the guide bar. My top had been like that for a while and never fixed, so we would have to guide the bar back by hand in order to open the roof all the way. A few days ago, my dad and I replaced the elastic so that the roof would go down correctly. Now, not only does the roof go down right, but my top stopped leaking as well!

I realize not everyone may have the problem with the worn out elastic, but it's something to check out.

23rd May 2008, 01:15

I bought my 97 Spyder last summer, and like everyone else.. I have had a few problems - major/minor - depends on how you look at it. First.. yes, the top leaks when it rains.. it drips from both corners and gets the edges of both seats wet, and something snapped and broke a month after I bought it.. now I have to raise and lower the roof manually.

2nd... I bought 4 new Firestone Fire Hawk GT's because the old tires shook me to death, especially around 25-35 miles an hour, only to be told that 3 of my rims were warped... The National Transportation Safety website has hundreds, if not thousands of complaints about the soft alloy rims of eclipses warping under normal driving conditions...

3rd.. The heads turn when you're out driving around, that's a good thing.. I am a 37 year old male and 20 year old women stare at me as I drive by.. the car anyway.

4th.. The turning radius is awful.. I have to stop and reverse, then forward again just to turn into a parking space that I could have easily turned into in anything else.

5th.. The transmission downshifts sometimes when I brake, and shifts real hard if I hit the gas after slowing down.

The bottom line is, even with a few problems.. I wouldn't trade this car for nothing. I love driving it, and if it ever dies on me, I will try to find another just like it..

Mine has 158,000 miles on it and it purrs like it's new.. To all you Eclipse Spyder drivers out there.. "may the wind never cease to blow through your hair when you have the top down!"