Review: '91 Mitsubishi Eclipse GSX

The very first fast car I drove and also the first car I totalled. Thankfully, it wasn't mine but my father's (that's a little joke - it wasn't funny at the time). He had taken me to a rally and asked if I wanted to do a lap. Ofcourse I did. There was only one problem.

I had never driven manual before except for a few minutes, stalling it over and over again before giving up in frustration. I reminded him of this so his reply was a 5-minute practice on a grassy field by the track. Let's do this.

First of all, I was pretty overwhelmed so I wasn't even following the track correctly. Where I DID go, I actually did okay until I came to a long sweeping corner. Remember, this happened on a rally course so I'm driving on dirt. What happened was that I went too far to the side and hit gravel. The car started sliding and we end up in a wall. The man still holds a grudge about it even though the car cost him $500. That's what I call a budget car! This particular one came with an upgraded transmission which he sold to get his money back.

It was the Eagle Talon version of the GSX which is exactly the same except for the badge. It is AWD and makes quite enough horsepower especially if you put the boost up to 16 psi. The car was gutted for weight reduction and was a rocket being so light with around 250hp (this is just a guess).

Did I mention it cost $500? These cars can be found extremely cheap. We went to look at another one afterwards that was ALSO $500 but he didn't want it because there was some sort of problem when that particular car would hit redline. I forget exactly what.

I was no mechanic at the time but my pops did mention that it was sometimes hard to get running right but when it did, it ran great. That's probably just him though.

If you want a cheap, fast car, this should probably be on your list. It also fits different needs. It can be a great rally car or a great asphalt car. The AWD system delivers power to the wheels very well. The car also gets good mileage if you care about that...

The only problem I have with it is the stupid automatic seatbelts from the early 90's that slide over you when you sit down and close the door. Minor annoyance really. The interior is pretty spartan but, again, this is a sports car. A really good one at that. I prefer it to both the second and third generation Eclipses.