SCCA Solo2

Contenders:
2000 Maxima GXE 5spd; Stillen Y-pipe; cheap universal 2.5" inlet/outlet straight-flow muffler; squating on 18x7.5" Katana Advanti Racing white rims with toyos wrapping the rim; eibach springs (has no relevence to drag racing, but...)
1997-99? Eclipse GS-T (Turbo, FWD); exhaust (or at least a muffler); intake; maybe more boost...

This happened at 1.00am on a saturday morning (or friday night, depending on how you look at it)...I, by no means, condone street racing and only engage in such practices when I have a feeling it's pretty safe (ie. not too many other cars on the road). I also live in vegas where 90% of the major roads are 3 lanes in each direction, seperated by a medium/turn lane. The roads are much more smoother than California, but, a bit slicker.

With that said, the race:
This is a newer eclispe (round reverse lamps) and it has the typical GS-T rims and wannabe supra spoiler. I'm approaching it and notice the exhaust tip and get closer to his window and notice his boost guage on the A-pillar. With all these riceboys lately, i guessed he might be just showing off...so, he punches it a bit right when i start to pass him. Turbo spooled up with not too much hesitation (also how i knew he had an intake)...confirming the turbo. I'm in 3rd gear, going about 45mph...i drop it to second and begin the chase. he gets the jump and his rear bumper is even with my front bumper but never pulls away. I'm inching closer and closer to him as we approach an intersection and 80mph (after i shifted to third), he slows for the intersection and we go through it at 60mph...this time i punch it and have him at my rear bumper and pulling away every so slowly. I was hoping to reaching the triple digits but he kept slowing down...maybe he knew the maxima would pull harder at higher speeds than his eclipse. We started catching up to some dense traffic (at 1am...and there's 6 cars on the road)...so we both slow down.
We don't get to run from a stop only on the fly...
I'm thinking he would of done much better at a stand still than on the fly, since the maxima launches horribly, so he would of been able to pull up to the point i get into 2nd at around 45mph where i pull on him. It was a good race, no definite winner or loser... just a "i wonder who would win race."
The odd thing though is, this is the same guy who raced my when I had my 89 CRX...and he ate me alive on the fly...

rudylanda

I can't tell you if you would have won... if the eclipse was modified... I doub it.. It's possible to get huge HP out of a turbo'd car, with only minor mods, like filter, exhaust and a tubo boost controller... so watch out.


The one I raced was probly stock, no exhaust, and didn't hear any sound from the inside the hood. It was late around 10:00 pm in a semi-empty street in so. cal. I was chillin' with my sounds.. when I noticed that a car was tail-gating me. he flew by me, just so he could get cought in the next red light. I pulled next to him... nothing... GREEN light.... slowly take off... He jumps out as if he got hooked by a passing cop on his way to a doughnut shop... I chase him down... at about 60mph I pull up next to him... already in 3rd gear.... again he shoots by like a missile... I floor it.... I slowly start to reel him in like a big fat fish that doesn't want to become dinner... at about 90 I am right behind him... I switch lanes... and like a hungry fat woman, shove my way in front.. at about 100mph... he is the first to fall to my Arctic Demon Max..... It was not a fluke... He tried it again at the next light... UH-UH..... again at the next light... UH-UH.... he finally rolled his window down and asked what kind of car it was... "Maxima" I replied with a grin.. "Is it some sort of special edition?".... NOPE!... I answered.. "whacha do to it?"... Nothing..I replied.. (I lied I had the Y-Pipe)... I just did it to kick him while he was down... yeah.. I know, I am a dog.
Well others would follow his fate... but that's later.. same channel another time.

[Edited by rudylanda on 10-21-2000 at 04:43 AM]

SCCA Solo2

my first encounter with that generation of eclipses was when i had my 88 supra turbo, targa, automatic. I had 11psi, 3" DP to 3" custom piping, intake, MBC, and shimmed the wastegate...i raced the GS-T and spanked him in ever mph and at every rpm. That's pretty good for a car that weighed 3800lbs and was making 250rwhp and 316ft-lbs of torque.
The guy i raced last night was modified. Doubt if he turned the boost up much, but, it's response was better than the stock eclipse turbos...his open intake enhanced the beautiful sound of a turbo spooling. If he did have a boost controller, it definitely wasn't electronic (or, at least a on-the-go one...when spooled, push the hi button and pull away!)...

Guest

My woman has a stock 2000 Eclipse GT with 205 hp. Some sites I see that the 2K is faster than the turbo 4. Which is faster. My girlfriend's car is quick, but not nearly as quick as my max with Stillen intake. Mine has more acceleration and response than hers and accually takes off at 80 mph to 100mph(5th gear) when I gas it. Hers doesn't really have any punch at all at these speeds in 5th gear. Are Maximas better made? Is hers probably maxed out in the performance department?

Max_Gator

If you are in 5th gear at 100 mph, you aren't using the peak HP. Stay in 3rd to red-line (about 95+) then shift to forth. You'll really think your 2k is fast then.

Guest

I am just talking about if I am coming home from work and cruising in 5th gear and then decide to accelerate to 100. The eclipse doesn't seem to push that much and it talkes forever to get to 100 in 5th gear. By the way, I always thought it was really bad to go into the red or near it. I almost cry when I don't pay attention and notice it at 6000 rpms. Is going in the red zone really that bad? Or is it something the manufacturers do to protect themselves from cars that blow up?

SCCA Solo2

Well, this goes with every newer generation model car...the guys who own the newer model say their's is faster than the older model.

the GS-T (FWD turbo) was the faster of the previous generation. It would do 15.5 1/4 pretty consistently...assuming it's not a spyder.

the GSX was the best performer, with AWD and turbo, it would turn in 15.7-15.8s stock. But, modifing it would mean that the tranny was about to take a nose dive. The awd trannys in the mitsub's suck assssss.

The new GT v6 is weak. Simply put. 15.7 1/4miles (track is 16.0) and they only pull really well off the line...otherwise, the maxima will tear the new eclipse a new one.

max2kgle526

I am sorry, but Mitsubishi's all together lack in the quality dept . The engines don't last past 50k miles. They are good to keep if you are going to trade it in after 2 years, but don't drive it to much. It is better to keep it in the garage, or at least cover it because, the plastic (composite) parts fade.

mhgsx

[QUOTE]Originally posted by max2kgle526

Quote:

Originally posted by 1ST2KGXE
My woman has a stock 2000 Eclipse GT with 205 hp. Some sites I see that the 2K is faster than the turbo 4. Which is faster. My girlfriend's car is quick, but not nearly as quick as my max with Stillen intake. Mine has more acceleration and response than hers and accually takes off at 80 mph to 100mph(5th gear) when I gas it. Hers doesn't really have any punch at all at these speeds in 5th gear. Are Maximas better made? Is hers probably maxed out in the performance department?

I am sorry, but Mitsubishi's all together lack in the quality dept . The engines don't last past 50k miles. They are good to keep if you are going to trade it in after 2 years, but don't drive it to much. It is better to keep it in the garage, or at least cover it because, the plastic (composite) parts fade. [/QUOTE

Normally, I wouldn't chime in on any of this my d*ck is faster than yours crap, but some of these "facts" are pure BS.

As the owner of both a Max SE and a GSX, I'm better qualified to give a proper impression of Mitsu cars.

First: the quality issue.

I admit, I think the Max is better built than my GSX. But before the Max, I bought a 2K Sentra SE w/PP. The build quality of the Sentra was abysmal. Not even close to my GSX or my previous SE-R. Also, just how many people on this board have complaints regarding their much superior "quality" of the Max??

Second: the 50K mile engine

Oh man, I must have the ONLY GSX w/ over 50K miles. God forbid I have a car that will rip a new *** to over 99% of the Maxes out there, yet expect it to last over 50K miles.

Third: plastic that fades.

Yeah, right. Now, is it the plastic that fades? Or is it the paint? And is it the paints fault? Or is it the owner's fault for not washing and waxing the thing? Or perhaps the owner is too busy waxing all the Max owners out there on the street who think their car is SO DAMN FAST?

Fourth: the grenading AWD tranny (from another post)

For every owner you can come up w/ who has had tranny probs, I'll give you 10 owners who haven't. Obviously, when you increase the HP level to over 50% of stock, one can reasonably expect to find an increase in tranny probs. Name one car that will never experience this. The type of racing is also a reasonable predictor of whether tranny probs will occur or not. Archer Racing campaigned DSMs for 7 or 8 years on the SCCA World Challenge Cup. Their cars had 400+ HP. Not ONE tranny failure. How many Maxes w/ Auto and S/Cs are out there w/ NO tranny probs again? 1, maybe 2??

There isn't a real car guy on this board who wouldn't give their sister or left nut to be able to own a Mitsu. Lancer EVO VI. But of course, using this logic, the car wouldn't last past 50K miles nor would it be worth keeping past 2 years.

To all you 'boy-racers' out there: Was the primary purpose of buying your Max due to the fact that it is 'so unbelievably fast'?? Don't get me wrong, the Max is certainly quick when compared to other cars in this class. But you're an idiot if you think that you can take on any Pusstank, DSM, Honduh, Firechicken, etc. just because you perceive the car to be 'fast'. The car IS quick for what it is, a FAMILY car.

Ok, enough ranting and I'll get off my soapbox and go back to lurking.

rudylanda

You are comparing oranges to apples... a sedan is not a competitor to a sports coupe... but don't you have to wonder why the hell a stock "SEDAN" can smoke a stock.. "sport car" like the eclipse... I admit a modified turbo eclipse is pretty fast.. so is a SC Max.. but then again apples to oranges.... Tell me "mhgsx".......... what car does Mitsu.. make besides the 3000GT, that can smoke a 5sp Max...STOCK... and lets compare if you want the new eclipse and a new max modify them as much as you want and the max will still kick ***.

madmax2k

I dont have s sister, but Ill give both left and right, as well as my 2k SE

madmax2k

You hit the nail on the head. Its a relatively fast 4 door family car. If one is looking for a quarter mile demon, or autocrossing champion, dont start with a Maxima. There are many other wiser choices for this type of duty. To get a Maxima into the 13's (which is where the faster cars start to become evident) takes an exceeding amount of effort and $$$. Unless of course, a 100 shot is slapped on

On the other hand, if you want a 4 door car that does these things fairly well and in semi-luxury, then the Max is hard to beat for $375 a month on a 3 year lease Looked at in this class, Id say the Max is

CoolMax

iTrader: (7)

Everyone is comparing apples to oranges, not just mhgsx.
I fail to see how Maxima can "smoke" an Eclipse. mhgsx's post was in response to max2kgle256's blanket statement about Mitsus. Of course, I'm sure mhgsx can speak for himself...;p

QUANSUNG

does anybody know what makes a performance sedan? ,i'm asking because i alot of people call the maxima a family car like it's a camry or something ,i thought a sedan that performs as well or better than sport cars in the same price range made it a sport or performance sedan, if a saturn L series or a ford contour svt can be called performance sedans than surely a 5sp maxima can be called more than a simple family sedan thats just kinda fast.also i agree with rudylanda stock vs stock an eclipse would probably lose to a maxima unless it's the spyder, i'm not sure about that car.

SCCA Solo2

First:
That mass majority of AWD eclipses have tranny problems. Even without modification. Raise the boost up 2 psi and the tranny wants to give way. This may largely be in part cause of the driver's who like to dump the clutch at 5000rpm and try to get all four wheels to spin. the AWD system in the eclipse or 3000gt vr4, or the Galant VR4 are NOT quality systems. Look at the Celica All-Trac...that's a good solid system, too bad the car is too heavy to be considered a good sports car. My supra gained a solid 50rwhp and pushed the car a second faster through a 1/4...no tranny problems. Do the same with an eclipse and it's breaking trannys.
Second:
The turbo eclipse motor is pretty strong for what it is. Of course, any car that starts life with a turbo attached to a matched engine (meaning, the engine was built to handle boost) can be made to be exceptionally fast with minor mods (GN, Supra, rx7). I hardly think the eclipse's turboed motor is that unreliable. It's just too bad they had the worst repair record for one year (i believe it was 1996).
Third:
I originally posted a story of how my lightly modifed Maxima beat a BPU Eclipse Turbo. Not to flame mitsu (even though i dislike them). I personally would not care for an Evo. If it was given to me, i'd sell it for a 93-95 RX-7 and use the rest of the money making the RX-7 out handle, out accelerate, and just overall kick the crap out of most cars on the road and track.

That's it... no more

tb420

we can beat an automatic porshe boxter, & put up a fight against a 6 speed boxter, AND an auto Boxter S...at least in a drag race. Not bad for a family sedan, but then again (and this is embarrasing) so can an eldorado ETC or Seville STS.

Guest

I might be able to arange something....
On a serious note... how can you compare a car that is not availabe to anyone of us here in the states... that's stupid... If you want to do that let's talk about the silva...or the skyline... what does Mitsu have for the Skyline.... and better yet... you CAN get a skyline here in the states... just give Moter-Rex a call and bring a wheel-barrel full of cash with you...

But you........ just stick to your Mitsubi-sh*t.... I rather buy a ford.... maybe not... just shoot me if you see me driving a Mitsu.........

CoolMax

iTrader: (7)

Hey...nice screen name. Maybe a little too nice.

Guest

You know what they say the greatest form of flattery is ... Imitation..... acctually I did not know that there was a coolmax with one "X"... but I guess if I have two "X", am I twice as cool?
Is ther a way to change a screen name... just curious?

CoolMax

iTrader: (7)

LOL...don't you wish?
As far as the name change goes, you're best bet is to re-register using a new screen name.

Guest

LOL...don't you wish?
As far as the name change goes, you're best bet is to re-register using a new screen name. [/I][/QUOTE]

I'll keep it for now... I got to think of one that is cooler than coolmaxx... how about... Maxx-ter... get it maxx...ter..... cuz.... I AM the Maxxter of all my servants... bow all you beneath me.... Sorry.. getting a little too exited... L8ter.