The Talon and Eclipse were both DSMs, made by a company called Dimond Star Motors. The cars were a joing venture between Chrysler and Mitsubishi. The 2 companies have worked to together for quite some time.

And to answer the question posed orgionally, due to the fact that most imports and sport compacts are small displacement, pretty much any import with a turbo on it will about equal to a V8 domestic come modding time in terms of money to performance ratio. This includes everything form DSMs, to Turbo MR2s to Supras and whatnot.

That doesnt mean that the NA versions of some import cars are slow. The RSX type S can run low 14s with just boltons and a computer reflash. With engine swaps, a lot of the early 90s Hondas can be made quick very cheaply as well. I have a friend with a B16 swap in his CRX. Its 160hp stock in a 2100lbs car. Its no slouch, and with a few mods he'd be very lethal.

Its all about preference though. Some people like imports and other sport compacts, others the traditional domestic sports cars. Both have plenty of potential.

 

Thats funny u say that cause I'm constantly told how awesome my car looks, and girls especially love it. And this is with no exterior mods what so ever.
And also, when talkin about a BMW & Mercedes, these cars are not just show. You should go check out the specs on these cars, because just about any one of them (even low level models) would out run one of our cars off the line, even in stock form.

 

And to make the line between import and domestic even more confusing, most (if not all) of the fourth gen camaros were built in Canada. So are we driving imports?

 

is that why my car has so many metric bolts on it !?

but really, everyone on the motor is standard, and everything else is metric...its like...make up your mind...lol

 

No, your driving a fine piece of Canadian made machinery.


Will: I know that makes no sense. I can't argue with you there. The only thing i can think of why that would be is because of the car and motors being made in different plants. And the plant where our cars engines were made is also where the corvette's were made.....and the vettes were produced in the states. Therefore they did all the engines in imperial.......I know thats reaching, but its the best i can think of.

 

are you getting something new or used? if you want something that someone would give you insane props for. get something like a tercel. something no one has ever seen. you can get almost any part for almost any vehicle. so why not do something no one has. thats what i would waste my money on. or get something no one has like a lotus esprit, or a pugeot 206, or a skyline. dont look at how much or how less something costs because anyone on any board will tell you, once you spend ten dollars on a car you spend 10k on a car you willl never be satisfied with what you have or with what you can find. once you buy something it is like a disease. you have to spend more and more, and more. just some words of advise. get something you really like not just something you think you like.

 

I disagree. Speed is more fun. The adrenaline rush is great and I love the way it pushes me into the seat. Running through the 6 speed with the top down and the engine screaming is unbeatable. Dont forget, F-bods are great looking stock. Add some rims and a few coats of Zaino and you have a sweet ride that hauls ***!

If it was a choice between a good clean custom looking 17 second car and a trached old rusted out beater that ran 12's you might be right to pick the slow car, but that is not the case with our F-bodys. Our cars look sweet!

 

Ill pretend I didnt hear that...BMW and mercedes are not imports...they are German...thats all that matters, no matter how sweet GM, Ford, or Dodge ever ever make a car...it will not compare whatsoever to the quality and workmanship of a german car, its just not going to happen.

Also they are not "show" cars, they are driver friendly cars, everything inside is designed for the driver...buttons in just the right place so you never have to take your eye off the road...remember these cars are ALL built to be driven 100+mph on a daily basis, so driver comfort means EVERYTHING, also cant have a slouch of a car to drive 100+ mph...thats why most all medium to high priced german will outperform the fastest stock domestic (save vettes and a few others)

So my real answer to that statement is...do not include german in this discussion. And also...I use the HP in my car much much more often than the looks of it, since you cant enjoy looks, since you never see them from inside the car, but you CAN feel power, so that is a retarded statement. I would consider a tricked out exterior car just as much of an "ego booster" (as you call it) as a fast car.

 

Hey, I'm among the yonth today, and I HATE rice burners. Yea, I drive a Maxima but it's not rice its bone stock. I still want to sell it to pick up a 4th gen T/A or Camaro. You would not believe how much rice there is in my area, I just want a badass car and show those punks what a real car is, and what FAST is. Anyone from CT knows about 'the pike' and how much rice is out there, and I HATE it!

 

The way i see it if you want a fast car start with a fast platform a z a mustang or somthin not a honda. stock automatic zs run roughly mid 14s a stock honda somewhere in the 17s it cost allot just to get into the 14s then to go yet even faster the bucks get real big so start with a fast platform and then start investing the money

 

I think some people are having trouble unerstanding what "import" means. The original poster never mentioned hondas he just said "imports". That definately does include BMW's and Mercedes Benz.

Mercedes-Benz makes an entire line of off-road diesel trucks, and busses that will never see anywhere near 100 mph

Dodge (a part of Chrysler Corp) is owned by Daimler-Chrysler, a German company. German companies do not automatically produce better products.

I don't mean to pick on your post (for all I know, you already knew all of this) but I hate to see people make claims like "German cars are better" "Japanese cars have a better build quality" "American cars guzzle gas" or "Imports are slow". Each one of those covers a wide range of vehicles.
Like I said above, the line between an import and a domestic is very blury these days. When someone says import, there is no reasone to think they are talking about a honda, covered in stickers with a 3 foot high wing.

Dustin

 

jonaddis84:

hey you're right about them fox body mustang. I know my cousin had a 87 gt mustang 5.0...he add a k&n filter and did a pulley swap...I took a ride in it one day....we were flying all over the place...he would try to pick a race with some newer cobras(not the 03 but later from 95 to 98) they were too scared race.

 

Im not saying they arent imports..all im saying is they should not be included in this discussion of imports...germans and italians are built with such different standards that 99% of american cars cannot compare...

If you disagree, then you obvioulsy have never ridden in one or seen the build quality...down to the body panels the fit is SO perfect that it will never ever rattle or squeek like 99% of american cars do...the big three are finally trying to catch up with interior build quality...but are still light years behind the germans and italians.

I dont want to argue about this, but I just dont understand how you can think that american cars are built as well as german and italian cars...

Dont get me wrong, I am diehard domestic, I will never own japanese, but germans and italians I put on a totally different scale, I would most likely take any $40k+ german car over any american car ever produced (for a daily driver type car, Ill always have my camaro to go fast) My wife will drive a BMW or Merc. Their build quality again is just unbeatable. Not to mention the cool **** you can get with them...Rain sensing windshield wipers to name one!! Sonar cruise control ( I know cadillac and a few other dom. have it, but who started it?)

Oh, and I know dodge is part of daimler chrysler...but you cant tell me that an intrepid or neon or stratus compares to a clk...dont even try

 

As far as all the guys who says the ricers are for show thats rediculous i have plenty of people come up to me and tell me that my car looks incredible and i just have the stock body and the ugly *** salad shooter 16" rims on it. Ive gone to a few import show mainly because my girlfriend likes imports and all the ones that win best of show and all that yeah im sure that if i was sittin next to him at a stoplight he would kick my *** in two ways one by speed to by girls comin up and hittin on him. Some of them out there are clean as hell the rest on the other hand just look & sound rediculous with there trashcan mufflers and shopping cart pusher wings.






Speed kills, Be safe, Drive an Import

 

There Is no replacement....For Displacement...