1992 Eagle Talon Home

1997 Eagle Talon Home




1992 Eagle Talon



Wow...plans change sometimes. I planned to drive my 1992 Eagle Talon until it just completely came apart. Then I found a 1997 Eagle Talon TSi for sale.

It's probably no surprise, then, that the '92 Talon has been sold, and my upgrade path has taken a significantly different turn :) I'll be building new pages soon for the '97 Talon TSi, and for those of you who haven't ever had the privilege of driving a TSi, yes, they are FAST. I thought the non-turbo was quick...until I drove the TSi. I've had the TSi since October 8th (it's the 29th as I right this), and I still haven't stopped grinning. I can just imagine what the launch in a TSi AWD must be like >:)

Anyway, I'll be keeping the pages for the '92 Talon intact for anyone interested in repairs or mods to these cars...and for sentimental reasons. It was a great car--I owned it for 8 years, and I replaced it with another Talon, so what does that tell you? I've probably spent enough money on maintenance and modifications to buy any number of other cars, but I really like these DSM's. Obviously.

So, enjoy this page, and if you'd like to see the new one, check out my T38 page.

Background: I bought the car used in February of 1997. For the first six months, I wondered if the car would always spend more time in the shop than in my driveway--note to self: NEVER buy a sports car from a used-car dealer. Apparently, the previous owner(s) simply didn't maintain it very well. After two transmissions (one was bad when installed because the shop I went to put in a used tranny--I don't go to that shop any more), an alignment, new tires (Firestone Firehawks, IMHO, SUCK!) and a little suspension work, the car seemed almost as good as new.

Then, in November 2003, my alternator failed. I did a little digging on Google, found a bunch of web sites about DSMs, and started getting excited about the potential of these great little cars. By the way, the alternator repair was a piece of cake :) Now, although my wife rolls her eyes when I start mentioning DSM mods, I've decided to keep my little rice rocket for a while, while upgrading components a little at a time, due to the twin constraints of money and time.

The Plan: This car is my daily driver. My wife owns a 2001 Jeep Grand Cherokee Laredo, which is the family car, but I drive the Talon to work, around town, etc. My intention is to upgrade whatever I can to boost acceleration and improve cornering while keeping it both street legal and reasonably comfortable to drive. I'm not a drag racer, so I'll leave the NOS out--that'll only get me in trouble cruising around town, anyway :) The roads in Anchorage can get pretty bumpy, especially in winter when the road graters leave foot high snow berms in my driveway (Grrr.... >:| ), so while I would like the lower center of gravity afforded by Eibach Sport-Line springs, I think I need a little more ground clearance, so Pro-Lines it is.

My current plan is to upgrade the intake/air filter (done), exhaust system, suspension (strut tower bars--done, sway bars, struts, springs), and clutch (done). I've opted for an ACT "street and heavy duty" clutch from PerformanceCenter.com. I considered a Centerforce clutch, but the reviews of the Centerforce clutch in DSM's was almost uniformly negative at DSM Reviews. See the replacement article for details on the removal of the old clutch and installation of the ACT clutch. One thing I would have done differently: get a new flywheel. They aren't that expensive, and the feel of the new clutch is a little softer than I expected. I'm assuming that this is because the step height (which is critical on these cars) was a little low. The car accelerates well and the clutch grabs just fine, but it doesn't feel quite as stiff as I would have liked.

The Progress: My Talon is just barely modded so far. I started with 15" aluminum alloy wheels (winter) and 16" aluminium alloy wheels (summer), and replaced those crappy Firestone Firehawks with Pirelli HP's that I love. Since then, I put new Blizzaks on my 16's this winter (great tires!). Also, I can no longer get the Pirelli HP tires I've used in the past, so this summer (2005), I added a new set of 17" ASA JS1's and some BF Goodrich g-Force T/A KDW 2's (Tire Rack recommends 215/45-17's for the 1992 DSM's). I ordered the T/A KDW 2's and the ASA JS1's from Tire Rack, and would highly recommend the company--they were a pleasure to do business with!

I've got windows tinted as dark as is legal in Anchorage. I've added fog lights because unlike other states in the U.S., Alaskans don't paint the roads (okay, they do, but the road graters always scrape the paint off each winter), so it's rather hard to tell what's road and what's gravel shoulder at night in the rain (there's a story here...). I've also upgraded the headlights to Sylvania Silverstars. I like them, but would go with aftermarket HID's if I could afford them.

Next, I added a Legend Racing upper front strut tower bar. Couldn't really test it out too much last summer as my Pirellis were getting to the point where they don't stick as well as they used to, but in the winter, I could tell a huge difference--understeer was greatly reduced, as was wheel hop as the tires bounced between ice and asphalt. I also ordered a rear strut tower bar from Auto2nr on E-Bay, but couldn't tell a lot of difference with it (my advice--get the front strut tower bar, but don't bother with a rear, unless you are really serious about racing...and then, just get a roll cage, which will stiffen the rear).

Troubleshooting the alternator problem led to a voltmeter guage in a pillar pod. I really wanted an ammeter, but 1) I couldn't find one that could handle the 65 amps produced by my alternator, 2) the voltmeter is much easier to wire and 3) a voltmeter failure will not disable the engine; an ammeter failure will. Think very carefully before deciding to install an ammeter in a daily driver! Incidentally, if you are looking at adding aftermarket guages to a 1st gen DSM, I highly recommend the AutoMeter pillar pods for neat, clean installations. Mine almost looks like it came from the factory that way (I'll add pictures as soon as I can).

I also added a K&N FIPK and an aftermarket aluminum intake tube. My stock intake snorkel developed a hole in one of the accordian pleats. After my dad had to tow me home, it was easy to convince my wife that the intake tube was no longer just a cool part I wanted to add to the car, but really was a needed item :) Hmmmm--I wonder if I could do the same thing with my exhaust system--I sure would like to swap my stock headers for new Hedman Chikara headers or add a new high-flow cat... Anyway, the problem with the hole in the intake snorkel led to an O2 sensor and a second pillar pod. I haven't installed those yet, but hope I can get around to that project soon.

For those of you who are wondering, yes the K&N does make a difference. Between zero and 4000 RPM, the car feels pretty much the same, but once the car hits 5000 RPM, you can really feel the engine pulling harder than it ever has before. And the sound...well, where the sound of the 4G63 engine was subdued and understated (but pleasing) before, it's now just flat-out nasty (in a good way!) at WFO--there's no mistaking that it's been modified. Just make sure you don't over oil the K&N, or you'll toast the MAF sensor. Yep, there's a new one ($235 at Schuck's) in my intake pipe, now...sigh. Note: a friend told me that you can use contact cleaner, available from electronics parts suppliers, to clean the MAF sensor. I haven't tried it yet, so YMMV.

.........well, just check out my Mods Roadmap page.


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