ridenrunwv

I have decided to build fun car and have my daily driver instead of trying to make a fast daily driver and wanted to ask if anyone on his has any experiences with any all wheel drive DSMs. I figured this would be a good forum to ask in. I know that I want to build a turbo car and am going between a Honda(probably the old light Civic hatch) or a DSM. I would love to build an all wheel drive car but have heard of so many people having problems with them. The car won't be a daily driver but will be a street/strip car by the way. Any experience with a built honda even would be helpful to me. I'm scared of the traction issues on one but have always heard they make such good LSDs for them that it isn't even bad.

boostedlaser

iTrader: (4)

I'm not quite sure what your asking. A lot of people here including myself have experience with the older dsm's. All cars can and will break, it just depends on the parts you use and how you take care of your stuff. I personally think dsm's are more reliable than turbo hondas since they were built to handle the extra power from the factory. An lsd isn't neccasarily going to give you traction, it will just make sure you're spinning both tires instead of one. I built a 1g fwd instead of an awd for a few reasons. 3-400lbs lighter to start, less rotating mass, and less things to break. The 1g awd's have been known to not have the best tranny's, but that's nothing a shep or tre trans. can't take care of. Be a little more clear with what your question is. It sounds like you just want someone to convince you to pick one or the other.

ridenrunwv

I was just wondering if people have had good experiences with them. I was thinking the same thing as you said though. If I built it right to start with I think it would be reliable. I like the potential to go for looks and not just performance on a DSM as well. I do not like the looks of the Civic and never really have.

boostedlaser

iTrader: (4)

Yeah, I'd say a lot of people have had good experience with them. The stock block is usually good for a reliable 350-400 hp. If you want to throw more power at it, just build it with the right parts and you'll be good to go. I think dsm's are one of the best budget racers out there. There aren't many cars out there that can get you in the 11's, for 5k or less including the purchase of the car. I also agree on the looks.

JEFFREYCASTGSX

iTrader: (3)

There are people all day long making 550+whp on stock bottom ends, like nothing(and no this isnt the oddball lucky ones). For the money a dsm CAN NOT be beat. If you want to compare to see which is better(honda vs dsm) then the dsm wins by a landslide, as for realiability, then thats up to you. Any car can be reliable. Drivetrain? John shep(not now but a while back) only had a built tranny and transfer case, everything else is stock. Also when you get a "buiilt" tranny, there isnt nothing special about, its just a rebuilt tranny, meaning if you take good care it will.

bruce988jl

iTrader: (56)

I have great luck with my galant vr4, it just sits in my driveway with the motor half in it. Never gives me any problems and rolls fine.... ...

A lot of my friends have dsm's and never have any problems with them. Its honestly all based around the work and how meticulous you are with the install. If you hack job the work then expect some misc problems in the future. In my opinion if you're gonna do it once, do it right the first time so that you don't have to do it again. You have no idea how many people will take shortcuts and wind up paying more money and time in the end replacing or rebuilding things because of a shortcut gone wrong.

DSMorBUST

im on my second DSM, both 1g awd... i love them.

rightaway

i had a 97 gst and 98 gsx. no real big problems at all

evo 8 ya

iTrader: (31)

I have a 300whp GVR4 as my DD

jve153

owned a couple 1g awd dsm's. absolutely loved em.
great year round drivers. great at the track. great in bad weather. only ran into normal problems with 15+ y/o cars (replaced tbelt and clutch, all fluids shortly after buying each of them just for good measure). other than oil leaks, and other small issues, they were both great cars. my first one had around 200k miles and went to the track every week (only ran in the 13's cuz i can't drive and really didnt get into modding them much other than the cheap/easy mods) and not a bit of problems save for a bit of grinding going into second. just keep up on ur maintenance, do your work right the first time and do your research and you will love it

GPTourer

I had a '91 GSX, and I have a '98 GS-T.

Don't fool yourself. FWD+LSD<AWD (even basic AWD with 2 open diffs on each end)

If you look around and spend more money on a clean 1G, which is going to be difficult, you can get a car that will be a good DD. I don't understand how people expect to build a car to 500+whp, take it to the track every weekend, drive it to work everyday and not expect things to go wrong - (not saying you are), but at that power level I don't see any 15-20 year old car being significantly better then another.