DSM or Fox for a highschool senior

[dstang01]

Hey all, Im looking for some opinions. Im going to try to keep this nice and short, what do you think would make a better daily driver for a highschool senior? A DSM or a Fox body? The pros of a DSM are better handling, better gas mileage (good for commuting to college), very easy to make power, good off the line and good for winter (awd), and its a newer car. The bads would be that its not as reliable (from what i hear), broken parts will be more expensive to replace, harder to work on, and its a turbo 4banger. The pros of the fox are that its cheaper, mods are very inexpensive, there are plenty of them around .. and did I mention v8 torque curve, sound, etc. Keep in mind its an older car that will need more maintenance, and it will need more gas. I know what most of you are gonna say, but try not to be tooo biased. Let them fly

 

[nonglossjason]

Dude your on a mustang forum everyone is going to say fox and why the **** would you even think about owning a ricebox? seriously you gotte be ****in stupid just for even thinking about it!

 

[stykthyn]

what the hell is a DSM?

 

[nonglossjason]

pretty sure its a mitsubishi, but who gives a **** its a piece of ****!

 

[SuperStang83]

DSM's arent as good in the snow as you think. They actually suck pretty bad. I had a 90 TSI AWD and I had better luck with my Mustangs in the snow!

 

[niklid05]

Id say both. I still wanna get a nice awd dsm. Beings I dont have a dsm and only a fox, I'm gonna say a fox.

If it wasnt for the glass made trannies that the have id have a dsm right now.

 

[90]

is this a serious question ?

 

[brian15]

id say a dsm would make a good dd for sure ....dont know how they act in the snow though .

if your anything like me anything i get my hands on i have to mod ....then comes parts breaking ...and so on and so on ....

maybe dsm for the winter , and stang the rest of the year if money permits .

i use to dd the stang , but now im driving a 2.3t thunderbird and its alot more friendly on the wallet .

 

[Busted07]

DSM's (joint venture between eagle, plymouth and mitsubishi) made the talon, laser and eclipse. all in 4 cylinder versions, some were n/a, some were FWD turbo, and some were AWD turbo.

The main thing you need to think about is wether you want a 1G or a 2G. With the 2G's, you have a crankwalk issue to worry about. They can be reliable until you start modding them. then they can be a pain in the ass. If you keep it stock, i would get a 1G dsm and just drive it and hope the transfer case holds out. (if you get an AWD one that is). If you end up getting a 2G, take it somewhere and have them check for crank walk. (this was majorly apparent in the 2G versions, not in the 1G)

I have friends that still have them, and they love the cars. Wouldnt get rid of them for anything.

On the fox side.. i sold my dsm and kept my fox because to me i love the torque. sure, with AWD you get a great launch, but the parasitic drivetrain drag will slow your top end down. (this is with awd) now if you get a FWD turbo, you wont have the launch of an awd, but you wont get the drag of the transfer case on the top end.

If its a daily driver, i would say i would chose based on whats available in your area.. if there are a ton of dsm guys, and you know you can get help / parts as needed, then youll get better gas mileage out of as dsm.

if you have more mustang guys around, then i would go with a fox. for the same reason as i just said for the dsm.

I love torque and knowing i can find parts anywhere for a mustang. especially being on a forum like this, help, or parts are not hard to find.

 

[25thmustang]

LOTS of fast DSMs out there. In my area they have a huge following and make a lot of power. Personally they look pretty nice and can definately be made fast!

I have heard of the crank walk, and drivetrain issues, but every car has issues. If you plan to add a lot of power, you might be asking for a headache.

If it were up to me, Mustang, but then again if your worried about bigtime snow, I cant see how an AWD car with good winter tires would EVER be worse than a Mustang.

Its a toss up in your situation, but the majority is going to say Mustang!

 

[carbed87]

in all honesty, if i was to get a compact car, it would be a DSM, however, foxes get better gas milage then you think. hell, in my 93 mustang (check sig for mods) i was getting 25mpg on the highway, it just goes to show you that if it runs good and is taken care of, gas milage isn't really an issue (25mpg and thats hammering it on almost every on ramp and every other stop light). the thing is, with mootangs, (like you said) they're easy as hell to work on, stuff for it's cheaper then about 90% of the other cars on the market, and they're extremely reliable. so yeah, thats my take on it (and belive it or not, im not nearly as biased as most other people)

 

[iwashmycar]

For my Junio, Senior, and 1st year of college i drove a 1994 GT and for the past 3 I have driven my 1990 GT. I drive 300mi round trips all the time (weekly), even in the winter. She's been doin pretty good so far. My little bro got my 94 when he turned 16 and now he is driving it to college. I think its got about 180K on it now. Mines got 118K


EDIT: I'd get a newer Mustang IMO. I'd say they are even more reliable unless you get a gem, or replace everything on the fox

 

[GT40XStang9]

I recommend a DSM for mileage and dependability reasons.

 

[fivespeedsteed]

96-98 gt
or if you have the money a P.I. 99+ GT

 

[got1024that]

i DKN, i built a 91 TSI and that car was the ****, i ate mustangs, vettes, camaros, all day long. but i also now own a mustang and i lover kicking the ***** out of dsm owners and evo owners. highschool i'd go DSM if they're compitant with a hand wrench and wanna fool the local lead foot. Mustang if they're looking to be loud and have fun with some bad ass burn-outs. DSM all the way for the senior! in my opinion.

 

[91ghp5.0]

dsm=diamond star motors. talons and 3rd gen eclipses. awd, turbo 4 cylinder.

 

[Mustang5L5]

DSM's don't evenb handle that well. My sis has one and it handles like junk. Has a lot of sway and doesn't inspire confidence in me. They are heavy.

Not to mention replacing blown trans is gonna get expensive.

 

[Woodrow]

DSM and the words dependability and reliable do not go in the same sentence.

View attachment 434690


I vote neither

 

[RS200]

Maintenance is going to kick your ass with a DSM. It's not just a flowery meadow with those things - you're in high school so you're going to beat on it, and things are going to break. I had a 5.0 in HS, and I didn't drive it everyday..not even close. It's a nightmare in snow. Just buy a small economical hatchback and do yourself a favor.

 

[bentley429]

Iam all about american vechiles for toys, but if you need a daily driver car going by those two choices a AWD DSM would be the way to go. As long as your not modding it like crazy it should be fine, seeing as your in high school you prob dont have much money to play with anyways. But I also went to school with a kid who drove a 90 coupe year round, he totalled a 4x4 exploder and never hit anything with the car. Do you have your heart set on one of these, if not just search for something to bomb around in and save your $$.