Part 2: 95-99 Eclipse/Talon

95-99 DSMs came in Eclipse and Talon variants, mechanically identical with minor cosmetic differences between models.

There are far fewer model year changes on these cars than on the 89-94 models, but there are a few details you might want to be aware of when shopping.

Cosmetics. The 95-96 cars had a streamlined front bumper with a sort of smile-shaped radiator opening. 97-99 cars switched to more of a fish-mouthed front bumper. 97-99 Talons got a shovel-shaped front air dam to match the angle of the boomerang rear wing. 97-99 Eclipses got the famous "basket handle" rear wing. For those of you wanting to add aftermarket projector lamps or front clips, the headlight profile is different for 97-99 cars, and most aftermarket parts are made to fit that light profile. All projector lamps, for example, fit 97-99 front clips.

ECUs. 95 cars all have EPROM ECUs, and 96 cars MAY have EPROM ECUs. You can have these ECUs reprogrammed by Technomotive (see the ECU Tip of the Week). Later cars do NOT have EPROM ECUs, so you're stuck with the factory settings.

Brakes. SOME 95 model year cars have vented rear brake discs (meaning the discs are two layers with holes around the outer perimeter). This is nice, but if you want to upgrade the rotors to anything aftermarket, you're out of luck. So few cars have the vented rear rotors that NO aftermarket supplier stocks them. So there's no slotted or drilled or zinc-plated aftermarket rotors for a 95 car with vented rears.

Eclipses generally have higher resale value than Talons.

95-99 non-turbo coupes have a completely different motor than any of the other cars. It's basically the same motor as the Chrysler Neons, a 140hp 2.0 DOHC like the turbo motor, but not made by Mitsubishi. For that reason you CANNOT convert a non-turbo car to a turbo by bolting the parts on from the turbo car. You CAN install an aftermarket kit; Hahn Racecraft (www.hrchahnracecraft.com) make a good one.

95-99 non-turbo convertibles have another motor. This one is a 2.4 liter Mitsubishi block, with a bit more torque than the 2.0 for lugging around the heavier convertible. There are almost no performance parts available in the aftermarket for this motor. If you're looking for a tuneable convertible Eclipse, save yourself a lot of headache and get a turbo model.