Hello,
My name is Max, I live in Maine. I just bought a 95 Eclipse GS with 67,000 mile on it. I drove down to Boston to pick it up. It's in very solid condition. It passed inspection NO problem. So far I have installed a volt meter and oil pressure gauge on my A-pillar because not having that engine information drove me crazy. I ordered an Injen short ram air intake on Saturday only to find this forum today and learn that I could have gotten the cheap ebay style intake and used a KN filter and saved some money. Oh well, onward and upward. I was thinking about getting one of those chip control modules from ebay. You know the ones that have three settings and cost around 30 bucks. Any thoughts? Also, my next BIG purchases will be headers and a brake job. I have heard really good things about the DC ceramic 4-2-1. Are they worth the money or is it just hype? For brakes I was thinking about ordering one of those drilled rotors/pads packages off of ebay. Again, worth the money or just a gimmick?
I'm not planning on lowering my car or changing the body because Maine winters would destroy it. Also I would rather not attract cops anymore than I already do. (the car is bright red)
I've always done basic work on cars here and there but I'm NO expert so any advice will be greatly appreciated. I'm here to learn. I'm also not looking to make my car into a complete beast. Just a well taken care of, better than average, daily driver. Maybe someday I'll put nitrous in. Can a stock engine really handle 50hp shots without shortening the life of the engine? Thanks!

Well welcome to the forum, and before you go and buy one of those "awesome" ebay chips you should be aware that most, well basically all preformance ebay chips are a resistor in a box with a fancy sticker on it that will do nothing for preformance at all.

Hedge is right, those "performance chips" are a scam.

Do a little searching around on here for what products to buy. A header won't do too much for our cars besides move the power band upwards a little bit. Many people have gone with the Pacesetter header as it is rather cheap and has been proven to last many years.

Read up in our POWER section of the main site, plenty of information on which route to take:

http://www.2gnt.com/index.php?d=POWER

Welcome btw, hope you enjoy your stay :thumbsup

Thanks for the advise, much appreciated.

chips = bad

for the brakes, get up to about 60mph in a clear area, stomp on thos fuchers as hard as you can, did they lock up and send you skidding? yes? leave the brakes alone, you don't need them. If they don't lock up and send you skidding check that everything is in good condition and replace pads, rotors, fluid as necessary. repeat after break-in.

your brakes are only as good as the tires gripping the road, if you can lock the brakes you need better tires.

if you really want bigger brakes look into a GSX rotor/caliper swap. Do a search on it and you will come up with TONS of info.

oh and BTW, Welcome to 2GNT! :wavy

Originally posted by RoninEclipse2G
Welcome to 2GNT! :wavy

Ditto! We're glad you're here. :thumbsup

Good advice in this thread. Just say no to any sort of magic mod like a chip or computer. If it's electronic and will do anything of value, expect to pay upwards of $400 for it (ie; MSnS).

At 67k, you're 7k past the timing belt replacement interval. If you can, give the seller a call and see if the timing belt was replaced yet. If so, you're golden. If not, forget the brake job and get right into a new timing belt for that bad boy. These cars have interference engines, so when the tbelt goes, pistons beat the valves to shit and the engine will need a complete rebuild. $$$! You can save a grip of money by doing it yourself and there is plenty of help here if you need it.

Otherwise, read through the Power Stages in the wiki and see what questions you have after that. We'll shoot you straight.

Originally posted by ModestMax
I'm looking to make my car into a well taken care of, better than average, daily driver.

If these are your current goals for now, my advice is to get yourself a nice set of rims, do a 2gb conversion (at least front bumper, but rear looks good too) and if you want the look of a lowered car but don't want to worry about the roads in winter, then look into a GOOD coilover setup, the key word being good, don't get the ebay coilover kits. You'll be able to adjust ride height, lower it more for summer and put it up in the winter. Also, if you don't want attention but were thinking exhaust, a gst catback is a common and fairly inexpensive upgrade over our stock exhaust.

Welcome to the site have fun, look around and enjoy your stay