Good kill but careful, some of those DSM trio's (Plymouth Laser, Eagle Talon, and Mitsubishi Eclipse) are no joke and the serious ones are definitely not rice. In fact a true DSM'er considers his car American and hates rice as much as any mullet wearing red neck small block driver ever did. A DSM supporter's favorite movie series is not the "Fast and Furious" franchise. The first and second generation of the cars were built in Normal, Ill. as a joint venture between Chrysler and Mitsubishi as a domestic platform and if I'm correct the first gen was not even available in Japan. Both 1G and 2G's were available in turbo fwd and all wheel drive models. Although after the second generation, the turbochargers went away, Chrysler pulled out and the Eclipse was the only thing left, it became an import and is no longer considered a DSM. These DSM cars have tremendous potential and have long been known as V-8 slayers. They are sort of the 4 cylinder equivalent of a turbo Buick. Easy to modify and fairly inexpensive to make pretty darn quick not to mention just fun cars to drive.
A 1G or 2G, especially if AWD, dives like it is on rails and will make you wonder why you are taking that curve so fast. The engines are tough and capable of outrageous power levels and a version of it still powers Mitsu's Evo line of performance cars. I had one friend with a fwd Talon that made 270 plus to the front wheels with just a fuel pump, a free flow exhaust, a hacked air can, a small front mount and a big stuff ignition. Doesn't sound like that much but in a 2200 lb car it would pull a c5 Vette on the fly. There are a few stock bodied, stock block, cars in the 8's and dedicated race cars in the 7's. Like a turbo Buick, you may not be able to tell if you're facing a 15 second stocker or an 11 second screamer and if this kid does put 3 grand in his car it may take more than race gas to catch him.
Of course the kid could be a ricer who just happens to own a DSM and the 3 grand might be for new rims and ground effects. in that case just turn up the boost and handle your business.
