What car should I get?

[Racing Rice]

First of all, do a search for "DSM crankwalk", there are about 6 million things out there about it.

Secondly, there is no such thing as a RWD eclipse from factory. All the RWD eclipses are AWD that have been converted to RWD. They only come in FWD and AWD.

Thirdly, just because an AWD isnt putting as much power to the ground, doesnt mean its not faster. With AWD you dont have to worry about traction problems. FWD turbo car will spin like crazy.
Get the AWD and learn how to launch properly. Its an entire new beast, it takes a little finesse. But once youve got it down, you will have nice runs.

Heres an example of AWD vs FWD:

I had 2 friends that owned DSMs. One was a 95 FWD Talon TSi and the other was a 96 Eclipse GSX (AWD). Both near stock. The GSX had a muffler and an intake. At the track the GSX ran a 14.90. While the TSI ran a 16 something. No, an intake and muffler will not make that kinda difference. The FWD Talon spun like crazy, while the AWD GSX stuck and went. See what I mean now? A better driver can get a FWD DSM into much lower times. But AWD will take the holeshot.