What does JDM and DSM mean?

[Mitsufied]

I know it's a dumb question...... but I need the answer, cuz I'm hearing too many nonsense meanings from people.

like

JDM=Japan Domestic Motorsport

DSM=Diamond Star Motorsport (I think that this one is correct)

Someone please help.[/i]

[MitsuMan]

japaneze domest market-JDM
Diamond Star Motors- Chrysler/ Mitsu partnership

[Dracas]

JDM - No Idea, Japanese Domestic Motorsport sounds right but I've seen it used to indicate "Japanese Conversions"

DSM - Also known as Diamond Star Motors (get it, diamonds for Mitsubishi, stars for Chrysler?) was a merger of the two big cats. The result was the shared Engine Design and Fabrication facilities for the Mitsubishi Galant VR-4 (early Models), Mitsubishi 3000GT VR-4, Mitsubishi 3000GT, Dodge Stealth RT, Dodge Stealth RT Twin-Turbo, Dodge Stealth ES, and the 7th/8th Generation Mitsubishi Galants. The factory is located in Normal, IL where they currently perform Japanese Conversions on Galants (EG, to anyone with a certain model of 1995 Galant, you'll notice that the vanity mirror is on the drivers side, unilocking door mechanism is on the passenger side, and everything is reversed. This is a Japanese conversion flaw, minor accomodations were skipped over during the model design/conversion)

Mine personally has the vanity mirror on the left hand drivers side.

[schick]

DSM - I can't believe Dracas forgot the more well known cars to come out of DSM - 1G Plymouth Laser, Mits Eclipse, and Eagle Talon!

[pinoyesv6]

actually, the 8g galants, the 3g eclipse, and everything else on that platform are not considered DSM's

[Dracas]

True PinoyESV6, I thought I said they were manufactured there, I didn't say under the DSM Label

As for that, a bit of clarification after talking to a friend of mine in Japan, JDM stands for "Japanese Domestic Market" and refers to Automotive parts Manufactured as 'interchangable OEM/AM options', since this appears to be a big thing in Japan when buying new cars - Custom Styling fresh from manufacture.

And while I'm thinking of it...why is it Plymouth Lasers all break down three blocks from their starting point? They were all built in the same factory, so what the heck happened?

Maybe I've just seen the lemons

[Kain]

Hmm, actually, I've been wondering myself exactly what DSM means. I know it stands for Diamond Star Motors. A partnership between Mitsubishi and Chrysler to produce cars that incorporate elements of both Mitsubishi and Chrysler. If that is 100% true, that would only include 1g + 2g Eclipses, Talons, and Lasers. And what about the 2G N/A eclipses? Are they considered DSMs as they are entirely made in America? The GVR4 would NOT be included as it is 100% Mitsubishi, as well as the 3kGT. But, I know my '94 Galant has several stickers in the door sils that read "DSM" and the Engine identification badge also proclaims "DSM". So, what is a DSM exactly? Because if you wish to get entirely technical, my '85 Plymouth Minivan with a Mighty Max engine is a DSM. And there are some who only include 4g63 powered cars as DSMs even though the GVR4 is not technically a "DSM" I'm confused...

[QnzMostWanted]

actually, u cant say that for all 7th gen galants, cuz mine was made in Japan and it doesnt have a DSM tag

[Reelax]

i think someone stated it before but just to clarify...

JDM means Japanese Domestic Market, AKA J-Spec... but even this is not strictly true.

JDM in terms of the USDM (US Domstic Market) can also include other countries as japanese versions and parts also are offered in some form in other foreign countries such as in Europe and in Asia. because of economics, ego and american tastes / standards, the US versions of many cars are exclusive to north america. for instance, the US 8G galant has many parts and styling pieces exclusive to the USDM market. JDM can also mean "world version" as the rest of the world has much more in common with the true JDM galant than to USDM galant. further both european and asian galants share the same engines as true JDM galants as well as lighting, interior, mechanical options and a subset of model trim levels. the 3.0 SOHC V6 is a US exclusive in the 8G platform.

as more concrete examples, my headlights are not truly JDM, they are taiwan spec and my tail lights are philippine spec. further my rear visor is hong kong spec and so on; but they can collectively be called JDM since these are basically the exact parts used on actuall J-spec versions and are not available to the OE USDM.

so, basically "world version" parts are also referred to as JDM since they are directly related and interchangeable with the J-spec version even though they are not exclusively for the Japanese market.

[Kain]

Well, if that's the case why do I get laughed at whenever I tell a 1g driver that I drive a DSM? (also, according to my VIN# my car was assembled in Japan, so why do I still have the DSM stickers?) And following that logic, our minivan IS a DSM since it was manufactured in Normal using both Mitsubishi and Chrysler parts. Though my Colt is not, since it was made entirely in Japan only badged diffrently as a Plymouth. Interesting...

[Dracas]

Only the 'DSM Files' know

You'd have to sneak a crack team of ninja's into Chrysler and Mitsubishi to get them :lauging:

[bronxbombr]

Well my car has DSM tagged under the hood, never gave it another thought bought the difference for my G runs like fire.

[Sarah]

My DSM 1st gen eclipse.......sucked........I never wanted another DSM after that

[BEAST]

Ford makes land rover, and jaguar, and has a part in mazda.

[Kain]

Hey, if you want to add a few more connections to really get the soap opera feel of the motor vehicle industry:

Mazda and Ford are partnered up, Ford makes Mazda's trucks, and Mazda makes [some of] Ford's cars.

Toyota and GM have a partnership, most notably the Geo line of uber-economy cars produced by Toyota. But engineering similarities can be seen in most of the cars today (I.E. "pink" antifreeze in Lexus and high end Toyotas)

Mitsubishi used to provide all the engines + transmissions for heavy equipment manufacturer Hyundai untill they learned to do it themselves (Betcha didn't know the Scoop has the same engine/drivetrain as the Eclipses [4g63t]).

Subaru and Mitsubishi had a tenuous relationship for a while, but their rally rivalry sorta killed that.

Ford recently purchased Jaguar for an unknown purpose.

Dodge and Jeep are also under the rather large umbrella of Diamler-Chrysler. And the defunct Daewoo facilities were purchased under the Dodge name presumably to aid in production of Neon based vehicles.

And lastly, not only is Audi the "performance" devision of VW, Porche is also part of the big happy VW family (the original beetle was intended as an affordable Porche)

This is all part of the reason I don't think overly highly of the "upper-end" cars. You can find most of the same engineering in far more economically priced cars, just without the brushed aluminum and shiny wood trim.

[Dracas]

Wood trim. That sort of strikes me as an oxymoron since its made out of polyvinyl anyhow.

What fricken idiot thought "Hmm, lets take some fake wood, slap it on the doors, and sell it for an extra $100,000" ?

Trim is the biggest vehicle related joke I can think of. The only different between a Stealth ES and a Stealth RT TT is a sleeker trim and two turbos, totalling maybe a thousand or two in production costs, yet the pricetag is about $20,000 more expensive for a Stealth RT TT

I wonder if people know their getting ripped off that badly. Honestly, The extra trim is nice, but if you can smack some home-grown turbos on a Stealth ES (or whatever your favorite car is) you probably saved yourself $15,000 in the process.

I dunno, maybe thats an uneducated opinion, maybe not. I've looked into it some and a lot of vehicle manufacturers do that, offer a more expensive trim model, but don't make any noticeable changes to the engine, or design, they just smack on new trim and bolt on a turbo. Crap, why bother?

Maybe thats the real appeal of the Galant S (aside the fact is was a pretty sexy car for a sedan)

Also if you look at it, the Galant is to the Eclipse as the Acura Legend is to the Integra. Just a four door virgin with the same crap inside, and a cheaper price tag. Maybe a little more weight but seriously? I'd rather see a sexy tricked out low-riding sedan before I'd see another hopped-up two-door rice-burner. Proving something with four doors has more power then some crappy lawnmower with two doors and some strobes is a lot more satisfying to me I guess.

To each their own though, maybe this is just how I think