I ran against a DSM at Nelson-Ledges. It was pretty quick but ended up toasting the headgasket. I don't remember if it was awd or fwd but the smart move would to just run fwd.
Also, we've built two different cars and both were very close to a $3500 budget after they were completed. We scored a lot of parts used and for free on both builds too. I would guess a DSM build wouldn't be any different.
I'm excited to run our first race of the year at Iowa though. We just completed our first test last week.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tjmX37KNabA