So I am new to the STi game, I just ordered a 2016 STi limited CWP and will be taking ownership around July.
I have been around the car screen for a few years now with a 2013 Scion FR-S and know a tiny bit about cars in general but have always been a fan and the STi has always been my dream car so I'm stoked to be joining the ranks!
Not only am I new to the STi genre but this will be my first manual car as well, so stoked on finally learning that skill. Way too many years late!
The reason I'm posted is to ask what do I need to know? About the STi and about driving it daily. Are there things about this car that you guys that have the car have learned that you wish someone old you when you got first got it?
Just looking for some general advise and wanted to share my excitement with some people who get it
I would learn stick on something else while you wait for the car - preferably an older car. While the STI transmission is stout and the clutch is forgiving (at least wear wise) I would not advise learning how to drive a manual on a brand new car - especially this one.
Learn to break-in your new STi. Get that out of the way first. Then read all the stickies for all the info you need on these cars. And yes, learning how to drive stick on you brand new STi could be... a bad idea. If you do, you may cut your clutch life by about half :lol:
My first manual car was a Cobalt SS Supercharged a long time ago... Let's just say I ended up doing a clutch job 20k miles before it's typical due date lol
And yes, learning how to drive stick on you brand new STi could be... a bad idea. If you do, you may cut your clutch life by about half :lol:
My first manual car was a Cobalt SS Supercharged a long time ago... Let's just say I ended up doing a clutch job 20k miles before it's typical due date lol
Clutch life is dependent on what you drive and you drive it. Commute in traffic or have to stop and start on hills or mountains you clutch life will be shortened. Abuse your clutch and it can be destroyed in no time. My WRX clutch lasted the life of its first engine, 227K and was still in good shape then.
Should not be any big deal to learn stick in an STI. It's a lightish car with a relatively low 1st gear and has some torque. It'l teach you to stay out buck. I wouldn't hesitate to teach someone who can drive otherwise. So you get a few hundred miles of wear.
Pulls and heel-toe in this discussion? Give me a break.
The only real advise I think of as important is check your oil, and learn to operate the car in an appropriate gear. That especially means no lugging it, and staying out of boost in higher gears at low RPM. Just because the car will give you some power there, doesn't mean it's good for it.
Congrats! I traded in my '13 WRB BRZ for my '15 DGM STi and I have no regrets!
If you can't get access to a manual car beforehand, at least make sure you understand the theory of driving stick. E.g., things like the clutch engagement point, when to shift, rev matching, and heel-toe downshifts. You won't be able to pull these things off right off of the bat (unless you're crazy talented!) but at least you'll know what you're striving for.
You will be fine with the manual transmission in the STi. But, if this is your first foray into sports cars, consider the WRX as a possible alternative. It comes with a CVT with paddles. Like in those computer games.
Depending on what theory you decide to follow on the engine break in, be sure to set your RPM alarm to the desired rev limit. This will be especially important as a newcomer to manual transmissions.
You should find this forum incredibly informative so spend some time searching the countless threads already out there on almost everything you want to know.
Welcome and good luck with your first stick sports car! This is only my second stick car, and its about 1100 lbs heavier and uses two more wheels than my last one. This car, more than any other stick car I've driven is about feeling when the car wants to shift, being confident, and not hesitating. The single mod that will probably help you the most is a clutch stop. But as the others have said, read stickies concerning maintenance, paint protection, and above all: Drive the car and really think about what you want from it, not just what the internet tells you to buy for it.
Welcome and good luck with your first stick sports car! This is only my second stick car, and its about 1100 lbs heavier and uses two more wheels than my last one. This car, more than any other stick car I've driven is about feeling when the car wants to shift, being confident, and not hesitating. The single mod that will probably help you the most is a clutch stop. But as the others have said, read stickies concerning maintenance, paint protection, and above all: Drive the car and really think about what you want from it, not just what the internet tells you to buy for it.
I suggest going to to parking lot and work on your first gear pulls. Engagement in first gear to get the car moving is always what people struggle with. From there work on shifting smoothly to 2nd or 3rd gear and finally back down to say 2nd gear. Driving a manual takes time and a lot of practice, especially on hills. Heal toe is a great technique, but more advanced. Work on the basics first. Working the clutch smoothly into the friction zone and not riding the clutch. Try not to leave your hand on the stick all the time.
I found it better just to drive around my residential area and use the stops signs as a guide. Also heel toeing i noticed, with my car that in order to do it you have to slam the on the brakes pretty hard because it levels out the pedals. On the streets where i lightly press the brakes it's impossible for me. But when i went out on the track, it worked perfectly.
I would learn stick on something else while you wait for the car - preferably an older car. While the STI transmission is stout and the clutch is forgiving (at least wear wise) I would not advise learning how to drive a manual on a brand new car - especially this one.
I learned stick on a different car, and honestly i burnt my clutch and stalled more in my STI when i was first learning it. Not anymore but at first it was kinda stressful to see your self fail even though you knew how to drive stick before.
Welcome to the forums and congrats on getting the STI. This is my first stick as well, though I have had plenty of experience before, and first Subaru on top of that. The thing that I found was that these cars make quite a bit of noises that don't sound normal. For example if you turn right and up an incline you may hear scraping noises but it is just the traction control system doing its job. There is plenty of information out there on the weird noises so I suggest reading those before you get the car so you can truly tell if something is a miss.
As said before research and practice but in the end it is totally worth the effort.
I've noticed the big wing in the back tends to act like a flashing neon sign that says "pull me over please, officer", so don't be surprised if you find yourself on the side of the road more often than you used to be, even if you were driving like a sane human being.
Oh and invest in a neck brace. You're bound to strain a neck muscle or two looking back at it sooner or later.
Heel toe is more of a racing technique, but can be useful for the street. As a beginner I would recommend just staying to the basics. Regardless enjoy the STi they are pretty cool cars!
should be fine. You won't drive this car for 10000 years anyways. drive it and learn stick and buy STI again for later. I got my first manual car back in 1998 with brand new Prolude and that car had 0 issue when I sold it on 2005. STI is also Inexpensive car to learn about driving stick.
I think these new STIs have hill assist. If that's true then it's one hell of a clutch saver for newbies ��
Not to mention the possibility of bumping into people if you don't start off quick enough!
I think these new STIs have hill assist. If that's true then it's one hell of a clutch saver for newbies ��
Not to mention the possibility of bumping into people if you don't start off quick enough!
They do have a hill assist, which is a little frustrating at times, because it tends to hold longer than you want it to. May help a new gear rower though.
Personally, I'd rather disable the hill assist and use the handbreak for a hill hold.
Reading though some of the forums one thing that sorta keeps popping up is this paint thing. Anyone care to take a stab at summarizing it all, it seems everyone's opinion is super all over the place.
Get some mud flaps to protect your rear fenders from rocks thrown by the front tire. That'll help with some of the paint issues. I also have clear bra on the front bumper and front 1/3 of the car. That takes care of 90% of the potential paint chips. I also like to park away from the sheeple if I can to avoid door dings.
If your state requires it, be sure to have a front plate, and make sure your tint is legal. Cops love for any excuse to pull us over. Besides that, get a hold of the .pdf version of the owners manual, read it front to back. Stay on top of your maintenance, and enjoy it for what it is. I have had a 2013 STI that I traded in for a 2015 STI that I daily drive and take both to the road courses for track days. Both very reliable in my experience, again stay on top of maintenence and you'll be fine.
Disable hill assist! I learned to drive on an 80 Chevy citation, then onto an 85 Daytona turbo, 2 F150 pickups, a 93 Daytona IROC RT, then an 05 SRT-4, all manual transmission. So I have had a lot of experience with stick shifting and turbo cars. I stalled my sti more than all of them put together. I was so frustrated I actually started to question my purchase. I read the forums, disabled hill assist, and now I'm loving this car! Congrats on your purchase and welcome to the madness!
Hey so a few questions popped up as iv been doing some homework.
My goal with this car is to have it for a long while, the more I read I think the more this whole spun bearing thing keeps coming up and my question is what do i need to know to avoid aggravating this bearing guy inside these beasts?
Also do i need an AOS? is it totally worth it? What about warranty status from Subaru?
Another thing that is all over the place event mentioned here is its paint, so Rally Armor here we come but what else might I need? The car will be professionally detailed regularly so it will stay clean.
P.S. Opti Coat? Yes / No? Value? Waste? Smart? Dumb? Fill me in!
So what Im gathering thus far is I need to get:
- Front plate relocation kit - Woohoo Cali!
- Not so gangster tint - more reason for the cops to just keep staring at the wing not the windows
- Rally Armor mud flaps - NOROKFORU
Hey so a few questions popped up as iv been doing some homework.
My goal with this car is to have it for a long while, the more I read I think the more this whole spun bearing thing keeps coming up and my question is what do i need to know to avoid aggravating this bearing guy inside these beasts?
Depends mostly on the kind of driving you plan on doing. You do not need an AOS to prevent engine issues. The car will run fine without it. You might read that AOS will keep oil out of your intake, and oil in your intake is bad because it "lowers octane". While there is truth to this, AOS is nothing magical and doesn't safeguard your engine any more than having a good tune does.
The fact is a lot of vehicles (Subaru and non-subaru) will ping on stock tune. They also don't blow up just because they pinged.
What it does do is keep your intake a lot cleaner. I plan on getting an AOS for this reason mainly, for track driving.
Warranty? Yes Subaru may try to deny warranty depending on what happens to your car. Or they may not. If that is too scary, then simply do not install the AOS and your warranty will stay intact.
Definitely turn off hill assist first thing. That is the most irritating shit whether you are experienced or trying to learn. There's a reason the "parking brake"is a hand brake. Learn the manual trans on relatively level ground first, then learn to hold your car on hills with the hand brake, slowly easing off as you begin to engage the clutch and head off.
Not only is the hill assist unintuitive garbage, if you DO learn to work with it, you'll probably roll back into the car behind you the first time you drive a manual without it.
The most important thing is take care of your car and maintain it appropriately. If you don't wail on it and hit 6500 rpm at every single stop light, there's a good chance you'll be fine. There are random failures, but once we dig deep enough most of them do have some explanation. its just like your own health, no one can offer guarantees either way, but if you eat fried Twinkies every day, smoke and drink non-stop, and never get any sleep, then yeah you're at a higher risk for problems.
Warranty depends a lot on the dealer. I am relatively young but I'm professional and I had responsibilities at my job at 23 y.o that a lot of people never experience, but my old dealership evidently has had problems with sti owners in the past because I did not like the way they interacted with me and implications they made. I have a strong feeling said dealership would do or say anything to deny a claim if I had problems, even though they caused a significant leak one day after an oil change. Tried to blame it on the crush washer. Riiiiiight. Had I not noticed and had oil starved the turbo etc I'm sure they would have tried to blame me somehow.
EXTENDED SERVICE PLAN, do not buy it yet. You can buy it within the 3/36 warranty period for the same price. But if you buy it now and try to sell it back, suddenly they'll only give you half the money back even though it hasn't even kicked in yet. Realistically if you drive a lot of miles it might be worth it, but on a reliable model you usually don't get your money's worth out of these things. I don't even drive 10k a year in this car, so with it only having 50-70k most likely by the 7 year mark, its not likely I'll break something expensive enough to have warranted that purchase. It was the responsible purchase at the time but it wasn't the wisest choice in retrospect. Just wait a year or two and then decide if you think you need it.
Pleased to see lots of sound advice in this thread... I'll just ignore the reference to heel-toe earlier (..."granny shifting, not double-clutching like you should")
As for the paint, a very important consideration- if you're going to have it meticulously detailed by a professional on a regular basis, AND keep it off frequent visits to freeways that essentially equate to a sandblaster to the front of your car, then you could probably forego the expensive clearbra treatment. I will say from experience however that if you DO regularly commute on a well-traveled freeway (*cough* I-95 *COUGH*), then if it's within your budget, a clearbra should be one of the very first things you should do. The rock chips on my car are slowly driving me insane- and it's possibly even too late for me to even bother... Combine that with the fact that the paint on these cars is indeed exceptionally soft and thin (especially on the bumpers...). I'd say it's worth the investment if you like to keep your car super clean- but it is an investment. From what I've seen a 1/3 clearbra treatment runs anywhere from 750 on the low end to as much as 2500 for some fancy options.
Also consider carefully what you want to do with the car from an aftermarket modification perspective. You should have a plan from the get-go... even if your plan is to have no plan. Follow me? There's nothing wrong with doing nothing to these cars... some will try to argue that "the stock tune is garbage you're going to blow your shit up", but who gives a shit, because it WILL be taken care of under warranty if it's stock. When you start dicking with it that's when things get questionable, especially in regards to everybody's favorite first mod, an AccessPort. The dealership CAN tell if you've flashed the ECU, and then it's up to them to grant or deny your warranty based on their judgement.
However if you ARE going to mod your car, then all that's out the window and my personal recommendation is to be as conservative as possible and check all the appropriate boxes, as if something goes wrong you are left with the assumption that you're going to foot the bill yourself. So yes, if you're going to mod, go ahead and get your AOS because the other things you've done enhance the liability (and likelihood) for when things go wrong.
I'd recommend learning the stick in the "I" (Intelligent) Mode.
I actually like the hill assist though I've no problems on the hills (driving stick for over 30 years).
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