[Ken]

Lunchtime break... time to post. :wink:

Picked up my blue 05 last Saturday with 13km's on it. I have been waiting for this car for 5 yrs now, ever since I got my 99 2.5RS in 1999. This thing is everything I imagined it to be after reading about it, driving the 02 USDM and 01 JDM when the redesign first came out, and then the latest facelift JDM STi while in Tokyo last year. This thing rumbles nicely after you get off the throttle and then roars when you get back on the gas. Still only 160km's on it so it'll be a while until the real fun starts, but I can feel it pull nicely from 3krpm. I'm sure you all know what I'm talking about but these are just my first impressions.

I like the interior layout - it's just night and day compared to my old car. I'm only 5'4" so i'm sitting up fairly close to the steering wheel so my view of the RPM guages 4-5krpm is blocked by the wheel. I'll need to tilt it upwards but it may not be as comfortable. I also noticed the DCCD Auto light is kind of hard to see in the daylight, but other than that it's a great car! It's definetely hard to see the speed digits squished closely together. It's too easy to row through the gears and suddenly be up at 80km/h in the city.

The gearbox is notchy but I figure that'll loosen up a bit after some more miles. And I'm noticing more valve lifter noise (ticking) between 1500-2500 rpm compared to my old RS that a lot of people have reported, but then the rumble gets too loud to make the ticking out.

Just filled her up with 94 octane since she's quite thirsty. First half tank gas got me 16mpg which was $27 @ $1.069 / 1L More to report later I'm sure. [/img]

[technica]

Nice. Congratulations. Please post some pics of the heated seats buttons.

[thermobox]

welcome

[Ken]

Trust me, the heated seat buttons ARE there on both sides.

Originally Posted by technica

Nice. Congratulations. Please post some pics of the heated seats buttons.

[KingofImports.com]

Welcome, show us some pics when you get a chance.

[Ken]

Day 4 - No good pics yet (see first post). 16mpg on the first half tank, that's 165km's paying $27 for 94 octane at $1.069/L.

With the air controls on for bottom and top vents it blows quite low. Crazy brake dust building up on the rims, I'll have to wash her this weekend. Other than that she is behaving nicely. Got to feel how it's like with a carload full of people. She still likes to pull even while keeping it under 4krpm.

[Digitalfiend]

Congrats Ken! The wait is finally over for you.

So are you saying that both seats are heated?

[Digitalfiend]

Are both seats heated Ken?

[Ken]

Yep, on the assumption that the heated seat button on the passenger side does work. I didn't actually test it though. I took a pic but it turned out too blurry.

[Digitalfiend]

Awesome. I thought that rumour was false but I guess not! It was funny because my dealer told me about the heated passenger seat and then a month later told me it didn't exist. Now you're saying it should be there. lol I can't wait to get mine.

[KingofImports.com]

Best 05 pic I have seen so far.

[Ken]

Is this what you're looking for?

Originally Posted by Digitalfiend

Awesome. I thought that rumour was false but I guess not! It was funny because my dealer told me about the heated passenger seat and then a month later told me it didn't exist. Now you're saying it should be there. lol I can't wait to get mine.

[Ken]

Day 8: ~450km's. The rims were covered in crazy brake dust so I washed it away and waxed them up. Hopefully that'll do some good. I think I had my first case of fuel starvation. I was taking a left turn on a green arrow at an intersection in 3rd. When I got on the gas after the apex, it felt like it was in neutral or that the RE-070's just suddenly gripped 100% more for a split second, and then all of a sudden the power came back on. hard to tell since this is my first turbo car (The RS had that yummy flat spot after 3krpm, ok), but that was the sensation I got.

[Digitalfiend]

Nice pictures and thanks for the heated seat confirmation.

Edit: I just noticed that you mentioned possible fuel starvation. Because I plan to run my STi at the track, I'm going to post a question over in the Powertrain section asking how to address this issue.

[Ken]

There are a ton of threads on the various boards. Easiest way is to stay above half full in the tank.