Just picked up by brand new 2014 Subaru WRX STI in World Rally Blue, with 8 miles on the odometer.
Rented a car at Detroit Metro Airport this morning, drove 4 hours east to Pittsburgh, did the deal, and I'm now sitting in the hotel room at the Holiday Inn.
Picked up the car at 5:00, just in time for rush hour, in an area that is nothing but hills. Hills and bumper-to-bumper traffic forced me to learn the car fast. I just about have the clutch figured out. First manual transmission car I've owned. Now that the car has 15 miles on it, I think I've driven a total of 30 miles in a manual ever
I'll get some better pictures when the sun comes out.
Nice, they are on my shortlist for replacements for the Mini when the time comes. Now get some gold wheels and Monster stickers on it, asap
Gold wheels, yes. Thinking of the OZ Ultraleggera's or the Prodrive GT1's. I'm leaning towards the OZ's because they're slightly lighter and would be easier to replace if one is damaged. Going to put winter tires on the stock wheels and the current summer tires on the gold wheels. Need to figure out how the TPMS sensor are paired to the car so I can swap them out as weather dictates.
I like it! Way to be persistent Is driving a manual hard?
It can be exhausting doing bumper to bumper 80 mile a day commutes in/ out of NYC, apart from that its an absolute joy and like RWD said it doesn't take long. I taught myself at my local airport in 3 hours, 2 weeks later and I don't remember stalling the car/ mis-shifting afterwards.
The first vehicle I drove with a manual transmission was a 2006 International 8600. That was... Interesting.
My daily driver is a 6 speed RX8. I'd never driven a car with a stick prior to buying it so I learned pretty quick. Not much to it, really. I'd like to try out a WRX but I sat in a manual Imprezza (2007 model) before I bought my Mazda and it was seriously cramped for me. I'm sure the higher trims aren't so bad as they have better seats anyway but that did make me reevaluate whether I'd be comfortable with one for a daily driver.
I can't see the pic RWD posted (PIP and myfiero images don't show up on my carrier anymore) but I'm sure it's a nice car and I'm glad the guy finally got what he was after considering how long he's been searching for one
It hasn't stopped raining since I bought the car. Supposed to flood tonight in the area, then start snowing. I put it in the garage to dry off after I took these pictures, and programmed the Homelink to open the garage door. I noticed the radio antenna wasn't installed on the car, even though I didn't have any trouble with reception. Looked by the spare tire, and there it was. I'll install it after the car dries off.
The car goes 300 highway miles before the low fuel light comes on. I only put 13 gallons in, and it's supposed to be a 16.9 gallon tank.
I DID finally get to drive the car on some dry roads once, on the way home from Traverse City about a week ago. MAN was it nice. Car has about 820 miles on it now, and it just keeps getting better.
2100 miles now, and ended up driving the car through the worst winter and snow Detroit has seen in over 100 years. Washed and waxed it yesterday, used the Ammo paint regimen. Looks better now than when I picked it up.
No, just takes practice. I think a month from now it should be second nature. Driving it to work every day should be good repetitive practice.
I've been driving my automatic Fiero for a year and a half. Yesterday, I came to a stop light and pushed the shifter into neutral like I was still driving my 5-speed. I guess flashbacks can happen at any time!
Assuming the scoop is functional, how does the car deal with rainwater being funneled into such a large opening? Maybe you could post a picture with the hood open.
I like Subaru cars. There are a few real quick ones that autocross locally.
Yep, functional hood scoop. It feeds directly into the intercooler. In Japan on the Spec C model, they offer an intercooler spray option, which sprays water onto the intercooler to cool it, so I would imagine the rain actually has a positive effect on performance.
I've been driving my automatic Fiero for a year and a half. Yesterday, I came to a stop light and pushed the shifter into neutral like I was still driving my 5-speed. I guess flashbacks can happen at any time!
Do that kind of stuff all the time. Not actual shifting, but hand there starting to. Between the Fiero 5 spd, Silverado column auto and Trail Blazer floor auto. It really gets interesting after coming off a trip with the Harley. I find myself leaning in the car/truck while making turns.
It feeds directly into the intercooler. In Japan on the Spec C model, they offer an intercooler spray option, which sprays water onto the intercooler to cool it, so I would imagine the rain actually has a positive effect on performance.
Ah, so it's not an air intake for combustion purposes, but an air intake to cool the intercooler.
Cool, I learned something.
Thanks for the picture of the engine compartment. Looks tight in there!
3 years ago today now, drove the car to California and back, now up to 24,000 miles, and zero issues.
Added the optional fog lights at Thanksgiving.
24,000 miles in three years? My Lord, what do you do, walk to work?
Just pulling your chain. My daughter has a Subbie Outback 3.6R Premium. Has been trouble free up until the transmission went out, twice.
------------------ Ron
Isn't it strange that after a bombing, everyone blames the bomber, his upbringing, his environment, his culture, his mental state but … after a shooting, the problem is the gun....
You can't do much about the length of your life, so focus on the width and depth. When Life throws you a curve, lean into it and roll that throttle!!
If, you wish to piss off a Conservative, lie to him. If, you wish to piss off a Liberal, tell them the truth.
I haven't seen a Subaru SVX or an XT in a very long time.
Not for sure if they are collectible or junk piles, but I always thought they were cool back in the day.
I'm going to see this guy's collection during the holidays. The agreement is, I spend 2 days with her barely tolerable Liberal friends in Northern Virginia and she walks through this dealership / museum with me. it's a win / win or a lose / lose depending on how you look at it.
I used to see an SVX every day when I would walk to class in Houghton in college. Their weak point is the automatic transmission can't handle the power from the H6 engine.
The low miles are from living two miles from work, working from home occasionally, and a lot of travel (flying). The San Jose > Fremont commute wasn't bad, but the San Jose > Palo Alto commute was ridiculous, and one of the reasons I came back to Michigan.
Perfect day for a scary story: The was perfectly reliable, but it finally had its first problem, and it was the big one:
Catastrophic Engine Failure
I was on the freeway (actually on my way to get an oil change before winter, since the car was about due) in I mode doing about 70 in 6th gear, and suddenly felt a slight loss in power that came and went, like an intermittent misfire. I got off the freeway on my exit, and suddenly the car felt like it was WAY down on power. I was in a 55 zone now, and tried shifting down into 4th, shortly after the engine started making some very bad noises. I put the car in neutral just as the engine died, and was barely able to coast to the shoulder. No warning lights or anything came on (just like when the Fiero engine died). Car would not restart, as if it had a low battery. Called AAA and had it towed the remaining mile to the dealer. They called me with the bad news a couple days later.
3 weeks later, got the car back, and am now re-doing the painful engine break-in procedure, do not exceed 4000 RPM's for 1000 miles.
When I bought the car, I got the 5 year 60,000 mile extended warranty, because I wanted it to be covered for the length of the loan (that I paid off back in March) and I knew I wouldn't put that many miles on it in that time. That $1000 likely saved me close to $10,000, as they had to replace the short block, turbo, etc. all under warranty.
Cause was listed as "Oil Pump Failure, Seized" but I suspect it was actually a rod bearing, as Subaru has been having a problem with the EJ255 and EJ257 from 2012-2016 that was only recently brought to light.
As part of the yet-to-be-finalized settlement, they're going to increase the engine warranty to 8 years or 100,000 miles.
So now I'm wondering if I should keep the car, with a new 2019 engine, or dump it while it still runs and the car has a Bluebook value of $26,000 for a used Tesla Model S.
6 Year update: Car is up to 33,000 miles, no additional issues. Ended up buying another extended warranty that will cover the car until the end of 2020. I'm saving up a down payment for a house hopefully this summer, after that I'm going to trade it in for a used Tesla Model S. Overall though this has been by far the best car I've ever seen in terms of reliability.
Gorgeous car! And I love the updates, keep them coming! I am a fellow WRX and Fiero owner in Michigan
I only lurk in OT, but had to jump in as I just picked up a 6-speed 2015 in red. Just an awesome car all around - a GREAT daily driver for Michigan.
Checks all the right boxes:
* Fast * Tight handling * Manual transmission * Good mileage * Strong aftermarket support * Reliability * Red (this was not a requirement, but DAMN it looks good) * Year round daily - AWD makes this fun in the winter * Wife said I could buy it (the most important factor)
[This message has been edited by trivet (edited 01-06-2020).]
As they say, "All good things must come to an end." Today I traded in the STI on a used Tesla Model S P85+. Overall the Subaru was a great car, engine issue aside. Ended up getting $24,000 for it, $6000 more than other offers I'd seen, and not bad considering I'd paid just over $40,000 for it, I'm probably less than $20,000 into it over a 7 year period. If the car had only been worth $5k I would have kept it, but it makes no sense to let it sit and all that value to just disappear with age.
Can't wait to see what they sell it for, and hope some teenager doesn't wrap it around a tree. It's probably the nicest, lowest mileage (34,350 miles) 3rd gen STI in the country.
I like Subaru cars. There are a few real quick ones that autocross locally.
Seeing this thread again is like time-travelling backwards. Two and a half years after originally posting the quote above, I bought my own Subaru Impreza STi... a '98 JDM wagon. That was four years ago. I won't be selling mine (pictured below) for awhile.
Is driving a manual hard?
