My new 2016 STI

[Ferd]

I finally have my new STI (all the pics of my STI can be found here)





And here it is alongside my faithful 2003 WRX

[BIG"E"]

Looks very nice

[Steve_PPP]

Don't know why as I guess Big'E' can see the pictures, but I can't on my phone or PC... ?

[munk]

me neither...

[Ferd]

Originally Posted by Steve_PPP

Don't know why as I guess Big'E' can see the pictures, but I can't on my phone or PC... ?

Originally Posted by munk

me neither...

That's odd - can you see the ones on my previous thread (New members)? They're on Google Photos and I just copy/past the direct image links - don't normally have issues.

I'll add a link to the album of all the pics together to the first post for anyone with the same issue.

[Steve_PPP]

I get a grey 'no entry' symbol for each image, as if hotlinking isn't allowed or there's no permissions.

[Ferd]

Originally Posted by Steve_PPP

I get a grey 'no entry' symbol for each image, as if hotlinking isn't allowed or there's no permissions.

Hopefully you can see the via the album link - otherwise I'll simply have to sort out a small public area on my server and share them myself.

[Steve_PPP]

Yes the link works, didn't spot that in the first post

Photobucket for image hosting

[Ginola]

Looks great how does it drive!?

[BIG"E"]

Originally Posted by Ginola

Looks great how does it drive!?

Taomyn you had best take your new baby up the road and give it a test run round the Ring.

Perhaps we will see it in the flesh in June??

[lockheed]

jealous!

[Ferd]

It drives like a beast, well at least up to 4,000rpm - it's definitely different to my old 2003 WRX, all I did to that was 18" wheels and the PPP was done in 2004.

I'm annoying myself with the gear shift, with the occasional "oh yeah I have 6th duh". Having driven the same wonderful car for 13yrs I have some stubborn habits to break, and if I go from 5th to 2nd one more time, I'll give it back it's never at high speed thank goodness.

Went for an early evening spin on the twisties today and it was great fun. We have some cracking roads around here - hence a few of the tyre makes have bases here. Being a bit of a geek and loving tech, was very much entertained by the magic lights i.e. automatic dipping. Satnav is pants though

Not sure about the ring yet, need to get my trip back to the UK next week out of the way first and see how time/money are. But it would be nice to pop over for at least one of the days you're there. Whether I can brave an actual lap.......yup, been here 14yrs and have never been round but have visited a few times.

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[Frenchie]

Some people (me) on this forum may find this thread quite upsetting. People posting pictures of their new car (looks nice) and reports on how it drives (sounds good). Just of to cross another day of the calender (only 8 weeks to go).

[BIG"E"]

Originally Posted by Frenchie

Just of to cross another day of the calender (only 8 weeks to go).

I thought you were getting the new one in time for the ring, has the delivery been put back then?

Still you current scoob will be good enough for you to have a little trip, for some fun at the ring.

[Frenchie]

My old scooby is sold and gone. No firm date on delivery of new one. Just hope it's now on the boat from Japan.

[Ferd]

First trip across to the UK, and treated myself to priority boarding



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[Frenchie]

So how are you finding drive compared to your WRX

[Ferd]

Originally Posted by Frenchie

So how are you finding drive compared to your WRX

I'll put a better report together later, but the drive down to Calais was as good if not better than with my WRX, partly due to the cruise control saving my feet. I even managed to use about the same amount of fuel as with the WRX but I was being pretty frugal by using the cruise control. And then there's the ride once I crossed the Channel - how does anyone drive something like the STI in Kent? Crashing about on the country roads from Ashford to Tunbridge Wells, and some major ones was an eye-opener, and I almost missed a gear change at one point. I always felt it was harsher to drive the WRX in the UK than in Luxembourg, but not to this extreme.

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[Rdlangy1]

Kent ain't so bad

[Ferd]

Originally Posted by Rdlangy1

Kent ain't so bad

Yeah Kent itself is great, I'm TWells born and bred, but the roads are as ****e as they were when I left 2002, if not worse and they'd been deteriorating over the previous two decades.

At least the beer is still as good as it's always been - really miss a proper pint of ale.

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[Red Baron]

The roads are terrible, I've burst or put bulges in 6 tyres in the last 5 years although that's more Sussex than Kent. On the subject of good beer, the bar on the newly reopened Hastings pier serves Harvey's so all is good.

[lockheed]

some of the roads in kent have been ploughed ! so farmers can meet their quota for Eu subsidies ! ha nice furrows

[Ferd]

I remember back in the late 80s they resurfaced the roads so badly around Edenbridge in the spring, that in the summer the tarmac melted and it was like driving through water for about a week. And don't get me started on repairs that use loose stone chips and why like many places in the EU they haven't banned the practice.

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[Garyskisplym]

Driving a sti in kent is fun, even more fun with fixed buckets and a harness .

Will keep eye out for you on my travels the next couple days

[Steve_PPP]

Originally Posted by Taomyn

And don't get me started on repairs that use loose stone chips and why like many places in the EU they haven't banned the practice.

They've just done the roads around my way with this rubbish for about the 4th time in the last 10 years. Each layer lifts the road surface higher and the drains/man-hole covers are now about 5cm below the surface everywhere. When will they actually spend the money to do a job properly??!

[scotty]

Dont have problems up here apart from a few twists , jumps and straights perfect for a subaru think they designed subarus for scottish roads only

[Frenchie]

Here it's not bad,no potholes, no traffic, no cameras and wonderful countryside.

[alfa male]

Originally Posted by Frenchie

Here it's not bad,no potholes, no traffic, no cameras and wonderful countryside.

Totally agree, fantastic roads. When you do see a camera tho', they're in very sneaky places.
Off to France again this year with the family, luckily I do a work trade off with a guy who owns a substantial property near Combourg.

[Bolesroor]

Just driven Dartford-T Wells- Seaford - Midhurst and back to Dartford. The roads were really poor especially running into Tunbridge

[Ferd]

It's now two weeks, but I wrote the following after one week but never had a chance post it. I will leave it here and then add my thoughts from after another week.

So it's been a week since I got my new 2016 STI and so I thought I should put down some notes on the experience so far. Some of this will be personal to me and not really a reflection on the car itself. I had driven the same WRX for 13 years (a wonderful MY03 from new, part-ex'd with just 86,000Km) and some habits are just difficult shift, and it doesn't help that I am always a nervous driver when it comes to unfamiliar vehicles. So, in no particular order:

* Styling - I love the look of the car and the colour has really grown on me - the WR Blue Pearl was actually my third choice after black and dark-grey, but having had it a week I do not regret my decision. In a sea of dull black/grey/white/silver cars I see driving and parked everywhere I like that I finally have a colour that stands out (my old WRX was silver).
* Size - I'd don't know exactly how it compares to my WRX, but it certainly appears to be a larger car, mostly in width, and this is one of the things that's taking me longer to adjust to. As many of you know the scoop is a like a landmark, and the distance between the furthest part of what I can see of it and what I perceive to be the front of the car seems to be closer. Therefore I end up parking further way from walls and other things in front of the car than I need to. I sort of wish the car had come with parking sensors, but I haven't needed them for 30yrs so why would I need them now - oh wait, I'm old It's also a tiny bit lower than the WRX, at least some trim underneath appears to be, and so the steep curved ramp I have to drive up to get to my underground parking bay is proving to be a challenge. Twice I have scraped the underside, but it's black plastic that's getting hit and nothing to worry about. It's a juggling act whilst turning the car, between too much power and the car bottoms out more easily, or not enough power and the car kind of struggles and almost stalls.
* Magic Scooby - I call the car this because the "bells & whistles" the car has to me makes my old WRX feel like it was from the stone-age, and some of the things it can do are simply "like magic". It was so cool driving the lanes the other evening and having the car dip the full beam for me and probably did a better job at it than I would have done seeing as I was fully concentrated on getting used to the car. Yes, I'm a geek so I will probably rave about other gadgets further on.
* Engine - enough has be said/written about the engine elsewhere, so I don't really have much to say myself. Maybe I'm old-school, but I like having more litres to get more BHP, so I'd rather have a 2.5 in it that a 2.0 being pushed to do the same.
* Gearbox and clutch - this is probably the second hardest thing to get used to after the size of the car, and again is simply down to habits from my old WRX. I keep over-reving it when I pull away in 1st which is embarrasing and I feel like I just learnt to drive. Having a 6-speed box is great I just need to remember that I now have a 6th gear and that it has shifted all the other gears about, so I need to change more frequently than I'm used to. I also have the occasional "moment" when going from 5th to 4th ends up with me between 4th and 2nd, and a couple of times I go on to choose 2nd. Fortunately this has only happened at relatively low speeds and the rev increase has never been very high. I am slowly improving though. The clutch is also another problem and my pull-away and subsequent gearshifts need improving. I wish I could learn to heel-toe but my brain doesn't seem to get it. The other thing that has caught me out a couple of times is "hill-assist" where the car holds the brakes for you when it detects you're going to pull away on a hill. Great feature unless you forget about it and a couple of times it's caused me to stall the car. Again, time will improve this.
* Exhaust - love the twin twin-pipes. Even stock it's louder than the PPP exhaust I had on my WRX but not as loud as many older Scoobs. I'm happy with the sound and can't see myself changing this.
* Performance - no idea yet. Still not run it in and so far I've done only just under 500km of the recommended 1,600km. Hopefully with my upcoming trip back to the UK will knock off the remainder of the KMs and I can then push the car properly. Not that I'm an aggresssive driver anyway but appreciate that the car has some impressive power.
* Fuel Economy - well I went into the purchase knowing full well what the expectations are, and of course compared to the old WRX the STI does enjoy its fuel. Just to put it into context: in the WRX I could drive to a fuel station 30min from Calais and would have easily had just over a quarter of a tank left. I think it's about 450km. Current estimates for the STI put it as running on fumes if I tried the same. So we'll see soon how this really turns out. I am just thankful that 98 fuel is still pretty cheap here, but like my old WRX and I don't intend to use the car for work four days out of five and that should keep my costs down. Fuel filler is on the same side as my WRX, so on the right and therefore one less thing to re-learn.
* Ride and handling - boy the is so well planted, but the ride is most definitely far firmer than the old WRX. Again something I knew about before getting the car, so I am not complaining though it will be interesting what I think about it after being in the UK. With the WRX it would barely make a sound rattle-wise in day-to-day driving here as our roads are pretty well maintained, but I always noticed back in the UK how bad things are and the rattles would emerge to annoy the heck out of me.
* Cabin noise - yes it's probably as loud from wind-noise as everyone reports and could be improved, but it compares about the same as my old WRX. Then again, who buys an STI for how quiet it is
* Seats - they are really good and it took me a few days of fiddling with the 8-way electric adjustment to get myself as comfortable as I was in the old WRX. They're the full leather ones and look and feel great.
* Steering Wheel - Steering is heavier than the old WRX, to be expected, yet very precise and reassuring. The steering wheel is smaller than the WRX but I really like how it feels - I'm starting to get used to it now. Controls are well placed, and the stalks only have a couple of minor differences compared to the old WRX.
* Wing mirrors, reversing camera - I had blindspot mirrors stuck to my old WRX mirrors that really helped, but the STI has a blind-spot warning system (as well as rear cross-traffic detection) and so I'm learning to watch for that to go off. Same with the reversing camera, it definitely a benefit and again because I am not used to it I sometimes forget to include it as part of awareness when maneuvering the car. Also like that the mirrors aren't colour coded but in silver.
* Windows - full auto all round from the drivers door, not sure about on the other doors. They're ever-so-slightly tinted but I'm not a huge fan of anything much darker.
* Brakes - what else can I say other than they work well. Took a bit of getting used to as they are more powerful than my old WRX, but that's obviously not a bad thing.
* Keyless-entry etc - another new thing for me. The whole thing works well and I love the push-button start. I've gotten used to the key-entry and then locking the car up afterwards, I like how it reminds me if walk away without locking up. Discovered that the PIN-entry system not mentioned on the French manual does actually work, so using the US manual I downloaded I was able to program a 5 digit PIN that allows me to get into the car should I be unable to use the key-fob e.g. if I somehow lock it inside the car. Still need to remember not to go for a "key in the ignition" when I stop the car - old habits again.
* ICE - the less said about some aspects of the "infotainment" system the better (sat nav and apps), having said that the audio quality is pretty damned good at least for my old ears. There's a largish subwoofer speaker on the rear parcel-shelf. The touch interface is easy to use and I'm so glad it's not one of those stupid knob affairs that BMW/Mercs and others have, but I'm also glad there's a proper volume knob (which I didn't have with my old Parrot Smart). I like the steering controls as again this is something new for me, though I haven't done much with the voice control yet (except to say "No" when the sat nav offered me information when I crossed the border the other day). The sat-nav has very dated maps and so far I can only "purchase" updates - I have complained to my dealer and they are looking into it. I would have expected a brand new car purchased April 2016 to come with maps updated to then, not several years ago. The connectivity to my smartphome at a basic level via bluetooth is very good - phone calls work well, people seem to be able to hear me ok and the system is able to play audio from the various sources on my phone. I do miss having two phones simultaneously connected via BT for making/receiving calls as I didn't have choose one or the other from my private and work phones. Connection of my 64GB USB stick was painless and the system displays the information and album art just fine. FM radio is ok and does the job, but disappointed DAB was not included unless I missed it. The apps system is a bit of a joke unless you are fortunate to have a MirrorLink compatible phone. I have a Google Nexus 6 and the big "G" don't want to add it and stick with their own "Android Auto". I really hope the new Fujitsu units in the 2016 STIs can be properly upgraded if the rumnours about Subaru adding Android Auto for 2017 - I'm not holding my breath.
* Interior power/connections - good to see built-in USB, there's two under the centre console, with a 12v socket into which I have placed a third USB adapter for extra charging. There's another 12v in the armrest cubby hole, and I put a twin USB adapter there. As there is no USB for the rear-passengers, not even a 12v I can convert, they can use the one in the armrest if they want. There's also a AUX audio socket but I will never use it.
* Information - In-car computer system displays are not bad. The one above the centre console shows some useful info and can be tailored to a point. The one on the drivers console also has some good info but isn't as tailorable as I'd like. The display test the car goes through on firing up the car is very slick.
* Cruise control - I haven't had this in a car since around 2000 when I had 3 litre Omega Elite, and quite missed it on my long trips to and from the UK. Was never convinced how well they would work on a manual transmission, but a few tests on the motorways here when they haven't been busy proves it works well. Will be most welcome on my next long drive.
* Air-Con - Works, though doesn't seem as strong as the unit that was in my WRX. The fan motor is also quite noticeable during quieter moments, and to me is a little annoying but not everyone hears it. Apparently it's a known issue as Subrau did not place a padded cover on the underside of the area where it sits in the passenger footwell - some discovered the same cover from another 2015/16 Subrau fits the STI and can be ordered along with some clips. I might do this at a later date.
* Wheels and tyres - love the wheels and I prefer these over the optional BBS ones. The addition of TPMS monitoring is welcome, though doing the checks myself has always been the case but it doesn't hurt to have a second opinion. Now I need to save up for a new set of winter tyres, whether I will get extra wheels or just switch tyres I haven't decided yet.
* Boot - the boot is definitely a little more spaceous than the WRX, and just like it the adjustment for the locking catch was simply terrible needing me to slam the lid for it to close. I put up with it on the WRX but with the STI I decided to attack it and have adjusted it to a more acceptable position. Still needs a positive drop, but now the rear number plate doesn't try to jump off its mountings. Things are laid out nicely underneath the carpet with a large foam insert with cut outs for the jack, wheel wrench, first-aid kit, warning triangle and a screwdriver I think. Under that is the space saver wheel and I'm glad it wasn't one of those poxy cans of puncture repair (or whatever they're called). The dealer even put a fire-extinguisher in with the spare wheel which was nice - haven't had one of those in a car for a long time.
* Lights - a big improvement over my old WRX, especially the LED driving lights and I love the cool look of all the light clusters. Disappointed by the continued use of old style bulbs everywhere, it's like someone at Subaru was tasked with replacing all lights with LED and then gave up half-way. Driving lights as already mentioned are excellent LEDS, but the full-beam and fogs plus numerous others are still crappy old halogens. So I have ordered about £150 of replacement LED bulbs and will have a nice job of work replacing them all in the coming weeks. I have changed the number plate lights with some still-packaged left-over LEDs I had bought for the WRX - they look much better.
* Sunroof - no Subaru, it's not a "moon roof". Great way to disperse the heat as you drive off after having left the car in the sun all day. It's also a nicer alternative to opening the window when I do town driving.
* Owners manual - a personal beef, but I understand that they supply it with a French edition, but why make it impossible to download the UK or any other European language version? Subaru in the US/Canada as such a better on-line experience, including MySubaru which I would really like, and they can download anything related to the cars. Fortunately unlike the dealer for the old WRX, the new dealer was able to order me one which I can soon pick up.

And so after two weeks I'm nearly at 1,400km thanks to my current trip back to the UK, but I'm still not going to push the car. The dealer told me it wouldn't be necessary but I'm going to get the oil changed when I return and will then consider it "run in".

Further thoughts:

* Lights, converting to LED I have changed: full beams, interior light, map lights, reversing lights, licence plate lights, boot lights. Waiting on a new flasher unit so I can change the indicators. I'm having issues with the bulbs required for the front and rear fog lights, and the daytime-running-lights (the ones I got are too big or long). I wrote before how good the dipped beams were, the new full beams improve things there as well.
* Sat-Nav, really annoyed by this. The map data is two years old and so I have been given an email contact in Subaru Belgium by my local dealer and sent them a letter of complaint.
* Ride and Handling, I'll be glad to leave Kent this week and return to the 21st century. I had a near perfect trip to Calais and got there feeling fairly good, but by the time I got to Tunbridge Wells I felt like every muscle on my body had been punched. It's a travesty that the roads have not improved one bit in the 14 years I've been away with many roads I knew very well from my youth 30 years ago are basically in the same state. I always used to notice some difference with the road quality driving my old WRX, but the STI is not so forgiving.
* Fuel Economy, wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be, but for my trip to Calais the tank was down to a quarter just as I used to get with the WRX. I think a lot of this was making good use of the cruise control and keeping to the Belgian and French speed limits. I'm pretty sure that if I tried to use the car as a daily driver like I used it that it would not be as good. But that's ok. The fuel-low light comes on at 10 litres and the trip computer seems to be pretty accurate so far and showing my range.
* STI floor mats and English owners manual, are waiting for me to pick up when I get home.

[Rdlangy1]

Got to say that is one of the most in depth reviews ive seen

Great write up and glad to hear your comparisons, and honest opinions on what is good and bad with the new motor.

Im glad the fuel economy wasn't as bad as you thought, and im sure the gadgets and gizmo's will come into there own.

Having a bug, I often wonder what it must be like to have modern day comfort and technology alongside the power e.t.c. - perhaps one day I will find out.

Ryan

[Frenchie]

Great review and may make some of the changes you have made when mine arrives. Are the halogens/LED changes you made just straight bulb changes?

[Ferd]

Originally Posted by Rdlangy1

Got to say that is one of the most in depth reviews ive seen

Thanks

Originally Posted by Rdlangy1

Great write up and glad to hear your comparisons, and honest opinions on what is good and bad with the new motor.

Im glad the fuel economy wasn't as bad as you thought, and im sure the gadgets and gizmo's will come into there own.

Having a bug, I often wonder what it must be like to have modern day comfort and technology alongside the power e.t.c. - perhaps one day I will find out.

Ryan

Yeah I always used to think the same with my WRX

Originally Posted by Frenchie

Great review and may make some of the changes you have made when mine arrives. Are the halogens/LED changes you made just straight bulb changes?

So far just straight swaps, with the replacement full-beams being units with built-in fans for cooling. Not sure how I feel about these as they work really well and are a great improvement but wondered if I should have tried to get a set with passive cooling.

Here's my spreadsheet for reference: https://goo.gl/qXWECq I'll add a shot from the English manual once I pick it up later this week.

They were all sourced from eBay, the same seller I used for the replacements for my WRX apart from the interior bulbs (as I wanted 28mm festoons). If you're aware of any good suppliers this side of the atlantic I'd be interested to see if they do alternatives for the fogs/drls which will actually fit. The problem with the US is that their lights are not the same and vary more depending on on model and spec.

[Red Baron]

Are there no canbus issues with the LEDs or have Subaru steared away from going down that route? I know the VAG stuff can get quite upset if you start messing about with the bulbs.

I've got Hill Assist on my Passat and it does take a bit of getting used to, I'd rather it only worked going uphill rather than up and down. The biggest problem now is getting in a car without it and forgetting to put the Handbrake on. The technology advancements in cars in the last 10 years is frightening, not sure all of it is for the better.

Very good write up though, looking forward to seeing future updates.

[Ferd]

Originally Posted by Red Baron

Are there no canbus issues with the LEDs or have Subaru steared away from going down that route? I know the VAG stuff can get quite upset if you start messing about with the bulbs.

I have a feeling they have stayed away from it as I haven't seen anything in the manual regarding "bulb warnings". You do have to be very cautious with the interior bulbs and be sure not to short anything or you may damage part of the control system. I just made sure that the lights were off and got the correct 28mm bulbs to avoid having to force the connectors apart.

Originally Posted by Red Baron

I've got Hill Assist on my Passat and it does take a bit of getting used to, I'd rather it only worked going uphill rather than up and down. The biggest problem now is getting in a car without it and forgetting to put the Handbrake on. The technology advancements in cars in the last 10 years is frightening, not sure all of it is for the better.

Yes agreed, the hill assist still catches me out though not like it did the first week. I'm also slowly training myself to use the blind-spot radars and the reversing camera rather than simply ignoring them.

Originally Posted by Red Baron

Very good write up though, looking forward to seeing future updates.

Thanks

[Ferd]

I finally have my STI floor mats



You have to snip two tiny bits of the carpet under the drivers seat which opens up two small flaps under which are holes that plastic mounts attach to.

Hopefully having two holes means these will sit still better than the official mats I had for the WRX,

[Ferd]

The intercooler guard I ordered arrived while I was away in the UK:



Hopefully I can fit it tomorrow, and unfortunately when I checked the other day there was already a minor dent

[Frenchie]

Mats look cool,how much did they cost you. Also when the time comes do you know where I can purchase LED full beam bulbs with passive cooling.

[Ferd]

Originally Posted by Frenchie

Mats look cool,how much did they cost you. Also when the time comes do you know where I can purchase LED full beam bulbs with passive cooling.

The mats were free from the dealer, which was nice.

As for passive LEDs I've only seen them as SubieSpeed so far, but might be available from other suppliers and on eBay. I haven't looked myself. I originally thought that's what I would get but the seller on eBay I use only had these. Have you heard anything bad in "fan vs passive" at all? Passive have their issues too if they don't get good airflow or sit in a hot environment. I'll keep a close eye on mine and see how they go.

Sent from my Nexus 6 using Tapatalk

[Ferd]

So today I drove across the boarder to Germany to see a friend, and gave the car a quick clean to de-bug the front end after my drive back from the UK. As I live in an aparment block I have nowhere to clean it so unless I pay an extortionate amount to have it valeted, this is how I have to keep it clean. I took the time to also install the intercooler guard:




And as I also discovered some unused shorter although red LED bulbs I was able to replace the halogen in the rear fog light. Here it is lit up along with the now enormously bright LED reversing lamps:



What you can't see is that the rear fog as a small triangle of bright spots which kind of looks cool.

[iPond]

Looking good

[Hongkongfooi]

Looks lovely that. Great write up

[Frenchie]

Is the intercooler on your car more prone to damage then earlier STi's, thus the fitting of a guard? Reversing lights do look bright.Looks like your making all the changes I'll want to do.

[Ferd]

Originally Posted by Frenchie

Is the intercooler on your car more prone to damage then earlier STi's, thus the fitting of a guard? Reversing lights do look bright.Looks like your making all the changes I'll want to do.

Does 3 dings in the cooler in three weeks count as more prone? Can't be 100% they weren't there when I picked the car up, but it only had 9km on the clock so I doubt it. I don't remember what my old WRX was like after 13yrs.

Yup, slowly getting there with the LED upgrades, hopefully the replacement LED flasher unit arrives this week so I can do the indicators, then it just leaves the front fogs/DRLs. After that I doubt I will do much more, maybe mudflaps and then later this year decide on whether to get winter tyres + new rims, or just the tyres.

Sent from my Nexus 9 using Tapatalk

[Frenchie]

That's interesting,don't remember many dings in my old WRX intercooler. Where did you get the guard?

[Ferd]

Originally Posted by Frenchie

That's interesting,don't remember many dings in my old WRX intercooler. Where did you get the guard?

From eBay http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/162054224226 took about two weeks to arrive.

Sent from my Nexus 6 using Tapatalk

[Ferd]

Nearly fully LED'd, just the front fog/DRLs which I'm struggling to get LEDs that fit the holes - I have the "correct" fittings, but the aperture into light housing is too small. The only ones I have seen that are supposedly guaranteed to fit are from a site in Australia which makes the postage a little much.

Once I got the new flasher unit installed the LED indicators slowed down to normal, but unfortunately I now suffer the reported long first flash which in itself I can deal with as I had it with my old WRX, but it means the built-in "3 flash lane change mode", now does "long", "normal", "very short", so it's simply a timing thing. I think I can live with it for now until I can find an alternative that doesn't involve any modification other than a correctly functioning flasher unit. Maybe one of the adjustable ones.

I will see about getting some video of all the lights in action, so hopefully if the rain ever stops I can get that done.

On the subject of rain, more of the "magic" shows up when I left my wipers on "intermittent" today on parking up. I went out after lunch and it wasn't raining, the wipers were not wiping, and then just as it did start to come down and I was about to switch them on myself, the car did it for me. It then proceeded to time the wipes flawlessly during my trip on the motorway, adjusting to my speed and the amount of rain coming down, even slowing/stopping going through a tunnel and when stopped at lights. Even the RainX didn't seem to phase it. My only fear is if/when all these gadgets start to go wrong, but I think Subaru have only included much that has been around a few years so I would hope some of the reliability kinks will have been ironed out.

[Ferd]

I added a few new pictures to album, see first thread for link, after I went for a blast around the countryside yesterday. It was Luxembourg's national day so off work, and as it was such a nice day (sunny and 30+), I thought I would go out and find a spot to take a few pictures. I also needed something new to replace the picture of my old WRX I have on my bank debit card. Unfortunately it had rained on Monday so the car wasn't as clean as I'd like but it didn't deter me. I found somewhere with a nice view and took some shots.



As for the car itself, some more insights:

• Gearbox+Clutch - I'm finding it frustrating as I can't seem to drive it smoothly especially at slow speeds and even more on uneven roads. I don't find it easy to keep on the power smoothly with the car jarring me around. I don't recall this problem when I drove the test 2015 STI. Maybe it's because it's still new, but I had the same problems with the old WRX just nowhere near as bad, so maybe it's me and I'm basically "crap". My worst times is when I get home as I park under my apartment block, and the ramp I have to drive up to get to my parking area is quite steep with a sharp turn - if I go too slowly the car almost stalls and if I go too quickly it can bottom out on the top lip of the ramp. I never had this with the WRX.
  
  It's steeper than it looks!
• Parking and general size of car - that at least is good news as I think I'm pretty much accustomed to the different size of the car, but that's not to say I'm still not being overly cautious everywhere I go. I really do go out of my way to find a parking space that is a) easy, b) away from everyone else - the excercise is good for me I'm also managing to park up nice on my ramp at home.
  
  Sometimes I get closer
• Mobile phone holder - seeing as the satnav is next to useless (I'm still waiting on the dealer for this), I've been trying out various different phone holders and after many different types I have settled on one that uses one of the air vents (the right-hand centre one to be precise). This wasn't my first choice but nothing else has worked well. I have a Nexus 6 phone which is quite large and heavy so that is a factor. I tried windscreen mounts, but no matter where I placed it the phone just wobbled too much making it difficult to see and to use. I tried the same suction mount but on a plastic disk I stuck to the dash - that lasted all of two days before it came unstuck. I then tried a CD mount as it was something I would never need to use and placement was pretty good. Unfortunately I became a bit nervous as the audio unit is a single piece of glass and I was worried it would put too much pressure on the slot (the mechanism you insert expands to provide the grip) and potentially cause it to crack down the line. That would not be cheap to fix. So a vent one was my only success but not your simple push in type as I tried one of those and my phone would not fix in its grips. I had one from a long time back that has an extendable hook and a small padded part that it rests against (can't describe every well) - this is very sturdy and I think is putting less pressure on the vent.

[Ferd]

Got all the LEDs except for the fog/DRLs done, and fitted a replacement flasher unit that was adjustable which fixes the long flashes. Lane change flasher now works correctly.

Something else about the STI that came to mind a few times now - I miss the pillar-less doors I don't know why but I always thought they were cool. Oh well.

[Ferd]

Almost as exciting as waiting for the STI to be delivered, MY NEW DEBIT CARD HAS ARRIVED



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