Hi,

as the thread suggests I am a newbie. I have just taken delivery of a new STI and had the following observations/questions which I'm sure you lot can help me with. My first impressions of the brakes seem to be that they just don't bite as soon as you touch the pedal? (I'm used to Golf GTI brakes, which were probably overassisted). The gearchange seemed really tight (the Golfs was like stirring mushy peas!) These are all most probably due to the car only having delivery mileage and will loosen up over time. Can someone let me know of their experiences of running the car in and their observations.

Although I haven't scratched the surface in terms of performance (due to trying to run the car in) I did get a glimpse of its power when instead of changing up from 4th to 5th, I went back into 3rd and boy did it go

 

be careful, keep below 4000 RPM for the first 1000 miles and enjoy it.

Around about 10,000 miles it will be quite a bit more loosened off. Brakes are good and very progressive (uprate the pads to something like Ferrodo DS2500 or Pagid RS 4.2.1 for better braking again).

Gearchange is nice and precise and will become slicker with time.

ENJOY IT

Brian

 

Thanks Brian. I guess it would be a good idea to set the buzzer to 4000 rpm then!

Cheers

 

With regards to the gear change, My dad used to have a golf ( Y reg TDI) and I have always found their gear box's to be quite sloppy in comparison to the scooby, it's meant to be like that, don't worry about it

 

Joe.

Congratulations and welcome to Scooby Ownership. Yep, the gearbox on Sti's is tight- particuarly when new and the throw will seem very short compared to conventional cars. The braking power is proportionate to your pedal effort: the way it should be in a performance car. Typical family hatchbacks are WAY overassisted which results in rather snatchy braking and is throughly unsatisying!

You'll get used to it very quickly.

Enjoy mate! Do keep that engine under 4k for the first 1000 miles though. I know its frustrating as that's when the car begins to get into its stride. however, how you treat the car in the running in period significantly influences how it will treat you for the duration of your time with it!

Best

 

Nope, by the time you lift off it would be nearer 5500

Set it at 3500

 

Quite strange about the brakes as I remember driving my sons 02STi and the brakes (seemingly the same as the 03 we both have now?) were noticably sharper and more instant! They may be big, but you still need to push quite hard.
My 03 gearchange is very good (with 8.5k on the clock) except 4th to 5th which needs more effort than the others. This may just be my example as my sons car is much better in this respect.
Don't forget the oil you have at the moment is thin oil designed for the running-in process, and although there is nothing wrong with good quality thin oil, it is not synthetic, so wait to get the stuff changed before loading the engine too much.
JohnD

 

Just picked up my STI today after two previous turbo's

Don't worry about the gearbox its one of the best in the business IMHO. VAG group don't do gearboxes full stop, they are wolly, sloppy and you feel the gear level will snap off at any moment.

Brakes are a step up from the turbo. Missus had MkIV golf GTI - a trick manufactures use is to over assist with the initial bite this gives the average punter the sensation that they have great brakes. The STI is more progressive a little prod to trim your speed without upsetting balance, push it further and it stops and quickly.

Already done the "wrong gear" thing a few times and taken it to 5000 to complete an overtake. The car is such a tease while running in. Keeps given you glimpse of what it can do then beep beep beep of the rev limiter.

Mine's a company vechicle and you won't believe how many out of office meetings I have arranged in the next few days should see the 1000miles come up in about two weeks.

 

I shall be joining you next Tuesday..............
The 1000k is going to take some doing. I bet it rains on delivery day too.
I keep thinking of roads and routs to travel on locally that will be fun, without having to open the car up. I've come up with about 2 miles of road so far. It's going to be a drag. I guess I can start to squeeze it a little after 800 miles or so, as I am sure it's not cherish for 1000k, then to the floor.....
Shaft.

 

This running in thing is killing me! I set the limiter to avoid overrevving and it seems to be going on every gearchange! So much potential to be untapped, roll on 1000 miles! Its so frustrating when you've got an idiot up your @rse and all you want to do is lose them!

50 miles into my running period and I found out why most scoobies have mudguards. I have noticed a 1 inch scratch has appeared on the passenger side front wing above the wheel, exposing the white undercoat! Mudguards and touch up pen here I come!

 

Try to do a full blown takeoff without breaking 4000rpm, you got to me Schumacher to change that quickly, as soon as you change its beep beep beep. If you let it got 5000rpm you can start to see what it will be like after the 1000miles.

 

I know tell me about it, on a few occasions I have had to miss out the next gear up to avoid the inevitable beep!