Well, it seems a little slower than the 97 wrx sti3 type r coupe i test drove (is it ?) though nowhere near as hard (which is good for my baby son).

the handbrake travel is ENORMOUS and it'll be going back shortly to be looked at.

There is a massive amount of wind noise from somewhere around the drivers window.

Also, after i've been booting it and am being a good boy sitting and waiting for it to cool, the revs seem to hunt from 200rpm up to 1000rpm for about a minute or two then idle returns to normal.
Another alarming one is how slow the engine turns over when i start it !! keep thinking its not going to start.

Apart from that im loving every minute of it

comments please.

 

welcome to the club!

slower than sti 3? - power+torque should be slightly up on the ver 3 (when both are unmodified) - however maybe you have a 4dr with higher gearing so the sti 3 type R would feel more 'urgent' through the gears?
save your pennies up for a de-cat downpipe/backbox - preferably scoobysport + new air filter and you will not be saying it feels slow!

get the handbrake cable adjusted/changed - this should be very easy.

not sure why the tickover was 'hunting' - maybe the air-con cutting in+out??

sounds like battery needs charging - has it been laid up for a long time? - a good long blast will soon get it charged up

have you got the standard Potenza S-01 tyres? - if so please be VERY careful - especially in the wet. These should be the first things to change ont he car - std tyres are diabolical.

door seal is less easy to cure...a scooby weak point - its what happens when you try to do fancy pillarless doors on a tight budget! - try lowering the window 1cm, shut the door then raise it with the door shut - may help. If its really bad - get a new rubber door seal fitted.

cheers,

Paul Webber

 

The 'hunting' when you're waiting for it to cool down is the electric fan coming on and going off.

To see what a difference the electrical loading makes, put your lights on when sitting idling, then flick on main beam. Flick it off again, and watch the revs drop... <g> Even more pronounced with driving lights.

 

Yes, but not that much - the fan is relatively low power, and even putting main beam on only changes it by about 100rpm or so. Definitely shouldn't be hunting between 200-1000rpm... sounds like the idle tickover is set wrongly, or it's not mapped for RON95 or something. Might be an idea to get it checked at your friendly Subaru dealer.

Richard

 

It's unlikely to be mapped for 95RON unless it has been rechipped!

It also should not hunt between 200-1000 when cooling. I have done 14K in an 98 STi5 and have none of the symptoms you describe. Certainly the cooling fans, air con, lights, etc being turning on an off at turnover barely modify the revs at all which runs at about 600rpm on tickover.

Interestingly cars that have a sensor disconnected will display EXACTLY this behaviour as the ECU will work from the default map. This can be a problem as the default map is based on 100 RON fuel - although theoretically it will cut fuel over 4000 rpm - although no STis that I know of that have tried this have found the rev limit in this mode.

Cheers,

David

 

I had a similar problem with the revs rising & falling quite a bit a while ago while stationary.
Turned out to be the RamAir filter was over-oiled & the gunge had contaminated the Airflow sensor (MAF)
Got my dealer to clean it up & now fine.
Maybe check to see what filter is in there as the RamAir's are noted for this.

Ro

 

Have to intrude again. I think I have read it in few threads already. STi5 has not been mapped for 100RON petrol and I am not sure where have so many of you got that from (a tuner, perhaps?). Quality fuel in Japan is genuine 98RON and if you phone or write to STi they will happily confirm this. So, this is not the reason for problems some people have. It is, however, sensitive to RON values below 98 even if it is 1/2 or 1RON less.

Hope this will help clarify this. Whoever wants you to believe that Phase 2 engines sometimes detonate because of that is making it up.

Henry G.

 

Well, the mysterious idle has not manifested itself today despite doing it twice last night.

I think it needs a good long run, as it turns over SSSSSOOOOOOO slowly it only just seems to fire !
took me three attempts to start it at work tonight. But then it was used a lot last night (loads of things switched on) and again this morning while it was still dark.

It already has some HUGE exhaust hanging off the underside of the car, that appears to start at the middle of the car right through to the back. (ill post piccies soon)

just out of interest, the sti-3 2 door coupe i test drove had a problem when you floored it as it seemed to cut out quite badly now and again. the garage put it down to a flat/non charging battery.

 

Hand brake travel is normal - same on my STI 5 - cant be bothered to get it changed as its OK

Wind noise is also normal - paly around with the seals - eg try and reshape a little - helped mine just mucking with them for a while

Re petrol - getting Possum for mine - like a lot of people now seem to be doing - just to be on safe side - and not have to faf with Octane Boosters - Ron 97 is too low, Ron 98 was bad but Ron 97 is cutting it too fine for an sti 5 ECU that works on a minimum Ron level of 100, and ends up detting car at high revs as it cant work with the Ron 97 - sees it as 100, and cant retard things to compensate

 

I'm also getting a possum sorted for mine, which should happen in feb sometime.

Seen a few scoobies while out this weekend, y'all seem a friendly bunch, was waved at from a guy in a 22b and uk blue s plate that i flew past on the a27.

That large back box on mine is well loud !! seems to attract a lot of attention in town from under 23 year old males in novas with reversed baseball caps