Help Everyone!
I just picked up my sti and literally just drove it 2 miles from my dealer to my house. Okay, after driving autos for the past 15 years and from time to time only have driven manual. So...needless to say I am relearning how to drive stick and feathering this clutch is a ***** as very little gas is needed. Within that 2 miles I managed to:

1) Have the clutch smell up the whole car from not shifting it smoothly enough

2) I couldn't help it....YES I REDLINED IT ALREADY! Acceleration is so incredible that I reached the 7100 RPM fuel cut off in 1st gear! That was the only time I did it but I did race it around pretty hard for those first 2 miles I've had it

OKAY...

So, from now on its short shifting at 4000rpm and taking it easy for the next 1000 miles till breakin BUT....


DID I ALREADY SCREW UP MY STI?????

OR AM I JUST BEING PARANOID???

PLEASE HELP!

The car already had 10 miles on it from the dealer and I'm sure several salesmen there already had there "boy racer fun" with the car. And...Subaru must break-in the STI's to a certain degree otherwise they'd have a bunch of broken cars within a few weeks of driving off the lot.

So, if I take it easy from now on and practice my stick driving (all while keeping it under 4k rpm) late at night till I master it, and break it in properly, WILL EVERYTHING BE OKAY??


PLEASE Give me some advice all!!

Thanks alot! This forum is now my personal Mental Therapy Self-Help Group! lol

 

calm down man....

breath...



don't worry bout the relearning

it takes a while.


just try not to rev too much..


redline it .. no biggie.... depends on what kinda break in method you believe there

there is this theory that you should really push it hard in Break in period to get better ring sealing.. etc

just calm down

and congrat.

i am sure i ll smoke my clutch when i get it.. don't worry

 

Hey Come-On People!

Any comments? Help a brother out here and lend some moral and technical support!


Thanks!

 

you in LA?

where didyou buy it from?

what price?

 

Congrats on your new STI. You don't have anything to worry about. You got your rush out of the way now take the time to break it in properly.

 

LOL! Take it easy man, your STi is fine. You realized the problem and are concerned enough to post about it, which is most important. Just don't do it again and keep the revs below 4K. Also, granny shift until you are comfortable with a manual transmission again. The best remedy for that is...practice! See, now you have a MANDATORY excuse for why you MUST drive your STi (i.e. practice), so what are you waiting for?

There are some guys who buy performance cars who actually insist that you drive it like you stole it from day 1 off the lot since it supposedly conditions the engine to the way you intend to drive it. I always just figured those "break it in hard" guys were just gung ho freaks that didn't respect their vehicles. But, I've also seen them back up their claims, as sometimes their cars seemed to run faster than most other stock ones. Personally, though, I'm too much of an **** obsessive chickensh*t and can only bring myself to follow the manufacturer break-in instructions.

Your STi is fine, don't sweat it, just enjoy it. And even if you had problems, it is under warranty. If STi engines blew up by being revved to redline the first time then there would be SERIOUS problems.

 

I have noticed many posts about this "break in period". To my belief this is not necessary. I asked my dad about this (a mechanic of many years in the army and privately) and he said that the break in method was used for an older type of vehicles, about 1990 and below. Engines these days are much more sophisticated and do not need break ins. When my buddy got his 03 wrx he drove off the lot like there is no tommorow, goin well over 4000 rpm, doing a 200 miles trip that day. Never had any problems. So this is my thought....

 

Damn, your car is all messed up. Tell me your location and I'll take it off your hands so you don't have to deal with the problems that will eventually follow.

 

There are recommended guidelines for break-in in the owners manual......I wouldn't claim to be better informed than SOA/STi, so I guess I'd follow their advice for the first 1000 miles (i'm going to follow it for a little more if I have the patience).....redlining it on one occasion won't do it any harm........However, I'd definitely work on your clutch/gearchange technique, or you could have some real problems not too far down the line.

 

Don't worry about the smell. If it is anything like mine was it was just stuff burning off the engine and exhaust from the manfacturing process. Mine really smelled bad for the first day. Now it smells fine.

Keith

 

THANKS EVERYONE FOR YOUR REPLIES!!!

I also checked with a good buddy that's owned his automotive repair biz for over 20 years and he said that I'm just being paranoid too. And, thanks to all you guys for setting my mind at ease.

Geraldo....now that post made me laugh hard....funny sheeeet!

From now on its mellow until the 1000 miles and till I get my manual shifting skills perfected. Then the fun starts....$15k ICE system, body kit, new Enkei 18"s, maybe new exhaust and Greddy boost controller....BUT NO DAMN BOY RACER STICKERS, VINYL OR GRAPHICS! Its gotta be classy...

Later all and thanks again!