Got the WRX! Now some questions...

[FireGryphon]

I got the 2010 WRX 5-door. Compared to the 2002 bugeye, it's a completely different car in terms of feel, sound, and looks (even the sedan), but it's still a sweet car. Besides the body, the most significant changes I notice on the 2010 are that the cockpit is quieter, the suspension is a bit different, and the ride is a bit smoother. Part of the feel is that the 2010 wagon is significantly shorter, so it's a bit more maneuverable, and its turning radius is much smaller. Turning the 2002 is like trying to turn a battleship; u-turns usually require three moves, whereas the new wagon only needs one, usually. I'm still learning the ins and outs of this new vehicle, but so far it's pretty sweet.

Anyway, I want to take care of this WRX as well as I can, especially considering how long I'm going to be paying it off for. I've heard some conflicting things on car forums about certain things, so I have a few questions for 'ya'll here:

1. How long is the break-in period?

2. What should you do and not do during the break-in period? I always thought a car should be broken in easily, but this guy thinks that you should break it in hard. So far, I got the car with 19 miles on it. It was driven by the salesman from one dealership to another. In the next 70-80 miles I brought it on the highway and didn't go past 4th gear @ 50mph on the highway. The next 50 I drove a mix of city driving and highway in 5th gear @ 60-65mph. I revved up to 5k rpm twice by accident, but mostly I'm keeping rpm's to 3-4k max, 2k typical. Is this too easy? Too hard?

3. Subaru put regular oil in the engine and recommends that I change the oil and filter at 3,000 miles. Most of my friends tell me I should change the oil and filter at 500 miles or 1,000 miles, and then put in synthetic oil. Others say wait until it's broken in to change to synthetic, but that brings us back to when it's broken in exactly. What's the general consensus on turbo engines with oil here?

4. Is there a magic bullet to shifting better? When upshifting I can hit within 500rpm about 75% of the time, but downshifting is a more tenuous activity. I'm getting better the more I try, but if there's something I can think about or try that'll make me a better shifter, it'd save my syncros a whole lot of hassle.

5. Are the extended warranties from Subaru worth it? It comes with 3yr/36k, but I can extend it. Worth it, or no?

6. Is there an easier way to turn off the incline assist than the obfuscated one in the car manual?

7. any other new car owner tips?

Thanks!

[SpotTheCat]

Follow the break-in described in the owner's manual. Most say something like this from new car to first service:

avoid short trips
don't use cruise control
easy on the throttle and RPMs for the first x miles (read manual) and then drive normally thereafter.

A very important and often overlooked one - change the oil when the engine is warm. If you change the oil when the engine is cold in the thick of winter, you won't be getting as much out as you should. The first oil change in a modern car is a very nasty, metal-shaving-filled affair; having warm oil will help provide a better flush.

[astraelraen]

Of the 3 new cars we have owned, Subaru is the only car that specifically stated a "break in period" and procedures in the owner's manual. I would read it and go from there. If I remember correctly, at least in the N/A Subaru 2.5l they recommended you not use Synthetic for ~10k miles maybe? I would have to read the manual though. Our Mazda didn't mention any special procedures for break in.

Also, IIRC, the turbo motors used to have reasonable oil change intervals. They had some problems though and Subaru shortened the OCI on the turbo motors recently, maybe the 2007 model years?

It is obviously up to the individual user as to what information to follow though.

[FireGryphon]

I think I'm gonna do an oil change at 1k, but I have to talk to the Subaru technicians to see when to go synthetic.

[Captain Ned]

Break-in is no hard acceleration or revs over 4K for the first 1,000 miles. No synthetic until 10K is a common recommendation on the Subie boards, but isn't in the manual. Also, don't change the oil at 1,000 miles; it's not a special break-in oil so it's perfectly fine to leave it in until the first oil change at 3,750. Subie now considers all turbo motors to be on the "severe service" schedule, so I'd advise changing every 4K miles at the most.

As for shifting, Subie transmissions take lots of practice.

[Madman]

Concerning break in, I am also more leaning towards drive it like you stole it. My primary car is turbo DSM and I've always just floored it after bigger repairs - main bearing swaps, clutch swaps, gearbox rebuilds, etc. I would have to baby it all the time otherwise, as the upgraded parts come in sooner than oil change intervals

The technologies are pretty good nowadays, the mechanical precision is very good, and you can usually do more harm if you keep it mostly in constant RPM range. Varying RPMs and slowing down with engine on is the best bet. And you can sooner just swap the part if it's defective if you beat it, without breaking at the end of warranty and redoing the break in, or by breaking down after the end of warranty. I can't understand how people with those high HP/TQ cars can even withstand the break-in.

Concerning how to save your tranny, heal and toe is very, very big helper, especially on track, but that only comes into play if you drive hard, then again you will do a hell of a lot of stress to a car while you'll learn it, so hard to say if it's worth a try.

Also, I don't know how good the brake rotors on that car are, but they warp on all cars I drive real fast. So don't stop after doing hard runs, let them cool a little, and watch out for puddles when you've had used brakes hard before.

P.S.: Concerning shifting, it's a tradeoff of burning clutch (you can glaze them) and doing harsh hits on tranny. Some guy's drop the clutch at 7K RPMs on 2002 Subies with no problems, but of course, clutch is cheaper

[TheEmrys]

I'm pretty active on a Subaru Forester board (lots of XT's and people throwing STi stuff on their Foresters), and one of the members on the board is the universal go-to guy on the driveline. To my knowledge, he builds (and rebuilds) Subaru trannies for a living. A couple of recommendations for Subaru manual transmissions:

For the transmission: 3 quarts of Redline Lightweight Shockproof, 1 quart of Motul Gear300 75W90

Rear diff: Motul Gear 300 75W90

[notfred]

Not sure where you are, but if you are in the snow belt, get some proper snow tyres for it. The all-seasons my 05 2.5RS wagon came with were fine until the rears would suddenly let go in the middle of a corner, requiring power on 4 wheel drift to avoid a spin. It was lots of fun but not the safest thing when you have no idea what could be coming around the corner. A Slideru with winter tyres on is an awesome thing! I've got Michelin Pilot Alpines on, they are more a performance winter tyre than a deep snow tyre.

[astraelraen]

Not sure where you are, but if you are in the snow belt, get some proper snow tyres for it. The all-seasons my 05 2.5RS wagon came with were fine until the rears would suddenly let go in the middle of a corner, requiring power on 4 wheel drift to avoid a spin. It was lots of fun but not the safest thing when you have no idea what could be coming around the corner. A Slideru with winter tyres on is an awesome thing! I've got Michelin Pilot Alpines on, they are more a performance winter tyre than a deep snow tyre.

Our 2008 Legacy also seems to have less rear grip than front grip under icy/snowy conditions.

The one thing that amazes me about Subaru's vs the other cars that I have driven is the amount of confidence you can have in your car. It is such an awesome feeling to be sliding towards some immovable object and just nail the gas and steer out of the way. The amount of control that the car affords if you have confidence is amazing.

[ChronoReverse]

Heavy break-in is only if you got it _really_ fresh or if you've rebuilt the engine. The theory is that you get everything set well by pushing it (and there's some anecdotal evidence that there's less power loss from expected). However, since that is clearly not the case for your car, you should use the gentle break-in method outlined in your manual.

[Madman]

The one thing that amazes me about Subaru's vs the other cars that I have driven is the amount of confidence you can have in your car. It is such an awesome feeling to be sliding towards some immovable object and just nail the gas and steer out of the way. The amount of control that the car affords if you have confidence is amazing.

Well, a college of mine wrecked all the back part of his 2002 WRX when he lost traction. AWD is tricky, it is very stable, but when it spins, it's bad, really bad. No idea what the nannies will do as well.

[FireGryphon]

Thanks for all the advice. I'm saving this thread and will reference it when my miles creep up.

I drove a few more miles today. I'm trying to go easy on her, but every once in a while I rev to 3-4k, though I try not to go over that. The two things about this car that I'd change if I could is take out some of the soundproofing so I can hear the engine better, and put in stiffer springs; turning in the new WRX is tight, but there's a little too much bounce for my liking.

[Buub]

I'm a fan of the drive-it-like-ya-stole-it break-in style.

It's been said that the break-in period is more for the driver than for the car. Modern engines are built very well, especially Japanese engines, so there's little actual "break-in" necessary.

Still, it's your car and you're responsible if something goes wrong, so ultimately you have to make the decision.

[Captain Ned]

I'm a fan of the drive-it-like-ya-stole-it break-in style.

It's been said that the break-in period is more for the driver than for the car. Modern engines are built very well, especially Japanese engines, so there's little actual "break-in" necessary.

The Subie boards are full of comments like this from people who wonder why their warranty claim has been denied. The Subaru Select Monitor (factory scan tool) can prod the ECU to spit out the highest rev level and the total time over any chosen rev limit. Those who value their factory warranty will have total time over 4000 RPM in the first 1K miles measured in single-digit seconds.

Another thing to remember is that Subaru USA as well as most dealers have people stealth-monitoring the Subie boards. Seeing some 20-something miscreant whine on the warranty forum that Subaru hosed him when his tranny broke and a stealth-poster responding with all of the 20-something's posts about making it to Stage 3 and his 1/4 mile times with 7K RPM clutch drops is schadenfreude at its best.

[Freon]

I got the 2010 WRX 5-door.

'Grats! To qualify the rest of my responses, I've owned a 2004 STI since May 2005 and done a fair amount of my own work on my car and others. I'm particularly knowledgeable about the ECU and trouble code system as I've spent a few hundred hours on disassembling and reverse engineering the factory Denso SH-2 based ECUs. I have tuned Subarus for a several years on the side. I'm not a mechanic, though.

1. How long is the break-in period?
2. blahblahblah

I wouldn't worry about it too much. Maybe don't completely rag on it for 2000 miles, then change oil, then good to go. No need to baby it, maybe I'd just stop short of drag racing and HPDE events. Depending on how you drive your car I'd suggest 3000-5000 mile intervals. You can get oil analysis if you really want to try for long intervals. I recommend Blackstone in Fort Wayne, IN.

I would recommend the PureONE oil filter. The new factory filters suck, they're FRAM rebadges and are kinda junk. Probably fine for most people, but I'm paranoid, have significantly more power than stock, and rag on my car a lot.

3. Subaru put regular oil in the engine and recommends that I change the oil and filter at 3,000 miles. Most of my friends tell me I should change the oil and filter at 500 miles or 1,000 miles, and then put in synthetic oil. Others say wait until it's broken in to change to synthetic, but that brings us back to when it's broken in exactly. What's the general consensus on turbo engines with oil here?

I recommend synthetic oil, 10w40 or 5w40. You can wait until the first oil change. 1500-2000 miles is probably fine. I think you're overthinking this anyway.

4. Is there a magic bullet to shifting better? When upshifting I can hit within 500rpm about 75% of the time, but downshifting is a more tenuous activity. I'm getting better the more I try, but if there's something I can think about or try that'll make me a better shifter, it'd save my syncros a whole lot of hassle.

Practice. I kinda sidestep the throttle because it works better for me. If you are racing you kinda have to heel toe because sidesteping doesn't give you enough travel.

5. Are the extended warranties from Subaru worth it? It comes with 3yr/36k, but I can extend it. Worth it, or no?

I do not recommend extended warranties. They make a lot of money on those because they pay out less than they take in. Profit margin is huge. Subaru WRX is a very reliable car so I don't think you have a lot to worry about. If you must get an extended warranty, read allt he fine print and make sure it covers something you feel is worthwhile. And you'll need to keep careful records on maintenance for that warrnty to be worth anything, too. I always think of Tommy Boy when I hear about warranties on cars. They're only worth so much, because a broken car is a hassle even if they fix it.

Have fun! You've made a good buy. New 2.5L 265hp engine is wonderful and weight is back down. Do not buy a blow off valve. Do not buy an aftermarket intake. That is all.

[shaq_mobile]

It sounds like the original break-in advice you got from people is the process you go through when building a brand new pushrod motor. You won't need to be *that* careful. The main reason you gotta be that careful with pushrod motors like an SBC or something is the valvetrain takes a buttload of abuse. I'm sure they refer to the proper (and more importantly) suggested break in practice in your owner manual. Chances are, you don't need to change the oil all that much. I just got my l31 350 back from the machine shop, when I get it assembled, I'll get to do what you were talking about earlier

20 minute initial break in, change the oil. 500 mile break in, change the oil. 1500 mile break in, change the oil. Then... enjoy all 425 horsepower with almost complete disregard. I'll probly throw a rod in the first month.

Anyways, grats on the new car! Don't get too many tickets

[Fragnificent]

Ehh, removed a long rant. You made your choice...hope it works out for you. Let me know when the car starts to break (I give it less than 3 years) and I'll buy you a pity beer.

[FireGryphon]

Thanks for the further advice.

After putting another 50 miles on the car, here are my thoughts of her: the 2010 has the spirit or a WRX, but it is a different car than the older ones I'm used to. While I'll probably always dream of owning a <2006 WRX, the 2010 is one sweet ride. My only complaints are that I don't feel the road as much as I'd like, and the engine noise int he cabin is too quiet. Everything else is amazing; for the first time in my driving history I was able to speed up and merge onto the highway when some jack@#$ decided to speed up and cut me off -- turbocharged 265hp ftw!The mods I've already talked about are in the pipeline still, and I'm going to add that I want the clutch grip point to be closer to the floor.

My shifting is getting much better, but thank G-d for syncromesh. I can hit the proper rpm 80% of the time, and downshifting is much smoother now, maybe 65%.

[Captain Ned]

While I'll probably always dream of owning a <2006 WRX, the 2010 is one sweet ride.

I had an '02 and an '07. I greatly preferred the '07 as the extra 500cc allowed for much better torque down low. The '07 also had vastly better headlights; nights in the '02 could be dangerous. The fixed-caliper brakes on the '07 were also greatly superior to the sliding-caliper brakes on the '02.

[Freon]

Yeah the 2.5L motor is a lot better than the 2.0. It's not just the extra 0.5L, but the addition of AVCS (variable intake cam advance) which helps torque and widens the power band. The EJ257 is a much better block as well, using a semi-closed design. Also, better ECU, drive by wire, but mostly for geeky reasons (+FPU, CAN bus, etc). I definitely recommend the 06+ WRX to people who are in the market purely due to the 2.5L even if I prefer the 04-05 exterior over the 06-07.

As far as noise and road feel, I'd suggest picking up a set of sway bars and maybe springs as well. I'm not as up to speed on suspension stuff, though, especially on the 08+. Downpipe plus a tune will net you another 20-30+hp and add some noise. Find someone local to custom tune, or you can buy a Cobb AP and use a preprogrammed map. There are several good options for catted downpipes so you don't have to compromise emissions or worry about check engine lights.

You can take the intake resonator box out of the front fender as well for free. You'll start to hear the motor a bit more, and hear the bypass valve discharge. That with the downpipe will make it sound a bit meaner without being obtuse. You'll start to pick up the turbo when it spins up (hissing). From there, look for a catback exhaust that you personally like, but it won't be much of a performance gain.

[astraelraen]

You can take the intake resonator box out of the front fender as well for free. You'll start to hear the motor a bit more, and hear the bypass valve discharge. That with the downpipe will make it sound a bit meaner without being obtuse. You'll start to pick up the turbo when it spins up (hissing). From there, look for a catback exhaust that you personally like, but it won't be much of a performance gain.

I don't know how anal Subaru dealers are for warranty service on the turbocharged motors. But if you don't get some sort of aftermarket intake and want to hear more of the turbo noises I would definitely take out the intake resonator.

I took out the one on my Mazda CX7, without adding an intake you can hear the spool of the turbo a lot better, it also makes the engines noises more pronounced. I tried an intake in the CX7 for awhile, but the turbo spools so low, ~2000rpms, and it sounded like a giant vacuum cleaner most of the time unless you were really driving it hard. I would love to drive it hard 90% of the time, but the reality is that it gets driven easy most of the time.

[cass]

A very important and often overlooked one - change the oil when the engine is warm. If you change the oil when the engine is cold in the thick of winter, you won't be getting as much out as you should. The first oil change in a modern car is a very nasty, metal-shaving-filled affair; having warm oil will help provide a better flush.

Please pay attention to this one. Change the oil when hot and do not turn the engine off till you have the oil pan under or the lift ready to go up. I generally run my stuff till thoroughly warmed up(20 or so miles), and then try to get 30 seconds to one minute of 3,000 + rpm sustained run and then idle down shut off and drain within 1 minute of idling down. The idea of a hot oil change is to get all the suspended carbon, metal and other contaminates out while suspended in the oil rather than letting them settle back in the pan and then lettting the oil drain off of the contaminates leaving them behind.

I feel like following the easy break in procedure is a good idea (for warranty and longevity), and changing the oil short on the first interval would be smart. Modern engines have better finishes and fits than engines of 20 years ago, and much better than 40 years ago. Break was much more important when the ring/cylinder materials were having to "wear in" to seal and fit properly. These days the rings are better and the finish on the cylinder walls is ready out of the box. There is still can be some "settling" in of bearings and rings for the first few k's of miles. If there happens to be any left over contaminates in the engine they do less damage at 2,000 rpm than they do at 6,000. It was fairly common at one time to get sand out of a new engine left over from when the block was cast.

Most likely your "new" engine has already seen full load and rpm on a test stand. I am not familiar with subie practices, but it is common for all engines/vehicles now to be tested before they leave the plant.

[TheEmrys]

I strongly recommend you join NASOIC and ScoobyMods.

http://forums.nasioc.com/ - Very well known group - North American Subaru Impreza Owners Club - HUGE WRX forums on every topic.

http://www.scoobymods.com/ - Great walk throughs and how-to's including pictures with everything from changing headgaskets to where the jack points are.

[Synchromesh]

I'm a fan of the drive-it-like-ya-stole-it break-in style.

It's been said that the break-in period is more for the driver than for the car. Modern engines are built very well, especially Japanese engines, so there's little actual "break-in" necessary.

The Subie boards are full of comments like this from people who wonder why their warranty claim has been denied. The Subaru Select Monitor (factory scan tool) can prod the ECU to spit out the highest rev level and the total time over any chosen rev limit. Those who value their factory warranty will have total time over 4000 RPM in the first 1K miles measured in single-digit seconds.

Another thing to remember is that Subaru USA as well as most dealers have people stealth-monitoring the Subie boards. Seeing some 20-something miscreant whine on the warranty forum that Subaru hosed him when his tranny broke and a stealth-poster responding with all of the 20-something's posts about making it to Stage 3 and his 1/4 mile times with 7K RPM clutch drops is schadenfreude at its best.

Another reason to buy used. To paraphrase: no warranty - no problem. I never bring either one of my cars to the dealer and couldn't care less what Acura and Mazda think of how I run my cars. The additional bonus in a used car is no break-in period. Of course the important part is not to buy a used car from the likes of Buub.

[shaq_mobile]

You can take the intake resonator box out of the front fender as well for free. You'll start to hear the motor a bit more, and hear the bypass valve discharge. That with the downpipe will make it sound a bit meaner without being obtuse. You'll start to pick up the turbo when it spins up (hissing). From there, look for a catback exhaust that you personally like, but it won't be much of a performance gain.

I don't know how anal Subaru dealers are for warranty service on the turbocharged motors. But if you don't get some sort of aftermarket intake and want to hear more of the turbo noises I would definitely take out the intake resonator.

I took out the one on my Mazda CX7, without adding an intake you can hear the spool of the turbo a lot better, it also makes the engines noises more pronounced. I tried an intake in the CX7 for awhile, but the turbo spools so low, ~2000rpms, and it sounded like a giant vacuum cleaner most of the time unless you were really driving it hard. I would love to drive it hard 90% of the time, but the reality is that it gets driven easy most of the time.

i dunno, hearing the turbo really isnt all that cool. i imagine itd get extremely nerve wracking for somoene who didnt stroke it to fast and the furious. i guess to each his own... there are probably some people who think that my flowmasters sound stupid. heck, i like running it straigt off the headers, but thats a great way to get a ticket. im thinking about straight piping it and seeing if i can skate by just doing that. fast cars are fast cars, but turbos really just sound lame. unless youre this guy... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ad8g9IfWxKI

[Madman]

i dunno, hearing the turbo really isnt all that cool. i imagine itd get extremely nerve wracking for somoene who didnt stroke it to fast and the furious. i guess to each his own... there are probably some people who think that my flowmasters sound stupid. heck, i like running it straigt off the headers, but thats a great way to get a ticket. im thinking about straight piping it and seeing if i can skate by just doing that. fast cars are fast cars, but turbos really just sound lame. unless youre this guy... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ad8g9IfWxKI

I dunno, I have both V8 Mustang and 2.0 Turbo DSM, for me DSM is way more fun to drive and the the turbo sound is also cool. I'd say NA cars are very boring.

[TheEmrys]

I dunno, I have both V8 Mustang and 2.0 Turbo DSM, for me DSM is way more fun to drive and the the turbo sound is also cool. I'd say NA cars are very boring.

Depends on the V-8. I very much enjoy my '65 El Camino w/ a 327. I'll enjoy it a ton more with a 383.

[Captain Ned]

Just wait until the WRX gets the 2.5L turbo of the 2010 Legacy GT. The turbo has been moved to the bottom of the motor and bolts up directly to the cat. Equal length headers feed it and there's still some discussion over if we've got a twin-scroll unit or a twin-inlet unit, as no one at the Legacy GT forums has yet disassembled one to inspect. The equal length headers mean no more lumpy, burbly Subie idle, but the elimination of the uppipe and downpipe means she's fully spooled at 2000 RPM. What used to be a dog of a low end in both the '02 (dead below 3K) and the '07 (dead below 2.8K) is now a very stout pull from way down low, even in 6th gear. It's also a whole lot more quiet, though that's likely due to the fully-framed doors on the '10.

[Synchromesh]

I'd say NA cars are very boring.

My R-package Miata begs to differ.

[Captain Ned]

I'd say NA cars are very boring.

So you're saying that every Ferrari (excluding the F40 & 288 GTO) is boring?