Hunting for great subie forum's and I think I found it

[Freon]

New to the fast car scene. Wanted a STI for about two year and finally got my hands on a 2019 black STI.

My background: this would be my first turbocharged vehicle. Never drove anything notable before this car, very minimal knowledge with enthusiast jargon and acronyms but it's something that I want to get into. Always wanted to be part of a community and when you drive around the city and you get head turns and waves from fellow subie driver's that makes my day.

The vehicle: 2019 bought early this year brand new, I have been driving around for about 3 months getting comfortable with the vehicle. I was thinking on continuing the improvement of my driving skills by taking it to a track, DIY or taking lessons. I also feel like I can learn a lot from this site.

No modifications as of yet, will stay away from the engine because I don't want to void my warranty and I haven't gotten over the general power and fun I'm having with it being stock.

I'm here to learn and to fully understand all the intricacies of this beautiful car.
P.S. Maybe I'm slow or I can't add photos with the basic membership but I can't seem to figure out how to add pictures that aren't URL's.

 

[Eagleye]

Welcome! You have found the right site my friend. Please ask plenty of questions, start a member journal about you and your car here: https://www.igotasti.com/vBforum/forums/23-Member-s-Journal

When adding photos you can host them somewhere and then use a URL or you should have the option to click on the insert image icon and switch to the "from computer" tab to upload directly (unless that is a premium feature, sorry not sure). Once you have been around a little bit I encourage you to consider a premium membership as it keeps the site going and gives you some additional features. Well worth it for many of the regulars of the site.

I have a 15 STi and there is a lot you can do with the car outside of motor mods to make it more fun and have the look you really want. I highly recommend you check out Jordan [MENTION=2334]Defined Performance[/MENTION] for your performance parts needs. 95% of what I have done with my current and previous cars has come from him.

Enjoy the site, there are a lot of older threads covering everything from first mods to tuning, racing to car shows, and everything in between. In regards to improving driving skill, check out a HPDE course. @Grinder34 (among others) can help you with suspension and driving questions.

 

[Batmobile_Engage]

Welcome! You've definitely come to the right place. There is a ton of good information and helpful people to point you in the right direction.

Track time, especially starting with autocross, is a great way to learn about how the car handles when pushed towards the limits. We all love power mods, but in many ways, stock power and stock turbo response is really great. When you make big leaps in power, you tend to lose a lot of that low end throttle response. So enjoy it as long as you can. [MENTION=652]Grinder34[/MENTION] is going to be really excited to see that you want to get some track time. He and [MENTION=1868]Boogieman98[/MENTION] can offer some great pointers.

There are more than enough suspension, bracing, bushings, driveline mods to keep you busy if you can't keep your mitts off the car. And the great thing about those is, they are usually very affordable, they don't often affect your warranty and they improve lap times as much as a power mod.

I second that, on Jordan. He can find pretty much anything you need in terms of parts, fluids, wheels, etc.

 

[Grinder34]

No modifications as of yet, will stay away from the engine because I don't want to void my warranty and I haven't gotten over the general power and fun I'm having with it being stock.

Welcome!

First though, read this:
https://www.igotasti.com/vBforum/th...-i-do-to-it-without-jeopardizing-the-warranty

That being said there is 0 wrong with staying 100% stock. Theres a lot of car there to enjoy, and a lot to learn before you dive in and end up regretting a decision.

But suspension mods are definitely a lot of fun. But again, nothing wrong with staying stock. And going to a track is the BEST way to figure out what you do/don't like and what you want to change.

SO! Track days! Well first, they can probably void a warranty--i havent read a new one, but often "racing" voids it..and track days CAN be considered racing. I swear i just typed something recently about this... But if you're paranoid you can have a friend register for you (so your name doesn't appear). Remove license plates as soon as you arrive and are off public roads. Etc...

Anyways, back on topic. Auto-x is a great way to get a feel for the car at lower speeds than a full out track day. I think it has some limitations vs a full HPDE, but definitely a bit more approachable and cheaper. The best thing is an auto-x school for novices. TONS of seat time and cheap-cheap-cheap. I'm pretty sure it's their way of trying to hook you...

https://www.igotasti.com/vBforum/threads/7354-Why-you-should-consider-HPDE-over-AutoX

https://www.igotasti.com/vBforum/th...ing-to-the-track-Here-s-what-you-need-to-know

But before I just spout a bunch of track-related crap at you, do you have any specific questions I can answer?!

Also check out https://www.motorsportreg.com/ to actually find events. Not sure how complete that list is, but it's a good starting point.

 

[Freon]

Thank you, I will check those links out and start my member journal. This seems pretty legit.

 

[Freon]

Great stuff, didn't know that going to a track period would be considered racing so that is good to know so I don't get any hiccups if it ever comes up. No I don't have any specific questions as yet, currently going through all the information from all the dudes that responded to my post. I'll have to write and commit this all to memory which is good since all the information is in one general area.

Well I guess I have one. Let's say I'm just bringing my car to the track for a class through like auto -x, would I need additional safety requirements; Helmet, fire extinguisher..etc?

 

[Eagleye]

Great stuff, didn't know that going to a track period would be considered racing so that is good to know so I don't get any hiccups if it ever comes up. No I don't have any specific questions as yet, currently going through all the information from all the dudes that responded to my post. I'll have to write and commit this all to memory which is good since all the information is in one general area.

Well I guess I have one. Let's say I'm just bringing my car to the track for a class through like auto -x, would I need additional safety requirements; Helmet, fire extinguisher..etc?

Look at the first post in this thread: https://www.igotasti.com/vBforum/th...ing-to-the-track-Here-s-what-you-need-to-know
It tells you everything you need and might want to take.

 

[Alin]

Welcome to IGOTASTI!!! You're going to absolutely love it here!!! Post some pictures of the ride!!! (You can upload pictures to a hosting site like imgur and then copy the links here.)

What other cars have you had in the past? (list them) How does the STi compare to them? Is there anything you don't like about the STi? What do you love about it?

Where in Ohio are you located?

What made you decide to get an STi out of all the choices available? Why STi over WRX? Are there any other cars you have taken into consideration when deciding?

I've attempted to write up some great information for beginners over the years. It also helps intermediate and expert users because a refresher is always nice. Here are some links to some of the threads that you definitely should read.

However, first and foremost, did you read the owner's manual? If you did, read it again! :tup:

Both of these threads have links to other threads with crucial information:

https://www.igotasti.com/vBforum/th...-s-Please-Read-This-Before-You-Harm-Your-Car!

https://www.igotasti.com/vBforum/threads/5042-Noob-Threads-of-Interest

 

[Grinder34]

Great stuff, didn't know that going to a track period would be considered racing so that is good to know so I don't get any hiccups if it ever comes up. No I don't have any specific questions as yet, currently going through all the information from all the dudes that responded to my post. I'll have to write and commit this all to memory which is good since all the information is in one general area.

Well I guess I have one. Let's say I'm just bringing my car to the track for a class through like auto -x, would I need additional safety requirements; Helmet, fire extinguisher..etc?

It can vary, but if you're signing up as a novice, you *likely* wont need anything. There will be LOTS of fire extinguishers around, and likely loaner helmets. Your car will have to pass a rudamentary tech inspection for basic safety, too.

 

[Freon]

[MENTION=1172]Alin[/MENTION] I think this answers all ya questions

Cars I had before are as follows:

03 ford explorer, basically a turn around vic when my Mazda got totaled.

2012 Mazda 3 sport (manual)

95 geo tracker (manual) first car. Heavily modified for some reason but being my first car, I didn't know any better. The craziest thing about it was that it all 5 tires where chromed out, it was straight pipe, and he use to race it.

For obvious reasons, none of these cars compare anywhere close to my STI.
So I don't know much about cars and learning as I go, but I read alot about turbo lag with this vehicle and it's something that after a while of driving I recognize what it is. That's something I don't like about it, that and the weird cross patching material where the extra headlights use to be in the older models.

Besides that I like everything else about the car. It's my fastest, most responsive, gas guzzling (almost matching the v6 explorer), and coolest car I've had.

I'm in dayton OH for the time being. I move around alot. Before this I was in Colorado Springs. Yes I drove the car on that 17hr trip.

So came back from a deployment, and the whole time over there I was looking at STI. My buddy told me to keep my options open, we looked at audi A4-A5s, BMWs and it came down to the STI and Acuras TLX

The TLX is a spaceship inside and overall for everything subie was giving me Acura matched it and the price was still lower but it came down to what I wanted and.. Long story short, it wasn't fast.

Will read the owners manual again. I've been through your links still working my way through all this reading. It's fun though

 

[Alin]

Wow, so the STi has been hell of an upgrade for you then! Very curious that the decision came down between a TLX (of all cars) and an STi. :lol:

The main thing with these cars is allow adequate time for all fluids to properly warm up to operating temperature. (Especially in the winter time, and even more so if you're going to be in Ohio or N/NE USA during winter.) I drive like a grandma (sometimes, even worse than one) for the first 20-30 minutes in all of my vehicles (even in the summer) to allow all fluids to warm up. I may be an exception, but I'm extremely anal and meticulous when it comes to most of the things in my life.

Regarding the turbo lag: you should never accelerate hard under 3,000 RPM if you need instantaneous power. Lugging the engine with an incredibly high engine load at low RPM's (in combination with not letting fluids warm up) is how most of the horror stories occur that you read about online. 3,000 RPM is a safe minimum level. I personally wait till about 3,200-3,500 RPM in my car. Heavy acceleration, to me anyways, means 50% or more throttle.


The two most important things that I think are key and crucial are:

1) time spent behind the wheel learning how the car behaves (and also in front of your computer learning and absorbing as much knowledge as you can on the STi platform)
2) tires (sole aspect what is keeping you connected to the road)

 

[Grinder34]

Also, to nit-pick, you're probably feeling "boost threshold" and not "turbo lag."

Turbo lag is the amount of time it takes to actually pressurize all the piping under the hood. Being a TMIC, theres verrrry little of it.

Boost threshold is at what point the exhaust is going fast enough to actually spin the turbo to develop boost. Big turbos have higher boost thresholds, but there are clever (read: expensive) things like variable geometry turbos (interesting read here) to counteract that. The STI's boost threshold is 3k-ish. To Alin's point, try not to floor it much below that in anything other than 1st gear.

 

[Boogieman98]

I'm late to this party sorry about that. Very busy at work as this is peak season. If you are going to track the car and leave it 100% stock at least have a fire Extinguisher just in case. You can make or have made a bracket for one that bolt to the front passenger seat. Track the car stock and find the limits for your style of driving. Then change the parts to correct those issues. You will be amazed at the amount of fun you can have stock. This is the best forum to be at to help point you in the right direction without making you feeling dumb. I have tried every possible configuration to find tune mine for my style of driving and we will help you with yours


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk