Thanks to your responses to my previous posts, I have decided to pick up the
STI.

Tomorrow I will be picking it up from the dealer. I will be having a friend
drive it from the dealer to my home. I do have some experience driving a
manual, but I still am not totally comfortable yet. Is there any advice one
can give specifically related to learning on the STI? I will be taking it
on small residential roads this weekend while I learn it.

Buy the xtended warranty- you arte likely to damage ckutch components

Adam Frankel wrote:
> Thanks to your responses to my previous posts, I have decided to pick up the
> STI.
>
> Tomorrow I will be picking it up from the dealer. I will be having a friend
> drive it from the dealer to my home. I do have some experience driving a
> manual, but I still am not totally comfortable yet. Is there any advice one
> can give specifically related to learning on the STI? I will be taking it
> on small residential roads this weekend while I learn it.

You might want to read the thread about my transmission problems with
my '03 Impreza TS wagon. The transmissions are a bit different but it
might get you to ask questions to the service department about what to
expect.

Adam Frankel wrote:
> Thanks to your responses to my previous posts, I have decided to pick up the
> STI.
>
> Tomorrow I will be picking it up from the dealer. I will be having a friend
> drive it from the dealer to my home. I do have some experience driving a
> manual, but I still am not totally comfortable yet. Is there any advice one
> can give specifically related to learning on the STI? I will be taking it
> on small residential roads this weekend while I learn it.

grantbilbrough@hotmail.com wrote:
> You might want to read the thread about my transmission problems with
> my '03 Impreza TS wagon. The transmissions are a bit different but it
> might get you to ask questions to the service department about what to
> expect.

Unlike the crap in RS/OBS/WRX transmission in STI is buttery smooth.
The tranny seems to be completely different. Or it feels that way.
At least that was my impression after sitting in a car at the auto
show.

As for the tips, they are mostly for people buying a used STI:
beware of the people who learned to drive a stick on an STI.
You might get stuck with a $2k bill for the rebuild.

Body Roll wrote:

> grantbilbrough@hotmail.com wrote:
>
>>You might want to read the thread about my transmission problems with
>>my '03 Impreza TS wagon. The transmissions are a bit different but it
>>might get you to ask questions to the service department about what to
>>expect.
>
>
> Unlike the crap in RS/OBS/WRX transmission in STI is buttery smooth.
> The tranny seems to be completely different. Or it feels that way.
> At least that was my impression after sitting in a car at the auto
> show.

You must be extremely talented to be able
to evaluate a transmission by just sitting
in the car at a car show. I wished I was
that knowledgable about cars.

> As for the tips, they are mostly for people buying a used STI:
> beware of the people who learned to drive a stick on an STI.
> You might get stuck with a $2k bill for the rebuild.
>

Some advice that applies to any manual:
Push the clutch all the way down to the floor. Do not get in the habit
of
pushing it in just enough. You can ease off when you get good
and don't make mistakes anymore.

Remember where you are in the H pattern. Pull to the left for 1 and 2
then up and down. Just up and down for 3 and 4. Pull to the right for
5 and 6 (I drive a 5 speed so I am guessing). Reverse is usually way
over. You are guaranteed to get 3rd some day when you wanted 5th.
Happens to everyone. Be fast on the clutch.

The car may have to more 10 feet before you let the clutch out all the
way.
With practice this will go down to a couple feet with the gas just off
idle.

Practice pushing in the clutch and braking the car to a stop a few
times. That way you can concentrate on traffic rather than the gear
box. Sometimes you just can't be distracted in traffic. Example: if
you put the car in 5rd instead of 3rd, you'll know how to stop, put it
in nuetral and take a deep breath, rather than jerking the car bucking
and stumbling upto 40 mph.

Since you own an STI find out about corner entry points, apexes, exit
points, positive and negative camber, slope, crest of hills and
traction.

Enjoy!

"Adam Frankel" <writher@optonline.net> wrote in message
news:7ShFg.630$dh.125@newsfe12.lga...

> Thanks to your responses to my previous posts, I have decided to pick up
> the STI.
>
> Tomorrow I will be picking it up from the dealer. I will be having a
> friend drive it from the dealer to my home. I do have some experience
> driving a manual, but I still am not totally comfortable yet. Is there any
> advice one can give specifically related to learning on the STI? I will
> be taking it on small residential roads this weekend while I learn it.


It is not too late to spend a final couple of hours in another
manual car, honing your skills, before putting your hands on
the STI.

M.J.

Adam Frankel wrote:

> manual, but I still am not totally comfortable yet. Is there any > advice one can give specifically related to learning on the STI? I > will be taking it on small residential roads this weekend while I > learn it.

Hi,

Despite the fact I learned on a stick and have been driving them for
close to 40 years now, I find it helpful with any "new" or "new to me"
vehicles to find an empty parking lot and practice the "what's it take
to get this thing rolling" drill of putting the gearbox in 1st and
learning where the clutch starts to grab and how much gas it takes to
just barely start moving. Each clutch/engine combo's a bit different,
but you'll be surprised how quickly your left foot "learns" after you've
driven a few sticks. I figure since a majority of my driving's in heavy
stop and go traffic, this is the most important part of learning the
feel of a new car to me. The people I know who can drive a stick
smoothly in stop and go traffic usually have few problems with the rest
of the learning curve.

If the parking lot's got some reasonable uphill sections, they can be
helpful to learn about "roll back" and using the parking brake as a
"hill holder" (I'm assuming the STI does NOT have a hill holder
feature?)

That part of the exercise shouldn't take more than maybe a half hour if
you're really rusty, maybe just a few minutes for an experienced driver.

Then use the back roads to learn the shifting patterns, quirks and get
the feel for the throttle and all that. Watch the tach, but also develop
a "feel" for where you are in the rev band vs how the engine feels.

Go easy on the clutch and gearbox at first until you know how they react
and you should do just fine!

Rick

"Adam Frankel" <writher@optonline.net> wrote in message
news:7ShFg.630$dh.125@newsfe12.lga...
> Thanks to your responses to my previous posts, I have decided to pick up
> the STI.
>
> Tomorrow I will be picking it up from the dealer. I will be having a
> friend drive it from the dealer to my home. I do have some experience
> driving a manual, but I still am not totally comfortable yet. Is there any
> advice one can give specifically related to learning on the STI? I will
> be taking it on small residential roads this weekend while I learn it.
>

First of all, the STI accelerates insanely fast in low gears. Boost will
come on at about 2500 RPM and increase from there. If you are just
learning, don't get too close to the car in front of you, or you both get a
nasty surprise.

I would also advise short shifting at first; don't let the revs get too
high. The transmission is very smooth, but the gears are very close
together. Invariably, even people experienced with a standard, go from 2nd
to 5th a few times. That's not a big issue, except that acceleration will
be flat when that happens and the car may chug. However, it is worse if you
are downshifting at higher revs. Hence, it is better to keep the revs low
when you are learning and avoid damage.

You also have to learn to be soft with the shifts. The car doesn't respond
well to ham-fisted shifting. But once you get the knack of it, it is one
helluva lot of fun to drive.

Adam Frankel wrote:

> Thanks to your responses to my previous posts, I have decided to pick up the
> STI.
>
> Tomorrow I will be picking it up from the dealer. I will be having a friend
> drive it from the dealer to my home. I do have some experience driving a
> manual, but I still am not totally comfortable yet. Is there any advice one
> can give specifically related to learning on the STI? I will be taking it
> on small residential roads this weekend while I learn it.
>
>

Do NOT be tempted to 'light up all four' with a high-rev clutch dump on
dry pavement. You might do it - you also might destroy a tranny.

Carl


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