Question for the Other STi owners on the board

[RickDaTuner]

well i have had my car for a while now, and its been a blast as im sure you all would agree, but not having owned a Turbo before, i've been concerned(sp) about a few things.

first of is Fuel economy, when i had first received the car fromt he dealer i was getting poor fuel ecnonmy, as would any new car, but the weired thing is, that thats about the best Fuel economy ive had with my car, wvwr since then its been a down hill battle.
well to get into specifics when the car was new its I would make about 450-470 kms out of 50 litres worth of 94 at 5000k i would be getting 400kms out of the same 50 litres and now nearing the 10k mark in seeing about 350kms worth out of the same 94? what gives... granted i do make a few short sprints to 80 or 110, but i normaly drive like a retired old man in his Caddy, IE. Vac is usally arround 10 never pas about 2500rpms on the tach.. anyone hear of this before? or is this the kind of fuel economy you guys are seeing aswell?

some other minor things i have noticed over time are things like, when im driving or parked and have the engine rev anywhere between 2 and 3k rpms i hear what sounds like valve clatter and a leakey exhaust manifold, is this what is know and as waste gate flutter?.

and fianlly, recently when i start out from a stop, durinng acceleration the car bog a few times, kinda like when you over rev and dont relase the clutch smoothly usally happening between 1500-2000 rpm mabey im having some sort of fuel delivery problem, a bad 02 sensor ? anyone wanna try and shed some light on these concerns..
i will be taking it into the dealer to be checked and to have a few other minor things to be looked after but i would like to be informed before the dealr tries to deny warrantee

the Car is Stock, i only have a manual Boost gause installed running the press line directly of the intake manifold

[googe]

Im not too sure about the mileage problems, but 2500rpms is low for anything but cruising. If you are always in too high a gear youll get way worse fuel economy.

Cant say Ive noticed a flutter on my car.

As for the bogging, sounds maybe like clutch chatter? I have that too, but not bad enough to annoy me to get the dealer to fix it. Usually only happens shortly after you start the car and its still cold. This is a known issue on Subarus. If you tell the dealer, the guy will say "No, that was only a problem on WRX's, STIs dont have the clutch chatter problem" but he is a dumb liar cause ALOT of people have reported this :)

Oh and if you have a black car, dont leave it with Subaru of Calgary for service because they will wash it with steel wool or something and give you permanent swirls :banghead: :guns:

[Aleks]

I don't have an Sti so I hope you don't mind me replying in this thread. Have you considered the effects of colder weather on your car? I always get worse mileage in the winter time. Just for comparison on my turboed teg I get about 400 km out of 40 liters of 94, and Im nowhere near 300 hp/tq :rofl:

[heavyD]

You say you are using 94. Is that the Husky/Mowhawk shit? If it is stop using it and once your tank is empty, fill up with Esso or Shell 91. Your mileage will improve and the hesitation may go away. My Eclipse which is highly modded gets misfire CEL's from one gas and it's the ethanol shit that Husky sells. Lots of DSM owners have reported problems using ethanol blended gas.

[RickDaTuner]

hey thanks Googe and Aleks apearently all is normal then,
I posted this on Nabisco and pretty much got the same response, so i will more thank likely reset the ecu and start shifting at higher rev points :thumbsup:

[JAYMEZ]

Yah i was going to say reset the ECU , I have noticed that much of difference in Fuel milage , and I believe I have the oldest STi here :D

[googe]

Originally posted by JAYMEZ_STi
Yah i was going to say reset the ECU , I have noticed that much of difference in Fuel milage , and I believe I have the oldest STi here :D

Dont I still have you beat in mileage? :D

[RickDaTuner]

Originally posted by heavyD
You say you are using 94. Is that the Husky/Mowhawk shit? If it is stop using it and once your tank is empty, fill up with Esso or Shell 91. Your mileage will improve and the hesitation may go away. My Eclipse which is highly modded gets misfire CEL's from one gas and it's the ethanol shit that Husky sells. Lots of DSM owners have reported problems using ethanol blended gas. there is nothing wrong with the gas at mowhawk, i actually dont trust the Shell pumps, i swear i got a full tank of 87 from a 91 pump once, ive never felt my car bog like it did that time, not to mention the oh so Ph333r3d CEL light came on too, besides if i run anything else other than the Husly 94 it feels like the car is running wrong, rough accel and rough idle
IIRC the manual suggest's puttin in ethenol blends, but warns about putting in Methanols blends

[heavyD]

Originally posted by RickDaTuner
there is nothing wrong with the gas at mowhawk, i actually dont trust the Shell pumps, i swear i got a full tank of 87 from a 91 pump once, ive never felt my car bog like it did that time, not to mention the oh so Ph333r3d CEL light came on too, besides if i run anything else other than the Husly 94 it feels like the car is running wrong, rough accel and rough idle
IIRC the manual suggest's puttin in ethenol blends, but warns about putting in Methanols blends

The manual doesn't suggest ethanol, it just says you can use it. Trust me Husky gas is shit. Canada is one of the few countries that allows the use of the garbage. Most states in the U.S. don't even use it. Ethanol blended gas is a "low cost alternative fuel" which is cheaper to make. Environmentalists like it because it burns cleaner and is better for the atmosphere. It is a fact that you get worse gas mileage with ethanol blended gas because it has a lower btu value which means it takes more energy to burn. This is why some cars get random misfire CEL's using it. If the guy is concerned with gas mileage, ethanol blend is definately the wrong gas for him.

When you shell out top dollar for that 94 octane ethnol blend gas you are actually paying top dollar for cheap gas.

[googe]

that topic has been exhausted in previous threads, not a good idea to start it all over again :rolleyes:

[heavyD]

Originally posted by googe
that topic has been exhausted in previous threads, not a good idea to start it all over again :rolleyes:

Yes but my answer is related to his question. He is getting poorer mileage with that gas and it may even be causing some of the other problems. It sure wouldn't hurt to try a different fuel would it?

[rage2]

Especially with slanted opinions that I've proven wrong with dyno sheets.

Anyways, the STi's are tuned very agressively. On 91 shell, it pings up here at Calgary elevation on the original ECU program. A reflash was made available to the STI's which fixed it by changing air fuel ratios (worse fuel economy) as well as a less agressive base timing map.

STi's (especially the original program cars) runs better and safer but with worse fuel economy on Mohawk 94.

[heavyD]

Originally posted by rage2
Especially with slanted opinions that I've proven wrong with dyno sheets.

Anyways, the STi's are tuned very agressively. On 91 shell, it pings up here at Calgary elevation on the original ECU program. A reflash was made available to the STI's which fixed it by changing air fuel ratios (worse fuel economy) as well as a less agressive base timing map.

STi's (especially the original program cars) runs better and safer but with worse fuel economy on Mohawk 94.

Do you have a Husky/Mohawk tatoo on your ass?:nut:

[carson blocks]

higher altitude air is less dense and therefore lessens the probability of predetenation or 'ping' right? So a car that uses 91 in LA may run fine on 88 here right? Or do I have this backwards?

If the STi engine without the reflash pings in Calgary on 91, are sea-level owners having extreme problems?

[DSM Power]

Originally posted by heavyD
YMy Eclipse which is highly modded gets misfire CEL's from one gas and it's the ethanol shit that Husky sells. Lots of DSM owners have reported problems using ethanol blended gas.
:zzz: You say "lots" but none that I know have issues. :dunno: :zzz:

[googe]

Originally posted by carson blocks
higher altitude air is less dense and therefore lessens the probability of predetenation or 'ping' right? So a car that uses 91 in LA may run fine on 88 here right? Or do I have this backwards?

If the STi engine without the reflash pings in Calgary on 91, are sea-level owners having extreme problems?

you do have it backwards :) and california cars were the first to document the problem.

i question rage2's source on this though


A reflash was made available to the STI's which fixed it by changing air fuel ratios (worse fuel economy) as well as a less agressive base timing map.

its been the topic of much discussion on the forums (although i havent been in touch for a few months) and no one has suggested this. from what i understand it was a flaw in the algorithm itself, not bad maps. ie, they didnt "weaken" the car to fix the problem.

but if you have a reliable reason to believe otherwise, do share :)