Hi

Running in a WRX 04, been taking it up to the 5thou rpm, i know its supposed to be 4000rpm ,

it realy started to loosen up around the 100miles and really felt like it was flying. millege now at 600miles

i took it into TSL today (great place great people) and had a 4inch back box sounds great (not to loud) and green panel filter fitted.

on the way back (100 mile journy down country lanes and the A1 to bedfordshire) TSL is near nottingham. the car now feels physically feels slightly slower . i am stunned by this , i should have around 5bhp extra, its hard to feel 5bhp more and know this from modding by old scoob modding everywhere exept new turm and FMIC etc
but this actually feels very slightly slower.

the power delivery before was as follows , 1 to 3 smooth ,3 to 5 silky smoove and pulled like hell

Now after the back box and filter it has a slight flat spot around 4rpm for a slight second, but mainly doesnt feel like its pulling as hard as before.


my other problem is this, this was before TSL by the way ,from 3rd at 5rpm change into fifth you get a very slight crunch 60% of the time.(millege on car 600miles now)

this scares me as i chopped in my old my00 uk turbo because the nut on the fifth gear got loose,crunch a few things up and hey prestow, gearbox re-build .

surley this is not happening again ? i will focus more on my gear changes and if still does it when it goes if for its 1000mil service i will have to tell them,
this is important to me as i dont often go from 3rd to 4th because i like the pull from third through to to 5rpm and by then your at 70mph ish so i go to 5th

any advice or thought on the above guys and girls ?

 

anybody with a wrx 04 ?

 

My 2003 WRX crunches if I rev high in 3rd and change to 5th - Subaru call it a "Characteristic of the model" - bollcoks!!!!

I have a 3" totally straight custom built cat back system, angled exit - it sound the business but the car is slightly more laggy but better on boost - no flat spots - ask TSL about it but give it a few tanks of fuel and its first service before complaining as it is still very new.

The cars get MUCH better after about 10k

Brian

 

thanks mate, do you think i am ok with taking it to 5rpm ? and did you have your up pipe done as well ?

 

Nope cat back - TOTALLY straight piepwrok to the exit of the backbox, no bends.

Superb sound and look.

Centre small cat not much benefit in removing (warranty totally stuffed then too). Downpipe cat - gains to be had but needs a remap for safety really. Next on my hitlist though when I give up on the warranty

5,000 RPM a bit high - 4,000 tops really and make sure you vary your oads speeds often. 5,000 RPM it should survive it though. My car was a demo and was probably razzed to death before I picked it up!!

Brian

 

virgin: I remember what it was like running the scooby in, but I would advise you not to rev it to more than the manufacturer says... the running in oil is (a lot?) thinner than the normal oil, so I wouldn't go ragging the car around the back roads just yet... Even if you only take it up to 5k with the throttle fully open, you will still stress the engine quite a bit, especially as it is new and not fully bedded in yet.

The engines are delicate, so take it easy with it at first, and then rag it after the service

 

Are you using optimax? If so, try using Esso super for a while and you may notice the flat spot disappear.

 

sounds interesting , did it work for you ?

i will give it a go , ive tried bp ult and optimax so far.

 

I've been thinking about a new back box.
Are you not worried about the manufacturer's warranty, particularly if your gearbox is crunching??
A Prodrive box wouldn't invalidate it but I assume a TSL will??

[QUOTE=virgin]Hi

 

I would worry about your gearbox, my complete gearbox was replaced under warranty ( I collected it this morning ) for crunching and whining.

Get it looked at, apparantly it is a known fault.

 

i'm running in my 04 wrx. not noticed any problems. best car i've driven. and that includes a 911 Carrera 4 and a Bentley Continental GT. nice cars, but I love the way the scooby drives.

i'm at 500 miles, so not far behind you and know its only another couple of weeks to go. heck its still plenty quick up 4000rpm with minimal throttle input.

i replaced the backbox on mine with an STi back box for purely cosmetic reasons, but it sounds tops too, and its made no difference to the way the car feels.

 

Virgin.

If you intend to keep the car for any length of time I'd strongly advise running it in properly. I know it's very frustrating (I've had to do it 4 times myself) but it's worthwhile.

As for the exhaust etc, whilst I personally would never mod a car until well after it's run in, TSL are a friendly bunch, so why not call them, even if it's just for your own piece of mind.

With regard to the gearbox, I'd refer it to the dealer. Not necessarily because it's faulty, but if something happens in due course, you can always point out that you made them aware of it early on, thereby shifting responsibility onto them.

All IMHO of course.

 

[QUOTE=Speedmeister]I've been thinking about a new back box.
Are you not worried about the manufacturer's warranty, particularly if your gearbox is crunching??
A Prodrive box wouldn't invalidate it but I assume a TSL will??

Hi , tsl boxes are made at the same factory that supply prodrive, the graded steel used in the tsl box is 1.5mm where as the prodrive box is 1.2mm, one of tsl`s main customers are subaru dealships , my dealaship said it isnt a problem,but then i did discuss this whislt haggling a deal on my new wrx, and telling them that i would be fitting a tsl box after i pick it up.
also if you read the warranty carefully it doesnt exactly state that the cars full warrenty applies, they wont cover additional modifications, and no doubt the engine internals etc could not be messed with either,

if you have a warrenty claim over a gear for example, this would not be as a result of a back box, but if i had modified the gear box,then i would have no chance

maybe this is why my dealer is ok with it, and they are one of the most ,nice,but stuck up and **** dealaships i know off.


To quote their exact frase, "this is not a problem sir,we have even on occashion replaced other various parts back to original so no warranty issues occur.

ps, i cant spwll very

 

the gear box is fine with every other gear selection,its just the 3rd to 5000rpm and change into fifth, you get a notchy gear change and i also had a few crunches, befire i was saying 60% of the time ,now its around 30% , i really need to go out tonight and try it a few times with no traffic ,but i am not to overjoyed about taking it to 5 thou rpm with 700 miles on the clock , i do take it that high from time to time because i want my engine a little bit more slacker, i may try a gear shift change at 6000 in third and see if it does it then, it could just be the timing of the box or something, it is consistant of presisly 5000rpm where the car is probably producing max torq etc

would do you think ? the cars coverd under warranty for 60miles so i am not to worried unless it screws up the enjoyment of driving it, it also could just be wearing in

 

I'd have waited until it was run in and had its first service before hitting 5k rpm, and adding mods. I pity the second owner.

 

Virgin

I own a MY04 WRX wagon now with 4500K on the clock.

a) I've got issues with overrun on the gearbox in 1st, 2nd and sometimes 3rd. (Sounds like a loose cog to me)

b) Gearbox seems noisy when pulling away. Makes a sort of whirring/cog rubbing type noise.

c) When slowing down and changing from 3rd to 2nd quickly, the gearbox does what I can only describe as 'jumps back and forth' making the car rock back and forth. It's not too violent, but annoying.

d) Park up, take it out of gear and lift the clutch..... and I can here a whirring cog or shaft type noise. Dump the clutch (car still out of gear) and the noise vanishes. (A feature of the shafts?)

e) Clutch sometimes seems to bite a bit later than it should or jump. This I've been told is a bit of feature and can be sorted by greasing up something.

f) Gear change is notchy every now and again. I'm putting this down to all those edges on the cogs not been warn down yet.

On the plus side.... put your foot down with a shed load of Opitmax, and she fly’s Drive the Scoob reasonably hard and she loves it.

Subaru have looked at the gearbox and said it's pretty normal, but said I may need another oil change sooner than 10K.

I'm not too bothered about the issues (due to warranty) and will give the car up to 10K to see what she does. I suggest if you don't get anything too bad (nasty knocking etc) then let the car reach 10K and then have a moan.

As for the exhaust mod...... same type of thing happened to me on my MY99. Changed the standard BB for a Pro Drive one and I was convinced the car was slower from pull away, but up at speed..... blimey did the Turbo come in quick and it felt like I had another 500 revs or so to use

I’m still quite happy with my MY04 (even with the above) and I’m about to change the BB too…. but which one shall I buy?

J.

Ps. I ran my car in like an old woman up to the first service. After that I gave it some stick, but still take it easy most of the time.

 

i would go for a tsl back box , i have had a magnex on my old my00 and the sound difference is awsome, its not as loud as the magnex but it doesnt drive you nuts at 8omph, it also though not as loud has a much more sweeter sound, its a lot lower than normal due to the thicknes of the steel,far more basey. (its a group n box)

as a rule i do stick to the 4000rpm mark, but i am exerciseing the engine to 5000rpm on the odd occashion, this is supposed to be better than sitting at 4000 rpm for long periods, i.e a engine is better being reved, i do at lot of motorway miles as well.

 

Virgin....

TSL group N 4" BB is on my list. How shiney is the whole back box? not just the tail pipe?

Sounds like you're running in the Scoob in just fine.

Pflowers....

I'd be interested to hear about your gearbox woes. Might give me some ammo to take to my dealer

J.

 

Hi mate, my car bought April this year has now got 20k miles on it ! I first started noticing a grating / whining noise at about 5k generaly only in first or second at low speeds but very slightly there in all gears. There also appeared to be a lot of play / ****** in first and second when accelerating / deaccelerating. To be honest I thought it was normal but would mention it at the 10k service. I forgot but did so at the 20K.

As soon as the garage had driven the car they said straight away it needed a gearbox rebuild and to book it in for a later time. However on the way home I had trouble selecting fourth / fifth and by the time I had got home could not get it in reverse. The car was recovered to the garage and the gearbox stripped. They were going to rebuild the gearbox but due to non availability of parts a complete new box was fitted.

According to them it was probably like it from new, apparantly the reverse gear selector rubs on first / second gear and causes the fault, and is due to a manufacturing problem.

My gears used to crunch first to second and third to fourth. This may be normal as I have yet to take mine on a good drive.

Hope this helps.

 

When i bought my WRX a couple of years ago the dealer told me to run it in up to 4500rpm. All was fine, 10000 miles in the first 3 months then 34000 miles at 22 months when i sold it. It started on the button everytime.

Chris

 

Pflowers

Top man. The play/****** thing is exactly what I've got along with the whine. Selecting reverse sometime takes a double de-clutch too and can still be a bit clicky/notchy.

Would you care to name the dealer that sorted you out?

J.

 

I had problems selecting reverse at times too, again though not sure if it is normal as I have not had time to test mine fully yet.

CVC Cardiff sorted it out, they are first class and would reccomend to anyone, nothing is too much trouble and kept me informed all the way.

 

Well i was told by my dealer just drive the damn thing, don't redline it and not much over 4500 rpm, He then explained that the best second hand cars he gets in are the ex-demonstrators he has sold, and explained the are treated as explained and at 600 miles get the 1st service, and then are driven by would be customer's so nice and gentle obviously


I have had a Ninja back box fitted and sounds awesome, and for some reason I am managing 27 mpg, mixture of motorways and caning it on A and B roads.

I also have a slight grunch as it select's reverse but has got better lately and now has 2000 miles on the clock.

 

Are these two the same issue? I mentioned my problem to the dealer, and a mechanic came with me in the car when I reproduced the issue. In first and second, moving slowly in traffic, lift off the accellerator and there is (what feels like) play in the drive train. The mechanic said it all seemed normal, and nothing to worry about. At certain speeds in first and second I find it's much smoother to clutch and brake than use engine braking.

 

I am going to be doing some serious driving tommorrow so will update you on how the new gearbox is performing.

 

I've done that with every car I've ever owned. I'm not a fan of too much engine braking.

 

as my old dad says 'brakes are cheaper than gearboxes' and on the whole I agree with him.

however..... I have a MY03 wagon, it creaks, groans, vibrates and rattles its nuts off at every opportunity. It has a fair few miles on it now The synchros crunch if I rush a change or if the gearbox fluid is really warm.

I can understand your concerns as your car is virtually brand new. My advice would be to get it looked at by the dealer before you do anyhting that couold potentially cause a warranty *issue*.

On the whole they are a performance car at a bargain price- and they have a few rough edges.

This is my 6th Impreza now, and I have either become de-sensitised to the noises or am just smiling too much to notice.

simon

ps. 18 to the gallon, before anyone asks, and proud of it

 

I had identical problems getting into 5th with my 03WRX. The dealer initially overfilled the gearbox and the problem dissapeared.

Recently the same problem occured with 4th gear. My car is now sat at the dealer with gearbox in bits awaiting a new synchro that was mashed.

I'd get it checked out, it appears to be a common fault.

 

do you mean is it chromed etc ? if so ,then yes box and pipe

but the sound is amazing ! used to run a myoo uk turbo with full magnex de-cat, i say now confidetly that the sound difference is astonishing, the magnex is a higer tone berbal and pretty damm loud when you pin it,but not quite as loud as a HKS system, the Tsl THOUGH, is really a deep deep basey sound,and does not intrude the cabin ,but enough to let the passenger know that the car is something special ,and not like a boyzzzzzzzzzz car !

 

Ps

A , my04 wrx TSL Box and green filter fitted = total cost 312.55 with mentioning scooby net

Had this done last saturday