NACRO

I'm now living on the continent and have been using the Impreza in very hot weather- yesterday was 36-40 degrees.

I've also fallen prey to the temptations of not losing my licence for speeding and drove approx 80 miles at a speed of between 100-130mph. I notice not surprisingly masses of heat from the engine bay and a faint "hot" chemical type smell comes from the fan into the cabin (no air con). When I park in the garage the car is giving off masses of heat- in fact the bonnet stay is so hot you can't touch it.
Is this normal? I've never run in such high temps at sustained high speeds before and wonder if I need a better coolant. The car temp gauge stayed in the middle neither hot nor cold throughout the whole run.

Carl2

Try some water wetter
http://www.trackstore.co.uk/redline.html

Leviathan

Id be abit carefull IMHO, a chap i know just done a track day with his modded RX7 in Japan, the weather was hot and the aftermarket temp gauge he has was showing 105 degrees c, whereas the standard gauge was showing normal, this was after driving about 3 hard laps.

Food for thought, i reckon a couple of extra gauges to keep an eye on things are well worth it.

JIM THEO

I drive my WRX03 every day on A&B roads outside town with more than 34-35C degrees ambient temp (and often above 180-190km/h).
I thrash it in every chance as this is why we buy these cars with some intervals of slow driving without boost and lower revs as it needs to cool down for the next thrash.
Although I rarely drive it hard around town as I/C temp are very high due to stop-go on traffic lights and airflow is minimal.
I use always SUL (usualy Shell Racing 99+ octanes) and I change oil/filter every 4-5000km with Motul V300 10W/40.
As it's still standard I can't see why this could be a problem and I believe Subaru have in mind our very hot climate (Japan's is worse) when they sell their cars, right?
Should I worry?
JIM

NACRO

Guys thanks for the info. JimTheo your input was especially useful-I sort of figured the Jap thing- after all it gets very hot there.

We'll see how it goes and I'll keep my speeds down a bit.

zapa22

Don't worried. I´m spanish and Spain is hot in summer. I´ve drive my MY01 tons of Km in summer by hiway (6 hours to te maximum speed, ever over 200 Km/h) without any problem. These cars are perfectly prepared to support high temperatures. Only problem is that air conditioning can´t always with all work.

NACRO

Hey Zappa,

I was over in Jaca and San Sebastian over the past week and your right it is very hot over there!

I plan to visit Barcelona soon- you live in a very beautiful city. Will I be safe to park/drive in the city? Any tips on visiting Barcelona will be appreciated.

zapa22

You will have not any problem for park or drive in city. Like other cities free park is impossible but you will find a lot of parkings. Drive in city is slow but with any problem. You will find in Barcelona everything you search so if you are more specific about your hobbies or interests i will be happy in help you to find anything you search. Trick (not in Barcelona but in any foreign country is make same that local people. If you enter in a Restaurant ans you see all people is tourist be sure you have made the bad try. Barcelona is not a dangerous city for crime but tourist are his main target (generally without violence). So if you walk along Ramblas in shorts with a camera hanging and absent look be sure you are a target. Barcelona is not Lloret de Mar so is better dress like Barcelona citizens not like tourist. Is simple. In Spain there are a proverb that say : Where you go make that you see. This is the rule for any travel. I´m sure you will enjoy Barcelona!! A last warning; if you walk along Ramblas and a pretty girl bring close to you and put one of your hand in middle of your legs be sure other hand is in your wallet

NACRO

Zappa thanks for the information- I'll be visitng soon and look forward to meeting the pretty girls!