It's now two weeks, but I wrote the following after one week but never had a chance post it. I will leave it here and then add my thoughts from after another week.
So it's been a week since I got my new 2016 STI and so I thought I should put down some notes on the experience so far. Some of this will be personal to me and not really a reflection on the car itself. I had driven the same WRX for 13 years (a wonderful MY03 from new, part-ex'd with just 86,000Km) and some habits are just difficult shift, and it doesn't help that I am always a nervous driver when it comes to unfamiliar vehicles. So, in no particular order:
* Styling - I love the look of the car and the colour has really grown on me - the WR Blue Pearl was actually my third choice after black and dark-grey, but having had it a week I do not regret my decision. In a sea of dull black/grey/white/silver cars I see driving and parked everywhere I like that I finally have a colour that stands out (my old WRX was silver).
* Size - I'd don't know exactly how it compares to my WRX, but it certainly appears to be a larger car, mostly in width, and this is one of the things that's taking me longer to adjust to. As many of you know the scoop is a like a landmark, and the distance between the furthest part of what I can see of it and what I perceive to be the front of the car seems to be closer. Therefore I end up parking further way from walls and other things in front of the car than I need to. I sort of wish the car had come with parking sensors, but I haven't needed them for 30yrs so why would I need them now - oh wait, I'm old  It's also a tiny bit lower than the WRX, at least some trim underneath appears to be, and so the steep curved ramp I have to drive up to get to my underground parking bay is proving to be a challenge. Twice I have scraped the underside, but it's black plastic that's getting hit and nothing to worry about. It's a juggling act whilst turning the car, between too much power and the car bottoms out more easily, or not enough power and the car kind of struggles and almost stalls.
* Magic Scooby - I call the car this because the "bells & whistles" the car has to me makes my old WRX feel like it was from the stone-age, and some of the things it can do are simply "like magic". It was so cool driving the lanes the other evening and having the car dip the full beam for me and probably did a better job at it than I would have done seeing as I was fully concentrated on getting used to the car. Yes, I'm a geek so I will probably rave about other gadgets further on.
* Engine - enough has be said/written about the engine elsewhere, so I don't really have much to say myself. Maybe I'm old-school, but I like having more litres to get more BHP, so I'd rather have a 2.5 in it that a 2.0 being pushed to do the same.
* Gearbox and clutch - this is probably the second hardest thing to get used to after the size of the car, and again is simply down to habits from my old WRX. I keep over-reving it when I pull away in 1st which is embarrasing and I feel like I just learnt to drive. Having a 6-speed box is great I just need to remember that I now have a 6th gear and that it has shifted all the other gears about, so I need to change more frequently than I'm used to. I also have the occasional "moment" when going from 5th to 4th ends up with me between 4th and 2nd, and a couple of times I go on to choose 2nd. Fortunately this has only happened at relatively low speeds and the rev increase has never been very high. I am slowly improving though. The clutch is also another problem and my pull-away and subsequent gearshifts need improving. I wish I could learn to heel-toe but my brain doesn't seem to get it. The other thing that has caught me out a couple of times is "hill-assist" where the car holds the brakes for you when it detects you're going to pull away on a hill. Great feature unless you forget about it and a couple of times it's caused me to stall the car. Again, time will improve this.
* Exhaust - love the twin twin-pipes. Even stock it's louder than the PPP exhaust I had on my WRX but not as loud as many older Scoobs. I'm happy with the sound and can't see myself changing this.
* Performance - no idea yet. Still not run it in and so far I've done only just under 500km of the recommended 1,600km. Hopefully with my upcoming trip back to the UK will knock off the remainder of the KMs and I can then push the car properly. Not that I'm an aggresssive driver anyway but appreciate that the car has some impressive power.
* Fuel Economy - well I went into the purchase knowing full well what the expectations are, and of course compared to the old WRX the STI does enjoy its fuel. Just to put it into context: in the WRX I could drive to a fuel station 30min from Calais and would have easily had just over a quarter of a tank left. I think it's about 450km. Current estimates for the STI put it as running on fumes if I tried the same. So we'll see soon how this really turns out. I am just thankful that 98 fuel is still pretty cheap here, but like my old WRX and I don't intend to use the car for work four days out of five and that should keep my costs down. Fuel filler is on the same side as my WRX, so on the right and therefore one less thing to re-learn.
* Ride and handling - boy the is so well planted, but the ride is most definitely far firmer than the old WRX. Again something I knew about before getting the car, so I am not complaining though it will be interesting what I think about it after being in the UK. With the WRX it would barely make a sound rattle-wise in day-to-day driving here as our roads are pretty well maintained, but I always noticed back in the UK how bad things are and the rattles would emerge to annoy the heck out of me.
* Cabin noise - yes it's probably as loud from wind-noise as everyone reports and could be improved, but it compares about the same as my old WRX. Then again, who buys an STI for how quiet it is
* Seats - they are really good and it took me a few days of fiddling with the 8-way electric adjustment to get myself as comfortable as I was in the old WRX. They're the full leather ones and look and feel great.
* Steering Wheel - Steering is heavier than the old WRX, to be expected, yet very precise and reassuring. The steering wheel is smaller than the WRX but I really like how it feels - I'm starting to get used to it now. Controls are well placed, and the stalks only have a couple of minor differences compared to the old WRX.
* Wing mirrors, reversing camera - I had blindspot mirrors stuck to my old WRX mirrors that really helped, but the STI has a blind-spot warning system (as well as rear cross-traffic detection) and so I'm learning to watch for that to go off. Same with the reversing camera, it definitely a benefit and again because I am not used to it I sometimes forget to include it as part of awareness when maneuvering the car. Also like that the mirrors aren't colour coded but in silver.
* Windows - full auto all round from the drivers door, not sure about on the other doors. They're ever-so-slightly tinted but I'm not a huge fan of anything much darker.
* Brakes - what else can I say other than they work well. Took a bit of getting used to as they are more powerful than my old WRX, but that's obviously not a bad thing.
* Keyless-entry etc - another new thing for me. The whole thing works well and I love the push-button start. I've gotten used to the key-entry and then locking the car up afterwards, I like how it reminds me if walk away without locking up. Discovered that the PIN-entry system not mentioned on the French manual does actually work, so using the US manual I downloaded I was able to program a 5 digit PIN that allows me to get into the car should I be unable to use the key-fob e.g. if I somehow lock it inside the car. Still need to remember not to go for a "key in the ignition" when I stop the car - old habits again.
* ICE - the less said about some aspects of the "infotainment" system the better (sat nav and apps), having said that the audio quality is pretty damned good at least for my old ears. There's a largish subwoofer speaker on the rear parcel-shelf. The touch interface is easy to use and I'm so glad it's not one of those stupid knob affairs that BMW/Mercs and others have, but I'm also glad there's a proper volume knob (which I didn't have with my old Parrot Smart). I like the steering controls as again this is something new for me, though I haven't done much with the voice control yet (except to say "No" when the sat nav offered me information when I crossed the border the other day). The sat-nav has very dated maps and so far I can only "purchase" updates - I have complained to my dealer and they are looking into it. I would have expected a brand new car purchased April 2016 to come with maps updated to then, not several years ago. The connectivity to my smartphome at a basic level via bluetooth is very good - phone calls work well, people seem to be able to hear me ok and the system is able to play audio from the various sources on my phone. I do miss having two phones simultaneously connected via BT for making/receiving calls as I didn't have choose one or the other from my private and work phones. Connection of my 64GB USB stick was painless and the system displays the information and album art just fine. FM radio is ok and does the job, but disappointed DAB was not included unless I missed it. The apps system is a bit of a joke unless you are fortunate to have a MirrorLink compatible phone. I have a Google Nexus 6 and the big "G" don't want to add it and stick with their own "Android Auto". I really hope the new Fujitsu units in the 2016 STIs can be properly upgraded if the rumnours about Subaru adding Android Auto for 2017 - I'm not holding my breath.
* Interior power/connections - good to see built-in USB, there's two under the centre console, with a 12v socket into which I have placed a third USB adapter for extra charging. There's another 12v in the armrest cubby hole, and I put a twin USB adapter there. As there is no USB for the rear-passengers, not even a 12v I can convert, they can use the one in the armrest if they want. There's also a AUX audio socket but I will never use it.
* Information - In-car computer system displays are not bad. The one above the centre console shows some useful info and can be tailored to a point. The one on the drivers console also has some good info but isn't as tailorable as I'd like. The display test the car goes through on firing up the car is very slick.
* Cruise control - I haven't had this in a car since around 2000 when I had 3 litre Omega Elite, and quite missed it on my long trips to and from the UK. Was never convinced how well they would work on a manual transmission, but a few tests on the motorways here when they haven't been busy proves it works well. Will be most welcome on my next long drive.
* Air-Con - Works, though doesn't seem as strong as the unit that was in my WRX. The fan motor is also quite noticeable during quieter moments, and to me is a little annoying but not everyone hears it. Apparently it's a known issue as Subrau did not place a padded cover on the underside of the area where it sits in the passenger footwell - some discovered the same cover from another 2015/16 Subrau fits the STI and can be ordered along with some clips. I might do this at a later date.
* Wheels and tyres - love the wheels and I prefer these over the optional BBS ones. The addition of TPMS monitoring is welcome, though doing the checks myself has always been the case but it doesn't hurt to have a second opinion. Now I need to save up for a new set of winter tyres, whether I will get extra wheels or just switch tyres I haven't decided yet.
* Boot - the boot is definitely a little more spaceous than the WRX, and just like it the adjustment for the locking catch was simply terrible needing me to slam the lid for it to close. I put up with it on the WRX but with the STI I decided to attack it and have adjusted it to a more acceptable position. Still needs a positive drop, but now the rear number plate doesn't try to jump off its mountings. Things are laid out nicely underneath the carpet with a large foam insert with cut outs for the jack, wheel wrench, first-aid kit, warning triangle and a screwdriver I think. Under that is the space saver wheel and I'm glad it wasn't one of those poxy cans of puncture repair (or whatever they're called). The dealer even put a fire-extinguisher in with the spare wheel which was nice - haven't had one of those in a car for a long time.
* Lights - a big improvement over my old WRX, especially the LED driving lights and I love the cool look of all the light clusters. Disappointed by the continued use of old style bulbs everywhere, it's like someone at Subaru was tasked with replacing all lights with LED and then gave up half-way. Driving lights as already mentioned are excellent LEDS, but the full-beam and fogs plus numerous others are still crappy old halogens. So I have ordered about £150 of replacement LED bulbs and will have a nice job of work replacing them all in the coming weeks. I have changed the number plate lights with some still-packaged left-over LEDs I had bought for the WRX - they look much better.
* Sunroof - no Subaru, it's not a "moon roof". Great way to disperse the heat as you drive off after having left the car in the sun all day. It's also a nicer alternative to opening the window when I do town driving.
* Owners manual - a personal beef, but I understand that they supply it with a French edition, but why make it impossible to download the UK or any other European language version? Subaru in the US/Canada as such a better on-line experience, including MySubaru which I would really like, and they can download anything related to the cars. Fortunately unlike the dealer for the old WRX, the new dealer was able to order me one which I can soon pick up. And so after two weeks I'm nearly at 1,400km thanks to my current trip back to the UK, but I'm still not going to push the car. The dealer told me it wouldn't be necessary but I'm going to get the oil changed when I return and will then consider it "run in".
Further thoughts:
* Lights, converting to LED I have changed: full beams, interior light, map lights, reversing lights, licence plate lights, boot lights. Waiting on a new flasher unit so I can change the indicators. I'm having issues with the bulbs required for the front and rear fog lights, and the daytime-running-lights (the ones I got are too big or long). I wrote before how good the dipped beams were, the new full beams improve things there as well.
* Sat-Nav, really annoyed by this. The map data is two years old and so I have been given an email contact in Subaru Belgium by my local dealer and sent them a letter of complaint.
* Ride and Handling, I'll be glad to leave Kent this week and return to the 21st century. I had a near perfect trip to Calais and got there feeling fairly good, but by the time I got to Tunbridge Wells I felt like every muscle on my body had been punched. It's a travesty that the roads have not improved one bit in the 14 years I've been away with many roads I knew very well from my youth 30 years ago are basically in the same state. I always used to notice some difference with the road quality driving my old WRX, but the STI is not so forgiving.
* Fuel Economy, wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be, but for my trip to Calais the tank was down to a quarter just as I used to get with the WRX. I think a lot of this was making good use of the cruise control and keeping to the Belgian and French speed limits. I'm pretty sure that if I tried to use the car as a daily driver like I used it that it would not be as good. But that's ok. The fuel-low light comes on at 10 litres and the trip computer seems to be pretty accurate so far and showing my range.
* STI floor mats and English owners manual, are waiting for me to pick up when I get home.
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