"Dad, your car is obnoxious and loud."

"You can tell a Finn but you can't tell him much" (youcantellafinn)
12/19/2018 at 09:29 • Filed to: guiseguiseguise!, i got an sti, the good kind of sti, sti

“Should I trade it in?”
“NO!” - in a disgusted voice before I could even finish asking.
This was on the way home from the hockey game late Saturday night. It was way past the Finnlet s bed time so he told me he’d take a nap. About a minute later he decided it was too obnoxious and loud to sleep in the car.

On the way home from the dealer

In closely related news the saga of the FoRS has come to a close and the replacement was picked up on Friday. I found the car at a dealer about nine hours away from me, but the “local” dealer was able to work out a transfer. Two hours is a more reasonable drive to pick up a car in the winter around these parts. After putting a couple hundred miles on it since picking it up Friday I can say I’m loving it. The 2019 STI is definitely an improved car relative to the 2007 I used to have, but they are undeniably the same car at the core.

Achievement Unlocked! Pastrana’ed

Now I just need to finish the break in miles and unlearn the RS clutch muscle memory. The STI is harder to feel exactly where the clutch starts to bite, especially from stopped. The hill start assist that the RS had was a little bit of a cheat too, and that got me a little bit lazy when it comes to launching from a stop.

It feels good to be back in the STI, and it’s amazing how familiar the car feels even though it’s twelve model years newer than my old one and I haven’t been in an STI in over a year. The WR Blue is an excellent color too, and it’s already received compliments from random people while out and about.

DISCUSSION (16)

E90M3 > You can tell a Finn but you can't tell him much
12/19/2018 at 09:38

When I test drove an STi, I found the clutch engagement point to be very vague and the clutch pedal itself to be laughably light. It felt almost identical to my friends Civic Si.

Also, how does a 2019 not have hill assist? My 2009, albeit a BMW, has it. While some may think it’s a cop out or something, I find it to be a wonderful feature. You mean I don’t have to slip the clutch or use the handbrake? Yeah, I prefer that.

Neil drives a beetle and a fancy beetle > You can tell a Finn but you can't tell him much
12/19/2018 at 09:47

I’m pretty sure exhaust drone is what helps my daughter nap in my car.

Sorry the FoRS never quite planned out but congrats on the STI.

MasterMario - Keeper of the V8s > E90M3
12/19/2018 at 09:50

You mean I don’t have to slip the clutch or use the handbrake?

Unless you’re dropping the clutch every time you’re slipping the clutch anytime you take off from a stop. Sorry, not sorry for being pedantic lol

E90M3 > MasterMario - Keeper of the V8s
12/19/2018 at 09:52

More than usual.

davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com > You can tell a Finn but you can't tell him much
12/19/2018 at 10:08

Haha! Please write that exchange down somewhere and keep it for him.

Wrong Wheel Drive (41%) > You can tell a Finn but you can't tell him much
12/19/2018 at 10:47

Any plans for mods to the car? Notice the weight difference from the ‘07? Interesting how you say it’s so familiar feeling, considering how many model years newer the car is. I suppose its still the same exact engine so I guess it’s not that surprising! It is also always funny to hear someone talk about a stock STi being loud. The number one complaint I have about my STi is just that its too damn quiet. I feel overly isolated from exhaust noise, road noise, and most of the wind noise. Granted, my perspective is from driving a Miata top down with a loud exhaust all the time sooo I guess I am broken lol.

Still enjoying that new car giddyness I imagine? Always jealous of that phenomenon!

Textured Soy Protein > E90M3
12/19/2018 at 11:02

Subarus including the STI do have a hill holder but apparently it’s a little tricky to engage .

When I first realized my E92 had hill assist I was kinda like, “oh, hey, that’s kinda nice ,” but it’s far from a make-or-break feature for me. This is actually the only stick shift car I’ve owned with a hill holder.

Textured Soy Protein > You can tell a Finn but you can't tell him much
12/19/2018 at 11:11

My wife hates riding in my 335xi thanks to all the mods . Too low, too loud, too bumpy, too fast. She’s only willing to do it if we’re not going to be spending much time on the highway.

A couple weeks ago we were going to visit my grandma, who lives about a half hour away. I forgot just how much the wife hates riding in my car on the highway and asked if she minded taking my car, since I don’t get to drive much what with working from home. She agreed, even though she actually would’ve preferred riding in her CX-5. Then when we were driving down our street out of the neighborhood, she reminded me how much she hates riding in my car. I was like, shit, sorry, we can take yours, but she said to keep going. I agreed to drive nice and easy for her.

That was all well and good until we were going up one not-highway main road with a 50 mph limit and some traffic lights. There are all kinds of traffic cameras around here and I often just stop at yellow lights rather than chance a red light camera ticket. But a light changed to yellow when I was kinda close to it where I’d have to drop anchor to stop, which my car can do no problem of course, but someone was right behind me. So to make the light and also avoid being rear-ended, I downshifted a couple gears and goosed the gas a little. Less than I would’ve if I were on my own. But she FREAKED THE FUCK OUT like,

“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA AAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!?!?!?!??!?!??!???!?!?!?!??!?! YOUR CAR IS TOO FAAAAAAAAAST!!!!!!!!”

Now this week she’s flying out to her mom’s for xmas a few days before I do, and not only does she want me to drive her to the airport in her car, of course I also have to take it to the airport again when I fly out, so we can drive home in it.

I still like my car though. Maybe next time I’ll be better at getting something that passes the wife test.

arl > You can tell a Finn but you can't tell him much
12/19/2018 at 12:23

Never driven an STI. And I probably shouldn’t. Because then I’d buy one and my ass would be sleeping in the shed for month. Wifey no like new car buying

You can tell a Finn but you can't tell him much > Wrong Wheel Drive (41%)
12/20/2018 at 09:46

Right now I’ve got no plans for modifications. I don’t really notice any weight difference, but from what I can see the curb weights are shockingly close. I haven’t really driven it hard as it still needs to finish the break in and the roads around here aren’t in great shape due to it being winter. You can definitely feel the extra 17hp, but that may also be due to changes in the ECU calibration. The ‘07 you really had to be in the right gear going through town otherwise it was a total slug trying to accelerate. The new car you can get away with being in a gear higher (than the ‘07) in most situations which is nice.

So far the biggest difference I’m noticing is the power increase, though it does feel pointier than the ‘07. It’s hard to get a real good feel for that though since it’s on winter tires and still taking it fairly easy.

You can tell a Finn but you can't tell him much > Neil drives a beetle and a fancy beetle
12/20/2018 at 09:48

Thanks. It was definitely a bummer that the FoRS went sideways. It feels good now that it’s over and I’ve got a fun car back.

You can tell a Finn but you can't tell him much > Textured Soy Protein
12/20/2018 at 09:54

Interesting, I’ll have to look through the manual to see about this. The FoRS was super cheater mode though, it would actually automagically give it gas when you were taking off if you let the clutch out slowly enough. Plus if you did actually stall it had auto start/stop, so mashing the clutch to the floor would restart the engine without you having to fumble for the starter button. It was a very cool feature.

You can tell a Finn but you can't tell him much > arl
12/20/2018 at 09:55

Only a month in the shed? Totally worth it!

You can tell a Finn but you can't tell him much > davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com
12/20/2018 at 09:56

I’ll have to do that, I got a good laugh out of that one.

davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com > You can tell a Finn but you can't tell him much
12/20/2018 at 10:09

I often put funny exchanges between the kids and me on Fb and tag my wife. Friends and family get a laugh, and I get reminded of them year after year.

Related: I will say I’m conflicted about how many photos of my kids Fb and Google have access to... especially with facial recognition getting “creepy”. At least we’re not China, with their nightmare social credit score system. Black Mirror, anyone?

Textured Soy Protein > You can tell a Finn but you can't tell him much
12/20/2018 at 16:32

I went flipping thru the online manual (this is on page 305 of the PDF) ...

The Hill start assist system is a device to make the following vehicle operations easier.

1) Starting forward facing uphill
2) Starting backward facing downhill
A) Brake pedal (both MT models and CVT models)
B) Clutch pedal (MT models only)

In both these cases, the Hill start assist system operates under the following conditions:

When depressing both the clutch pedal and the brake pedal (MT models).

When the vehicle has stopped with the brake pedal depressed (CVT models)

Braking power is maintained temporarily (for approximately 2 seconds) by the Hill start assist system after the brake pedal is released. The driver is therefore able to start the vehicle in the same way as on a level grade, just using the clutch pedal (MT models only) and accelerator pedal (all models).

If the braking power of the Hill start assist system is insufficient after the brake pedal is released, apply more braking power by depressing the brake pedal again.

The Hill start assist system may not operate on slight grades.