I drove one of these last night. I was nervous as hell

"stuttgartobsessed" (grantharmsen) 01/04/2014 at 17:08 • Filed to: None

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My friends and I went out last night in Seattle and I volunteered to DD. We took my friends STI. At first I was like "Hell Yeah! I get to drive an STI! Sick!" And then I found out it had 17psi of boost and a short throw shifter. I stalled it like 5 times. At least. I found out I really don't know how to drive a turbocharged car and that the throw on my Alfa is really, really long. And I like that. I finally got the hang of it, kind of, and it was a blast.

In other news, the Alfa should be hopefully maybe drivable at weeks end. Fingers crossed.

oldirtybootz > stuttgartobsessed 01/04/2014 at 17:12

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I had to learn to DD stick on my turbocharged "Alfa" that has a very long throw, somewhat vague friction point, and no low end torque.

theloudmouth > stuttgartobsessed 01/04/2014 at 17:13

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Ha, think that's bad? Try the 02-05 2.0L WRX's. They have ZERO torque below 3K... Literally none. With the AC on in summer heat I STILL almost stall my Saabaru every once in a while and I've had the damn thing since new.

I also have only ever driven sticks since 16 (now 27), so it's not like I'm a noob.

stuttgartobsessed > theloudmouth 01/04/2014 at 17:16

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Yah I felt terrible because I daily drive a stick and was like "WTF?" It's definitely not made for, let's say, casual driving .

stuttgartobsessed > oldirtybootz 01/04/2014 at 17:17

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Why do you have Alfa in quotes? and yah, no low end torque really throws me off.

feather-throttle-not-hair > stuttgartobsessed 01/04/2014 at 17:20

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Maybe the clutch caught at a different point than you were used to? Lightened flywheel would make a big difference too. Also Seattle man. Hills and shit.

I sometimes nearly stall my 350Z (my only DD for the past 7 years) but the damn flywheel is so heavy that if i immediately clutch in, it catches and fires right back up.

roflcopter > stuttgartobsessed 01/04/2014 at 17:21

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One word for the lack of low end and funky driving needed... Rotary.

stuttgartobsessed > feather-throttle-not-hair 01/04/2014 at 17:24

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Yah. I originally thought we were only going to West Seattle, aka no hills. Then we went downtown. The hill start feature was actually pretty neat, but it threw me off at first. And yes, once I figured out where the clutch caught I was good.

theloudmouth > stuttgartobsessed 01/04/2014 at 17:28

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You do get used to it/it's all relative. The GR STi I test drove seemed like a downright torque monster at low revs compared to my EJ20 ha.

feather-throttle-not-hair > stuttgartobsessed 01/04/2014 at 17:28

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Yeah. Downtown is killer. Really just most of seattle is killer. I wish I had a hill start feature on my car, I live on the back side of Capitol Hill, it would be helpful.

PowderHound > theloudmouth 01/04/2014 at 17:31

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I'll have to dig up my dyno chart but I think it kicks in for me around 2200 maybe 25?

oldirtybootz > stuttgartobsessed 01/04/2014 at 17:31

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Yeah but my car really has no low end torque. Boost doesn't come in until like 2k RPM and it peaks at 2500.

Alfa is in quotes because my car is a stretched and widened Giulietta.

stuttgartobsessed > feather-throttle-not-hair 01/04/2014 at 17:33

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Yah I can imagine. I really want to drive up on a sunny day in the Alfa but the hills worry me. Not because I think I'll stall, but because the idiots pull up right behind you and leave no room for you to roll back.

Spaceball-Two > feather-throttle-not-hair 01/04/2014 at 17:33

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Headed to Vin Trap tonight. Will not be taking my manual.

Spaceball-Two > feather-throttle-not-hair 01/04/2014 at 17:33

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Headed to Vin Trap tonight. Will not be taking my manual.

Spaceball-Two > feather-throttle-not-hair 01/04/2014 at 17:33

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Headed to Vin Trap tonight. Will not be taking my manual.

stuttgartobsessed > oldirtybootz 01/04/2014 at 17:34

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Very interesting. SR20?

theloudmouth > PowderHound 01/04/2014 at 17:34

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Yeah, peak torque on the stock tune hits at 3K, but boost begins to build down to 2K

offroadkarter > stuttgartobsessed 01/04/2014 at 17:36

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I never drove an STi, but I've driven two 2.5 RS wagons (03 and 04) and I have noticed on any manual vehicle with no torque (IE a 4cyl) you have to feed it throttle before and while you clutch out. Meanwhile on my friends 08 mustang GT, If I let the clutch out slow enough, I can get it to move w/o touching the gas pedal at all.

PowderHound > theloudmouth 01/04/2014 at 17:41

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Sort of found it. Here is a shitty photo. I should have the actual paper around somewhere though

oldirtybootz > stuttgartobsessed 01/04/2014 at 17:44

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stuttgartobsessed > oldirtybootz 01/04/2014 at 17:46

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NOOOOOOOOOOOooooooooooooooo ooooooooo ..... KIIIIIINNNNJJJJAAAAAA!!!!

lucky's pepper > feather-throttle-not-hair 01/04/2014 at 17:57

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Isn't that what the handbrake is for? Well besides J-turns.

Chuck 2(O=[][]=O)2 > stuttgartobsessed 01/04/2014 at 18:04

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I'm guessing he's talking about his Dart.

oldirtybootz > Chuck 2(O=[][]=O)2 01/04/2014 at 18:10

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Yes. Yes I am.

oldirtybootz > stuttgartobsessed 01/04/2014 at 18:11

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I'll try again.

JQJ213- Now With An Extra Cylinder! > stuttgartobsessed 01/04/2014 at 18:12

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He drives a Dodge Dart... Which is basically an Alfa Guilleta sedan

stuttgartobsessed > oldirtybootz 01/04/2014 at 19:22

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I was a little late to the party on that haha. I thought you had stretched and widened a classic Giulia...

oldirtybootz > stuttgartobsessed 01/04/2014 at 21:06

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Oooo I wish. Well I wish I had a Giulia Sprint GTA.

Burrito de EJ25 > theloudmouth 01/04/2014 at 23:40

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God, try sitting in traffic during Los Angeles heat waves, AC on full blast. Not fun! Even with the extra half a liter that low end can be problematic.

Bad72AMX > stuttgartobsessed 01/04/2014 at 23:41

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As a former WRX owner that "featured" electronic hill start assist, I can promise you that that "feature" caused at least one of your stalls. It has a nasty habit of engaging on slight inclines when you do not expect it and not disengaging soon enough on very steep hills when you are moving quickly to avoid drifting backwards. I hated it and often pulled the ABS fuse in my car to disable it. It can be disabled in the STI but not on WRX's.