New 2013 WRX Premium - 5 day Report

[pmacey]

Greetings fellow WRX Owners!

Took delivery of my 2013 WR Blue WRX Premium with NAV last Friday 11/2/12. Have about 200 miles on it.

What a difference between my 2005 WRX Premium in all ways! Great World Rally Blue color!

Some questions and observations:

Car is garage kept, in the morning, when driving down my 190 foot driving and tapping the breaks to slow down, the past five days, they catch and grind
-This is the only time it happens: going from a 50 degree garage to whatever the outside temp may be, normal?

The Radio fades in and out with a lot of volume variance in the AM channels, especially when set to 880 (WCBS in NY)
-Anyone else have this issue and if so, what is the fix or how do you reboot or update the radio system in the NAV unit

In Phone Mode, I can't cycle through my contact list, using the down/up arrow for names by their alpha character, or the 'master' down/up button
-Once again, anyone else have this issue...maybe it's my Blackberry that doesn't interface to unit's Bluetooth too good?

Summer Tires
-Will they really suck on dry roads below 32 degrees...and be even worse on snow/slush roads? (Forget Ice, won't even try)
-Drove it today when it was between 29 and 35 degrees out to work, and they were making some weird noises, but felt like they had good traction

Break in RPMs
-I like to break my in Subies (this is my 3rd Turbo)the way I'm gonna drive them without abusing it while new. OK for the first 500 miles to occasionally hit 4000-4500 RPM in 2nd through 5th?

First Oil Change
-Can I stretch it to 3000 miles or do it around 1500 (I know, I should have searched this forum on that question...still feeling my way around here, sorry)

Detailing
-WRX hasn't been rained on yet. Use a California Dust Brush to clean the dust off, then a soft cotton tee-shirt cleaning with Meguiar's Ultimate Quik Detailer Spray...any tips on another way to keep the WRX looking like that showroom sheen, before it's first wash?

So much enjoying the WRX, trying not to drive it like I stole it...thanks in advance for your feedback

-MACE-

[mangostick]

from the sounds of it so far you have everything covered.. congrats on the new ride! Break in is definitely a good Idea and occasional spirited runs wont hurt it, you've had turbo cars before so I suspect you know what not to do.

My brakes tend to do the same but like yours only do it once or twice (2010 wrx) .. and only when its cold and I had it in the garage over night or very moist and car was outside overnight.

The oil change you can actually get away with doing it at the factory interval (3750mi for turbo engines) .. but sooner is never a bad Idea.

summer tires turn into bricks when its cold. The factory dunlops weren't terrible about this but traction is definitely reduced on dry and on wet they get a little scary, snow is a really bad Idea on summers. I live in southern VA and I have a second set of wheels/tires for winter. If you can swing it.. snag a set of steelies and decent winter tires. (tirerack.com has packages you can get already mounted/balanced) You have a car capable of great performance and safety, why sacrifice that for winter?

In regards to the electronics I wish I could help but my factory radio was the first thing I changed.. I also have a base model so no experience with the subaru navi. I'm sure someone will chime in though.

[chipset35]

pmacey, I use "Zaino" for wash, polish and wax.
I would add a coat every time I washed it until I had 11 coats.
When I turned too hard pulling out of a carport, I hit the rusted, jagged pole....guess what?
Yeah , it had a fist sized dent but the paint didnt scratch! i just smudged the Zaino!
Guys I worked with said I had the only car that shined on cloudy days!

[slowdown]

Funny, my last car was an '04 and I have an '12 and you are in basically in the same boat.

Gotta be honest - the first thing I changed on my car was rotors, pads, brake lines and fluid. Almost mandatory in my opinion.

Also, I took delivery of my car in late January '12 and risked it on the summers. Got lucky the rest of the winter was mild. I am slapping a set of Blizzaks on her this year on the OEM wheels and then this spring I will treat myself to new lightweight 18's and new summers. I have had Blizzaks before and they are awesome on cold dry, wet, and of course - snow

Congrats on the car. Can't really help too much on the other stuff b/c mine is a base too.

[pmacey]

@slowdown...thanks for the feedback!

To be honest: with the weather we're having right now in Northern Westchester County, NY...even with a great set of UHP All Season Tires, I wouldn't take my new WRX (I call her BLUE ANGEL) out on the roads at all tonight...1st because she is brand new with 200 miles, 2nd, I know my rough weather driving skills, its the other idiots on the road, that I don't trust their snow driving skills!

That being said, once my 2005 Silver Bullet WRX with the factory Bridgestone All Season Tires had some mileage on her, I used to take her out in snowstorms like this (and worse), driving in virgin snow dirt trails and parking lots, to see if I would get stuck.

Wanna share the best comment I got from work regarding my Blue Angel: 'You can't miss that color in the parking lot, your WRX stands out like a digital color photo -vs- a black and white Polaroid, to all the other cars!'

[Mikie13]

Nice write up!

Seems some have said all you need to hear, but I'll throw in my two pennies. If you are in a cold area and will see temps near freezing and with some snow and ice, you will want Winter tires. The summers won't be sufficient and can ultimately be rather dangerous if pushed too hard. Better to be safe than sorry, right? All-seasons are just that...not particularly the best, in all seasons. Especially if you can afford it, have dedicated tires for warm and for cold.

Break in, sounds like you're on the right path. Don't baby it 100%- it will help you to catch some boost every so often while you're breaking it in. But do follow break-in procedures as stated in the manual. Try and vary the RPMs as much as you can. Change the oil at 3000 when they say to.

Welcome to the club!

[cjbigcog]

For detailing, ditch the tee shirt and get some micro fiber towels. Also... the California Dusters can cause minor marring on your paint. Just remember that your paint is "soft" so you need to learn how to take care of it while minimizing marring and swirls.

[pmacey]

To all who have applied...thank you for the feedback!

@cjbigcog...I have a lot of micro fiber towels...they feel rough to the touch...are the really scratch free for the exterior and interior?

My 2013 WRX build plate shows 8/2012...they just had it delivered on Friday 10/26/12....is this really accurate that it took 4 months from the build date to get delivered to NJ?

Thanks in advance

-MACE-

[cjbigcog]

Re: micro fiber towels....there are many types of mf towels. Some plush and soft, others not as much.
The towels you use for waxing and drying should not be used for cleaning the interior. Also, mf towels should be washed by themselves...and no fabric softener. You can learn all you need on the detailing forum here. Lots of help available.

[Sheleileigh Law]

Love my 3 week old 2013 wrx - mine is a base with a few extras (wing, compass auto-dim rearview mirror, climate control). I note that the radio is dodgy about sound - esp when you are using your i-pod and it likes to say 'cannot read device' when you first put the i-pod in. Also, having trouble with contacts for the bluetooth.

GET WINTER TYRES! I spent a hair raising commute today from NJ to Putnam County on summer tyres - Pal Parkway but the local roads thru Englewood were the worst - and although I was able to handle the car (traction control is nice), I had a really dodgy time when on a steep hill climbing bumper to bumper - started to slide backwards - (turn wheels and use handbrake if that happens).

As an earlier poster said, I feel pretty good about my bad weather skills, but the other people aren't so hot - they still do dangerous close passes and slam onto brakes, inviting skids and spin outs - which could be avoided if people knew how to use stick shifts not gun the wheels and slow down in that weather.

Congrats on the new subie - lovely isn't it? Mine is world rally blue (which I like to describe as plasmatic electric cornflower blue)

Cheers!

[Mf645]

Summer tires get hard below 40° so be really careful. Snow? Forget it, brake distances can be seriously long.

Oil change? Manual says 7500 miles and should be included for the first 24 months. The dealer will probably how no problem changing your oil at 5000 miles. 1500/3000? No need.

Break in is done, start driving. Perhaps wait 300-500 miles before really ragging on it, but full boost, full power should not be a problem.

The radio bluetooth set up just sucks.

[cjbigcog]

I agree that radio reception can be poor. I had the sat radio unit installed which I like a lot. Great music selection! I only listen to am radio for traffic and weather.

[mastercaster]

with the radio, the first thing you should check is the speed sensitive volume setting. that will be more noticable on the am band and cause the variance in volume as you drive.

[BigDaddyRex]

Per the oil changes - its a good idea to get the first one in early. During your initial break-in the oil collects a lot of different debris, including metal shavings. Getting that out at 1500 is a smart choice, but I would not go past 3000 if you can help it. After that the 7500 intervals should be just fine.

Per the brakes - mine do the same, nothing to worry about as long as it is gone after one or two applications. And yes - get winter tires. You will thanks yourself many times over. There is a loss of performance oriented grip, but that summer rubber will give you reduced grip in winter temps anyway and when the snow falls you will pat yourself on the back for your intelligent choices.