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wrx in cold weather

18K views 23 replies 11 participants last post by  brownie23  
#1 ·
Hi, I purchased a 06 wrx about 2 months ago and it has run great up until now. I live in Michigan and it's getting cold out so I'm wondering if temp has a decently significant effect on wrx's.
 
#3 ·
Your gear box will be harder at first, as the fluids get thicker with cooler temps. A 5 minute warm up is a good rule of thumb, also the cooler temps make the cars run better as its keeping your IC cooler, making intake air more dense.
 
#7 ·
Your gear box will be harder at first, as the fluids get thicker with cooler temps. A 5 minute warm up is a good rule of thumb
I assume by warm up you mean letting it idle, but that isn't going to help your gear box warm up. ;)

my 06 doesn't like real cold weather either. it can take another few seconds of cranking before it fires up. when I noticed it, i put a block heater on mine. may be overkill where I am in VA but it still gets cold out here and it seems to start a little quicker after i've had the block heater plugged in. hasn't gotten cold enough this year to start using mine yet. I installed mine myself and it only cost me $30 + a gallon of new subaru coolant and distilled water to mix it with.
A block heater in VA? Are you kidding me? :screwy: :rolleyes: :p

in response to both of you, starting is good so far, but i guess the best way of describing my problem is that all summer my powerband was real smooth and at around 3,000 my turbo would kick in and throw me back in my seat. now that its cold it seems like my power cuts out at 3,000-3,500 then my turbo hits. I guess it just seems like my turbo isnt spooling up as quickly or something because i have really peaky power now.
Your turbo is designed to operate at very high temps, so the colder it is, the less efficiently it operates. That's why turbos have heat shields on them, to keep them HOT! Once your car is fully warmed up the turbo and the car in general should feel as good if not better than in warmer weather.
 
#4 ·
my 06 doesn't like real cold weather either. it can take another few seconds of cranking before it fires up. when I noticed it, i put a block heater on mine. may be overkill where I am in VA but it still gets cold out here and it seems to start a little quicker after i've had the block heater plugged in. hasn't gotten cold enough this year to start using mine yet. I installed mine myself and it only cost me $30 + a gallon of new subaru coolant and distilled water to mix it with.
 
#5 ·
in response to both of you, starting is good so far, but i guess the best way of describing my problem is that all summer my powerband was real smooth and at around 3,000 my turbo would kick in and throw me back in my seat. now that its cold it seems like my power cuts out at 3,000-3,500 then my turbo hits. I guess it just seems like my turbo isnt spooling up as quickly or something because i have really peaky power now.
 
#14 ·
Yeah I just noticed that. And I edited my post above because he's just totally wrong. :)

He must be the world's greatest technician!
 
#15 ·
They cut my heatsheild off last summer (rust issue) putting in the new block and I haven't had it on since. I havent datalogged it but nothing in the engine bay has burned, that's with spirited driving in 100 degree weather.
 
#16 ·
Well you better be very careful it's only a matter of time! Listen to our expert technician before you burn up your car! :sadwave:
 
#19 ·
No, you need a wifeshield.
 
#18 ·
heat SHIELDS have two functions

as stated, to help keep radiant heat from escaping away from the turbo to keep it at opp temp and help evacuate exhaust gasses

and to keep that same radiant heat from baking the components around the turbo. 80's turbo cars had real problems with this (especially fords) .. the heat shields help.. but better engineering and keeping components away from the turbo (such as our subaru's are built) helps just as much.

NO internal combustion engine likes to operate when cold.. let em warm up and they'll live long and happy lives.

another thing to think about is oil viscosity, in the owners manual it suggests what weights are best for what temps.. follow that, its not there to look pretty on the page ;)
 
#22 ·
Yep.. and they keep your ego from getting all burned up :thumbup:

:rotfl::rotfl::rotfl: