I just picked up an 08 WRX tonight and I love it. Grey, sport grill, no nav or any of that nonsense... I do have a question though...this is the first turbocharged car I've driven and I know you need to leave it running for a little bit before you start driving and after you've stopped, but for how long? I've looked in the manuals and I haven't been able to find an answer.
people say that you should leave turbo cars on but basically if you haven't been using the turbo in the past few seconds, it's really not something to worry about. If I was doing drag pulls on it, I'd give it maybe 60 seconds before turning it off. If I was driving around the neighborhood too fast before pulling in, maybe 30 seconds. Most of the time I do zero seconds because it's been probably a minute since I used any boost before coming to a stop anyway.
People sell turbo timers which will keep your car running for x seconds after you remove the key and then turn off automatically but they're really not needed. The concern is the turbo cooling off which it does quite rapidly, especially because it's small. It's not instantanious and I suppose you could damage it if you turned off your car after each drag pull (not that all of us even DO that) but really from everyday driving, it should not be a concern at all. That's why it's not in your manual.
I didn't know that we were supposed to leave it running after using boost. Question mosc: if I run the 1/4 then it takes me a minute to get back to my spot is that long enough to cool down the turbo? Should I leave it running after I park for a little while? Anyways, welcome garland823. Good luck.
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The cooling time is directly proportional to the size of the turbo. The stock WRX turbo is tiny and cools off really fast. The larger the turbo, the more time you will want to leave. In a WRX, the time you need to leave is pretty close to zero. If you've never heard this, you probably aren't missing anything.
If you do a full 1/4 mile, I'd say it probably takes ~60 seconds to get back to idle temps. That's completely pulled out of my ass though. Take it for what it is.
When I was ran my car a few weeks back, my TT didnt make the car run longer than after driving to the store and shutting down(default is 30 secs). Ths was after 4 consecutive passes and driving back to the pit immediately following the 4th pass.
yes, probably 60 seconds from hot hot hot to turn-off-cold is way way way cautious for a tiny-turbo wrx.
Although I have to wonder how effective the TT really is or if it's just always leaving your car on for 30 seconds and not much more thought than that.
Meh, I figure if your not pulling hard on it. It shouldn't matter if you shut it off right away. Remember that scoop acts as a big vent after you shut everything off. Some of the other turbo cars are completly closed hood and all the hot air gets traped in there and it takes a while for the hot air to escape either through the front air dam or out the bottom. Which we all know that hot air rises.
stock turbos on subies are water and oil cooled. We ahve a top coolant resivoir that bacially allows the coolant to evaporate off the turbo and re-condense in the top tank. I have seen my TT go as high as 45 secs(stock turbo) before but after running at the track I feel confident that I could run it for multiple passes, ilde back to pit and shut it off without worry. My thoughts only however.
Apparently subaru says it is not necessary. I do know that our oil lines are gravity fed when the car is shut up keeping a consistent flow. But thats just what i was told so don't quote me on that. Anyone else hear anything like that?
It's mostly because they don't think it's necessary to comment on what needs to be done after that level of driving. They don't build race cars after all. Also, it's a really friggin small turbo.
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