Hello all, I've never had a tubo car before, and have heard that you need to treat them a little different than a naturally aspirated car.... when I drive it really hard, I need to let it cool down for a few minutes afterwards? Does this mean driving it really easy for a few minutes, or letting it sit there, idling? Any other special things i may need to know about driving it? Thanks, Dennis
technically our cars are watercooled and don't really need cooling down... however, i am very anal about that and i ALWAYS let my car idle for 60-90 seconds before turning it off
from everything i have read...you can just drive it carefully for a few minutes (ie, driving through your neighborhood, the parking lot at the mall, etc.) and it will be the same as letting it idle for a min. or so.
In the wet, sometimes that rush of torque on boost in mid corner will suprise you and make you oversteer. As far as letting the turbo cool, heard mixed opinions since the turbo is oil & water cooled(right?), couldn't hurt i guess.
the general concensus is Yes. After driving hard you should idle a bit. but, I believe I read somewhere that the turbo plumbing system is designed to allow gravity to circulate fluids after its off .
Its somewhat like after you just went on a lengthy run; would you prefer to have a few minutes of cool down jogging or would you prefer to just stop and lay down in your tracks whilst your heart is still beating at 160+ bpm?
Turbo Cars Its all about oil in the turbo. You need to let your oil pressure drop when you first turn your car on. This ensures proper oil flow through your turbo when you get on the gas and boost. No oil in the turbo would be very bad when you first start your drive. Hot oil in the turbo needs to be removed. You let the car idle for about 1-2 minutes when you are done driving it hard. This ensures that oil does not cake up your turbo lines. Think about how a heart attack works, don't clog your turbo's artiries. For optimal care of your turbo, it is also beneficial to have a oil catch can. This removes oil in the intake and intercooler from blow-by. A turbo timer takes care of the idle issues, by not making you think about it. Fastest car ever was a turbo. There is a replacement for displacement.
+1 I follow this same rule after I drive it hard. However, if I'm running around the corner for groceries, I shut it right off. I've gotten into the habit of staying out of boost about a mile from the house.
Yeah, just listen under the hood after turning the engine off. You can actually hear the coolant move through the turbo.
Yeap...sounds like those old perculating coffee pots. If you are really pushing it for miles and miles then when you stop let her idle for a couple of mins. Otherwise just drive normally for a mile or so before you get home and it will be fine.
i agree with milo, however the watercooled feature really helps so turbo timer isnt necessary. If you run it really really hard then letting it cool down isnt a bad idea.
What I've always been told is that after vigorous driving the impellers in the turbo need time to spin down, since they're moving at something like 100,000rpm or more. If you shut the car off while they're still at a high speed then they're going to cook the oil in the turbo housing since it won't be circulating anymore, resulting in the oil "coking" and varnishing components, which builds up over time.
Correct me if this wrong. I think that most of the cars (WRX at least, not entirely sure on STI) are oilcooled not watercooled, so less heat is taken away. If you're oilcooled it will take a little longer to cool down, so maybe an extra 30 sec after driving hard. As with any turbo cars... if you're never really on boost or you don't drive hard you really don't have to worry. But several laps around a track and you'll need to cool it down through idling/easy driving off boost at low rpm. The big difference is actually in year for WRX: 02-03 have a less efficient cooling system, which is why turbo timers are highly recommended if you track 02-03s. This will prevent damage to your turbo and lines without worrying about if you let it idle long enough... 04+ have a more efficient colling system to the turbo so idling is less of an issue with these years and a turbo timer isn't really going to help in daily driving. I'll try to find the actual thread on this info for you (I think it was on nasioc or clubWRX). Basically, if you have an 04+ and aren't killing the turbo being on boost all the time, you'll be fine. if you're in an 02-03 and always on boost, you'll take extra care if you don't have a timer. Anything in between, just take some time to drive slowly or idle for 1-2 min (as said before), maybe 2-3 if you have an 02-03. I usually just put on a song that I know i won't turn off when i park and let the engine run until it's done playing.
All current turbo'ed Subarus are both oil and water cooled. Have you ever noticed the small coolent tank on top of the passenger side head? Thats the storage for the coolent for the turbo. Its part of your cars normal coolent system. It works by convection. Also if you are filling or bleeding bubbles from the cooling system then thats the cap you take off as its the highest point in the system.
comming from oil-cooled turbo cars, I still let the car cool down a bit after a hard run. I have read that if you are actually moving it cools the car better sinice there is more air doing the job of cooling versus idling. So I usually circle around my neighborhood a bit and then let it idle for a minute before turning it off. The coolant resvior for turbo is an added insurance, I like it a lot. I know I'm anal, but I would rather waste a tiny bit of gas for peice of mind
Not getting on boost before the engine gets up to temperature is always a good thing, your gaskets will thank you later.
Most of don't do any "hard driving" in everyday circumstances. Of course if you're running anything other than a stock turbo it's probably good to take a little extra care of it. clemsonscooby I friking love that last line of your post man!