leetwolf Posted July 21, 2013 Share Posted July 21, 2013 1) What is the best fuel for power and smooth ride 2) For some reason the car refuses to stay straight, it wants to drift to one side. I took it to the dealer and they gave me "thats just how it is" and gave me the alignment report and showed it was in spec. Any ideas on this would be greatly appreciated. Thank you Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rooster2 Posted July 22, 2013 Share Posted July 22, 2013 (edited) Well this may be too easy a solution............is there a chance one of your tires is just a little low on air? If so, that extra resistance caused by a slightly low tire, can and does cause drift. Check tire pressure, make sure it matches Subie recommendations. On my 99 OBW, I simply put 37 psi in all four tires. Seems to work okay. Rides a little firmer, but I like it that way. Edited July 22, 2013 by Rooster2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leetwolf Posted July 22, 2013 Author Share Posted July 22, 2013 I added enough air to top off. It still pulls to either side and never stays straight. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fairtax4me Posted July 22, 2013 Share Posted July 22, 2013 How many miles on the car? Which way does it drift? Left? Right? Both? If both does it pull to one side more often than the other? Does road crown have any effect? Does switching sides of the crown have any effect? Most cars are aligned in such a way to counter-act road crown but the crown is not always the same, so the car may pull slightly one way or the other on some roads. Tires can also be an issue. Factory tires are usually crap. They're usually very soft and wear quickly, sometimes unevenly. The soft compound can cause them to be "squirmy" which can lead to a wandering feeling when driving. Tire air pressure has a similar effect. You might consider bumping up pressure to 2 or 3 psi above the recommended pressure to see if that has any effect on the issue. Also if you regularly carry passengers or cargo in the trunk you should increase rear tire pressure by 2-3 psi. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leetwolf Posted July 22, 2013 Author Share Posted July 22, 2013 How many miles on the car? Which way does it drift? Left? Right? Both? If both does it pull to one side more often than the other? Does road crown have any effect? Does switching sides of the crown have any effect? Most cars are aligned in such a way to counter-act road crown but the crown is not always the same, so the car may pull slightly one way or the other on some roads. Tires can also be an issue. Factory tires are usually crap. They're usually very soft and wear quickly, sometimes unevenly. The soft compound can cause them to be "squirmy" which can lead to a wandering feeling when driving. Tire air pressure has a similar effect. You might consider bumping up pressure to 2 or 3 psi above the recommended pressure to see if that has any effect on the issue. Also if you regularly carry passengers or cargo in the trunk you should increase rear tire pressure by 2-3 psi. On a fairly straight road, it tends to goto the right sometimes left. I hate having to sit there adjusting my wheels...It's a major pain! It has 600 miles. The dealer is like "just deal with it" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fairtax4me Posted July 22, 2013 Share Posted July 22, 2013 Test drive another car (same as yours) on the same roads where you notice it wandering and see how the other car reacts. Then drive another DIFFERENT car the same route and see how it reacts. If either of those reacts differently, get the service manager to drive the same road in that car, and then again in your car. If you push the issue enough they will do something to fix the problem, assuming there is one. It could, unfortunately, just be the way the car is. In which case, if you're really unhappy with it, complain to the sales manager to take the car back. Get the SOA regional manager involved if you have to. Don't let them give you the "it's been driven its not worth as much now". Used Subarus a year old with 10k or even 20k miles on them sell for only a grand or two less than brand new ones. Plenty of brand new cars sell with 600-1000 miles on them, sometimes more. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leetwolf Posted July 22, 2013 Author Share Posted July 22, 2013 (edited) I have driven another subaru (my impreza 2013 that i had before this) along with many other cars on the same roads and have NEVER had this issue. It was the car before this one. I've driven many cars on the roads. Others have noticed the issue too. So you really think they'd take it back? Because as much as I like the car, I don't like it enough to deal with the issues I'm experiencing. Edited July 22, 2013 by leetwolf Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fairtax4me Posted July 22, 2013 Share Posted July 22, 2013 Like I said, drive another car that is THE SAME as yours and see if that car does the same thing. If that car does Not behave the same way, then you have a legitimate comparison to prove that it is not normal behavior. If it is the same, and its something you just can't deal with otherwise and are unhappy with the car, its at least worth a shot to try to get the dealer to take the car back, or switch for another car. Maybe a Forester would suit your needs if the Impreza was too small. If they really want to keep you happy as a customer they'll do it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fishy Posted July 22, 2013 Share Posted July 22, 2013 I was going to chime in and ask about road crown too... I've owned 5 Subarus and driven many more from an early Impreza to a new STi and I've owned and driven other brands and type of car as well. I have never seen a 'family' of cars follow the crown of a road like Subarus seem to want to do. They don't always do it an alarming amount but Something about their suspension geometry or factory alignment spec seems to make them love drifting with the crown a bit more than other cars. My current car (05 outback) had worn out tires and slightly off alignment and it wanted to follow the road crown straight into the ditch until I put another set of tires and an alignment on it. It is now very well behaved. I wonder if maybe you've got a 'bad batch' of factory tires that just aren't true enough to drive straight or something. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rooster2 Posted July 22, 2013 Share Posted July 22, 2013 Read all the above posts..........I am still thinking it is the tires. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Setright Posted July 22, 2013 Share Posted July 22, 2013 The tracking may be within spec, but you ask them to give the car some (more) toe-in at the front to make it less "nervous". Part of the "problem" might just be the fact that the car is very willing to turn-in and change direction. Lovely when you want a sporty and direct feel, but less pleasant when you just want to cruise. My Impreza sniffs out and follows ruts and cracks that I cannot even see, but then again I have tuned my wheel alignment for moderate track use, so I know why it does it! Feels very alive and always willing to turn-in and even tighten the line mid-bend...but highway journeys demand focus on the helm or the car will wander off. I am not sure what the alignment specs on the new cars is, but it used to be 0.0 toe all-round, and adding just a smidgen toe-in to the front wheels will calm your car down, without reducing grip. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leetwolf Posted July 22, 2013 Author Share Posted July 22, 2013 The car does move very willingly and that is a big pain! I want to cruise because if I wanted a sports car I'd have bought a WRX:P or BRZ:-d Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leetwolf Posted July 22, 2013 Author Share Posted July 22, 2013 I met with the dealer again and we figured it was due to the steering being extremely tight due to the way they make them now. I need to know what fuel I should run, I want power and performance! THANKS! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Setright Posted July 24, 2013 Share Posted July 24, 2013 So...what did they do about the steering? (Sorry, I cannot comment on fuel quality in the States) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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