Crossed over 4k miles on my FR-S...questions about your experiences vs. mine

[madcap]

So I received my FR-S at the beginning of the year and I have crossed over 4,000 miles on the odometer. There's just a few things I have noticed about the car and was wondering if anyone else has had the same experience.

1. I have noticed that when the car has just started up it seems down on power for the first 30 seconds or so. By the time I back up and hit the road I often notice a strong surge in power when accelerating onto the main road, like a switch comes on and allows more fuel to dump into the cylinders. It felt weak before the surge and then after it drives normal until shut down again.

2. I have noticed that the foot well foot rest moves when I put my foot on it. I have not gotten down there to inspect it but I do notice it when driving. I take my foot off the clutch and move it to the foot rest and I feel it moving underneath my foot, even making a clicking noise/feeling when it moves. It's not anything that really bothers me but I do notice it.

3. Traction control. I think the traction control is a little more intrusive at times than it should be. I have taken off from a stop making a right turn, at a quicker rate than normal, not to drive crazy but just to get into traffic quick for a small opening. If one of the rear tires begins to slip at all, the traction control will intervene and slow that wheel down which slows acceleration down which I have found at times to be dangerous while entering traffic. I just think the traction control sometimes intervenes too early.

[TCHawk]

I'm sitting at about 3340 this morning and the only thing I really found is a I have a small rattle in the back seat somewhere, sometimes. Which I don't notice most time since my last car was loud as all can be inside. Other than that nothing much has changed at all.

[DarkSunrise]

I just crossed the 5k mark. My thoughts:

1) You will be down on power until oil temps hit nominal. There are a number of dynos that show this. Also as a general rule, you don't want to be flogging the car 30 seconds after starting it up. You need to let the oil circulate and get up to temp (5-10 minutes of easy driving), otherwise you'll cause excessive wear in your engine.

2) My foot rest seems solid. May want to get that warrantied.

3) TC can be annoying, but it also does a good job stepping in early enough to prevent spins on a tailhappy RWD car. If I'm driving aggressively enough to spin the wheels, I put it into Sport on the street.

[madcap]

Originally Posted by DarkSunrise

I just crossed the 5k mark. My thoughts:

1) You will be down on power until oil temps hit nominal. There are a number of dynos that show this. Also as a general rule, you don't want to be flogging the car 30 seconds after starting it up. You need to let the oil circulate and get up to temp (5-10 minutes of easy driving), otherwise you'll cause excessive wear in your engine.

I agree, I don't flog the engine 30 seconds after startup. This is just turning onto the road and accelerating normally. There is a noticeable surge in power during light acceleration but only soon after startup. After that initial surge the engine seems to make power evenly for the remaining time the car is running. I figured this may be something with the direct port fuel injection system coming up to full operating pressure or something like that, but after the engine has been running for 30 seconds or so.

[Captain_Awesome_Pants]

Ughhh... I hate where I live because I immediately have to pull onto a highway with heavy traffic in the mornings and ALWAYS have to slam the gas to do it.

[DarkSunrise]

Originally Posted by madcap

I agree, I don't flog the engine 30 seconds after startup. This is just turning onto the road and accelerating normally. There is a noticeable surge in power during light acceleration but only soon after startup. After that initial surge the engine seems to make power evenly for the remaining time the car is running. I figured this may be something with the direct port fuel injection system coming up to full operating pressure or something like that, but after the engine has been running for 30 seconds or so.

Yeah that's odd. On mine, I do notice the torque dip, but that's there even when the engine is fully warmed up. Haven't noticed any surge during light acceleration ~30 s after startup.

[Nevermore]

I think I've noticed the surge you're talking about. I've spun tires in my cul-de-sac before, right as I'm leaving. I'm not stomping it or trying to flog it, I mean, it's a small cul-de-sac after all. The engine just seems a little eager some times.

[D4S]

I'm at around 5.5K right now, I don't notice a significant pull, maybe it's just driving style. As for the traction, just turn it off if you're merging in traffic like that, the tires are sticky enough.

[dem00n]

16K here, only real problem I've had besides tail light condensation is the engine coolant going bye bye.

[strat61caster]

Originally Posted by madcap

I agree, I don't flog the engine 30 seconds after startup. This is just turning onto the road and accelerating normally. There is a noticeable surge in power during light acceleration but only soon after startup. After that initial surge the engine seems to make power evenly for the remaining time the car is running. I figured this may be something with the direct port fuel injection system coming up to full operating pressure or something like that, but after the engine has been running for 30 seconds or so.

Do you notice this surge while maintaining consistent rpms? The engine pulls stronger higher up the revs. What your describing is how all engines work, at least to my ears.

The other thing is that engines run rich when cold, this generates excess heat to get the catalytic converters up to temperature to reduce emissions, called "light off temperature". This is similar to what was called a "choke" in the old days, after the car warms up you can dial back to the proper air-fuel ratio and it'll run better. Add in what others said bout oil circulating and this should satisfy most curiosities.

~7k miles in and my foot rest wiggles a bit too if I don't put my food directly on it. I'm not concerned.

[mrlewistan]

Originally Posted by madcap

So I received my FR-S at the beginning of the year and I have crossed over 4,000 miles on the odometer. There's just a few things I have noticed about the car and was wondering if anyone else has had the same experience.

are you driving an auto? i cant really say ive experienced your problems in my manual

[madcap]

Originally Posted by strat61caster

Do you notice this surge while maintaining consistent rpms? The engine pulls stronger higher up the revs. What your describing is how all engines work, at least to my ears.

The other thing is that engines run rich when cold, this generates excess heat to get the catalytic converters up to temperature to reduce emissions, called "light off temperature". This is similar to what was called a "choke" in the old days, after the car warms up you can dial back to the proper air-fuel ratio and it'll run better. Add in what others said bout oil circulating and this should satisfy most curiosities.

It has happened at a constant RPM. I've accelerated slowly and held a near consistent RPM around 2800 and I've had it feel just like a switch was flipped on and the car instantly delivers more power, but only the first time I accelerate after starting the engine.

[madcap]

Originally Posted by mrlewistan

are you driving an auto? i cant really say ive experienced your problems in my manual

no auto for my sports car

[strat61caster]

Originally Posted by madcap

It has happened at a constant RPM. I've accelerated slowly and held a near consistent RPM around 2800 and I've had it feel just like a switch was flipped on and the car instantly delivers more power, but only the first time I accelerate after starting the engine.

Interesting, I definitely think it's the car coming up to temp and lighting off the cats, it's well known that most cars run in a "choke" mode until they're up to temp, until then they don't deliver as much power. You can see it when you first start up the car will idle at around 1,000 rpms instead of ~650.

[ame="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Choke_valve"]Choke valve - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia[/ame]