Placebo Effect | Warmer weather = better overall experience
 

This is just a mere observation of mine, nothing important or scientifically proven, just thought I'd share :)

I've only owned the FRS for about 2 months now, and we've been getting weirdly warm weather down here in the GTA for the past two days (20C and up).

Driving the car in the past 2 days has been way more fun than driving it in colder weather in the past month. I haven't adjusted my clutch height yet, but my shifts have seemed to become more smooth most of the time. The shifter itself glides into each gear buttery smooth, in fact I don't have to warm up the transmission in order to get smooth shifts. The engine also seems so much smoother, I don't know why!

Even the noise of the intake seems more refined, can this all be due to warm weather? I feel like this is just me encountering a serious case of the placebo effect, but I know there are subtle differences, I know I can't be tripping out this much.

For those who drive this car in the cold and warm weather, do you experience the same thing? Or is it just me? :iono:

Yup. When the temps are below 70 it feels like you have to manhandle all the inputs to keep things smooth. Granted I have the stock transmission fluid. Over 70, 1>2 super smooth and the rest of the gears just seem to work so much better. The clutch and gas feel easier to modulate too. I find that is true even after a long drive in cold weather. The car just does not like cold weather.

This also being an invitation to 'hoon-the-shit' out of the car.

Well for one your transmission could be smoother due to the fact that the fluid is warmer which helps guide the trans into gear better and will result in smoother shifts.

Once the car is warmed up I feel no difference in a thing no matter what the temperature is outside.

Bushings, door seals, engine mounts, diff mounts, and really anything with compliance is likely affected by extreme cold. Back during a bad cold snap, my all-seasons would flat spot from sitting overnight and thump for a few blocks. With fluids and rubber closer to operating temperature at ambient, no doubt the cumulative effect makes for a nicer drive.

this sounds like one of the positive effects of global warming.


Assuming you believe the hype, of course.

I had the opposite feeling in 100 degree F Arizona. Summers .... I ran the A/C all the time which robbed some of the power. Winters ... no A/C needed .... car was way more responsive.

I've posted my fastest lap times in the winter...

Not sure some of you know what "winter" means!


https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com...d07720f28b.jpg

Oh well, everyone hates California.

I'll just enjoy my 60-70F winters. And zero humidity in the summer.

I was debating making a post about exactly this. I've had my car since November, and only recently have we been seeing above 70 here in Chicago. I had zero confidence in the cold because the TC would kick in so often at the slightest input. Above 70, I can actually take turns quicker and power out of them without sliding. This car has so much more grip above 70 with the all-seasons, I can't imagine how sticky it gets with good tires.

"All seasons" should be called 3 seasons. They still get hard in the really cold weather.

Lower temps, like lower altitude improve performance.

At lower temps, air is more dense. Greater air density means an increased intake A/F mass. Its like environmental supercharging. On my MR2 turbo the ECU would lock into low boost mode when intake air temps were below 32F to protect the engine from the combined effects of high boost plus increased air density.

It's the same principle behind lost performance at high altitudes. High altitudes mean lower atmospheric pressure, hence less A/F charge density.

My commute is only about 8 mins so unless I'm doing something besides going to work, this thing is running at ambient temps. I notice a huge difference in the car right around the 10C mark. I've got an auto, and when the temps are low it does feel like a slushbox - the torque converter doesn't lock, shifts are lazy, etc. Through a combination of the engine running in a "warm-up" tune of sorts and the transmission doing a poor job in getting the power to the ground, the car feels lethargic to the point that I need to watch for much bigger gaps pulling out into traffic.

Mileage also suffers pretty terribly. Like Tcoat said though, once you're driving for a while and both the engine and transmission reach steady-state temperatures, it drives just like normal.

Is that Camelback Mountain?

YES!, spring time, ……. dry roads for a more "confident" drive ..... windows down, to better hear the roar of the exhaust and the intake ........ the exhilarating smell of spring plants blooming, the awesome feel of driving a clean car …….. yep, SHE is running better …… ;)


humfrz

LOL See that is where I am the polar opposite! My commutes are 2 hours each way, twice a week and the car is acting the same as if it was the middle of summer after about 15 minutes into it. Yours just never gets the chance to truly warm up.

Hmm wont let me quote @humfrz


Not flowers we are smelling around here right now


http://www1.agric.gov.ab.ca/$departm...spreader_l.jpg






And yet another why the hell did THIS come up when searching manure spreader moment!!??


http://i304.photobucket.com/albums/n...ingtheride.gif

Sounds about right. My car definitely hates me for it. Normally in the winter I only get 250-300km per tank of gas - but if I do a long highway drive and it warms up I can fairly easily push that to 650.

I burn two tanks a week so don't know totals but in winter I drop from about 6.8 L/100km to 7.1 so the combo of warm up and all highway really helps.

That seems right, in colder whether the timing retards a bit and the car gets a bit richer

And it sits and idles long enough to melt the ice off the windshield.

Well, like they say in the old country, "you reap what you sow" ...... :D


humfrz

Who planted that mole hill?


https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikiped...2/29/Mol_3.jpg

Idk but I can't stop starring at it lol

That would explain why my exhaust isn't caked in soot anymore.

The entire platform hates the cold weather, very noticeably in the transmission. I wouldn't call it a placebo effect, it genuinely is better to drive in warm weather.

I find that the drunker I get the better it feels. Three miles of autocross to the mailbox on private property. I don't even notice the damage I'm doing to the car.

I agree with the OP. I've seen the "colder air=denser=more power" comments before, but it just never feels like it. I drive my car plenty far enough when it's cold for it to be fully warmed up and it just never feels like it's happy about it. And it's not tire confidence either, wet or dry roads in either condition don't affect it. All I know is when it's warm outside, the car just feels so much better.

cold.. weather? you mean when it's like 75 and you have to wear jeans?

Do we really not know that colder air means more air? That once your car is warm, ambient temp means (mostly) squat to something like the transmission or engine?

DANG! ...........:slap:

Did some of you folks sleep through chemistry and physics classes ...... :sigh:

I did too ....... but, I scraped this off the interweb:

Given constant pressure, the temperature of the air is inversely proportional to the number of air molecules. So colder air means more molecules, and more air molecules means more energy released in each combustion cycle. A drop from 30 C to 0 C is roughly a 10% drop measured in Kelvin, which suggests 10% more energy for each combustion cycle --> 10% more horsepower!

The general rule of thumb is that for every 10º of temperature drop, the density (and oxygen content) increases 1 percent. It's actually more like 1.8 percent.

To state it in another form:

(if you have any questions on this equation, contact @Ultramaroon or @Tcoat )....... :D


humfrz

I also agree with the OP. I have noticed from day one that when we drive down to Myrtle Beach from NJ, the car just feels better driving in the warmer climate. It is very subjective but the BRZ just feels happier. The smoother roads down south may be part of it too!

I had a car that ran triple Weber carburettors, open side draughts and it ran sweeter when the outside air temperatures were nice and low.

Yes, we really do know that. In fact, physicists like Boyles and Charles have known that for several hundred years. Density (mass) is directly proportional to pressure, and inversely proportional to temperature.

It's why dyno test have temperature/pressure (altitude) correction factors.

Air density is affected by the temperature, pressure and humidity of the air. On a hot day, or at high altitude, or on a moist day the air is less dense which means that there is less oxygen available for combustion which, in turn, means that there is also less engine horsepower and torque."

https://wahiduddin.net/calc/calc_cf.htm

"A decrease in Temperature will cause an increase in Air Density."

http://flatironsrally.typepad.com/fa...is-a-dyno.html

Here's a couple of or technical explanations:

"temperature and density are inversely related"
https://www.st-andrews.ac.uk/~dib2/c.../pressure.html

"The volume of a fixed mass of dry gas increases or decreases by 1⁄273 times the volume at 0 °C for every 1 °C rise or fall in temperature. "

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles's_law

It's awful when you are too drunk to walk isn't it....

i always felt that when it's warm outside the car handles a lot better and i can push it more through the turns