Hey all, first post couple questions

[Realm]

Past 2 days have been.. what can I say Lucky? Went to the dealership yesterday to put my "hold" deposit down and turns out the one car I wanted (Whiteout, standard) was on a truck out of Houston. I picked it up today right off the delivery truck.

Few questions:

1. The doors look to have red lights (bottom left) which I though would light up when the door is opened (like my old tiburon). Are they supposed to or is something not right?

2. I see nothing in the manual about ideal RPM shifting for manual. I tend to baby my cars and have a feeling I might be undershifting. AKA what speed would you engage 6th gear? 60MPH?

3. Does the Boxer engine normally just sound odd to other engines? I find it's making noises, almost like knocking... Only have 60 or so miles on it.

Anyway I love it so far, although I havn't been able to "punch it" with the break in period.

[whataboutbob]

1) No.
2) Dunno, I drive an Auto.
3) Don't think so, can you take some audio.

[digital_assassin]

2)Shift in between 3.5-4K for driving around town.
3)Your dealer probably put regular unleaded in the tank. Drive the car alot tomorrow and fill tank with premium gas.

[eriktherod]

1) Those are reflectors, similar to those found on bicycles. It's so doors open at night can be noticed easier by other cars.

2) You'll want to turn the gear indicator on. It will then blink an up arrow next to the current gear number a few times when it's optimal to shift for fuel mileage. I'd say it typically kicks in around 3000-3500 rpm.

3) I'm used to a straight-4 that would rev up to 9000. I don't think the Boxer sounds too different, but I do like the sound. As for knocks and such, if the dealer filled it up with regular instead of premium (91-93 octane), it could be that. As for noises at idle, well.. welcome to the club. Doesn't bother me though.

[Vracer111]

1. As previously mentioned they are reflectors...
2. You should shift into 6th @ 38mph, the fuel saving shift indicator will come on just past 2k rpm if you have it engaged...(with car off and no key in ignition press the "ODO Trip" button to the left of the instrument pad and cycle through till 'G-off/G-on' is shown, if 'G-off' is shown change it to 'G-on' [hold down the button])
3. This is not a normal Subaru Boxer motor, it has 8 fuel injectors and a Toyota Direct inject control system with loads of cam sensors... it just sounds different with chirping and ticks.

[CircuitJerk]

The door panel red lens is not really a reflector. However, In this case that's all it is; it is really a courtesy light not functional on the Scion.

Optimal shifting RPM's is somewhat subjective. Rather than suggest a specific RPM range, I will tell you to choose a range based on your needs. As a starting point, I'll say 1800 - 2000 RPM is good for Sunday driving and fuel economy. It is basically a feathers touch on the pedal.
As was said, you can run in 6th around 40 mph but you'll want to avoid mashing the pedal in this state. The gear ratio is such that not much is going to happen other than noise and shaking, especially if you are running lower octane, and the ECU can't pull timing enough to avoid pinging and knocking.
A good rule of thumb is if you apply say 20% pedal and it's bogging, and there's no acceleration, you're in the wrong gear. 6th and I'd go as far as saying even 5th at those speed, is probably good for nothing more than just maintaining speed on a flat road with no uphill grade.

I'm going to second that your dealer likely put regular 87 octane in the tank. Keep your foot out of it until you can put a fresh fill of (at the very least) 91 octane.

[Xanatos]

2. Check out the acceleration in gear section and max speed in gear:
http://www.ft86club.com/forums/showthread.php?t=10629

I would shift into 6th at 60 like you stated. Shifting lower than that puts too much strain on the engine due to the gearing IMHO.

3. Boxers have a rumble to them. Think of old trains with the large smoke stack just somewhat higher frequency between puffs and much quieter.

[russv]

The knocking is the direct injectors-normal

[CircuitJerk]

Injectors do NOT knock. That would be ABnormal...

[Realm]

Thanks for the input! I put around 100 miles on it today.... Still baffled about the gear setting. Posted earlier said you could go 6th gear at 38mph.. just not used to that, although in 5th gear at my average speed today (45) seemed like it was around 2500 RPM. That's normal? (I just don't want to hurt the engine)

Only other thing mentioned about the rev indicator.. I still can't get it to work, never got the option for 'G-off/G-on' after hitting the ODO button. Just goes from Odometer, TripA, TripB.. then back to Odometer.

Other than that, all I can say is it turned heads yesterday!

Here is the only pic I have the dealership took:
Only complaint is we can't get the fog lights like the BRZ in the US

[ill86]

fog lights are on their way (october I think)

[Draco-REX]

The on-board shift indicator likes to keep the revs below 2K when cruising. So, 30s in 5th and 40s in 6th. This engine has quit a bit of low-end for its displacement, so it putters along at 1700rpm or so without issue.

[ravenMTgirl]

Congrats on your new car!

To get the G-Off/On, you have to hit the ODO button when the car is off but the key is in the ACC position.

After reading this thread, I don't think I'm shifting soon enough. I usually go up to 50mph in 4th, unless I'm on the highway. I'm used to driving our tC, which didn't have a 6th gear.