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Old 08-20-2017, 12:31 AM   #1
ben_7
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Default 2018 STi alignment

Hey everyone, a quick question. When I picked up my new STi, I noticed the steering wheel was slightly aligned to the right when the car was going straight.

So I took it to the Subaru dealer, and they did an alignment which they said they had to use 2017 STi specs since the computer system they were using didn't have 2018 STi specs. They then found out that the front and rear wheels had the toe off slightly which they adjusted and the steering wheel and alignment was straight.

Fast forward approximately two weeks and after driving the car today, I noticed that the steering wheel was now slightly aligned to the left when the car is going straight. So I'm thinking of going to a different dealership, however do you guys think that the 2017 specs they used for the alignment job was incorrect? (the Subaru tech told me that the 2017 and 2018 alignment numbers for the STi were the same)

Also have any of you guys experienced this issue?
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Old 08-20-2017, 01:42 AM   #2
Berserker2
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My story is very similar.

I picked up my STI last Monday. I noticed while leaving the dealership that my steering wheel was slightly off-center to the right. I thought it was cosmetic, and planned to get it straightened out when I brought my car in to get an auto-dimming mirror installed.

After a couple of days I realized the car was actually pulling slightly to the right, so I brought it back in to get aligned. The dealer confirmed that the alignment was out-of-spec.

I tracks straight now, but the wheel is off-center slightly to the left. It's just barely off center and I stopped noticing it. If it starts bothering me, I'll take it to my alignment place rather than back to the dealer.

I recall another thread on here where at least a couple of people mentioned their alignment was off when picking up their '18 STIs. So this appears to be a real thing.
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Old 08-20-2017, 05:45 AM   #3
dyempireguy
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This is a Youtuber with the same issue. Turns out that a certain batch of the Yokohama tires are defective and caused this exact issue. Highlight this to your dealer and see if you can get the tires replaced. I am getting my 2018 STI in a few weeks and this better not happen!
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Old 08-20-2017, 10:16 AM   #4
Elbert Bass
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To answer your question on alignment specifications:
Specification are the same for alignment between '17 and '18 STI. The dealer's alignment machine may not be updated but STIS (where Subaru dealers look up service information) has had the '18 manual up for several weeks - all they had to do was look it up and compare.
BTW: You can manually align without specifications in the machine - that was how we did it before computers.

Last edited by Elbert Bass; 08-20-2017 at 05:09 PM.
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Old 02-01-2018, 11:55 AM   #5
Economatic
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I'm not sure about the video about the tires but I picked up my new STi earlier this month and noticed the steering wheel was off center to the right. The dealer has some $25 gas card program if I stop in to ask questions about the car within the first 45 days so I dropped by yesterday. They checked the alignment and confirmed it was out of spec and fixed it right away. Obviously the car arrived out of alignment.

It's great that the dealer quickly took care of the problem. What's not great is they are ignoring Subaru's new car break-in procedure. I picked up the new car with 14 miles and the boost gauge showed a peak of 15psi. I got in the car yesterday and again the same damn thing with only 170 miles on the clock. Even I haven't driven the car like that yet.
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Old 02-01-2018, 11:58 AM   #6
rtv900
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Economatic View Post
What's not great is they are ignoring Subaru's new car break-in procedure. I picked up the new car with 14 miles and the boost gauge showed a peak of 15psi. I got in the car yesterday and again the same damn thing with only 170 miles on the clock. Even I haven't driven the car like that yet.
well rpm is what is really hard on a new motor, not boost really.
Obviously there's no way to tell if the moron driving it was also pegging the tack, but it's totally possible he was not while hitting decent boost.
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Old 02-01-2018, 12:09 PM   #7
Samurai Jack
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Quote:
Originally Posted by rtv900 View Post
well rpm is what is really hard on a new motor, not boost really.
Obviously there's no way to tell if the moron driving it was also pegging the tack, but it's totally possible he was not while hitting decent boost.
Hmmm ...
- guess you haven't seen where the Dealer takes an Owner's new car out and tears up and down the highway with it?
- or the one where the Dealer brings two brand new cars to the drag strip and let's people drive them?

I've seen both - 2 different Dealers
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Old 02-01-2018, 12:12 PM   #8
Samurai Jack
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ben_7 View Post
Hey everyone, a quick question. When I picked up my new STi, I noticed the steering wheel was slightly aligned to the right when the car was going straight.

Fast forward approximately two weeks and after driving the car today, I noticed that the steering wheel was now slightly aligned to the left when the car is going straight.
Define "slightly".
Is it almost there but just off a smidge or clearly out of whack an inch or more? Sometimes you can only get things so close. Maybe it's just the way you are looking at it?
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Old 02-01-2018, 03:04 PM   #9
Economatic
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Quote:
Originally Posted by rtv900 View Post
well rpm is what is really hard on a new motor, not boost really.
Obviously there's no way to tell if the moron driving it was also pegging the tack, but it's totally possible he was not while hitting decent boost.
Considering the max boost on a stock STi is about 15psi this isn't just "decent boost", it's the maximum level of boost. And there are plenty of resources out there that say you're supposed to keep acceleration at a moderate rate with a new engine. Even Subaru alludes to it, as per the owner's manual:

Quote:
Do not race the engine. And do not
allow engine speed to exceed 4,000 rpm
except in an emergency.
I'm not really upset about this but it confirms my suspicion that techs aren't exactly nice to customer's cars. The least they could have done was reset the boost gauge so I wouldn't know about it!
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Old 02-01-2018, 03:34 PM   #10
rtv900
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I feel you man, I'd be pissed assuming they were redlining it.
probably were.
Too bad there isn't a max rpm readout you can reset.
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Old 02-09-2018, 09:13 PM   #11
16CWPSTi
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Mine was pulling bad when I drove it for the first time. Had to take it back the next day to get it aligned as service was closed when we got done with paper work and everything.

Was a combo of alignment and tire issue
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Old 02-09-2018, 09:37 PM   #12
rain164845y
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Do you have the alignment printout that you can post?
Thanks!
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Old 02-09-2018, 09:49 PM   #13
16CWPSTi
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I don't. They were supposed to mail it to me as it was very late when I got out. Haven't received it yet. I'll call tomorrow. I remember them saying toe was way off
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Old 02-10-2018, 12:50 AM   #14
D6REAPERS
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All they have to do is set your front toe and reset steering angle sensor (ideally) I'd find the straightest road without a crown on it and drive and see where your steering wheel is, if it's still off center take it back and have the dealer fine tune your front toe so it's equal on both sides and slightly toed in.
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Old 02-14-2018, 06:52 PM   #15
rain164845y
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How slight is slight rear toe?
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Old 05-21-2018, 08:06 PM   #16
Kpatel
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Quote:
Originally Posted by dyempireguy View Post
2018 sti factory defect!? - YouTube

This is a Youtuber with the same issue. Turns out that a certain batch of the Yokohama tires are defective and caused this exact issue. Highlight this to your dealer and see if you can get the tires replaced. I am getting my 2018 STI in a few weeks and this better not happen!


Happened here.... dealer won’t help...
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Old 05-21-2018, 08:10 PM   #17
Kpatel
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Has anyone been able to get help from the dealership around tires for a 2018 STI? Multiple alignments, cross rotates, and road force balance.. still having the right drift/pull. Pretty much having to hold the wheel to the left just to go straight.. dealership is saying they don’t cover tires under warranty. Need help if anyone has been successful!
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Old 05-22-2018, 10:52 AM   #18
Samurai Jack
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Forget what the Dealer says. What does your warranty cover?

Does it say something like, "Bumper to Bumper warranty coverage for 36,000 miles or 36 months, whichever comes first", or something like that?

Bumper to Bumper means everything.
Unless your warranty specifically states exceptions to the warranty, the Dealer has to cover it.

Check your warranty first.
If you are covered, escalate to the Subaru Area Rep and/or SOA.
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Old 07-14-2018, 12:45 PM   #19
adamninjar
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WRC Blue

Default Same issue

I purchased my 2018 STI in April and have put about 2000 miles on it so far. Very recently the car has developed a pull to the right and the wheel is off center. The local dealer has performed Subaru's alignment procedure but the issue remains. They have involved the Subaru NA field engineer and he has suggested replacing the tires. It gets new tires on Monday 7-16 so we will see if that helps.
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Old 07-14-2018, 10:50 PM   #20
Eyesoftheworld
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Same here, but I've put way fewer miles on it. I'll be contacting the dealer after I do a few things to it as they aren't that close and I can tell already this will be an ordeal.

Another thread here: https://forums.nasioc.com/forums/sho...1#post45674621
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Old 07-15-2018, 06:20 PM   #21
get_schwifty
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Quote:
Originally Posted by dyempireguy View Post
2018 sti factory defect!? - YouTube

This is a Youtuber with the same issue. Turns out that a certain batch of the Yokohama tires are defective and caused this exact issue. Highlight this to your dealer and see if you can get the tires replaced. I am getting my 2018 STI in a few weeks and this better not happen!
Is there any way to easily know which tires were defective? I could not find any recall from Yokohama...was replacement done more in TSB style than as a recall? My STI was made in March 2018, and I'd like to verify that my tires are not affected by this. (Already had the alignment checked, which was fine - however, given the high cost of tires, I just want to rule this out so hopefully there isn't accelerated wear in the future.) (i.e., the video doesn't provide formal documentation regarding which ones actually were bad...did Yoko ever confirm this?)

Last edited by get_schwifty; 07-15-2018 at 06:25 PM.
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Old 07-19-2018, 08:12 PM   #22
adamninjar
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The new tires have been installed and the issue is completely fixed. The car drives straight as an arrow now. The Subaru field service engineer said the tires had been sorted and hand matched to have matching dimensions. Sounds like a manufacturing variance issue with the Yokos being used.
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Old 09-11-2018, 04:54 PM   #23
Trigger Tough
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Over a week ago I bought a WRX STi RA edition. From the moment I drove it off of the lot it had alignment issues. It was pulling to the right. I took it to Subaru service and they re-aligned the vehicle. After the realignment the right front caster was still off, and it was still pulling to the right. Subaru of America was contacted and they said it could be a tire issue. They changed that right front tire. That didn't fix the issue. As of now an engineer from Subaru is being dispatched to the shop to see why the alignment is so far off. I'm pretty damn frustrated myself
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Old 09-11-2018, 05:07 PM   #24
Trigger Tough
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Kpatel View Post
Happened here.... dealer won’t help...
Escalate it up to Subaru of America. There’s a form to fill out on their webpage. The SOA engineers know about the issue. They are sending a field engineer down to my shop to fix my RA
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