If it was just a little bit of white smoke, it might just be water vapor. If its a lot of white smoke you got problems... think spy hunter.

 

If it is something wrong with the head gasket then you should notice a drop in coolant levels. (White smoke = evaporating coolant)

 

Ummm white smoke isn't running rich. That is the black smoke sometimes we blow in hte upper RPMS. White smoke is either smoke actually from your cltuch if you launched or evaporating coolant and usually a head gasket. Was it a launch? sometimes people launch and see white smoke behind them but that is smoke from underneath from the clutch.

 

woah, white smoke from the clutch? either they have some crazy clutch material, or you gotta be TORCHING that clutch, I've never seen white smoke from a clutch abuse launch in any car i've owned, thats crazy! (smelled it, yeah, but smoke? )



yeah, basic list of smoke at WOT.

White (like, white cotton white) = coolant

Greyish Blue (blue tint) = Oil

Black (obvously black, no blue tint) = rich

these are good things to look for at WOT, if your getting a constant stream of any of the above at lower RPMs or idle, yeah something is seriously wrong.

 

While I still agree that white smoke normally equals coolant, I did see white smoke coming from my buddy's WRX once. Not sure what kind of clutch he had on it and he did tend to ride the clutch pretty heavy. I think it is possible to get a bit of white smoke from the clutch but only with a pretty used clutch and at quite different quantities then if you are going through coolant. A compression test should be able to tell you how your cylinders are doing and assuming you have the tools that should only take a few minutes.

 

yeah, a compression test is definatly the next step when your getting "blue" or "white" smoke.

I bought a compression tester long ago, very very useful tool for those of us who live on the edge with our tunes.

 

thanks for all the input.

to back up/answer some comments/questions. i do get on the throttle here and there but this was the first time to the redline. i never felt i had to rev that high between shifts because it runs so rich and doesn't seem to make much of a difference in performance....until i get a tune.

it wasn't a launch. just regular start and high revs. no messed up shifts but i am known to be a little heavy on the clutch rather than drivetrain.

another embarrassing piece of info.... my buddy wanted to hear my 2 step on a stock evo at a light. so i reved to 5500 for a second and let off and the rpms took a while to drop down to idle. i believe because of the drive by wire and unburned fuel. the light turned green and i slipped the clutch a little when it was hanging around 4000 rpm it inch up a bit and drop the rpms in order to start out at a normal/non launching manner. after that i noticed the misty white smoke. it was a mist and not like spy hunter.

as mentioned before. fluids are fine. no change in coolant level or running temp of the car.

so i probably torched my clutch? it feels the same but i wouldn't imagine it would just with that one mistake.

 

it could have just been evaporating water. Drive it hard a few more times and if its consistent its probably a coolant problem. I find it hard to imagine you have a cracked head gasket already tho. It was probably a one time thing. If not take it back to the dealer

 

did you smell some god-awful stink after the "clutch slip" ? clutch material has a pretty distinctive smell to it, that’s usually your best indication that you hit the clutch too hard.

if it was just the one time, then all you did was shorten the life of your clutch a little. no big deal; I bet the X could use a beefier clutch anyway so start saving some pennies for a nice clutch set up (if you plan on modding).

I drove my 8 so hard that the clutch was toast by 3,000 miles (I suspect the pressure plate wasn’t fully engaging or something), and I know how to drive a stick AWD.

I like to think of performance cars the same way I do a bottle of tequila at a party. The more you hit it, the more fun you have, but your going to have to pay eventually.. and if your pounding that sh*t down all the time it could get real ugly when the party's over...

Something’s got to give, and in an AWD car its usually NOT traction.

 

i know what clutch smells like. i didn't smell it. probably because it was behind me and i was ripping. my buddy/neighbor behind said "yeah i saw a little smoke and i smelled something." i don't know how familiar he is with what clutch smells like but the fact that he noted it was a possible indication of clutch burning.

oh well. i'd rather it be something that is supposed to wear hard than something in the engine.

thanks for all the input everyone. i will rip it on my way home today and see if i reproduce it. the smoke, i mean. not frying the clutch.

 

Mine smokes pretty good when I punch it on the highway and the intake and 2nd reflash haven't helped the smoking much, the car is still running low 10:1 AFR's I'm sure. The tip coloration should be soot from unburned gas or the colors from possible flames but usually like it was said those won't be enough to burn it like that and only when you are catless will the flames likely make it out. I can hear mine popping flames at times and have no discoloration on the tips other then black from fuel...

 

Agreed.
White smoke = water/coolant
Blue smoke = oil

 

Did the 2nd flash help your throttle response/let off (no more hanging RPMs)?

I cleaned my tips yesterday (had been 3 weeks or so) and there was a nice amount of soot on them.

 

it's not my tips that are burnt it is the muffler. and like someone suggested in an earlier post it doesn't not wash off because it is not soot. it is on the body of the muffler. deep blue and purple burns. i will try to take a picture.

anybody else with the stock exhaust have this?

i am not all worried about it. i will likely get a TBE in a couple of months.

i also ripped into it today on the way home and no smoke.

 

My stock exhaust has blued a little bit. I'd suspect its just high exhaust temp.