MarkS2K

The notchiness has been around since the car first came out. I should know, I have an MY00 with the notchiness.

As for the 1-2 grind, they were suppose to fix that in the MY02 ones. If you can replicate it, I'd take it to the dealer to show them.

HPhan

The production date of mine is 2/02. Got 740+ miles. VTEC a few times and haven't had a grind upshift or downshift. I feel that there is a feeling of "notchiness" going through the gates but I guess it is the characteristics of the tranny. I am keeping my fingers crossed.

yellow2001

it is harder to shift into first when the weather is cold. I recently took me car in for service. It shifter is very notchy. When they took the shifter apart a small plastic brushing at the bottom of the shifter broke into 3 pieces. they replace the brushing and the shifter is working fine.

SDosMil

I love the transmission... indeed in cold days it is a bit harder, and I also had a couple of 'grinds' but it was my fault (but nothing like the video of the 2000/2001 1st-2nd grind). I would recommend the Team Voodoo shift knob, my shifts are perfect now.

S2k Dude

I hope the problem with your tranny smoothes itself out over time. I too can feel only a bit of notchy shifting on the 2-3 shift but so far no real problems.

xviper

The 2-3 shift is indeed a bit more noticeable in "notchiness". Remember, you are transitioning from the 1-2 "gate" into the 3-4 "gate". (If you try to "ram" it into 3rd on the diagonal, it's not going to work too well.) This combined with what has been alread said about the tranny being small and the throws being short, the gear slots are extremely precise and the separation between gears is very small. Notice how Ferraris have a "visible" gate system. It makes you be very precise in how and where the stick can go when you change gears. I feel that the S2000 shift pattern is not too unlike that of the Ferrari with the exception that you must imagine those chrome shift "gates" instead them actually being there. Also remember why the shift stick spring is there. It's to hold and designate the center, or 3-4 gate. Let the spring do it's job for any 3rd or 4th gear work. And of course, for 1st & 2nd gear work, you must consciously pull left against the spring; push right against the spring for 5,6. This is useful to keep in mind if you're not use to stick or if you're coming from a "slushier" box or if this is your first 6 sp.

mister_two

I am no 1-2 grind expert for model years 2000 and 2001 but I was under the impression that 1-2 grind occurs mostly during high rpm (hot weather) shifts. I have a model year 2000 S2k and the only times I have experienced the 1-2 grinds were during VERY high rpm, quick shifts, at least 7000 and above. I have never experienced a 1-2 grind during normal low rpm shifting. What the 2002 people are experiencing sounds different from 2000 and 2001 owners experience. If that were the case then Honda definitely made some changes to the 2002 transmissions.

As for notchiness when the car is cold, it's a well documented problem for all model years owners.

S2k Dude

Xviper, thank you for your long explanation of how to move the gear lever through the pattern. I don't think KigerShark or myself are having a problem with that. The notchiness that I feel on the '02 is different from what I felt on my '01. I could better describe it as "feeling the syncros aligning when moving the lever into the gate" but you'd really have to feel it for yourself as I don't think there is an easy way to describe it. The 2-3 notchiness can also be felt when the car is stopped and I just move the lever through the gears, it's really not annoying but more of an observation.

mister_two, the '00's and '01's definitely have a different feel to the gearbox. Having spent considerable time with both an '01 and '02, I believe the the gearbox on the '02 has been improved. Honda may have fixed the major issues but could have a few minor issues on some cars. I did experience a few high RPM grinds on my '01 and have read Woodwork's posts understanding that at high RPM it takes a bit more time for the syncros to do their job. In my opinion the high RPM shifts on the '02 are much improved and nearly perfect. I find that the '02 likes to be shifted at a little higher, say 4000+ RPM, rather than low RPM. Maybe Honda made some adjustments that improved the high RPM shifts while somewhat sacrificing low RPM shifts. Of coarse that is speculation, and only Honda knows the real answers.

As for the difficulty shifting into 6th gear, I don't have a problem but it appears that others do feel something. By no means are we saying that these problems are enough to ask Honda to open up the transmission but they are concerns that need to be tracked by owners.

I've suggested to S2ki to have a running database of repair issues and the idea was received with some enthusiasm but as yet they have not added this feature.

xviper

Although some of what I've related is specific to drivers new to manual trannies and new to this tranny, I don't want to negate the possibility that in some rare circumstances, that there is a legitimate mechanical problem. There have been reports of cars being difficult getting into 5th, 6th, or reverse. These turned out to true mechanical defects that required the tranny to be torn down and had nothing to do with driver's habits.
I had the great privilege of driving Former's car very briefly the other day. His is an '02, brand spanking new. I don't know if it's because I'm used to different types of 6 speed manuals (Borg Warner, ZF, now this Honda) but in the brief time I drove the '02, I honestly thought that it was perfectly normal compared to my "00. I couldn't really feel any difference. My tranny has never ground even when running it up to redline and as Former will attest to, I can shift very fast even 2-3 at redline. The '02 displayed the same kind of "notch" going into each gear, which is quite good compared to the other 6 speeds I've owned. This car's tranny, regardless of year, is an absolute dream. (I would prefer to call it a slight resistance rather than a "notch".) Honda did a really good job with this one.

KigerShark

Thanks to all for your responses! With what I have read here, and a few searches I think I know how to curb this problem. After sitting in my Mustang and rowing through the gears and then going directly to the S, I attribute the grind to two things.

1. The shift throw is quite short and the clutch effort is quite soft (compared to my Mustang). The clutch on the Mustang very quickly enanges while the S2000 seems to take longer (this make senese?). I think I need to readjust my timing for the S2000's arrangement and slow things down for the 1-2 shift.

2. The shifter "recenters" itself with a slight force to a neutral position in the 3-4 gate. From reading woodwork's posts, I have learned that the S has a spring loaded shifter. I guess I am not used to having "consciously pull left against the spring" as suggested by xviper, so I might be slightly missing the gate (which apparently is very precise). I DO have to consciously pull right when engaging sixth however (my first 6 speed), I guess I just need to readjust my brain for second...

As for the notchiness, as suggested by xviper, "resitance" is a much better term for what I am experiencing. Like I said before, this really doesn't bother me at all -- I just wanted know if it was normal. The Mustang really sucks to shift when cold, the S2000 is a dream in comparison. Once warmed up (after 2-5 miles), everything is VERY smooth. The S2000 has by far the best transmission I've ever shifted!

Finally, for me high RPM shifts are definatley not a problem. I've read a lot of posts (and magazine reviews) where people have problems with a nice crunch when shifting from redline. Knock on wood, I have had zero problems while shifting in the VTEC range. I just found it odd that I have had problems with slow shifts at low rpm's...