spapdx

Personally I feel really bad when I drive my car hard for a while. I dont know why, but I think that this is part of the reason that I have never had one problem with any of my previous moddified cars, or this one. Being as young as I am I obviously enjoy the car and dont drive like a grandma, but when I do push the car it is never for extended periods of time.
Here is a story for you. My best friend had a 00' celica gts. Every time he shifted it was at redline (exadgerating a little bit, but not alot ). His tires were always bald, and I personally was scared to ride with wim (or next to him). 3000 miles on the car....BOOM...motor blows up. Toyota fixes it under warrenty . 4500 miles....BOOM...Tranny blows up. Toyota also fixes that under warrenty. 11000....BOOM...tranny blows up again. This time he is out 3000 to get it fixed. 13000 miles.......BOOOM....motor blows up. He sells the car with out a motor in it. Now he is in the airforce and doesn't have a car .
Ever since I saw him go through 2 motors and 2 trannys, There is always that thought in the back of my head that is saying be nice to the car. And for the most part, I agree with it. I dont see the point of hitting vtec all the way to work in the morning, to me its just a waste of gas. But after work, when its sunny and the top is down, I gotta push her a little bit .

Sorry for the novel......

wicky

No need to apologize, that's a great story. I certainly don't want to go through two motors. Also - I have definately noticed a difference between what some people call "abuse" and some call "driving hard". When I push my car, I think I drive it pretty hard, but I've seen some people "drive hard" and they are really tossing the maching, hitting the rev limiter in every shift, power shifting... etc. I never hit the rev limiter (maybe once i did), because the tach is pretty big up there and all your power is falling off past 8500, so there is no reason to hit it unless your just slow to react. I also shift really fast - as fast as I can, but rarely do I not use 100% of the clutch. Luckily we are blessed with a quick and precise, motorcycle like clutch action.... I'm more worried about the tranny and the diff, than the motor. If taken care of and not "beaten" it should last awhile. There is always the arguement too that if the motor isn't revved enough to it's potential, it will allow cold and grime build-up to do damage. Always with the moderation . Chances are if we all got together and drove around our driving personalities wouldn't be as different as we think... I mean, we all love the s2000 after all.... just speculation

phew... there's my novel.....

ohiodean

i drive mine hard only on weekends, i guess its showing off, i usually set cruise control and shift 5-6k on the way to school, the only thing i have a problem with is 2nd gear, it doesnt give me problems in the winter but recenlty when it got warm out, 2nd likes to grind unless you are careful when you shift, i dont know why that is, but it did not give me any trouble under colder temparatures.

spapdx

So be careful when you shift

wicky

That's unusual, I would think it would be the reverse. What year is your car?

Gernby

That is pretty common for S2000s. When I first bought my '02, I was grinding into 2nd gear 2~3 times per day. This continued for several thousand miles, until I replaced my transmission oil. Fresh tranny oil alone does a great job fixing the grinds, but some oils do better than others. The best oil I've found is Redline MT-90. It performs flawlessly in the heat. The Honda oil will get too thin when it is really hot, so the 2nd gear synchro quits working (on some S2000s).

wicky

Oh, that makes sense, now. Thanks gernby. I didn't know the Honda oil got so thin. Good to know.