smilindave

My dad (in his 70's) has an 05 s2k and his main complaints are:
1. the detent spring on the 5-6 gate of the shifter are so stiff that when he downshifts from 5-4 he can go to 2nd gear by mistake. Is there an adjustment for this?
2. The ride is extremely stiff, in his opinion. can this be softened?
Please bear in mind that he is not a novice to real race cars having owned a street legal 70's era U2L can am car, yes a real le mans competitive car and has owned a variety of brit cars of the 50's, raced enduro go carts in the late 60's. Can someone help my dad with these issues?
Regards
Dave
Please no flames, these are real concerns for him.

beandip

Tell him to sell me his S2k for cheap, and he can go buy a Miata.

That might be better for him.

JUSTINTHECOASTI

X2
OP
1.) he probably bent a gate fork in the tranny
2.)no it can't be softened any more than stock, it would combat the overall purpose of the s2000
Why did he buy an s2000?

smilindave

I have driven the car and other s2k cars and have found this trans issue on more than one, second, he has always looked for unique cars for leisure. Hence the 55 Austin Healey, 60 mga 1600, 65 sunbeam tiger, 69 dz Z-28 (the daily driver and family car), 72 big block torino, 69 mustang 302 4 speed, 84 buick gnx (made from a t-type), 1975 lola 294 2 liter can am car. That about covers it as long as I can remember. So that said, he likes interesting fun to drive cars and bought a s2000. Other than the issues described above, he and my mom LOVE the car. I just wanted to know if the trans issue was normal or if there was something amiss. Not every one of the used ones did this. I merely was looking for an intelligent response, NOT, go buy a POS miata (we discussed how bad they are). I figured that this sub forum would be more mature than the one I usually frequent due to the cost of the car initially. I guess I was wrong and now disappointed with the lack of maturity in the first response.
Regards
Dave

JUSTINTHECOASTI

did you read my second bullet point? the miata thing was only a joke, and if you are uptight about that then you have no place in a forum. I also answered your suspension question as well, all of which are serious answers...oh and to retort about your intelligence comment, it is extremely difficult to effectively diagnose a transmission related issue over the internet, even more so without video...good luck

smilindave

Sorry, yes I am a little tightly wound currently. I understand about the suspension, he will have to deal. the trans issue feels like the spring in the 5-6 gate is too stiff causing the shifter to go past the 3-4 point and in to the 1-2 gate. this is the problem. I wanted to see if anyone else noticed this and how to solve it.
Regards
Dave

JUSTINTHECOASTI

yes, you possibly have a bent/broken fork rod or damage gate housing all together. the spring it seems you are referring to only allows the shifter to be pushed down and shifted into reverse. an awful misshift and cause this issue and unfortunately it could cost more to fix than buying a used tranny...

beandip

I was being Dead Serious. Ive been looking for another S2K that hasn't been molested.

Miata's are actually pretty well engineered, besides the lack of power. That can be fixed though.

Have you ever driven a Monster Miata? Softer suspension, still a convertible, fun to drive 55/45 weight distribution with 300hp, 300lbs tq with a 302. Way cheaper then the S2k and cost less to repair.

I have thought about buying one instead of spending 20k on a S2k, but Im a Honda boy for life.

Also, if you want to talk about maturity....you just got pissed over a simple suggestion. Perhaps you should go change your tampon.

smilindave

Thanks for all the help, will pass on to dad.
Regards
Dave

B serious

iTrader: (1)

I think your dad may just be used to a different type of shifter. Or someone incorrectly installed his. It's hard to tell without actually driving the car or watching your dad drive it. My friend is used to driving cars with shitty feeling tranmissions (bimmers, GTO's). So he feels he has to muscle the gears more than needed. He ends up in the wrong gears a lot in a S2000.

Does the detent spring feel overly reactive to you? Does he have the stock shift **** or something else?

As far as suspension goes, you can buy quality coilovers meant for comfort to make the ride softer. The stock dampers have a pretty agressive curve.

There's an older guy that I met who had installed softer than stock swift springs on his KW V3's to make the ride softer than stock. Bilstein PSS9's at their softest setting would likely be more comfortable than stock as well.

You're not necessarily looking for softer springs...just a better damping curve. There's a few coilovers that will ride less agressively than stock...and they will smooth out the damping curve so that the car feels more solid...but is more comfy at the same time. Less crashy suspensions can be firmer but more comfortable.

Tein makes a comfort oriented coilover. I think they may make it for the S2000.

smilindave

Thanks for the response, as for the shifter, it feels like when shifting into 5th gear you must overcome a spring. This spring feels like it wants to push the shifter past the 3-4 gate and into the 1-2 gate. I have noticed this having driven the car twice. Please bear in mind that I have driven (not owned) many exotics detomaso, ferrari, lambo, maserati, porsche in a previous occupation and find the shifter a bit unnerving. My wife and I currently drive swapped ef cars and this is what currently I am accustomed to in addition to large truck boxes which I find horrible. I will run by dad the shock/spring change idea.
thanks, this helps.
Regards
Dave

Arsenal

You'll have better luck on S2KI.com in the Under Hood section. This forum is where the degenerates hang out to complain, argue and put each other down, but then hug at the end of the day. Nothing very specific or technical happens here, just pictures and ramblings.

beandip

QFT

Arsenal

Lol