I read another thread recently in which an S2000 owner was concerned about reduced longevity with regards to his S2K's motor due to its ability to rev to nearly 9,000 rpm would cause stresses on the motor that a typical Civic motor that regularly exceeds a 200k lifespan would never be exposed to.

I thought about his comments for a few moments and then it occured to me that perhaps an S2K motors lifespan may actually exceed that of a less highly stressed Civic or Accord motor. My reasoning was simply that Honda, not unlike Porsche, typically would tend to overbuild any engine parts that were apt to be exposed to severe levels of stress.

Then it occured to me just what tiny percentage of a S2000's engines lifespan is going to be running in the 6-9 thousand rpm range anyhow? Unless you're tracking your car on a regular basis I doubt it would exceed 5%. Probably less in most cases. Even those of us who wind our engines to redline thru the gears at each and every stop sign don't cruise along with our bar graph tachs at 12 o'clock high spinning at 6,000+ rpm and beyond. Do you?

I'm just curious as to what other owners think. What actual percentage of the time do you think your car is revving between 6 and 9,000 rpm. And what are your thoughts with regards to how many miles you think your S2000's motor may last.

 

I think you've hit the nail on the head, a lot will depend on how it's driven. I'm also quite certain that Honda set the rev range conservatively. They aren't noted for releasing unproven products on the market. Time will tell of course. The biggest problem with owning any performance car today, is the frustration of daily driving in the urban crawl, as I'm sure you're aware. My daily commute gives little opportunity for VTEC but the nice thing is that it's totally happy plodding along in that environment, contrary to what some reviews may tell you. It really is like having two cars, so on evenings and weekends, it becomes the screaming banshee of it's alter ego. I suspect in ten years time there will be plenty of posters proclaiming their S2000 is still going strong with no intention of letting it go.

 

After seeing the internal pictures of several engines, this engine is definitely over-engineered.

Personally, I enjoy running it to the redline most of the time, but as you suggest, that is still a very small percentage of the total run time on the engine. I have no qualms doing this at all....the engine was designed to run to 9000 RPM's and be very realiable doing it.

 

[QUOTE]Originally posted by boiler
[B]After seeing the internal pictures of several engines, this engine is definitely over-engineered.

 

Some folks here have ovber 40k miles or more on their engines - we should do a dyno and see...

 

ACS Racing has special dyno discounts every other Saturday: $50 for 3 pulls.

 

Hmmm, a schizo car ... great comment!

 

I remember reading that the Integra R engine was designed for 11,000 rpm, so for that car, the 8400 rpm redline was not a big deal - have not seen a similar statement for the S2000.

 

i'm new to the S2000 market so new in fact that i haven't put any more than 600 miles on it. 600 being the suggested wear in period i was wondering when some of you rev addicts let the engine go, thing's i've been worried about have been stressing the engine too early in it's career and over heating the engine by reving it too high when the engine is cold. comments?

 

4Cars1Teenager,

Be sure to check your oil very often for the first 3K miles, especially before and after VTECing. I was close to 1K before I began pushing it up near the redline. You should be able to VTEC anytime now without worry. Just be that your engine, tranny, and tires are warmed up prior to doing so. If the engine is too cold, the rev limiter will cut in and starve the fuel supply. I only had this happen to me once and that was enough for me.