Thanks RED MX5, you drive your S2000 the way you described and the clutch and rear diff are completely stock? Also, how long have you been driving it that way with the super charger on?

Thanks for the good info, just trying to get an idea of the durability of the rear end and clutch with the super charger installed. I have read post that with a super charger you will blow the rear diff, but I assume that is when you are doing hard launches repeatedly. Also, I will be running the stock tire size so that the rear wheels will spin easily and take some of the strain off the rear end.

Like I said, I won't be doing any launches, just rolling starts with the clutch engaged (flooring it while in gear) and rapid acceleration through the gears with quick shifts.

 

My car is lowered and supercharged, but the driveline is stock. Please note that I am NOT suggesting that driving the car like you stole it is a good idea. If you do the kind of crazy stuff I do you have to expect to break things once in a while. Before I supercharged I was going through back tires every 5,000 miles, and now I'm eating them up in 3,000, but I expect things to wear faster and I know that sometimes things will break. However, if you drive smoothly, the driveline in the S2000 is a hell of a lot stronger than some of the threads here on S2kI might lead one to believe. Before the SC I had to drop the clutch between 6k and 7k (on most surfaces) to light the tires. The Comptech doesn't make much more power below VTEC, so a normal launch (like starting off from a stop, in traffic) is no different. A hard launch only requires 5k, and it's almost impossible to bog the car, so the diff has it a little easier.

Heat is what kills the diffs. Repeated hard launches or long donuts heat up our diffs very quickly. I tracked diff temps for a while (as did XViper and a few others), and doing several consecutive burnouts (or donuts) is no doubt a bad idea, but a single launch is not a problem; AS LONG AS you cool the diff down afterward and don't launch repeatedly until the diff oil overheats.

If it's treated properly, the stock clutch is strong enough to push the car forward with the front tires sliding and the back tires spinning (with or without an SC), so it's plenty strong enough to handle the torque that the back tires can put to the ground.

In your case, you're going to be launching your car normally, and since the power off idle is the same with or without the SC, the clutch and diff won't be working any harder. Boost comes on strong by 6k (VTEC) but you'll have the clutch fully engaged and won't be jerking slack out of the driveline, so there will be no additional clutch wear or shock loading to the driveline, even though you'll be making more power. The diff WILL get hotter when you run up hard through the gears, but not as hot as it gets when we do burnouts (or donuts).

I've only had the SC on my car since December, so I've probably driven close to 3,000 miles now (at least half of which was probably in VTEC, because I've been enjoying the supercharger immensely).

I'm really not "beating" the car any harder now than before, and in truth I don't beat the car at all. I drive the crap out of it, but I'm smooth and never apply any heavy shock loads (which is what breaks things).

In "normal" driving (sans the crazy launches) with a stock Comptech and OEM tires the stock clutch and diff aren't working much harder than they are stock. The car just pulls like crazy at higher revs, which is one of the advantages of the centrifugal superchargers. They make life easy for the driveline (in normal driving) while still making the car a lot quicker and faster. You can get to 135 or more quickly, without putting a lot of additional stress on the stock clutch and driveline. That is, after all, exactly what Comptech had in mind; Their kit is designed to work reliably with an otherwise stock S2000.

Oh yea, get one of Modifry's shift beepers. With boost, redline comes up SUDDENLY in first and second, and it can catch you off guard too easily. With the beeper you never even have to look at the tack. Plus, it has a valet mode (if you ever let others drive your S2000).

 

Thanks for the excellent information RED MX5! Post like yours that are very detailed and informative are what make this forum such a great asset!

Where can I get the Modifry shift beeper, how much does it cost and how hard is it to install?

Thanks again!

 

Thanks. Some people hate long posts.

You can get the shift beeper from the GoFastLab in the S2kI Market. Click here.

 

[QUOTE=RED MX5,Feb 8 2006, 10:54 PM]Thanks.

 

I had to replace my clutch very recently (just bought a SC, haven't installed yet), but I was doing launch after launch.