So I spent this past weekend at Willow Springs and found once again that when going from 5th to 4th I tend to find 2nd. This happend maybe 4 times and I always caught it before releasing the clutch. A previous S2k owner at the track said he fixed this problem by attaching 2 springs (after removing the leather) so that the stick is more firm and cannot be easily moved to 2nd.

Anyone else experience this, any suggesstions?

 

Relax... be gentle and smooth. Don't yank on that thing.

 

Take your time, calm down, turn off the adreneline.

Seriously, there is no need to try and fix the shifter (as in shift lever). Instead, you need to fix the shifter (as in, the person doing the shifting).

 

Use a backhanded shift. Instead of pulling down with your palm towards you, turn your palm the other way - towards the door, and pull down. This prevents you from pulling too far left , and potentially into 2nd. I had this link to a page with different techniques on shifting but can't find it now.

Anyway, the jist of it was :

from 1 - 2, pull straight down , palm towards you.
2 - 3 , push straight away from
3 - 4, pull down backhanded, palm away from you
4 -5 , same as 2 -3
5 -6 , same as 3-4

This technique worked for me. The only time I ever misshifted was going from 3 - 4, and I was shifting the "normal" way.

 

Just try to take it easy and shift slower, you'll be fine.

 

Hey ThomasGuide,

I had trouble downshifting from 5th to 4th going into turn 9. But I was hitting 6th. Usually, I just pull it out of 5th slow enough to feel it center in neutral and then straight back into 4th. When I was hitting 6th instead of 4th, it was because it didn't seem to want to center on its own.

It was a fun weekend and great to see you again. You were turning some very good laps out there. Hope to see you at a SV event soon.

For those of you that missed the event - O.C. Pantera\West Coast Racing - they had more exotic cars than the L.A. Auto Show.

 

RSXLNT,

Howdy! Now I know your screen name. Good fun, I'll def be at Button Willow with that group...oh and with faster tires

As for taking it easy, it could be all the adrenaline flowing and I lose feeling in some of those shifts. I heard from someone there (they were running the red Civic with the big 1 on it) that they put 2 springs bought from the hardware store to make the stick more firm in finding the center. I found that in turn 6 I sometimes would go from 3rd to 2nd (instead of 4th) and in turn 9 from 5th to 2nd.

 

Civic != S2000

Besides that, what you are reporting is classic panic shifting. Fix yourself. Whether that means "backhanded shifting" or deep breathing or some other trick to get you to learn to be a little slower and more precise, do it. People have lost engines this way.

 

Yep just chill on the shifting effort. I too was there at one time. Chilling on the shifting fixed that. Plus don't enter a corner with too much on your plate. Get your braking done, and if you need to shift, get that done too before engaging the corner.

 

And after the engagement, is it then aceptable to enter the corner

And to the OP, the S2000 has one of the most precise, accurate shifters on the planet. Learn to use it properly and you will be rewarded with smooth, positive shifts every time.