DCT transmission in an S2000
 

Wife and I love our S2K, but I have ALS and have lost the use of my left hand. I can still operate the clutch, but can't hold the steering wheel with my left hand to shift if the car isn't dead straight. I was looking at selling the S2k and buying a BMW 135is or 335is for autocross. My wife's daily is an E93M3 with a 7 speed DCT and it's fun to drive, but the convertible M3 is almost 500lbs heavier than the coupe, so no help in F-street. I was talking today with a very resourceful friend that crews a Ferrari Challenge car and has built more than one car from scratch. He suggested we could come up with a paddle shifting setup for the stock transmission or put a DCT in the S2K. I could probably get an allowance for the paddle shifter in C-street class due to my condition, but it still wouldn't be competitive with the ND2. If we could actually fit a DCT in the trans tunnel and come up with a way to shift it, I'd likely stick a big honkin' blower on it, mount 295's on 18x10's, and run in XA class. I knw there are several (expensive) stand-alone DCT controllers out there, but I'm curious if it could be run with a stock M3 DME if it could be fed RPM and TPS data from the Honda ECU. What say y'all?

The title is supposed to be DCT not ECT. Could an Admin make that change for me? Thx

I don't know the answer to your question but the best resource to talk to would be Andy of ASMotorsports. He built "SuperK" and I'm sure has done more K Swaps on the S2k chassis than anyone else. They've been developing the DCT swap on the car and been "successful" with it. They've definitely had their challenges but I'm sure they've learned a lot along the way. Andy is a pretty straight shooter and will be honest with you. Definitely worth talking to him and seeing what that path would be like from someone who has been down it. I know there were some more in depth videos of this build and one where they were under the car talking about it. I didn't find it in a brief search.

https://www.shopasmotorsports.com/dct-parts-services

I'll show my inexperience here: :) Gear shifting in Autocross? Does autocross require the car to exceed 40mph which is possible in 1st gear?

Appears to be a money is no object project. Isn't the Miata available with an automatic?

-- Chuck

Most autocrosses top out near redline in 2nd gear in an AP1 (60-ish), but the smaller venues often require one or more downshifts to 1st and back to 2nd. I've tried spraying tack on my left hand, but the initial upshift is frequently coming out of the first corner/element and I can only hold it steady if I've pre-position my hand correctly for the shift point.
With the prices for S2000's right now I could come close to getting enough to pay for one of the other cars mentioned, but I did want to put the DCT idea out for feedback.

Thanks for the information. I was thinking the short distances between very tight turns would keep speeds in the 40 not 60 mph range. 0-60 acceleration in my '06 has always been a sore spot 'cuz it requires two (2) gear changes. I think the AP1 engine and gearbox cars can do it one 1.

DCT gearboxes undeniably shift faster so the project is at least worth exploring provided you can source the engineering and parts. And the money! :)

-- Chuck

From the info that I've seen out there, the biggest issue with the DCT swaps is always controlling it. The options are a standalone ECU that does both engine and transmission control, or add a standalone transmission controller and figure out how to make it with the ECU. If you were able to figure out how to make a factory transmission controller work with a Honda ECU, then you'd be onto something, but someone probably would have done that already.

The DCT does fit in the tunnel, with some modification of course. There are adapter plates, flywheels, and transmission mounts available, but you'll likely need a custom driveshaft, which any driveshaft shop can handle.

If your car is DBW, that is a plus, as they say you want a DBW throttle in order to help with the transmission shifts so it can cut power on up shifts, and blip the throttle on downshifts.

There's a lot to it, but some have been successful in getting it all to work in the S2000.

Go on Facebook and look for Jason Wadsworth. He has done it in his S2000, has various products to get you started, and also developed his own AP1 and AP2 PnP harness for MaxxECU which can control BMW DCT gearboxes.

Plenty of guys running DCTs in the Boosted S2000 FB group

We're getting ready to sell the S2K. Great car and we've enjoyed it for ten years, but in addition to shifting, I'm starting to find it more and more difficult to enter and exit as my symptoms progress. We plan on picking up a used BMW 135is with DCT and Autocross that for as long as I'm able.
Thx!