There is a Lotus 7 clone that is built near me that uses the S2000 drivetrain. I monitor their list to see what interesting info I might pick up since almost all race their cars quite a bit.

http://www.wcmultralite.com/

They are having a discussion on synth tranny fluid vs. stock Honda fluids right now. What they are looking for is something that will allow faster shifting at the drag strip (11's with stock hp. weight = power) without a loss in reliability. It seems that they seem to be able to shift faster than the synchros can engage.

Any sage words of wisdom I can relay to them from the drag racers in the group?

 

Most of the drag racers hang out in the "Street Encounters" forum.

http://forums.s2ki.com/forums/forumdisplay...p?s=&forumid=34


My suggestion would be that you try a higher viscosity synchromesh fluid. Synthetic vs: regular polymers shouldn't matter from a functional perspective in this application.

 

Thanx, I didn't even know there was a Street Encounters forum. I will try there too, but I am really interested in data from real racers, not the pseudo-scientific, ego building blather that I would expect from a forum labelled Street Encounters. :0

Any real drag racers out there?

 

Not many. We tend to run them off with our pompous ways () :LOL.

This doesn't sound like any discussion I've seen here in recent months. Would be interesting to see any scientific results on the subject. You might first broaden your search and find out what dragsters in other cars do, then see if it's applicable to the S.

 

Well maybe scientific results might be too strong of a statement. Let's say I would like something with a little less BS factor to it and a little more repeatability.

I went to street encounters and it was everything I expected.

I know that results vary by tranny manufacturer, at least which is the best fluid varies. I have heard claims of smoother shifting attributed to synths and my own personal experience with Royal Purple was good as it smoothed out my tranny, but I don't drag race except a few short street kills when I can't stand it anymore.

He is looking for not only smoother shifting, but the ability to shift quicker.

 

Haha...yeah Street Encounters is everything you thought it would be and more.

While I don't consider myself a "drag racer" per se, I've taken the car to the 1/4 mile a few times. I've personally never run into the problems your friends describe but then again I'm running 14s and not 11s. For some reason though, I seem to recall something being written about difficulty of the synchros when shifting quickly so it may not be a complete waste of time to keep researching this.

Since I'm an HPDE guy for the most part, I want a fluid that will hold up to abuse for 20-30 minutes at a time (I did one recent session at Willow Springs that went for an hour) so I can't say what would work for 11 seconds of abuse. I use Redline MT-90 in the transmission and once it warms up it shifts like the proverbial butter. When cold though, it can be notchy and takes a deliberate action to shift properly.

No idea if this will help you.

 

I use the OEM MTF fluid and on really hot days after the tranny has been also heated up from just driving in the heat, I can occasionally beat the syncros. I don't shift like that too often, so I'll stick with the OEM fluid for now.
One of the problems is that the tranny oil pump is not a high volume one. I think overfilling it by about 200cc might be of some benefit.

 

Hmm overfilling, I hadn't heard that one.

Redline has gotten a lot of bad press on a couple of other lists. It has been linked to synchro failure on a couple of makes of cars.

I have bang shifted mine a few times with never a problem. That was after I had switched to Royal Purple tho. Could the shifting faster than the synchros also be a pre 02 issue?

I had intended to switch to Amsoil the next time, but I guess what I find out here might change my mind.

I guess I will be forced to go out to night and abuse my baby some more, in the interests of research you understand. Ahhh such is life

I never dreamed there was this problem. Maybe I accidentally stumbled onto the proper solution with Royal Purple.

 

Longevity was not a design requirement of the original post. Sychros tend to work better with a little more resistance which is the reason why I suggested using a higher viscosity fluid.

Typically synthetics are more resistant to thermal breakdown, but in a drag racing environment where 60 seconds of running time may be normal it would seem overkill.

I don't see any reason to use a product other than the Honda MTF for 99% of the S2000 owners.

 

More oil, more thermal capacity.