I have a pretty small vent that ends up sitting right at the back edge of the stock intake. Should I worry about this in the car wash?

 

yes. worry. i have seibon with 8 vents, and water gets in everywhere inside the engine.

 

in the car wash? as in those mechanical ones at the gas stations? never, ever take your car through one of those....period!

 

Good advice!

 

in our user manuals it tells us to never take the S2000 through a mechanized carwash. so you shouldnt be worrying about this in the first place. but yes. its a big deal

 

I've taken mine to mechanized carwash, but it was touchless.

worked good.

 

Touchless is still a car wash. It still sprays pressurized water at your car and top, and is probably worse.

If you were to wash it by hand like you should, you would have absolutely nothing to worry about. Maybe if you turn the hose on full bore and completely soak everything you'll have problems, but the amount of water that may get in your engine bay even with a vented hood during a normal wash will not hurt your car.

 

i mean, that's sort of the general understanding for a long time, not to use a pressure washer to wash your car, but doing it once or twice will not kill it as long as you get to wax your car shortly. Pressurized water rips clear coat and wax off of the car if done too many times. and probably worn out the rag top.

But i would cover the intake filter before I wash it, like wrap it with a towel or something. but that's just me.

 

Actually, it is the soft seals for the top that get ripped apart with high pressure. That is why Honda doesn't recommend it.

 

Come try to wash your own car in the middle of West LA and see how easy it is -- unless you happen to own a $2 million house that might have half a driveway.