I know that the US Owner's Manual says to change the oil every 3,750 miles or six months for severe use, and every 7,500 miles or one year for normal use. Do you follow this schedule or have you decided that you prefer a different schedule for your own reasons?

If so, how often do you change your oil and why do you prefer a different schedule from the one advised in the owner's manual?

 

I have my S2k since March 9 2004 and it has 3300 Miles on the ODO!

And i change The OIL every 3 Months...

Thats IT!

 

I go by the severe schedule......

 

Oil and filter every 5K miles. I'm using Mobil 1 synthetic.

 

I up the severe use even more - Honda's opinion of severe use is actually less severe than what most of us drive

In fact most manufactures log severe use as plainly driving in stop and go city traffic - where normal use is warming the car up sufficiently before driving and then going 20 miles non stop at highway speeds. It is ridiculous, but it keeps them out of paying every single warranty claim

Take the normal use schedule and divide it by 3 (except for oil changes) - this is a good recommended service schedule for most people who drive their S2000's in the city and sometimes aggressively (hitting above 8,000 RPM's).

Oil Changes every 3,000 miles - unless you use synthetics you can squeeze a few more miles out.

Change the rear diff fluid every 9,000 to 10,000 miles

Get a valve adjustment every 30,000 to 40,000 miles (especially if you go over 8,000 RPM's frequently)

Allignments every 5,000 to 10,000 miles


Before someone flames *my* service schedule here's my disclaimer: I drive my car pretty hard compared to many other owners - I am well beyond Honda's description of "severe use". Do not take anything I say in this post to the grave - this is strictly my opinion, and what I do.

Here's something that may help you to judge what kind of driver you are: You can tell what kind of driver you are by how fast you go through tires

If you're getting less than 5,000 miles out of S0-2's, then you're probably up in my range. 5,000 to 10,000 miles out of them, then you're probably within Honda's "severe use" to a little worse than "severe use" desription. Over 10,000 miles on S0-2's and you're either a cheap bastard, love drifting and sliding, or WTF are you doing with a S2000 - trade it in for a Lincoln! j/k

If you bought your S used and have never been on S0-2's then summer Kumhos, Yokohamas, some Dunlops, and a few Toyos will take you less than 10,000 miles if you're like me. Softer All Season Pirelli's, S0-3's, Good Year F1's will take you less than 8,000 miles if you're like me.

Hope this helps a few of you to discern what kind of wear you're putting your car through, and I hope people take the approach of offering their own opinion if they disagree with mine instead of arguing mine

 

I follow the severe schedule although my driving style and conditions are far from it. To me, oil is cheap insurance and oil changes are fun to do.

 

I follow the service schedule

 

My problem is that I drive the car only 4000 miles per year on average. I try to go by mileage and NOT time...otherwise I'd be changing oil every 250 miles! LOL.

 

You should still go by time even if its olnly 250 miles.
I change mine whenever I get a chance. Usually about every 2 months or so. I dont even drive that much. I have an 02 with 17,000 miles.

 

I would tend to agree if the car sat around for more than a year. Oil should not degrade significantly within a 12 month time frame. Now, more than 12 months without an oil change may be a problem.