I've been lurking on the forums for a while now and finally bought a
blue '02 before labor day. The info here is one of the reasons I'm not
driving a Corvette, which is what I was originally looking for.

The car is great and I'm probably just being paranoid, but the clutch
seems way too near the top of the throw. It starts to engage just
about an inch below the top, and there's a lot of useless pedal throw
below the pressure point.

In other cars I've had with clutches, that's a sign that it's about shot.
Is that normal in a S2000? (The car had 53 miles on it when I picked it
up.) Should I have the dealer take a look at it?

Thanks,
Jim
Brookfield WI
Bone Stock Suzuka Blue '02 with 752 miles

 

An inch from the top of the pedal travel does seem too high, in my opinion. And 53 miles on the odo for a new car also sounds suspicious, your S may have been the victim of some less-than-kind test drives before you bought it. But this car has a hydraulic clutch, so even if the clutch was prematurely worn, the pedal engagement point wouldn't change. Your first sign of a worn-out clutch would be noticeable slipping while in gear.

I'd say yes take it back and have them adjust the engagement point in the pedal, it's not so difficult to do (just awkward) and as a new car they should do everything to make you happy with it. If you're even the least bit mechanically inclined (like me) you could adjust it yourself, but it should be the dealer's responsibility.

Oh and not to be a jerk, but if you were deciding between this car and a 'Vette, you were comparing two COMPLETELY different cars, hope you don't become dissatisfied with the torque in the S, there have been many posts on this!

 

That sounds about right to me- you don't have to push far to disengage the clutch, and it grabs pretty close to the release. Though your estimate of 2 inches does sound off- my clutch has about 2 inches of play before it does anything. Just resting your foot on it can sink it an inch or 2. I'd say closer to 4-5 inches.

Byron

 

Seems too high for a new car. I think you need it adjusted. Mine begins to engage about 4" off the floor.

 

That sounds about right. Mine is exactly the same way that you describe it and engages only when the pedal is almost all the way to the top. I have taken my car in to the dealer, and they told me that it's normal for the 02's which have much "looser" clutches than he earlier S2000's. When I also asked them about the intermittent grinding i'm getting shifting into 2nd from 1st at mid rpms, they told me to just time my shifts better, or in other words, rev match. I'm confused by this, because that's what syncronizers are for!

 

Although there is a small chance (maybe 20%) that they are correct about your shifting style, I think there is an 80% chance that they are full of sh!t. If your pedal is too high at the engagement point, the pedal itself might be slightly adjustable to make the engagement point a bit lower. It depends at what point of adjustment the pedal is currently at and if there is anything left to adjust. NO, you don't rev match on an upshift. THAT'S what the synchros ARE for. You rev match on a downshift to "help" things along but not to help the synchros.

 

The head Honda drivetrain technician actually took my car on a test drive. He happens to be a Japanese guy who is supposed to be very familiar with the S2000. He even said his daughter bought one recently as well. He told me that i'm not timing my shifts right and that i'm either shifting too slow or fast which is causing the grinding. He rev matched when he took my car for a test drive, and sure enough he never got it to grind. I started rev matching on my 1-2 upshift and sure enough, it never grinded, however what makes me upset, is why should you have to rev match to avoid grinding gears? That's what syncros are for! He told me to just keep driving it for now. I am honestly getting frustrated with this car.................

This 1-2 upshift grind seems to happen only when upshifting. If i'm downshifting into 2nd gear, it almost never grinds which would rule out the syncronizer being bad. I've tried totally granny shifting into second which resulted in a grind since I was shifting too slow and the rpms had dropped too far for a good rev match. If I powershift or shift really fast, it also grinds which makes sense since you arn't giving the sycronizers adequate time to do their magic.