Stay out of VTEC for a few more minutes after 3 bars on temp gauge. I used to VTEC pretty much right after I see the 3 bars on temp gauge...until one day I had to turn off the car (after it just reached 3 bars) and started the car again...I saw only 2 bars!

 

Comments on two topics: oil and tires.

Oil. Because of the unique cylinder material, synthetic oil is not recommended for a while, unlike most European cars. Also, the factory fill has a fair amount of moly in it and should not be changed before it needs to be (3750 to 7500 miles--see your owner's manual). Conventional wisdom is to keep dino oil in the car for 10,000 miles because that is when the oil consumption usually drops way back. In any case, no synthetic for the first 7,500 miles. My '03 has 1500 miles on it. I plan to change oil at 5,000 and 7,500 using non-synthetic and then at 10,000, 15,000, etc. using Mobil 1.

The US Honda oil filters are nothing to brag about, BTW, and you cannot get the JDM filters. There are more arguments about oil and oil filters than about religion, so see the oil change boards (not on S2KI). I plan to use the US Honda filters at 5,000 and 7,500 and then change to something better.

Reportedly, the transmission has a large magnet somewhere to attract any ferous material. However, the engine does not. Although some people say that they don't help a lot, I bought a magnetic drain plug for my S2000. You can get a Spoon product for about $40 or get magnetic plugs for about $5 from a guy in Canada (use Google).


Tires. For dry-weather handling on the street, there is nothing better than the OEM Potenza SO2's that come with the car. (The rears are a special tire just for the S2000, not the regular S02.) However, they don't shed water very well because there they have relatively more rubber than other tires. (It's probably best not to go into VTEC the first time on a high-speed turn in the rain.) Also, once the rears are down by 50%, the dry-weather handling degrades because you are into a different compound. People usually get 5,000 to 20,000 from the rears and generally twice that on the fronts. See the appropriate S2KI forum on tires. Whether you eventually change to another tire type depends on your driving style and taste. Also, be sure that (1) your dealer does not rotate the tires and (2) if a rear tire goes flat, put the front wheel on that side onto the rear of the car and the spare on the front. (It concerns the limited-slip dif.) See your owner's manual.

Welcome to the world of Hondas. You will be pleasantly surprised at how little the S2000 costs to maintain compared to anything European.

 

thanks for the good suggestions thus far everbody. The guy I bought the car from told me about the oil and the precise change increments in the beginning, so ill probably just let them handle it until 10,000 miles..

I've seen the myths of car warmup before and i only tend to let it warm for 2-3 minutes anyways before moderate driving at low rpms. My system has worked fantastically in that i have never owned a car that has broken down on me when it counts, and that includes many volvos that were 100-300K.

its more a psycological thing at this point (my dad sneers at me), but i gotta stick with what has worked!!

thanks again!

dz

 

Read your manual, you'll get lots of info in there, including the info on the secret compartment and gas cap

 

be easy on the engine, clutch/tranny and brakes. everything is breaking in at the same time, so be careful.