I've never had a major problem and I've put about 100k on 3 used S2000s. Took my last one from 70k to 140k and all it needed was regular maintenance and a coil pack, aside from the stuff I broke like the diff after a few hard launches at the track etc.

From my experience these are the things that mainly go wrong through no fault of the driver:

Tight Valves (06+) - $0-1000
TCT - $250
Master and Slave Clutch Cylinders - $120
Alternator Rectifier - $50 used
Seized Alignment Hardware - $100 a corner

I mean thats all I could see needing replacement to about 150k miles, most normal cars cant get by with that kind of maintenance.

 

Bad because it's entirely unnecessary and puts unneeded wear on all parts of the transmission and clutch; and the danger of a 3 gear drop is all too real. This is a fun carry over from what used to be a necessary means to slow the car for a stop or corner back in olden days when the MG-TC was a state-of-the-art sports car with marginal drum brakes. A set of brake pads is lunch money compared to repairing a transmission.

Hitting the wrong gear with one of these downshifts is the best way I know of blowing the engine. In our cars the very short throw gearbox is a liability. A 3-gear drop when you only wanted one can spin the engine well above 11,000 rpm. With good brakes like we have there is no functional reason to downshift to slow the car. Sounds kool I admit as long as you don't hit the wrong gear. Be careful out there.

-- Chuck

 

On street I can see why it's not need to down shift. ^ Also I misshift every time I hit the track and over rev in my ap2. The motor is bone stock and iv never blown my motor. PSI #s are oem spec also. bone stock ap1 could drop a valve( iv done this )

 

My clutch slave cylinder went out at about 22k, but other than that it has been only routine maintenance.

 

Bought mine new in 2002. 15 years and 86k miles later I've replaced one coil pack, the clutch master cylinder (twice), and one diff mount. Plus the usual maintenance: brakes, tires, batteries, etc. Mechanically, the car has had fantastic reliability.

 

Had an 03' from 09' - 14' and 9800 miles to about 78k. Never raced, but daily driven much quicker than most traffic, and driven hard regularly. Only ever had to replace tires, oil, and filter.

have had an 02' for about a year now from 77k miles to 82k miles. Have replaced tires, oil, filter, IACV, CMC, CSC, and rotors came warped so need to do those too. CSC didn't need to go, but CMC was leaking and I did them both cause it was so cheap. Also, not sure if IACV actually needed it either. Found a vacuum leak unplugged afterwards that fixed the problem. I don't think previous owner 2 owners ago took very good care of it.

 

I tend to down shift a lot but not to save brakes. I do it so that I am in an appropriate gear for the speed I am traveling - it makes me feel much more in control and enable me to accelerate without lugging if needed. Also, it is good practice for rev matching and heel toe shifting.

 

Same here. Knock on wood I haven't had any issues. I heel toe and rev-match every day.

 

I heel/toe and rev match downshift all the time, to keep the engine matched to gear when I'm coming up to a turn that I don't need to stop for.

If I'm in 6th, coming up to a right on green, for example. I blip down 5-4-3 and maybe to 2. It sure beats doing one big, clumsy RPM adjustment when its time to accelerate out of the turn.

Its beneficial to be good at it. If you're dragging the clutch or lurching...or just dumping the clutch...then...well...be better at driving.

I downshift all the time to keep the engine matched. I haven't had any failures.

I also downshift to come to a stop...which...I admit, is a terrible habit and probably should be avoided. But...whatever. You're not causing that much wear if you do it correctly.

The car never un-wears no matter what you do anyway. If you turn the engine on...it wears. If you drive...the car wears. Whatever.

The point is that the S2000 RESISTS wear and tear, which is what makes it more robust and reliable than other cars.

 

They are Honda. Honda has made some turds but overall they are reliable. Most s2000's have been run to death by previous owners. I feel good about recsuing mine. To me it had personality because of its abused history. It was pristine it would be boring to me.