I had my first example of real world driving in my new S2000 last night. The two left lanes on 95 north were closed and there was a profound traffic back up. For over an hour, my beloved S sat either stopped or crawling along. Was this detrimental to my car?

I made sure not to ride the clutch; nevertheless, I had to shift often from first to neutral and back to first again when traffic moved forward a little. Often, the S was completely stopped for 10 minutes at a time.

What kind of strain did I put on my car? Why do they close down the interstate at 9:15 pm when it's still busy?

 

your car is gonna die in two weeks now, if there is a traffic jam stop the car get out and call a tow truck this engine cant idle for more then 15 seconds without causing critical cylinder failure. On the other hand maybe i am wrong and it is like every other car and perfectly fine! no worries man

 

 

Stop and Go (or maybe that should be Go and Stop) is never good for an engine, so the next time traffic permits, have some fun with it and blow some carbon out! My 2k sometimes gets a little sluggish since I drive local streets to work, and CA only has 91 octane crappy fuel, but when I get the chance to VTEC it a bit, she smooths right out. Have fun!

 

Haze, you have to stop worring about this car! It's a Honda with a crazy motor that wants to go baby! No car lasts forever but Hondas hang around longer than most.
You've got the thing mostly broken in by now, so my advice to you is to get the anxeity attacks under control and enjoy your car!!!!!!!

 

Anytime you drive the car you're putting wear in tear on it somewhere, somehow.

It's a car. Treat it as one and enjoy it as one.

 

I thought the oil pump was driven by the driveshaft???

No??

 

You've just described my usual 3 hour drive from north Jersey (NYC Metro) to Philadelphia on every Monday and Friday for the past 6 months.

I think your car will be fine. Cars are built for transporting the masses (even the S2000). Engines idle, clutches are ridden, brakes are applied, and when traffic permits, redlines are bounced.

Hopefully you won't have to sit in traffic anytime soon (again), so enjoy the car for all that it is!

 

Thanks for the replies and reassurance, everyone. Sitting in traffic is so antithetical to everything the S is about that I found it disturbing.

I went for a morning ride today during which the S was allowed to run free. It "undid" all that happened last night.

 

i guess the cars in los angeles are prone to break down 100x faster than other cars..