The reason being, in 1st you are under VTEC and having to run through the gear with less power. Once you hit 2nd you are above 6k and are on the secondary cams which make power, also the fact you are only going through 3k rpms. Once you hit third its slowing down a little which is natural for any car. You are having to deal with increased drag and wind resistance to get up to speed.

Its the same reasoning that 4th would be slower compared to thirds and so on.

So basically 1st gear you start out under VTEC cams unless you launch car. And 3rd,4th so on are dealing with drag and wind resistance.

 

thanks

 

OK, it sound to me like the previous owner put Final Drive gears in. I suggest you look to see if there is a Yellow Box hidden someplace by the ECU. This is a speedometer compensator and most guys who put in gears will have one of these. Also, if there is no YB, then you need to find a reliable speed measuring device - police car or radar, or even another stock S2000. Get paced and at a known speed, note the rpm and what gear you're in. Come back here and tell us and we'll be able to tell you if you have gears and what they may be.
You cannot be sure that you are going 48 mph in 2nd at redline because the speedometer has a lag and unless you hold redline for at least 2 to 3 seconds, you really can't say what the real speedo reading would be. Even if you could, without a YB, it would not be correct anyway.

Yellow Box looks like this. It's only a couple of inches long.

 

also, having a new final drive gear is most likely a GOOD thing!

 

When you do a WOT from a stop, you will indeed notice that you will have to shift again within let's say a second after having hit redline in 1st! It goes pretty fast through the gears when on the power cams

 

I feel sorry for your motor.

 

My motor is just fine. I just meant that once you shifted into second gear, you will have to change again to 3rd within a second or two. I was not suggesting hitting the rev limiter in 1st for a second or two.

 

Are you at 9000 rpm at 48mph? I wonder if you aren't hitting the cold rev limiter.

 

AP1 6000 - 9000 Vtec
Cold engine, the rev limiter comes in about 7500 RPM. Avoid this! Make sure you have half a tank of heat - 3 bars showing on the guage.

With a warm engine, I shift at 40, 62, and 90. 40 to 62 only takes a couple of seconds.

Interesting. My Escort ZX2 shifted at about the same speeds with a 6500 redline and 7000 rev limiter.

 

somebody probably snuck some 4.77 gears in on your car before you bought it