I had a Celica GT-S and blew the motor and they wanted $10k to fix it, so you know im very wary of the 6 speed thing. Now if I dropped spoon cams, valves, calves springs and retainers into the head then could I (not on purpose) but mis-shift and still be ok. I really want to leave it stock minus an intake but I am willing to invest the money if I can prevent my F20 from bending a valve from a mis-shift. I heard there was some new shift-linkage out too that should make the shifter less likely to go into the wrong gear, is that true. Thanks!

 

if you are careless and make a mistake, nothing can prevent you from blowing the engine and having to pay for it yourself - especially if you modded your engine where Honda can just say "sorry, we ain't gonna fix this"

i think we've had a few (very few) members here who bent their valves from over-rev, but mistakes and accidents do happen. the celica's tranny is just a wholly different matter.

 

If you don't feel yourself capable of operating a six-speed manual gearbox then there is little I can suggest other than an automatic. That rules out the S2000 obviously. There is not much to prevent you from jambing the shifter into the wrong gear. It has happened to all of us but everyone I know either didn't think it felt right or was able to press the clutch in time to prevent overrev. It's a risk.

 

You'll never experience a better 6-speed than this one. It has a very precise feel, and centers to the 3-4 gate very strongly. Once you get comfortable with it, you'll know where you are at all times and mis-shifts will be exceedingly rare. And you'll be immediately aware of the very few you do make (nearly all 5-6 shifts where you go into 4th), and you won't engage the clutch. At least that's what I've found.

As for anybody else you allow to drive the car, give them strict orders not to upshift above 6000 rpm and not to downshift more than one gear at a time. And ride along to make sure they do it. That way any misshifts they make won't overrev the engine.

This transmission is totally different from any front-driver. You won't believe how different it is.

 

Even with spoon components the motor will still blow? I know spoon parts are made strictly to provide high revving motors. I would still have the stock ECU in that provided the rev-limiter. I drove that Celica to hell and back for more than a year with no problems, then I installed a B&M SS and blew it up that night. Toyota covered it the first time. I didnt learn my lesson and put the SS back in, BOOM a month later------> had to pay $3000. Took the SS out and sold it ------> BOOM three weeks later. I can handle a 6 spd its just I know mistakes happen and at the worst time (like when you are running from the cops, hehe)
So Spoon parts wouldnt let the motor still handle a mis-shift?

 

having spoon parts doesn't give you a bulletproof setup. perhaps you should wait for the 6 speed auto rumored to come out if you're worried about mis-shifting.

 

I hate to say it but, if you are not confident nor skilled enough to avoid a major misshift that blows a motor, especially one that revs to 9200 rpms, you should not be driving a manual. Because I'm sure we all have misshifted at one point or another but not at such speeds that it would blow the motor. Maybe you should practice off the streets until you become comfortable with the car.

9200 is a very high limit, and it would take downshifting at insane speeds to cause the engine to blow. Learn to use the 6 speed and you shouldn't have to worry about this.

 

There's even a little diagram on the shift knob to help you.

 

All ya gotta do if ya think your in the wrong gear(going for 5th,but stuck it in 3rd)is let the clutch out real slow,if it's in the wong gear you'll know before it revs to high.

 

If you've already blown 2 motors from mis-shifts, I would either a) buy an automatic, or b) take the money you would have spent on spoon parts and take a few driving schools.

Seriously, the solution to missing shifts is not to change the engine, it's to change your driving.

-Nick