As do I. However, I've managed to get it just perfect from time to time. I drive my car at times when it's -30*C outside and it takes a great deal of finesse to shift this car and do it smoothly. During the summer, when the car is first operated and everything is cool, I get lazy and experience notchiness. When I think about it, I can shift flawlessly right from the cold start. It's simply a matter of clutch/throttle/shifter control and synchronization - knowing how much throttle to use and when to use it, how much and when to move the clutch / how fast and how to move the shifter at the precise speed and pattern. When I get notchy, it's not the car, it's me.

 

I'm hearing this and that about notchy shifting and how it's the operator. I DISAGREE this isn't my first manual by no means and I've been driving for 10 years now. Not a lot of time but from the 3 previous vehicles that I have owned this is the only one that feels like it catches when I drive at times regardless of what gear. Blame it on me but I will say it's the so called SMOOTH S2000 TRANNY because NONE of my previous cars caught like this. AND yes I go in the N pattern BUT have never had any issues until the S. So please riddle me how it's the so called operator but only happens when I drive my S?

 

When I first got the car, I noticed that getting into 3rd didn't feel as smooth as the other gears. Either I got used to it, or the issue resolved itself because I don't notice it any more.

I never had issues with other Honda cars.

 

Were any of your previous manuals a close gated 6 speed, directly connected to the stick via a tubular rod? I'm going to guess that they were either 5-speeds or wide gated 6-speeds or cable actuation. Are you so sure you can use your 10 years of manual experience to say that it's not you? I have driven all manner of 3-speeds, 4-speeds, 5-speeds, 6-speeds, 4 + 3 speeds (Chevy, Ford, Datsun, Corvettes, Viper, Miata, Audi. Absolutely none of that experience can be related to an S2000 tranny. I've even gone to S2000 meets where owners have asked me if there is something wrong with their cars because they can't seem to make it shift smooth. Upon test driving them, I found nothing wrong with any of them. They ALL shifted just fine when I drove them. The only exceptions were when the owner did something stupid like put in some goofy "magic" tranny fluid or when they maladjusted the clutch pedal rod to the point where a bottle of Vasoline up the whazoo wouldn't not have made it shift smoothly. Again, those cases were also not the car's fault.
However, if you think it's the car, who are we to tell you otherwise. It's always easier to blame the car, so if that works for you, go with it.

 

It's odd when a majority of people are complain of the same issue. IMO I feel like the tranny isn't as smooth as others love to claim it is. You're right this is my first six speed tranny but I wouldn't think that it would make that huge of a difference in comparison of driving a 5 speed.

 

I'm afraid you get the wrong idea of how many people complain about their notchy shifting experiences with this car. "Majority" doesn't mean anything. There are many, many tens of thousands of these cars in existence all over the world and I'm betting a lot of these are in N. America alone. People (I'll bet I could have used the term "most") who have no problems will never post on these forums and those with "issues" are the ones who do. Of every 10 who post they think they have a notchy shift, how many 10's of thousands don't? How many of those who complain actually know what they're talking about when they use the term "notchy"? How many of those confuse the term "notchy" with something that is merely "mechanical" or "tactile".
Now take a look at that "majority". How many of these have very little experience with this type of manual transmission? How many came from automatics and haven't a clue what shifting a manual is really like, let alone an S2000 transmission? When this car first appeared, we saw a whole generation of people who were driving Civics and Preludes, many of which were autos. Can we take seriously what their impressions are of what a terribly notchy tranny this is? One of the original friends I made as a result of this car was one such person. He came from an automatic Prelude. The first 2 years of ownership, he complained all the time about every little odd feeling he experienced with the car. "It isn't very smooth. There's this funny noise. That vibration doesn't feel right." I maintained his car and I drove it lots. There wasn't a single thing wrong with it. Then, after nearly 10 years and 100K miles later, there is still nothing wrong with it. The car didn't change except for age. He did. He got used to it. He got better at driving it. He started to understand it. He learned. He educated himself.
A 5-speed tranny, be it direct rod linkage or cable linkage is nothing like the S2000 6-sp. Did your cars of the past 10 years have hydraulic clutches? That matters. Were they push type or pull type? Go examine a blow up of various trannies and compare it to ours. The gears and cogs are different. They are spaced different. They are in different locations. The actuation is different. The syncros are different. The ratios are different. Shoving a 6th gear in such a compact casing makes for a different design. Do any of your previous manuals have a low pressure oil pump built in? The closest thing to the way this tranny feels is perhaps the Miata 6-sp and even it, is different. And if you think this shouldn't make any difference to the way it works or the way it feels or the way it needs to be operated, then I won't ever be able to convince you because your mind is already made up.
I generally don't participate in these types of topics because after 12 years on these forums, it's like talking to brick walls. People don't get it and it's not my job to help them get it. I only interjected in this thread because it was so refreshing to see that at least someone (Rob) "gets it" and I like to encourage and give support to those who do.
(Don't get me started about people who think just because they take their S2000s to their mechanics with 40 years experience, that their cars are in good hands and all is well.) Those with preconceived ideas from their vast experiences are the ones to fear the most. I think I'm done here. Good luck to you in your S2000 ownership.

 

It's odd when a majority of people are complain of the same issue. IMO I feel like the tranny isn't as smooth as others love to claim it is. You're right this is my first six speed tranny but I wouldn't think that it would make that huge of a difference in comparison of driving a 5 speed.
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The majority of 110k cars sold around the world? Or the 1/week with new drivers posting?

This tranny is rather rare in production cars. It's connected directly into the tranny itself. It's why you feel everything, see the shifter vibrate and have a true connection to the car.

Most shifters are cable or rod. Few are as close, never mind directly connected.

I'm sure if you practice on the video above you'll get it right.

 

I had/have the same problem. Changed my oil for Honda MTF, installed new clutch, greased the shifter, checked for clutch drag(none). And the only thing I found that makes any difference is careful shifting as these guys before me have said. I pull the stick back to 4th just a little(not into 4th) before going into 3rd. This seems to have helped my notchyness, and now I do it without thinking about it and the transmission feels very smooth. I also found that mine feels notchy at lower revs, if I pick the revs up before shifting I don't have a problem. I also think that mine is getting better all the time, since the work was done. Will probably change the oil again soon.

 

The syncros were optimized for high rev shifting. I've experienced less ideal shifting below 4K. To which I alter my style slightly.

 

Couldn't have said it better Dave....