Every now and then I get this click in my clutch pedal that I hear (maybe it’s more of a feel) as I’m depressing the pedal. If I keep a bit of pressure on the pedal with my foot lightly resting on it, it usually won’t happen again, but if i pull my foot completely off the pedal it will come back. The weird thing is that this ‘click’ will happen for a while, and then go away completely, for months at a time.
The first time that this started happening in my ‘04 AP2, it would really drive me nuts. Noticing that the pedal wouldn’t click twice in a row if I left my foot lightly (not at all engaged) on the pedal, I tightened the nut under the clutch to take out most of the extra play. This actually solved the problem, although it felt uncomfortable not having any play in the clutch pedal (although since there was still the slightest bit of play, I assume it was fine). Eventually I backed out the nut and the click sound was still gone.
I did a bit of researching and it seems that the likely problem is that the push rod is not being lubricated well enough and something is binding. To lubricate this though, you need to remove the clutch cylinder which seems like more work than it’s worth. I’ve only had the click come back a few times and it only stays around for a little bit. I’ve noticed two other things about this click: If I cycle the clutch pedal (push it all the way to the floor, hold it for a second and let it all the way back out) a couple of times, the click usually goes away. I also noticed that I usually get this click when I have to drive in stop-and-go traffic on the freeway for an hour or so, where there’s a lot of clutch-in/clutch-out action.
If anyone else has had this problem or knows exactly what’s causing it, please comment and share.
Autoweek took the s2000 CR for a spin and enjoyed the ride. Praising the same things that most critics like about the car, great balance, gearbox and response among other things, they only had good things to say. In comparing the Club Racer to the base s2000:
This CR ratchets the thrills up a notch over the base car with its stiffened chassis, more aggressive suspension tuning, quicker steering rack ratio and weight reduction. The result is a dialed-in track star that oozes refinement, from the slick unity of shifter and clutch pedal to the high-revving inline-four to its inherently balanced handling characteristics.
This news is actually a few months old, but I just came across it and thought I’d post. Apparently at some point Vin Diesel drives this RHD AP1 in the newest installment of the Fast and the Furious franchise and during filming accidentally wrecked the front end. Owner Ben Schaffer talks about the accident on The Real JDM.
It was a cool scene in the film, but I guess Vin got a little more into character than we all expected. A damaged fender, hood, bumper and headlight wasn’t supposed to be part of the deal!
Here’s a picture of the damage:
And here’s what the s2k looked like before the accident:
As mentioned in an earlier post, the BBC America channel that I get here in the US, is a couple of years behind in broadcasting episodes of Top Gear, but they’re all new to me (and the BBC info actually credits them as 2008). This week James May tried to record the Allman Brothers song Jessica (the Top Gear theme song) using notes found in the engines of various cars, from Enzo’s to steam rollers. May found the “D” note at 4500 RPM in the s2000.
The final result was a bit of a mess and just sounded like a bunch of farting, but it was fun to see him attempt it, and great that the s2000 was a part of it.
I’ve never owned an automatic car in my life. I did drive my mom’s auto ‘93 Accord in high school for a while, but that was as close as I ever got. I learned to drive in an ‘80 Subaru station wagon, then bought a ‘91 Honda Civic HB, a ‘95 Acura Integra and now my beloved ‘04 s2000, all with manual transmissions.
I know that the majority of the cars on the road are automatics, and most of the time I could care less what someone else is driving, but it drives me nuts when people buy expensive sporty-cars with an automatic transmission and talk about all of the “racing” they’ve done and random cars they’ve “beat.” I’ve got a friend (sorry if you’re reading Cos =p) that has a BMW 335i, which is a pretty fast car… but it’s an automatic (regular automatic, not fancy paddle shift w/clutch like the M3). Every time he starts to mention a Porsche he “smoked” or a motorcycle he beat, i usually just roll my eyes and change the subject, ’cause otherwise it’s just going to become a fight.
When you drive an automatic, you have almost nothing to do with the performance of your car. You should be faster than cars that are faster than you, and slower than cars that are slower. If you “race” an automatic car, you might as well just email each other the standard 0-60 or quarter mile times and be done with it. If you “beat” a manual car that should be faster than you, that means the other driver sucked, there was nothing special about how hard you pushed the accelerator.
With a manual car, a lot of it comes down to the driver. There’s a wide range of driving abilities out there so you can compete with a variety of cars in your class and if you beat a car that should be faster than you, you have something to be proud of. If I were to run against a manual 335i with a medium/poor driver I would likely beat him and could continue my disdain for BMW drivers (again, sorry Cos), if the same car had a good/medium driver, me and my s2000 would likely lose and their BMW superiority complex would remain intact… but at least in this scenario, they would have earned it.
You’ve heard the news: studies show that you’re likely to save 25% more on auto insurance by shopping online. That’s great, but where do you go? Do you fire up a search engine and take pot luck? Do you go only to the big-name insurance companies and hope they have a deal? You could probably find cheap car insurance either way, but really savvy shoppers know that their online destination should be CarInsuranceList.com. What’s so special about this site? Let me give you a list:
All auto insurance, all the time: CarInsuranceList.com maximizes the customer experience by focusing on just one kind of insurance, and they do it well. Every aspect of car insurance is addressed, from specialty coverage to how to deal with an SR22 requirement, and they also offer tips and tricks on how to save money.
Company reviews: Because CarInsuranceList.com isn’t an insurer, but a sort of conduit to all of them, they can be objective about all the players in the auto insurance game. To that end they offer reviews of many of the most popular auto insurers, including what products are offered, and what visitors should know about their websites.
Articles: While general information is great, this site also offers an article library. These pieces are in-depth explorations into aspects of auto insurance and auto ownership that you just can’t get anywhere else. Current offerings include advice about safety for women driving cars alone, and a look at the statistics of motorcycle accidents now that more drivers are trading their big SUVs for smaller ‘cycles.
Industry News: CarInsuranceList.com also offers a frequently-updated series of news bulletins offering information on changes within the industry. Policy and legislative decisions, rate hikes, and even special promotions are all highlighted in this section, which also shows just how much the insurance landscape varies from state to state, as well as from year to year.
All of these things are wonderful, and keep visitors on the page, but let’s face it, every insurance site is only as good as its quote engine. In this case, CarInsuranceList.com really excels. First, the button to request a quote is on every page, easy to find without being obnoxious or obtrusive. Second, the engine itself is really simple to use. All you have to do is answer a few simple questions about the make and model of the car you wish to insure and your basic driving habits, plug in your contact information, and wait. Your information is transmitted via secure server, and you’ll receive an email message with information from an insurance company or agent doing business near your home or office.
Many sites offer some of these services. CarInsuranceList.com offers them all, in a clean, user-friendly format. Why go anywhere else?
On this week’s episode of Top Gear, the boys drove and compared the new Audi TT, the Nissan 350Z and the Chrysler Crossfire, all in their convertible variants. To be different they drove them all on the beach where of course the all wheel drive TT excelled. Their general conclusions were that the least expensive car, the Crossfire looked the best (I’d definitely disagree), the interior of the 350Z seemed cheap (I would definitely agree), and that overall they were less than impressed with all of the cars they took out.
So when they were back in the studio, recapping their experience, they decided to choose the three convertibles in that price range that they would have preferred to have. May said he would have wanted a Porsche Boxter for the balance and feel of a sports car. Hammond said he’d want the BMW Z4, and Jeremy closed the show saying that he’d “have the Honda s2000.” The overall consensus was that if you want a convertible, buy one that was designed as a convertible, not a coupe that was later converted to one.
During the whole convertible segment, I was wondering why they had chosen the Audi, Nissan and Chrysler. Here’s to hoping next time they do a shoot out between the Porsche, the BMW and the Honda.
Update 09/07/08:
Reader Beardie tipped me off to the fact that Top Gear looked at the exact shoot out I was hoping for, and the fact that they did it 2 years before the episode that the article was about, explained exactly why they had preference for those cars: they were the cars they liked in the episode where they compared the Boxter, Z4 and s2000. I found a clip of the first half of the episode from Series 3, Episode 2, but couldn’t find the second half when they’re back in the studio, except for a version that wasn’t in English. Here’s the first half, if anyone has a good clip of the second half, please post it here. Thanks again, Beardie!
A precurser to the s2000, the Honda Argento Vivo has an unusual back story. The Argento Vivo started out as a 1995 concept car designed by Pininfarina for Honda.
The original drivetrain consisited of an inline, 5-cylinder, 2.5L, rear-wheel drive setup. The Argento Vivo featured aluminium construction and two-tone finish with the aluminum left polished and exposed on the upper panels. The dark blue sections of the Argento Vivo were formed from fiberglass. When the Argento Vivo was unveiled as a concept car in 1995, it was praised for its smooth and innovative styling, and won several industry awards.
The Argento Vivo also caught the attention of the Sultan of Brunei, an avid car collector who managed to persuade Pininfarina to create a fleet of five Argento Vivo’s for his wealthy family. However in place of the original Honda drive train was a Mercedes setup, including suspension, brakes, transmission and an AMG 7.3 liter V12.
Aside from the concept models and the mercedes powered versions ordered for the Sultan, the Argento Vivo never saw production. Ahead of its time, it did serve to influence the development of the already-concepted s2000 which would see production 4 years later.
My buddy parked his s2000 in a restaurant parking lot the other day and the lot was on a bit of incline. He was in a hurry and apparently didn’t leave the car in gear. The parking brake didn’t hold (i’ve noticed that you really need to pull the hell out of it to keep the car in place) and the car rolled back and hit another car. So yeh, make sure that you leave the car in gear when parking on a hill, and give the ebrake a good pull.
While Honda is already selling, or at least has announced the 2009 updates for most of their vehicles, the fate of the s2000 still remains somewhat in limbo. There have been no end to concepts and renderings floating around the internet (and this site) that look to be the successor to the roadster, but as we near the fourth quarter of the year, it seems unlikely that there will be any big changes for 2009. Will Honda altogether discontinue production in the US for 2009 as sales for the s2000 continue to decline? Will they discontinue just the standard s2000 and market the Club Racer as the only 2009 s2000 model?
The Consumer Guide on Howstuffworks.com suggests that the next incarnation of the roadster may cater less towards purists who enjoy a fast, cramped, noisy and stiff-suspension car, and instead focus more towards the general population. The less expensive and less powerful Mazda MX-5 continues to steadily make money, while the Honda s2000 has always been a financial problem for Honda.
The more practical roadster that the article describes, would be less expensive, with a 200hp engine and a platform that has crossover parts to other cars like the civic (think del sol), making production and final price much more affordable.
It’s said to be inspired by Honda’s very first car, the spartan, tiny but spirited S800 roadster of the early 1960s. It’s also said to be a bit smaller than today’s S2000. Less specialized too, as some underskin components will come from mass-market Honda cars to achieve a lower sticker price. The engine, for example, will be the 2.0-liter four-cylinder from the popular compact Civic, likely the top-tune Si version with around 200 horsepower. Sources say it’s reworked to drive the rear wheels through a six-speed manual transmission or a Volkswagen-style twin-clutch six-speed sequential manual with automatic shift mode. Suspension reportedly retains twin A-arms in front and a multilink setup in back, but some of the components may be exchanged for off-the-shelf parts. Same for the brakes, four-wheel discs with ABS again, and steering.
Personally, I would be sad to see the roadster go in the direction of competing with the MX-5, instead of taking the opposite approach and going against the Porsche Boxter market and other high end roadsters. The Howstuffworks article should also only be taken with a grain of salt, as they claim the s800 roadster was “Honda’s very first car,” (The Honda s360 was the first car, and the Honda s500 was the first production car) they obviously didn’t do too much research for their article.
