to "S" owners- how clunky should it be?

[kenkamm]

I drove an S2000 for a year before buying a 986 S. The initial impression from just about anyone regarding the S2000 tranny is that it's the best thing since sliced bread, except for perhaps the miata. The long term impression for many is quite different, me included. It is a very light effort unit, like the miata, and a lot of that comes from the fact that it doesn't have to handle much torque. The less torque the engine produces, the lighter the effort will tend to be because everything in the tranny can be smaller and lighter duty. So, one would expect something like a Boxster S to require more effort to shift. The flip side of that is that the S2000 tranny feels fragile, and it is. Troll around on s2ki.com for a while and read about the high wear rate of the synchros... the crunching into 2nd gear due to light-duty synchros... the recommendation not to do 3rd-to-6th gear changes because of the splines on the shafts rounding off... all of this increasing shift effort over time and causing one to have to be very careful about shifting too quickly and getting the "crunch." Many S2000s that are not new have the "dreaded 1-2 crunch."

So IMO, the S2000 tranny is harder to use properly than the Boxster unit, by a mile.

Personally, after worrying about that for a year, I am very happy with the feel of the Boxster unit, because it feels substantial, rugged and easy to use.

Ken

[Perfectlap]

Well the 986S gear box was not intended to be coupled with tbe Boxster engine.
Kind of an after thought, let's take the Carrera six speed gearbox and stick in the Boxster. I think the differing and wide ranging opinions on the B&M short shifter bolster this opinon as nearly every Carrera owner sees an immediate improvement with a short shifter while BoxsterS owners seemed very mixed.
It's crunchy and noisy but I much prefer it to only having 5 gears.

THere's no comparing anything to the S2000, like a precise bolt action rifle.
But you're paying for it. An S2000 is now creeping over $35K and they still look
like...well an s2000. Compare that to the 1993 Boxster concept car which still looks great today.


I had a miata and I wouldn't trade that gear box for my clunking 6 speed for even a day. That darn thing was notchy as hell. I played with all flavors of Redline fluid and sometimes it was smooth (when the it got hot) and sometimes it was like
cracking walnuts. The best improvement came when I replaced the shift boot, snick, snick, snick. Too bad I sold the car the next day.

[AUDIOGUY]

I dont mind mine so much.. it is a little notchy when cold but otherwise pretty nice. My prior BMW M roadsters gear box was definately better. I drive S2000s all the time as I work at a Honda Collision Center and typically dont like the cold feeling aluminum shift nob. It doesnt feel very connective with the car. The shifter is short and accurate though.

By the way Perfectlap, I would have bought that concept design in a heartbeat!
That thing is awesome looking!

[wanna986]

So the consensus is, "yeah, it's not the best but...redline will help!"
Good enough for me, I just wanted to be reassured there wasn't anything "wrong". I never thought I'd call my fox body Mustang's 5 speed smooth, though.
Thanks, all.