Honda S2000 (2008 year). Manual - part 1

One of the best ways to enhance the enjoyment of your new vehicle is to
read this manual. In it, you will learn how to operate its driving controls and
convenience items. Afterwards, keep this owner’s manual in your vehicle so
you can refer to it at any time.

Several warranties protect your new vehicle. Read the warranty booklet
thoroughly so you understand the coverages and are aware of your rights
and responsibilities.

As you read this manual, you will
find information that is preceded by
a

symbol. This

information is intended to help you
avoid damage to your vehicle, other
property, or the environment.

Maintaining your vehicle according to the messages shown on the
information display helps to keep your driving trouble-free while it preserves
your investment. When your vehicle needs maintenance, keep in mind that
your dealer’s staff is specially trained in servicing the many systems unique
to your vehicle. Your Honda dealer is dedicated to your satisfaction and will
be pleased to answer any questions and concerns.

Congratulations on your selection of the 2008 Honda S2000. We are certain
you will be pleased with your purchase of one of the most sophisticated and
technologically-advanced sports cars in the world.

Introduction

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California Proposition 65 Warning

This product contains or emits chemicals known to the State of California to cause cancer and birth

defects or other reproductive harm.

Service Diagnostic Recorders
This vehicle is equipped with service-related devices that record information about powertrain performance. The data
can be used to verify emissions law requirements and/or help technicians diagnose and solve service problems. It may
also be combined with data from other sources for research purposes, but it remains confidential.

Event Data Recorders

This data belongs to the vehicle owner and may not be accessed by anyone else

except as legally required or with the permission of the vehicle owner.

Introduction

WARNING:

This vehicle is equipped with one or more devices commonly ref erred to as event data recorders. These
devices record f ront seat belt use, f ront passenger seat occupancy, airbag deployment data, and the f ailure
of any airbag system component.

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−

Your safety, and the safety of others,
is very important. And operating this
vehicle safely is an important
responsibility.

To help you make informed
decisions about safety, we have
provided operating procedures and
other information on labels and in
this manual. This information alerts
you to potential hazards that could
hurt you or others.

Of course, it is not practical or
possible to warn you about all the
hazards associated with operating or
maintaining your vehicle. You must
use your own good judgement.

You will find this important safety information in a variety of forms,
including:

This entire book is filled with important safety information

please read it

carefully.

how to use this vehicle correctly and safely.

such as Driver and Passenger Safety.

such as Important Safety Reminders or Important

Safety Precautions.

These signal words mean:

preceded by a safety alert symbol

and one of

three signal words:

, or

on the vehicle.

Instructions

Saf ety Section

Saf ety Headings

Saf ety Messages

Saf ety Labels

A Few Words About Safety

DANGER WARNING

CAUTION

iii

You CAN be HURT if you don’t follow
instructions.

You CAN be KILLED or SERIOUSLY
HURT if you don’t follow instructions.

You WILL be KILLED or SERIOUSLY
HURT if you don’t follow instructions.

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2008 S2000 Online Reference Owner's Manual

Contents

Owner's Identification Form

Introduction ..........................................................................................................................................................

A Few Words About Safety ..............................................................................................................................

iii

Your Vehicle at a Glance (main controls) ....................................................................................................

Driver and Passenger Safety (seat belts, SRS, and child protection) ....................................................

Instruments and Controls (indicators, gauges, dashboard and steering column) ....................................

Features (heating and cooling ,audio,steering wheel, and cruise control) ......................................................

Before Driving (fuel, vehicle break

in, and cargo loading) ......................................................................

127

Driving (engine and transmission operation) ................................................................................................

143

Maintenance (minder, fluid checking, minor services, and vehicle storage)...........................................

159

Taking Care of the Unexpected (flat tire, dead battery, overheating, fuses) .....................................

199

Technical Information (vehicle specifications, tires, and emissions controls) .......................................

231

Warranty and Customer Relations (U. S. and Canada only) (warranty and contact information) ...

247

Authorized Manuals (U. S. only) (how to order) .........................................................................................

251

Index ............................................................................................................................... ........................................

Service Information Summary

( fluid capacities and tire pressures)

00X31-S2A-6800

A convenient reference to the
sections in this manual.

A quick reference to the main
controls in your vehicle.

Explains the purpose of each
instrument panel indicator and gauge,
and how to use the controls on the
dashboard and steering column.

How to operate the heating and air
conditioning system, the audio
system, and other convenience
features.

What gasoline to use, how to break-
in your new vehicle, and how to load
luggage and other cargo.

The proper way to start the engine,
shift the transmission, and park.

How to order manuals and other
technical literature.

A summary of the information you
need when you pull up to the fuel
pump.

The maintenance minder shows you
when you need to take your vehicle
to the dealer for maintenance service.
There is also a list of things to check
and instructions on how to check
them.

ID numbers, dimensions, capacities,
and technical information.

This section covers several problems
motorists sometimes experience,
and details how to handle them.

A summary of the warranties
covering your new vehicle, and how
to contact us for any reason. Refer to
your warranty manual for detailed
information.

Important information about the
proper use and care of your vehicle’s
seat belts, an overview of the
supplemental restraint system, and
valuable information on how to
protect children with child restraints.

Contents

Your Vehicle at a Glance

Driver and Passenger Saf ety

Instruments and Controls

Features

Bef ore Driving

Driving

Maintenance

Warranty and Customer
Relations
(U.S. and Canada only)

Authorized Manuals
(U.S. only)

Index

Service Inf ormation Summary

Technical Inf ormation

Taking Care of the Unexpected

Overview of Contents

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＊

If equipped

Your Vehicle at a Glance

hicle

Glance

POWER WINDOW
SWITCHES

INSTRUMENT PANEL INDICATORS

GAUGES

PASSENGER AIRBAG OFF INDICATOR

MANUAL
TRANSMISSION

REAR WINDOW DEFOGGER BUTTON

HAZARD WARNING
BUTTON

(P.

)

POWER DOOR
LOCK

(P.

)

DRIVER’S FRONT
AIRBAG

PASSENGER’S FRONT
AIRBAG

(P.

)

(P.

)

AUDIO SYSTEM

ROOF SWITCH

MIRROR
CONTROLS

(P.

(P.

(P.

(P.

(P.

(P.

(P.

(P.

(P.

U.S. S2000 model is shown.

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＊

＊
＊

To use the horn, press the center pad of the steering wheel.
If equipped

2 :

Your Vehicle at a Glance

HOOD RELEASE HANDLE

WINDSHIELD WIPERS/
WASHERS

INSTRUMENT PANEL BRIGHTNESS

VEHICLE STABILITY ASSIST
(VSA) SYSTEM OFF SWITCH

CRUISE BUTTON

HEADLIGHTS/TURN SIGNALS

CRUISE CONTROL
BUTTONS

ENGINE START BUTTON

CLOCK BUTTON

HORN

HEATING/COOLING
CONTROLS

REMOTE AUDIO
CONTROLS

(P.

(P.

(P.

(P.

(P.

(P.

(P.

(P.

(P.

(P.

(P.

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.........

Important Safety Precautions

.......

Your Vehicle’s Safety Features

.......................................

Seat Belts

...........................................

Airbags

.........

Protecting Adults and Teens

.....

. Close and Lock the Doors

......................

. Adjust the Seats

............

. Adjust the Seat-Backs

. Fasten and Position the

.............................

Seat Belts

. Maintain a Proper Sitting

................................

Position

.....

Advice for Pregnant Women

...

Additional Safety Precautions .

Additional Information About

.......................

Your Seat Belts

Seat Belt System Components .

......................

Lap/Shoulder Belt

Automatic Seat Belt

...............................

Tensioners

...............

Seat Belt Maintenance

Additional Information About Your

.....................................

Airbags

......

Airbag System Components

...........

How Your Airbags Work

How the SRS Indicator Works .

How the Passenger Airbag Off

......................

Indicator Works

.............................

Airbag Service

...

Additional Safety Precautions .

Protecting Children

General

................................

Guidelines

All Children Must Be

...............................

Restrained

Your Vehicle is Not

Recommended for Child

..........................

Passengers

The Passenger’s Airbag

.........

Can Pose Serious Risks

...

Additional Safety Precautions .

.............

Protecting Small Children

.....................

Selecting a Child Seat

....................

Installing a Child Seat

...........

Protecting Larger Children

...............

Checking Seat Belt Fit

..................

Using a Booster Seat

When Can a Larger Child Ride

........................

in This Vehicle

...

Additional Safety Precautions .

.............

Carbon Monoxide Hazard

...................................

Safety Labels

This section gives you important
information about how to protect
yourself and your passenger. It
shows you how to use seat belts
properly. It explains how your
airbags work, and it tells you how to
properly restrain children in your
vehicle.

Driver and Passenger Safety

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You’ll find many safety
recommendations throughout this
section, and throughout this manual.
The recommendations on this page
are the ones we consider to be the
most important.

A seat belt is your best protection in
all types of collisions. Airbags are
designed to supplement seat belts,
not replace them. So even though
your vehicle is equipped with airbags,
make sure you and your passenger
always wear your seat belts, and
wear them properly (see page

Since all children are safest in the
back seat of a vehicle, and your
vehicle does not have a back seat, we
recommend that you do not carry a
child passenger.

Excessive speed is a major factor in
crash injuries and deaths. Generally,
the higher the speed, the greater the
risk, but serious injuries can also
occur at lower speeds. Never drive
faster than is safe for current
conditions, regardless of the
maximum speed posted.

Having a tire blowout or a
mechanical failure can be extremely
hazardous. To reduce the possibility
of such problems, check your tire
pressures and condition frequently,
and perform all regularly scheduled
maintenance (see page

If an older child must ride in this
vehicle, follow all child safety
instructions and warnings in this
manual (see pages

While airbags can save lives, they
can cause serious or fatal injuries to
occupants who sit too close to them,
or are not properly restrained.
Infants, young children, and short
adults are at the greatest risk. Be
sure to follow all instructions and
warnings in this manual.

Alcohol and driving don’t mix. Even
one drink can reduce your ability to
respond to changing conditions, and
your reaction time gets worse with
every additional drink. So don’t drink
and drive, and don’t let your friends
drink and drive, either.

161

Important Safety Precautions

Always Wear Your Seat Belt

Your Vehicle is Not
Recommended f or Child
Passengers

Control Your Speed

Keep Your Vehicle in Saf e
Condition

Be Aware of Airbag Hazards

Don’t Drink and Drive

Never carry an inf ant in a rear-f acing
child seat in this vehicle.

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Your vehicle is equipped with many
features that work together to
protect you and your passenger
during a crash.

Some features do not require any
action on your part. These include a
strong steel framework that forms a
safety cage around the passenger
compartment; front and rear crush
zones, a collapsible steering column;
and tensioners that tighten the seat
belts in a crash.

However, you and your passenger
can’t take full advantage of these
features unless you remain sitting in
a proper position and

. In fact, some safety

features can contribute to injuries if
they are not used properly.

The following pages explain how you
can take an active role in protecting
yourself and your passenger.

Your Vehicle’s Safety Features

always wear

your seat belts

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(8)

(1)

(9)

(3)

(4)

(7)

(6)

(2)

(5)

(2)

(8)

(1) Safety Cage
(2) Crush Zones
(3) Seats and Seat-Backs
(4) Head Restraints
(5) Collapsible Steering Column
(6) Seat Belts
(7) Seat Belt Tensioners
(8) Front Airbags
(9) Door Locks

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Your vehicle is equipped with seat
belts in both seating positions.

Keep you from being thrown out
of the vehicle.

Help keep you in a good position
should the airbags ever deploy. A
good position reduces the risk of
injury from an inflating airbag and
allows you to get the best
advantage from the airbag.

Of course, seat belts cannot
completely protect you in every
crash. But in most cases, seat belts
can reduce your risk of serious
injury.

Seat belts have proven to be the
single most effective safety device
for adults and larger children.

Not wearing a seat belt properly
increases the chance of serious
injury or death in a crash, even
though your vehicle has airbags.

In addition, most states and all
Canadian provinces require you to
wear seat belts.

When properly worn, seat belts:

Keep you connected to the vehicle
so you can take advantage of the
vehicle’s built-in safety features.

Help protect you in almost every
type of crash, including frontal,
side, and rear impacts and
rollovers.

Always wear

your seat belt, and make sure you
wear it properly.

Help keep you from being thrown
against the inside of the vehicle
and against a passenger.

Your seat belt system also includes
an indicator on the instrument panel
and a beeper to remind you and your
passengers to fasten your seat belts.

Your Vehicle’s Safety Features

Seat Belts

Why Wear Seat Belts

What you should do:

Not wearing a seat belt properly
increases the chance of serious
injury or death in a crash, even
though your vehicle has airbags.

Be sure you and your
passenger always wear seat
belts and wear them properly.

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Your vehicle has a supplemental
restraint system (SRS) with front
airbags to help protect the heads and
chests of the driver and a passenger
during a moderate to severe frontal
collision (see page

for more

information on how your airbags
work).

The most important things you need
to know about your airbags are:

They are designed to supplement
the seat belts.

Always wear

your seat belt properly, and sit
upright and as far back from the
steering wheel as possible while
allowing full control of the vehicle. A
passenger should move the seat as
far back from the dashboard as
possible.

The rest of this section gives more
detailed information about how you
can maximize your safety.

Remember, however, that no safety
system can prevent all injuries or
deaths that can occur in a severe
crash, even when seat belts are
properly worn and the airbags deploy.

To do their job, airbags must
inflate with tremendous force. So
while airbags help save lives, they
can cause minor injuries or more
serious or even fatal injuries if
occupants are not properly
restrained or sitting properly.

Your Vehicle’s Safety Features

Airbags

Airbags do not replace seat belts.

What you should do:

Airbags of f er no protection in side
impacts, rear impacts, rollovers,
or minor f rontal collisions.

Airbags can pose serious hazards.

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Adjust the driver’s seat as far to the
rear as possible while allowing you to
maintain full control of the vehicle.
Have a passenger adjust his or her
seat as far to the rear as possible.

Locking the doors reduces the
chance of someone being thrown out
of the vehicle during a crash, and it
helps prevent a passenger from
accidentally opening a door and
falling out.

Locking the doors also helps prevent
an outsider from unexpectedly
opening a door when you come to a
stop.

See page

for how to lock the

doors, and page

for how the door-

open indicator works.

If you sit too close to the steering
wheel or dashboard, you can be
seriously injured by an inflating front
airbag, or by striking the steering
wheel or dashboard.

The following pages provide
instructions on how to properly
protect the driver, an adult
passenger or teenage child large
enough and mature enough to drive
or ride in your vehicle. See pages

for important guidelines on

how to properly protect a child in a
forward-facing child seat or a larger
child passenger.

Your vehicle has door and trunk
open indicators on the instrument
panel to indicate when either door or
the trunk is not tightly closed.

After everyone has entered the
vehicle, be sure the doors are closed
and locked.

Protecting Adults and Teens

Adjust the Seats

Introduction

Close and Lock the Doors

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Adjust the driver’s seat-back to a
comfortable, upright position,
leaving ample space between your
chest and the airbag cover in the
center of the steering wheel.

The National Highway Traffic Safety
Administration and Transport
Canada recommend that drivers
allow at least 10 inches (25 cm)
between the center of the steering
wheel and the chest.

A passenger should also adjust their
seat-back to a comfortable, upright
position.

If you cannot get far enough away
from the steering wheel and still
reach the controls, we recommend
that you investigate whether some
type of adaptive equipment may help.

Once your seat is adjusted correctly,
rock it back and forth to make sure
the seat is locked in position.

See page

for how to adjust the

seats.

CONTINUED

Protecting Adults and Teens

Adjust the Seat-Backs

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Sitting too close to a front
airbag can result in serious
injury or death if the front
airbags inflate.

Always sit as far back from the
front airbags as possible.

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Position the lap part of the belt as
low as possible across your hips,
then pull up on the shoulder part of
the belt so the lap part fits snugly.
This lets your strong pelvic bones
take the force of a crash and reduces
the chance of internal injuries.

Insert the latch plate into the buckle,
then tug on the belt to make sure the
belt is securely latched. Check that
the belt is not twisted, because a
twisted belt can cause serious
injuries in a crash.

Reclining a seat-back so that the
shoulder part of the belt no longer
rests against the occupant’s chest
reduces the protective capability of
the belt. It also increases the chance
of sliding under the belt in a crash
and being seriously injured. The
farther a seat-back is reclined, the
greater the risk of injury.

See page

for how to adjust the

seat-backs.

Protecting Adults and Teens

Fasten and Position the Seat
Belts

Reclining the seat-back too far
can result in serious injury or
death in a crash.

Adjust the seat-back to an
upright position, and sit well
back in the seat.

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Sitting improperly can increase the
chance of injury during a crash. For
example, if an occupant slouches,
lies down, turns sideways, sits
forward, leans forward or sideways,
or puts one or both feet up, the
chance of injury during a crash is
greatly increased.

After occupants have adjusted their
seats and put on seat belts, it is very
important that they continue to sit
upright, well back in their seats, with
their feet on the floor, until the
vehicle is parked and the engine is
off.

See page

for additional

information about your seat belts
and how to take care of them.

Using a seat

belt that is not working properly can
result in serious injury or death.
Have your dealer check the belt as
soon as possible.

If a seat belt does not seem to work
properly, it may not protect the
occupant in a crash.

This could cause

very serious injuries in a crash.

If necessary, pull up on the shoulder
belt again to remove any slack, then
check that the belt rests across the
center of your chest and over your
shoulder. This spreads the forces of
a crash over the strongest bones in
your upper body.

CONTINUED

Protecting Adults and Teens

Maintain a Proper Sitting
Position

No one should sit in a seat with an
inoperative seat belt.

Never place the shoulder portion of a
lap/shoulder belt under your arm or
behind your back.

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Improperly positioning the seat
belts can cause serious injury
or death in a crash.

Make sure all seat belts are
properly positioned before
driving.

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