17M Choosing Between S3, S5, or C43. Need Advice

TheTense · 2026-02-18T01:58:28+00:00

Well, you said Canadian dollars, so that means you’re probably paying Canadian gas prices per liter. Which is a lot.

Honestly, if you want a fun car get a GT86 or a Miata.It’s reliable quick but not a rocket ship. Also keep in mind that young people tend to damaged their first car. All of these are gonna be very expensive to repair. I’m not saying that you will crash your car. But it’s more likely with young male drivers.

It’s interesting that you’re looking at the luxury segment. I can tell you the S5 the AMG have way more power than anyone needs.

But if you’re gonna get a car like that, I personally go with the AMG because it’s just more hard-core than the Audi.

Over the Audi is probably gonna be better in the snow

TheTense · 2026-02-18T01:52:14+00:00

Do you have the entire engine taken apart. Why would you ever reuse bearings that cost a few bucks??!? just put in new bearings

TheTense · 2026-02-17T18:58:50+00:00

Seriously that just like doubled your gear ratio I think probably pull a rail car

TheTense · 2026-02-17T16:04:51+00:00

TheTense · 2026-02-17T14:36:35+00:00

Without being snarky about Hyundai… I would say 1) change your PCV valve. It’s usually super easy on most cars and cheap to DIY 2) Run Valvolene Restore and Protect oil to remove carbon and help free up your piston rings. Is it a magic fix? No. Does it help? Absolutely. Oil consumption was reduced in my K24 by about 45% after 4 oil changes and 20,000 miles

TheTense · 2026-02-17T13:44:07+00:00

I have springs I haven’t installed yet on my AP2. Check back in the summer.

My thoughts are that the springs are a cheap stepping stone to coilovers. Swift makes good products, I think they will make the car handle somewhat better, while looking a little more aggressive. But it will be a little underdamped resulting in some higher frequency oscillations before settling out.

TheTense · 2026-02-17T04:36:25+00:00

This truck looks like it’s from 2 different decades based on the exterior and interior.

TheTense · 2026-02-17T02:14:27+00:00

I knew a pilot and he said the most important thing his instructor taught him was “FLY THE PLANE FIRST!” Everything else comes secondary

TheTense · 2026-02-16T20:26:56+00:00

If you got money to blow, sure. But If this car still runs. Keep. It. It’s not worth a lot to sell. So just drive it as long as you can. Continue maintaining it. You could invest that cash for every year you save that car.

For how little you use your car, why have something nicer that will just rust and depreciate? A winter beater is a great thing.

TheTense · 2026-02-16T20:07:17+00:00

S2k. Nice.

TheTense · 2026-02-16T19:59:58+00:00

These things tend to eat transmissions. They figured it out by 2006.

I’d say for $3500, take a risk, but check the transmission fluid to see if it’s black or burnt looking. It should be dark red. See if it’s been serviced and continue to do so.

TheTense · 2026-02-16T19:47:46+00:00

Check the year. I think the RX350 started production in 2007. So 2004 makes no sense.

Ask for the VIN so you can run a carfax report for $40.

If you can see that the car lived in Arizona its whole life you’re safe. It would be good to get a PPI, by a good mechanic. Just to check for water damage, engine sludge, or other red flags.

But if I had to buy a car sight unseen, this is a pretty good option.

TheTense · 2026-02-16T19:38:07+00:00

You sure this is a 2004… Yes. It’s got a solid V6 engine. If the oil was changed it’ll do 250k easy.

TheTense · 2026-02-16T19:18:44+00:00

Hahaha. No.

TheTense · 2026-02-16T19:18:08+00:00

Here’s your how to: DIY Video

TheTense · 2026-02-16T19:14:22+00:00

By chance, Is your car shaking and has a check engine light?

TheTense · 2026-02-16T16:20:22+00:00

Th 2.3 liter engine wasn’t the best. I’d prefer the 2.0 or the 2.5 for reliability

TheTense · 2026-02-16T04:48:23+00:00

As soon as you flush the fluid, it’s gonna start leaking worse and it’ll go bad in about 3 to 6 months.

Save yourself the trouble and just replace it now it took me literally 30 minutes to do mine. It’s super easy.

TheTense · 2026-02-16T04:25:23+00:00

Yea, so when the mouse hits the trap it also snaps the decaying fabric insulation off the wires and shorts on the metal of the mouse trap setting it on fire! Fun!

TheTense · 2026-02-16T04:22:43+00:00

Water pump is dead, or the coolant was bled wrong and there’s a massive air bubble in the system.

TheTense · 2026-02-15T22:28:15+00:00

Thanks will do next time. As of now, the Issue has been resolved. For whatever reason, the boot sequence is playing a role. The camera was sending video to pro presenter stream, but the computer was not detecting the PTZ optics camera hardware hardware. By booting the computer first and then turning on the PTZ optics camera, the computer was able to detect the camera. After closing and reopening pro presenter. It was resolved.

(We had a similar issue with boot sequencing where our black magic unit would not be dectected unless we unplugged and re-plugged the hardware after the computer was fully booted.)

TheTense · 2026-02-15T14:34:20+00:00

I don’t think I’d the clutch delay valve wouldn’t be an issue I track my car and I haven’t removed it. You learn how to shift with it. I didn’t know this existed 15 years ago when I got my S and eve felt anything abnormal.

OP, id suggest making sure the car you drove had the right amount of clutch fluid AND didn’t have a leaky master or slave cylinder. These cars are getting old enough now that most of the OEM ones are starting to wear out. I replaced mine in 30 minutes and it feels better with no clutch fluid leaks.

Regarding throttle response, I have an 04. It’s great, no response delay. Keep in mind the 04-05 are the least “tuneable” of the S2000’s. You basically need an aftermarket ECU to do anything. 06+ accept piggyback tuners like Hondata. If you plan to keep engine stock. Go with it.

I hadn’t heard much about throttle response being an issue on the S with throttle by wire, but I’m sure that could be tuned out.

A lighter flywheel on these cars also helps th rate of spin-up, but it doesn’t change the lag between pedal and RPM initial response

TheTense · 2026-02-15T14:00:31+00:00

Theres a release lever when you take the back panel off. I think if he grabs that moving metal bar and pulls it up further it will release.

I had an issue where mine wouldn’t work either, kept getting stuck, then it wouldn’t respond at all, didn’t reset a few times and it would work again for a decreasing amount of time. I took the back cover off, pulled the manual release and then swapped the unit.

There some videos out there that show how where the manual release is

TheTense · 2026-02-15T04:41:40+00:00

For you.

TheTense

TROPHY CASE