the s2k blog

My last car was an Acura Integra and I drove that thing everywhere. I live in the Los Angeles area, and I drove it to San Francisco a few times, San Diego multiple times and Las Vegas more times than I can count. The car was very reliable and got great gas mileage and I put almost 20,000 miles a year on it.

With the Integra gone and my s2000 my daily driver, I’m still only putting about 10,000 miles on it a year. San Diego is about the furthest I’ve driven it, and road trips usually are done in the wife’s Accord now. Since it’s only a two-seater, if there’s more than 3 people going somewhere we usually take someone else’s car. If we’re ever going somewhere where I know there’s going to be terrible parking or if we’re going to a shady area I also would rather not have my S with me. Of course I enjoy the S more than any car I’ve ever owned, but yeh, I do a lot less driving with it.

How many miles do you put on your S a year?

It seems that around the holidays bad drivers get even worse. So to vent my rage, I thought I’d list my top 10 pet peeves of bad drivers.

1. Drivers that don’t use their turn signals, and drivers that leave them on.

2. Drivers that don’t have their headlights or fog lights aimed properly and end up pointing right at eye-level.

3. Drivers that toss their cigarettes out the window, I’m in a convertible damnit!

4. Drivers that cut in front of me and immediately brake because of traffic or a red light.

5. Drivers that make illegal left turns against heavy traffic that back up the lane until they can make their illegal turn.

6. Drivers that have squealing alternator or other worn belts, and drivers that don’t change their brake pads even when the warning indicator is scraping.

7. Drivers that park door-dingingly close to you.

8. Drivers whose car coughs out black smoke in between every gear.

9.Drivers that use their brake for no reason on the freeway (usually automatic drivers)

10. Drivers that blast loud music and don’t have the courtesy to turn it down a notch at a stop light.

/Rant

I usually only listen to MP3 CDs in my Pioneer head unit in my s2000, but the other day when I tried to listen to a regular, store-bought CD, it would skip if there was the slightest jolt that lasted more than a few seconds, like crossing a lane that has those warning bumps that divide the lanes. I assume the reason that I can play MP3 CDs and not standard music CDs is that the buffer is much larger while playing MP3s since their file size is that much smaller, but I used to listen to music CDs when this head unit was in my G3 Acura Integra, which rode pretty rough on a 2.5″ drop and tires with a lower profile than the s.

So is the ride really that rough in the s2000 that the standard audio buffer on a Pioneer HU isn’t enough to handle it? I’ve become completely accustomed to the ride, although my wife’s Accord is noticeably more comfortable and plush.

Here in California, 91 octane gasoline is flirting dangerously close with $5/gallon and today my fill-up cost a whopping $50.54! While there’s nothing I can really do about the price of fuel, my driving habits have a big effect on how efficient my mileage is. The problem is that the s2000 is too fun to drive hard, and I just can’t drive it efficiently. If i drive 65mph on the freeway and always keep my revs around 4k, I can get as much as 260 miles per tank. However, I very often shift near redline and drive 80-90mph on the freeway. Hard driving usually nets me only about 210 miles per tank, an almost 20% decrease in fuel efficiency. If gasoline prices go much higher, I might be forced to drive the car a little less hard, but if that happens, is there really any point in even keeping it?

The S is the first rear-wheel drive car that I’ve owned, and the few rainy days I’ve been out in it have been pretty nerve wracking. Any hard drop into a gear gives that fish-tail feeling. I’m not sure how much the wheels are breaking, but it’s enough to feel uncomfortable and shift very smoothly to prevent it. The rain on the soft top is also really noisy. It’s pretty much the same as just having an umbrella over your head, but it is completely water-tight, both at speed and while parked. It doesn’t rain very often at all here in Southern California so it’s not an issue I’ll have to deal with often, and I’ll just be extra careful in the future.