So, as long as everything goes according to plan, I should be going back to VA this weekend to purchase an S2000. Here's the thing. This is my first manual car, and my first RWD car.

I know how to drive stick. My friends let me drive their cars. I'm by no means great at it, but I'm good enough to get around town w/out stalling, etc. My question is, will it be safe to drive it 900 miles back from VA to IL 2 days after getting the S2000?

I'm gonna spend those two days in VA doing nothing but driving. Getting acquainted w/ the clutch, feel of the car, adjusting to RWD, getting a feel for the oversteer, getting used to the blind spots, playing it all safe until I feel comfortable. Do you think I can get a good enough feel to make it back to IL? I of course would not be speeding on the way back or anything like that. I'd be taking it easy, just cruising along. No aggressive driving my any means.

Thanks in advance for any advice.

 

one thing to keep in mind is the weather !

idk how it is in VA but here in NJ its sooooo cold ! negative temperatures this week.

I'm assuming that you are buying this car new, so I'm sure it wont have winter tires. New to RWD + summer tires/all seasons in cold weather is not a good idea.

But if the weather is not a problem, you should be fine.

As long as you take it easy on the car, like you said.

Either way good luck and congrats!

 

yeah, the only problem i would worry about would be weather. i've done the trip to chicago and back to va. about 4 times. i was blessed with very nice weather....cold sometimes, but no snow. especially going through pa., if you hit snow, thats gonna be horrible. try to check to weather before you leave. your gonna be doing a lot of highway driving, so the whole 'stick' issue, shouldnt be too bad. good luck

 

i did the same thing almost 2 years ago (wow it's been that long already!)...flew down to texas and drove it back to chicago. this is my 2nd manual car, but first RWD. had absolutely no problems driving back, but this was early march, and we'd hit a warm spell so it was about 60F in IL.

however, seeing as the temperature has been in the negatives this last week...you need to be very, very careful driving when you get back to this area. in fact, i'd probably say don't even try it w/o winter tires unless the temps get back up a bit. in the last 2 weeks i think i've seen around 5+ "accident/spun-out in winter on summer tires" threads. look around s2k talk and upper midwest to see for yourself.

other than that, good luck w/the purchase! i love this car.

 

I actually did this last week!! I drove mine from Arkansas back here to northern Indiana. As was said before, the biggest thing is planning whether or not the conditions will be ok for the drive. I did a little planning and got a lot of luck on my side so that the entire trip was sunny with occasional flurries. No snow on the road. I found that driving it on the RE050's for a long time on the interstate got a little heat in them and seemed to help them, but for the first 20 miles be especially careful. I stopped for a break and the tires cooled. When I went to enter the interstate on-ramp, the back end did a little slide, but vsa & I caught it. (I'd like to think that it was mostly me that caught it ). I was nervous about the trip from everyone on here stating to not drive on them below 40 deg. But they seemed to handle ok in the dry as long as I left lots of room between me and everyone else and never entered vtec. Basically drive like a grandma going to sunday mass and you'll be ok.

 

it wasnt.

 

I've been trying to get into an S for a while now, so I'd like to finally get into it this weekend. But I'm thinking I might wait till I get back from my trip to Europe in March. I get back around the 19th, so by then, it would hopefully be considerably warmer than it has been over the last few days.

The only catch is, I know prices start to go up as it gets warmer out, think waiting another month will have a big impact on that?

 

i dont think the summer would have a toll on the price, but may make finding an S a little bit harder.

 

I sent you e-mail inquring whether or not you were still interested in my s2k in virginia beach. I'm still asking 14.5 and planning to sell before I go on my detachment at end of feb. And in response to your post I think you'll be fine. The s2k was my first car with a stick shift and I had some good experience driving my buddy's cars etc. We have'nt had any snow in va beach so driving is'nt bad. Like everyone else said though make sure you check whether conditions through every state you plan to travel through that weekend.

 

If it is new, break it in proper. NO CONSTANT SPEEDS FOR HOURS AT A TIME!