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WOW, my friend drive his Audi 5000CSTQ at Watkins Glen every year with the Quattro Club. What is that white thing in the radiator opening in the front of your car? Looks like a stuffed animal of some kind. Is that just a roll bar or is it a full roll cage? I like the camera mount you have.
Most of your questions have already been answered, but I'll respond to a couple anyway.
My S2k is my DD, tho I have another (and will have three by the end of this weekend). My drive to and from downtown Louisville, KY is not much diff. than yours. It has never seemed to be anything other than a fun trip w/ the S2k. I look for excuses to go out in it just because it is soooo much fun.
As to roominess or lack of same, I've had an Austin Healy 3000, a TR-3A and others.
They all had more trunk room than this one, but it still is not a problem. I use soft-sided luggage and I've taken at least five long trips (more than 500 miles one way).
True - you can't take the kitchen sink, but you can take enough. Of course, you can always get a removable luggage rack. Go here if you are interested. http://www.classic-carriers.nl/
As to the car having two personalities; that is true. Below 6k rpm it is like a Honda Civic Si, which is not bad anyway. Above 6k, it is ear to ear grins. So, if you've driven anything like the Civic Si in traffic w/ a manual tranny, then you know what you are getting into. I've never found it to be a problem, even in the worst bumper-to-bumper traffic.
Sure I like to drive mine every day, but it is far to impracticle for life as a family man and home owner. Every chance I get I'll drive the S but I'd say 70% of the time I find myself driving the CRV or 4Runner, not becuase I want to, but the situation requires it. If trunk/passenger space is of little concern then go for it, but if you need a vehicle to do many things then opt for something else.
My S is strictly used for pleasure. With the top down, the cd boomin (Thanks JLAudio) and a trip through the twisties, I can't imagine it to be any better than this.
We do have a custom made roll bar in the car (not a cage). It meets the SCCA specs for size, 2" above helmet, mounting points and cross bracing and still allows for the top to go up and down. As far as running with the top up, we found that the car has a higher top speed with the top up so when we run at tracks with long straights like Watkins Glen and MIS we leave it up. When we do tight tracks like Blackhawk Farms and Sandia Motorsports Park, we leave it down. However, as you might have guessed, it's a lot more fun to run with the top down! The cat in the front bumper is Iwaguf. (That's Fugawi spelled backwards...) He's there in memory of a cat that we hit one night in New York 2 years ago. (see picture) This year, we hit an armadillo. Looks like it's time for another mascot...
