I conducted an experiment on other drivers with my S2000 and my commuter car
07-30-2018, 08:30 AM
#1
Registered User
Thread Starter
I conducted an experiment on other drivers with my S2000 and my commuter car
I thought I'd share this bit of fun I tried over the last 3 months. The basic premise was that I noticed more people driving aggressively around my S2000 than I did with my beater work car or my TSX. Mentioning this to my SO, she said that I was "just more sensitive to people being stupid while I was in the convertible, because it's smaller and more open". I agreed with her hypothesis, to a point, but being the insane person that I am, I wanted data. Plus, it seemed like fun...
The hypothesis: People will drive far more aggressively when I'm driving the S2000 than when I'm in my station wagon. This hypothesis was quantified by counting the number of times I was "tailgated" (cars following closer than approximately 1 car length, their headlights not toally visible), the number of times I was overtaken (this one is obvious), and the number of times I was "acknowledged aggressively" by other drivers (the number of times people at intersections revved their engines or squealed their tires).
Alright, here's the variables:
Car 1: Bone stock 2001 Silverstone S2000. Car is always clean. No stickers. No unusual marks. Nothing to insult other drivers.
Car 2: Bone stock 2001 Subaru Impreza Outback Sport. White. Rusty. Hilarious. 2 stock wings. 1 hood scoop. 2 hood vents. All stock. All amazing. No unusual marks, save for dirt and rust. (Side note, car was purchased for $1500 and I've put 73,000 miles on it; its really amazing for a car to have in the winter in the midwest! Find one before they all turn to dust.)
The location: a 10 mile stretch of straight, flat highway through farmland. 55mph speed limit. Very rural. Constantly patrolled by local law enforcement. Speeding here has been an issue in the past, but not crazy. Most people I've followed keep it in the area of 60mph. Speed on both my cars was always set at 60mph with cruise, and verified through GPS. Always tracked time of day and day of week. Interactions are tagged with that info.
No, this isn't at all truly scientific. Some of it was from memory. Data was recorded in a notebook I'd stuck on the passenger floor.
Things I wished that I'd accounted for: The weather. I didn't track that information, but wish I had. I think it may have been a factor.
May 1-31:
Subaru - Times driven (12 days, morning and afternoon commute. Did not calculate weekends)
Times I was passed: Once, at 7:10am, weekday. Black pickup truck was exceeding the speed limit for quite some time. I picked up his headlights in my rearview at some distance, and he passed me at what appeared to be 75mph plus. I believe he pulled into a factory that is located on this stretch of road. Probably late for work.)
Aggression from other drivers - Zero. Who would rev at this packing peanut of a car?
Tailgated - 4 times. Various vehicles. All in the morning during the week. None passed me, though the highway was free of traffic.
S2000 - (Hoooooooooo boy) Times Driven (10 days, morning and afternoon commute. Did not calculate weekends)
Times I was passed - 5 times. 3 minivans. 1 EP3 generation Civic Si, 1 2008 (approximate) Honda Accord driven by very young woman on a cellphone. Passed 4 times in the afternoon. 1 time in the morning. Curiously, the minivans were all driven by men. I think the stereotype for those is real... The EP3 overtake honestly frightened me. He tried to do an old-school flyby and didn't see the distant oncoming traffic. I was quite angry.
Aggression from other drivers - 4 times. I stopped counting at 4 times. Multiple cars, both domestic and imports, multiple ages. I stopped counting this category after this because I deemed it unfair to the Subaru. Teenagers with fart cannons aren't going to rev at my subaru.
Tailgated - Twice. In the afternoon. One car was a 90s Buick with a handicapped tag, the other a pickup truck.
June 1-30:
Subaru - Times driven (10 days, morning and afternoon commute. Did not calculate weekends)
Passed - Once. Minivan with soccer stickers on it. lol. Morning commute.
Tailgated - Three times. 2 Morning. 1 Afternoon. Old people. Man, old people are scary. Dangerous and scary.
S2000 - Times driven (11 days, morning and afternoon commute. Did not calculate weekends)
Passed - Three times - 1 Morning Commute, minivan. 2 Afternoon, with SO in car, going on a short grocery run. She was not pleased that I asked her to record the incidents in my notebook!
Tailgated - 5 times. All afternoon. Twice on separate days by same car. He never gets up the courage to pass me, but he drives a Ford Ranger, so I can't blame him. Honestly considered taking even more remote roads to avoid the tailgating on this stretch of highway in this car.
July 1-30
Subaru - Times Driven (13 days, morning and afternoon commute. Did not calculate weekends)
Passed - Zero times.
Tailgated - Twice. Nothing remarkable. Again, people trying to get to work quicker than I was driving.
S2000 - Times Driven (8 days, morning and afternoon commute. Did not calculate weekends)
Passed - Twice. Nearly killed by individual in Dodge Challenger than slowed next to me while overtaking and then mashed his throttle while his rear was even with my front. I sensed his tail wagging on the car and did a brake stand. Was alone at the time, and slowed and pulled over to wait on the stupid to leave the area. I hate people that street race. Other time was minivan.
Tailgated - Once. Old man. Again, old people just seem to want company when they drive.
Grand total
Times S2000 was passed in 29 days of driving - 10 times. 2 of which were quite dangerous.
Times Subaru was passed in 35 days of driving - 2 times. None particularly remarkable.
Times S2000 was tailgated in 29 Days of driving - 8 times.
Times Subaru was tailgated in 35 days of driving - 9 times.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Passed - 12 times in 3 months.
Tailgated - 17 times in 3 months.
Conclusion - People love the opportunity to pass the S2000. Men in minivans go out of their way to pass the S2000. Fun story, when I park at the grocery store, I usually park about 70 yards from the entrance next to a planter, way out in the lot away from other car. I don't double park. Top is always up. But sometimes I'm joined by a minivan way out there, which is fine by me, because sliding doors wont leave door dings! I'm sure it's just people who are curious to have a look at the car.
I hope you've enjoyed my last several months work, and if I've ever learned anything from my ownership of this car, it's that
1) It's never to be used to commute
2) I'm finding even more remote roads and
3) Angry drivers can't keep up with it in the twisties, so I'm finding some corners.
The hypothesis: People will drive far more aggressively when I'm driving the S2000 than when I'm in my station wagon. This hypothesis was quantified by counting the number of times I was "tailgated" (cars following closer than approximately 1 car length, their headlights not toally visible), the number of times I was overtaken (this one is obvious), and the number of times I was "acknowledged aggressively" by other drivers (the number of times people at intersections revved their engines or squealed their tires).
Alright, here's the variables:
Car 1: Bone stock 2001 Silverstone S2000. Car is always clean. No stickers. No unusual marks. Nothing to insult other drivers.
Car 2: Bone stock 2001 Subaru Impreza Outback Sport. White. Rusty. Hilarious. 2 stock wings. 1 hood scoop. 2 hood vents. All stock. All amazing. No unusual marks, save for dirt and rust. (Side note, car was purchased for $1500 and I've put 73,000 miles on it; its really amazing for a car to have in the winter in the midwest! Find one before they all turn to dust.)
The location: a 10 mile stretch of straight, flat highway through farmland. 55mph speed limit. Very rural. Constantly patrolled by local law enforcement. Speeding here has been an issue in the past, but not crazy. Most people I've followed keep it in the area of 60mph. Speed on both my cars was always set at 60mph with cruise, and verified through GPS. Always tracked time of day and day of week. Interactions are tagged with that info.
No, this isn't at all truly scientific. Some of it was from memory. Data was recorded in a notebook I'd stuck on the passenger floor.
Things I wished that I'd accounted for: The weather. I didn't track that information, but wish I had. I think it may have been a factor.
May 1-31:
Subaru - Times driven (12 days, morning and afternoon commute. Did not calculate weekends)
Times I was passed: Once, at 7:10am, weekday. Black pickup truck was exceeding the speed limit for quite some time. I picked up his headlights in my rearview at some distance, and he passed me at what appeared to be 75mph plus. I believe he pulled into a factory that is located on this stretch of road. Probably late for work.)
Aggression from other drivers - Zero. Who would rev at this packing peanut of a car?
Tailgated - 4 times. Various vehicles. All in the morning during the week. None passed me, though the highway was free of traffic.
S2000 - (Hoooooooooo boy) Times Driven (10 days, morning and afternoon commute. Did not calculate weekends)
Times I was passed - 5 times. 3 minivans. 1 EP3 generation Civic Si, 1 2008 (approximate) Honda Accord driven by very young woman on a cellphone. Passed 4 times in the afternoon. 1 time in the morning. Curiously, the minivans were all driven by men. I think the stereotype for those is real... The EP3 overtake honestly frightened me. He tried to do an old-school flyby and didn't see the distant oncoming traffic. I was quite angry.
Aggression from other drivers - 4 times. I stopped counting at 4 times. Multiple cars, both domestic and imports, multiple ages. I stopped counting this category after this because I deemed it unfair to the Subaru. Teenagers with fart cannons aren't going to rev at my subaru.
Tailgated - Twice. In the afternoon. One car was a 90s Buick with a handicapped tag, the other a pickup truck.
June 1-30:
Subaru - Times driven (10 days, morning and afternoon commute. Did not calculate weekends)
Passed - Once. Minivan with soccer stickers on it. lol. Morning commute.
Tailgated - Three times. 2 Morning. 1 Afternoon. Old people. Man, old people are scary. Dangerous and scary.
S2000 - Times driven (11 days, morning and afternoon commute. Did not calculate weekends)
Passed - Three times - 1 Morning Commute, minivan. 2 Afternoon, with SO in car, going on a short grocery run. She was not pleased that I asked her to record the incidents in my notebook!
Tailgated - 5 times. All afternoon. Twice on separate days by same car. He never gets up the courage to pass me, but he drives a Ford Ranger, so I can't blame him. Honestly considered taking even more remote roads to avoid the tailgating on this stretch of highway in this car.
July 1-30
Subaru - Times Driven (13 days, morning and afternoon commute. Did not calculate weekends)
Passed - Zero times.
Tailgated - Twice. Nothing remarkable. Again, people trying to get to work quicker than I was driving.
S2000 - Times Driven (8 days, morning and afternoon commute. Did not calculate weekends)
Passed - Twice. Nearly killed by individual in Dodge Challenger than slowed next to me while overtaking and then mashed his throttle while his rear was even with my front. I sensed his tail wagging on the car and did a brake stand. Was alone at the time, and slowed and pulled over to wait on the stupid to leave the area. I hate people that street race. Other time was minivan.
Tailgated - Once. Old man. Again, old people just seem to want company when they drive.
Grand total
Times S2000 was passed in 29 days of driving - 10 times. 2 of which were quite dangerous.
Times Subaru was passed in 35 days of driving - 2 times. None particularly remarkable.
Times S2000 was tailgated in 29 Days of driving - 8 times.
Times Subaru was tailgated in 35 days of driving - 9 times.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Passed - 12 times in 3 months.
Tailgated - 17 times in 3 months.
Conclusion - People love the opportunity to pass the S2000. Men in minivans go out of their way to pass the S2000. Fun story, when I park at the grocery store, I usually park about 70 yards from the entrance next to a planter, way out in the lot away from other car. I don't double park. Top is always up. But sometimes I'm joined by a minivan way out there, which is fine by me, because sliding doors wont leave door dings! I'm sure it's just people who are curious to have a look at the car.
I hope you've enjoyed my last several months work, and if I've ever learned anything from my ownership of this car, it's that
1) It's never to be used to commute
2) I'm finding even more remote roads and
3) Angry drivers can't keep up with it in the twisties, so I'm finding some corners.
The following users liked this post:
DanielB (07-31-2018)
The following users liked this post:
LagunaPearlAP2 (07-30-2018)
07-30-2018, 09:03 AM
#4
Very interesting. A car that I have owned that got the most attention and people wanting to "play" was a 1987 Buick Grand National which was highly modified. I am not a street racer so I ignored most rev attempts and people just wanting to egg me on. Not to say I NEVER humbled anyone but ...
Since owning the Honda, it doesn't get as much attention as my Cobra does in terms of people being aggressive or racy. I have only noticed revs from other imports. Domestic car owners don't seem to care one bit and motorists in general just dismiss it as a little convertible. I occasionally get a wave from another vert so I guess it must be a brotherhood of sorts.
Since owning the Honda, it doesn't get as much attention as my Cobra does in terms of people being aggressive or racy. I have only noticed revs from other imports. Domestic car owners don't seem to care one bit and motorists in general just dismiss it as a little convertible. I occasionally get a wave from another vert so I guess it must be a brotherhood of sorts.
07-30-2018, 09:21 AM
#5
Registered User
Thread Starter
Very interesting. A car that I have owned that got the most attention and people wanting to "play" was a 1987 Buick Grand National which was highly modified. I am not a street racer so I ignored most rev attempts and people just wanting to egg me on. Not to say I NEVER humbled anyone but ...
Since owning the Honda, it doesn't get as much attention as my Cobra does in terms of people being aggressive or racy. I have only noticed revs from other imports. Domestic car owners don't seem to care one bit and motorists in general just dismiss it as a little convertible. I occasionally get a wave from another vert so I guess it must be a brotherhood of sorts.
Since owning the Honda, it doesn't get as much attention as my Cobra does in terms of people being aggressive or racy. I have only noticed revs from other imports. Domestic car owners don't seem to care one bit and motorists in general just dismiss it as a little convertible. I occasionally get a wave from another vert so I guess it must be a brotherhood of sorts.
Mitigating factors for my S2K though, include being super close to the Honda Plant outside of Columbus, among others.... and being one of the few dummies that commutes in their weekend car. lol Oddly, domestics with older owners are always the kindest. Quite a few new NSX owners will always chat with me about the car, too. Of course I’m alwaus more interested in their car than mine. lol
07-30-2018, 09:30 AM
#6
I daily either an S2000 or a 2-door Jeep Wrangler. Less often, I drive an A4 S-Line or a BMW R1200RT.
As far as other drivers making me nervous/acting aggressive- I see more tailgating in the Jeep but it's very easy to ignore. I can't see much of them and have steel bumpers. Definitely am cut-off more in the Jeep. People judge it to be slow/easy to cut in front of, so they do it. I've got a Pedal Commander to make the accelerator curve a lot more "peppy" and it's got 285HP. I've had to jam on my brakes after hitting the gas because some bleep cut in front of me out from a turn-only lane.. more than a few times. I have yet to have someone seriously tailgate me in the S. Once had someone lay on the horn when I didn't take off fast enough then rev their beat up truck engine at the next light. A couple times, people tried to race me (I think) and sped off after I didn't engage. I do agree that people seem to like passing it. On the highway I'm either passing everyone or driving a tad over the speed limit, depending on my mood, so it doesn't bother me much.
Related:
I get the most "gas station" comments on the Jeep, which is slightly modified and always either perfectly shiny or completely muddy, no middle ground. People just walk up and start talking about it, which I find odd since they're insanely common, though the 10th Anniversary is rare. The S turns more heads and is the only vehicle that has gotten shouts of "Cool ride!", etc. from pedestrians. I think usually from people who don't know what it is; I go 2-3 weeks between seeing them around here. I also had a car load of college age kids do a very slow doughnut in front of me and shout "S2000! Do a burnout!" then take a picture. I'm glad my girlfriend was with me, because I'm not sure anyone would have believed it. It was hilarious. I really wish I had whipped out my phone as a camera and shouted back "Oh my god! A nissan altima!!!"
As far as other drivers making me nervous/acting aggressive- I see more tailgating in the Jeep but it's very easy to ignore. I can't see much of them and have steel bumpers. Definitely am cut-off more in the Jeep. People judge it to be slow/easy to cut in front of, so they do it. I've got a Pedal Commander to make the accelerator curve a lot more "peppy" and it's got 285HP. I've had to jam on my brakes after hitting the gas because some bleep cut in front of me out from a turn-only lane.. more than a few times. I have yet to have someone seriously tailgate me in the S. Once had someone lay on the horn when I didn't take off fast enough then rev their beat up truck engine at the next light. A couple times, people tried to race me (I think) and sped off after I didn't engage. I do agree that people seem to like passing it. On the highway I'm either passing everyone or driving a tad over the speed limit, depending on my mood, so it doesn't bother me much.
Related:
I get the most "gas station" comments on the Jeep, which is slightly modified and always either perfectly shiny or completely muddy, no middle ground. People just walk up and start talking about it, which I find odd since they're insanely common, though the 10th Anniversary is rare. The S turns more heads and is the only vehicle that has gotten shouts of "Cool ride!", etc. from pedestrians. I think usually from people who don't know what it is; I go 2-3 weeks between seeing them around here. I also had a car load of college age kids do a very slow doughnut in front of me and shout "S2000! Do a burnout!" then take a picture. I'm glad my girlfriend was with me, because I'm not sure anyone would have believed it. It was hilarious. I really wish I had whipped out my phone as a camera and shouted back "Oh my god! A nissan altima!!!"
Trending Topics
07-30-2018, 10:57 AM
#9
Registered User
Thread Starter
The following users liked this post:
LagunaPearlAP2 (07-30-2018)
07-30-2018, 11:30 AM
#10
It makes a huge difference what vehicle you're in!
My CR-Z gets a lot of big trucks tailgating it (even on freeways with me not being in the fast lane) and of course Integras/Civics trying to race me. People never yield on the freeway when I'm in that car during the day and I have to occasionally pass on the right. The 'Bro-dozers' then accelerate to prevent that but my turbo ensures I speed past them
At night, totally opposite effect and people seem to yield much more effectively. The S2000, funny enough, gets left alone. I assume it's because of the stock exterior and Suzuka Blue paint. The Accord is completely anonymous which is fine. The 'best' car I ever had for driving was my 2002 Acura RL, people simply got out of the way of it especially on the freeway, even more so than in my MDX.
My CR-Z gets a lot of big trucks tailgating it (even on freeways with me not being in the fast lane) and of course Integras/Civics trying to race me. People never yield on the freeway when I'm in that car during the day and I have to occasionally pass on the right. The 'Bro-dozers' then accelerate to prevent that but my turbo ensures I speed past them
At night, totally opposite effect and people seem to yield much more effectively. The S2000, funny enough, gets left alone. I assume it's because of the stock exterior and Suzuka Blue paint. The Accord is completely anonymous which is fine. The 'best' car I ever had for driving was my 2002 Acura RL, people simply got out of the way of it especially on the freeway, even more so than in my MDX.