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According to google maps, Sterling, CO is about 850 miles from my place in IL. It was on my way to California. That was the first trip I took in my S2000.
Did that on Recaros and KWV3's. No soreness or fatigue. Just finally stopped in Sterling because I wanted to see the rest of CO during the day.
Myrtle beach is like 950 miles. That was trip#2.
Did both those non stop (except gas and fast food) in my S2000.
That's not the single longest non-stop leg I've done in any car - I've done Vegas to Chicago in a Civic non-stop.
Out of all the road trips I've done over the years, I've found that approximately 20-24hrs non-stop is my limit before it stops being fun. As long as I get ~5+hrs of sleep the night prior.
As the S is my daily driver and only car for 14 years, 11 of which were in Los Angeles, I never let some fatigue get in the way of a good drive, and I love to go for a good drive. In the early years I tracked the car a lot, mostly the big track at Willow Springs and it took a few events (which usually are all weekend) for my body to break down and accept the long hard drives...if any of you were in the military, to me this is similar to snapping in at the rifle range, you have to break your body to get it to 'learn' (muscle memory) to just accept those difficult positions. So since I'm doing something I love I just suck it up!
Two years ago I took a sabbatical for 1.5 years and drove around the country, 30,000 miles and 18 states were covered. I was a driving machine and averaging 400-500 miles a day but it required high concentration driving through mountains, canyons, desert, twisties... I was just hellbent on exploring and driving the car to the max at times. Here are 3 of my top memorable 'long' stretches that meet the requirements of this discussion:
3. Bozeman, MT to Salt Lake City - 14 hours, 500+ miles, but I drove through Yellowstone (Old Faithful is actually always late), the Tetons and skirted the entire western side of Wyoming which are nothing but endless back roads surrounded by blue skies and golden fields of grass.
2. Black Hills, SD, 3 days approx 1,500 miles. Black HIlls are amazing and I covered 90-95% of the roads up in there for three straight days.
1. Prescott, AZ to Canton, MI - 1,973 miles, 31 hours straight driving...yes, 31 straight hours in the S2000, Aside from gas stops, I only also stopped once for an hour to sleep, and another 30 minute nap later on, I would say the S is not really easy to sleep in even when really tired. I took the southern route through Indiana so the drive was even longer, I was actually sore for 2-3 days after this but because I was in that sports car driving position for so long.
I have more stamina then common sense sometimes but I would love to try and do an endurance race, I think I got the chops for it!
I have found only 3 cars I can drive long distances without developing pain, The S2000, the Triumph TR7 & the TR8. in anything else aches develop.
I do find the S2000 more tiring however. In Oz our 100 Km/H, [62 MPH] speed limit on most roads is seriously enforced. The S2000 is most comfortable cruising some 10 to 15 MPH higher than this. It takes some concentration to keep her down to the speed limit. This combined with the very sharp, direct steering, great in the twisties, requires more concentration on long slow straights. The TR7 just kind of waffles down the road so gently it requires very little concentration, & can cover many miles requiring little from the driver.
That said, I still find the S2000 much more pleasant than any of the larger vehicles for long distance traveling.
This thread had me reminiscing of my year and half on the road and have to include this insane leg of the trip:
Prescott, AZ (Iron Mountain) to Westwood / Santa Monica, CA - 404 miles and then back (another 404 miles)... in one day. This also included stopping at 5 different locations on the West Side of LA as I had to conduct some business like close a bank account and see a doctor. Left at about 4 A.M. and got back around 1145 P.M. covering almost 900 miles.
11-15-2018, 03:04 PM
