Rad Ray

I'm planning a trip from Clearwater, FL across the south and then northwest to Crater Lake National Park with stops at parks and interesting sites in between. The return trip is planned for across the northern Rockies, through the Great Plains, and then south to Corolla, NC. After a few days there, it's back down to Clearwater. I'd appreciate any tips in regards to planning, places to visit, preparing the S2000, maximum miles to drive per day (without being too tired to drive the next day - LOL), etc. Thanks in advance for any suggestions!

MrFunk

Awesome!!

Car Phone Charger
Case of water in trunk (12 mini bottles)
Lots of breaks. I personally don't like to do more than 10 hours in a day - but if this is a week long trip you may want to try and reduce it to a max of 6 per day. I will stop once every 2 hours at most for a leak or to stretch the legs.
Ideal full fluids & filter refresh prior... but at the minimum an oil change.
Tires - inspect (make sure you don't have any screws or small nails. Bring a tire pressure gauge. Check spare tire.
Battery condition? Good?
Small bottle of interior cleaner and a couple towels for interior cleaning (spilled coffee etc).
1 quart of extra oil in trunk.

Conedodger

• Pack clothes in plastic grocery bags and squeeze the air out to make more space before adding them to a soft duffel bag.
• Don't over pack clothing...plan a down day to do some laundry and relax.
• Pack a small "hotel bag" so you don't have to empty your trunk and haul a bunch of crap into the hotel every evening.
• If you plan to visit a bunch of National Parks, consider purchasing an annual pass. It might be cheaper than paying individually at each park.
• Keep a hat and a camera under the seat for easy access.
• Keep suntan lotion handy.
• An aerosol can of windshield cleaner and a roll of paper towels are your friends. (Aerosol packs easier than a pump bottle and there is less chance for leakage.)
• A small soft collapsible 6-pack cooler is handy. (Packs flat, but can be made available for a day of exploring.)
• Ear plugs can take away some of the drone of a long day on the road.

My wife and I did a 2-week trip in the S2000 from NY to Yellowstone, then Glacier National Park and back with stops at many parks and points of interest in between. That was 7 years ago and it was one of our most memorable vacations.

Conedodger

CMK

Home Depot sells small aerosol cans of Spray Way Glass Cleaner for like $2. Best stuff you can get.

Car Analogy

Plan weight of packed items carefully. There are stories of guys making sure everything FITS in the trunk well beforehand, but on travel day, with their stuff in trunk, and themselves and passenger in car, the rear sagged and car was undrivable.

They had to jetison stuff, with no time to figure out what or find lighter alternatives.

Our cars gvwr only allows a comparably small amount of trunk weight capacity if there are two decent sized adults.

AZS2KDancer

You will very close to Olympic National Park in Washington. If you can spare the time you won't have to drive clear across the country again to pick up that park.
If you can stay North in part if your return, there is Yellowstone NP, Glacier NP, Grand Teton NP, the Black Hills in South Dakota and more out west.
Griots Garage sells a product to put on prior to departure to make bug guts removal easier as you go. You also might want to consider their Spray-On Wash and MF towels to help keep the car clean along the way.
Pack no more than 1 weeks worth of clothing. Be prepared to do some laundry in a hotel room or spend a few hours in a laundromat. Clothing can be heavy. Try to find lightweight versions and color coordinate to minimize the shoes you bring along. And I second the weighing idea. The S hauling capacity is about 400 pounds, and that includes driver and passenger weight.

fitMINT

yea take yourself some breaks for sure. I took my s2000 from sarasota up to Atlanta, 8 hour drive and it was kind of rough. just lowered on springs with stock wheels, but the car is light and the soft top makes everything loud. started wearing me out after even 2 hours in it

Chuck S

Noise fatigue is interesting. I have no problems with an 8 to 10 hour interstate trip in the S2000 with the roof up. But even the slightest bit of wind noise in my other cars sends me scurrying to find which window is open a crack, etc.

I worry more about tires on the S2000 than anything else as they're not available anywhere locally and the spare is a joke. Not a car I want to routinely use for long trips unless I have days I can spend in East Bubba waiting for a tire to be delivered (and then finding a shop that can mount it).

-- Chuck

zeroptzero

I always carry a can of Prestone fix a flat, and I also have a tire compressor with tire gel much like the C/R version uses. It is safer to fill a tire than trying to change a tire on the side of the road, its crazy how many people get killed while changing tires as other drivers fixate on you and then proceed to hit you.