Okay, I'm NOT exaggerating when I say that I drive 2000 to 2500 miles per month. My boss capped my miles in the BRZ at 1200 per month (to keep me from actually making money off my mileage reimbursement), so now I drive it two weeks a month and rent from Enterprise the other two weeks.
With that in mind, I have a few comments:
You're missing about 11 inches off your car!
Actually, I have. I've also commuted on I-95 in Virginia, DC, Maryland, Pennsylvania and New York. I've commuted in Providence, Boston, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Baltimore, Raleigh, Charlotte, Atlanta, Jacksonville, Daytona, Ft. Lauderdale, Miami, Ft. Myers, TSP, Tallahassee, Mobile, Birmingham, Nashville, Chattanooga, Knoxville, Chicago, Minneapolis, Omaha, Kansas City, St. Louis, Fayetteville AR, Little Rock, Shreveport, Monroe LA, New Orleans, Lafayette, Lake Charles, Beaumont, Houston, Corpus Christi, Brownsville, McAllen, Laredo, San Antonio, Austin, Temple, Waco, Dallas, Lubbock, El Paso, Santa Fe NM, Oklahoma City, Tulsa, Wichita, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Toronto, Ottawa and probably a few I'm forgetting. I laugh at your puny I-95 in Florida, with your flat straight pavement without ice.
This is true. I now live in Austin and run down 130 to Seguin about once a month to Corpus. Out there all the traffic passes you if you go the posted speed limit of 85 mph, and the only pigs you'll normally see are the feral hogs that run out in traffic and obliterate a car every now and then.
Don't do that. Don't do any of these mechanical mods on a car you intend to use as a long distance commuter unless you have a second reliable vehicle or a backup plan. Every one of the mechanical mods introduces a new point of potential failure and increases the likelihood that your car will end up out of commission one day when you really need to get to work an hour away. The main thing you want in a long-distance commuter car is reliability.
It's not a FACT. Like go_a_way1, I also send off my oil for analysis (I use Blackstone). Driving at 88 mph for hours at a time here in Texas has not increased my wear metals. The engine is wearing really, really well. We both have actual, laboratory evidence to back up what we're saying.
Furthermore, highway speeds simply do not get your temp up anywhere near where it would make a difference. I monitor both my coolant and oil temps. Oil temp on Highway 130 usually stays around 215° to 220°. I actually see higher oil temps in 45 mph city traffic, when I'm speeding up and slowing down. What really kicks the temp up is downshifting. You have the completely wrong idea about what causes heat and wear.
Oil coolers are necessary on a track, where you keep the revs up high to stay in the power band. This car laughs at your notion that 90 mph in sixth gear on cruise on the highway will damage it.
Finally, someone responds with something sensible.
The best mods on my car for long drives are the ones that improve comfort. I plugged the sound tube with the cigarette plug from the dash. Then I installed the JDM padded knee rests, the USA sliding armrest (so I could still use the cupholders) and a set of
Emdom seat belt pads, which are simply the best on the market hands down. I also
made my own phone mount so I could more easily access my phone and tunes in the car.
The only other mod that really helps with multi-lane highway driving is a set of Rexpeed wide angle mirrors, although the blue tint has taken some getting used to. They virtually eliminate the lane-over blind spot that can get you killed on multi-lane highway in this car. I wish I had done that early on.
I also use a TapTurn with the strobe pack and LED turn signals. The TapTurn makes it a lot easier to get a tailgater's attention with the strobing hazards. Texas is a state filled almost entirely with assholes, so I need every advantage I can get.
And I got a plastic cereal container with a flip top lid for trash. It's amazing how much junk collects in the car when you drive it long distances. It's also amazing how much cleaner the car stays when you can just drop jerky wrappers, soda bottles, unneeded receipts, Starbucks stoppers, Alka Seltzer foil and all sorts of other junk in the cereal bin and empty it out when you get to the next hotel. If it starts to stink, you just crack up a couple of Alka Seltzer into the bottom of it, and the pieces suck up the smell.
These are the things known to true road warriors.
The only thing that's really bigger in Texas is the disappointment. And
Buccee's. And the
assholes. But mostly the disappointment.
