It's hard to believe I've had this a month now and I'm settling in nicely. Still puts a huge smile on my face every time I walk out into the garage.
I was able to put the carseat in the back and take my son out over the weekend and that alone felt like a huge victory. It was something I just couldn't do with the S2000.
I'm still very much back and forth on a lot of small parts and exactly what I want to change but here are my current thoughts....
Steering wheel
Part of me absolutely loves the M Performance electric wheel and the other part of me thinks it just looks too over the top. I generally prefer something more understated. I do love the color and basic gray stitching as opposed to the very common M tri-color stitch. The one thing I do LOVE having is the data right in front of my face. That may ultimately be what leads me to keep it. I do think I can still get the older M Performance wheel that has the gray stitch and yellow stripe but then I'm wondering if the yellow stripe won't conflict bad with the red seat belts. The light-ish blue stripe on the M Performance wheel I most commonly see I just can't do. Maybe I need to go see one in person.
CAE shifter
Another part that in the function category it just hits a home run. Every shift is crisp and direct. I don't think I actually want to get rid of it but I wouldn't mind if it was 2-3" shorter. I usually prefer a taller than stock shift lever but this is on the extreme side of tall. I don't see myself ever going back to stock but maybe the RTD shifter is a compromise. It looks a tad more OE. I haven't done a lot of looking to see if I can just get a shorter lever CAE, if so that might be the ticket. No rush to change this though but it's on my thought list.
CAE shifter trim
Only thing I might change is the material or color used. I wonder how it would look in some kind of matte carbon or an alcantara color that matches the steering wheel. The trim is more gray while the steering wheel a bit more black. I realize they are never next to each other and in pictures they look like they match but in person there is definitely a difference.
Red IND seat belts
The only real driving factor to me changing this up is the steering wheel choice. If there is any accent color on the interior I want just one color. Tempted to see if anyone has a yellow set they'd like to trade or if I can get enough on a sale of these I'll just buy yellow ones. I also saw there is an OE gray option which doesn't pop as much but still looks like a nice little touch that would work well with my interior.
A few changes I did make were putting the OE armrest and e-brake handle/boot back in. These are just the basic black leather. I think I like them a little bit better than what was there but I'm still on the hunt for what I think to be the perfect solution. Possible a plain solid alcantara e-brake boot to match whatever I decide on the shifter trim. Also thinking about trying to find the basic non-split armrest and also recovering that. Still digging around for pictures of what others have done for some inspiration.
I'm always on an endless hunt for just the right thing to build the perfect car and I'm a lunatic for the finest details that people usually overlook. Over the years I've become a bit more of a fan of the less is more mentality. I'll take a few quality items over many lower quality items 7 days a week.
I'm hoping to get one good drive in the mountains before it gets much colder and then I'll be parking it to start the supercharger removal. I intend to go back to 100% stock on the motor side of things for a while and just see what I think. I know I won't keep it that way but I'm going start there as I prep the car for the spring driving season.
Stay tuned for more!