A Honda S2000 with a Mind of Its Own
An anti-theft system is one of the most popular accessories for a vehicle and provides a psychological sense of security. Such systems vary in terms of features. Some of them are quite sophisticated and include GPS tracking, remote start functions and more while others are just a basic alarm system, no more and no less.
Photo courtesy of jprice!
Yet another addition for the S2000 and more particular to owners that have tuned their ride by using the forced induction route is a turbo timer which keeps your engine running by cooling the engine parts and turbo once you park it. This gizmo can also be setup to feature a remote start function that will preheat your S2000 and warm up or cool down your interior before you pop in.
At this point, the common feature between both gizmos is the engine autostart feature and I’m aware of some people who have installed one of the above for the remote start feature. I’m sure there are other features as well, but this is what comes to mind for what is about to follow. It is not something new that when an electronic aftermarket product is installed, you may have to change a few bits around in your electrical circuits. An improper installation may cause to lose some of the safety features of the product itself.
I have friends who have actually installed such electronic gadgets to make their lives much easier and prepare their ride for the way to work or for a trip. However, not everything in life is so simple and ideal if you consider the news I got from one friend of mine who owns one of those.
I will try and describe it the only way I can imagine it as he quickly shared this with me. He woke up in the morning, got in the shower and dressed up to go to work. As he fixed himself a cup of coffee, he grabbed the keys and pushed that little button on the remote to start the car. Suddenly, he heard a loud sound that sickened him to his core and he ran out to the garage.
He found his S2000 not in the spot where he left it and did not remember putting a box of tools on its hood the previous night. As he stood around wondering what went wrong, his eyes eventually settled on the cause. He’d forgotten to put the transmission in neutral the night before when he engaged the e-brake and was facing the cost of a new set of headlights, hood and body panel repair.
As my friend and previous S2000 owner described the above, he added that he must be the only person in the world who went through such an experience. We wonder as well if there is anyone out there who has had similar bad luck.