We get on the road, and start driving…I am driving at this point, the weather is nice, it’s daylight, no problems. The car is pretty nice, drives really well. It’s pretty peppy too considering it’s weight and a 3.9L V8, producing 252 HP and 267 ft-lb of TQ. So I’m driving along the roads trying to get to I-80, which is what we’ll be on for most of the journey home. We finally get on the highway, and we’re driving along, so I’m like, ok, stretch of road with nobody here, time to test this baby out :-D…Shift the car into D4 (it’s a 5 speed auto!), then downshift to third…Revs rise to like 4,000 and this thing’s ready to go! Mash on the pedal, and the engine loudly announces that you’re commanding 250 horses to go, go, go lol. Revs are at about 6700 now, shift…the car shifts JUST in time at it’s (looking at the programming) 6800 RPM rev limiter..and go a little through fourth..and we’re doing 110 MPH. Yet one feels like they’re doing 40. This thing is STABLE. Ford / Lincoln really got the chasis right on this one…I think the 05 Mustang owners will be pleased – it’s loosely based off the LS platform, no matter what you may read. At this point, just coasting back down to 70 will keep us in pace with everyone else…I drive for about 170 miles, and we stop somewhere to get some food, as it’s starting to get kinda dark.
After we eat dinner, Rory takes over driving. Car starts right up. Everything’s fine for about a hundred miles or so. Remember those clouds I mentioned? Well, they’re back again. Except this time, we’re under them…and it’s snowing…Fortunately, the snow isn’t THAT bad, but it’s getting colder and colder out, so to avoid black ice we slow down from everyone else’s pace of 70 to 50 or so…We eventually make it to the area of the hotel, in PA, at around 10:30 PM.