[EChas3]

My wife and I just returned from a great driving vacation of 2,300 miles. On June 22, we left SE Wisconsin for the Black Hills of South Dakota. We chose her 2007 1SE (6-speed auto & 2.73 gear) for several reasons including the softer ride and to equalize the miles between our cars. We didn't need our 2006's AWD and like the better performance.

Higher speed limits were fun. We are used to Wisconsin's 65 MPH and felt our moods improve when we saw Minnesota's 70 and South Dakota's 75. We were anxious to get to the Black Hills and took I-90 most of the way, stopping in Mitchell SD the first night. Miles click off quickly above 80 but that's also where her N* exceeds 2K RPM and mileage goes below 25MPG (if that matters to anyone).

As usual on an interstate drive, the condition of the pavement varied greatly. Intervals of very poor pavement validated our car choice. The long clear stretches gave us the chance to let loose the Northstar frequently. We began to hate the appearance of the orange signs announcing road construction.

My wife got many opportunities to voice her theory that many states increase the danger to road workers by excessively long and inactive construction zones. She contends that drivers get complascent to inactive zones and begin to exceed posted safety speed limits. We are both very cautious when workers are present but long zones with no active workers get very aggravating. We found South Dakota to be exceptional in posting reasonable speeds for work zones, slowing traffic only when prudent or necessary.

We made Rapid City our base for 3 nights before relocating within view of Mount Rushmore in Keystone. (Don't miss the inspiring lighting ceremony at Mt. Rushmore!) The Black Hills contain many oppotunities to explore the great performance of the STS. State Highways 87 & 89 connecting to Hill City and Custer provide many switchbacks and very good opportunities to play with the transmission in Sport Mode and shift manually. 16A contains multiple pig-tail bridge and tunnel configurations that are a joy to drive and see. Custer Park is a kick as buffalo & other wildlife come right up to the car!

On June 29, we started back through the Badlands and Pierre for even more great driving scenic roads. (Overall, the traffic was light; the economy?) It was interesting to observe that the 1SE 6-speed coasts up to about 80 in Drive but Sport Mode does provide a reasonable amount of compression braking. Since it gets snow tires in the Fall, we will be upgrading the P235/50R17 tires in the Spring as they are a weak spot.

The car performed great. I think Colorado will be our next such trip. We'll take my 2006 1SG. The 18" wheels & tires, Magnaride, ZF Steering & AWD will be interesting to compare and contrast.