S550 Road Trip
05-12-2016, 01:20 PM
#1
Thread Starter
Join Date: Jan 2011
Location: AZ
Posts: 39
S550 Road Trip
I drove from Phoenix to Wyoming on a Saturday and back to Phoenix on a different route a few days later.
Seats were almost as comfortable as my Cadillac. I never got out of the car to or from Wyoming except for two gas stops in route each way and a few picture stops. I took mostly twisty back roads and got my money's worth for the PP except for where it was freezing and the roads wet. These Pirelli's aren't so sticky at freezing temps.
Ford uses good paint. The trip back was in severe wind all through Utah and Northern AZ and it was the height of tumbleweed season. There was no way to dodge them all and when heading into the wind had 100 MPH (at least) closure rates. I spent over an hour, much with tweezers, pulling tiny branches out of every seam and gap in the front of the car. But not a single scratch anywhere on the car. I will say that there is no way in hell I'm doing a grill delete without carrying a few spare radiators in the trunk.
Some phone pics:
On the way to Wyoming:
These are the Vermillion Cliffs between Page and the North Rim. Since the North Rim is closed until May, I had the road to myself. There is a long stretch after the cliffs toward Jacob Lake that is almost all switchbacks as you climb.
I stopped as close as practical to 1000 miles beside one of the switchbacks.
On the way back home:
Places along highway 191 in Southern Wyoming and Utah:
Inside The Arches national Park:
Seats were almost as comfortable as my Cadillac. I never got out of the car to or from Wyoming except for two gas stops in route each way and a few picture stops. I took mostly twisty back roads and got my money's worth for the PP except for where it was freezing and the roads wet. These Pirelli's aren't so sticky at freezing temps.
Ford uses good paint. The trip back was in severe wind all through Utah and Northern AZ and it was the height of tumbleweed season. There was no way to dodge them all and when heading into the wind had 100 MPH (at least) closure rates. I spent over an hour, much with tweezers, pulling tiny branches out of every seam and gap in the front of the car. But not a single scratch anywhere on the car. I will say that there is no way in hell I'm doing a grill delete without carrying a few spare radiators in the trunk.
Some phone pics:
On the way to Wyoming:
These are the Vermillion Cliffs between Page and the North Rim. Since the North Rim is closed until May, I had the road to myself. There is a long stretch after the cliffs toward Jacob Lake that is almost all switchbacks as you climb.
I stopped as close as practical to 1000 miles beside one of the switchbacks.
On the way back home:
Places along highway 191 in Southern Wyoming and Utah:
Inside The Arches national Park:
06-19-2016, 06:24 PM
#5
1st Gear Member
Join Date: Jun 2016
Location: Texas
Posts: 129
HoosierDaddy, looks like a great trip. Out of curiosity, do you know what kind of fuel economy you got on the trip. I know it's a GT but I've heard some stories of them getting pretty darned good under some circumstances.
Thanks for any info!
Steve R.
Thanks for any info!
Steve R.
06-19-2016, 06:35 PM
#6
Thread Starter
Join Date: Jan 2011
Location: AZ
Posts: 39
I don't know about the trip but the car has about 3k miles now and the trip was 2k. The average mileage for the 3k miles says 22.1 MPG. Don't know how much help that is. I suspect the trip was better than that, but I don't know by how much.
06-19-2016, 09:00 PM
#7
1st Gear Member
Join Date: Jun 2016
Location: Texas
Posts: 129
Drive Safe,
Steve R.
06-22-2016, 02:11 PM
#10
EXTREME Moderation
Join Date: Apr 2005
Location: BLAM-O
Posts: 7,895
Very cool. I was amazed by how beautiful the high desert of southern utah was when i finally had a chance to drivw north out of vegas. I took my s550 out for a 3000 mile trip from L.A. up to Portland on highway 1 along with some detours to the bay area and central valley the 2nd month after I bought it. I was very pleasantly surprised with how comfy it was, my new edge or s197 would've left me feeling beat up to hell after that much driving.
