Brain Fertilizer

My car performed admirably last weekend. I drove from Bozeman down to Denver one day, then two days later drove the entire way from Denver up to Spokane.

I have never driven such a comfortable car. I felt no fatigue at all in the first 10.5 hour trip, even though I stopped only for gas and bathroom stops. I only felt a minor stiffness that I shook of in 2-3 minutes of stretching. On the way back, I felt no fatigue, stiffness, or pain at all in the first 15 hours. My legs did start hurting somewhat in the last hour; I guess sitting in the car seat for those 15 hours did finally affect circulation enough that my knee hurt for about 30 minutes after I got home.

But I still cannot believe it. I have never driven in a car that didn't cause fatigue/pain within 6-7 hours until now!

It got 28 mpg the entire trip, even with strong headwinds for a few hours, and going over several mountain passes. The cruise control was rock steady, keeping me at 80 mph the whole trip. Only going over the Continental Divide was the road steep enough that I felt it better to turn off the cruise control and adjust my speed according to the slope...but I still kept it at at least 70 mph. With every other car I've driven, if I have to slow down, I accelerate back up to my desired speed before hitting "resume", to avoid the jerkiness of overacceleration and speed overshoot. But in my Verona, it smoothly and quickly made up 10-mph deficits and stopped precisely and smoothly at the old speed.

I know, I keep using "smooth" as an adjective, but that's the best word for it.

I got a couple glances at my car, too. A guy at a convenience store obviously glanced down at the badge to see what car it was, and even a construction flagman turned to look at my car after I passed it. Yeah, that's a little bit of an assumption on my part as to why, but all I can tell you is the expression and body language seemed to be, "Huh. Nice car...what brand?"

This car was made to cruise, and not just look good but feel good doing it. If you commonly travel long distances in your vehicle, I'd highly recommend a Suzuki Verona.

It's still too early to say definitively there are no quality issues, but after one month and 4k miles, there's still not a single squeak or rattle.