It’s time once again for The Garage to head to the Pocono Hills Mountains in our quest to bring our readers some idea how their prospective purchases will perform on lapping days and out on the trail. Yeah right! Really, we’re out to get our ya ya’s on! First we’ll slog through a bit of mud following today’s rain in Pennsylvania and then we’ll make like Andretti wannabes while we try to keep the testers on the black stuff!

Thanks to the folks at GM Canada, I’m cruzin in a bright yellow 2008 Chevy Cobalt SS. This little coupe is almost perfect for a trip like this. Comfortable, super supportive seats, XM Satellite radio, an aux input for the ipod, great gas mileage….oh yeah, it also has 260 ponies on tap for when you need a little extra passing power!

All these little things add up to one killer road trip machine except a couple of minor things prevent me from attempting my best Alex Roy imitation. First off, the screaming yellow paint pretty much guarantees that every trooper in New York state has heard I’m coming down I-81. Secondly, the giant rear wing severely hampers a driver’s ability to scan the rearward horizon for cruisers lurking in the background. That and I have more hair than Roy. While the Cobalt’s trunk suffers from a positively tiny opening, the actual cargo space is massive for such a small car. Again, perfect for a road trip! I’m sure I’ll think of a few more things as the trip goes on.

Anyway, speed was not of the essence this evening, especially seeing as solo navigation in the dark is a real bitch and I had no inclination to get too friendly with any of upstate New York’s deer population.

Over the next couple of days, we’ll have stories, photos, video and maybe even an interview or two. For now, check out a few road trip pics after the break.