Got myself the Fuzion Touring tires. They're quieter than whatever crappy Wal-Mart special I had on there before, but they actually feel a bit less grippy.

Anyhow, I just took a roughly 700 mile trip to Vermont and back (this includes driving around up there.) The car proved it's gutlessness on some of the back roads over mountains up there, and developed a loud clattering noise for a while, which seems to have self-healed. I think it may be a sticking lifter, as I was careful to check on my oil consumption (drank about a quart of oil in 700+ miles of topping up regularly,) and it had enough when it was making the noise. It also had a few moments starting up hills where didn't seem to want to build RPMs under load until over 2k or so, at which point it would just accelerate like normal, despite sounding like I was about to throw a con rod through the block. But then, it just got really quiet and went away after maybe 50 miles of driving.

I tell you what, this car needs another gear for the highway.