Power Trips: An electrifying road trip in a Hyundai Kona EV

The 2019 Hyundai Kona EV at Seattles iconic Gas Works Park, that features the remnants of the Seattle Gas Light Company gasification plant that supplied power to the city from 1906 to 1956.Andrew McCredie (Editor’s note: This is the first in an occasional series called Power Trips, in which we go on a road trip in an electric vehicle to explore the pros and cons of traveling along the ever-expanding EV highway.)It was out of curiosity, not necessity that we pulled into the I-5 rest stop some 10 kilometres south of the Canada-USA border.Wed left North Vancouver an hour earlier with 422 kilometres of range in the 2019 Hyundai Kona EV, and as we pulled up to the rest stops two Level Two Webasto charging stations, the readout showed a robust 368 kilometres still remaining, more than enough to cover the 167 kilometres to our weekend destination, the Kimpton Alexis Hotel in downtown Seattle. But I was curious to see if anyone was plugged in, and sure enough a Kia Soul was getting a charge while its owner sat in the drivers seat reading a newspaper and drinking a coffee. The other station was not in use. With a full-charge range north of 400 kilometres, there was no need to plug the Kona EV into the Level 2 charging at an I-5 rest stop. Andrew McCredie Back on the road, we were quickly up to speed that limit, incidentally, being 112.65 km/h, or 70 mph with a museum visit and lunch in Bellingham next on the travel itinerary. Less than a half-hour later, we pulled into a parking spot right in front of the Spark Museum of Electrical Invention located in the heart of the university town.Again, no need to look for a charging station, so into the museum we went to check out the incredible collection of electrical innovations and device from the past 100-plus years. In particular were some true Holy Grails from the technology, including Thomas Edisons first successful electric light bulb and a section of Edisons DC power cable installed in New York City in 1883 and unearthed following the World Trade Centre terrorist attack in 2001. These priceless artifacts are part of the War of the Currents exhibit, which chronicles the battle between three of the worlds greatest engineers Edison, George Westinghouse and Nikola Tesla to determine the electric technology that would power the world AC or DC. That story is told in the Hollywood movie The Current War, which opened in October. Another electrifying exhibit is the nine-foot Tesla Coil that emits four million volts of lightning. Thats some 3,999,644 more volts than the Kona EVs maximum voltage generated from the 64.0 kWh lithium-ion polymer battery. After visiting the Spark Museum and driving off in the Kona EV, it was difficult not to feel a stronger connection, and certainly a more profound understanding, of the 21st Century technology Hyundai engineers have packed into the tidy crossover. Try as we might, we couldnt find a Bellingham restaurant with an over-riding electric theme, so we opted for our favourite local haunt, the Boundary Bay Brew Pub.Fueled on a bowl of beef stew and still no need for a charge up we were back on I-5 for the final push to the Emerald City, a 140-kilometre straight shot south along the Pacific coast. It should be noted here that there was no hyper-miling involved in this road trip nor will there ever be in our Power Trips series as speed limits were maintained, and admittedly exceeded during some highway sections I was just keeping up with the traffic flow, officer. Likewise, the onboard systems from navigation to sound system to climate control were all used with no thought to their affect on battery range. To that last function, when we left North Vancouver it was zero degrees centigrade, so the heat was blasting and the heated seats and heated steering wheel were turned up all the way.Traffic was surprisingly light for Black Friday, and in less than two hours the Konas Nav system had us pulling up to the Kimpton Alexis Hotel, just a couple of blocks south of the iconic Pike Place Market. One note on that Nav system: like most systems circa 2019, it conveys plenty of real time information, including traffic conditions on the road ahead. But its real appeal comes from the EV-related information, including nearby charging station icons displayed on the map and your current range in relation to the destination you have inputted into the system. Ive been driving EVs on a very regular basis now for almost a decade, and I still fret over range, often checking out current battery charge and doing quick calculations to ensure all is well. Of course, with most new model EVs touching, some cresting, a 400-kilometre full-charge range, this seems quite illogical and unnecessary. After all, how often do you look at your current range when driving a gasoline-powered vehicle? But, the fact remains that if you run dangerously low in gas, theyll most likely be a gas station at the next off-ramp. True, there might also be a
Origin: Power Trips: An electrifying road trip in a Hyundai Kona EV

Marque de Triomphe: Citroen centenary road trip

Leaping years ahead, sometimes even decades, is what Citroën is most famous for. It has made cars that levitated. Cars whose headlights peered around corners. Cars with suspension resembling frogs’ legs, their wheels able to cross terrain usually the habitat of tractors. Citroën has made cars inspiring learned philosophical prose, cars transporting cinematic love stories, cars to traverse remote parts of the planet and cars whose ingenious inner plumbing helped save a French president from assassination. Citroën is still innovating today, if not at the rate that it did during its first 50 years of life, and it may be about to innovate more boldly again, if its latest Ami One urban car and centenary-celebrating 19_19 concepts are genuine in their ambition. But that’s in the future. Right now, we’re driving Citroën’s new C5 Aircross to Paris, birthplace of the company and location for various centenary celebrations, among them a 100-car display of Citroëns on the site of the original factory at Quai de Javel. The C5 Aircross doesn’t present the extreme styling of some of these cars and trucks, but its make-up certainly mirrors the emphasis on practicality and comfort that has distinguished some of the marque’s most famous models, from the 1934 Traction Avant to the 2CV and today’s C4 Cactus. The C5’s novelties include Citroën’s Progressive Hydraulic Cushion suspension, an ingenious rethink of the traditional bump-stop that allows the car to ride on softer springs and dampers without listing like a holed ship. The suspension is intended to complement comfort seats whose 15mm of extra foam topper aims to further soothe, a feature that’s standard on the C5’s top two Flair and Flair+ trims. Our car is the latter version, pulled by a 180bhp 2.0-litre diesel via an eight-speed automatic. The practical end of the equation is provided by an almost totally flat floor – rare, despite the domination of propshaft-free front-wheel drive these days – and a back bench whose centre seat is as big as those flanking it, another rarity. They’re hardly the reinvention of the motorcar, these features, but they’re evidence of Citroën’s rekindled quest to design exceptionally comfortable cars that are down-to-earth useful. The C5’s more softly absorbent ride is evident within metres of leaving Autocar’s road testing HQ in Feltham, where there are plenty of small-to-medium-scale bumps on the urban back roads to the M25. The Citroën sponges them up, often with a serenity redolent of the days when almost every French car rode with the supple elasticity of a bounding frog (no pejorative intended). But interruptions to this pillowy comfort occur, sometimes abruptly, if the C5 strikes a bigger, more invasive bump, the car being jostled in ordinary, unsophisticated style. Citroën’s old hydropneumatic suspension would cope better, but a chassis insider met later at the celebrations reveals that there are more Hydraulic Cushion developments on the way to tackle this issue. It would nevertheless be great to see more engineering solutions worthy of the man whose name appears on these cars. The restlessly inventive Andre Citroën was not only the driver of up-to-the-minute engineering, but also an energetic marketer of his company and his cars, the boldness of many of his ideas worthy of today’s tech companies. Take finding your way. Today, we have sat-nav, Google Maps, Waze, signposts and a (fairly) logical road numbering system. But when the car was young and most journeys short, navigating a route beyond familiar territory was at best frustrating, at worst hazardous. In 1921, Citroën began a collaboration with France’s Automobile Club that saw a network of Double Chevron-branded signposts – France’s first – deployed across the country. That way, his brand couldn’t fail to be noticed by motorists and just about every other road user. Today, those Double Chevron road signs are long gone, their directing and publicising jobs done. Andre Citroën might be amazed at the reach of the company now, even if it is far from the biggest car brand on the planet. It was an early player in new, not-quite-capitalist late 20th-century China, the world’s biggest car market and one of Citroën’s most crucial despite recent turbulence, it’s big in Europe, big in parts of Africa and intent on becoming bigger still, especially beyond its home continent. On the rather less adventurous venue of a wide, lightly trafficked autoroute, the C5 feels stable, relaxed and impressively quiet, the calm spoiled only by occasional wind noise and, if you work it hard, a diesel that airs too much of its rattling grumble. The relative novelty of sitting high in a Citroën (the C3 Aircross SUV is pretty new too, and few remember the Mitsubishi Outlander-based C-Crosser) adds an aura of light indomitability to the C5 mix as we do battle in the tollbooth grand prix. This is a race won with wits as much as grunt, although the 180 BlueHDI has plenty of that –
Origin: Marque de Triomphe: Citroen centenary road trip

Road Trip: 2019 Mercedes-AMG C 43 Wagon

2019 Mercedes-AMG C 43 WagonPeter Bleakney OVERVIEW AMG “light” wagon a thrilling, functional performer PROSfast, handles, AMG cache, it’s a wagon CONSstiff ride even in Comfort Mode, options add up VALUE FOR MONEYfair WHAT TO CHANGE?Find some more compliance in the underpinnings HOW TO SPEC IT?this is good, love that blue Allow me to let you in on a little secret: wagons are cool. And performance wagons? Even cooler. The Europeans know this, as do many Canadians. Also cool is the fact that Mercedes-Benz is aware that #wethenorth dig our wagons, so consider the 2019 Mercedes-Benz AMG C 43 4Matic Wagon a reward of sorts for our long-roof affections. Danke schon.For 2019, the C 43 Wagon joins its stable mates, the C 43 Sedan, Coupe and Cabriolet, but only here in Canada. The Americans dont get it, because well, the Americans dont get it the part about wagons being cool, that is.The soul of the C 43 4Matic Wagon is a lusty 3.0L twin-turbo V6 that kicks out 385 horsepower (up from 362 last year thanks to bigger turbos) and 384 lb-ft of torque. It routes through a nine-speed AMG Speedshift TCT Sport gearbox to Benzs 4Matic all-wheel-drive here with a sporty 69 percent rear bias. The 100 km/h mark is dispatched in a trim 4.8 seconds.With a starting point of $59,900, the C 43 Wagon is less expensive than the Coupe and Cabriolet, and just $900 above the Sedan. Of course, any German luxury vehicle requires a host of upgrades and packages, and as such, this Brilliant Blue Metallic Pai ($890) specimen comes in at $76,380 after factoring in interior, exterior and tech upgrades. Other changes for the 2019 C43 line up include redesigned LED headlamps and taillamps, a new twin-louver grill, fresh front and rear fascias and round quad exhaust tips. Inside we get a new Nappa-trimmed steering wheel with thumb touch-pads.Having this potent wagon in my possession for a week, I really wanted to do something other than just haul ass. I wanted to haul stuff. Isnt that the whole point of a wagon? So our Golden Retriever jumped in the back for a ride to her favourite forest trails. I went to our local transfer station to load up on free compost. And, perhaps most importantly, good friends/wine enthusiasts/legendary drummers Bob DiSalle and Dave Johannesson joined me for a tour of the Niagara Wine Region.I know what youre thinking. Not one, but two drummers? And wine? What could go wrong? As the designated driver, I was prepared. Bob showed up with a vintage Gretsch bass drum in which to put our spoils. Sure, a cardboard box would do, but wheres the fun in that?So off we set. No complaints were registered from the back seat as headroom and legroom seem competitive for this segment, and while cargo space behind the rear seat is not cavernous, the bass drum and other odds and ends fit with no fuss. Imminently more useful than the C 43 Sedan, and better looking too. First stop was the lovely Angels Gate Winery in Beamsville. The 3.0L biturbo V6 may not be hand built and signed by a single technician in Affalterbach like the mighty AMG V8s, but it does sail to its 6,500 rpm redline in a linear rush, and turbo-lag is a non-issue.The nine-speed auto is a willing ally too, banging off the gears with aggression when Sport or Sport Plus Mode is selected, and giving instant response to shift paddle inputs. A double-click of the left paddle gives multi-gear downshifts. However, I noticed the occasional jerky shift in lower gears when puttering around in Comfort mode.With any C 43 model, I would posit the $2,000 AMG Drivers Package as mandatory as it adds among other doo-dads the AMG Performance Exhaust System that, when activated, spits out some rather spectacular metallic farts on full throttle upshifts. A big part of the AMG experience had always been the aural hijinks, and this bent-six does not disappoint. We were all impressed with the C 43s cabin, beautifully rendered, boldly styled and here upgraded with an AMG Carbon Fibre trim package ($1,500). It doesnt brag Mercedes-Benzs new-gen MBUX infotainment that is starting to show up on some models, but the available 10.25-inch screen and digital instrument cluster will keep it feeling contemporary. If youre feeling racy, theres a G-Force meter and a race timer that shows lap times, average speed, distance covered, current engine torque, and horsepower levels.The true fun to be found in this wagon is when Sport+ is selected and you start unraveling a snaking road. We found one on the way to Hernder Estates Winery and picked up the pace. Its easy to get a nice flow going in the C 43 Wagon its poised, planted and is blessed with an accurate and natural feeling helm. There is a dynamic cohesiveness that comes into play when pressing on, and yes, this long-roof is mighty swift when picking off the gears with those metal shift paddles.The C 43 Wagons only foible and you can say this of all C 43 derivatives is that the ride is stiff and
Origin: Road Trip: 2019 Mercedes-AMG C 43 Wagon

Road Trip: 2019 Mercedes-Benz AMG C 43 4Matic Wagon

Road Trip: Ontario to New Hampshire in a 2019 Nissan Altima

2019 Nissan AltimaDerek McNaughton / Driving Franconia, N.H. Robert Frost, the great American poet who died in 1963, was famous for taking the road less travelled, perhaps even coining the phrase with his line, Two roads diverged in a wood, and I — I took the one less traveled by, and that has made all the difference.”That difference lured him to Franconia, New Hampshire, where Frost and his family lived full-time from 1915 to 1920, and spending 19 summers at his picturesque farmstead. One look at Frosts view from his farmhouse in Franconia explains why: the green expanse of the White Mountains is as alluring as it is captivating, the mountains beauty a force that pulls as strongly as a rivers current. Its partly why we venture here every year to explore these forests, despite the pathetic U.S. and Canadian Dollar exchange rate. This year, a 2019 Nissan Altima was our horse for the journey.And what a frugal beast she turned out to be. Averaging 6.7 L/100 kilometres at a constant speed of 120 km/h, the Altimas 2.5-litre four cylinder engine consumed roughly $100 in fuel to travel just over 1,400 kilometres. At the U.S. gas station in Littleton where I stopped to fill up, the clerk asked how much I wanted pre-charged to my credit card. Eighty dollars? I ventured. Puzzled, then glancing outside at the Altima, he said the Altima wont take more than $40. Oh right, cheap U.S. gas!Indeed, US$39 later, the Altimas 61-litre tank was full, though the cost per gallon was only US$2.59 (about 90 cents a litre), and having travelled 760 kilometres on one tank, with another 39 to spare. By lowering our average highway speed to 100 km/h, and with some simple hypermiling, 1,000 highway kilometres on one tank should be possible. Who needs a diesel with gasoline fuel economy like this?That economy is especially good, considering all Altimas in Canada are AWD. The system works invisibly at all times, normally sending 100 per cent of power to the front wheels, but able to send 50 per cent to the rears if theres any slip up front. It will even divide the split 70 front, 30 rear when cornering to help with dynamics and feel in a car that tracks quite well around corners. I mostly forgot we had AWD.While the Altimas longer-term average of urban and highway driving showed 7.3 L/100 kilometres on the trip computer, the downside of such frugality, of course, is a paucity of power, the Altimas 185 horsepower and 178 lb.-ft of torque adequate for most normal driving situations but lacking real hustle anytime real speed is required. Passing on two lane highways requires prudence. Engine refinement is good but not stellar, although the continuously variable transmission makes itself endearing by mosty remaining out of sight and sound, beavering away quietly in the background. Perhaps a sport mode would help. In fact, most of the cabin is the same way: noise is well controlled, other than a bit of growl from the engine now and then. The cabin is remarkably simple too, a clean and uncluttered estate with everything easy to find, see and operate, a proper volume knob for the half-decent Bose stereo. An eight-inch touchscreen on the Platinum delivers good graphics with excellent haptic feedback. Instrumentation is equally clear, legible and bright. Its an excellent interior that wont frustrate its users. The zero gravity front seats are indeed supportive and comfortable, but they wont stop all the cramping that comes with old age on a long drive with few stops. Excellent seat heat to the back certainly helps, however.Rear seat legroom is massive about 88 centimetres of legroom and the 60/40 rear folding bench opens to an equally large trunk that happily consumed all our luggage, hiking gear and multitude of coats for the ever-varying weather. For a midsize sedan that starts at $28,000 $35,000 as-tested the trunk is bigger than plenty of more expensive full-size sedans.Nissans ProPilot Assist was interesting on this trip, too. Its supposed to reduce stress through adaptive cruise control and lane centering. But the lane centering wasnt always able to keep up and wanders off line now and then, acting overly busy at other times. The adaptive cruise would sometimes brake a little harshly if the system felt we were getting a little too close too quickly to a car ahead. The two technologies can be used separately or together, but it was simpler to leave the task of driving to myself. What I did appreciate, though, was the Altimas parking and safety aids especially rear intelligent safety braking, which detects objects while backing up and will apply the brakes before hitting it.After a week of hiking the White Mountains with the Altima getting us to and from the trails, we came away with an appreciation for its incredible fuel economy and quiet purpose. The 2019 Altima may not have the spirit or poetry of a more expensive luxury saloon, but it sure gets the job done efficiently and without much fuss a
Origin: Road Trip: Ontario to New Hampshire in a 2019 Nissan Altima

Don’t fear taking your EV for a summer road trip: B.C. Hydro

Tesla Model 3Tesla Michael Stanyer has driven a battery-powered vehicle from his Vancouver home to Tofino and to the Kootenays and he has no fear of being stranded without a charging station. “It’s something you have to plan for,” he said. “It’s totally doable.” He said there are 1,000 charging stations in British Columbia and “it’s rare that you would be more than 100 kilometres away from a charging station.” His 2017 Volkswagen E Golf can go about 200 km on a single charge in city driving, though that changes if he drives into higher elevations, for instance. Stanyer, a program coordinator for Plug In B.C., may be bolder than most at venturing beyond their commute in an EV. A B.C. Hydro survey found “range anxiety” is keeping almost 70 per cent of drivers from buying an electric vehicle, according to an online survey done for the energy agency by Angus Reid and released June 14. But B.C. Hydro said they needn’t worry, as the majority of road trips taken by people in B.C. are within the range that most newer vehicles can travel on a single charge. “Most trips are 300 km one way, so it’s well within the range of a single charge,” said B.C. Hydro spokeswoman Tanya Fish. The survey found respondents were concerned about the availability of charging stations and also worried that having to stop to recharge the battery would significantly add to the length of a trip. Fish said there are about 170 fast-charging stations, 58 belonging to B.C. Hydro, that can top up a battery to within 80 per cent capacity within 30 minutes. There is access to the fast-charging stations along the most-travelled highways in the province, including between Vancouver and Kelowna, Abbotsford and Whistler, Victoria and Tofino, and Revelstoke and Cranbrook, she said. And 96 per cent of BC Hydro’s fast-charging stations are within 300 metres of a major road or highway and 80 per cent are within 50 metres of other services, such as food, washrooms or other shopping, she said. And there are an additional 1,000 “level 2” public charging stations in the province, which take about four to six hours to restore a battery, said Fish. EV sales doubled in B.C. the first three months of this year, compared to the first quarter in 2018, and they make up 15 per cent of new car sales. That’s double the national average. There are about 20,000 EVs in BC. The average EV has a range of about 250 km and that is expected to increase to 440 km by 2022. The majority of out-of-town trips B.C. drivers take are under 300 km, B.C. Hydro
Origin: Don’t fear taking your EV for a summer road trip: B.C. Hydro

Multiple classic cars stolen on Hot Rod Power Tour road trip

The Hot Rod Power Tour is an amazing event put on by Hot Rod Magazine that sees enthusiasts from all over the United States – and even Canada – take part in a seven-day road trip across America, stopping at race tracks and car shows along the way. For the participants, it can be an awesome week of cruising with hundreds of other like-minded modified classic car nuts. But unfortunately, on this year’s Tour, there have been an unlucky few who have had their trips ruined by car thieves. One of the victims, the owner of a modified 1984 Monte Carlo, couldn’t believe that it was actually happening: “I thought it was a joke. Like, I really thought it was a joke,” Garrett Reed told the Charlotte Observer. “I didn’t get to make any memories in my car. Reed has been working on his car for the past nine months, and says he’s put countless hours into it; he also said it’s worth over $50,000. The Monte Carlo was stolen outside of the hotel parking lot in University City where he was staying. Another victim also had his truck stolen from the lot of his hotel, the Drury Inn. Roger and Debbie Bentley drove in from Dayton, Tennessee for the tour in their 1994 Chevy Silverado. “I was going to keep it and use it every year for the Power Tour. It was that nice of a truck and that much of a joy to drive,” Roger Bentley said. “I’m holding out hope that they’ll find it. The vehicles are insured, but that doesn’t reimburse the owners for the blood, sweat and tears that went into these highly customized and personalized builds. A Facebook group has been started for those that have had their vehicle stolen from the Hot Rod Power
Origin: Multiple classic cars stolen on Hot Rod Power Tour road trip

2020 Audi A6 Allroad could make a trip across the pond

Static photo, Colour: Gavial green It’s true that every automaker, Audi included, has a model line that is filled to the gunwales with crossovers and SUVs. Those of us with long memories will remember the genesis of this segment, when companies like AMC and Subaru offered station wagons with slightly more ground clearance and a butch appearance. Of course, Audi also did this with the original Allroad. In this country, we are blessed with the ability to purchase the A4 Allroad, a wagon combining increased ground clearance and Quattro all-wheel-drive. Now, according to reports, there’s a chance the midsize A6 Allroad will be offered in North America as well. This would be great news for Audi fans who want Quattro traction and prodigious cargo space in a wagon-shaped package larger than an A4. Across the pond, the A6 Allroad sits 1.8 inches higher than a standard A6 wagon. It features adjustable air suspension, which set ground clearance at 5.5 inches but can stand a further 1.8 inches taller on its tippy-toes, when the proper settings are selected. Oh yeah, it can also tow more than 2,200 kilograms if the correct, European-spec engine is fitted. 2020 Audi A6 Allroad Handout / Audi Why do we need crossovers again? In other markets, a myriad of powertrains are offered including a trio of diesel engines, one of which heaves out 457lb.-ft of torque. If the A6 Allroad makes it to our country, look for a turbocharged 3.0-litre V6 under the hood. That mill is currently found in the A6 sedan, making 335 horsepower. It’s connected to Audi’s seven-speed S-tronic transmission and can scamper from rest to 100km/h in about five seconds. Given the extra sheet metal and glass needed to create a wagon, an A6 Allroad would likely be a little bit heavier than the 1,935-kilo A6 sedan. Price? Our best guess would be in the mid-$70,000 ballpark, given that the A4 Allroad is priced about $10,000 more than an entry-level A4. Raise one while you’re watching the Raptors tonight in hope that Audi will bring this Quattro wagon to our
Origin: 2020 Audi A6 Allroad could make a trip across the pond

Road Trip: Touring Quebec ski country in a Nissan Pathfinder

The Gilles Villeneuve Museum in the F1 driver’s home town of Berthierville has received almost 300,000 visitors since it opened in 1988. Pictured here with a 2019 Nissan Pathfinder. Story and photos by Sarah Staples, Insta: @itravelnwriteSarah Staples Skiers are finishing their last runs of the afternoon when my husband calls to say his flight to Mont Tremblant International Airport has touched down. I’ve driven up with the kids from Montreal, and we meet in the pedestrian square of Tremblant, an all-season sun/ski resort in Quebec’s Laurentian Highlands. I’ve organized a Gilles Villeneuve Tribute Road Trip: we’re visiting three rural towns rich in Villeneuve lore – Mont-Tremblant, Berthierville and Trois-Rivières – on a deep-dive into the life and legend of Quebec’s Formula One hero. My ride, a 2019 Nissan Pathfinder, ticks several must-haves for family road-tripping, starting with a roomy interior to really stretch out in. Its 3-row/7-passenger configuration with a flat-floor design yields a ton of trunk space (enough to fit my two big Yeti coolers, plus duffel after duffel of clothing, outdoor layers, pillows, boots, camera gear, you name it). In mid-April, the weather’s warm yet there’s still plenty of snow. It’s nearly après-ski hour so we join the crowds clicking out of bindings and filling outdoor patios of the resort’s restaurants and bars. Classic rock pipes from loudspeakers, and families lounge on Muskoka chairs in the sunshine. It’s a perfect time for a relaxed ski vacation – and motorsport fans will appreciate the area’s rich racing history and events. But of course, every winter trip to Tremblant starts with skiing or snowboarding in mind. At Snow School early Saturday morning, Louise Dalbec, our instructor, takes it slowly and patiently. I haven’t skied since I was a kid and it’s my children’s first lesson. In just two hours, my 10-year-old, Tyler, feels ready to leave the bunny hills so we head up to the Nansen, Tremblant’s longest and oldest run, open since 1938. He’s tentative at first, falls a bit, but quickly gains confidence. A light snow is falling, too, licking our faces. My son is having a blast on the first ski day of his life and I get to share that memory with him. Priceless. Sunday, our family takes a guided snowmobile tour along Le P’tit Train du Nord, an old network of train tracks whose rail ties were removed, converting it into 232-km of all-season trails. Snowmobiling was invented in Quebec, and in the early 1970s, Gilles Villeneuve was winning races across North America. One of his sleds, a red, souped-up Alouette, was painted lucky Number 13 like his Ferrari would be. With each win, he’d earn enough prize and sponsorship money to sign up for the next race – Villeneuve was truly betting on himself with every chip he had to pursue his passion for speed. He’d later credit his preternatural car-control skills to those early years cornering on ice at 115 km/h. Monday morning, it’s time to load up again. The 2019 Pathfinder is fully kitted out with conveniences to make long drives more enjoyable – like a remote starter that can be activated by mobile app or smartwatch, and a nifty button on the driver-side door handle that locks the vehicle so you don’t need to fumble for a key-fob. It takes no time or effort to sync my smartphone to a well-equipped infotainment console. There’s also iPod integration, and six standard USB type-C and type-A ports in various locations. This mid-size crossover yields the spaciousness and comfort of a larger SUV – yet for all its size, it’s still remarkably easy to park. Something else I’ve noticed is smooth steering. On Mont-Tremblant’s hilly, winding roads, it proves crisp and highly responsive. There’s no chasing the turn with this Pathfinder. We drive past Circuit Mont-Tremblant – where Villeneuve earned his road-racing license and entered Formula Ford and Formula Atlantic series events – on the way to Berthierville, population 4,700, where the racer grew up. It’s the location of the Gilles Villeneuve Museum, which opened six years after his death on May 8, 1982, during qualifying for the Belgian Grand Prix. “We wanted his museum to be simple, like Gilles was,” explains director-general Alain Bellehumeur, and indeed, the collection feels very intimate. Along with Villeneuve’s snowmobiles and early race cars, there are oil-stained racing gloves, hand-painted helmets and rare posters, family and trackside photos, and dozens of trophies on display. The museum has welcomed 300,000 visitors from at least 30 countries, and a $750,000 expansion is planned to accommodate more memorabilia that fans and family members have been dropping off for years. Once, a Ferrari mechanic came and pointed to himself in a rare photo taken with Villeneuve in the pits at Zolder. The Quebecer would die moments later after colliding with Jochen Mass’s car at 225 km/h. Bellehumeur’s favourite museum pieces include an F1 trophy used as a
Origin: Road Trip: Touring Quebec ski country in a Nissan Pathfinder