VICARIOUS 007 | Fall 2019 by VICARIOUS Magazine

FALL 2019

DRIVING | ADVENTURE | LIFESTYLE

14Discovered

Sea-To-Sky Road Tripping In Style

46Perspective “It’s All Personal, Man!”

82Game Changers Super Sport Utility Vehicles

The new Macan. Endorphinshake. The new Macan is decidedly thrilling. The engine delivers more performance. The 10.9-inch touchscreen display puts Porsche intelligence at your fingertips. And the impressive exterior and new rear taillight strip ensure you never blend in on the road or in your life. For more information: www.porsche.ca

Moments create a journey you can always return to.

The Ritz-Carlton ClubÂŽ Level redefines the luxury hotel experience, combining intimacy, comfort and exclusivity with the personalized service and attention to detail that are the hallmarks of The Ritz-Carlton. Experience our newly reimagined guestrooms and suites and The Ritz-Carlton Club Lounge. This oasis is located in a well-appointed, relaxed lounge environment overlooking Lake Ontario and the iconic CN Tower. ritzcarlton.com/toronto ÂŠ 2019 The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company L.L.C.

Editor in Chief “The machine of a dream, such a clean machine.With the pistons a pumpin’ and the hubcaps all gleam.When I’m holding your wheel.” – Queen

I am confused. My family might tell you this is a permanent state of mind for me, but I beg to differ; at least most of the time. Today, however, I am truly in a quandary. On the one hand, I have just witnessed the world launch of the new 2020 Porsche Taycan and am thoroughly impressed with what the German automaker has delivered to the world. It is a true sports car with four-passenger comfort, two-door athletic prowess and no reason for range anxiety. To have this much power and be able to recharge to 80% in 22 minutes with an 800-volt charging station, this is one of the breakthroughs needed in the EV marketplace and must have Tesla shaking in its boots as the mainstream manufacturers take dead aim at the American upstart. On the other hand, I have just finished test driving the equally new 2020 Jeep Gladiator Rubicon and had so much fun driving on backroads, the highway, city streets all the while waving to curious onlookers in my bright red, considerably less environmentally friendly, pickup truck. And it is a Jeep, so it yearns for mud and off-road adventures. Should I be embarrassed to have thoroughly enjoyed driving a gasoline-powered SUV? Or should I just chalk it up to what an interesting time this is for the automobile? I will choose to revel in the chance to drive finely-tuned petrol-burning cars, trucks and SUVs, as well as luxuriate in what’s coming down the road with these new electricpowered dream machines. Ain’t life grand, as they say! Welcome to the Fall issue of VICARIOUS magazine. As in the past, we have several new contributors bringing us along on their road trip adventures. Steven Bochenek takes us on a Sea-to-Sky Highway jaunt on the coast of British Columbia in the new BMW X7, as well as counting every carefully driven kilometre in the 2019 EcoRun competition hosted by the Automobile Journalists Association of Canada (AJAC) in Alberta. Putting foot to the floor, exotic car test driver extraordinaire Peter Bleakney puts you behind the wheel of the stunning 2020 McLaren 720S Spider. But that’s not all. We have our regular team taking us to racing schools in four unique locales across North America, our Editor at Large, Matt Neundorf, chasing a Dragon’s tail and talking tech, plus a fall drive in a classic ’62 Corvette with renowned photographer John Walker. And, for the first time, VICARIOUS is proud to feature motorcycles on the cover, as we declare that riding on two-wheels is just as much fun and soul-stirring for the enthusiast as driving on four. It’s all a matter of choice and hopefully will be for a very, very long time.

Jeff Voth Editor in Chief, VICARIOUS jvoth@vicariousmag.com

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Editor at Large “ I’ve learned that life is a long and difficult road, but you have to keep going, or you’ll fall by the wayside.” – Steve McQueen

On Sunday June 30, 2019 racer, journalist and hollywood stuntman Carlin Dunne was closing in on claiming his fifth crown at this year’s Race to the Clouds at Pikes Peak. Piloting a prototype version of the upcoming Ducati Panigale V4 Steetfighter, Dunne was on pace to shatter the overall speed record. Through the first three sectors he was on pace to notch a blistering 9:32 time over the 12.42 mile climb to 14,115-feet, negotiating some 156 turns. Carlin would not cross the finish line. With little more than a quarter-mile remaining, Dunne would suffer a crash that would ultimately claim his life. Motorcycle racing is dangerous. This isn’t new information. Whether a rider suits up to take part in a circuit race, like Canadian Superbike or MotoGP, or chases time and speed at places like the Isle of Man or Pikes Peak, the risks involved are calculated. Racers equip themselves with the skills, abilities and equipment to all but eliminate the unexpected and mitigate danger. I didn’t know Carlin Dunne. But I consider myself friends with one of his co-racers and the eventual winner of 97th Annual hill climb, Rennie Skaysbrook. I was following the action closely over most of the event’s duration, cheering Rennie on as he masterfully rode his race-prepped Aprilia through practice, qualifying and the eventual race. And thankful as I am that Rennie will continue to race, the events that unfolded on that fateful Sunday still shook me to my core as a rider. It caused me to question why I continue to ride and re-evaluate what I do to protect myself. What am I doing to mitigate the dangers I face on two wheels, negotiating the streets, highways, pedestrians and traffic? It also forced me to ask what publications like ViCARious are doing to help protect the rest of the riding community? I don’t claim to have all, or any, of the answers. But I do commit myself to attempt to find some. Whether it be through evaluating newly developed protective gear, experimenting with the latest motorcycle technology or enrolling in skill enhancing schools, I will report back to you, dear readers, with honest and objective reports on the newest and best ways I can find to keep us all shiny side up. Less than four weeks after this year’s event, the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb Board of Directors announced that motorcycles would not race in 2020. Rest in Peace, Carlin.

Matt Neundorf VICARIOUS

BEGIN WHE RE THE

ROAD ENDS

V I S I T U TA H . C O M

Contents 6

“The Machine Of A Dream...”

“Keep going, or you’ll fall by the wayside...”

Editor in Chief

Editor at Large

Contents

Contributors

Sea-To-Sky Road Tripping In Style

Turn-key Tourist

Motorworld Hotel

Chasing The Dragon

Don Romano, Hyundai Canada Motor Corp.

2019 Dodge Challenger Hellcat Redeye

A Day At The Racetrack (A Story In 4 Parts)

Super Sport Utes

A Pacifica Road Trip - Bringing Stephanie Home

Our Team Cofounder, Editor in Chief

Jeff Voth

Cofounder, Production Manager

Peter Hessels Editor at Large

Matthew Neundorf

Discovered

Featured Hotels Unique Hotels New Roads

Perspective

Featured Car Discovered

Game Changers Discovered

100

2020 McLaren 720S Spider

112

2019 Can-Am Ryker

116

2019 Alberta EcoRun

126

Vietnam - Celebrating The Past And Present

134

Falling For A Topless Two-Seater

140

Motorcycle Airbags

144

Last words

First Drive

Featured Motorcycle

Contributing Writers

Emily Atkins

Peter Bleakney Steven Bochenek Dan Heyman James Kerr Matthew Neundorf Harry Pegg David Taylor Kelly Taylor John Walker

Discovered

Featured Region Featured Road

Design & Layout

Peter Hessels Contributing Photographer

Peter Hessels

Accessories Exit Lane

VICARIOUS is a division of Wide Open Media. No part of this publication may be copied or reprinted without the written consent of the publisher. The views expressed by the contributors are not necessarily those of the publisher, editors and staff. Customer service: sales@vicariousmag.com | Published in Canada To subscribe, visit www.vicariousmag.com Cover Photo: Viktor Radics Cover Location: Unnamed Road, South Africa Coordinates: 33°21’42.7”S 19°11’15.2”E

Director of Sales

Jeff Voth 905.327.3944 jvoth@vicariousmag.com

Contributors

S teven B ochenek Steven Bochenek (pronounced b-KEN-uk, not how you thought) has written professionally since 1989, although the first 15 years of his career were spent in marketing agencies. In 2007, he started writing automotive reviews and travel features to create content for Daily XY, an online guys’ magazine he edited. Soon after, his work was appearing in multiple publications. In 2010, Steven was invited to join the Automotive Journalists Association of Canada. Since then, his auto writing was awarded 2017 AJAC Best Feature Writing, 2016 Volvo Award for Environmental Journalism, and the Canadian Automotive Journalist of the Year, Runner-up in both 2014 and 2017 — #alwaysthebride. In 2016 Steven completed a Master’s of Arts in Interdisciplinary Studies (whatever that is) through the Royal Roads University online program. His interests include reading, playing piano and writing about himself in the third person.

J ames K err An auto “nut” since the time he could walk across the farmyard, James has followed his mechanical interests working as a Master Automotive mechanic, teaching new and experienced mechanics how to diagnose and repair vehicles for nearly 40 year and writing about automotive technology for over three decades in trade magazines and newspapers. Motorcycling is also a passion, learning to ride at the age of 6 and he has never been without a motorcycle since. With a fleet of 8 classic motorcycles ranging from motocross to sport touring, the lure of the perfect corner, the camaraderie of camping and meeting other riders as they cross the country and the awareness of your surrounding that motorcycling brings to the rider are but a few of the reasons James loves to ride.

D an H eyman Years of magazine reading, movie watching (Gone in 60 Seconds ftw!) and Hot Wheels collecting has given Vancouver, BC native Dan Heyman what some would say is an unhealthy obsession with all things motorcar. His dream drive? A 1971 Porsche 917K racer on Circuit de La Sarthe in Le Mans, France. Dan is especially passionate about his photography, having won the published photo of the year award from the Automobile Journalists Association of Canada (AJAC) where he serves on the board of directors.

P eter B leakney Having been a car nut for as long as he can remember, Peter Bleakney contributed regularly to the Toronto Star Wheels from 1995 to 2016, after which he started working with Post Media Driving. Peter has won the Wakefield Castrol Award for Journalism in vehicle testing and two Pirelli Photography awards. He also contributes regularly to Autotrader.ca and the Robb Report. Peter is also a professional bass player, having played and recorded with Anne Murray for 24 years, done numerous Toronto musical theatre productions and even performed with Editor in Chief Jeff Voth, who sings his arse off.

Discovered

Sea-to-Sky Road Tripping In Style 2 0 1 9 BMW X7

x D r i ve50 i

S tory | S teven B ochenek

he following highlights several days and nights in and around Vancouver and Whistler’s preeminent Fairmont Hotels. The conveyance between them is the BMW X7, itself a rolling spa.

Columbia are so notoriously laid back? They live three hours in the past. Newly visiting Torontonians can “sleep in” but still be outdoors and breakfasted before Vancouverites wake up.

FRIDAY 6:00pm. Dinner at Di Beppe. This chaotic, charming bistro appreciates the perfect simplicity of real, freshly plucked tomatoes, creating a sauce that blends riotously with the pizza’s anchovies. The negroni, the first of many this extended weekend, doesn’t stint on the gin.

Free shuttles leave Canada Place every 15 minutes for Capilano Suspension Bridge Park. Its treetop hébertism course and glassfloored cliff walk complete the feelings of daring-do you get from shaking other terrified tourists on its 140-meter bouncy bridge, jangling 70 meters over a rocky gorge. Definitely arrive early. An hour after opening, the bridge is crammed but my return bus is empty.

SATURDAY 8:30am. Ever wonder why people from British

11:30am. One word for weary business travellers: foot massage! Danielle, expert masseuse at Fairmont’s Willow Stream Spa, magically de-stresses nerves there beneath “a triple layer wrap, designed to hydrate, soothe and remineralize.” Speaking of mineralization … 1:00pm. Calling the Omakase Long Board at The Fairmont Pacific Rim’s RawBar an array of sushi is like calling Vancouver’s Coast Mountain chain a series of potentially nice walks. Complement nigri with negroni … but be extra careful denuding the king prawns of their razor-edged exoskeleton. #ouch 2:30pm. It’s hot and humid. Punctuate your postprandial bike ride along Stanley Park’s seawall with detours through splashpad fountains and a seat on the beach.

Afterwards, see Gastown’s edgier edges display haunting street-art. Commenting on the politics of race and addiction, these boldly coloured murals make effective social media clickbait. (Maybe just ride here during the day though.) 5:00pm. The sky is clear. 200 meters from Fairmont Pacific Rim’s entrance, you can board a Harbour Air seaplane ride from Coal Harbour and the Burrard Inlet, up past North and West Vans, then over the channel beside the Sea to Sky Highway, before returning past Stanley Park and circling the centre of town. 6:30pm. Ask any Hufflepuff alumnus: botany rocks! Cocktails and dinner at the hotel’s Botanist Lounge draw cleverly on local flora, as the name suggests, and heavier on the adjectives peppering your servers’ extended explanations. The cocktail, wine and food pairings and creations all reflect a thoroughly left-coast ethic. Example? A freelance forager regularly delivers handpicked mushrooms to the kitchen and bar. Really.

SUNDAY 10:30am. The drive up the Sea-to-Sky Highway in a freshly hatched BMW X7 is lovely outside and in. However, we’re late extricating ourselves from the Pacific Rim’s luxuries, so planned stops are truncated. 1:30pm. Lunch on the Fairmont Chateau Whistler’s patio is almost as distracting as the jaw-dropping view. Pub fare with flair. Today’s Banh Mi burger’s a tantalizing mess of savoury, sweet, bread and meat. The patio belongs to the huge Mallard Lounge, whose functions evolve throughout each day like a town square. You’ll be back here tomorrow for a flight of negronis and live music. 3:30pm. Walk off that soporific caloric depth charge during the weekly farmer’s market stretching throughout the main pedestrian boulevard of the upper village. I buy a lovely handmilled charcuterie board from Justin Trudeau’s doppelganger whose surname, counterintuitively, is Bush. 6:30pm. Another of the Fairmont’s multipurpose fueling stations, the Portobello is a hip smokehouse in the evening and cafeteria/deli by day. Tonight’s dinner? Picture pretty much everyone you sang about on Old MacDonald’s farm, slowsmoked into a carnivore’s bucket list. 9:00am. Part holiday camp, this massive hotel offers an array of daily activities (many, complementary) that shrink it to a small town. Our one-hour guided hike past the accurately named Whistler Train Wreck is just 10 minutes’ drive away. The reward-for-work ratio that any savvy hiker gauges is at least 10 to 1—and I’m a tough marker. Glacier-fed rapids, unearthly rock formations, another bouncy suspension bridge and, of course,

the twisted remains of a colossal train wreck are within easy steps of each other. 12:00 noon. With so much Okanagan cava flowing, lunch at Oso, a Spanish inspired tapas room in the main village, is too short. Bless those short ribs but we’re on a schedule, and there’s a mountain to slide down. Our host hustles me out. 1:30pm. Superfly Ziplines include two of Canada’s “longest ziplines at over a kilometre long, 600 feet high and reaching speeds of 100km/h.” You’re so tightly clipped in—you can flail, swing, kick and wobble on the fly—it feels safe as a PNE/ Playland ride. Nonetheless, I’m glad nobody in our group of nine is here to face their fear of heights or flying. 4:00pm. Luckily, there’s time to ascend Whistler mountain for a view that beggars description, even though I’ve seen and written about it before. Plan time to take the Peak-to-Peak Gondola. Then tell me what it was like because I didn’t plan enough time. 6:00pm. When good negroni lovers die, they go to the Mallard Lounge where, this evening, the menu boasts four unique twists on this classic cocktail. Leave the car keys in your room. Maybe your camera-phone too. Just not your room key. ‘Nuff said. 7:00pm. With its dark paneling, distant ceiling, and muted soundtrack, The Wildflower is a sumptuous display of classic hotel decorating. Dinner is sumptuous too. My sirloin is just the bluest side of rare—practically lowing, bless it—and goes down well with the accompanying Okanagan cab-sauvignon. (See above re car keys.)

Tuesday 8:00am. If you still haven’t completely adjusted to the three-hour time shift, arise with the dawn for a vigorous solo mountain hike. Why not just go the gym? Only the truly hardcore cycle these trails before the gondola opens. And when the weather’s agreeable, the views become more rewarding with each upward step. Today, the weather’s agreeable. 10:30am. Time to drive to Vancouver’s airport. Enjoyed from the perspective you missed on the way up, the same views on Highway 99 are impressively new. Keep your eyes on the road. Somehow, it’s even curvier, when you’re leaving relaxed. Vancouver’s Grown Up To say this town’s gone corporate isn’t accurate. Sure, you can no longer use “Sorry I’m late; my coven’s Wreck Beach séances always drain my creative energy” as an excuse. And Bryan Adams does still blare disproportionately across local patios a la droning Drake in Toronto. But major international commerce happens here now. Vancouver’s business class confidently

flaunts its cravings for the good things. Small wonder there are four Fairmont Hotels here. Downtown on Coal Harbour, we’re guests at the Fairmont Pacific Rim. All grownup, Vancouver now comfortably juggles multiple reputations. ‘Lotus Land’ also means the scores of deafening supercars impatiently inching through a downtown designed for cyclists and walkers. Meanwhile, below the sparkling glass towers, quotidian life hasn’t forgotten its activist routes, still leading the country with progressive cultural happenings. Example? Just next door to our hotel, in tents designed like longhouses, we notice events for Women Deliver. This convention features over 6,000 world leaders, from parliamentarians to journalists, discussing “gender equality and the health, rights and wellbeing of women and girls” explains local artist/educator Sally Buck. During her presentation, tourist seaplanes noisily take off and land not 400 meters away, regularly prompting Buck and other Women in the Way (their event’s title) to, rather appropriately, raise their voices.

Whistler’s on fire To say this town’s gone corporate also isn’t accurate; it always was. Functionally invented to attract the Olympics and legally established as a resort municipality in 1975, Whistler’s a tourism juggernaut. The general look is some prefab business-friendly fantasy of 19th century Tyrol. But any soullessness in the consistently functional design is easily forgiven. Everyone is spellbound by Whistler’s towering mountains, and breathing deep of the sweet, fresh air—both visitors and “locals”. Yes. Huge numbers of Whistler’s working population are transient Kiwis, Brits, and you can’t throw a boomerang without hitting Australians. In fact, the town’s nicknamed Whistralia. Canadians loom but management wisely parades the colourful accents out front, good for repeat business.

Not unrelated to the rampant tourism, Whistler’s construction and “medical” marijuana industries are smoking hot too. BMW X7 xDrive50i: Imagine a luxury tank … or a fortified rolling spa. Lower your window now and again when igniting the X7 xDrive50i. With soundproofing and acoustics worthy of Berlin’s Konzerthaus, you’ll miss the satisfying 21-cannon salute from a 4.4-liter V8 that achieves 456 horsepower. And there’s plenty of time to enjoy splendours like its custom fragrances, full body massage from the coddling leather seats, and the ample skies viewed through the ubiquitous sunroof. Besides, you don’t want to test that engine, capable of 0 to 100km/h in 5.4 seconds, on the well policed Sea-to-Sky highway. Just relax and enjoy this mobile spa.

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Featured Hotels

Turn-key Tourist

turn-key (adjective): of or involving the provision of a complete service that is ready for immediate use.

S tory | J eff V oth

S ea C liff B ridge

NSW, A ustralia

34.2550Â° S, 150.9733Â° E D avid W imble

L e S irenuse , P ositano , I taly

Originally built as a private home, four Neapolitan brothers, the Marchese, Aldo, Paolo, Anna and Franco Sersale have turned Le Sirenuse into one of Italy’s most stylish and sought after vacation destinations. The 58-room seaside luxury hotel is situated in Positano, a cliffside village on southern Italy’s famed Amalfi Coast. A 50 km drive from Naples, this is the land of Oz for those who love to drive and there is no better place to recharge than Le Sirenuse. The view from most rooms is towards the bay. Stylish and comfy, room sizes range from the Inner Courtyard at 280 sq. ft to the Two Bedroom Suite Seaview at a grand 1,184 sq. ft that features a separate living room and three bathrooms. Many of the rooms highlight balconies, the siren call of the sea being hard to resist, especially with morning coffee served in the crisp, salty air. Room décor highlights whitewashed walls, vaulted ceilings and tile floors. Relax by the pool surrounded by lemon trees, lounge chairs and brilliant sunshine. Be sure to sneak a peek as to who might be lounging beside you, this is a favourite location for Hollywood’s elite. The GAR AULENTI designed Le Sirenuse Spa offers a broad range of massage therapy and treatments, as well as sauna, ice room and granite steam bath. Dining takes place at the Michelin-starred La Sponda Restaurant, under the watchful eye of Chef Gennaro Russo. A total of 400 candles add ambience to what is sure to be an unforgettable dining and relaxation experience. Address: Via Cristoforo Colombo, 30, 84017 Positano SA, Italy Website: www.sirenuse.en

G olden E ye , O cho R ios , J amaica The name says it all. Any James Bond fan worth their salt knows that GoldenEye, Jamaica is the setting in which Ian Lancaster Fleming wrote his 13 novels starring the famed secret agent 007. Fast-forward from 1946 when British Commander Fleming first discovered the original 15 acres to today and the former residence has become one of the most celebrated Caribbean retreats for stars, honeymooners and vacationers from around the world, all under the watchful eye of current owner and Island Records founder Chris Blackwell. To say there are “rooms” in which to stay at GoldenEye is a disservice to the heritage of the property and the vision of Mr. Blackwell. The Originals are just what they sound like, the first rooms built for guests starting in the 1970’s. Strangeways is the largest, a 3-bedroom villa located on the top of a bluff on a cliff with far-reaching views of the ocean below. It’s name is inspired by the strange and ethereal experiences Jamaica is famous for. Spanish Elm and Honey Chile are one-bedroom villas with a storied past. Beach and Lagoon Villas, Lagoon Cottages and Beach Huts that are raised 10 ft off the ground offer a more traditional, but uncommon island stay, compared to today’s more typical multi-room mansions. The newly designed Gazebo restaurant is also built in a treehouse style. It’s the place to watch the sunset all while sipping on Blackwell Rum or dining on international fare. Casual food is served at various venues including the Bizot Bar and Bamboo Bar, or you can opt for in-room or a unique beach dining experience. As you would expect, watersports of all kinds are available including sea kayaking, stand-up paddleboarding, sailing, snorkeling and Jamaica’s largest swimming pool at 250 metres. Address: Oracabessa Bay, St. Mary, Jamaica Website: www.goldeneye.com

A badía R etuerta L e D omaine , S pain If your idea of a perfect stay is to enjoy the finest wine and 5-star accommodations in a Romanesque-style monastery first constructed in the 12th Century, look no further than Abadía Retuerta LeDomaine on the banks of the Douro River in Spain. A concerted effort by the hotel owners, local municipalities and the Monastery of Retuerta have delivered the perfect blend of centuries old architecture with new, 21st Century accommodations and getaway opportunities. Simplicity is the tonic for a restful stay, but there is no compromise when it comes to modern day amenities and activities available. Vineyards surround the property, embracing guests in an ocean of wine growing fields and elegance. A total of 27 double rooms and 3 suites are located in the former hostelry of the monastery. Eight of the double rooms are located in the original stables and offer direct access to the Wellness and Spa Center. Double Classic rooms start at 344 sq. ft and feature muted plaster walls, oak floors and enough tech to meet today’s need for connectivity. At the top of the list, the two-bedroom and master suites provide 1,076 sq. ft of luxury with a similar flare. There are four dining opportunities at Abadía Retuerta LeDomaine, including the Michelin-starred Refectorio restaurant. It offers several unique menu options as well as two special tasting menus for discerning guests to enjoy. Vinoteca is designed as a more casual dining experience, the Cloister Garden serves breakfast, lunch and dinner in an intimate outdoor setting and the Pool Bar features a BBQ menu with poolside fare. A full range of spa treatments are available onsite at Santuario LeDomaine, wine tours of the property and surrounding area are a must and no trip to Spain would be complete without a country drive and picnic offered as part of the MINI Cabrio Experience package. Address: 47340 Sardón de Duero, Valladolid, Spain Website: www.abadia-retuerta.com

O ne &O nly L e S aint G éran , M auritius The name Madagascar conjures up images of white sand beaches that stretch for miles, sentinel baobab trees reaching skyward and yelloweyed Lemurs scurrying through the forest. Located 400 km’s off the coast of Africa in the Indian Ocean, continue on a little further east and you will discover what many well-travelled beach lovers and adventure seekers say is the finest island destination on planet earth- Mauritius. The One&Only Le Saint Géran is situated at the northern tip of the Belle Mare coast. Surrounded by coral reefs and white sand, temperatures average between 31°-33° C during the year. A top golf destination with 10 unique courses available on the island, the possibility for action is equal to the opportunity to simply grab a towel and head for the beach. A total of 142 rooms and suites at the One&Only Le Saint Géran have been fully refreshed to incorporate outward views of the Mauritian landscape. Colours and room accents are carefully chosen to enhance the guest experience with disappearing folding doors, island-inspired colours, marble bathroom floors and comfy, natural wood and fabric furniture. Guests staying in suites enjoy 24-hour butler service. PRIME steakhouse serves the finest Australian Angus Wagyu beef, seafood and locally-sourced produce in an open-cooking setting with wine displays. Tapasake offers lagoon seating and a Spanish tapas-Asian flavours infused dining menu. La Terrasse is the main restaurant for the hotel. Here chefs prepare their menu at open kitchen settings as guests enjoy the sounds of outdoor water features in newly-styled al fresco dining pavilions. The One&Only Spa features several private rooms with outdoor showers and a full ESPA treatment menu. Three pools and a lagoon offer adults and families a wide range of recreational options. Of course, you can also create your own private getaway for the day on nearly 2 kms of beautiful sandy beaches. The choices are endless. Address: Pointe de Flacq, Poste de Flacq 41521, Mauritius Website: www.oneandonlyresorts.com/one-and-only-le-saint-geran-mauritius

A saba R yokan , S hizuoka , J apan Tranquility is a word many would use to describe a stay at Asaba Ryokan located in the hot springs of Shuzenji in Japan. Here the sounds of a babbling stream and birds singing in the serene setting of a 510 year old Shuzenji temple, first built for the Soto Sect by Yakuro Yukitada Asaba, then passed on from generation to generation by the family, is a rest for the soul, mind and spirit. At the top of the list for accommodations is the magnificent 2,368 sq. ft Villa Tenko. It offers discerning guests garden views, two bathrooms; one open air and a second one indoor, natural wood floors and the beauty of traditional Japanese-style unpretentious elegance. Additional room sizes include the 1,250 sq. ft Moegi facing the pond and Noh stage to the smaller, but no less tranquil, Ohitomo studio room at 355 sq. ft. A unique feature of this room is that there is no indoor bath, but rather access is provided for the more traditional Japanese large baths, family baths and outdoor baths available. Cuisine is as much a part of the tranquility experience at Asaba Ryokan as the hotel itself. Menus are uniquely chosen for each season of the year, with delicacies from grilled sweetfish and sweetfish rice in midMay to hotpot sea eel and matsutake mushrooms in mid-Sept to late October. Specialties include Chargrilled Japanese black beef fillet and Matsuba crab (snow crab) available in season. After a one-of-a-kind dining experience, relax in the outdoor and indoor koyamaki timber mens and womens baths or private baths available for the whole family. Address: 3450-1 Shuzenji, Izu-shi, Shizuoka 410-2416 Website: www.asaba-ryokan.com

M ashpi L odge , Q uito , E cuador A breath of fresh air may be the best way to describe this west coast South American resort. Situated in what the owners describe as the lungs of the earth, Mashpi Lodge is a steaming, breathing, living place that is full of life and unlike any other place in the world. The vision of Rogue Sevilla, a passionate environmentalist, successful businessman and the former mayor of Quito, the forest comes alive for guests of the lodge as they reside in its shadow and explore the strange sights and sounds on this 3,000 acre private reserve. Rooms are designed to immerse you in this forest setting, clouds floating in the treetops as you look outside from your soaker tub. At 495 sq. ft, Yaku Suites (Yaku means water in Kichwa) feature a king-size bed oozing rest and relaxation in a room devoid of clutter, but filled with natural elements including grey tile floors, wood accents, bamboo dividers and white-washed walls. The 366 sq. ft Wayra Rooms (Wayra means wind in Kichwa) offer a similar style with two full-size beds or one king-size and are perfect for families. The Restaurant is a two-story dining room that highlights floor-to-ceiling windows looking out on the jungle. Local ingredients are incorporated daily in the chef-prepared menu, offering guests the best in Ecuadorian cuisine. Mixologists prepare your favourite drinks, and a few new ones you have probably never tasted, at the nearby bar. Relaxation continues at the Samay Wellness Center with a full service menu, open-air hot tub and outdoor yoga deck. A highlight for all guests is the opportunity to explore the surrounding forest with a personal guide on various trails with waterfalls, ponds and wildlife in abundance. Or you can swing from the trees on the family-size Dragonfly, two-person Sky Bike or Tarzan-style from a vine on the Jungle Swing Trail. Address: Admin Office- Bolivar Oe6-41 Cuenca Quito, Ecuador Website: www.mashpilodge.com

Featured Hotels - COMING SOON!

One&Only Desaru Coast, Malaysia Located on the southeastern coast in the state of Johor, this Malaysian crown jewel is set to bring a whole new level of style and sophistication to an already magnificent destination. The Romans coined this area, The Golden Chersonese (Golden Peninsula) as it is once thought to have been a gold mining region during ancient times. Today that gold has turned white and touches the ocean with some of the most spectacular beaches in the world. The One&Only Desaru Coast will set a new standard of excellence for those seeking only the finest vacation getaway. This is the first Asian hotel for the brand, with easy access from Singapore Changi International Airport and Senai International Airport in Johor. Designed by the renowned architect firm, Kerry Hill Architects, it features 42 suites, 2 luxury suites and an exclusive 4-bedroom villa, as well as approximately 50 One&Only Private Homes available for purchase. With a kilometre of beaches, an exclusive One&Only Spa by Chenot, 3 restaurants, a Beach Club, adults and kids activities available and a style and vibe unique to this brand, this is certain to be a must-stay destination for many years to come. The scheduled opening is Spring 2020.

O rient E xpress Mahanakhon Bangkok H otel , Thailand AccorHotels has announced the inaugural Orient Express Hotel will open as part of the King Power Mahanakhon Building in Bangkok, Thailand. This will be the first in a series of unique hotels, ushering in a new era for the Orient Express brand while incorporating their legendary heritage of first-class travel by train. Visionary designer Tristan Auer has taken on the responsibility of exploring how best to incorporate the famed Art Deco stylings of the original Orient Express passenger trains into a modern-day high-rise hotel. A total of 154 rooms integrate 9 suites and two penthouses. Two restaurants are featured in the hotel. Mott 32, named after the first Chinese convenience store at 32 Mott Street in New York and Mahanathi by David Thompson. The celebrated Chef Thompson is renowned for his award-winning restaurants around the world and in particular his personal take on Thai cuisine. The hotel is scheduled to open by the end of this year.

Fairmont Century Plaza, Los Angeles, CA After a complete renovation, the Fairmont Century Plaza will once again shine as a mid-century marvel under the bright lights of Tinsel Town. A total of 301 king rooms, 50 double rooms and 49 suites, plus 63 residences and two adjacent 46-story luxury residential towers, will set the stage for a grand re-opening in 2020. The rooftop pool is certain to be a can’t miss destination for spotting Hollywood’s elite. So too will be the 14,000 sq. ft spa and 24 hr fitness center. A total of 94,000 sq. ft of boutique shopping and restaurants surround the building, offering a unique opportunity to enjoy fine dining, or savour a skillfully crafted cappuccino in this glamorous remake of Minoru Yamasaki’s iconic hotel.

Discovered

Motorworld Hotel W a k i n g U p I n M o t o r i n g H e av e n S tory A nd P hotography | D an H eyman

t’s one thing when you’ve travelled all night (or was it all day?) let’s say from Vancouver, finally arriving at – let’s say – Paris De Gaulle, hopping into a cab and having it whisk you to your Air BnB in the heart of the city, where you can then drop your bags and unwind. You were expecting it and while your internal clock may be a little screwy, at least you kind of know where you’re at. The situation changes a little, however, when you’re flying from Vancouver to Stuttgart by way of Frankfurt and then being whisked to a hotel you haven’t booked – but was booked for you -- in a place that you’re not so familiar with and isn’t as much of a hotspot as Paris. You knew about Paris. The Eiffel Tower, the cafés, the markets, Versailles and so on. Indeed, Stuttgart isn’t really a destination for most – unless, of course, you’re a car person. At that point, it changes from being an industrial city in the heart of Germany’s Baden-Würtenberg region, to a motoring mecca that – and I only really realized it once I’d spent some time there – rivals Detroit, or Indianapolis or Daytona. This is the home of Mercedes and Porsche, one of the biggest overall manufacturers and one of the biggest performance manufacturers, respectively, that exist today.

So while my brain was scrambled enough from the travel and how foreign my destination was, I quickly realized upon reaching my destination – the V8 Hotel – that I ain’t seen nuthin’ yet. You see, the V8 Hotel (it’s actually kind of two hotels – more in a minute) is nestled within a property called Motorworld, and a place so routed in car culture I have not seen, this side of a few small samplings along historic Route 66 between Los Angeles and Chicago – also of which we’ll see more in a minute. The best way to describe Motorworld is an all-inclusive resort for car people, a mecca within the mecca that is Stuttgart. Only, it’s not really all-inclusive and I’m hard pressed to call anything in this particular setting a “resort”. Thing is though, so much of what we expect from your typical resort – be it in Mexico, off the coast of France or Cape Cod – is here; a range of restaurants, shopping, a pool, spa, gym and…a massive garage that houses up to 54 cars? How about a McLaren, a Bentley, a Rolls Royce and a Lotus dealer? OK, well, not so typical at all, then. Pretty far from it but ho-ly if I didn’t think I was dreaming, which wouldn’t be much of a stretch

considering my current condition. I actually slapped myself – literally, slapped -- myself once, just to see if I would “kick” myself – Inception style – awake. Nope. That classic Porsche was still there, that Willys Jeep was still over there and that MercedesBenz 500E AMG Hammer was still over there. They’re mostly owned by various people who pay to have their cars stored there, and they can be ogled by anyone who happens to be passing through and it doesn’t cost a dime. If you do want to spend a dime however, many of these are actually for sale. You can see, now, how I thought I was in another dimension. Built in 2004 on what was formerly a US air base (I’d say that’s why they called it “V8”, but the Germans have built many a spectacular V8 engines in their own right), Motorworld exists as a place for car people to simply “be”; you can look in any direction, from anywhere on the premises and you will see pieces of car lore, be it old gas pumps (from as far back as 1936!) or diecast models. There are three gift shops – one sells books, one Spark diecast models in a variety of scales and colours (Gulf oil! New Man! Castrol! Manthey Racing!) and one sells soft goods from Grandprix Originals such as Gulf-embroidered racing jackets, driving shoes and duffel bags with famous race driver Derek Bell’s signature stitched right in. There’s a cigar and scotch room, a bierhalle, a cafeteria and a hall for hosting weddings and corporate getogethers – this is a hotel, remember, and you aren’t going to be a hotel in an industrial city and just get by on 300-euro racing jacket sales. And this was all to be taken in before I even got to my room, which felt like yet another shot from the revolver of my subconscious. As mentioned before, the V8 Hotel is technically divided in two parts – V8 Hotel, and V8 Hotel Classic. Which one you choose should solely revolve around what you want from your experience; the new hotel gets more modern, air-conditioned rooms, while the classic gets older accoutrements, but its rooms really have to be seen to be believed. They come in three

varieties – V6 is the most standard, V8 has all sorts of bells and whistles while V12 represents the full-pull suite with kitchenette. The themed rooms get the “V8” designation – remember that cool car bed you had when you were 10? Well, here, it’s taken to the nth degree by providing a full-size car – say, a VW Beetle painted up like Herbie the Love Bug, or a Mini Cooper painted in Gulf colours – plus all sorts of trinkets that go with the theme; there’s a room full of diecast toys, for example. Or, a room that’s like a garage complete with tools and parts; there’s even a carwash-themed room, that has brushes either side and above your head. The wonderful fraulein at the front desk said that was the popular one. My room – well, one of my rooms, anyway – was the Route 66 room (see? Told you we’d be coming back to that theme), which featured a life-size image of James Dean as well as an actual, reallife motorcycle protruding from the wall as if it was exploding off the mural right into your bedroom. It was truly epic – but it was also in the Classic, meaning no air conditioning. When you’re in the midst of a heat wave, that tends to damper your enthusiasm a bit. It was great opportunity for me to try something else, and as luck would have it, they happened to have a room available in der neue hotel. What a room it was; it had a Le Mans theme, complete with wall-sized mural of a pit crew, lounge chair that looks like a giant helmet sans facemask and side tables constructed of Porsche wheels. The room in the new hotel aren’t quite as all-out as they are in the older place, but you know you’re in something special, nevertheless. And you’re cool. Which is nice. After I’d toured the garage one final time, managed to convince myself not to drop said 300 euros on said Gulf jacket and taken my last brau (brewed in-house, because why shouldn’t it be), I still didn’t have my fill of this place. It’s not every day that you can wake up to a cuppa joe (in a Gulf mug, of course), zip down to the lobby, check out the latest McLaren on display, hop across the courtyard for a bite and proceed to meander through scores of classic cars all in the span of your typical morning dog walk.

 TO UNWIND

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New Roads

Chasing The Dragon F i n d i n g N i rva n a I n T h e G r e at S m o k e y M o u n ta i n s

S tory A nd P hotography | M atthew N eundorf

e barely had time to doff our helmets when my cousin Jeff and I were greeted by a bearded and boisterous fellow rider. Of the group of seventy-five or so that were parked at the Cherohala Market to grab refreshments and fuel, apparently we stood out. He had spotted that both of our Triumph Tigers had Ontario plates and, having known a few Canucks over the years, figured we were a good natured duo, always happy to chat. He wasn’t wrong. After nearly four hours in the saddle from Nashville to Tellico Plains -- the southern entry to the Cherohala Skyway -- we were in need of some R & R ourselves . Our new friend wasn’t exactly a local but he was familiar with the area and quick to point out we had some epic riding ahead of us. He said he liked our choice of machinery but touted the benefits of his shaft-driven Honda NT700V (less maintenance), Chattanooga barbecue and Tennessee whiskey. He explained that his Honda was chosen over a used Tiger and was new to him -- the best bike he’s ever owned, sporty but low enough to accommodate his inseam -- and it was clear from his stature and demeanour he was an expert resource for both the meat and the hooch. And why shouldn’t he be. Both are damned fine and damned fine reasons to visit this area. But we didn’t ride to the Great Smoky Mountains to eat and drink… at least not exclusively. We rode here to ride.

For longer than I’ve been on two wheels, a single fused ravelment of asphalt on the border between Tennessee and North Carolina, better known as the Tail of the Dragon, has held mythical status in my imagination. As I’m sure you already know, this is a stretch of tarmac where some threehundred and eighteen turns compress themselves into a mere eleven miles. Having grown up in the right-angled, straight-as-an-arrow, grid patterned streets of Toronto little about those numbers seem possible. Since I first learned of its existence, after swiping a sticker at local motorcycle show, I knew I needed to ride it. But first Jeff and I had to knock off the extraordinary Cherohala. Our journey to get here took us through six states so far and covered some 1,100 miles (1,770km). And, while I’m eager to notch a seventh state (North Carolina) and finally tip my bars into the first curves of the Dragon, this fortythree mile stretch of undulating, scenic byway is simply incredible. Under construction for nearly forty-years and costing upwards of a PowerBall win ($100M), the Cherohala Skyway rises, falls and winds around the Nantahala National Forest reaching its peak at Huckleberry Knob, some 5,560-ft above sea level before dropping back down into Robbinsville, North Carolina and its junction with U.S. Route 129. If the Dragon didn’t exist, the Cherohala Skyway would warrant a trip here alone. Packed with wide sweeping turns, gorgeous vistas and enough tight twists to keep concentration focused, I could easily be persuaded into turning around and running it in reverse before doing it 39

all over again. Sadly we just don’t have the time left in this day, so Jeff and I stop at the Skyway Convenience to hydrate, caffeinate and prepare to battle the Dragon. A stop at Deal’s Gap Motorcycle Resort -- the official starting line for the Dragon -- is a must. Aside from rubbing clip-ons and bars with some like-minded petrolheads, a visit to the Tree of Shame is obligatory before setting off. Littered with the busted and broken remnants of heroes who have come up short on their quest to slay the next 11-mile stretch, the makeshift shrine serves as a not-so-gentle reminder of what happens to the cocky around here. Jeff and I chat briefly about making sure we ride within our limits, so as not to add any additional decorations to The Tree. Thanks to the elevation changes my ears have flooded, blocking out all sound other than the 800cc triple whirring beneath me, the beat of my heart and the voices in my head. Voices, plural, because I’m having an internal debate as to how hard I should be pushing right now (never forget The Tree!). But despite everything I’d been told or read before arrival, warning that the Dragon is a heavily policed parade route of riders and drivers who don’t know the first thing about an apex or how to string together more than two kinks in a road, the road ahead of me is completely empty. In the middle of the afternoon. On a Sunday. What bliss.

My Tiger’s freshly spooned set of Pirelli Scorpion Trail II’s feel like race slicks beneath me and after three solid days of riding, I am absolutely at one with my bike. With each twist I dip a little lower, brake a little later and roll on the throttle a little bit sooner. In the course of around a dozen kinks Jeff has completely disappeared from my mirrors. A quick tap on my Sena reveals he’s fine, just enjoying the road at a more comfortable and civilized rate. I think about that damned Tree again and vow to do the same. When he creeps into view I match his pace and almost instantly fall into a hypnotic rhythm with my bike and the road. The lanes are tight so you need to be on your game, but each curve is banked appropriately and I didn’t spot a spec of dust, gravel or debris littering any of relatively smooth asphalt. Riders and drivers headed in south are courteous and mindful, making sure to stay on their side of centre and the only Police presence was stationed near the end of the eleven mile strip of heaven. With those worries out of the way, there’s nothing left to do but enjoy the ride.

Dan Simmons once wrote:

“The only way we can immortalize anything is by appreciating it when it happens”. It was a commentary (of Hemingway’s in a novel titled The Crook Factory -- which is a great read, btw) about how a photograph of an event, or even a story about it, simply doesn’t do it justice in comparison to the experience. Those words of sage advice are running through my mind while turns 175 through 280 disappear behind me. The journalist in me knows that I should be stopping to capture some moments along this route -- moments of bikes at full lean, cars approaching nine-tenths -- and that I need to deliver as many descriptors in this tale of the Tail as I can. But this moment, on this road, is simply bigger than any photo I can take or story I can tell. This is truly a road you must experience on your own. If you need directions, hit me up.

Subscribe to VICARIOUS today! If taking the road less travelled still seems overcrowded, we understand. Drive or ride with us each issue and see what it means to truly experience adventure in every corner! VICARIOUS magazine is packed full of stories and photographs from our award-winning writers and photographers. Published seasonally 4 times per year, we promise to make every issue unforgettable.

Sign-up is easy, just follow this link and subscribe today: www.vicariousmag.com Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s great to have you along for the ride. Let the adventure begin!

Perspective

“It’s All Personal, Man!” D o n R o m a n o – P r e s i d e n t a n d CEO Hyundai Canada Motor Corp.

S tory | D avid T aylor

ack in the late 1980’s, life generally was pretty good for a young man growing up in Southern California. He was just over a year away from completing his Bachelor of Science in Business Administration degree from California State University (CSU) in Long Beach when everything changed. Living the life of a dude, this young man would spend his spare time doing what many SoCal kids did – he swam and surfed – and yes, he even flew routes for Flying Tiger Line, the first scheduled cargo airline in the United States. Flying was a passion that also helped pay for school. His parents were not wealthy and he was acutely aware of the value that an education could bring. Federal Express bought the Flying Tigers lock, stock, and barrel and at that moment, the options for Don Romano took a blow. His long-term goal was to be a commercial pilot. Flying for the Tigers was not only a means to an end, it kept him in the air – when he wasn’t in the ocean. A young Romano sat down with the new company and learned he still had a future as a pilot – if he moved then and there, east. A year out from his degree and with his income stream suddenly gone, what was he to do? Every day he drove the 405 to the CSU campus. He would see the Nissan Motor Corporation building at the side of the highway. One day he took a different exit and ended up walking into Nissan looking for work. He had nothing to lose. What did this kid know about cars or the automotive industry? Nothing. He drove one and that was about it. He needed a job to pay for his tuition so he might complete his degree. Why would Nissan hire a pilot? He reasoned that forward-thinking companies like Nissan would have a need for expertise in marketing – and that was his pitch. The rest, as the cliché goes, is history.

With a CV that looks like an automotive who’s who, Romano worked hard and applied himself. Stints at Nissan, Mazda, and Toyota led to his appointment in 2013 as President and Chief Executive Officer at Hyundai Auto Canada Corp. It was then that the next act in Romano’s eclectic life would occur. In 2013, Hyundai appeared to be riding the crest of a wave. Reality was an entirely different story. The Canadian Automobile Dealers Association (CADA), the national association representing new car and truck dealers in Canada did not exactly hold the same opinion based upon feedback from the car-consuming public. Acting as the voice of automotive dealers at the national level, CADA serves as an advocate to government, industry and the public. Hyundai was not the darlings of the industry many had believed. Hyundai Canada quite simply needed to change – or its future, short- and long-term, could be in jeopardy. To hear Romano tell it,

“Hyundai’s customer service scores were embarrassingly low.” Point of fact, for an automotive company conducting business in a rapidly changing and highly-competitive environment, poor customer service is tantamount to the kiss of death!

Instead of concentrating on the actual symptoms of customer dissatisfaction, management teams at Markham HQ began focusing on the problems that created customer dissatisfaction. Everything known was examined, questioned and if need be, changed or discarded. Nothing was sacred. A cleansing was necessary if Hyundai Canada was to extricate itself from this self-made quagmire. Training academies were created and soon a completely new dealer training and certification program called Signature Certification was implemented. “We even went as far as to form a dealer task force and developed a balanced score card to reward dealers for doing the things customers weren’t expecting – yet probably should have received. Wholesale changes were initiated and, frankly, did not go over well. Change, especially when so dramatic, can be hard to accept – especially from a reticent group of individuals who initially questioned almost everything presented,” stated Romano. “After two years of hard work to become an industry leader in customer service, the scores from CADA didn’t move.” Hyundai was still wallowing. At that point there was understandably a great deal of pressure from every faction to return to the old way of doing business. “We gave it our best shot and our best didn’t seem to be good enough.” It was a difficult time for the entire Hyundai team who had grown accustomed to success over the years.

Rather than give up, Romano and his team doubled down on all their efforts and upped the ante. “Training was key to success so we placed more focus on the areas that were most important to our customers. We solicited more help and support from our dealer task force and national dealer council and created mentors to work with our less experienced team members.” Finally, in 2017, CADA published the results of their latest survey. “We hoped for improvement. Any improvement.” Hyundai Canada had skyrocketed to 4th best in the industry. It was the biggest year-over-year increase since CADA had initiated their survey. The lesson learned was simple. Never give up doing the right thing. Quitting is easy. Staying the course when the course you establish isn’t working and those around you lose confidence in your vision is extremely hard. A phrase often heard and invariably repeated by Romano has almost become a mantra, “It’s all personal, man!” Success for this man has been earned, hard fought. Few, if any, assumptions are made, no quarter is given – or frankly, expected. Make no mistake, Romano is no Don Quixote, tilting aimlessly at windmills. This is a man who, pun intended, is driven. He’s a believer. He would never, however, describe himself as a visionary – more of an advocate than anything.

“So we went to work. The time had come to rebuild from the ground up – literally. We overhauled and completely reorganized our field teams.”

Having said that, Romano would cheerfully do all he can to eliminate combustion engines as we know them. Hard to believe coming from the mouth of the CEO of a very successful OEM but Romano is as passionate about this as he is about everything he does. This is, however, a man who believes in balance and the environment. And we’re not just talking about environment from a green or eco standpoint – which is, as we learned, very important. It’s about commitment. He made the decision years ago to work in Canada. Yes, he likely pays more taxes here than if he was still operating out of the US, but Canada, Stouffville, Ontario is home with his wife of almost 30 years and their four children. He has two distinctly personal happy places – a remote cabin near Park City in Utah and the rustic family cottage in Haliburton, Ontario. When he’s not working, he’s snow skiing, wake boarding or swimming. He is a competitive long distance swimmer and an Ontario Masters Swimming gold medalist. His life, it would appear, on either side of the desk, is best when there are challenges. Romano is a true believer in alternative fuel sources, especially if it results in reduced or zero carbon emissions and greenhouse gases. In his own way, and using his

influence within the Hyundai global front lines, this man will take on the world, if it means doing something in making a meaningful contribution resulting in the manifestation of his environmental beliefs. As the head honcho of the Canadian arm of a successful global conglomerate, Romano quickly came to terms with the part of his job that continues to fuel his personal passions. Electric cars (EVs) are slowly getting cheaper – often without the need for provincial or in part, recent Federal rebates or grants. Plus, pure EVs, generally, can go farther today on a single charge. However, there is still skepticism from the car-buying public. The tipping point when the archetypal shopper for an EV transitions from a (generally) greenminded concerned citizen to a mainstream consumer who wants a practical vehicle that can be driven to more than the local mall without encountering two dreaded words – range anxiety – is not there. Yet. Car shoppers have one major concern: how will I keep an electric car charged while I’m on a long road trip? Hard to argue that point.

It’s here that Romano the advocate makes a steadfast and sincere appearance. “Look, gas stations are everywhere. In fact a typical highway exit might have several of them, each with banks of pumps at the ready. And the process is fast: filling the tank takes just a few minutes.” There’s rarely any need to plan fueling stops ahead of time – unless your drive is in a remote area. Gas stations of all shapes and sizes are ubiquitous.” When the tank is running low, it’s a simple matter of pulling off at the next exit, filling the tank, and getting back on the highway. Snacks, drinks, and restrooms are usually available there, too.”

Fact is, today fast (Level 3) chargers for electric cars are few and far between along main highways. Also, despite advances in charger and battery technologies, it still takes much longer – typically about 20 - 30 minutes with today’s fast chargers – to recharge a battery to 80% than to pump liquid into a tank.

“So why can the same situation not exist for alternate fuel sources – EV or otherwise, like hydrogen, for example?”

While some are located along highways that have rest stops, others are often in shopping centre parking lots, a long walk from the stores, or sometimes at car dealerships or hotels.

Further exacerbating the situation, EV fast chargers often aren’t located near convenience stores or restaurants. So, while drivers have longer to wait, there’s not much to do but sit in the car while it recharges.

Electric cars don’t need fast chargers all the time, of course. The vast majority of the time, electric cars are charged at home or at work, using chargers that can take six to eight hours. Fast chargers are different. They are designed to quickly fill a car’s battery – not all the way, which would stress the battery, but usually up to about 80% – so people can get on their way. Fast chargers are usually only needed when people want to go on longer drives. These chargers are important, though, because people considering buying an electric car need to have confidence they can take the occasional road trip. There is another word that continues to hinder progress. Infrastructure.

To Romano, a consumer should not be forced to go out of their way to re-fuel. Demand convenience. Often times, in busy urban areas, there seems to be a gas station at most major intersections. They are everywhere. It then becomes a question of brand loyalty and preference. Do I want points or miles? The solution, while not inexpensive, is obvious – to Romano at least – and he makes a fair point. The actual infrastructure pretty much exists – everywhere. As we rely less on fossil fuels, does that mean that gas stations as we know them will cease to be? No – well, not all of them, and certainly not all at once. Royal Dutch Shell has recently acquired two electric vehicle charging companies, the European EV charging company NewMotion and GreenLots, a US company that provides software for running EV charging networks. These strategic acquisitions provide another service Shell gas stations can offer customers even as they switch away from gasolinepowered cars. And this isn’t just happening in the US. In China, BP (British Petroleum) recently announced a partnership with the ride hailing service, Didi to install a network of car charging stations. Furthermore, BP is already rolling out charging stations in its home market, the United Kingdom. Major oil companies have the ability to initiate change now. It’s a question of desire – and, ultimately, of their appetite. Romano has already had discussions with one on this very matter. The ability to transition exists. Romano is not suggesting total conversion, but a gradual and systematic approach to change. It’s a situation “fuelled” by three stakeholders: oil companies; OEMs; and, government – all levels.

For additional clarification, from Romano’s standpoint, OEMs are not just selling to consumers: these days, they’re also selling to governments. The chargers themselves aren’t simple, either. While gasoline pump nozzles come in a standard size, there are different types of electric car chargers. Good Lord, have we learned nothing? Beta or VHS, anyone? For instance, Tesla has its own proprietary charging network and its own chargers. Teslas require a special adapter to charge from other chargers, most of which use either the CCS (the world’s only open and universal charging system for electric vehicles, the Combined Charging System) or CHAdeMO (a trade name of a quick charging method for battery electric vehicles) standard – each of which is different from the other. And this is not just about EVs. Romano and Hyundai are strong proponents of fuel cell (FCEV) technology powered by hydrogen. Hydrogen is a good solution that hits all the right marks. Again, the obvious disadvantage is infrastructure. A couple of years back, Canadian Tire changed how they fuelled their fleet of tow motors at their Ontario

distribution centre from propane to hydrogen. And yes, they even built their own facility to manufacture the necessary fuel. It was a matter of convenience and, ultimately, economics. “Think about it: how many Canadian Tire stores or gas stations are there in Canada? What if this forwardthinking organization decided to develop their own branded infrastructure?” Romano is quick to point out that Hyundai has presented two zero emissions fuel cell electric vehicles over the past few years: the hydrogen-powered Tucson and most recently, the all-new NEXO – which has a conservative range of 570 kilometres from a full tank. While Romano has been in the automotive industry for many years now, interestingly enough, he does not have a project car under a drop sheet in his home garage. He’s pretty much the antitheses of a gear head. Don’t misunderstand, he appreciates autos and what they are capable, of and of the contribution they have made to date. There is no midlife crisis either, no mid-engine Euro supercar idling in his driveway. Asked what his perfect everyday vehicle would be, he smiled broadly. “Today or near future? That’s easy! A Palisade – either as an EV or a FCEV. Full-size environmental luxury without compromise!”

Since taking the helm of Hyundai Canada, Romano has been steadily transforming Hyundai into a premium brand through the successful launch of industry-leading products, expansion and redesigning of the Hyundai retail facilities including the effective implementation of more customercentric service processes and certification programs, and the modernization of the retail buying experience through industry-leading online processes like Hyundai Buy Right. In addition to managing the success of Hyundai, Romano has also been focused on the development and launch of Canada’s fastest growing luxury car brand Genesis. Genesis represents an entirely new, unique retail model, and a first for Hyundai globally, which allows customers to buy a Genesis, hassle free, online direct from the manufacturer with delivery to their home or office. In summation, “Now we’ve set our goal on being #1. And interestingly enough, that goal wasn’t set by the executive team at Hyundai Canada. It was set by the team members who now believe they can do anything if they put their minds to it. Success breeds success, but only if you have the patience and tenacity to stick with your convictions through thick and thin. Ultimately, persistence will overcome resistance.”

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e b t ‘ n o w I and

n i a g a e m a s the

3,000 miles of all-season highways. Seven epic drives through rugged wilderness lined with parks, historic sites and wildlife. The Open Road — it’s still a thing in the Yukon.

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Behind The Scenes

A Day At The Racetrack A S tory I n 4 P arts

S tory | E mily A tkins D an H eyman K elly T aylor J eff V oth

Porsche Goes For A Ride In Bowmanville B y J eff V oth

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t’s A Great Day For Motorcar Racing.” These immortal words attributed to Sir Jackie Stewart have been a part of my life for many years. As an automotive journalist, there are many good days and few bad. But a day at the track is always one that stands out from the rest. Something about putting rubber to pavement at heartpounding speeds speaks to my body, mind and soul. Public roads are never the place to let it all hang out, but rather the controlled environment of a perfectly paved tarmac with proper runoffs for those times when things can go bad, and they probably will otherwise you’re not trying hard enough, is a tonic I can’t resist. But where in Canada and the US can you go as a normal person looking for that rare opportunity to drive like you’re being chased by the local constabulary, but not

actually be running from the law? Here’s what happens when you set four VICARIOUS contributors loose on four unique tracks in North America. First on the list, the 2.88 km Driver Development Track (DDT) in Bowmanville, Ontario with Porsche Canada. The DDT at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park is a purposebuild facility that hosts track events on a continuous basis. Having undergone extensive upgrades over the past few years, to among other things provide an exceptional canvas on which newbie open-wheel racers can perfect their craft at the Bridgestone Racing School, it is one of the go-to locations for automobile manufacturers to turn journalist loose for a few hours in some of the hottest sports cars on the planet. So, how could I say no when I received an invite to spend quality seat time in the allnew 2020 Porsche 911.

My first encounter with the new 911 happened earlier this year at the Hockenheimring Baden-WĂźrttemberg track in Germany, covered in the Spring 2019 issue of VICARIOUS. The difference here was that I would be taking the steering wheel under the watchful eye of a professional race instructor and not occupying the passenger seat as I did in Germany, while lapping an iconic racetrack at blistering speeds in the backwoods of Bavaria. Now I would be expected to accelerate, brake in a straight line before the corner, turn-in, gain speed through the turn, aim for the next cone and let the car work its magic, without creating too much tire squeal all in the name of having a good time. How amazing is that! Porsche Canada brought several 911 coupes to the party including a 2019 911T, one of the most enjoyable sports cars I have driven recently as it is devoid of the

typical accoutrements found in todayâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s sports cars. This includes the door handles which have been replaced by pull straps. The new 2020 911 Carrera and Carrera S were also on hand as well as mid-engine 718 Cayman S. My time was divided equally among all the models, with a warm-up lap to get re-acquainted with the track and cars, then two hot laps at speed to push my limits, not so much the cars. First impressions of the new 911 confirmed Porsche has done their homework on how best to update a classic. No surprise it felt faster than the 2019 911T, but I could happy in either one. Also no great shock that for a casual racer such as me, I had the most fun driving the 718 Cayman S as it is perfect for the track. The day wrapped with hot laps in a 911 GT3 RS driven by a professional racer, bringing a little perspective to my Sir Jackie air of confidence. More seat time required!

Vancouver Island Motorsports Circuit B y K elly T aylor

o understand what it’s like to be clothes in a top-loading washing machine, take a spin through turns nine, 10 and 11 at Vancouver Island Motorsports Circuit. “It’s like our version of a corkscrew,” says Bradlei Borjeau, chief instructor at the park, referring to the legendary sequence of turns at Laguna Seca raceway in California. After Turn 8, it’s a hard charge downhill to nine, a left turn that requires just a smidge of braking, and then it’s a second or so of hard braking before 10, an uphill right turn with a crest that feeds sharply downhill into 11, another left. Brake too early for 10 — while the car is still off-axis through nine — and you’ll spin. Brake too late and you’re not making 11. Vancouver Island Motorsports Circuit is one of Canada’s newest motorsports facilities, having opened in 2016. With 19 turns over approximately two kilometres of track — by comparison, Canadian Tire Motorsports Park has 10 turns over four kilometres of track — there are scenarios here to teach almost any performance-driving situation. Just don’t call it a racetrack. “We’re not a racetrack,” says general manager Paul Rossmo. “We don’t have grandstands and we don’t have races.”

Instead, the facility an hour north of Victoria is a premium teaching and events facility open year-round and booked by manufacturers such as Porsche, BMW, Mercedes-Benz, Lexus, Audi and others to host either customer or media driving events. With its own staff of instructors, it also conducts its own performance-driving education events. Onsite catering provides fine-dining lunch and dinner options. Aside from being extremely enjoyable, drivers of all skill levels can benefit from performance-driving instruction, and VIMC is a safe, closed area to do that, Borjeau. “All those skills they learn here could potentially save them in an emergency situation. That, for me, is a big part of why I enjoy what I do.

“The more nervous they are at the beginning, the more rewarded they are at the end.” VIMC began teaching driving dynamics on a rented parking lot at Victoria’s Western Speedway. That lasted until the owners visited training facilities in Europe and realized the opportunity could go far beyond pylons and flat tarmac. Today, Rossmo is looking beyond the existing track, with permits about to be issued for an additional three kilometres and about a dozen more turns. He hopes to have shovels in the ground by year-end.

“Manufacturers love it here, We have a closed course open year-round. We might get a bit of rain, but it’s always warm temperatures.”

The track has a relationship with the recently revitalized Villa Eyrie Resort in Mill Bay, formerly known as The Aerie. Fine dining, including a fixed menu option with wine pairings, is on offer at the resort’s Alpina restaurant. Customers of VIMC can also book into any number of hotels and B and Bs in the Duncan area. Rossmo said a large number of guests come for more than the track experience. “People can come out for a few days and not just experience the circuit. They can go fishing or whale watching. There’s so much on the island to do… world-class mountain biking, sea kayaking or if you want, you can surf and snowboard on the same day.” With 19 turns packed into a compact plot of land, VIMC is a highly technical track requiring constant concentration. It packs more driving fun into two kilometres than any stretch of public road. 73

BMW Thrills Fans At Canadian Tire Motorsport Park B y E mily A tkins

he leaning letter M flanked by stripes of blue and red means one thing to fans of powerful sports cars, and those in the know flocked to Canadian Tire Motorsport Park in July to experience all the petrol-burning fun BMW’s motorsport division has to offer. Using the slogan “Where too much is just right”, BMW Canada went all out to bring the car and bike maker’s first ever North American M Festival to the GTA. With the entire CTMP grounds at their disposal for two days on July 13 and 14, they created a playground of speed, power and beauty. From off-roading on the Oak Ridges Moraine’s steep and sandy slopes, to screaming around the GP track in an M5 hot lap with one of BMW’s two factory works drivers, Jesse Krohn and Tom Blomqvist, to drag racing the M850i xDrive Coupe or autocrossing a 2020 Z4 M40i, X2 M35i, or M340i, there was a driving experience for every taste. For those who were happier watching feats of skill behind the wheel, BMW’s team of pro drivers delighted fans by tearing up tires in an appropriately smoky and earsplitting drift demonstration. BMW made more than 75 M vehicles available over the weekend for both on-track and display purposes, and more than 1,200 people enjoyed the hot laps. More than 3,000 BMW fans will be reliving and dining out on their track experiences at the M Festival for months to come. The event attracted more than 4,300 people over the two days, and entertained them with live concerts by Serena Ryder, Felix Cartal, Dear Rouge and Jane’s Party. Racecars and the winners of BMW Canada’s dealer livery design contest were also on hand for photo ops.

Many on hand drove up in their own BMWs and more than 400 were treated to a massive parade lap on the Grand Prix track. The torrential Mosport downpour they drove through on Saturday afternoon failed to dampen spirits. Kids lucky enough to have BMW fans for parents got to drive BMW Baby Racers and BMW Kids Scooters, and raced BMW i8 Ride-Ons and BMW M4 remote control models. Canada is BMW M’s fourth most important global market so the company reasonably hoped it would get traction hosting the festival, but it was still a risk. However, even before the event began, online tickets sold out, and still another 800 people showed up at the gate. “The BMW M Festival was a huge success,” said Sebastian Beuchel, Director of Brand Management, BMW Canada. “We are so happy we were able to bring this event to the BMW M community in Canada. The M Festival allows us to bring our brand to life and enable people – be they customers, fans or enthusiasts – to interact and engage with all that BMW has to offer.

We have the best fans in the world. Celebrating BMW M with them for the past two days was an experience I’ll never forget.”

Skip Barber Racing School B y D an H eyman

ou really do have to see it to believe it.

I’d driven at Laguna Seca Raceway before – but only once in the real world as the rest was all virtual, across an array of Gran Turismos and Forzas. The one time I had driven it for real, meanwhile, was at the helm of a high-riding crossover, so it’s not quite the same thing, mainly because you can see so well out of it. What’s unique about Laguna Seca, meanwhile, is what you can’t see. More specifically, what’s unique about Laguna Seca are turns 8 and 8A. Allow me to explain. Those turns make up the Laguna Seca corkscrew, a thrill ride that drops you about 18 meters in the span of what seems like three seconds. Naturally, a drop that steep means you can’t really see what you’re getting into until you’re literally on top of it. You know it’s coming, but the scope is tough to fathom when you’re at the helm of a low-slung sports car, such as the Fiat 124 Spider Abarth I was driving. 80

“That turn wouldn’t even be legal by today’s standards,” says Terry Earwood, Chief Instructor at the Skip Barber Racing School, which was hosting us that day. “The elevation change is too great.” He may be exaggerating a little but indeed, when you think of modern tracks (Laguna is 62 years old), it’s incredibly unique. When you do eventually “stick the landing” as it were, though, it’s a feeling like little else when it comes to driving a car. Which is why attending a course like any of the courses Skip Barber offers is such a great experience. When else are you going to be able to experience – actually¬ experience a track like this? Sure, many offer track days but they won’t be including inclass briefings or radios to help keep you in-line. We participated in a modified version of their “intro to racing” program, as it’s the first level Skip Barber offers when it comes to on-track stuff; they also offer a class that’s more about real-world stuff such as panic braking and crash avoidance manoeuvres.

Our school was much more about working with the car to get you down the track as quickly as possible; weight transfer, trail braking, understeer, oversteer – it’s all here, and it’s all included in Earwood’s in-class presentation (delivered in a delightful Floridian drawl, often at 2x speed) before we hit the track. Once on the track, we were put in a lead-follow scenario where a Skip Barber instructor led five us on the track, and we metered our speed based on what they were doing. We started out slow; probably four- or five tenths but such is the gradient of the lesson that before I knew, I found myself having to work harder, harder and harder still to keep on my instructor’s bumper, but never to the point where I felt out of my comfort zone.

Such is the way that they move you along, that it’s almost like you start aiming for apexes, finding your braking zones and getting on the throttle for your exit, all the while thinking less and less than the previous lap and letting your natural instincts take over. Before I knew it, I was in front of my TV screen once again, only I wasn’t – there was no reset button, no pause button but since they’d eased us in so well, I felt myself becoming more comfortable by the lap. I was learning the car’s limits and because I was doing that, I was learning my own limits, too. There’s lots to be said for what some good driver training can do for you abilities and your confidence behind the wheel.

Game Changers

Super Sport Utility Vehicles A P assion F or M otorcycles S tory

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P hotography | M atthew N eundorf J eff V oth

he Super SUV has vanquished our once mighty kings. Sure, the Barchettas, Spyders and Berlinettas of concourse fame remain objects of lust but the compromises they demand, need no longer apply. Marvels of engineering, todayâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s top-tier SUVs offer high horsepower, apex hunting abilities that defy both physics and logic. All while seating five, toting groceries, hauling toys. You can now have your cake, bring it and

your friends with you, and eat it too. Damned near anywhere you want. Porsche has just pulled the silk from their latest Cayenne, the Turbo S E-Hybrid; a vehicle that packs a hybridized 670 hp and 663 lb-ft of torque to haul itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s 2,575 kg arse to 100 km/h in a mere 3.6 seconds. The mind should boggle. But this is becoming the norm.

Near every manufacturer has embraced this trend but there are currently three standouts. The Lamborghini Urus, Maserati Levante GTS and Jaguar F-PACE SVR present as three exceptional variations on this intoxicating theme. Total packages that provide exemplary form and function. Vehicles equipped to mean all things to all drivers. And passengers. The fact that they each achieve this goal in their own charismatic way and at different price points makes them worthy of praise.

2019 Lamborghini Urus Price as tested: $302,825

he Lamborghini Urus may not be the quickest SUV on the market but it is certainly no slouch. This 2.2 tonne uber-ute inhales the horizon with the slightest stab of the loud pedal. Launching under full load from a standstill feels like being hit by a Juggernaut. The One hundred-marker is swiped by the speedo needle in 3.6 seconds and you can be stopped dead from there in less than eight of its own lengths. Torque vectoring, all-wheel-drive and all-wheel-steering keep the raging bull from bucking in corners and the trick air-bladder suspension ensures the Urus can rise to any occasion, or logging road to say the least. The fact that its tackles all of this while wrapping its guests in sumptuous finishes befitting its starter-home price tag is the crema on top.

2019 Maserati Levante GTS Price as tested: $153,620

he Maserati Levante GTS surprises every time you grab the steering wheel and plant the gas pedal to the floor. A family-hauler with Italian machismo and a pheromone producing exhaust note with the fairer sex (science proves it) should not be this practical. Combine this with a gorgeous exterior Blu Emozione metallic paint scheme and black/grey leather seating and interior surfaces, this is the preeminent mode of transportation for the jet-setting crowd. A 3.8-litre twin-turbo V8 with 550 hp, Q4 intelligent allwheel drive with torque vectoring and rear limited-slip differential take the trident missile from 0-100 km/h in 4.2 seconds. Phat 21â&#x20AC;? wheels and all-season tires, plus powerful Brembo drilled brakes not only stop the Levante with ease, they provide the added assurance an offroad scamper wonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t turn ugly. A quick scrub to shine it up again and youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ll be heading back to your private airport just in time for champagne and assorted nuts.

2019 Jaguar F-PACE SVR Price as tested: $104,750

he Jaguar F-PACE SVR is a bargain compared to the Urus and Levante; not something you would expect to hear when discussing the most powerful Jaguar SUV on the planet. It also surprisingly owns the best exhaust note and requires little effort to get heads swiveling as you downshift the paddles to hear that lovely burble wake the neighbours through quad tailpipes. Donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t try to hold back, its impossible, just enjoy the un-SUV sounds and exceptional leather interior surroundings. Then hang a right at the first dirt road and head for the hills. A heavenly 5.0-litre V8 supercharged engine absolves pavement with 550 horsepower. Zero to legal flashes past in 4.3 seconds and top speed crests at 283 km/h. Wheel wells fill quickly with optional 22-inch rubber and gloss black alloys, the ride is supple and sedan-like. Inside, the dash is minimalist and doesnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t distract with too much bright metal or shiny surfaces. Shapely leather performance seats with SVR embossing, Meridian sound and aluminum weave carbon fibre make short commutes to the office or longer backroad drives home an adventure worth taking. The supercar is dead. Long live the super SUV.

Discovered

A Pacifica Road Trip B ringing S tephanie H ome

S tory

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P hotography | H arry P egg

Comfort for four? Check. Room for our luggage and Stephanie’s stuff too? Check. Better fuel economy? Check.

Being a doting grandfather, I agreed.

The adventure started when I flew to Vancouver to pick up a Pacifica S and return to Calgary, driving solo over the Rockies for the first time in decades.

That got me thinking west coast to east coast would be a cool road trip. Stephanie’s school, Nichols College, is just west of Boston, giving the trip a dual purpose: Bringing Stephanie home and drive coast to coast.

I headed east on the Trans Canada to Hope then over the Coquihalla Highway and down into Kamloops. Weather was good and The Highway Thru Hell was more heaven than hell.

I thought about Karen’s 2016 HEMI-powered RAM which would certainly carry four of us AND Steph’s stash of stuff but would likely become uncomfortable.

I stopped for fuel in ($1.48/litre) Salmon Arm which has grown considerably since Pat and I were there on our honeymoon road trip many years ago.

What to do? A big SUV would be large and thirsty.

Beyond Kamloops, Highway 1 climbed back into high country. They say mountains are eternal, but I see changes to the human stuff.

t began when my wife, Pat, and daughter Karen announced they were going to pick up my granddaughter from college near Boston. They said Stephanie had asked if I could come too.

A minivan? Carrying capacity is better, it’s more comfortable and drinks less fuel. FCA Canada was willing to provide the van – and the project was born: From the Pacific to the Atlantic: A Pacifica road trip.

The hotel/museum at 3 Valley Gap has been brightened up, re-igniting a desire to stay there. Enchanted Forest has undergone an enchantment enhancement.

Rogers Pass hotel and service centre no longer exist. Nothing there but pavement. It was cold and windy at the summit, so I kept going, secure in the warmth of the Pacifica. I spent the night in Golden, B.C. at a new Holiday Inn, leaving early on April 30, on the three-hour trip to Calgary though Field, Lake Louise, Banff and Canmore I wish I had more time along the route. There is so much to see, like the railway museum in Revelstoke, the scene of the driving of the last spike on the CPR beside the highway at Craigellachie, BC, the CPR spiral tunnels, to name a few. But I had a mission: Bring Stephanie home. Early on departure day, Pat, Karen and I headed east. Our target: Winnipeg 1,300 km away. Breakfast at A&W in Brooks, AB, introduced us to the most expensive tomato I’d ever seen. A single slice cost 40 cents. Big price, no taste. No tip.

We stopped for fuel in Medicine Hat and visited the world’s biggest tepee. It provided no protection from the icy wind and we didn’t stay long. There was snow on the hilltops east of “The Hat” but the Pacifica was warm. The snow was gone when we hit Swift Current SK but Chaplin SK brought an OMG moment. It’s located beside Canada’s second largest inland saline water body and a monster mound of salt looks like a huge snow pile. Time prevents stopping at so many attractions: Moose Jaw’s huge Mac the Moose and tunnels linked with the Al Capone bootlegging days; Regina’s RCMP museum, Indian Head’s historic round barn, Elkhorn MB’s vintage car museum and the longest swinging pedestrian bridge in Canada at Souris Manitoba. We fuelled up in Brandon, second largest city in Manitoba and head to Winnipeg, hotel and dinner. Two hours later, Day One is complete.

The Pacifica S is a terrific carrier. Average fuel economy is 9.2 L/100 km. Early on Day Two we headed south, crossing the border near Emerson, bound for lunch at Fargo, North Dakota where, I’m told, “we have to eat at Chipotle. It’s sooo good!” Good call. It is good! And it’s the only time on the trip I photograph our food. From Fargo to our Day Two stop at Chippewa Falls Wisconsin was uneventful. Mileage from Winnipeg: 894 km. Pacifica still a light drinker at 9.3 L/100 km. Day Three held more interest.

About lunchtime, we came to Wisconsin Dells, billed as The Waterpark Capital of the World. Even mid-week in the offseason it’s amazing. Not being waterslide fans, we opted for lunch at Cracker Barrel Restaurant Old Country Store – after Pat and Karen perched in rocking chairs and engaged in a friendly game of giant checkers. The restaurant’s food was okay, the gift shop large and the décor filled with earlyAmerican antiques. We couldn’t stay long. Today we were headed for a hotel in Granger, Indiana. Getting there was less than half the fun. Construction on our I-90 route pushed us through the west side of Chicago…at rush hour. As we crawled along, the highway electric sign teased: “Sipping Margaritas or Mint Julips? Designate a Driver.” I had a driver. Karen. I never did get my drink. Where is the hospitality?

We finally made it to our hotel in Granger after 687 km. Day 3 done.

On Day Five we hit Sturbridge Massachusetts, 687 km away, our headquarters for the next couple of days.

Karen is a huge college sports fan so on Day Four we had to stop at the home of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish in Indiana’s Mishawaka area.

We check in and head to Dudley and Nichols College to find Stephanie. It’s great to see her. A lot of stuff to sort out and load up. But that came later.

It wasn’t far, but it was mostly deserted. The denizens of Notre Dame had gone home.

Day Six we completed the coast to coast trek. In keeping with Pacifica’s roots, it seemed fitting to complete the journey in Plymouth MA.

The day ended in DuBois Pennsylvania (658 km) with dinner at Luigi’s Ristaurante. Good food. Odd décor but worth the visit and only a short run from our hotel in Bloomsburg.

It’s interesting here if you’re into history, so we braved a biting cold wind to take in the sights.

Plymouth Rock is smaller than one imagines and itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s not in its original place. The Rock is where the Pilgrims set foot on shore, not where Mayflower anchored. There are historic markers everywhere, even a replica of the Mayflower which, unfortunately, was not in port. We read the plaques, took photos. And shivered. After a couple of hours, we headed back to Sturbridge (via Salem) with seato-sea mission accomplished. Salem, site of the witch trials of the 1600s, hosts many museums, lots of old headstones. One old cemetery showed the summer of 1692 to be a hanging time.

Again, so much to see, too little time. We had to meet Stephanie and load up the Pacifica. Day Seven is spent in Boston. This historic city demanded more time butâ&#x20AC;Ś We did get to the start of The Freedom Trail, and the Boston Holocaust Memorial, a simplistic project with a huge psychological impact. So many numbers. So many stories. Day Eight we left Sturbridge, headed for Fredericton, New Brunswick, 770 km away where we hooked up with our youngest daughter, Krista, and family for a brief reunion and some relaxation.

On Day 10 the destination was Ottawa 1,006.9 km away on Highway 1 through Montreal. Traffic and construction and rain slowed progress through Montreal and we were late arriving at our Ottawa hotel. Thank God for the Pacifica’s navigation system. We started out of Ottawa on Day 11 later than intended but determined to cover as many kms as possible. Several hours and 491 km later, we hit Sudbury too late for the nickel tour but we saw that giant coin anyway before moving westward, sights set on Sault Ste Marie, 310 km away. And the day is done. Then came the Day 12 marathon: The Sault to Winnipeg, 1,382 km, following the north shore of Lake Superior. It’s wilderness all the way: rocks, forest and the ever-present lake. At one point I said to Pat “it makes me want to dial up some Lightfoot music.” A bit prophetic, it turned out because 10 minutes later we came to a turnout at Alona Bay where an information sign pointed out the area where the Edmund Fitzgerald sank in a storm in 1975. Weird. Lunch time found us at White River. Briefly.

On this long stretch from the Sault amenities are scarce. Many had not yet opened for the season, so fuel stop planning was imperative. Pacifica was still returning an impressive 9.5 L/100 km even in this twisting and turning, up and down stretch of desolate pavement. Late in the afternoon we stopped for a time to contemplate the inspirational Terry Fox memorial site near Thunder Bay. Sometime before dark, I decided even beautiful scenery can be too much of a good thing and resolved never to make trek on this route again. Pat was quick to agree. Kenora is quiet at 10 p.m. but we found an open gas station and gave Pacifica a drink. Winnipeg and the end to Day 11 is just over 200 km away and we arrived at our hotel about 1 a.m. Tonight we sleep. Tomorrow we go home and Stephanie will be reunited with her dad, her brother and her dogs. Morning of Day 13. After a drive-by of the stunning Museum of Human Rights, we left Winnipeg, another place where more time would have been well spent. Our route took us through Saskatoon, the “City of Bridges” and west through North Battleford, across the Saskatchewan River from Fort Battleford, once the seat of the Northwest Territories government, then to Edmonton, and at last the Leduc area.

We have brought Stephanie home and the Pacifica is unloaded at last. Distance: 1,328 km.

Pat and I spent the night, then headed south to Calgary and home. Day 13 and the journey is over. Fuel consumption average for the 14,690 km trip: 9.8L/100 km.

Weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;d have loved to have more time in so many places. Thirteen days is a tight time frame from coast to coast to Calgary, but Pacifica made it easier.

First Drive

2020 McLaren 720S Spider T h e K i d n e y -P u n ch i n g , P av e m e n t M o n s t e r

S tory | P eter B leakney

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our hundred thousand Canadian dollars, give or take a Honda Civic or two, is what is required to procure the Belize Blue 2020 McLaren 720S Spider Luxury I’m scything down some lonely desert roads outside of Phoenix, Arizona - and I’m not even tickling the outer extremes of this carbonfibre mid-engine hypercar’s envelope. Yet, not this side of a Bugatti Chiron have I experienced a car that, from relative elevated speeds, can surge forth with such afterburner intensity. So from a financial perspective, considering this McLaren is one-tenth the price of the Chiron, one could considerate it almost a bargain. Of course, this new retractable hardtop version of the McLaren 720S is so much more than just about outright acceleration, although the Spider does trade in gobsmacking chunks of velocity like McDonalds trades in hamburgers. The Spider seems at home out here in this beautifully haunting, jagged landscape. Only the strong can survive, and this menacing wedge looks to be more than a match. The earth is red, parched and dotted with rocks and scrub brush. Ancient Saguaro cacti stand sentinel, and the gentle wind carries nary a sound. Well, until the McLaren’s V8 engine barks to life and starts belting its metallic howl.

These are challenging roads, so at least I’m getting a bit of a workout, even if the car isn’t.

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The 720S Spider’s handling is superb, with a commendably civilized demeanour and compliant ride when the Handling and Powertrain rotary controls are set to Comfort (there’s also Sport and Track). Credit goes to McLaren’s complex Proactive Chassis Control II suspension that hydraulically connects the left and right dampers. Put simply, it allows for generous vertical wheel travel while also maintaining the roll stiffness needed for ultimate handling. The Spider loses nothing to the Coupe in structural integrity, as the 720S was engineered from the start to be a convertible. The signature McLaren Monocage II-S carbonfibre tub is as stiff as a frozen boot, so lopping off the roof panel doesn’t really affect it. What it did do was present a challenge to the aerodynamic engineers who had to ensure the Spider maintained the correct balance of slipperiness and downforce. Hence those sexy glazed flying buttresses that guide air over the tonneau and active rear spoiler. McLaren engineered a new one piece carbon-fibre roof for the 720S that, with its eight electric motors, tucks itself away in scant eleven seconds. The vertical rear window can be dropped independently. The roof will operate at speeds up to 50 km/h, and should you wish to test the security of your toupee, the 720S Spider can reach an open-air top speed of 325 km/h. Never got there, although I can confirm that at approximately two-thirds of that velocity there is little wind buffeting with the windows up. With only a 49 kg penalty for the roof and its associated gubbins, the Spider matches the Coupe’s 0-100 km/h sprint of 2.9 seconds and will reach double that speed in 7.9 seconds. A curb weight of only 1,332 kg means the 720S Spider is the lightest in the segment.

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Ah yes, the engine. Power comes from a twin-turbocharged 4.0L V8, a format that both AMG and Porsche/Audi/ Lamborghini use to great effect. But this bent-eight is nothing like those Germans that produce gobs of effortless low-end torque and rumble with a hint of classic Motown. The McLaren unit is a decidedly more racy, high-strung affair, spitting out 710 horsepower at 7,500 rpm and 568 lb-ft of torque from a lofty 5,500-6,500 rpm. It’s actually a bit flat up to about 4,000 rpm, after which it kicks like a mule. Yet therein lies its charm and excitement. Like a naturallyaspirated engine, you have to keep ‘er on the boil, and once in the kill zone this V8 is an absolutely unrelenting beast. The 720S Spider is rear wheel drive, and power routes through McLaren’s Seamless-Shift seven-speed dualclutch gearbox. Like the rest of this supercar that quivers with unbridled energy, the transmission is not super happy puttering around town, yet out here away from the tiresome crawl it does indeed shift with lightning speed and smoothness. Track Mode (vs Comfort and Sport) is another story. What McLaren calls Push Technology uses the builtup kinetic energy of the flywheel “to deliver an impulse of torque as the next forward gear is engaged”. I call it a kidneypunch.

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You’ll be wanting the optional carbon-fibre shift paddles that look spectacular, sticking up all scythe-like behind the carbon fibre steering wheel. They do your bidding with lighting response.

12-speaker audio sounded mighty impressive - at least until you fired up that feral V8. You will want the glazed electrochromic roof panel ($9,940) that goes from five percent tint to 90 percent with a touch of a button.

Unlike its mellifluous rivals (Audi R8, Lamborghini Huracan, Ferrari Pista, Porsche GT3 RS), the McLaren 720S Spider’s 4.0L V8 does not sing a particularly pretty song. That noted, its raw and racy bellow is certainly businesslike and advertises its power in no uncertain terms, especially here fitted with the optional $6,490 Sports Exhaust.

The 2020 McLaren 720S Spider starts at $350,000 in Canada. The $363,240 Luxury variant adds a choice of four ByMcLaren Luxury leather interiors, interior and engine bay ambient lighting, powered heated seats and special metallic interior brightwork. The same figure also nets the racier trimmed Performance with more carbon-fibre inside and out, along with a Nappa/Alcantara interior. Mechanically there are no differences.

All this is not to say the 720S Spider is an unruly beast. Quite the contrary. McLaren states the 720S and Spider variant to be its model with the widest bandwidth of abilities. Aside from the tricky ingress and egress, the Spider is about as user friendly as a hypercar can be. It could be driven for its complete lifetime by your light-footed Great-Auntie (with both Handling and Drivetrain dials welded to Comfort, of course) and she’d be blissfully unaware of the great abuse this missile can inflict upon the laws of physics as well as the English language. Forward visibility is excellent, and rearward visibility not bad either. The lovely stitched Vintage Tan leather here looked gorgeous and the optional $4,830 Bowers and Wilkins

As amazing as the 2020 McLaren 720S Spider’s abilities are, equally astonishing is the fact that McLaren Automotive - the modern day street car division of this British manufacture - is only entering its ninth year of existence. That said, there is plenty of heritage here. The decades of McLaren race cars and the legendary F1 supercar from the 90s (of which only 106 were built) vibrate within the DNA of this gorgeous Brit. Blindingly fast, surprisingly civil, breathtakingly gorgeous and bristling with racecar tech, this retractable hard-top take on the 720S Coupe only expands on that car’s desirability.

Blindingly fast, surprisingly civil, breathtakingly gorgeous and bristling with racecar tech, this retractable hard-top take on the 720S Coupe only expands on that car’s desirability.

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Rotax 900 ACE 3-cylinder 82 hp @ 8000 RPM 56 ft-lb @ 6300 RPM Automatic CVT w/ reverse

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2019 Alberta EcoRun E l e c t r i f y i n g R i d e s A c r o ss S c e n i c A l b e r ta

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Part One: Competition.

n late June, the Automotive Journalists Association of Canada (AJAC) hosted its eighth annual EcoRun, but first ever in Alberta. The event is an ‘un-race’, wherein writers from across the country take turns driving ecologically friendlier vehicles as efficiently as possible in staged legs over two days. After each leg, fuel efficiency numbers from each vehicle are fed into a complicated algorithm which somehow levels the playing field between a Chevrolet Colorado Diesel pick-up and Toyota Corolla Hybrid to determine how efficiently the driver fared. The most efficient driver after three days wins The Green Shirt. A lifelong city dweller who wouldn’t know where to plug in a campfire, I’ve requested access to as many electric vehicles (EVs) as possible. Given their lack of exhaust and limited range, they make good solutions for urban driving. At least that’s the popular story we tell ourselves. The truth is EVs are an absolute blast to drive and battery technology has improved so much in the past five years, as to be Prozac for range anxiety. But we’ll get back to that. First, there’s this strange backwards competition.

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Tell a gaggle of automotive writers that they’re competing for a t-shirt and you’d be impressed at the depths of safetylast behaviours they’ll stoop to. Before the first leg is complete, between Edmonton and Red Deer, a straight drive of about 150km—you don’t need to make this stuff up—an especially keen competitor is pulled over by the RCMP for drafting behind a semi. I decided early that I would not do anything unsafe or even atypical of a daily commute. Sure, you could achieve fuel efficiency of 2.3 L/100km with suchand-such hybrid CUV, but you need to leave the A/C off even in 50-degree weather and consider killing the engine after cresting the top of a hill. In the name of delivering a purer story, your author would not conduct any extreme hypermiling practices. At least that’s the popular story I tell myself. The truth is EVs are an absolute blast to drive and I have enough t-shirts. A different animal than a car, your EV doesn’t contain an internal combustion engine. So, there’s no progression through a set gears; it’s either on or it’s off. And if you want it, there’s a trebuchet of torque in even the most anemic looking EV.

The barrels at Maker’s Mark are made out of white oak, and, as with most bourbons, are charred on the inside to caramelize the wood sugars. Once distilled, the whiskey ages in these barrels for at least three “Kentucky summers” in the hottest areas of the company’s warehouses. It’s here where the alcohol is most active, moving in and out of the wood and gaining its flavour. Tasters determine when a barrel is ready to move to cooler storage areas, where the process of transferring flavours slows down. A tour gives you a behind-the-label look at how bourbon is made, complete with fascinating tidbits about Makers’ — such as how Margie Samuels, Bill’s wife, took an active role in designing the distillery campus; insisted on paying homage to the family’s Scottish roots by declaring it would be whisky, without an ‘e’ because that’s how it’s spelled in Scotland; and decided on the colour scheme still in use today. That scheme has black as the main colour for all buildings, to represent the deep, rich colour of the bourbon, red for shutters to represent the red wax

Part Two: City Traffic’s Best Solutions? Every year, doesn’t it seem like the roads in our cities are getting busier? That’s because they actually are. It’s the unfortunate reality of the principle of ‘induced demand’, which essentially means if you build it, they’ll come and park there. Moreover, those roads require maintenance, so they’re continually under heavy construction. An expectedly slippery devil like EcoRun 2019’s Jaguar I-Pace enjoys a distinct advantage over gasoline-powered brethren, the way city raccoons have become a different animal, cleverer and larger than their rural brethren. Not that you need the sexy I-Pace. Indeed, I fully endorse the far homelier choices I drove during the two days. No one expects you to slip by so easily. Not that EVs are perfect outside of cities. The infrastructure in Alberta is growing and improving but not without teething problems. A storm you’ll read more about below must’ve knocked out the power stations juicing my last day’s ride, the Nissan Leaf Plus SL, and the sexy I-Pace long enough to zero them. Consequently, the I-Pace’s driver and I had to cancel the leg to Longview and, instead, proceed directly with our 30% charges to the powering stations in closer Canmore. Ever seen Canmore, Alberta? It’s a hiker’s paradise that induces Rocky Mountain High. Being stuck there for an extra hour while a Level 3 charger inflates your EV’s range is hardly penance. Moreover, on the drive there, the Leaf Plus’s sweet spot at around 100km/h maximized the efficiency of the limited range we had. (The Leaf’s instrument panel has always trained its drivers to pilot it most efficiently, ecologically gamifying the driving experience.) We could’ve proceeded all the way through to the next destination in Banff. But then we wouldn’t have enjoyed an hour in Canmore with its Thursday morning farmer’s market and legion of superb coffee shops.

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Part Three: Fun.

Part 4: Frustration.

The Chevrolet Bolt sounds like a ‘50s superhero and, depending on which angle you assume, looks like a BMW i3 beat up a Prius and took its jockey shorts. But, oh, is it a thrill to push and tilt. Like many EVs, it’s designed from scratch, not adapted to a hybrid format and the battery lies flat across the base of the car. Such weight so low anchors even the wildest pinball-style drivers to the tarmac. Hence the pushing, tilting and thrills.

EVs are fun, but you need to be patient. Take our final driving leg of the day. Four hours wasn’t enough time to recharge the Hyundai Kona EV at the newly installed Level 2 charging stations behind the Drumheller arena. The profound humidity and beating sun slowed the unanticipated but necessary extra 1.5 hours’ wait even further. (It’s not like we could wait inside the Kona with the A/C blasting while it was slowly charging.)

Spoiler alert: I didn’t win the green jersey, but the ecoconscious can share stories about ‘on-demand regen’ during vegan dinner parties. Translation?

This EV’s range is an impressive 415km but it hadn’t even exceeded 130 when I was expecting to leave. The drive to our Calgary hotel was 140km. The AJAC EV expert strongly advised that I and a government department rep who was along for the ride to wait till the battery charge reached at least 200km. That would make me an hour late for a conference call with an important new client, which put me in a foul mood. We finally left when the meter showed a range of 199km.

Without pedaling the brake, the driver can decelerate the Bolt with a tap on the steering wheel paddle. It converts some of the energy you’d lose, braking, into electricity, micro-recharging the battery. If you’re driving slowly enough, like most city driving, you can save more energy by simply removing your foot from the accelerator. Any EV will slow and stops lickety-split! Why brake and use the juice? That is, if you’re driving slowly. It’s hard to want to play around with such a fun little vehicle in the hoodoo-capped, dinobone-infested badlands of Alberta. Badlands? These scrubby desert hills look somewhere between a Road Runner cartoon backdrop and a layered tiramisu. Indeed, during our four-hour visit, the local geography was dolloped with creamy cumulus clouds. The roads here are temptation made tarmac. Twisting and disappearing around these preternatural formations, they’re a driving junkie’s fall from the wagon. Again, I didn’t win the green jersey. In fact, the Chevrolet Bolt was the first car to arrive at the dinosaur museum on the outskirts of Drumheller.

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‘Lovely’ is how to describe the rolling prairie on Alberta’s Highway 9 when the weather’s gorgeous—and to our south, on the left, the endless green fields and infinite blue sky were lovely.

‘Terrifying’ succinctly describes an approaching northerly weather system that would be enough to turn all the lights off later during a welcome ceremony on the Calgary

Stampede fairgrounds. On our right, you could see it coming from scores of miles away. (Somehow, ‘miles’ sounds better than kilometers on the prairie.) The invading sky was the colour of the inside of an teapot; when the tempest within was nearly on top of us, at about the 70km range, we caught a lucky break: our straight western route started to zig-zag southwest. But now we were in a race with the sky. In front and south, we were driving towards the aforementioned lovely. But sweeping our way, swallowing all in its path and threatening to cut us off any minute, was a manifestation of Stranger Things’ the upside-down. How can we add stress to the situation? Easy! A semi containing a cargo of cattle dawdled behind a farmer driving an old tractor, slowing our progress to a third of the speed limit. My conference call was approaching two hours late. All the while, the Wizard of Oz tornado music is playing in my head. Time for a few words about the eco-conscious driver. Consider the Kona EV’s maximum 415 km range and our own 199 km limit this afternoon. Those numbers are a bit like those EnerGuide fuel efficiency estimates you see when car-shopping. The figures are averaged out from tests in ideal circumstances without dawdling farmers, late meetings, and approaching apocalypses. If you drive carefully without taxing the drain on energy in the vehicle, you can attain the limit, even better it. We didn’t do either. Shall we add more stress? The heat and humidity made it necessary to expend some of the severely limited energy on air conditioning because without it, the windows

fogged up like a Turkish bathhouse in August. Moreover, neither my drive partner for the afternoon nor I had missed any meals recently. The range number was descending faster than the distance to our hotel. But what seemed most important at the time was how the route hereon, displayed on the nav system, contained a good deal of bending. What if the farmer was driving his tractor to our hotel? Stranger Things have happened, as it were. My client would be beside herself if I called four hours late. The oncoming lane was never bare for more than 30 seconds except, it seemed, on huge extended turns where you couldn’t see what wasn’t coming. During the next long visible straightaway, I unleashed the Kona’s trebuchet of torque, teleporting us past the semi and tractor in under 20 seconds. My drive partner groaned like Chewbacca. Upon arriving back in our lane, the Kona wasn’t simply exceeding the speed limit, we were nearing the sound barrier. My passenger’s grey-hair count increased by 10%, synching with the sinking range, which plummeted by an impressive 30km during the single 1km we used to pass. “Please DON’T do that again!” she didn’t need to plead. I was rightly chastised by the judgmental instrument panel. Mind, it was an exhilarating one kilometre. We arrived 40 minutes later in central Calgary with 11km still on the range dial. We even spent the last 200m with the A/C on full blast. ‘Full blast’ is a great way to describe what driving an EV is like. T-shirts be damned.

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C e l e b r at i n g T h e P a s t A n d P r e s e n t

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ietnam is a land of contrasts. History going back centuries can be found, but many buildings only date back to the 1970’s, when rebuilding much of the country took place after the Vietnam war, which locals call the “American” war. In rural areas people live simple lives, while in the cities life can be busy and crowded. Regardless of where you go, the Vietnamese are friendly and helpful. Debra and I started our journey with a flight into the northern city of Hanoi. With temperatures in the low 20’s in January, locals were mostly wearing down-filled parkas while tourists basked in shorts and t-shirts. Taxi was the best way to get to the hotel although you could hire a motor scooter driver if you were adventurous. Hanoi is a city of 11 million people with 6 million motor scooters (mostly 125 CC) that transport everything from families to large trees. Walking across the street through an endless flow of traffic took confidence and

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courage but walk steadily and traffic magically flows around you. Traffic lights seem to be only a suggestion! Despite the crowded streets, I only saw one motor scooter accident and it was minor, with both riders on their way in a few seconds. There are lots of scooter rentals if you are brave but if you don’t have a Vietnamese driver’s licence you can be stopped and fined or jailed by the police. You probably also don’t have health insurance and the rules of the road seemingly don’t exist at first so walking and public transportation are the way to go. Buildings in old Hanoi are narrow to reduce taxes and many are only 4 metres in width. This makes for interesting accommodations, where our hotel had 3 floors, three elevators and two rooms off each floor from each elevator. There is no room for hallways and our small room was the full width of the hotel.

The old city has a different street name on every block that often describes the main commerce on that street but it makes finding your way around challenging. I used offline Google maps and set the hotel as my parking spot, making it much easier to find our way home after wandering the city. Ho Chi Minhâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s mausoleum sits in the beautiful park of the Presidential Palace and is a must to visit. The Hoa Lo prison, better known here as the Hanoi Hilton when it contained American POWâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s, was actually built by the French in 1896 when they occupied the country and the French influence is still found in language, architecture and churches. Now the prison is a museum depicting a long history of oppression and hope for the future. Reading the stories of incarcerated political prisoners touches the soul. While in Hanoi, take in the water puppet show at the Thang Long Puppet Theatre. Puppeteers skilfully control the puppets using sticks beneath the surface of the water and the show is both interesting and entertaining. The night market is huge and because we were there in the days leading up to the Vietnamese lunar New Year, there were yellow flowers decorating everywhere. Many tour companies are found in Vietnam cites and from Hanoi it is an easy side trip to Ha Long Bay. Day trips are possible but overnight excursions with a night or two on a boat are the best way to experience this UNESCO World heritage site. It takes a couple hours to motor out to 1600 small islands in the bay and it is a truly romantic location. The cabins are small but comfortable, the top deck perfect for relaxing and the food was exceptional.

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Back in Hanoi, we boarded the 13 hour overnight LiviTrans Express train for the 700 kilometre trip to Hue. While many locals will book a seat for the trip, the $80 US “Deluxe” accommodation ticket gives you a compartment with bunk beds for four, a sheet, blanket and pillow. This isn’t for the shy, as you most likely be bunking with strangers and there are no privacy curtains on the bunks. Each train car has one communal wash basin and two washrooms – one with a flush toilet and the other with the more traditional hole in the floor so their idea of Deluxe and yours might differ but it certainly is an experience to remember! Food for sale is available on the train but its better to pick up something to eat and drink before boarding for the overnight journey. Hue is located in central Vietnam on the shores of the Perfume river and during the last Nguyen Royal Dynasty it was the capital of Vietnam. Surrounded by a moat and the high stone walls of the Forbidden City, much of the royal residences were destroyed during the Tet Offensive when the North Vietnamese and then the Americans fought for control of the city in 1968. Bullet and cannon holes can still be seen in the outside walls. Since then, several of the structures have been restored and it is a beautiful and peaceful place to visit. A city of contrasts, Downtown Hue has many small streetfront shops and restaurants, with modern electronics and appliance stores mixed in to keep you guessing what is around the corner. Our hotel had a rooftop swimming pool where you could look over the city and see rooftops with gardens and laundry hanging to dry. Saturday night, the main street closed to traffic and street entertainment and vendors brought hundreds out to enjoy the cooler night air. Open air sidewalk bars with food and beer (VND15,000 for a litre beer – about 0.85 Canadian) made the evening pass far too quickly.

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The bus ride from Hue to Hoi Ann takes you along the twisty coastline of the South China Sea on the Deo Hai Van highway, one of the most scenic drives in the world. With 3260 kilometres of coastline, water is an important part of Vietnam’s transportation and commerce system, but travelling by land lets you experience the Hải Vân Pass, where you find ruins of the American post that monitored traffic between North and South Vietnam during the war. Looking down from the summit, the city of Da Nang lies to the south and the China sea to the east with rugged mountain ranges to the west. It’s a slow trip and worth every minute! About half an hour south of Da Nang, the incredibly beautiful city of Hoi An rests on the shores of the Thu Bon river just a few kilometres from the ocean. Boutique hotels, museums, tailor shops and numerous restaurants cater to tourists from across the world but it is the old world charm of the marketplace where you can find everything from live chickens to fresh shrimp to vegetables of every description for sale. Walking is the easiest way to get around Hoi An’s old town with its colourful lanterns and busy narrow streets but a bicycle tour of the countryside will take you through rice paddies, immaculate vegetable and spice gardens and real Vietnamese life that hasn’t changed much in decades.

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A bus ride back to Da Nang airport gets us on the flight to Ho Chi Minh city. Internal Vietnam flights are economical and even in the back of the plane you are treated like business class. Ho Chi Minh city is contrast of modern skyscrapers and compact buildings. Here there are lots of cars to match the scooters. Luxury cars and taxis were common, but a peddle bike rickshaw ride is a good way to visit many attractions. With daytime temperatures in the high 30’s and nighttime the high 20’s, our hotel’s air conditioning was appreciated. The city is alive at night and the 52 story high SkyBar is a great way to view the downtown city and the ever-changing LED lights that flow up and down the skyscrapers. While in Ho Chi Minh city, book a tour to the Mekong Delta. The rich soil and dense vegetation of the delta is home to over 17 million people with many of them fishing and farming for a living. From the delta’s My Tho City, a short river boat ride took us to Turtle island where you can find locally grown fruit, crafts and even candy. For the brave, sample a glass of Snake liquor at one of the vendors. January and February are the best times to visit Vietnam, with its lower temperatures and humidity, and the country has much to see. Tours are numerous and varied and it is easy to get around. It’s an adventure to long remember.

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1962 Chevrolet Corvette F a l l i n g F o r A T o p l e ss T w o - S e at e r

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ike most automobile enthusiasts, it all began back when we were kids growing up in the peak of the baby boom car culture. The 50’s and 60’s gave birth to some of the most iconic brands and designs that in the day were symbols of the dawn of a new age. Just go on any collector car website or go to a high-end vintage auto auction and see everyday cars of this time going for astronomical prices. Classic well maintained original survivor cars have been run into the ground or wrecked on the road or the racetrack and are few and far between. Phil Meagher’s numbers matching, Tuxedo Black, Roman Red, 327 cubic inch, 340 horsepower, 4-speed manual 1962 Corvette is a perfect example of this. Phil’s love for cars began at a very young age studying and spotting every make and model of every car that passed by in his North Toronto neighborhood. Growing up, Phil had a local gas station where mechanics had a few Corvettes in the lot and under restoration in the garage; his love affair was in full gear!

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As a teenager Phil enrolled in a basic automotive course and modified and fixed his buddies cars after school. His first car was a Fiat 850 that did not last long and died abruptly soon afterward. He moved to a North American brand with a stylish ‘72 Monte Carlo that was a good car; easy to work on and served him well for the next few years. In 1982 Phil wanted a state-of-the-art import so he purchased a Mazda 626, a car slightly ahead of its time. As luck would have it, Phil won a 1982 Ferrari 308 GTSi in the Royal Winter Fair Lottery. He kept the exotic for about a year but found it a challenge to afford and maintain. He sold it to a local collector and during the transaction the black ‘62 Vette appeared and became a part of the negotiation. Phil has owned this matching numbers Canadian ever since, making it a survivor that has been lovingly maintained and restored. He has kept it in original condition 55 years later. Phil has owned a few other Corvettes over the years but only held on to this soft and hard top beauty and loves to get the V8 out on the open road to stretch its legs before putting it away for the winter.

So what better thing to do on a 20° C fall Saturday than meet up just North East of Toronto in Brooklin Ontario with cameras in hand and go on a little road trip through Southern Ontario to check out the fall colours…topless of course. First stop as we head out across Concession 7 is the McLaughlin Carriage Factory Heritage site in North Oshawa, the birthplace of General Motors in Ontario. It’s a quaint little building at the side of the road which you could easily drive by without a second thought if not for the Historic signage and sample carriages of the day. Next stop is at Tyrone Mills for coffee and a butter tart. This historic location has been a gristmill, blacksmith shop, lumber mill, apple cider producer, bakery and now a rural historic community centre all over the past 168 years. With Halloween just around the corner, we couldn’t resist

a pumpkin shot with the ‘62 Vette. This car draws a crowd wherever it goes with its good looks and that unmistakable V8 dual exhaust note rumble. The Ontario fall colors are not on full display as of yet, but we manage to find some patches of orange and red with some great light in the town of Tyrone near the vintage General Store and the Blacksmith shop. The owners of the Blacksmith shop ask us in and let us use their wonderful Heritage building as a backdrop. Since we are so close, we have to drop in on Canadian Tire Motorsport Park to see what is going on and visit the Ron Fellows Driving Experience to compare the 62’, last of the C1’s, with the current fleet of Corvette C7 Sting Rays. Amazing how this iconic Chevrolet brand has evolved over 50 plus years.

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Leaving the park and all its history behind, we make our way east to the Kawartha Lake region looking for that perfect multi-coloured backdrop. Late fall is prime for this part of Ontario cottage country to be at full strength, but we do find a few pockets on our journey that make it a drive to remember. The ‘62 Corvette gobbles up the asphalt like a ravenous beast. The V8’s dual exhaust babbling through 40 km/h small towns and then explodes out on to the open 100 km/h county highways wishing it had another gear or two. Having the top down makes this experience special and every one of your senses come alive. After an hour or two circling Buckhorn Lake Region; the ‘62 was built before GPS, we make it to our destination of Bobcaygeon, ‘The Hub of the Kawarthas’ made famous by the Canadian band the Tragically Hip and the late great singer songwriter Gord Downie.

“…When I left your house this morning it was a little after nine. It was in Bobcaygeon, I saw the constellations reveal themselves one star at a time…” The Tragically Hip, 1998

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We roll into town and as luck would have it meet up at a gas bar fireworks outlet with another classic Corvette owner. A beautiful 1965 Sting Ray in Tuxedo Black immaculately restored coupe with a 454 cubic inch L71 engine. Crazy car talk ensues, and we get an invite to the Bobcaygeon Antique, Classic and Custom car Show. Lunch is on the patio at the Waters Edge CafĂŠ on Canal St overlooking the Trent system locks, with a few cruisers passing by before the system closes for the season. The 50-year-old Corvette is a treat. The ride is much better than I could have imagined and for sure the power is all there. The interior is perfect; great color combination, oversized steering wheel, roll up windows, dash mounted rear view mirror, floor mounted ashtray, aircraft seat belts and even reflectors in the doors for safety. This is no trailer queen; it is a driver and Phil makes sure it is driven to its limits. This open top roadster is noisy, turns heads and runs like a dream, the perfect classic car. A great day on the road with two vintage guys and a classic car realizing that the best made plans are no plans at all.

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Accessories

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t’s a matter of when. Not if.” “Never ride faster than your guardian angel can fly.” “There’s two kinds of riders: Those who have crashed and those who will.”

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If you ride a motorcycle, somebody at sometime has uttered one of those nuggets of wisdom to you. Or at least something like it. And while there are truths contained within, the dangers associated with riding are an accepted risk -- we weigh the odds and fun wins out. Plus we can mitigate those risks. Better now than ever before.

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In our Spring Issue, I touched on some new and exciting motorcycle safety technology. One of those being rider airbag systems, an innovation that I think we can all agree sounds incredible. Since the beginning of our season I’ve been riding with two of the industry leaders’ examples -- Alpinestars TechAir and Dainese’s D|Air systems. Each system has its pluses and minuses, which we’ll address. But, after thousands of kilometres with the extra peace of mind these systems deliver, I now doubt whether I’ll ride with anything else. Here’s why you should, too.

Dainese D|Air Available to the public since 2012, Dainese’s D|Air system has evolved from a cumbersome and tethered unit into a lightweight and lightning fast autonomous layer of protection. Now, instead of a rip-cord initiated deployment, it works with a combination of three accelerometers, three gyroscopes and a GPS unit. Dainese calls this monitoring chain the Intelligent Protection System (I.P.S) and it constantly monitors rider conditions at over 1000 times per second to detect an event. If something is identified, like an abrupt change in direction, speed or rider attitude, an algorithm is employed to analyse that information and decipher whether it’s just a glitch in the matrix or if the system needs to fire. If something serious is happening, the I.P.S. can suss that out and deploy its four-litre airbag in 45 milliseconds, providing vital protection around the rider’s neck, chest and back. Where Dainese is truly unique in this market is with the airbag itself. The D|Air bag’s internals are comprised of a patented series of Microfilaments — millions of tiny fibres — that connect to the inner walls of the bladder. This ensures that the airbag remains completely uniform during deployment, so no single area of the body receives any additional forces.

Fully integrated into the Carve Master 2 D|Air jacket I’ve been wearing, the system is armed when a button is clasped at the sternum. With a quick glance to my left forearm, a series of LED flashes initiate to tell me the status of the device. Once my bike and I hit 50 km/h (~30 mph), that light turns to a steady green, meaning the I.P.S. is fully armed and ready to save my bacon. Overall this latest generation of D|Air feels almost nonexistent when riding around. Thanks to the system’s complete integration into the jacket there’s no perceived added bulk, save for the smallish hump at my back where the I.P.S. resides. Charging the battery for the systems is simple, tackled by a USB-C slot at the lower portion of the back pad. This slot also connects the D|Air unit to your computer for product registration to receive essential firmware updates.

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Alpinestars Tech-Air Alpinestars’ Tech-Air system works in a very similar fashion in that an accelerometer and gyroscopes are at play. The gyroscope and one accelerometer are housed in the CELevel 2 back protector that makes up much of unit. Two other accelerometers are strategically placed in the shoulders of the Tech-Air vest and there is no GPS device integrated here. The Alpinestars Airbag Control Unit (A.C.U.) reads data from those sensors and relies on an inertial measurement algorithm to detect and react to an incident within 30 milliseconds and, unlike the D|Air unit, remains active even when stopped to guard against hits from behind. Deployment takes another blisteringly-quick 25 milliseconds for the Tech-Air Street system to envelope the rider in a cushion that protects their back, shoulders, kidneys, chest and upper abdomen. I’ve experienced a deployment of the Track version of Tech-Air firsthand and, trust me when I say, it fired far faster than I could ever hope to react or avoid impending doom. The system is armed when the vest’s yellow velcro closure is fastened and alerts the rider, via LEDs on the left forearm, of its status. Until recently, Tech-Air had a substantial advantage in that the airbag system was its own separate garment. That means that it can be used in any number of Alpinestars line of TechAir Compatible garments, which is perfect for riders who

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don’t rely on a single jacket for four seasons of riding. It’s also a major advantage in the event of a deployment as only the vest need be returned to Alpinestars for repair. Integration into my Andes Pro Drystar Jacket for Tech-Air Street was a simple affair. It simply zips into the jacket like any other liner would, save for a twin cable connection at the back pad to loop in the LED system. There is a bit more heft to the Tech-Air system, especially when donning and doffing, but while riding around it wears like any other motofocused garments. There is an integrated kidney belt here as well, that is fastened with velcro, to ensure that all of the Tech-Air vest stays put in the event of an off, which is a small but very detail oriented touch. Charging and updates are handled via a micro-usb connection.

Conclusions After riding around with both systems through the better half of 2019’s riding season, I thought I’d be able to discern a favorite, pick an overall winner, but I honestly can’t. The truth of the matter is that the manner in which each individual brand approaches this type of protection is so similar that, without experiencing both in a crash scenario, I can’t call one of them the objective best. I do however have some likes and dislikes. The D|Air system is lighter to wear and after long days in the saddle, is less fatiguing. If you’re already familiar with the Dainese brand, you’ll appreciate the premium fit and finish afforded to the overall package. It has a slimmer fit -- which I like -- and little details like the plush material used for the collar and the fact that adjustment points at the arms are controlled via snaps with integrated stretch give incredible value for dollar for what is a pricey piece of kit. Personally, I’m a huge fan of the fact that the Tech-Air system remains armed when I’m stuck at a stop light -- especially in today’s world of distracted driving -- so I use it most when in the city. I also dig that the vest is a standalone garment so I can swap it into other Tech-Air jackets, should I want to

change my look or go from textile to leather. These two facts alone, less than two months ago, would have been enough to notch Alpinestars my overall vote. But… As mentioned above, Dainese has recently released their new Dainese Smart Jacket. This is their take on a standalone vest, except this one can be worn under or over any brand of jacket/riding gear you like. And while I have not had the chance to see this new product in the flesh, it appears to be an absolute game changer in the market as it uses the same technology and patented microfilament airbag from the integrated systems, at a very competitive price point. So really, we’re the winners here. Thanks to airbag technology I firmly believe there has never been a better time for us riders to “dress for the slide, not the ride”. With each new generation, this technology will only get better, faster, stronger and less expensive. Hopefully advancements like this entice some new riders to join us out there, to safely figure out that “four wheels may move the body but two wheels move the soul”, afterall. More on the Dainese Smart Jacket here: https://www.dainese.com/us/en/smart-jacket.html

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Exit Lane

Bless the internet. The quotation “People tend to overestimate what can be done in one year and underestimate five or ten” has been attributed to everyone from Bill Gates to Frodo Baggins. It’s an insightful way of saying things sneak up on you and now it can also, but legitimately, be attributed to Steven Bochenek. Example? Consider your cell-, smart-, mobile- and now simply your phone. Over ten years after Japanese were paying for gin and tonics from vending machines with their phones, North Americans were still asking why we should pay for texting when you could phone anyone from ubiquitous landlines or just email them from your PC, both free. Then one day, seemingly out of nowhere, we were all texting each other and swiping right. A more succinct example: five years ago, 2014, the very idea of a Trump presidency was dystopian fiction that no one would ever believe. Things do sneak up on you. Right now, a quiet infrastructure of charging stations for electric vehicles (EVs) is growing exponentially throughout Canada. Mind, ‘exponential’ isn’t impressive at first (2 x 2, after all, = 4) but it reaches a tipping point soon, then explodes. With all the predictive powers of lifelong Maple Leafs fan, I believe these next two years will welcome the tipping point for EVs. The timing feels right—but proof? Exhibit one: This summer of 2019, Wade Anderson, a regular schmoe from Tucson, Arizona, is circumnavigating his Tesla Model 3, end to end, around North America. It’s no corporate gimmick or automotive writer’s clever way to fund a family vacation. The extremes are Key West, Florida, and Prudhoe Bay, Alaska, with thousands upon thousands of clicks between—all on electricity. By the time this is published, you’ll know whether Anderson succeeded or failed, but he believes the trip is doable. Exhibit two: As mentioned in another article in this VICARIOUS issue, a corridor of charging stations is being erected throughout the most populous corridors of southern Alberta, allegedly gasoline pickup country. If here, well, anywhere! Plus, just two VICARIOUS issues ago, the ‘exitorial’ on this page noted the demise of the Mitsubishi i-MiEV. While that EV didn’t succeed—the time wasn’t right—its raison d’etre was sound: an affordable electric solution for city driving. However, the 2012 i-MiEV’s range was rated by the official US system at an uninspiring 100km. Enter the phrase, ‘range anxiety’ into the popular lexicon. Even some city drivers often commute over 100km daily. And all of them need to heat and air condition their ride sometimes. But a lot can happen in five or, let’s say, seven years. Today the most popular EV by far, Wade Anderson’s 2019 Tesla Model 3, extends well over 500km. That’s more than enough to get its drivers to their summer homes even with the A/C on. Does your SUV get over 500km to a tank? If the time is now, what else will change? Will we inaccurately call those EV-juicing pillars ‘filling stations’ or maybe even ‘gas stations’, the way we talk about dialing numbers on our rotary-free phones. And speaking of expressions and timing, what power does pathetic ‘range anxiety’ have versus the existential angst the past five years have wrought in this topsyturvy world full of Trump presidencies and, crazier still, successful Toronto sports franchises?

S tory | S teven B ockenek

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146 AVA I L A B L E I N P R E S C R I P T I O N

VICARIOUS 007 | Fall 2019

Articles inside

VICARIOUS | Featured Road: 1962 Chevrolet Corvette in Muskoka

VICARIOUS | Featured Region: Vietnam

VICARIOUS | First Drive: McLaren 720S Spider

VICARIOUS | Discovered: A Pacifica Road Trip

VICARIOUS | GameChangers: Super SUVs

VICARIOUS | Featured Car: 2019 Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat Redeye

VICARIOUS | EcoRun: Steven Bochenek

VICARIOUS | Perspective: "It's All Personal, Man!"

VICARIOUS | New Roads: Chasing The Dragon

VICARIOUS | Turn-key Tourist

VICARIOUS | Discovered: Sea-To-Sky Road Tripping in Style