Day 3: Ottawa to Sault St. Marie

SAULT STE. MARIE – Loggers, miners and hockey players would call today’s drive the Northern Loop: Ottawa to North Bay to Sudbury to Sault Ste. Marie.

This is only my second trip to Sudbury, my daughter/navigator Olivia’s first. The last time here, I was piloting the complete, opposite end of the spectrum of rear-engine, rear-drive coupes: a 2005 Porsche 911 Carrera.

Beyond where they locate their engines, and which wheels drive the car, the Smart and Porsche have about as much in common as Don Cherry and David Suzuki. Except now I’ve driven both (the cars, not the Canadian icons) to Sudbury’s legendary Big Nickel.

Created in 1964, the nine-metre tall monument is a replica of (yes) a 1951 Canadian nickel. Listed in the Guinness Book of Records as the world's largest coin, it will not fit in your pocket. I tried.

JOHN LEBLANC FOR THE TORONTO STAR

One of the world's tiniest cars meets the world's largest coin.

The big news in the Smart today was the discovery of the optional iPod connector. It’s part of the optional $195 sound package that also adds two tweeters, two bass-reflex speakers and a frequency switcher.

You’d think in vehicle of this size, such an item would be easy to locate. I mean, how hard can it be to find anything in a vehicle that’s shorter than a Mini Cooper by 1,199 mm?

As a resolute non-reader of car manuals—plus a natural born tendency to stubbornness, just ask my navigator—it only took me until this morning to find the unmarked iPod outlet in the cubby to the left of the steering wheel.

So the battle of the bands is now officially on.

Will it be the old man’s request to hear Blink-182, The Offspring, Beastie Boys, R.E.M., or Billy Bragg? Or will it be the navigator’s call for Fall of Troy, The Burden, Deluca, Rocco or Acceptance?

We only have about 3,700 km left to find out.

Day 3: Saturday, June 23,
Ottawa to Sault Ste. Marie
Distance: 852 km
Average fuel consumption (L/100 km): 5.0
Weather: Sunshine turned to showers, then back to sunshine. 15C
Smart car sightings: 0