Italian job one to remember

JOHN LEBLANC FOR THE TORONTO STAR

Few thrills can beat booting around Italy's Chianti region in a Fiat Cinquecento.

John LeBlanc

SPECIAL TO THE STAR

Best Experience

My best driving experience during 2009 had nothing to do with one of those fancy-pants press junkets that we auto writers are spoiled with on a regular basis (Mrs. Automotive Journalist's words, not mine).

Nope. Instead it was some personal driving time in and around the Italian Chianti region, north of Sienna and south of Florence, piloting the soon-to-arrive-in-Canada Fiat Cinquecento.

The Chianti region's map is dotted with medieval, walled hamlets, perched on top of mountains between valleys of vineyards and olive groves.

To get to these towns, you have to drive rural back roads that flow like the local wines.

You have to love the Italian ministry of transportation. Paraphrasing here, its four-step road-making process is a treat for those who love to drive:

Climb to the top of a mountain.

Pour gravel and tar down the side of said mountain.

Make it as smooth as a marble floor.

Don't post any speed limits.

After four days and almost 1,000 km of Tuscany driving, my arms and cheeks were sore as hell. The first from the thousands of turns I managed, and the second from the non-stop grinning.

Worst Experience

Who knew? Apparently, RVing is a popular pastime with Canadians.

According to data from GO RVing Canada, there are more than one million RVs (recreational vehicles) on our roads today. For the past three years, sales have increased 63 per cent.

But like other popular national pastimes (curling, Don Cherry, Tim Hortons drive-throughs, cardigans), please count me out as a fan. My ill will toward RVing came about after a family road trip hauling a travel trailer back and forth to Prince Edward Island this summer.

Nothing against the tow vehicle, a 2010 Toyota Sequoia SR5. New to the Sequoia lineup this year, its smaller-yet-more-powerful 310 hp, 4.6 L V8 replaces last year's base 276 hp, 4.7 L engine. When not burdened with the added weight and increased length the trailer added, it felt relatively nimble.

While a combined 13.8 L/100 km (20 m.p.g.) rating versus 14.4 L and a 3,175 kg tow rating, the Sequoia SR5 4.6 L offered an excellent balance of power and efficiency.

And nothing against the trailer that faithfully followed us to the Maritimes and back.

The 1999 Mallard 27-foot model, loaned to us from the 1,000 Islands RV Centre in Gananoque, replaced the two motel rooms per night we would have had to rent along the way for our family of four and Grandma.

But from the driver's seat, towing an RV trailer was one of the most tiring, annoying and frustrating experiences I've ever had behind the wheel of a vehicle.

Don't believe any RV zealot who says, "No worries. Driving an RV is just like driving a car." They just want to share the pain.

Trust me. Driving a full-size SUV with a long trailer attached out back wasn't a lot of "fun." That is, unless your idea of fun is running a marathon. While piggybacking your best friend. Who's had too many.

Granted. I may be stating the obvious here. Travelling with a larger, more accommodating vehicle isn't so much fun to drive.

However, we were counting on the extra savings from not booking those motel rooms as our reward. But in our experience this summer, that wasn't the case.

In fact, during the five days on the road it took travelling by trailer, the costs were almost twice as much as if we had left the trailer at home.

By far, the greater difference was in the amount of fuel we used.

On flat terrain, the Sequoia's trip computer was reading about double the SR5's 11.1 L/100 km (26 m.p.g.) rating – or 22 L/100 km (13 m.p.g.). But on the steep and long grades through New Brunswick, we were averaging closer to 35 L/100 km (6.7 m.p.g.).

Why Greenpeace hasn't targeted trailer parks as high-priority protest sites, I'll ever know.

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