Road Trip: End-to-end on the Four-oh-One

By John LeBlanc SOMEWHERE WEST OF CORNWALL, Ont. - In between this year's Detroit and Montreal auto shows, I decided to drive the King’s Highway 401 (also known as the Macdonald-Cartier Freeway) from end-to-end in one day in a 2010 Porsche Panamera 4S.  As the longest expressway in Ontario, and one of the widest and busiest in the world, the Four-oh-One extends 818 km from its start on the outskirts of Windsor, to the Quebec border east of Cornwall, where it becomes Quebec Autoroute 20. Kilometre Zero - And I thought this year’s Detroit auto show was anticlimactic. At its westernmost point in Windsor, the 401 doesn’t start at the Ambassador Bridge or the Ontario-Michigan border. Instead, the on ramp at Talbot Rd. E. is anything but ceremonial. Waterfalls, arches or monuments are noticeably absent. Km 112 - Porsche’s first four-door sedan is quite an agreeable highway car. It’s roomy up front like a BMW 7 Series or Benz S Class, and relatively frugal — I’m averaging less than 9 L/100 km. After less than an hour on the road, the car’s trip computer has bumped the range of its 100-litre fuel tank to 876 km from the original 739. With only about 700 716 to the Québec border, and despite a 400 hp V8 under the Porsche’s front hood, there’s real possibility my only stops will end up for nourishment and nature breaks. Km 128 - Speak of the devil. Near West Elgin, southwest of London, my bladder’s stamina is no match for the Porsche’s barley tapped tank. Many of the 401’s roadside service areas are being upgraded for the original 1960s buildings. During the construction period, So instead of a food, fuel and a place to relieve you, portable washrooms have been set up. By the way, don’t tell my kids that I didn’t “go” before I left Windsor… Km 168 - Since the 401 serves as the transportation backbone of not only Ontario but all central the heart of Canada, traffic between Windsor and London consists largely of tractor-trailers crossing the U.S.-Canada border. Looking at the back end of tractor-trailers is the main view while driving toward Toronto. Some of the highway has been widened to three lanes. But truckers can clog up a Porsche’s progress, as most of it is still only two-lane. Km 327 - Psychologically, when I start seeing the 407 ETR signs, I’m know I’m entering The Big Smoke. While the Panamera 4S, with its all-wheel drive and proper winter tires, has been a freight fright train so far, relatively mild temperatures (-2C and rising as I head east) and no precipitation has meant an uneventful drive. Lee’s hope that holds up. Km 369 - Like I have to tell you, The stretch of the 401 "four-oh-one” through Toronto has the “distinction” of being North America’s busiest freeway, with an estimated 500,000-plus vehicles every day passing the point between Weston Rd. and Highway 400. As I come up to the Don Valley Parkway exit around 2 p.m., it looks like I’m going to get out of Dodge before the eastbound traffic really starts to pile up later in the afternoon. Km 452 - I’ve emptied the pack of dill-flavoured sunflower seeds I brought for sustenance. With Toronto in my rear-view mirror, it’s time for some real road food at one of the remaining Esso/Wendy’s/Tims service centres still open. Don’t tell Porsche, but its $120,300 Panamera 4S makes do in a pinch as my own roadside café. Km 452 - I may make the whole length of the 401 without filling up for gas. Not so with the washer fluid. A bigger fluid reservoir for Canadian cars would be appreciated. Oh, and a rear wiper and washer for the Panamera’s huge hatch glass should be added to the wish to-do list as well. Km 508 - Yes, that big red sphere you see at the side of the 401 near Colborne really is the World’s Biggest Apple. At least that’s according to its owners. Unfortunately, the Apple was closed for the season. I’ll have to come back later in the year to make the 10-metre-plus climb to its observation deck. Km 590 - Feeling the first signs of the dreaded weather effects Lake Ontario can have on 401 driving at this time of year, compounded by the early sunset at and compounding the sun setting before 5 p.m. this time of year, I start to run into freezing rain between Napanee and Kingston. Thankfully, the Porsche is rock solid. One cockpit detail that stands out is the redundant nav in the driver’s instrumentation. Any reason not to take tour eyes off the road is welcome. Km 818 - After Kingston, I end up driving the last couple of hundred klicks of the 401 in the dark. The biggest challenge is staying awake. But after almost eight hours after leaving Windsor battling road-hogging truckers, greasy road food and over-ambitious Pontiac Sunfire drivers — but with no unwanted visits from the O.P.P. — I hit the Québec border near Bainsville, Ont., the end of the 401, in a fashion spectacularly as uneventful as the beginning of my day.

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