On the Road. Again.

Best road trip rides
By John Leblanc

Firsthand road experience essential when picking your perfect Canadian road trip vehicle

A romantic weekend away for two, a month-long cross country marathon with the rug rats, or a solo run through the Maritimes chasing whales to watch — like the proverbial snowflake, no two Canadian road trips this summer will be the same.

This means making sage recommendations on “the best road trip vehicle” is a decidedly tricky proposition. Especially since spending days or weeks in the car – basically living in it – is a way different experience than a typical urban weeklong test-drive we car journalists typically report on.

Instead, I’ve culled together my favourite road trip new vehicles based on real life adventures, experiences and travels. Then, I’ve put them into categories that hopefully come close to your road trips plans this summer:

The Lone Wolf: Mazda MX-5 GX

After a few days spent bombing around British Columbia’s Okanogan Valley behind the wheel of Mazda’s latest Mia-, er, MX-5, I can safely say the two-seater makes a great road companion for solo drivers.

It is the epitome of traveling light; first off, the MX-5 starts at only at $28,195. This leaves plenty in the travel budget for maps, gas and food for the road. Even with the optional fast-folding hardtop option, trunk capacity is decent for one.

The rear-drive Mazda roadster’s 2.0-litre, 166 horsepower four-cylinder engine doesn’t sound like much. But a slick-shifting five-speed manual and feathery 1,108 kg curb weight help it scoot from rest to 100 km/h in 7.5 seconds, while still delivering econobox-like fuel consumption of 9.7 L/100 km city, 7.2 hwy.

In the MX-5, one will never feel alone. With surgically precise steering and rock solid yet communicative chassis, the road is always present to keep one company.

But maybe the best part of driving the Mazda alone is the ability to peel back its soft top with one hand while sitting in the driver’s seat. Cool.

Runner Up: Mini Cooper S, $29,900

Just for Two: BMW Z4 3.0si

If you, or your loved one, find the Mazda a bit too frenetic or cramped for two, jump up to BMW’s $60,900 BMW Z4 3.0si.

On a recent road trip through the Banff and Jasper National Parks in the Canadian Rockies, the BMW two-seater was the perfect vehicle for a childless-for-a-week, stressed out pair of parents.

The BMW’s roomy and comfortable cabin, large trunk (it easily swallowed our two overnighter bags easily) and smooth-as-silk personality made for a relaxing road trip ride, whether cruising for a view or trying to make check-in time to our hotel. Its 3.0L 255 hp inline has power throughout its rev range, and the six-speed manual transmission (a six-speed automatic with steering wheel mounted paddle-shifters is a $1,700 option) has short, accurate throws.

We even had some unexpected snow on our road trip. But no worries. We simply cranked up the heated seats, pulled back the top and let the rear-drive Z4′s stability and traction controls keep us on our route despite the car still wearing summer performance rubber.

Runner Up: Porsche Boxster S, $70,200

For Time-Distance-Speed Family: Audi RS4

OK, I’ll confess: On this road trip (a 900 km, 15 hour one-day blast across Switzerland from Geneva to Munich – via St. Moritz), I didn’t take along my two daughters or my wife.

But if I had, they would have had little to complain about my ride: a $94,200 Audi RS4 sports sedan.

With its understated, four-door sheet metal, and a bit of squinting, the hot rod Audi could easily be mistaken for a plebeian family sedan. But from the driver’s seat, all the car’s inputs – steering, throttle response from the 420 hp 4.2-litre V8, handling and braking – scream, “German touring car championship!”

If you really (really) need a four-door, all-weather road trip weapon, the RS4 has few competitors.

Runner Up: Subaru Legacy GT Wagon, $41,795

For the “take it with you” crowd : Saturn Outlook XE FWD

For some families’ summer road trip plans, a roadster or sedan just isn’t enough room for all their people and cargo. That’s when a full-size utility vehicle, like the $34,535 Saturn Outlook XE seven-seater we drove to Nova Scotia last summer was so enjoyable and practical.

Although our family of four only needed the first two rows of seating, the Outlook still had 558 litres of cargo room behind the third row. With the second row seats slid all the way back, there was limo-like leg- and headroom. More importantly, we were able to latch a child car seat into the safest position – the middle – without encroaching on our teenage daughter sitting outboard next to her younger sister.

Some may want more performance than the Outlook’s 250 hp, 3.6 L V6 provides. But that would surely be at the expense of the front-drive Saturn XE’s excellent combined consumption rating of 10.5 L/100 km.

Otherwise, as an alternative to a minivan or full-size SUV, the Saturn’s combination of excellent space utilization and fuel consumption make it a great choice for (large) road tripping families.

Runner Up: Honda Odyssey DX, $31,490

When the road ends: Jeep Wrangler Unlimited

Maybe your road trip plans this summer don’t involve actual roads. If so, consider Jeep’s first four-door five-passenger version of its iconic Wrangler off-roader, dubbed Unlimited. It’s a vehicle that faithfully got me across, over, and under the legendary Rubicon Trail near the California-Nevada state line.

Stretching the two-door Wrangler’s wheelbase delivers much needed second-row seating room with more overall cargo space than a Hummer H3, Nissan XTerra or Toyota FJ Cruiser. The base Wrangler Unlimited X at $25,295 comes with the traditional soft top so you can play African safari with the kids.

Okay, so a Jeep is nearly indestructible off-road and has no equals as a four-door convertible off-roading trip vehicle. No big news here. But the Unlimited’s stretched wheelbase delivers an on-road ride that’s a huge improvement over previous bone-jarring Jeeps. And with an 89-mm rear track increase, it’s even more stable at higher speeds when you decide to head back home – on a “real” road, of course.

Runner Up: Land Rover LR3 V6 SE, $57,990