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“I’ve occasionally watched Amazing Race on TV and as soon as the partnership starts to go sour, the whole thing can go sour.”

Toronto, Ontario.

When you’re doing an Amazing Race-style activity, picking the proper teammate is the key success.

Clearly, I chose improperly.

I’ve occasionally watched Amazing Race on TV and as soon as the partnership starts to go sour, the whole thing can go sour. Blood starts to boil. Tension rises. Ratings go up.

That’s all part of the game. It’s also part of the fun.

Hyundai Fun Day has been an annual event for the last few years. It really needs no explanation because the title says it all.

It’s all about fun. That mirth comes in various shapes and sizes and there’s lots to be had.

Unless you’re stuck with a partner for an Amazing Race-style challenge who doesn’t even read the clues properly. Or forgets to tell you an important piece of information during the timed activity, like, say, what your next challenge is.

With Type-A personality tendencies, the need to be spot-on sometimes takes over. For the better or the worse, that trait has led me to victories in other rally events.

Sadly, not on Fun Day.

In true Canadian fashion, the first challenge was to score three shots on goal.

Stick in hand and ball on the floor, part of the parking lot at the revamped Driver Development Track (DDT) at the Canadian Tire Motorsport Park was dedicated to the nation’s favourite pastime (and no, it’s not drinking beer.)

After completing the challenge, the stick was passed to my partner, who struggled, to say the least. A few minutes later, and quite a few shots on goal, we were finally given our next clue.

Our chariot for this part of the event was the Hyundai Elantra, equipped with a new 2.0L engine equipped with Gasoline Direct Injection, delivering 173 horsepower.

He was deemed navigator while I drove.

After we found the second clue, I asked him to take a photo of it – as it was outside of the vehicle – so we could look at it.

Without even reading what he took a picture of, he said: “There was no clue. It was just a sign. I think we just head back.”

I used my vetoing power and asked him to show me the photo of the clue he took. It didn’t say to drive back.

Had some cameras been there, it would have made for some nail-biting television.

We finally figured it out and kept on trekking. We didn’t have to go too far for any of the given clues, but since we lost a little bit of time at the beginning, I needed to make it up.

Putting the Elantra’s acceleration to the test might not have been the instructions we were given, but it was what we had to do.

Making a long-ish story short, we didn’t come out as victors but the day in itself was a win all around.

Veloster Turbos were ready and waiting to be driven around the autocross circuit that was specifically designed for us.

A parking challenge with the Accent was quite fun: see how fast you can parallel park, pull forward into another spot, back into another, and then cross the finish line.

Hit a cone that marked the area you were supposed to stay in and you’d get additional time put on your score.

Unleashing the Genesis V6 coupes on the fresh-faced DDT also had its sensational perks; complete with manual gearboxes.

And when all was said and done, the all-new 2015 Sonata sedan and I would stick around for a few more days in rural Ontario and explore some of the natural habitat in the Ganaraska region, just east of Toronto.

Contact: alexandra [dot] straub [at] drivewaybc [dot] ca