Tricks, Not much new there. Although, I believe I made the drive from Halifax in much less than 4 hours. When I went in September, there was plenty of road construction too. Stop lights and other unneeded slow downs, do add to the time, but, again, it wasn't 4 hours.
As i've said before, once you cross the causeway, you get onto Cape Breton Island and you enter a different world. A place where time shouldn't matter, and, where appreciating the unplugged nature , should be a major draw. Even for a guy who lives in an unplugged region.