Today on CarCostCanada, auto journalist Trevor Hofmann reviews the totally redesigned 2015 Chevrolet Tahoe in top-tier LTZ trim. Does this new model finally address complaints customers and pundits have…

2015 Chevrolet Tahoe LTZ Road Test Review

To think the Tahoe is merely the XXL version of the XXXL Suburban is mind-boggling. Trying to get this big mountain of an SUV into a camera lens can be tough enough, but doing likewise for a clean shot of a Suburban would require a number of large paces rearward and quite possibly a wide-angle lens upgrade for the camera.

This is why the Tahoe is most large SUV buyers' first choice, at least amongst bowtie models. The Suburban deserves our utmost respect because it's the octogenarian of the General's full-size SUV family, the great grandpa of the bunch, having been redesigned 12 times since inception in 1933 - yes you read that right. The Tahoe is a mere whippersnapper in comparison, just 20 years old and only on its fourth generation, but GMC's Yukon clearly outsells Chevy's alternative while the long-wheelbase Yukon XL almost doubled the Suburban's total last year.

What these two sets of fraternal twins do to the rest of the mainstream industry's full-size truck-based Read Full Story
Today on CarCostCanada, auto journalist Trevor Hofmann reviews the 2015 Dodge Grand Caravan in sporty Blacktop trim. This red on black van represents the last of its kind. Still popular, the Grand Caravan…

2015 Dodge Grand Caravan Blacktop Road Test Review

It may come as a bit of a shock to some and will likely be old news to others, but back in May of last year Fiat-Chrysler Automobile (FCA) announced plans to eliminate the Dodge Grand Caravan. This current 2015 model will be the last of an era that's run more than three decades, the first ever Dodge Caravan arriving on the scene in 1983 along with its Plymouth Voyager counterpart.

Many reading this will know why the Voyager was discontinued. It had to go because the entire Plymouth brand was put to rest in June of 2001, but the Dodge brand isn't being discontinued so why would FCA kill off the Grand Caravan? Are sales low? Not exactly. Sales of minivans are much slower than they were at the height of the '90s when they were the darlings of so-called soccer moms (a much-maligned term but seemingly fitting in this review), with one in almost every suburban driveway and every automaker rushing to market with some sort of sliding side-door alternative to the Caravan, the one that Read Full Story
Today on CarCostCanada, Trevor Hofmann reviews the 2015 Subaru Legacy 3.6R in top-tier Limited trim. Make sure to read this review if you want to find out about a midsize sedan that not only offers reliability,…

2015 Subaru Legacy 3.6R Limited Road Test Review

Just for fun I typed the word "Legacy" and "definition" into a popular search engine to see what it would come up with, and the first response was, "An amount of money or property left to someone in a will." While interesting and possibly a positive association to some, I think the second definition is better suited: "Anything handed down from the past, as from an ancestor or predecessor."

Now that the latest model has recently arrived as a 2015 model, Subaru's Legacy has been with us for six generations spanning some 26 years. Over the decades each new model has been endowed with the types of qualities its relatively small but fiercely loyal ownership base demands, although its progeny might just be more notable. The old Legacy Wagon was the basis for the legendary Subaru Outback that came on the scene in 1993 as a 1994 model, which makes it one of the first modern-day crossovers. While there was once a very odd but ultimately useful Outback Sedan (dubbed SUS) and the Legacy Read Full Story
Today on CarCostCanada, Trevor Hofmann reviews the new 2015 Nissan Micra in ultra-basic S trim. This tiny little five-door hatchback is Spartan transportation that’ll put a grin on your face for more…

2015 Nissan Micra S Road Test Review

With most cars a large portion of the story is about what you get for the money, and I suppose that's the same story with the new Nissan Micra. It's just that the money is so low for a base Micra S that the story isn't only about what you get. Rather I'm tempted to dwell on what you don't get.

Focusing on the negative would do the Micra and you a disservice though. After all, you can buy a brand new, fully warranted 2015 Nissan Micra for just $9,998 plus $1,450 in freight and dealer prep charges. That makes it the lowest priced new vehicle available in Canada. To put the Micra into perspective, the next cheapest car is Chevy's even smaller Spark with a window sticker almost $2,000 higher at $11,995, and then as if adding vinegar to the wound the bowtie bunch tacks on a pricier $1,600 freight and pre-delivery charge that pushes the Spark's MSRP $2,147 above the Micra. What about the base Mitsubishi Mirage ES? Also smaller, it'll cost you $12,498 plus an identical $1,450 in destination Read Full Story
Today on CarCostCanada, check out Trevor Hofmann’s review of the entirely new and much improved 2015 Volkswagen Golf in 5-door Highline trim. Already an award-winner the world over as well as right…

2015 Volkswagen Golf 5-door Highline Road Test Review

Last year Volkswagen brought an entirely new Golf to market, something that's now occurred seven times. Not many automakers can make such a claim about a single model, but VW has been building this compact hatchback since 1974. In case you're confused, the original Mk1 was dubbed Rabbit here in North America, but it was the same car with an arguably quicker, more endearing name.

A quicker name? True, bunnies are tough to catch, but 2012 RE/MAX World Long Drive Champion and world record holder Ryan Winther struck a golf ball 366.3 km/h (227.6 mph), which is much faster than even a Jackrabbit that can scoot along at speeds of up to 72 km/h (45 mph), or for that matter hares that have been recorded up to 80 km/h (50 mph), the ninth and seventh fastest mammals in the world respectively (or so I just learned). So maybe the Golf name wasn't a bad choice after all.

The compact hatch certainly has had its share of success, finding more than 30,000,000 new owners (and who knows Read Full Story
Are you looking for a new ride that makes a great first, second, third… impression? If you want to impress, nothing will give you more bang for a lot of bucks than the new redesigned Range Rover Sport.…

2015 Land Rover Range Rover Sport HSE Road Test Review

The folks at BMW must be kicking themselves right now. Way back in 1995 when then BMW CEO Bernd Pischetsrieder was named "Man of the Year" by Automobile Industries because of the $1.3-billion deal he struck to acquire Rover Group a year earlier, netting the Munich-based company a variety of British brands including Mini, Rolls-Royce and Land Rover/Range Rover, they purposely let the jewel of the bunch slip out of their hands in the spring of 2000 when they sold the SUV-maker to Ford, although the sale price of 3bn euros looked pretty good at the time. Now, with Ford out of the picture and Indian automaker Tata at the helm, Land Rover and its even more upscale Range Rover marque are doing very well.

Interestingly, BMW's highly successful X5 was the inspiration for the original Range Rover Sport back in 2005 (no doubt the success of M-B's AMG-trimmed M-Class and Porsche's Cayenne helped Land Rover see the potential of a sportier Range Rover too), and while that first-generation Read Full Story
Today on CarCostCanada, auto journalist Trevor Hofmann reviews the 2015 Mazda CX-9 in top-tier GT AWD trim. Is it good enough to go head to head with industry leaders like the Toyota Highlander and Nissan…

2015 Mazda CX-9 GT AWD Road Test Review

Let's be completely honest. Other than its MX-5 roadster and RX-7/8 sports cars Mazda hasn't always had leading-edge design, but all that's changed now. Its current 3 sedan and hatchback are two of the best looking in their class, its mid-size 6 sedan is downright gorgeous, the compact CX-5 crossover is a real looker as well, while the Zeal Red Mica painted CX-9 I'm reviewing here is a certified head-turner.

The CX-9 was the first production vehicle to receive Mazda's new "KODO – Soul of Motion" design language, a styling direction that's won kudos from us pundits as well as customers alike, the latter that have been responding with their hard earned money. When it arrived in 2012 as a 2013 model, the newly penned CX-9 increased Mazda's percentage of the mid-size CUV segment considerably, and sales have been steadily climbing ever since. It's far from the brand's bestseller, the compact 3 handily taking that title with the CX-5 selling less than half as many units in Canada Read Full Story
Is this the car that will return Acura to big sales and respectability? Its RLX is an impressive luxury car and MDX a commendable large CUV, while the more compact RLX sells quite well and similarly sized…

2015 Acura TLX Elite 3.5L SH-AWD Road Test Review

Acura has a lot riding on its new TLX, being that it not only replaces its reasonably strong selling TSX, which was a largish compact based on the European midsize Honda Accord, but also puts its near-full-size North American Honda Accord-based TL out to pasture. This only leaves three sedans in the brand's arsenal: the TLX bookended by the base Honda Civic-derived ILX at the lower end and full-size RLX at the high end. Then again, the TLX rids Acura of overlap. The old TL was too close in size to its flagship four-door.

Fortunately for Acura, the new 2015 TLX is a very good car that's received its fair share of accolades. On the other hand, its styling isn't much of a departure from either of its predecessors, which is good if you loved the old cars, but not so good if you were hoping for any revolutionary advancements in design. In this sense Acura reminds me of where Buick used to be. GM Canada employees spent so much time in and around Oshawa, Ontario, where the automaker Read Full Story