For the 2015 model year WRX, Subaru has dropped mention of the Impreza nameplate. The car is now simply known as the 2015   Subaru WRX. And with it, the boyishness of previous iterations of the car…

2015 Subaru WRX Road Test Review

For the 2015 model year WRX, Subaru has dropped mention of the Impreza nameplate. The car is now simply known as the 2015 Subaru WRX. And with it, the boyishness of previous iterations of the car has been allowed to fall by the wayside as well.

Starting with the look of the car: the huge wings, giant air scoops, and overall cartoonish demeanor have been eschewed in favour of a more subtle, sophisticated, almost European look. What's more, the hatchback, so loved by the wannabe rally-king set, has been dropped as well. You'll now get your WRX as a sedan only, just as it was when the model first came to North America back in 2004.

Furthermore, a continuously variable transmission has been fitted to the car, and perhaps most telling of all, the suspension system has been calibrated for optimal performance on pavement. This is a significant change from previous iterations of the WRX. Those cars, hewing more toward the World Rally heritage of the car, left quite a bit of Read Full Story
Folks, Buick has changed, and then again, it really hasn’t. Spend some time in the new 2014 Buick Regal GS and you’ll experience  Photo: GM an athleticism long disassociated with the…

2014 Buick Regal GS Road Test Review

Folks, Buick has changed, and then again, it really hasn't. Spend some time in the new 2014 Buick Regal GS and you'll experience an athleticism long disassociated with the tri-shield brand. The soft "doctor's" car demeanor the marque came to represent is gone-sort of. Yes, the 2014 Regal GS is luxurious like you'd expect a Buick to be. It is also in possession of a dignified look and stature like you'd expect a Buick to have. But it goes like the European sport sedan upon which the Regal is based: The German Opel Insignia. Which is where Buick has changed-sort of.

You see, in the past there have been a number of performance-oriented Buick models. It's just been quite a while since the company brought a standout performance car to market. The last ones of any real significance were arguably the turbocharged Regal models of the late 1980s. In fact, the 1987 Buick Regal GNX was faster than its Corvette contemporary.

Of course, today a performance car has to be about more Read Full Story
After seven years with only minor updates, a redesigned 2015 Lincoln Navigator will go on sale later this year. The revised model   shows a new bisected grille in keeping with the brand’s current…

New 2015 Lincoln Navigator breaks cover ahead of Chicago auto show

After seven years with only minor updates, a redesigned 2015 Lincoln Navigator will go on sale later this year. The revised model shows a new bisected grille in keeping with the brand's current corporate image, the result being much less chrome for more conservative styling. Likewise, the new Navigator's updated tail end likely won't incite much excitement either, the design appearing much like other SUVs within the full-size segment.

The Navigator's new exterior now includes HID headlamps with LED running lights, along with full LED taillights. Standard wheels are massive 20-inch alloys instead of last year's 18s, albeit they look like they're only just large enough on this larger than life 4x4. A set of very attractive 22-inch rims is available as part of the "Reserve" package, and just might be the highlight of the overall visual overhaul.

Like the exterior, the new 2015 Navigator gets an interior redesign with improved plastics quality on most surfaces and authentic Read Full Story
Arguably the benchmark in its class, the BMW X5 was the first automobile to marry the attributes of a sport utility vehicle with   the driving dynamics of a fine sports sedan. The result became a…

2014 BMW X5 Road Test Review

Arguably the benchmark in its class, the BMW X5 was the first automobile to marry the attributes of a sport utility vehicle with the driving dynamics of a fine sports sedan. The result became a best seller and ushered in a whole new set of sensibilities. So successful was the BMW X5, the model quickly spawned a raft of imitators-some of them quite brilliant actually.

Interestingly, when the X5 was introduced, BMW's marketing team, in its effort to expand upon the concept of the SUV in order to convince consumers the X5 was indeed something different, latched onto the Sport Activity Vehicle moniker-rather than allowing the model to be considered a sport utility vehicle. This was primarily because the BMW was the first vehicle of its type designed to perform more adroitly on the street than on trails and rugged terrain.

Some 15 years later, the first BMW to be built in North America, and the world's first Sport Activity Vehicle has evolved considerably-yet steadfastly Read Full Story
Despite frigid temperatures and blowing snow, the North American International Auto Show closed out its final weekend with   the best turnout in over a decade. In all, organizers said that 803,451…

Chevy reveals its 2015 Corvette Z06 at Detroit auto show

Despite frigid temperatures and blowing snow, the North American International Auto Show closed out its final weekend with the best turnout in over a decade. In all, organizers said that 803,451 paid visitors attended the show at Detroit's Cobo Center, as well as 5,169 journalists and hundreds of senior industry officials.

The show saw over 50 major automotive debuts, including Ford's new aluminum-intensive F-150, the new Chrysler 200, Toyota's FT-1 sports car concept, Kia's GT4 Stinger Concept, and BMW's new M3 and M4, plus many others. Among all these debuts, the new Chevrolet Corvette Z06 stood out as a definite highlight.

Chevrolet is calling the 2015 Corvette Z06 "the most track capable Corvette in the brand's history." It features a supercharged 6.2-litre engine that is expected to deliver a whopping 625 horsepower and 635 lb-ft of torque, and is the first supercharged engine offered in a Z06. It can be matched to either a seven-speed manual transmission with Read Full Story
Every year the auto industry celebrates various car of the year awards and design awards, etcetera, and while all this is exciting, Photo: Trevor Hofmann, Canadian Auto Press especially for the manufacturers…

2014 Toyota Venza XLE Road Test Review

Every year the auto industry celebrates various car of the year awards and design awards, etcetera, and while all this is exciting, especially for the manufacturers of winning models, it hardly reflects the best car overall, or for that matter in any given category. The problem is that a COTY or best design award is always given to an all-new model, not a carryover model like Toyota's Venza, and for me the Venza could easily win a best design award as well as a COTY.

Rarely is a car as well thought out as the Venza, or as good looking from every angle. Essentially the spiritual successor of the old Camry Wagon, the Venza somehow manages to successfully bridge the styling gap of aggression and elegance, cool enough for the average guy to feel proud of yet classy enough to meet most women's more refined tastes. It's a crossover, my particular V6-powered example sporting big, fat 20-inch five-spoke rims on meaty 245/50R20 all-season tires, an inch larger than the already substantive Read Full Story
Staying ahead in the mid-size family sedan market has never been easy. The segment is brutally competitive and chock full of Photo: Simon Hill, Canadian Auto Press worthy rivals including the Honda Accord,…

2014 Hyundai Sonata 2.0T Limited Road Test Review

Staying ahead in the mid-size family sedan market has never been easy. The segment is brutally competitive and chock full of worthy rivals including the Honda Accord, Toyota Camry, Ford Fusion, Mazda6, Nissan Altima, Volkswagen Passat, Kia Optima, and the list goes on. Given this competitive landscape and the fact that Hyundai's current-generation Sonata is entering its fifth year on the market, it's no surprise that the Korean automaker is expected to replace it with a seventh-generation model for 2015. In the meantime however, to keep things interesting and up-to-date Hyundai has given the current car some notable tweaks and refinements for 2014.

Many of the Sonata's new-for-2014 goodies are reserved for the upper trim levels, but that worked out well for me because Hyundai set me up for the week in a "Venetian Red" Sonata 2.0T Limited, a top-of-the line model that benefits from most from the updates.

Externally, the changes to the Sonata are quite subtle. At the front Read Full Story
Volvo will quietly begin a powertrain revolution next month as the first models using the company’s new Drive-E engines hit North 2015 Volvo S60 will get a new four-cylinder engine lineup. (Photo:…

Volvo introduces new four-cylinder engine lineup

Volvo will quietly begin a powertrain revolution next month as the first models using the company's new Drive-E engines hit North American showrooms and begin replacing the current engine lineup. The first models to get the new engines will be the updated 2015 Volvo S60 sedan, V60 wagon and XC60 crossover, all three launching in the coming months.

Volvo is betting that luxury-car customers will embrace small engines in a market segment traditionally dominated by a bigger-is-better mentality when it comes to displacement. The Drive-E powertrain family consists exclusively of four-cylinder engines based on a single basic architecture, with a range of gasoline-powered derivatives producing anywhere from 140 to 300-plus horsepower, and a range of diesels producing from 120 to 230 horsepower. All of the various derivatives are turbocharged, and the more powerful of the gasoline models also feature a supercharger to deliver instantaneous low-end thrust.

The engines will be Read Full Story