Can a Hyundai really challenge the established premium elite? The South Korean automaker has asked this question of its fans not once, but multiple times starting with the Azera way back in the ‘00s…

2015 Hyundai Genesis 5.0 Ultimate Road Test Review

There must be some kind of law. Or at least a clause in the small print of Peter Schreyer's old Audi contract that stipulates he's not allowed to design a car for Hyundai that is better looking than the "competing" model at the four-ringed German luxury brand he used to work for. But even if his past employer could do something about the latest Genesis sedan's stunning new styling, the sheer goodness in its engineering and impressive value proposed by its full feature set and comparatively down to earth pricing would ultimately win out in the end. Well, win out with price-conscious pragmatists who don't give a damn about prestigious nameplates, at least.

Truly, the only thing the new 2015 Hyundai Genesis 5.0 Ultimate lacks that its German rivals possess is a premium badge, the V8-powered, eight-speed automatic-infused, all-wheel drive sport-luxury sedan one of the more impressive premium-level four-door players I've had the pleasure of piloting in some time.

Schreyer Read Full Story
Are Scion’s customers growing up? Do they need a sporty family vehicle with customizable potential? First off, one has to wonder just how many aging Scion fans there are, and secondly comes the need…

Sporty Scion iM Concept gets us speculating ahead of LA auto show reveal

Are you ready for the iM? With Scion's biggest seller being its 2+2 FR-S sports coupe (which is never the way it's supposed to work) it's about time the Toyota tuner brand at least teased us with another future model. So what's in store? We haven't a clue, because Scion's teaser image of the new iM Concept doesn't show us much more than its vague press release tells us.

All Scion is willing to reveal is that its new iM Concept boasts a "distinctively sporty front end" and that "the iM Concept car reflects the evolution of Scion as the needs and desires of its youthful customers also evolve."

Well hold on, that does tell us something. Should we expect a sporty car for young families? A small wagon possibly? All we're left with are questions without even enough answers for semi-educated conjecture, but don't worry, we'll do our best to speculate.

On that note, the tiny image shown looks a lot like the front grille and headlight of Toyota's Auris, which is basically Read Full Story
Today on CarCostCanada, automotive journalist Trevor Hofmann reviews the 2014 428i xDrive Cabriolet, the replacement for the old 3 Series drop-top. The name isn’t the only change for 2014: styling gets…

2014 BMW 428i xDrive Cabriolet Road Test Review

The summer certainly has been tailing off this past week. The leaves of scattered deciduous trees in our mostly evergreen left coast are changing from bright greens to golden yellows, deep reds and myriad other tones in between, while much shorter days that don't include at least a sprinkling of rainfall are fewer and farther between. Yes, it's the perfect time go for a drive in a convertible.

Say what? Well, I didn't say with the top down. Fortunately for me this week, my test car has been the elegant new 2014 BMW 428i xDrive Cabriolet, so I'm ready for rain, shine, more rain or even snow. If the heavens were to open and dump down a blanket of fluffy white stuff I have confidence that BMW's advanced xDrive all-wheel drive, new on the convertible model this year, combined with its ultra-effective electronic traction and stability control systems would keep me pointed in the right direction, while its retractable hardtop makes it the ideal all-season sport coupe. And don't worry, Read Full Story
Remember back in the good old days when American car companies gave their cars mild updates every year or so just to keep them fashionable? It appears that the good old days are here again, at least with…

2014 Chevrolet Malibu LTZ Road Test Review

Given that the eighth-generation Chevrolet Malibu was only just launched in 2013 as an all-new model, one might have expected that it would enter 2014 relatively unchanged. Instead, faced with softer-than-forecast sales, Chevrolet's mid-size family sedan was trotted back to the design studio to get a bit of a refresh for its sophomore year.

It's not that the new Malibu hit the market with any significant faults, mind you: It's a thoroughly competent machine, based on Chevrolet's Epsilon II platform and sold as a global car across six continents and over 100 countries. In my review of the 2013 Malibu Eco I called it "conservative, yet handsome and capable looking," and I was impressed with the interior and the infotainment system. The problem is that the Malibu sells in a crowded and extremely competitive market, and being conservative and capable wasn't getting it noticed. So for 2014 Chevrolet set out to fix that.

The changes include a new front fascia with a wider upper Read Full Story
Alas, the Mini Cooper Clubman we know it will soon be gone as, but before the five-door wonder wagon gets replaced by an all-new six-door version, auto journalist Trevor Hofmann gives it a worthy send-off…

2014 Mini Cooper Clubman Road Test Review

Let me make one point very clear before I delve too deeply into this review: If you've always wanted to buy a Mini Clubman but have never gotten around to it, now's the time. The Clubman, as we know it, is no more after 2014, and the Cooper Clubman I recently drove is one of the last of its kind available anywhere. Don't get me wrong, the Clubman name will likely resurface soon, something we can feel confident about since Mini showed the Clubman Concept at last year's Geneva motor show, but in Mini's quest to pull in yet more buyers by "unquirkying" itself, the new Clubman will get four regular side doors instead of this outgoing model's three-door layout.

Yes, if you hadn't noticed, the current 2014 Mini Cooper Clubman has a second rear-hinged "club" door on its passenger side that opens up clamshell-like in the same fashion as some four-door pickup trucks and a small number of high-end luxury cars, such as the Rolls-Royce Ghost and Phantom. Before Mini came to market with its Read Full Story
Today’s Buick is a much more enticing luxury brand than it was in decades past, the biggest example being the recently refreshed full-size LaCrosse sedan. For all the details, check out Simon Hill’s…

2014 Buick LaCrosse AWD Road Test Review

As flagships go, Buick's full-size LaCrosse is the new kid on the block. Introduced in 2010, the second-generation LaCrosse was initially called the Allure in Canadian markets and was slotted in just below the Lucerne. The LaCrosse came into its own a year later in 2011, when the Lucerne was discontinued and the LaCrosse promoted to flagship status. Model year 2011 also saw the Canada-specific Allure badging dropped, with LaCrosse now used in all regions in order to leverage Buick's global marketing efforts (despite the name having a bit of a snicker-inducing slang meaning in Quebec).

For 2014 the LaCrosse was given a bit of a mid-cycle refresh with styling changes both inside and out. Externally, the 2014 LaCrosse benefits from revised front and rear fascias, a new hood and trunk lid, new grille, and new lighting clusters. Inside it gets a cleaner-looking centre stack highlighted by Buick's latest (and very slick-looking) IntelliLink touchscreen interface, and a nicely minimized Read Full Story
There’s exclusivity and then there’s the fortune of the few, the latter of which will enjoy ownership of Ferrari’s latest creation, the shockingly beautiful F60 America roadster. Coming with everything…

Ferrari debuts stunning F60 America in cool NART blue livery

If you're just now seeing the beautiful Ferrari F60 America for the first time, you're already too late. Ferrari will only build 10 examples of this North American-exclusive roadster, and each one was already spoken for before the company even announced its existence to we the common masses.

Based on the already exclusive F12 Berlinetta coupe, the F60 America drop-top was created and named in commemoration of the Italian sports car marque's 60th anniversary of North American sales, and what a celebration it is. While obviously sharing much with the F12, the F60 America takes on a look all its own, enhanced by a set of flying buttress-styled carbon fibre roll hoops.

Also special, the F60 gets a unique 60th anniversary prancing horse badge fitted to the front wheel arches and atop the transmission tunnel inside, not to mention a thin red, white and blue star and stripes down the centre of each sport seat, the passenger's incidentally dyed black and the driver's a bright Read Full Story
Hyundai has taken a slightly different tact with its all-new Sonata, delivering a more conservatively designed four-door that’s nevertheless a sharp looking mid-size family sedan. Read auto journalist…

2015 Hyundai Sonata Limited Road Test Review

Like so many mainstream and premium automotive brands, Hyundai has been steadily refining its identity in recent years. Its new Genesis sedan is leading the charge, with the boldest statement of premium intention the South Korean company has ever made, not to mention a seriously capable performance oriented luxury car to back up its good looks, so it only makes sense that the mid-size Sonata, Hyundai's best-selling North American model, gets some similar styling revisions as part of its scheduled redesign.

Rather than evolving from generation to generation like some mid-size competitors, the Sonata's regular redesigns have bordered on the radical. The first Sonata, sold here as the Stellar way back when Hyundai entered the Canadian market in the mid-'80s, was an elegant looking albeit sharply angled car penned by none other than the great Giorgetto Giugiaro, also responsible for the third-generation Maserati Quattroporte of the same era, which no doubt inspired the four-door Read Full Story