If there’s a better deal for a premium sports coupe than Infiniti’s Q60 we don’t know what it is. Now, for $9,000 below retail at just $40,300 cash plus fees, you can get into a fabulous handling…

2015 Infiniti Q60 Coupe AWD Sport Road Test Review

Remaining unbiased in the automotive journalism profession is at times difficult, but it's paramount to delivering reviews that are credible and therefore useful to one's readers. Then again, our enthusiasm and personal perspective is what makes these reviews particularly helpful to new car buyers, not to mention occasionally entertaining, so there seems to be some allowance for opinionated lauding and diatribes alike, as long as we take into consideration that there's a butt for every seat as an old sales manager would constantly remind me way back in the '80s when I was selling cars. Another way of stating this ideology is: just because I might not like something doesn't mean someone else won't love it, or alternatively, everyone is entitled to their own point of view. Therefore, I think it's safe to admit that I've long been an Infiniti sport coupe fan, yet on that note it's equally important to add that more updates sooner would make me an even bigger Infiniti sport coupe fan.
Read Full Story
If you’re looking for one of the most refined, best equipped, highest quality premium mid-size 7-occupant CUVs in the business, yet priced lower than any competitor and delivering superb fuel economy,…

2015 Infiniti QX60 AWD Road Test Review

The QX60 hasn't changed one iota since it's JX35 inception three years ago, other than the badges, which means it continues forward as a very good looking large crossover SUV.

The model was one of the first to adopt Infiniti's more curvaceous and distinctive new trademark grille design that looks just as good fronting SUVs as it does sport sedans, on this model flanked by reptilian eye-like headlamp clusters that seem like they're staring you down even from the side view. No matter the trim level a nicely detailed lower fascia incorporates circular fog lamps with chrome bezels that imitate the 18-inch painted silver 10-spoke alloy wheels shod with 235/65R18 Michelin Latitude all-seasons at each corner. Thick chrome protective mouldings stretch down each side while chrome frames the side windows too, the rear quarter windows' shapely squiggle adding to the stylish CUV's overall elegance. Narrow wraparound taillights are near mirror images of the headlamps up front, giving the Read Full Story
Few automakers do performance like BMW, and with the M235i that performance becomes a lot more affordable. For just $45k you get a premium quality compact sports coupe with a 322-hp turbo six powering…

2015 BMW M235i xDrive Road Test Review

I could never forget the first M3 I drove. No, not the original E30 M3 that I've unfortunately never set foot in, but rather one of the 45 numbered Euro-spec E36 M3 coupes BMW Canada imported for the 1994 model year, two years before the dumbed-down North American-spec 1997 E36 M3 arrived. The former had a high-revving 282 horsepower 3.0-litre inline-six connecting through to a five-speed manual transmission that was a dream to shift. The engine wailed like the proverbial banshee and the entire car felt so incredibly connected to the road, the controls so amazingly telepathic in their feedback that I immediately became an M3 devotee and would have been an owner if finances allowed.

Since then I've driven every updated generation of M3 created and enjoyed them all, each one becoming more powerful, commensurately faster and along with the 3 Series they were based on, quite a bit larger, and therefore while overall cornering capability continued to increase, the new iterations didn't Read Full Story
You could be forgiven for thinking the latest Volkswagen Passat was a mid-size Audi. After all, the two brands share the same VW AG parentage and the namesake brand hasn’t been shy about adopting a…

2015 Volkswagen Passat TDI Highline Road Test Review

It's amazing how times change and our perception about what's acceptable changes with it. This is true for politics, social issues and even religion, plus of course the products we buy.

On that last point I first covered the Volkswagen Passat in June of 2002, and the 1.8-litre turbocharged four-cylinder engine in my test car made 170 horsepower, up 20 horsepower from the year before and therefore well deserving of an emphatic exclamation mark! Likely such excitable punctuation had more to do with my youthful exuberance and inexperience as an auto scribe as it did this model's performance, but just the same that was a lot of power for a base mid-size car back in those days, whereas its upgraded 190 horsepower 2.8-litre V6 delivered considerable performance for the era.

Something we'll likely never see again is an eight-cylinder mid-sizer from a mainstream volume brand, but a week spent with the fabulous Passat W8 in the summer of '03 was enjoyable to say the least, yet Read Full Story
Is there a better value in the mid-size crossover segment than the new 2015 Nissan Murano? Check out today’s review and decide for yourself, but once you’ve added up all that comes standard with the…

2015 Nissan Murano SL AWD Road Test Review

Time certainly flies. A dozen years have whizzed by since I joined Nissan on the first-generation Murano launch program, half a decade has zipped past since testing the second-generation for the first time, three years have disappeared since they gave me their first Platinum trimmed version to review, and here we are now with what just might be the most exciting mid-size crossover utility to hit the market in a very long time. If you haven't already made acquaintances, meet the entirely new 2015 Nissan Murano.

When it comes to styling the new Murano is an absolute head-turner. I'm not going to even pretend it'll be the end all to be all for everyone, but for me and those who appreciate a sporty looking premium level SUV, this mid-size five-door CUV works very well. Ken Lee, Senior Creative Manager at Nissan Design America, I tip my hat to you. It's hard to believe when seen out of doors that the new Murano represents a toned-down version of the Resonance Concept first shown at Read Full Story
Today on CarCostCanada we review the mid-size luxury standard bearer, BMW’s 5 Series in near entry-level 528i xDrive trim. Complete with a 241-hp 2.0L turbo four, 8-speed automatic and AWD, this model…

2015 BMW 528i xDrive Road Test Review

A couple of decades ago I was walking through a repo yard looking for something to buy and came upon a third-generation E34 with a 518i badge on its backside and 1.8-litre four-cylinder engine under its hood. At the time I couldn't fathom a mid-size sport-luxury car powered by such a tiny inline-four, this being a European grey-market import and therefore nothing I'd ever laid eyes on before, so I passed it by only to end up with a six-cylinder powered 528i of the same era. Strange to think that a couple of lifetimes later, or so it seems, I'd be behind the wheel of an identically named 528i, albeit this time powered by a four-cylinder engine.

Since the original 5 Series debuted in 1972 there's only been one generation that didn't offer a four-cylinder variant, the same 1997–2003 third-generation E34 model that only included gasoline and diesel I-6 engines plus two V8s. It's just that none of them had been marketed on this side of the Atlantic until now. Today's 5 Series Read Full Story
Do you know you can buy a BMW 3 Series for less than $40k? The 2015 320i starts at $35,990 plus freight and fees, while our 320i xDrive tester with its standard 8-speed automatic can be had for just $39,990.…

2015 BMW 320i xDrive Road Test Review

I love the look of the new 3. The elongated twin kidney grille, the way the curvaceous headlamp clusters bleed into that grille, the long, thin engine and brake cooling vent under the bumper finished off with two narrow strips of chrome garnish overtop neat circular fog lights. The car's profile looks sleek for a relatively upright four-door, the greenhouse finished in bright metal to highlight its classic Hofmeister-kinked rear quarter windows, and finally the rear end design capped off with two of the most attractive trademark L-shaped BMW taillights to come along in decades, a couple of unimposing reflectors on the rear bumper just below and a thin strip of chrome embellishment that visually ties in with the chrome exhaust tip at bottom. An elegant set of optional multi-spoke alloys on 225/45R18 Pirelli Centuratos ideally rounds out this particular model's look. Altogether it's BMW minimalism at its finest, and reason enough for this car to rank much higher on the sales charts than Read Full Story
Chrysler has mildly redesigned its 300 series luxury sedan for 2015, and with the revisions has updated the car’s most opulently appointed trim level with a Platinum designation and new level of over-the-top…

2015 Chrysler 300C Platinum Road Test Review

When Chrysler attaches the somewhat overused "Platinum" trim designation to its flagship four-door, which has become the new "Limited" replacement descriptor for top of the line trim for many brands in the auto industry, at least they ante up with something truly special. This latest 300C Platinum is not only the best production Chrysler cabin ever, but it rates as one of the nicer interiors I've experienced within the full-size luxury sedan segment.

First off, I was taken aback by its gorgeous two-tone dark blue and ivory white colour scheme. The last time I drove a car with this combination of ultra-rich hues I was also staring out the windshield at a Spirit of Ecstasy hood ornament above its imposing grille. Yes, that was the Rolls Royce Ghost Series II, the most recent iteration of the luxury of luxury cars, and hardly bad company for a Chrysler 300C. While I won't even pretend to compare the two, although it should be noted that the 300 had the cool kinked headlamp clusters Read Full Story