Capable of strong performance, comfortable 4-place seating, good cargo space, up to 70 km of EV range and 2.4 Le/100 km combined, Chevy’s Volt has developed a strong following among plug-in HEV fans.…

2015 Chevrolet Volt Road Test Review

With the all-new 2016 Volt upon us and very few 2015 models left, this review will serve as a farewell to the impressively innovative first-generation car that, at least to my eyes, has aged quite well, both from a design and driving perspective.

In fact, this outgoing model is even more uniquely penned than the incoming one, or at least it looks much different than the 2015 Cruze it shares much of its underpinnings with, whereas the new Volt and upcoming 2016 Cruze have had a stylistic coming together, especially when viewed from the front quarter.

The 2015 Volt's patterned metallic grille inserts offer a nice take on Chevy's usual bisected body-colour design, while attractively shaped headlamp clusters still look fresh after all these years, not to mention the hook-shaped DRL/fog combinations below these, which deliver some visual drama to the design. Continuing rearward, the thick black shadow line under the greenhouse remains a thoroughly unique element that no Read Full Story
Every decade or so Ford completely rethinks its iconic Mustang, which is what happened for 2015. Along with fresh styling and a much more upscale interior comes four engines including a turbocharged four,…

2015 Ford Mustang GT Premium Convertible Road Test Review

Ford has effectively modernized the Mustang with few naysayers complaining about going too far, its loyal fans made up of serious traditionalists that would take offense to their beloved pony car turning into a poor man's BMW 4 Series or worse, something along the lines of a Hyundai Genesis Coupe. These are both great cars in their own rights, but a Mustang, the pony car that started them all, should never bow down and change to meet the expectations of the import crowd.

The reality is a stunningly stylish muscle car that received its fair share of smiles and accompanying thumbs up during my weeklong drive, from folks who were more than just infants when the Mustang hit the road in 1964 (I was merely a year old and therefore don't remember the event very well), so it appears the blue oval gang got the redesign just right.

A reworked Shelby-style grille follows the car's sporting tradition, while a pair of narrow headlight clusters look anything but classic despite paying Read Full Story
New for 2015, VW has added a Special Edition to its compact Tiguan CUV. For less than $30k it comes with a 6-speed auto, AWD, 17-inch alloys, fog lights, proximity-sensing access, pushbutton ignition,…

2015 Volkswagen Tiguan 2.0 TSI Special Edition 4Motion Road Test Review

The Tiguan typifies the "cute ute" genre. It's hardly sleek, with a stubby shape that results from abbreviated length and comparatively tall height, giving it a cute, cuddly and dare I say pudgy look, the baby penguin of the CUV class. VW dresses up its front end with a nice classy chromed grille, mind you, with horizontal ribs to add visual width, as well as fog lamps and a stylish silver under tray down below, while it gets tough looking black cladding around each side, attractive multi-spoke alloys at all four corners, a simple roof top spoiler and relatively small, clean LED taillights at back. It's not a standout design, but it looks good in VW's usual understated way.

Inside it's an entirely different story. Unlike most in the Tiguan's compact crossover SUV segment, VW's entry combines a soft-touch dash top that wraps halfway down the instrument panel with soft-touch front door uppers, while the lower half of the IP is hard matte plastic just like the Audi Q3 that shares Read Full Story
No sports car is without its idiosyncrasies and Porsche’s Boxster doesn’t escape criticism unscathed, but our reviewer’s problems with this latest GTS model didn’t quell his unbridled enthusiasm.…

2015 Porsche Boxster GTS Road Test Review

The latest Boxster roadster is an absolutely superb little sports car, offering fabulous performance in a nice, light, agile package, but a little more power along with even better handling never hurts, right?

That's always the premise behind Porsche's GTS trim level. It's long been a notch or two below top-tier Turbo models with the 911, Cayenne and Panamera, so it makes sense that it similarly sits just below the Boxster's new top-line 375 horsepower Spyder trim.

Performance isn't the only GTS differentiator, however. Most noticeable are styling enhancements that include reworked front and rear fascias with blacked out trim, blackened headlight bezels and smoked taillight lenses, plus "silky black gloss" exterior lettering. The car's red brake calipers are a perfect match to my tester's Guards Red paint, while this model's usual silver-finished 20-inch Spyder Design wheels are done out in an appropriately appealing satin-black, these including coloured Porsche crests Read Full Story
The Sentra is an IIHS Top Safety Pick and tied for first in JD Power and Associates 2015 Initial Quality Study, so it’s a good place to start your search for a good, reliable and safe compact sedan.…

2015 Nissan Sentra SV Road Test Review

Nissan does a lot of things very well, but in the compact arena most competitors completely outplay the Japanese brand. First off, its Sentra only comes in one single four-door sedan body style within a segment dominated by hatchbacks, at least here in Canada. Some of its rivals also offer two-door coupes and even two-and-a-half-door whatchamacallits, so Nissan is seriously limiting its sales opportunities. Its competitors also draw big attention from flashy sport-tuned models, the Sentra being one of the more sedate cars in its class.

This is rather odd considering that Nissan has a heritage rich in performance cars, the Sentra SE-R still sought after by sport compact collectors, especially in top-tier Spec V trim. For reasons only global-boss Carlos Ghosn and company can explain, there's no SE-R in today's Sentra lineup, let alone many sport-oriented models within Nissan's entire small car segment, other than the commendable Micra (when outfitted with its base manual gearbox), Read Full Story
The new Kia Sedona’s styling makes it a standout, and fortunately its good looks are complemented by a new 276-hp 3.3L GDI V6 and a very refined interior that boasts two of the more innovative 2nd-row…

2015 Kia Sedona SXL+ Road Test Review

Kia entered the minivan segment back in the early aughts when many others were getting out, and to its credit the South Korean brand has won a lot of sales that GM and Ford have missed out on. The first generation was a decent van, plenty powerful and quite roomy, but it lacked some key features competitors offered, a problem remedied with its second-generation. Despite big improvements, sales tapered off each year, the entire minivan segment mostly at fault. In an attempt to swim instead of sink, rivals Honda and Toyota redesigned their vans with newfound style, both the reimagined Odyssey and surprisingly sporty Sienna debuting in 2010 as 2011 models with reinvigorated sales following. It's taken Kia some time to respond, but now with the all-new and dare I say best-dressed 2015 Sedona they're finally reaping results where it matters most.

From a Canadian high of 4,772 Sedona sales in 2004, it must have been a depressing state to experience that much improved second-generation Read Full Story
While no diesel-powered Passats are yet available for 2016, Volkswagen is nevertheless making sure its midsize sedan gets noticed with a significant mid-cycle update that refreshes styling, interior details…

2016 Volkswagen Passat Road Test Review

I've long been a fan of Volkswagen products. For many decades, they've been big on safety and reliability, and fun to drive. Think Rabbit, Golf, GTI, CC, and Golf R. But they also offer a good value when it comes to affordable sedan performance. Think Jetta and Passat. For those who like the ability to carry families and gear, Tiguan and Touareg SUVs foot the bill.

On a recent fall day in beautiful Stowe, Vermont, Volkswagen assembled members of the automotive press to test drive the new 2016 Passat 1.8T and 3.6 V6 variants, the former base model a welcome $680 less expensive for 2016 at just $23,295. Noticeably, there is no TDI option in the 2016 lineup, as all diesels have been pulled from the U.S. market pending the outcome of so-called "DieselGate." During the press conference for the new Passat, VW handled the diesel car situation head on and promised media would be apprised when additional news was available.

Diesel powertrains aside, the new Passat features mostly Read Full Story
Anyone questioning whether Porsche is the king of “sport” utilities hasn’t seen its latest 2015 Cayenne Turbo S and GTS. Along with a black matte grille, Cayenne Turbo fascia, air blades, revised…

2015 Porsche Cayenne GTS Road Test Review

Lighter and sleeker, the 2015 Cayenne has solidified its position as the ultimate sport utility, with a fresh new design that's immediately more aggressive and masculine looking then its predecessors, while lower and leaner in appearance. It pulls some of the best compact Macan design details forward, yet maintains its brawnier big brother appearance and more affluent status. This is particularly true of the latest GTS model.

With sporty character elements all-round, such as a matte black grille insert, a front fascia on permanent loan from the Cayenne Turbo that's flanked by black straked air blades in charge of redirecting rushing wind to intercoolers glimmering from within. LED driving lights hover just above and LED fogs hang slightly below, all ahead of a slightly reshaped hood and front fenders plus slim body-colour moldings around the wheel cutouts and subtle body-colour cladding along the rockers, part of the GTS' standard SportDesign package, culminating in a large rooftop Read Full Story