It’s only been a year, but Lexus’ popular NX compact SUV has received a new F Sport 3 package for the 200t and a more affordable 300h Premium variant. Today we test neither, instead reviewing the…

2016 Lexus NX 300h Executive Road Test Review

If you hadn't heard, the Lexus NX is a runaway sales success. You may have noticed the edgy compact crossover cruising through better neighbourhoods lately; I've certainly seen my fair share. It's an eye-catching addition to its ever-expanding market segment, but this said the response it's had with premium consumers is especially impressive for a newcomer because it's hardly without both fresh and longstanding competition.

The luxury compact crossover SUV segment is one of the fastest growing in the entire automotive sector, both in overall sales as well as models being added. It's now up to nine individual entries, or 10 if you include the new Mercedes' GLC that's temporarily selling alongside the soon to be discontinued GLK. That last model is one the NX passed right on by in year-to-date sales, along with BMW's X3 and every other compact luxury SUV other than the Audi Q5 and Acura RDX, now sitting pretty in third place in both Canada and the U.S. I'd say it's been an important Read Full Story
The Honda Accord hasn’t grown to its elevated stature by luck, it’s an excellent car that delivers better performance than many realize. For 2016 it’s been given a thorough mid-cycle update with…

2016 Honda Accord Sedan Touring CVT Road Test Review

Have you ever had to suffer through some know-it-all blowhard spouting off about mid-size four-door sedans being nothing more than plebeian family shuttles for boring unimaginative working stiffs, or something along those lines? Yes, I find those with the loudest opinions are often the ones that know least, and when it comes to cars, something I have more experience with than most know-it-all blowhards, these schleps couldn't be farther from the truth, at least when the Honda Accord is at stake.

I've been reviewing the Accord as long as I've been covering the automotive industry, the first one almost exactly 15 years ago in December of 1999. It was a 2000 model, and after singing its praises I followed that up with yet more positive remarks about a 2002, 2003, 2008 (I was editor for numerous 2004 through 2007 models in between), 2010 (after editing yet more again), 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015 and now this 2016 model, and these are just the four-door Accord sedans, not the many Read Full Story
So you want a new car but a big, tall crossover SUV isn’t your thing? Audi has the answer. Consider its A4 Allroad, a small 5-door wagon that’s been pumped up with more ride height, an off-road suspension,…

2016 Audi A4 Allroad 2.0 TFSI Quattro Progressiv Road Test Review

Now this is my kind of ride. All the seating roominess and active-lifestyle cargo capacity of an SUV combined with the lower ride-height and better handling of a sport wagon, not to mention drop-dead gorgeous styling, the A4 Allroad has it all.

OK, Audi has raised its suspension beyond the regular A4 sedan and previous A4 Avant, this being an Allroad, which I might add was the name given to the coveted four-ringed brand's first crossover vehicle that entered the scene in '99 atop the larger A6 platform, a model that's still going strong in other markets, but the more compact D-segment A4 Allroad is better suited to Canada's small car appetite while its slightly taller ride height and four-wheel Quattro traction complements our colder climate ideally as well.

As you can probably tell the Allroad still sits lower than the Q5 that shares its MLB platform with the current A4 sedan and A4 Avant, the latter a five-door wagon that as mentioned is no longer available in our Read Full Story
Hyundai’s Sonata Hybrid has been redesigned for 2016 with all-new styling, a more efficient 193 net hp drivetrain capable of 5.6 L/100km combined city/hwy, more cargo with real 60/40-split rear seats,…

2016 Hyundai Sonata Hybrid Limited Road Test Review

How do you make a very good thing better? In the auto sector's mid-size sedan segment just add a gasoline-electric hybrid drivetrain and start collecting the kudos.

It's obviously not so easy or every manufacturer would have done it, not to mention the many that tried and had limited to zero success would've instead been reaping rewards instead of lamenting losses. Wisely, Hyundai started slower than some of its rivals, its first attempt at a Sonata Hybrid arriving in February of 2011. The car did fairly well as far as HEVs go, Hyundai's advanced Blue Drive powertrain boasting preferred full-hybrid technology with an EV mode that let owners drive around at low speeds under full-electric power, this possible due to a powerful electric motor supported by a more advanced lithium polymer battery instead of the antiquated nickel-metal hydride units its closest rivals were using. At least as importantly as this advanced tech and the impressive fuel economy that went with it, the final Read Full Story
Mazda has never done things like its Japanese peers, the fabulous MX-5 roadster our point proven. In this same vein the sporty brand has made it smaller outside and larger inside for 2016, not to mention…

2016 Mazda MX-5 GS Road Test Review

Take a look at the old MX-5 and then say hello to the new one. The only similarities include the two-seat, front-engine roadster profile and circular black rings of rubber filling each wheel cutout, plus Mazda's stylized "M" badge front and back. Yes, most every performance enthusiasts' favourite Japanese brand has just witnessed their beloved sports car transformed from yesteryear's retro ride to tomorrow's futuristic concept car in a single model year, but as folded, creased and sharply modernistic as the new MX-5 looks, it's actually more retrospective than you might think.

What made the original MX-5 Miata such an instant hit, other than its obvious nod to the '62-'73 Lotus Elan that few have ever seen in its composite flesh yet everyone seems to love vicariously due to being the chosen steed of Diana Rigg's Emma Peel in the British spy-fi TV series The Avengers, was said sporty styling as well as rear-drive, lightweight, ideally balanced, brilliantly nimble yet relatively Read Full Story
Want a family-friendly compact crossover but wishing you could find something with a little more off-road capability? Look no further than Jeep and its new Cherokee. Today we review the Cherokee North…

2016 Jeep Cherokee North 3.2 V6 4×4 Road Test Review

When Jeep's new Cherokee hit the market in the late summer of 2014 none of us really knew how well it would do. I liked how it looked, although I remember some of my colleagues weren't so taken by its unusual styling, particularly its narrow, high-mounted headlights, but this said it's impossible to forecast how the buying public will react once a vehicle gets off the auto show stage and hits the road. As it turns out, it's been a massive hit for America's iconic 4x4 brand.

Last year, during its first full year of sales, the Cherokee found 178,508 buyers in the US, while here at home it sold 22,529 units, making it the sixth most popular compact SUV in the US behind the Honda CR-V (335,019), Ford Escape (306,212), Toyota RAV4 (267,698), Chevy Equinox (242,242) and Nissan Rogue (199,199), and the fifth most popular in Canada behind the Escape (52,198), CR-V (37,684), RAV4 (36,639) and Rogue (28,827); the Equinox only found 19,559 Canadian buyers last year, which actually puts Read Full Story
With an all-aluminum body and a lineup of advanced engines, two that get the brand’s Ecoboost brand that stands for advanced direct-injected turbo power, the F-150 not only pushes forward with class-leading…

2015 Ford F-150 Lariat SuperCrew 3.5 Ecoboost 4×4 Road Test Review

The commercial and consumer truck world is about as far away from motorsport as can be, unless we're talking the FIA sanctioned European Truck Racing Championship or South American Formula Truck series, both of which actually race big highway tractor trucks on twisting road courses, or closer to home, the Camping World Truck Series that runs as part of NASCAR, although those trucks, like the cars that run in the Sprint Cup Series, don't actually feature any real vehicles on Sunday that you can buy on Monday.

Still, there are some very important rules of the road that affect road vehicles as much as racers, if you want to win on the street or track you need to 1) add more power and 2) reduce weight. Of course there area other factors too, such as aerodynamic development plus chassis design and refinement, but for now we'll just focus on the two, while adding in fuel economy which allows fewer pit stops and ultimately a better chance of winning the race, thus leaving more coin Read Full Story
Toyota has brought back its once popular Yaris Sedan for 2016, but it’s taken a different route getting it here than before. It’s now a Mazda2 with a new nose, but don’t worry you’ll likely be…

2016 Toyota Yaris Sedan Road Test Review

I have to say the Yaris Sedan's downturned grouper fish face is growing on me, the subcompact four-door certainly delivering its own unique character in a class that hasn't always been so risky. Then again, the Yaris Hatchback this new four-door shares its name with is no staid and conservative wallflower either.

Unlike the Yaris Hatchback, the new Yaris Sedan is the first Toyota I can remember that's not actually a Toyota behind that elaborate new nose. The closest we've seen to this is the Scion FR-S/Subaru BRZ duo, the Scion known as Toyota GT86 in other markets, but this was a collaborative effort between two brands from the get-go, Subaru partially owned by Toyota no less, while the opposite has happened in year's past with some Toyotas transformed into Pontiacs and Chevys, the Matrix remade into the Vibe and much before that the Corolla into the Nova (and Geo Prizm), but this is an entirely different scenario. The Yaris Sedan is actually a Mazda2 with a nose job, that's Read Full Story