Every premium automaker has its own take on ultimate 4-door performance, but all pay respect to the mighty BMW M3 and C-Class AMG. Today we review the latter in its most powerful form, the AMG C 63 S…

2017 Mercedes-AMG C 63 S Sedan Road Test Review

No automaker has more fully capitalized on its in-house performance sub-brand than Mercedes-Benz with AMG. Where BMW's M-badged fleet has grown to 10 models in Canada, Audi now offering four cars under its top-tier RS banner (and two R8s that qualify), Cadillac having three Vs vying for contention, Lexus earning street cred with a couple of F models, and Volvo anteing up with an equal pair of Polestars, Mercedes' Canadian division gives you no less than 32 individual AMG models to choose from, plus more will be added to their arsenal soon.

Sticklers might argue that Mercedes' four- and six-cylinder "43" models aren't true AMG cars because they don't house insanely powerful twin-turbo V8s between their front wheels (that are hand assembled by a single technician no less), but drive one and you'll quickly realize they're serious performance cars and a lot more aggressively tuned than, say, Lexus' F-Sport models. Regarding that last point, it would be wholly unfair to hold back Read Full Story
Want to get the best deal on your next car? Take note, it doesn’t just come down to the price paid at purchase. Often even more important is resale value, the price you’re actually paying being the…

Canadian Black Book hands out 2017 Best Retained Value Awards

For some automakers the annual Canadian Black Book Best Retained Value Awards are a bittersweet pill. Imagine taking home first place in a given category with a discontinued model?

Such was the case for both Toyota and Volvo whose FJ Cruiser and XC70 took first place in the "Midsize SUV" and "Entry Luxury Car" categories respectively, yet the FJ Cruiser hasn't been available in our market since the last eight examples trickled away in 2015, and the XC70 ended its run last year with just one 2016 model leaving a single Volvo showroom last month.

Chevrolet, Mercedes-Benz, Nissan, and Ram also had long-gone models make the cut, although their respective Avalanche, GLK, Quest, Xterra, and Cargo Van were only runners up, but better late than never.

Vehicles that consistently retain high values save consumers money

More important to Canadian auto buyers are currently available new models that made the grade, because the real price paid for a car is the Read Full Story
With styling like this, no wonder Jaguar’s new F-Pace is selling so well. It’s now the 2nd most popular SUV in Jaguar-Land Rover’s dual-brand lineup, outpacing all but the Range Rover Sport. Pricy…

2017 Jaguar F-Pace 20d AWD Prestige Road Test Review

In life, it's best to expect the unexpected. All too often that phrase follows bad news, but once in a while a positive surprise seems to set everything right in the world again.

Jaguar's new 20d turbodiesel four-cylinder isn't about to get Rona Ambrose high-fiving Trudeau or Hillary warming up to Trump, but it should be good news to disenfranchised Audi Q5 TDI, BMW X3 28d, and Mercedes-Benz GLK250 BlueTec owners still wishing and hoping they could trade up to "clean" diesel performance. We all know the Dieselgate story that saw VW group's oil burners leave most global markets in shame, and by know many will also know BMW and Mercedes no longer sell diesels in North America, so it came as a pleasant surprise to see Jaguar, of all brands, show up with a diesel of its own this year.

Unlike its four-cylinder gasoline engines that are sourced directly from previous parent company Ford Motor, as well as Jaguar's V8 that was co-developed with blue-oval engineers and used Read Full Story
Land Rover just had its best year of Canadian compact SUV sales ever, and it’s all because of the new Discovery Sport. Today we review this stylish utility in 7-passenger HSE trim, complete with LED…

2017 Land Rover Discovery Sport HSE Road Test Review

The Discovery Sport has two very good things going for it. One, it's a much better vehicle than the LR2 it replaced two years ago, and two, it's riding a wave of SUV popularity that shows no end in sight.

The best the LR2 ever did in Canada was 1,054 units in calendar year 2007, but after nearly matching that number over its first seven months of availability in 2015 the Discovery Sport reached 2,354 Canadian buyers in 2016, making it the second most popular nameplate in Land Rover's five-model strong lineup. I'm not by any means knocking the LR2, which was a big step up over the original Freelander, but the Discovery Sport is so much improved it deserves all of its success and more.

For 2017, Land Rover has kept updates to a minimum, but that said they're not of minor importance. Infotainment is critical to many buyers' purchasing decisions, so availability of the British brand's new InControl Touch Pro touchscreen system is important. Its larger 10.2-inch display Read Full Story
Infiniti has simplified its base Q50 2.0t AWD for 2017, offering just one trim line to make choosing much simpler. It gets new standard rain-sensing wipers, however, so for $39,900 you now get a 208-hp…

2017 Infiniti Q50 2.0t AWD Road Test Review

If it weren't for the tremendous upsurge in sport utility sales, today's premium carmakers would need to be worried. Canadian deliveries of the once impervious BMW 3 and 4 Series have been in free fall, calendar year 2015's collective high somehow tumbling to the lowest point in almost a decade. BMW is still number one in the segment, its 10,504 compact D-segment sales just managing to outpace a slightly sagging Mercedes' C-Class that found just 9,954 customers last year, but an obvious shift in buying patterns is rocking the status quo's boat.

Mercedes' C-Class aside, which has maintained fairly consistent numbers over the years, other brands have experienced similar sales scenarios, Audi's A4 and A5 models undergoing their worst calendar year in some time with just 6,343 sales compared to a peak of 8,307 in 2013; Lexus with just 4,901 IS, ES and RC deliveries compared to a high of 6,749 in 2014; Acura finding just 4,137 buyers for its TLX despite enjoying 5,075 the year prior; Read Full Story
New for 2017, Bentley filled the gap between its most basic Flying Spur V8 and W12-powered model with a 521-hp V8 version that’s capable of blisteringly quick 4.9-second blasts to 100km/h and enhanced…

2017 Bentley Flying Spur V8 S Road Test Review

To call the new V8 S the "sport sedan" of Bentley's 2017 Flying Spur range somehow doesn't seem right.

After all, the "base" Flying Spur boasts a twin-turbocharged 4.0-litre V8 outputting 500 horsepower and 487 lb-ft of torque through an eight-speed Quickshift automatic with manual mode and paddle shifters plus standard 40:60 rear-biased all-wheel drive that grips tarmac via sizeable 19-inch alloys wrapped in 275/45ZR19s, the result being a 5.2-second charge to 100km/h, a 295 km/h (183 mph) top speed, and plenty of capability through the corners. Even better, the 6.0-litre W12-powered version, simply called Flying Spur without any engine reference, hits 100km/h in 4.6 seconds before attaining a 320-km/h (199-mph) terminal velocity thanks to 616 horsepower and 590 lb-ft of torque. In other words, Bentley doesn't make a Flying Spur that wouldn't qualify as a sport sedan, other than simultaneously being hedonistically plush and therefore normally classified as a luxury sedan. That's Read Full Story
It was only a matter of time before Mercedes-Benz combined its much-lauded 4x4 know-how with the ultimate utility of its Sprinter van, the result being one of the most versatile vehicles to arrive on…

Mercedes-Benz Sprinter is the only commercial van to offer factory 4WD

It was only a matter of time before Mercedes-Benz combined its much-lauded 4x4 know-how with the ultimate utility of its Sprinter van, the result being one of the most versatile vehicles to arrive on the commercial market. Mercedes-Benz has been building four-wheel drive vehicles for more than a century. Most will be familiar with its lineup of compact and mid-size SUVs, from the diminutive GLA and larger GLC to the mid-size GLE and largest seven-passenger GLS. Serious off-road fans will also be well aware of the legendary G-Class, dubbed Geländewagen when introduced in 1979, and the brand's unstoppable Unimog (UNIversal-MOtor-Gerät) range of multi-purpose four-wheel drive medium trucks that were first introduced in 1947 and are still available for commercial application today. Mercedes' commercial van division is newer, at least to Canadians. Similar to its 4WD heritage the German automaker has more than a 100 years of commercial vehicle sales under its corporate Read Full Story
To say Volvo has been on a roll would be an understatement, the Swedish brand’s new XC90 mid-size crossover SUV and S90 mid-size luxury sedan rejuvenating interest in the brand’s entire lineup. Volvo…

Volvo Car Canada reports 27.5 percent growth for 2016

To say Volvo has been on a roll would be an understatement, the Swedish brand's new XC90 mid-size crossover SUV and S90 mid-size luxury sedan rejuvenating interest in the brand's entire lineup. Volvo Canada sold 6,103 units in calendar year 2016, which showed a 27.5-percent increase over the 4,788 deliveries experienced in 2015. December resulted in 433 units down the road compared to 340 total sales for the same month the year prior, this strong result marking the fifteenth consecutive month of sales growth in Canada. "2016 was truly an exceptional year for Volvo Canada. Exciting new product, the introduction of advanced technologies and a motivated retailer network led to the Volvo Car brand exceeding expectations in Canada," said Alexander Lvovich, Managing Director, Volvo Car Canada Ltd. "With three new models being unveiled in 2017, the brand is poised for another year of growth as the Volvo Car brand continues to make its impact on the premium car segment in Canada." The big mover Read Full Story