Every year the auto industry celebrates various car of the year awards and design awards, etcetera, and while all this is exciting, Photo: Trevor Hofmann, Canadian Auto Press especially for the manufacturers…

2014 Toyota Venza XLE Road Test Review

Every year the auto industry celebrates various car of the year awards and design awards, etcetera, and while all this is exciting, especially for the manufacturers of winning models, it hardly reflects the best car overall, or for that matter in any given category. The problem is that a COTY or best design award is always given to an all-new model, not a carryover model like Toyota's Venza, and for me the Venza could easily win a best design award as well as a COTY.

Rarely is a car as well thought out as the Venza, or as good looking from every angle. Essentially the spiritual successor of the old Camry Wagon, the Venza somehow manages to successfully bridge the styling gap of aggression and elegance, cool enough for the average guy to feel proud of yet classy enough to meet most women's more refined tastes. It's a crossover, my particular V6-powered example sporting big, fat 20-inch five-spoke rims on meaty 245/50R20 all-season tires, an inch larger than the already substantive Read Full Story
Staying ahead in the mid-size family sedan market has never been easy. The segment is brutally competitive and chock full of Photo: Simon Hill, Canadian Auto Press worthy rivals including the Honda Accord,…

2014 Hyundai Sonata 2.0T Limited Road Test Review

Staying ahead in the mid-size family sedan market has never been easy. The segment is brutally competitive and chock full of worthy rivals including the Honda Accord, Toyota Camry, Ford Fusion, Mazda6, Nissan Altima, Volkswagen Passat, Kia Optima, and the list goes on. Given this competitive landscape and the fact that Hyundai's current-generation Sonata is entering its fifth year on the market, it's no surprise that the Korean automaker is expected to replace it with a seventh-generation model for 2015. In the meantime however, to keep things interesting and up-to-date Hyundai has given the current car some notable tweaks and refinements for 2014.

Many of the Sonata's new-for-2014 goodies are reserved for the upper trim levels, but that worked out well for me because Hyundai set me up for the week in a "Venetian Red" Sonata 2.0T Limited, a top-of-the line model that benefits from most from the updates.

Externally, the changes to the Sonata are quite subtle. At the front Read Full Story
Volvo will quietly begin a powertrain revolution next month as the first models using the company’s new Drive-E engines hit North 2015 Volvo S60 will get a new four-cylinder engine lineup. (Photo:…

Volvo introduces new four-cylinder engine lineup

Volvo will quietly begin a powertrain revolution next month as the first models using the company's new Drive-E engines hit North American showrooms and begin replacing the current engine lineup. The first models to get the new engines will be the updated 2015 Volvo S60 sedan, V60 wagon and XC60 crossover, all three launching in the coming months.

Volvo is betting that luxury-car customers will embrace small engines in a market segment traditionally dominated by a bigger-is-better mentality when it comes to displacement. The Drive-E powertrain family consists exclusively of four-cylinder engines based on a single basic architecture, with a range of gasoline-powered derivatives producing anywhere from 140 to 300-plus horsepower, and a range of diesels producing from 120 to 230 horsepower. All of the various derivatives are turbocharged, and the more powerful of the gasoline models also feature a supercharger to deliver instantaneous low-end thrust.

The engines will be Read Full Story
The new small overlap front crash test instituted by the IIHS (Insurance Institute for Highway Safety) is proving to be challenging 2014 Honda Fit (Photo: IIHS) for small city cars to pass, with only…

New IIHS frontal offset crash test fails most subcompacts

The new small overlap front crash test instituted by the IIHS (Insurance Institute for Highway Safety) is proving to be challenging for small city cars to pass, with only the Chevrolet Spark taking home an "Acceptable" overall rating out of the 11 cars tested, earning it a nod for Top Safety Pick.

Honda's Fit fared worst of all, scoring "Poor" ratings for structure, hip/thigh injury measures, and lower leg/foot injury measures, which garnered it a "Poor" overall rating. As a result, Consumer reports removed the Fit from its list of recommended cars. The silver lining for Honda is that a new generation 2015 Fit just debuted in Detroit and is due out later this year, and because it was engineered with the new test in mind it is expected to perform much better than the outgoing model.

Owners and potential buyers of small cars can also take heart from the fact that all of the cars tested, including the Fit, got "Good" or "Acceptable" scores in the critical head/neck and Read Full Story
After only three years on the market Nissan’s Leaf has proven that if you can build an electric car that gives owners the features The Garners with their new Nissan Leaf, the 100,000th example sold.…

Nissan Leaf breaks 100,000 sales for best-selling electric status

After only three years on the market Nissan's Leaf has proven that if you can build an electric car that gives owners the features they want and the driving range they need, you can achieve sales success.

In this case, success is counted as 100,000 Leafs sold since the distinctive electric car first hit the showrooms.

"For such a revolutionary car, to achieve this sales milestone in such a short space of time is a major achievement," said Guillaume Cartier, senior vice president of sales and marketing at Nissan Europe. "Don't forget that when Nissan Leaf was launched in 2010, the charging infrastructure was in its infancy. But that didn't deter the pioneers who immediately appreciated the benefits of a purpose-designed electric vehicle."

The 100,000th Leaf was sold to British dentist and self-confessed "technology freak" Brett Garner and his wife. To commemorate the sale, Nissan created a coin-covered Leaf for display at the dealership where Garner bought Read Full Story
When most of us think “Eco” something miserly on fuel yet ho-hum to drive likely pops to mind. Almost every automotive brand Photo: Trevor Hofmann, Canadian Auto Press has something offered…

2014 Toyota Corolla Eco LE Road Test Review

When most of us think "Eco" something miserly on fuel yet ho-hum to drive likely pops to mind. Almost every automotive brand has something offered with the Eco prefix in its name, even premium brands like BMW, but all too often press that dreaded button and all the fun gets sapped out of an otherwise sporty experience. Not so for the 2014 Toyota Corolla Eco, however. It actually adds more power to its fuel-friendly, ultra-green 1.8-litre four-cylinder engine.

That Eco-tuned engine includes Toyota's state-of-the-art Valvematic variable valve opening process that varies the lift of the intake valves to control air intake, freeing up airflow past the throttle valve into the cylinders. The innovative system saves on fuel and adds performance, my favourite combination, but strangely it can't be had with the sportiest Corolla of them all, the S. Altogether it makes 140 horsepower, eight more ponies than the standard Corolla engine, although it gives up a smidge in thrust, the engine's Read Full Story
Porsche chose the North American International Auto Show in Detroit to introduce a pair of retro-cool new models to the extensive   911 lineup: the 911 Targa 4 and 911 Targa 4S. Unlike the so-called…

New 2014 Porsche 911 Targa 4 and Targa 4S revealed in Detroit

Porsche chose the North American International Auto Show in Detroit to introduce a pair of retro-cool new models to the extensive 911 lineup: the 911 Targa 4 and 911 Targa 4S. Unlike the so-called Targa models of 1994-2012, which featured a sliding glass roof and were visually almost indistinguishable from the hardtop models except for redesigned C-pillars and rear quarter glass, the new Targa models represent a faithful stylistic throwback to the classic Targa design introduced in 1967 and last seen on the 1988 3.2 Carrera series.

Key to the new models' look is the iconic brushed-metal rollover hoop (a.k.a. "Targa bar") and wrap-around rear window. As is typical of Porsche, however, the classic looks hide some advanced technological wizardry. Where the original Targa had a manually removable roof panel that could be stowed in the front luggage compartment, the 2014 Targa has a power-operated top, but the roof panel is stowed behind the rear seats, much like a folding hardtop. Read Full Story
Detroit’s North American International Auto Show is a huge event, and with all the hype surrounding the show’s concept cars   and key debuts – think next-generation Ford F-150 and…

Nissan debuts Canadian-exclusive 2015 Micra in Montreal

Detroit's North American International Auto Show is a huge event, and with all the hype surrounding the show's concept cars and key debuts - think next-generation Ford F-150 and Chrysler 200 - it would be easy to miss a small car like the 2015 Nissan Micra, mainly because the Micra wasn't at Detroit and won't be sold in the U.S.

Instead, the latest version of Nissan's supermini city car debuted at the smaller Montreal Auto Show, for sale only in Canada. The current, fourth-generation Micra (also known as the Nissan March and Renault Pulse) is a European-influenced world car that debuted in 2010, but the Canadian version has been exclusively tailored for Canada's northern culture and climate.

Cold-weather features include standard rear heater ducts to keep back seat passengers warm, and available heated outside rear mirrors. In acknowledgment of Canada's hockey culture the rear seats were redesigned to provide a 60/40-split bench, ensuring hockey sticks can be easily Read Full Story