Lincoln doesn’t make a compact car so therefore Ford makes up for the problem big time with the luxuriously equipped Focus Titanium. Boasting premium a soft touch dash top, instrument panel, door uppers…

2016 Ford Focus Titanium Sedan Road Test Review

Other than the class-dominating Mustang, Ford doesn't enjoy quite the same level of sales success with its car program as it does with its top-selling trucks and SUVs, but its Fiesta, Focus, Fusion and Taurus are important players within their respective segments just the same.

The Focus is especially noteworthy due to the sheer number of models that carry its nameplate, which include both four-door sedan and five-door hatchback body styles, with high-performance ST and RS variants as well as an all-electric version of the latter, plus unique luxury trimmed Titanium editions of both sedan and hatch. You'd think with this much on offer the blue-oval brand would be number one in its category, but compact competition is fierce in Canada and the imports have long held the lead.

The question of sales leadership becomes even more puzzling when factoring in just how superbly finished and advanced the Focus is, from its forward thinking mechanical technologies to its leading Read Full Story
Mini has already added a 5-door hatch and an SUV to its 3-door hatch lineup, so what could possibly be next? How about a really long 6-door wagon that stretches the Mini concept to new maxi lengths? Meet…

2016 Mini Cooper S Clubman Road Test Review

The Mini brand has long been grounded in a less is more philosophy, so simply living with one means you're taking up less space in the world, in a car that consumed fewer materials in its production, goes through much less fuel than the majority of four-wheeled conveyances and concurrently spews fewer toxic emissions from its exhaust, but of course there's more to the iconic British brand than that. Mini is also about having fun while you're saving the planet, two concepts that rarely coexist.

The new Clubman is different, mind you, in that it embodies a more is more outlook. More size, more space, more Mini, if that makes any sense. All said, before we go thinking that Mini has become too big for its britches let's put our reality glasses on and consider how the largest Mini ever fits into the small car market of today. As is immediately evident the Clubman is long, more than 25 centimeters (almost 10 inches) longer than the already lengthened 5 door hatch, which is based on Read Full Story
The 7-seat Pathfinder continues forward into 2016 unchanged, which hasn’t hurt sales one bit. Today we review it in top Platinum trim featuring standard AWD, 20-inch alloys, proximity entry, pushbutton…

2016 Nissan Pathfinder Platinum Road Test Review

It's really tough to get noticed in today's ever burgeoning family vehicle segment, but Nissan has done very well with its lineup of crossover SUVs. Its compact Rogue was a very strong fourth out of 13 competitors last year while sales are up 7.5 percent so far this year, whereas its Murano and the Pathfinder being reviewed here combined for fifth place on the massive 20-model mid-size sales chart, while sales of the two Nissans are up 77.7 and 11.2 percent respectively over the first five months of 2016. What's more, the Pathfinder was third most popular amongst standard seven-passenger SUVs. From all of this one thing should be clear, Canadians like the Pathfinder a lot.

It makes sense of course. We're practical people, still enamoured with our minivans, so a vehicle that does most things a minivan can while looking a great deal more SUV-like should fare well. To that end the Pathfinder provides best-in-class passenger volume‎ and the segment's most accessible third row Read Full Story
The Durango is undergoing massive sales growth that if continuing on its current trajectory will see its numbers double this year, yet it’s just a carryover model that Canadian SUV buyers have collectively…

2016 Dodge Durango SXT AWD Blacktop Road Test Review

Since the Durango debuted in 1997 it's been one tough looking contender, the original a compelling design that remains a head-turner after all these years and the current third generation still fresh and stylish despite its half decade of availability. No doubt the mid-cycle update it received three years ago gave it new legs, although it's taken until now for sales to really take off with the first five months of 2016 nearly matching all of last year's results, the numbers reading 3,036 units as of May compared to 3,659 for all of calendar year 2015. What's going on Dodge? Or maybe I should put that question to Canada's SUV buyers. After all, one glance at this SXT Blacktop and I'm left wondering what's taken them so long to catch on. This thing is pure testosterone on wheels.

Its grey Billet Metallic paint and surrounding body-colour detailing along with its blacked out grille, headlight and fog lamp bezels, mirror caps, wheels and badging made it as intimidating as a highway Read Full Story
What happens when you take a Q50 sport sedan and pump it full of twin-turbo V6 goodness, 7-speed paddle-shifted AWD action, 19-inch rims and luxury galore? You get a 400-hp bundle of fun that’ll sprint…

2016 Infiniti Q50 Red Sport 400 AWD Road Test Review

I've got good news and bad news. First the bad news: Infiniti has discontinued its multiple award-winning 328 horsepower naturally aspirated 3.7-litre V6 from its Q50 lineup and replaced it with a 208 horsepower 2.0-litre turbocharged four. Ouch!

But wait. Remember there's good news too. That four packs 258 lb-ft of peak torque from just 1,500 rpm and achieves 10.6 L/100km city and 8.4 highway compared to the old 3.7's 12.5 and 8.7 rating, while better yet a completely new 3.0-litre twin-turbo V6 strikes back in two states of trim, the first using less fuel than the outgoing model at 12.3 city and 8.5 highway while making a competitive 300 horsepower and 295 lb-ft of torque and the second only increasing highway mileage to 9.1 while dishing out 400 horsepower and 350 lb-ft of torque, which when hooked up to my most recent Q50 tester was enough to get my heart racing faster than anything this side of an M, AMG, RS, F or V branded super sedan, Infiniti not yet playing in the ultra-performance Read Full Story
Ford Edge or Lincoln MKX? That’s a question buyers of these impressive 5-occupant CUVs will need to ask themselves and one discussed in today’s review of a top-line Edge Sport. Boasting a 2.7L Ecoboost…

2016 Ford Edge Sport Road Test Review

Here are some stats you probably don't know. Ford brand sales are so far ahead of the competition in Canada that even if each and every Smart, Scion, Mini, Mitsubishi and Chrysler sold last year were added to second-place Toyota's lofty 2015 calendar year tally the pseudo-conglomerate wouldn't measure up. Likewise, if you combined Toyota's total sales with Subaru, Kia, Volkswagen, Mazda, Jeep, GMC, or even all of Dodge brand sales Ford would still come out on top.

How does Ford do it? Their F-Series is consistently Canada's bestselling pickup truck and their lineup of crossover sport utilities is most popular too. The Escape dominates our compact category whereas the Edge and Explorer are both strong sellers in the five- and seven-passenger SUV segments respectively, while the wonderfully oddball Flex is actually the niche model that pushes Ford past its closest competitor for top spot amongst midsize SUVs.

So far this year I've reviewed that unorthodox Flex and the Read Full Story
The Micra changed everything when it hit Canadian roads under $10k a couple of years ago, even the fully suited SR auto trimmed model reviewed today barely breaking $17k. This car is well equipped with…

2016 Nissan Micra SR Road Test Review

[caption id="attachment_61694" align="alignright" width="200"] Photo: Trevor Hofmann, Canadian Auto Press[/caption] This may be the cheapest car in Canada but it certainly doesn't look like it, and it absolutely doesn't drive like it. The $9,988 Micra comes standard with style as well as a fun-loving attitude that sets it apart from compacts costing thousands more. I tested base S trim with its sole five-speed manual transmission last year and absolutely loved it, so this time around I was truly looking forward to spending a week in the top-line SR, but would it be as good with a four-speed automatic? [caption id="attachment_61695" align="alignleft" width="200"] Photo: Trevor Hofmann, Canadian Auto Press[/caption] In a word, no, but it's still plenty enjoyable. Fortunately Nissan doesn't "reward" Micra buyers who want more features by forcing a standard autobox into the mix like it does with the Versa Note, so you're free to increase your daily dose of good times while leaving a cool $1,000 Read Full Story
Entirely new for 2017, Audi’s longer yet lighter A4 has arrived and is better than ever. Stylish new duds make for the slipperiest aero in its class, while a new 252-hp 2.0L turbo four and standard…

2017 Audi A4 2.0 TFSI Quattro Road Test Review

Audi's slick looking A4 hardly needed any improvements when it comes to design. Most critics still consider the outgoing model one of, if not the most stylish in its compact luxury D-segment, and as you can probably tell by looking around while out on the road, sales were still strong. Still, the German brand is currently undergoing a visual overhaul and therefore all models must comply, the new 2017 A4 sedan and A4 Allroad crossover sport wagon pulling many of their edgy new cues from last year's ultra-modern TT sports coupe and convertible.

The result is a thoroughly modernized A4 four-door featuring a bigger, broader, more sharply angled hexagonal grille, new scalloped headlamp clusters with standard HID projectors or as-tested rectangular LEDs surrounded by squared-off LED DRLs, a crisp lower front fascia with new corner vents, reshaped LED turn signal-infused mirror caps, a familiarly arcing rooftop, a nice upswept rear deck lid that no doubt aids the new model's unfathomably Read Full Story