Once again we revisit the legendary Golf GTI, now better than ever thanks to a 220-hp upgrade for the 2.0L TSI, plus 18-inch rims, Comfort, Normal and Sport driving modes, a locking front diff, autonomous…

2016 Volkswagen Golf GTI Performance DSG Road Test Review

The Golf GTI is mostly carryover for 2016, but I don't think anyone will complain. The redesigned 2015 model was multi award-winning after all, delivering the type of go-fast VW experience that fans of the hot hatch have rallied around since it came into existence in the mid seventies. It's all about small, light, quick yet practical performance, and this new GTI represents one of the best interpretations of these core values in years.

The result has been more sales, with Volkswagen's Canadian division delivering 156 more GTI's in 2015 than the year prior, a difference of 6.3 percent, with the end result being 2,625 sales last year compared to 2,469 sold in 2014. The numbers are bigger and better south of the border where VW's U.S. division sold 23,669 GTI's throughout 2015 compared to just 17,362 the year before, representing 36.3-percent growth, and 2014 improved from just 13,310 sales in 2013.

From a styling perspective the new GTI is clean and crisp, yet it shows Read Full Story
The popular MDX gets subtle styling enhancements for 2016 as well as a new 9-speed auto with optional idle start-stop, while other key standard features include a multi-angle backup camera, adaptive cruise,…

2016 Acura MDX SH-AWD Elite Road Test Review

The MDX is a critically important model for Acura. It was the Japanese luxury brand's second best selling Canadian model last year at 5,814 units, a number that made up almost 28 percent of Acura's overall sales north of the 49th, while it's also the brand's real flagship model.

Sure Acura builds a near full-size sedan in the RLX as well as the mid-engine NSX supercar once again, but spotting either of these on the road is uncommon (impossible for the NSX as won't even be out until spring) and therefore they do little for building brand image amongst the non-auto enthusiast crowd, which is responsible for the majority of sales. The once Canadian-made and now Lincoln, Alabama-built MDX, on the other hand, has been Acura's brand-builder since it debuted way back in 2000.

At first glance the MDX appears unchanged for 2016, this third-generation version only arriving on the scene in 2013 as a 2014 model so it's still relatively fresh. It wears Acura's familial trapezoidal Read Full Story
Now one of the most popular compact luxury SUVs in its class, the Lexus NX is unchanged for 2016. Today on CarCostCanada we test an NX 200t in top line F Sport Series 3 trim that includes a 235-hp turbo…

2016 Lexus NX 200t F Sport AWD Road Test Review

Well into its second season the new Lexus NX continues to strike a fashionable pose, pulling eyeballs from its key competitors onto its large, gaping, spindle grille and sharply chiseled bodywork, a dramatic styling statement if there ever was one.

Lexus is no longer a wallflower brand, the NX proof positive that things have changed in Nagoya. It seems with each new model the Japanese luxury brand grows braver, this Nobuyuki Tomatsu-penned design bolder than the IS sport sedan that came before and RC sport coupe that arrived alongside, or maybe it just seems that way due to the normally conservative compact luxury SUV segment it sells into. Still, the experiment is working, the NX only arriving in November of 2014 yet already rising to the top three in its class after its first full year.

The NX found 6,127 Canadian buyers in calendar year 2015, only upstaged by Acura's RDX at 7,380 units and the perennial bestselling Audi Q5 at 8,203. On its way upward it passed by Read Full Story
It still uses a 3.0L twin-scroll turbo six, but output is up 20-hp and 32 lb-ft for way more fun behind the wheel, while handling feel and response is better too! BMW has livened up its legendary 3 Series…

2016 BMW 340i xDrive Sedan Road Test Review

I've always liked the BMW 3 Series, a lot. Most driving enthusiasts do. I've even owned a couple, putting my money where my mouth is, so to speak. Therefore let me be the first to tell you that the new 2016 340i is easily the best non-M3 3 Series ever created. In fact, it'd be a toss-up as to whether I'd purchase this 340 or an M3. Don't get me wrong. The M3 is brilliant in almost every measure, but the 340i may very well be the perfect sport sedan, delivering ample power and exemplary handling capability in a more refined, sophisticated way.

It's certainly more understated from a styling perspective, albeit busier than a regular 3 Series. Its front lower fascia looks more aggressive thanks to the M Aerodynamics package that comes standard in 340i guise. Even the stunning machine-finished 19-inch twinned five-spoke alloys with grey-painted pockets are standard, although the M Sport brakes with blue-painted calipers poking out from within are upgraded via the optional M Performance Read Full Story
The only thing separating the latest 2016 Mitsubishi Outlander from the luxury compact CUV class is its tri-diamond brand and low pricing, its standard features including alloy wheels, LED DRLs and taillights,…

2016 Mitsubishi Outlander ES AWC Touring Road Test Review

The Outlander is a compact crossover that most people don't think about when trade-in time comes around. It's sales prove this point. Of the 13 models available amongst mainstream volume brands it's dead last in both Canada and the U.S., with 2015 calendar year sales totaling 6,108 and 19,055 units respectively. It made up a sizable chunk of Mitsubishi's 21,384- and 95,342-unit Canadian and U.S. overall brand-wide auto sales last year, however, so while the Outlander's numbers might be small compared to direct competitors within the compact SUV segment it's still big business for the Japanese automaker.

Attracting buyers has been an uphill struggle since Mitsubishi arrived on the Canadian market in 2004, and it hasn't been much easier on the south side of the 49th where it's been purveying its wares much longer, with U.S. sales of 345,111 units in 2002 sinking to a low of 53,986 in 2007 and then slowly rising, falling and rising again to the aforementioned sum arrived at when Read Full Story
The recently redesigned Cadillac Escalade is the bestselling full-size luxury SUV by a long shot, and deserves its success. Today on CarCostCanada we review top-line Platinum trim complete with a 420-hp…

2016 Cadillac Escalade Platinum Road Test Review

Luxury is a tough game, at least if you're one of the Tier 2 brands. You can probably guess the Tier 1 final four: Mercedes-Benz, BMW, Audi and Lexus. Depending on personal bias you can interchange the last two as far as premium status goes, the popular vote going with Audi as it outsells Lexus both globally and here in Canada, although your viewpoint may differ if reading this review from the U.S. where Lexus decimates Audi in annual sales. Of course, if we were to base Tier 1 rankings on sales alone then Buick would outrank Audi in the U.S. as well. Sales are merely one indicator of success, with status symbol strutting street cred taking decades to develop and sometimes even a century of doing it right.

Cadillac has earned its way into the century club, having sold luxury cars since 1902. This makes it the oldest luxury auto brand currently available, other than Buick, which was founded in 1899. For interest, Audi was founded in 1910, BMW in 1916, Lincoln in 1917, Jaguar in Read Full Story
The four-door coupe phenomenon isn’t new, but cars like BMW’s 6 Series Gran Coupe are so rare they’re always a sight to behold when passing by. Today on CarCostCanada we review the 445-hp 650i version…

2016 BMW 650i xDrive Gran Coupe Road Test Review

I love variety. Variety makes business sense too. After all, it's difficult enough for carmakers to get folks onto their websites and then down to their dealerships, so it would be best if they had the majority of bases covered when you arrive so as to fulfill your individual wants and needs. Such variety can be expensive, however, a much cheaper solution being to somehow coax everyone into a single model and therefore enhance economies of scale. It's worked so far for Tesla, albeit in limited numbers, with even that niche EV automaker needing to expand its product offerings in order to grow its numbers.

Tesla sold a record 1,556 cars in Canada last year, all from a single mid-size four-door model. Considering BMW sold just 1,996 5 Series into the same mid-size luxury space, and Audi could only pawn off 990 A6 sedans, that's pretty impressive. Then again the mid-size luxury sedan segment is one of the slower selling categories in the auto sector, a problem Tesla hopes to at least Read Full Story
A 4-cylinder Mustang? You bet! History is full of them, with turbos too. Read our review of the ‘16 Mustang Ecoboost Fastback for details about its 83-hp Pinto-powered past to its much more exhilarating…

2016 Ford Mustang Ecoboost Fastback Road Test Review

Consider me a concerned Mustang citizen, but when Ford first revealed photos of this generation pony car I wasn't quite sure what to think. Had they gone too far in an attempt to modernize their classic muscle car?

Like most everyone I've now seen more than my fair share of sixth-gen Mustangs in coupe and convertible body styles, base to Shelby trims, not to mention aftermarket sport-tuned versions, and even spent a week with a GT Convertible and another seven days with this Ecoboost Fastback. I took the time to wash and dry both by hand, the best way to get a feel for a vehicle's design details, and viewed each at length from almost every possible angle (although I still haven't had one on a hoist), and can now say that I'm fully onboard as far as styling goes.

Even this morning I was caught off guard as a Magnetic Grey GT Fastback pulled up into my sideview mirror, its road presence as catch-your-breath intimidating as any premium-badged supercar. The grille still Read Full Story