Are you the new 2015 Audi A3 Sedan? The German brand would love to add you to its fold, and at just over $31k this sporty new four-door might be just the ticket to attract an entirely new fan-base of…

2015 Audi A3 Sedan 2.0 TFSI Quattro Road Test Review

The new 2015 A3 is a clear sign that Audi has its thinking cap on. The previous A3, while a very competent compact luxury model, was a five-door hatchback that more accurately wore the body of a sporty wagon. Ingolstadt referred to its configuration as Sportback, but that was marketing not reality, similar to how it dubbed previous sport wagons with the Avant nameplate (and still does in other markets) while continuing to call its beefed up wagon-cum-crossovers by the Allroad name. As much as I personally like sport wagons and many European car fans likewise appreciate the combination of sport sedan and roomy wagon, the vast majority of today's premium level buyers would rather have sedans or crossover SUVs. Hence, Audi replaced the old A3 hatch with three new models.

The new A3 Sedan is the compact four-door that four-ringed faithful have long been pining for, the A3 Cabriolet a reasonably priced drop-top for drivers wanting a little more flair, while the new Q3 crossover SUV Read Full Story
Back in January, Trevor Hofmann reviewed a 2015 Scion tC equipped with its optional six-speed automatic, whereas this time around he strapped himself into a similar tC sporting the slick shifting six-speed…

2015 Scion tC Road Test Review

Remember Toyota's Celica? The now classic model still has a lot of diehard fans that collect, restore and custom-tune the once popular sport coupe, from its Carina-based rear-drive origins to the final front-drive seventh-generation Corolla-sourced model, a car that I quickly fell for as a budding automotive journalist way back at the turn of the century, it's a very special bit of Toyota culture and history.

While Toyota now produces the GT 86, a wholly better-performing sports coupe than the Celica ever was, even when offered in now legendary rally-inspired Turbo AWD guise (I can't describe how much I wanted that car when it arrived on the scene), the Celica filled its 2+2 sport coupe niche respectably and no doubt would still enjoy an ardent following if produced today.

In many respects Toyota's newish Scion youth-brand fills the sporty roll of its parent automaker here in North America, which is a philosophy that's somewhat at odds with the man that heads up all Read Full Story
Whoa! Now this is a big SUV! Toyota is one of few brands that stock a full-size off-road and trailer-towing capable sport utility vehicle, the 2015 Sequoia complete with a powerful V8, standard leather…

2015 Toyota Sequoia Platinum Road Test Review

If you regularly haul heavy loads but need something with more interior room than a pickup truck there's only one alternative, a big body-on-frame sport utility vehicle. Fortunately there's no shortage of full-size SUVs on the market, Toyota's Sequoia being just one of five within the volume branded mainstream sector alone, and there are plenty more being sold by premium marques such as Lexus.

Still, Toyota has always had a tough time in a market that has been dominated by domestic makers. Initial U.S. sales of the previous generation looked rosy with 70,187 units delivered in 2002, but steadily tapered off over the years to the point that 2014 saw only 11,806 examples finding new owners south of the 49th. Here in Canada the Sequoia's decade-long sales chart is skewed mostly the other way, the model arriving here in 2004 and selling a mere 562 units, yet after a few tumultuous years those numbers rose up substantially before steadily ebbing to a 713 unit sales total last year. Read Full Story
Hyundai has done very well with its popular Sonata family sedan, but despite enjoying so much success with the previous model they’ve changed things up for 2015 by leading us in an all-new styling direction.…

2015 Hyundai Sonata GLS Road Test Review

As far as four-door sedans go the Sonata is hardly the most important in Hyundai's five-model Canadian lineup. Its entry-level Accent and second-rung Elantra combine to outsell their mid-size counterpart by more than five to one, yet this reality has nothing to do with the Sonata's desirability within its own mid-size segment, as a similar scenario also gets played out within other mainstream volume brands. Still, while the majority of Canadians purchase smaller cars there's a place in our market for larger family sedans, and the competition between brands for those buyers who step up to these more expensive models is sign enough that they're a critically important component to the overall financial health of any automaker.

Certainly it's about profits, but doing well in the mid-size sector might be even more important to a brand's image. Name the volume brands that don't offer a competitive mid-size model and I'll show you a company that's not in very good fiscal health. Remember Read Full Story
Are you ready for something truly different? How about a five-door Mini Cooper? The iconic British brand has already augmented its offerings to include the two-door coupe and roadster, four-door Clubman…

2015 Mini Cooper 5-Door Road Test Review

All I can say is, "It took you long enough Mini!" Or maybe I should have directed that comment at BMW, which has been applying its own unique brand strategies to the British city car manufacturer since it purchased it way back at the turn of the new century.

Of course if they'd come out with a five-door model back in the mid-aughts it's quite possible the brand's many ardent fans would have become irate and not bought into the new Mini philosophy, but now with a decade and a half of Bini (BMW-Mini) models behind us, which have included nearly every body style configuration seemingly imaginable, from hatchbacks, convertibles and the four-door Clubman, to a coupe, roadster and even a coupe-crossover combo, not to mention the compact Mini Countryman crossover SUV that quite literally opened up the door to more doors, the new Cooper 5-Door is a fitting inclusion. That it also happens to look really cool is just a bonus, as its newfound functionality makes this the car that could Read Full Story
If you’re considering a midsize sport-luxury sedan in the premium sector you really should check out the 2015 Infiniti Q70 3.7 AWD, as it gives you similar levels of quality, prestige, performance and…

2015 Infiniti Q70 3.7 AWD Road Test Review

If this car looks familiar but the name doesn't come to mind, don't worry because you're not alone. Q70 is the new designation for the updated M series, Infiniti's mid-size entry that has served as its flagship sedan since the Japanese luxury brand abandoned the original full-size Q45 back in 2006. In the Q70's previous generation this particular model was the M37x (x denoting all-wheel drive), whereas it's now referred to as the Q70 3.7 AWD. There's a Q70 3.7 AWD Sport as well, plus a Q70 Hybrid. As for the old M56x, Infiniti has gone a step further by lengthening the wheelbase of this V8-powered model and redubbing it Q70L 5.6 AWD.

As much as I'd love to delve further into this range-topping model it will first require a test drive and that is still forthcoming, but the new regular wheelbase Q70 3.7 AWD that I just drove is certainly worthy of a deep dive all on its own. Infiniti upgraded the entire Q70 line for 2015, with a new front fascia incorporating a revised double-arch Read Full Story
Today on CarCostCanada, auto journalist Trevor Hofmann reviews the 2015 Lexus NX 200t in top-tier F Sport trim. It’s been a long time coming, but the new compact Lexus CUV appears worth the wait. This…

2015 Lexus NX 200t F Sport Road Test Review

What does NX stand for? According to Lexus it's short for "Nimble Crossover", a fitting name or so I found out after a weeklong test drive. As for me, the NX represents what's NeXt in the premium compact crossover segment, a vehicle that's been a long time coming and one that was well worth the wait.

At first glance you'll notice it's hardly a "me too" design. If they were to offer it in bright orange, lime green or matte black it might cause some to expect a Lamborghini badge on the hood and tailgate, and even when sprayed in more conservative hues many will be shocked to see Lexus' familiar circled "L" right in the middle of its strikingly bold spindle-shaped grille. Revealed almost a year ago at the Beijing International Automotive Exhibition, the NX is no wallflower.

My tester was done up in top-line F Sport trim, an even more aggressively penned alternative. Its chiseled design looks as if it was shaped from a scalpel, starting with the top outward edges of that Read Full Story
Want a good little compact MPV that stands out from the crowd, delivers decent performance, good gas mileage and is rock steady reliable? How about a Scion xB? Consider it a boxy Toyota Matrix, although…

2015 Scion xB Road Test Review

Scion is the best kept secret in Canada, but I'm willing to take a stab at guessing the youth-oriented brands' parent company, Toyota, would rather it wasn't so obscure.

The xB, for instance, is a great car. It rides on the same New MC-platform architecture as the latest Toyota Corolla, a more recent design than the outgoing Matrix wagon, yet offers more power than either from a larger four-cylinder engine as well more interior space. It comes standard with more features too, while its base price point of $19,110 plus $1,695 for freight and pre-delivery preparation is less than what you'd pay if you added similar content to the aforementioned cars, while Scion has a cool and, as mentioned, exclusive cachet.

To give you an idea of just how exclusive it is, Scion sold 651 xB models in Canada last year, while Toyota sold 48,881 Corollas and 7,130 Matrix models, and being that the Matrix was discontinued it wasn't even available for the full year. The previous year Toyota Read Full Story