Today on CarCostCanada, auto journalist Simon Hill reviews the 2015 Acura ILX in fabulously fun Dynamic trim. Only available with a manual gearbox, this model disappears for the 2016 model year, which…

2015 Acura ILX Dynamic Road Test Review

The beginning of 2015 saw me at the wheel of Acura's driver-oriented ILX Dynamic, a thoroughly entertaining car that owes much of its DNA to the rip-snorting Honda Civic Si. Ordinarily the timing of my test drive might imply that the vehicle in question will be around for a while - the ILX Dynamic is a 2015 model, after all, and I was driving it the week after New Years Day. But by mid-January 2015, Acura debuted the restyled and reengineered 2016 ILX at the Montreal International Auto Show, with a Canadian launch date set for February 2015.

This means that time is already running out for the 2015 model, and while it might be brilliant news for fans of the latest and greatest, it's a sad day for manual transmission aficionados. Because while the 2016 model year will see all ILX trims fitted with the more powerful engine currently strapped into the 2015 ILX Dynamic, it will also see all engines mated to an eight-speed automatic transmission that combines the efficiency and immediacy Read Full Story
In his review of the 2015 Toyota Venza, auto journalist Trevor Hofmann calls the vehicle the crossover of crossovers. What do you think of it? Read this review of a top-tier V6 AWD Limited version to…

2015 Toyota Venza V6 AWD Limited Road Test Review

So you want to buy a new vehicle, but a mid-size sedan isn't versatile enough for your active lifestyle and not really your style anyway, minivans are hardly mini anymore and don't even begin to fit your image, and most of the mid-size crossover SUVs are simply too large and truck-like. Fortunately for you Toyota has been busy filling forgotten niches over the last number of years, one of which was a void left by its long-departed Camry Wagon. Rather than elongate the Camry's roofline and add a liftgate to the rear the company rethought the entire wagon concept and in the process reinvented it, the result being a low-slung crossover-like five-door dubbed Venza.

For those in the know the Venza is nothing new. Toyota brought it to market in 2008 as a 2009 model and it's been selling strong ever since. Even after six years on the market with only minor updates its design remains fresh and unique, mostly because there's nothing else quite like it on the road. Certainly the idea of Read Full Story
Looking for a small car that does almost everything you could ask from it? Honda called its smallest Canadian entry “Fit” because you can fit so much inside. By far the segment leader when it comes…

2015 Honda Fit EX Road Test Review

I've long since lost count of all the people I've recommended the Honda Fit too. From when I first laid eyes on it, poked and prodded it inside and played around with its innovative rear seating system at the 2006 North American International Auto Show in Detroit, to when I first experienced that new 2007 version in the metal, and then tested much-improved updated versions in 2010 and 2011, to just last month when I got behind the wheel of the all-new 2015 model, the Honda Fit has always impressed me with class-leading functionality, good road manners and great fuel economy.

For 2015, Honda has remedied the only problem I've ever had with the Fit, styling. It's not that I found the old car offensive, but more so that its design never really did much to excite the eyes. Fortunately Honda added many more interesting shapes, curves, angles, and details to the new 2015 Fit, so that it's now a much more dramatic statement, especially in its retina-searing Mystic Yellow Pearl launch Read Full Story
Today on CarCostCanada, auto journalist Trevor Hofmann reviews the big, brash and beautiful Infiniti QX80, stuffed full with every available option. Wonderfully accommodating, ultimately luxurious and…

2015 Infiniti QX80 Road Test Review

For those of us who love true 4x4-capable SUVs, the pickings are thinner than they've ever been from volume brands. Then again, add a willingness to pay for a premium nameplate and a wider variety of top-tier off-roaders become available. Amongst these the full-size Infiniti QX80 is not only one of the nicest, but also one of the segment's best overall values.

The QX80 has been given a refresh for 2015, which includes a slightly updated grille with Infiniti's sportier new trademark diamond-pattern mesh insert replacing the six chromed ribs of last year's version (it already received the Infiniti's newly reshaped grille surround two years ago for its 2013 update), plus new LED-infused headlamps, a completely reworked front bumper and lower fascia with a chrome-rimmed secondary grille and glitzier set of combination LED fog lights set within multifaceted brightwork surrounds, while from the rear the changes are less obvious, including a new fully integrated bright metal bumper Read Full Story
Today on CarCostCanada, Trevor Hofmann reviews the 2015 Scion tC, a strong contender in the compact sport coupe segment that offers great styling, impressive features, a large accommodating interior,…

2015 Scion tC Road Test Review

Last year Scion gave us a much better tC, with aggressive new styling, a reworked interior and suspension upgrades to improve handling. I drove it, really liked the improvements and therefore was delighted to give it a second run this year. After all, there aren't many compact sport coupes still available on today's market and I certainly wouldn't want to miss an opportunity to drive something as unique as the tC, even if it hasn't changed since its 2014 remake.

I shouldn't make it sound as if the tC hasn't changed at all, that is if you count special editions as change. For 2015, in partnership with California-based Cartel Customs, Scion has created the tC Release Series 9.0, a black and orange street machine that's so brazenly bold that it will either be a must-have addition to your sporty car collection or end up in the "no way am I going to be seen in that" category (it's the perfect accessory for ardent BC Lions fans, however).

While I happen to love most things Read Full Story
If you’re like many Canadian consumers, a small car is part of your lifestyle. Today on CarCostCanada, auto journalist Trevor Hofmann reviews a big seller in the compact sedan segment, the 2015 Hyundai…

2015 Hyundai Elantra Sedan Sport Road Test Review

It came as no surprise to see countless Hyundai Elantra sedans during a recent trip to Asia, and I'm not talking about my brief two-stint sojourn to Seoul, Korea's Incheon International Airport, where the Avante (the Elantra's home-market name) has been the best-selling car for four years running, but rather Quezon City (Manila), Philippines, where it gets the Elantra name if not as powerful an engine or as many standard or optional features as we enjoy here in Canada.

Comparatively to the one offered in Las islas Felipenas, even our base Elantra is outfitted like a luxury car. For just $15,999 plus $1,595 for freight and pre-delivery prep (although Hyundai was showing a "current" starting price of $15,399 along with a further discount of $500 at time of writing), Canadians get a largish compact with a 16-valve, DOHC, dual continuously variable valve timing-enhanced 1.8-litre four-cylinder engine, a six-speed manual gearbox, tilt steering, Hyundai's unique Driver Selectable Steering Read Full Story
Looking for a modern car-based crossover with traditional SUV styling? There’s only one that qualifies, Honda’s upright, boxy, mid-size Pilot. Check out Trevor Hofmann’s review of the 2015 Pilot…

2015 Honda Pilot SE Road Test Review

There are some vehicles I have a soft spot for even though they're getting on in age. Like my 50-plus year old body, they might not look as fresh, handle curves as well, sprint as quickly or utilize energy as efficiently as some of the newer kids on the block, but they have a dignified air about them that instantly commands respect, and in the case of the Honda Pilot, a level of quality that's difficult to argue against.

While the Pilot has been around for 12 years, the first generation arriving in 2002 as a 2003 model and the second generation, no longer rolling off the Alliston, Ontario assembly line, but rather out of Honda Manufacturing of Alabama's Lincoln plant (the city not the automotive brand) in 2008 as a 2009 model, a facelift in 2012 consisting mostly of a new more heavily chromed three-bar grille, revised bumpers and lower fascias, new alloy wheels, improved audio and infotainment, plus better fuel economy gave the boxy mid-size rig new life.

The chromed Read Full Story
Have you ever wondered what it takes for a vehicle to remain a segment favourite year after year and decade after decade? Few cars have achieved such loyal popularity, but Honda’s CR-V has deservingly…

2015 Honda CR-V AWD Touring Road Test Review

The Alliston, Ontario-made Honda CR-V is a top three seller here in Canada and has been the best-selling SUV in the U.S. for the better part of a decade, where it's also produced in East Liberty, Ohio. Why so popular? It's just plain good.

It's been good since it debuted as one of the first compact car-based crossovers in 1995, and has become much more capable and incomparably more refined with each redesign. Now, three years into its fourth generation, Honda has so extensively revamped the new 2015 model that it's difficult to refer to it merely as a mid-cycle update, reason enough for Honda's Senior Product Planner, Peter Johnson to claim it as "the most extensive mid-cycle update they've ever done." It includes bolder more rugged new styling, upgraded features with some truly impressive new technology, and a reworked 2.4-litre four-cylinder engine, now with direct-injection and a higher compression ratio for four-percent greater efficiency, plus a new continuously variable Read Full Story