Consumer Reports loved the Ridgeline
The adage: “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” applies in spades to the Honda Ridgeline, which from 2010 up to at least 2014 was essentially unchanged in appearance, drivetrain layout, comfort level, and function. The Ridgeline was never intended to be a working truck in the same way as, oh, a Ford F-150 or…
A well-thought-out, highly-driveable two-door hatchback that, if you can find the scratch, goes like a bat out of hell
The British Columbia government just announced it’s increasing rebates to those who purchase electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles. This is good news, as the biggest obstacle to electric car ownership is the high initial cost. At this point, all-electric cars are pretty much available to those with a few extra dollars to spend. But drivers…
Hitting the market in 2008 and discontinued in early 2013, it was and is one of the more stylish cars on the road
It may look like the Altima sedan but the Altima Coupe, according to Nissan, is a different vehicle in almost every way. Hitting the market in 2008 and discontinued in early 2013, it was and is one of the more stylish cars on the road – nice to look at from just about every angle.…
This is a people-carrier par excellence and is amazingly quiet on the highway
With the price of gas hovering around the two bucks a litre mark in most of the country, does it make sense to buy one of the more gas-thirsty vehicles on the market? I'm talking about full and mid-size SUVs models like – oh – the Toyota Sequoia, Chev Suburban, Jeep Wagoneer, and so on.…
The hatchback body configuration is just about as versatile as you can get in this market
Hyundai’s 2012 edition of the Elantra Touring was kind of an in-between vehicle. The hatchback entered the North American market for the first time in 2009 but received a complete overhaul in 2011. Hyundai was quick to point out that the Touring was not just the Elantra sedan with a different body configuration. It was…
The 2022 Maverick doesn't sport any weird idiosyncrasies. Mainstream ergonomics all the way
Does the world need another pickup truck? Virtually every manufacturer on the market has a light truck on offer. Sometimes it seems like every other vehicle is a pickup of some sort. Light truck sales in Canada are as healthy as ever, despite ridiculous gas prices, a looming recession and the high cost of living.…
The Sportage sits five adults in relative comfort. If you fold down the seat, you get a reasonably flat floor
The Kia Sportage was into its third overhaul in 2012, including a major facelift and a larger four-cylinder engine. The first generation of Sportage, introduced to North America in 1993, had a less than stellar reputation. Despite featuring body-on-frame construction, with significant engineering input from Mazda, its various shortcomings almost finished Kia’s foray into SUV…
Mazda has mastered the art of building innocuous, practical family transport, and CX-30 is right on target
Car manufacturers sometimes market their products in a confusing way. In the old days, it was called “badge engineering,” where one model would be gussied up or slightly altered and sold as something else – even though it was virtually identical to the vehicle it was based on. The Oldsmobile Cutlass, for example, was sold…
Available with either a four-cylinder or V6 engine, this generation was offered in a variety of trim levels
There wasn’t much to separate the Toyota Camry between 2010 and 2012, aside from minor styling cues and options packages. These were all pretty good years for Toyota’s mid-size sedan, and it maintained its reputation as one of the more reliable cars on the road. Available with either a four-cylinder or V6 engine, with a…
First introduced to the market in 1982, it’s now in its eighth generation and has never been better
Things have slowed down a little in the compact sedan market over the past few years. It used to be that when people went shopping for affordable transportation, they’d be thinking about the Honda Civic, Chevrolet Cruze, Volkswagen Jetta, Nissan Sentra and so on. But these days, it’s compact SUVs that are catching people’s eyes:…
A high-performance car for buyers who like to drive with enthusiasm and want everyone to know it
The 2012 Chevrolet Camaro offered a wide range of powertrain choices, including a convertible and the hell-raising ZL1. General Motors was banking heavily on baby-boomer nostalgia with this, the fifth-generation version of the Camaro. Aside from the fact that it delivered better fuel economy than its predecessors, had better handling and braking, and was more…
This is a fun, lively car to drive. The shift mechanism, with its rifle-bolt precision, is a treat
The old saying “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” applies in spades to the Mazda MX-5, or Miata as many of us still call it. Yes, it’s changed over the years – it’s a little bulkier and more upscale than it used to be. But, more than three decades after its introduction, it remains…
Standard equipment includes telescoping steering, split folding rear seat, anti-lock brakes and more
In 2012, the Toyota Corolla sedan accounted for 40 per cent of the company’s total Canadian sales. It had been at or near the top of the sales heap in the compact car category for the previous two decades. This generation of the Corolla received a re-do in 2009, apparently styled in part in Turin,…
A well-thought-out compact sedan/hatchback
The adage “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” applies in spades to the Mazda3. Since it was introduced in 2003, it has been an unqualified success, collecting numerous awards around the world. Those awards include the Automobile Journalists Association of Canada (AJAC) car of the year for 2022 and 2021, plus a handful of…
“Best vehicle I ever had,” claimed one owner
In 2012, Subaru’s Forester was going into its 15th year. Based on the Impreza platform, and manufactured in Japan, it also received a bit of a redesign the year before, getting increased back seat elbow room and all-new rear suspension. Where the previous version featured strut suspension in back, this, the third-generation model, came with…