Archive for March, 2011

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2012 Mazda5 GT

Thursday, March 31st, 2011

Review and photos by
Peter Bleakney, Autos.ca

When Mazda brought its four-cylinder Mazda5 mini minivan to the North American market for 2006, Canadians were all over it like gravy on French fries. Here was a compact, fuel efficient, fun-to-drive and stylish six-seater with a price that played to our pragmatic sensibilities. And with an available manual transmission, there was nothing like it on the road.

2012 Mazda5 GT

2012 Mazda5 GT

It did well, becoming the second biggest nameplate for Mazda Canada (the Mazda3 being number one) with over 50,000 sold to date.

Arriving in showrooms now is a significantly revised Mazda5, which for reasons only marketing types can explain, is billed as a 2012 model. There was no 2011 Mazda5. (more…)

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2011 Ford Edge Sport

Wednesday, March 30th, 2011

Review and photos by
Chris Chase, Autos.ca

The 2011 Ford Edge is available with a bunch of high-tech comfort and convenience features, including SYNC, MyFord Touch, and touch-sensitive centre stack controls, all designed to reduce driver distraction without reducing the vehicle’s functionality. What does it say about me, then, that my favourite part of the redesigned interior is the big, analog speedometer that anchors the instrument cluster?

2011 Ford Edge Sport

2011 Ford Edge Sport

MyFord Touch is Ford’s take on control interface systems that have become common in luxury vehicles: think BMW’s iDrive, Audi’s MMI or Mercedes-Benz’ COMAND set-ups. Here, all of the car’s major systems – climate control, audio, communications and navigation – can be controlled through the dashboard touch screen, and basic functions for each can be managed through steering wheel buttons and a digital display in the instrument cluster. Between MyFordTouch and SYNC, you can control just about any function in the car without taking your hands off the wheel, and there’s something to be said for that.

I’d suggest there’s also something to be said for keeping car interiors really simple, (more…)

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2011 Mercedes-Benz B200 Turbo Avantgarde Edition

Tuesday, March 29th, 2011

Review and photos by
Jil McIntosh, Autos.ca

Back in the earlier days of motoring, luxury automakers often faced a dilemma. Well-heeled customers could be hard to come by, especially when the economy soured. One solution was to offer a smaller, less-powerful and less-expensive model that would appeal to a fresh round of buyers – but the plan often backfired. Wealthy buyers didn’t want to see their vehicle’s logo on one driven by a mere mortal, and often left the brand for one that remained more exclusive.

2011 Mercedes-Benz B200 Turbo Avantgarde Edition

2011 Mercedes-Benz B200 Turbo Avantgarde Edition

It’s a situation Mercedes-Benz might have faced in 2005, when it introduced its 2006 B200 compact hatchback, its least-expensive model save for Smart. But rather than watering down the brand, the B-Class has carved out its spot in the company’s Canadian line-up. It’s also “all ours” over here, as it isn’t sold in the U.S. The smaller A-Class remains European-only.

Buying a B-Class isn’t really a practical decision. It’s expensive for a hatchback, starting at $29,900 for the naturally-aspirated 2.0-litre B200, and $32,400 for my tester, the B200 turbo, which also uses the 2.0-litre but with forced air. (more…)

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2006-2011 BMW 3 Series

Friday, March 25th, 2011

Review and photos by Chris Chase, Autos.ca

Most reviews of the BMW 3 Series include two things: a reference by the reviewer to the car being the most desirable in its class, and comments from readers that BMW must be paying auto writers for so many unanimously positive opinions of the car.

2006 BMW 330xi

2006 BMW 330xi

BMW must be paying 3 Series buyers too, then, because the car is perennially a strong seller in Canada. In 2010, 14,009 Canadians bought 3 Series’, which made it the most popular luxury car and put it in the same league, sales-wise, as the Honda Accord (14,659 sales in 2010) and the Chevrolet Malibu (13,092 sales). (more…)

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2011 Honda CR-V EX-L Navi

Thursday, March 24th, 2011

Review and photos by
Chris Chase, Autos.ca

When it comes to crossover vehicles, the compact category is where most of the action is, with just about every carmaker fielding an entry in order to grab a piece of this very popular pie.

2011 Honda CR-V EX-L Navi

2011 Honda CR-V EX-L Navi

The Honda CR-V, despite the polarizing styling it gained in its last redesign (2007), has remained a heavy hitter in a class where a number of up-and-comers – I’m thinking of the Kia Sportage and Hyundai Tucson, specifically – have easily upstaged it in appearance, but still can’t touch Honda in sales numbers.

For 2011, the CR-V carries on unchanged, using a 2.4-litre, four-cylinder engine and five-speed automatic transmission, and with either front- or all-wheel drive, depending on trim: the base LX and mid-level EX start as front-drivers that can be optioned to all-wheelers, and the top-line EX-L is all-wheel drive only. (more…)

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2011 Porsche Cayenne S Hybrid

Tuesday, March 22nd, 2011

Review and photos by
Peter Bleakney, Autos.ca

What would Sheldon drive?

If that super-geek astrophysicist on the hit show, Big Bang Theory, were to buy some wheels (that’s assuming he can drive, which he probably can’t), I’d bet the farm on it being a 2011 Porsche Cayenne S Hybrid.

2011 Porsche Cayenne S Hybrid

2011 Porsche Cayenne S Hybrid

Not because this green-tinged SUV goes down the road like a Porsche; or because it drinks about 20 per cent less fuel than the 4.8-litre V8-powered Cayenne S; or because it will dust off 100 km/h in a spritely 6.5 seconds.

No, Sheldon would choose the Cayenne Hybrid S because there’s enough technology crammed in here to impress even his know-it-all self. Plus it would be a terrific source for long-winded and smarter-than-thou techno-babble – of which he is so famous. It’s the veritable mother-lode of geek-speak. (more…)

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2005 – 2010 Chrysler 300

Sunday, March 20th, 2011

By Chris Chase; photos by
Greg Wilson, Autos.ca

Chrysler, it seems, is perpetually in financial trouble, a strange thing for a company that has been capable of producing successful vehicles. Take the ubiquitous Grand Caravan minivan, or the LH sedans (Intrepid, Concorde, New Yorker, 300 M, Eagle Vision and LHS, sold at various times from 1993 through 2004), both vehicles that brought something new to their respective market segments (or were instrumental in creating them, in the case of the original Caravan).

2008 Chrysler 300

2008 Chrysler 300

In 2005, Chrysler took advantage of its alliance with Mercedes-Benz (during which the company was known as DaimlerChrysler) to once again bring something a bit different to its showrooms. The car was the Chrysler 300, a full-size rear-drive sedan built on a platform based on Mercedes-Benz technology. Its front-engine, rear-drive layout was unique as rear-wheel drive had become rare in mid-priced cars, being limited largely to performance-oriented vehicles and trucks. The 300 shared its architecture with the Dodge Charger and Magnum sedan and wagon, introduced in 2006, and later, the Challenger coupe.

At first glance though, the 300′s biggest drawing card was its ostentatious styling, with a huge grille and chunky styling that brought to mind a Bentley or Rolls-Royce more than an upscale domestic family car. (more…)

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2011 Toyota Venza AWD

Thursday, March 17th, 2011

Review and photos by
Haney Louka, Autos.ca

I’ve been thinking for a while now about what might replace our 2004 Mazda6 Wagon in the next year or two. With our kids being six and nine years of age, we still need cargo-carrying capacity. We have found that our Mazda’s seating for five and nearly 1,000 litres of cargo volume behind the seats meets our needs nicely, so we’re not interested in a van. And in the interest of car-like handling, we’re trying to steer clear of most crossovers; but that’s getting increasingly difficult as the traditional affordable wagon has all but disappeared from the market.

2011 Toyota Venza AWD

2011 Toyota Venza AWD

Acura’s decision to pull the TSX wagon from our market didn’t help matters; but since the Americans are only getting the four-cylinder, automatic version I doubt it would have made the cut for us anyway.

Toyota’s Venza has been around for a couple of years now, and it’s among the most “wagony” of the crossovers, so it’s certainly worth a look for us. 2011 brings just minor changes for Venza’s junior year on the market, but a couple of them are worth noting, and we’ll get to those in a bit. (more…)

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2011 Volkswagen Golf Wagon TDI

Sunday, March 13th, 2011

Review and photos by
Greg Wilson, Autos.ca

As the only diesel-powered compact wagon available in Canada, the VW Golf wagon TDI offers a rare combination of outstanding fuel economy, generous cargo capacity, and everyday driveability at a price starting under $30,000. The fact that this alternative fuel wagon was voted Best New Family Car in the 2010 AJAC Canadian Car of the Year Awards, and the VW Jetta TDI sedan was voted Best New Family Car in 2011, says a lot about how good today’s diesel engine technology has become.

2011 Volkswagen Golf Wagon TDI

2011 Volkswagen Golf Wagon TDI

It’s amazing, really, that Volkswagen is still the only automaker in Canada offering diesel engines in vehicles priced under $30,000. Sure, you can get a diesel engine in a $50,000 BMW 335d or a $70,000 Mercedes-Benz E-Class or a $50,000 Dodge pickup, but where are the affordable diesel cars? Now that we have ultra-low sulphur diesel fuel, and cleaner, quieter and more powerful diesel engines, past objections to diesel engines no longer apply. Even so, vehicle manufacturers are reluctant to offer diesels in Canada. The first generation Smart Fortwo model had a small diesel engine, but it was discontinued in the second generation car in favour of a small gas engine, primarily because Smart’s surveys showed that American buyers didn’t want diesels – so we didn’t get one either. Apparently, Canada is just too small a market to justify a Canada-only diesel car. (more…)

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2006 – 2011 Acura CSX

Thursday, March 10th, 2011

By Chris Chase, Autos.ca

The Honda Civic-based Acura CSX is the most recent of the brand’s entry-level offerings, following the 1997 1.6 EL and 2001 1.7 EL; previous to the EL, you can count the Integra, which was part of Acura’s original line-up in 1986, as one of the CSX’s ancestors, too.

2006 Acura CSX

2006 Acura CSX

Where the 1.6 and 1.7 EL were mechanical twins of the different generations of Civic they were based on, the new-for-2006 CSX differed, with a base engine that wasn’t available in any North American Civic model, a 2.0-litre, four-cylinder (155 hp; 139 lb-ft) shared, mostly, with the RSX.

In 2007, a Type-S variant was added, powered by the same 197-horsepower version of the 2.0-litre engine as the Civic Si, with a six-speed manual transmission that was the only one offered with the high-po motor. The base engine came with a five-speed manual, or an optional five-speed automatic. The 2009 CSX got the requisite mid-model makeover, the most significant cosmetic element of which was the addition of Acura’s trademark “power plenum” grille. (more…)

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