Posted by Mark on
January 1, 2010
Review: 2010 Audi S4
By Mark Atkinson
Fans of understated Q-cars should be celebrating because Audi’s latest S4 rocketship is all new for 2010, and not to spoil the plot at all, but it’s very, very good. It takes a modern view to performance and does away with all that’s wasteful. A pure Audi? It does exist.
Audi gets all German when it comes to the art of going fast – meaning it throws lots of technology at the problem. The most notable change over the outgoing S4 is a new powerplant efficiently thumping underhood. Gone is the sonorous but fuel-sucking 4.2-litre V8, replaced by a new 333-hp 3.0-litre supercharged V6. While that’s down a few ponies compared to the old car, the new engine is lighter, and produces more torque – 325 lb-ft – at a lower rpm. It’s also a throwback to the old boosted S cars from the ‘80s and ‘90s, and more keeping in the S4’s character.
Posted by Kevin on
December 18, 2009
Review: 2009 Infiniti G37 sedan, 6-Speed Manual
By Kevin Harrison
About three weeks ago, I was requested and required to drive a friend’s 1999 Infiniti G20 due to his indulgence in a little too much cheap Australian Shiraz. During the drive, he must’ve told me to take care of his ‘baby’ about a million times. To get him to shut up, I drove as if I was 80 years old.
What he doesn’t know is, once I dropped him off at his home, I took to driving it like I would any other test vehicle. Sub-par is the most polite way I can describe the G20.
My friend likes to think of his car as a sports luxury sedan. When he came to my house the next day, substantially more sober to pick up his car, I had no choice but to offer him another sobering comment:
“This is no sports luxury sedan” I told him, I least I didn’t call him outright delusional. Needless to say, people don’t take well to critism of their cars and Andrew was no exception. But to show him what a real sports luxury sedan could do, I took him out for a drive the 2009 Infiniti G37 six speed manual press car I was driving that week.
Posted by Stirling on
December 6, 2009
Review: 2009 Mini Cooper S
I’ve always been a little skeptical about the Mini. Although I’ve heard nothing but great things about it, it’s still cute, and therefore untrustworthy. Think about it; the New Beetle isn’t exactly Volkswagen’s finest, and nor was the initial incarnation of the TT. The Smart ForTwo is miserable, and the Mercedes A-class had its issues as well (remember, crashy, rolly kinds of issues). Basically, if it’s small, and in any way bubbly or cute, I have been trained not to trust it. To top it all off, 172 horses doesn’t seem like that much any more. I have a hard time thinking of a hatch with only two more horsepower than a VW Rabbit being “hot.” Find out if the Mini proved my instinct wrong after the jump. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted by Mark on
November 27, 2009
Review: 2009 Porsche Panamera Turbo
Let’s get this one out of the way early: Yes, the Panamera is all Porsche, and deserves its place among the rest of the brand’s revered portfolio. Ignore all the little voices chirping on about how since it has four doors, it can’t be a Porsche. Screw the voices – think of the Panamera as a 928 for the new millennium, and you’d be pretty close.
I had the chance to drive the Panamera on a couple of occasions. The first was at Road America with all three versions on both the track and the pastoral roads of Wisconsin, while the other was during the annual AJAC Test Fest in Niagara-on-the-Lake, ON, which focused more on street driving with a short airport circuit included too. There was not one situation where the Porsche felt at all out of sorts, out of breath or out of place.
First, some numbers.
Posted by Kevin on
November 20, 2009
Review: 2010 Mercedes-Benz GLK 350
Sometimes it’s fun to compare car brands to people. For instance, I would equate Toyota to be Ben Stein. Smart and likeable, but ultimately, the dullest automaker in the business save for a couple of models in their Lexus brand. They don’t offer much to excite the senses.
BMW would be Kanye West. Brilliant, creative, and innovative. They set the standard. But like Kanye they are also hopelessly cocky, conceited and is the brand everyone loves to hate. They know they make awesome cars and are not shy to let the world know it.
Audi is considered to be much of the same only without the same negative stereotypes painted towards BMW and Audi’s cockiness is somehow less offensive, more accepted and almost encouraged for some reason. Therefore, Audi is the Muhammad Ali of the car business.
So what about Mercedes-Benz? It’s the brand that always gets shout outs in rap songs/videos, yet its core market is driven towards middle-aged/more seasoned individuals. The brand can hold its own in the performance department with its AMG division and McLaren partnership, but overall its known more for luxury than performance.
The GLK is a perfect example of this.
Posted by Peter on
September 27, 2009
Review: Audi A8L vs. BMW 750i – 2009
by Mark Atkinson
The launch of a new brand-topping luxury car doesn’t happen every day. In fact, it probably happens less often than most since product cycles are greatly extended at this end of the market. The last time BMW launched a new 7-Series, Jean Chrétien was still living on 24 Sussex Drive. Audi isn’t much better since its A8 was born in 2003. Both have received mid-life facelifts along the way – the BMW to try and erase as much Bangle Butt as possible, and the Audi to adopt a big, gaping corporate maw.
BMW solved this for 2009 by offering a completely redesigned 7-Series, but the question is whether it remains the Ultimate Driving Machine or whether it’s so loaded with useless technology that it’s become the Ghost in the Machine.
I had both of these beasts for extended amounts of time – a week with the Bimmer spent in Toronto with a road trip to St. Jacobs, ON, and the A8 L for nearly two weeks on a trip out to New Brunswick for a wedding. Both experiences gave plenty of in-town and highway driving, along with curvier back-road driving as well. So why not compare the two?
Posted by Kevin on
September 18, 2009
Review: 2009 BMW 535xi
By Kevin Harrison
A little while back I reviewed the Cadillac CTS. It was by no means a horrible car, but I gave it a less than stellar rating.
Designed to compete against a BMW 5-series (even more so when it likely will move more upscale once the smaller ATS arrives), it is priced like a 3-series and thus, retains the price advantage.
As I followed sales manager Campbell Harbord out to the back to the dealership to pick up my tester, I had mentioned my review of the CTS and how I was eager to see how it compared.
He stopped and laughed.
“Oh, you consider it to be more of a 3-series competitor then?” I asked.
“We don’t consider Cadillac to be competition for us at all,” Campbell replied.
Bold statement. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted by Stirling on
September 12, 2009
Review: 2010 Mustang GT Convertible
I’m in Nashville, the country music capital of the world, and I’m driving a convertible Mustang next to my wife and an ex-Navy SEAL who was telling me about his first car, a classic Camaro. I am positivly surrounded by Americana. I see men with large mustaches, fast-food restaurants, and there are very few vehicles that are not US-made pick-up trucks. I feel the wind in my hair, and hear the roar of a massive Ford V8 as I overtake yet another slow-moving Nashvillian. The day is good. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted by Kevin on
August 29, 2009
Review: 2009 Volkswagen Jetta TDI Highline
By Kevin Harrison
There are a lot of things about North Americans that I really don’t get. For instance why do we like Walmart enough that it has to be open 24 hours? Have you ever bolted up at 4 am wanting to buy a new set of silverware?
Likewise, why are we so opposed to diesels? For some reason we’ve asphyxiated them with a bad reputation, and as a result, North Americans have not responded well to them.
This attitude is in complete contrast to Europe where selling a car without a diesel option is like ordering a hamburger at a Chinese restaurant – it just doesn’t make sense.
VW has been trying for decades to make diesels more mainstream in our market but they hit a bit of a snag in 2007 when stricter emission standards forced them to axe their diesel and revamp it. During that period TDI’s were missing in action in our market.
But they’re back for 2009, and VW promises them to be even more powerful yet more efficient than before. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted by Peter on
August 23, 2009
Review: 2010 BMW Z4 sDrive 30i/35i – SLKification
I waited. Hanging out with the General Manager of Bavaria BMW. Waited for the 2010 Z4 to appear from its climate-controlled underground lair. I asked only for a manual transmission, not being brave enough to ask for the N54 in the 35i. The conversation started at golf, then drifted to vacation. Then to car design. Then back to golf. Finally, the Titanium Silver Metallic 30i appeared in my peripheral vision. The top was up and under the overcast late-summer sky, it had all the presence I could have asked for – like something costing twice as much. I caught myself staring at its profile and noting the length of the hood relative to the rest of the vehicle. It’s at least a third, maybe even four-tenths. A classic, long-bonnet GT where the driver is slung back over the rear wheels. What kind of effect will those proportions have over the driving experience? Can something that looks like that still be gunning for Porsche’s mid-engined pup?
