First Drives

SAN ANTONIO, Texas – These days, if a luxury carmaker wishes to survive, it must excel. With mainstream brands like Hyundai, Kia and even Toyota constantly upping their game in terms of sophistication and technology, the pressure to innovate for premium nameplates has never been so high. Mercedes-Benz is particularly …

Toyota’s problems are what we’d call good problems. Just as the fourth-gen RAV4 was reaching the end of its production cycle, its popularity was on the rise. In fact, 2017 was a record year for the model, with more than 50,000 units sold in Canada . Wiping the slate clean …

No one knew exactly when the new 2020 Corolla would be unveiled or what it would look like. But after the Corolla hatchback was released earlier this year, it became clear that the sedan was going to be seriously revamped. Even though the 2020 Corolla was just unveiled at Auto …

SACRAMENTO, California – During the media launch of the 2019 Hyundai Veloster N , a 275-horsepower pocket rocket that will seek to steal some sales away from the Volkswagen Golf GTI and Honda Civic Type R, the Korean brand also gave us the opportunity to try out the 2019 edition …

SACRAMENTO, California – The sport compact car segment has been going strong for about 40 years now, as the Volkswagen Golf GTI was—and still is today—considered the benchmark vehicle. Rivals from across the globe have come and gone, but Korea had yet to produce a worthy contender. Until now. By …

FRENCH RIVER, Ontario – In 2016, Toyota launched a new off-road series called TRD Pro, developed to meet rapidly growing consumer demand for off-road vehicles following the launch of the Ford F-150 Raptor. The TRD Pro series impacted mainly the Tacoma and Tundra pickups as well as the 4Runner midsize …

SANTA MONICA, California – While the latest crop of Volvo cars and SUVs have struck styling, comfort, safety and technology home runs, we’re still yearning for a performance-oriented machine from the brand. Volvo claims its 2019 S60/V60 sports sedan and wagon are here to fit the bill. Now in its …

LOS ANGELES, California – Earlier this year, my colleague Gabriel Gélinas flew to Seoul, South Korea, to test drive the Hyundai NEXO, a brand-new hydrogen fuel cell-powered vehicle. At the time, the car was expected to hit Canadian roads in limited quantities by the end of 2018. Here we are …

Has it been 16 years already? It's hard to believe that the first Porsche Cayenne SUV appeared in 2002, saving the business from a possible financial slump that would have deprived sports car fans from numerous wonderful creations. The SUV has since carved out such an enviable reputation that enthusiasts …

LOS ANGELES, California – The Car Guide has fallen under the spell of the 2019 Hyundai Kona, based on its quality of assembly, versatility, design, driving experience and value—and that’s why we have unanimously named it the best buy in the subcompact SUV segment for 2019. While our journalists debated …