First Drives

PALMA DE MALLORCA, Spain – Twenty years ago, seeing the words SUV and Porsche in the same sentence was unthinkable. The German company was—and still is—renowned for its rear-drive, rear-engine sports cars. Then the Cayenne came along in 2003 and introduced an entirely new customer to the brand. With the …

MARICOPA, Arizona – Under the desert sun of Arizona, there’s a place where all the Volkswagen models we drive are hot-weather tested. A place that isn’t open to the public, and since there is no signage whatsoever, it could pass as a top-secret government site. It’s only the second time …

RONDA, Spain – It came as no surprise that Audi decided to introduce its new sports car at the Ascari circuit and gave us the chance to drive a few R8 Coupes on the track. It’s no coincidence either that the manufacturer offered us rides in the R8 LMS GT3 …

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 …