First Drives

It’s no surprise anymore that performance and luxury brands are all hopping on the SUV bandwagon, because that’s where the big money is nowadays. Porsche dared to launch the Cayenne 14 years ago, and more recently, both Jaguar and Bentley introduced their own, first-ever utility vehicles. The Italian brands are …

Italians rarely do half measures. Known for being hot-blooded and for having strong personalities, they have created some of the world’s most remarkable automobiles with all categories, nationalities and decades combined. Even today, names like Ferrari, Lamborghini, Lancia, Bizzarini, Lancia, Maserati and Isotta Fraschini remind us that, at its heart, …

BEL AIR, California – As they say, it takes years to build a reputation, mere moments to tear it down. Lincoln’s been around for a century and in the first few decades forged a desirable image based on design, performance and luxury. Then the 70s, 80s and 90s showed up …

The Audi Q5 originally hit the Canadian market in 2009 and soon became the best-selling model not only in Audi’s lineup, but also in the compact luxury SUV segment. No wonder this product is now so crucial to the four-ring brand’s success. While the all-new, second-generation Q5 made its global …

When it returned to the North-American market in 2015, Italian brand Alfa Romeo marked our collective imagination with its 4C, a two-seat sports car that was more at home on the silky-smooth pavement of racetracks than on our sadly neglected roads. However, to survive, the company needs more than an …

There are three top brands of off-roading vehicles. Jeep has a wide range of high-performance parts to enhance its SUVs. Land Rover sells a truck that can take you just about anywhere in utter luxury. And Toyota’s products boast unrivalled reliability and some can even take you far off the …

TORONTO, Ontario – There are few cars in the industry that 90% or more of auto critics agree on, or that get excited about. In the recent past, the coming of the Ford Focus RS, current Mazda MX-5 or the BMW M2 have had us all checking our emails and …

COSTA BRAVA, Spain – The title says it all for the second-generation R8 Spyder. The new head honcho at Audi Sport was proud to present the vehicle to us and also took the time to inform us of his new role within the group: he’ll be laying the groundwork for …

DETROIT, Michigan – The Cruze is by far Chevrolet’s best-selling car in Canada, competing in the most popular car segment in the country. Gaining market share is tough when consumers go for the long-established nameplates, and especially when our rivals have a wider selection of body styles to fit everyone’s …

BAIE ST-PAUL, Quebec – Often times, on these product launch events, we are taken to areas that are in one way or another related to the vehicle; for example, a racetrack for a Porsche or downtown Seattle for the smart fortwo. At first, I couldn’t correlate rural Quebec and the …