Long-Term Test: 2016 Subaru WRX CVT – Part 2

Story and photo by John LeBlancCALABOGIE, Ont. — The idea of owning a car with an automatic transmission can be sheer blasphemy to many sports compact fans. Why would you want to detract from the joys of changing gears – and, arguably, not stay in complete control of your vehicle? Yet our latest 60-day test […]

First Drive: 2016 Volkswagen Golf R

Story and photo by John LeBlanc CALABOGIE, Ont. — I’ve just been handed the keys to an all-wheel-drive turbocharged hatchback, hotter than the shade of red it’s wearing, poised at the entrance to a remote Ontario racetrack. After a handful of “follow the leader” laps behind the watchful gaze of retired Canadian Champ Car World […]

Long-Term Test: 2016 Subaru WRX CVT – Part 1

Story and photo by John LeBlanc From history’s Joan of Arc, a peasant girl who led French forces to victory over the British, to Sylvester Stallone’s cinematic Rocky, who won fans over despite losing, who doesn’t love an underdog? And if we could describe any of today’s automakers as an “underdog,” it would have to […]

First Drive: 2016 Volkswagen Jetta 1.4 TSI

Story and photo by John LeBlanc KANATA, Ont. — Just how old is Volkswagen’s outgoing 2.0-litre four-cylinder gas engine that is being laid to rest for 2016? Even the folks at the German automaker aren’t quite sure.

Road Test: 2016 Mini John Cooper Works 3-Door

Story and photo by John LeBlanc Predictability is usually an emotion that keeps your heartbeat in check. Yet the unsurprising debut of the John Cooper Works version of the third-generation Mini Cooper 3-Door – the most powerful and quickest Mini ever – arrives with the goal of getting the hearts of its drivers pumping.

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