First Drive & Video: 2012 Kia Cee’d

Story and photos by John LeBlanc KRAKOW, Poland – Compact cars are one the largest new vehicle segments in Canada. But if you think small cars are “big” back home, come over here to Europe. With seating for five-in-a-pinch, easy-to-park dimensions, and low operating costs, compact cars lead the best-seller lists overseas — trucks and […]

Comparo: 2012 Scion iQ vs. Smart ForTwo

Story and photos by John LeBlanc More and more Canadians are deciding to live in cities. For drivers, that lifestyle decision includes a heavy diet of traffic congestion, tight parking spots, and stop-and-go traffic. So while the majority of new car buyers still buy “normal” size vehicles — those categorized as “compact” and up — […]

2012 Canadian mid-year new car sales report

Story and photos by John LeBlanc The end of June marks the halfway point of the calendar year. And for the majority of Canadian brands, 2012 has been a very good year so far. Compared to sales between January and June 2011, Canadians bought 7.1 per cent more new passenger cars and trucks, for a […]

First Drive & Video: 2012 Honda Civic Si Coupe HFP

Story and photos by John LeBlanc NIAGARA-ON-THE-LAKE, Ont. –  Remember the days when you couldn’t walk into a Honda showroom without bumping into a fun-to-drive car? Cars like the Honda CR-X Si from the ’80s and ’90s and the S2000 roadster from the early 2000s, along with Acura-badged Hondas like the Integra Type-R and NSX […]

Quick Spin: 2012 Lexus IS 350 AWD

By John LeBlanc What is it? The compact, five-passenger IS is Lexus’ stab at the entry-level sports sedan segment, a class invented by the BMW 3 Series in the yuppie-era 1980s. Until the $30,950 front-wheel-drive CT 200h hybrid hatchback arrived for 2011, the $32,900 rear-wheel-drive IS 250 sedan was the least expensive Lexus you could […]

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