First Drive: 2011 Buick Regal

[svgallery name=”2011_Buick_Regal_pics”] Finally Regal enough Buick goes to Germany to deliver on its global aspirations By John LeBlanc OSOYOOS, B.C. – How many times have we seen this before – the folks running GM’s Buick brand going into near-catatonic shock when they realize the majority of their customers are approaching the age of their golf […]

Road Test: 2010 Mini Cooper S Camden

[svgallery name=”2010_Mini_Camden”] One Mouthy Mini BMW’s small car company rolls out its first talking Mini By John LeBlanc While parent BMW has introduced a convertible, the stretched Clubman wagon, and the über-performing John Cooper Works iterations to the original three-door Mini Cooper hatchback, the basic front-wheel-drive, ball-of-fun subcompact configuration hasn’t been messed with since its […]

Comparo: 2010 Kia Forte SX/Mazda3 GT/Toyota Corolla XRS

[svgallery name=”2010_Sporty_Compact_Sedans”] A Trio of Semi-Poorman’s Sports Sedans Sporty editions of three popular compact four-doors vie for your enthusiast dollars By John LeBlanc New car buyers like compact sedans because they can carry a family of four comfortably, and are cheap-to-buy and cheap-to-run. But what if you are looking for a bit of driving fun […]

The Straight-GOODS/Sports Sedans

2010 Acura TL SH-AWD Base Price: $48,490 Driver Must Haves: The ability to ignore the non-German badge The addition of a new manual gearbox allows the TL into The Goods for the first time. Granted, you have to pony up for the loaded $48,490 SH-AWD Tech to get to the new six-speed stick, but it’s […]

First Drive: 2011 Toyota Sienna

[svgallery name=”2011_Toyota_Sienna_hirez”] Story and photos by John LeBlanc VICTORIA–As the first new vehicle launched in Canada since the Toyota recall crisis started in January, let’s deal right away with the elephant in the room. Of the several 2011 Sienna minivans I drove during the course of a one-day media event this week, none accelerated unintentionally, […]

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