The Crank: Mazda quickly ditching Nagare

By John LeBlanc Well that didn’t take too long. As soon as former Mazda design director Laurens van den Acker left last year to take over as head pen of France’s Renault, it seems the Japanese automaker can’t move fast enough away from its still-born Nagare design language, a look that was created by van […]

Top 10s: New Hot Hatches

[svgallery name=”Top 10 Hot Hatches”] By John LeBlanc Driving enthusiasts are well aware of the Hot Hatch Formula. Made popular during the first Oil Crisis in the early 1970s, which saw the neutering of the American muscle car and the near-extinction of the V8 engine, the idea of adding a bit of performance to a […]

Top 10s: Dollar-per-Horsepower Bargains

[svgallery name=”Top_10_Perf_Bang_Buck”] By John LeBlanc Forget what your Granddad told you about the 1960s, right now is the Golden Age of cheap horsepower. A bad economy and a generation of drivers addicted to gobs of horsepower have created a near perfect storm for performance car junkies on a budget. But which new cars today offer […]

The Crank: Mazda’s Nagare, no more

By John LeBlanc Well, so much for that. After four years of teasing us with concept after concept, highlighted by the Furai concept (below, left) from the 2008 Detroit show, it looks like Mazda is canning its much bally-hooed Nagare design language.

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 […]

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