Road Trip: 2008 Targa Newfoundland – Part 2

Story and photos by John LeBlanc St. John’s, Newfoundland – A lot of things run though your mind when you realize your Targa Newfoundland racecar is no longer pointing in the desired direction, but rather heading swiftly towards a ditch – sideways – at about 60 km/h. You think … 1) Oh! So that’s why […]

Road Trip: 2008 Targa Newfoundland – Part 1

Story and photos by John LeBlanc My road to this year’s Targa Newfoundland road rally started on the last stage of the last day after completing the 2006 event. Arriving back where I had started five days earlier, near St. John’s harbour, overwhelmed by simply surviving such a grueling event as a navigator, I swore […]

Comparo: 2009 Audi A3 3.2, BMW 135i, Mitsubishi Evo, Subaru WRX STi

Story and photos by John LeBlanc CALABOGIE, ONT.–Essentially a gussied up Volkswagen Golf, Audi’s A3 started the premium compact genre in Europe 12 years ago. Today, almost every automaker has a compact car with a big car price in its stable. With all the features and performance of larger cars – but in a more […]

Comparo: Audi A3 3.2 Quattro versus BMW 135i

Story and photos by John LeBlanc As higher fuel costs cause midsize luxury sport car buyers to move en masse to smaller cars, automotive industry analysts are predicting that the biggest growth in the Canadian new car market over the next few years will come from premium compacts.

Road Test: 2009 Chevrolet Cobalt SS Coupe

Story and photos by John LeBlanc With the performance market quickly turning to small, fun and frugal, Chevrolet – a brand historically marketed as General Motors’ “cheap speed” division – should be sitting on the automotive throne right now. Instead, Chevrolet’s been preoccupied with pickups, crossovers, SUVs and resurrecting its retro Camaro muscle car; a […]

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