The Crank: Can an all-wheel-drive 911 be a real Porsche?

By John LeBlanc Welcome to winter. Like the rest of Ontario, you probably woke up to the inevitable First Big Dump this week. But what if you had a Porsche in your laneway. Specifically, a new-for-2011 911 Turbo S, which, to the layman’s eyes, seems like the most ridiculous winter vehicle you could drive. But […]

Top 10s: 1990s’ Japanese Sports Cars

By John LeBlanc Riding the wave of profits from their fast-selling mainstream models, a well-earned reputation for reliability and a low-valued Yen, Japanese automakers like Honda, Mazda, Toyota, Nissan and Mitsubishi spent the 1990s trying to one-up each other, making one great driving sports car after another.

First Drive: 2011 Volvo S60 T6

[svgallery name=”2011_Volvo_S60_hirez”] Volvo tries to get its sexy back Does calling its new S60 a “sports sedan” make it so? By John LeBlanc PORTLAND, Oregon—You know the sexist stereotype. A supposedly shy, near-sighted librarian, who when given the chance, lets down the hair, doffs the glasses, and becomes the out-of-character “naughty” librarian. So by adding […]

the straight-GOODS/Sports Coupes

2010 BMW 135i Coupé Base Price: $42,900 Driver Must Haves: “NOT A CHICK CAR” bumper sticker. Let’s pretend the secretary special 128i doesn’t exist, OK? And if BMW makes a convertible 1 Series, I’m drawing a blank. That leaves the 135i Coupe for car zealots, stuffed to its firewall with the same twin-turbo 3.0-litre straight-six […]

Comparo: Nissan GT-R versus Porsche 911 Turbo‏

Story and photos by John LeBlanc Nissan set the stage for a heroic David and Goliath battle when it introduced its new GT-R supercar last fall, flatly stating its “performance bogey” was none other than Porsche’s iconic 911 Turbo. Seriously? Seriously. On public roads at legal speeds, there’s very little to choose from between the […]

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