Top 10s: Most anticipated test drives for 2014

By John LeBlanc Who would have thought the Ultimate Driving Machine makers at Germany’s BMW would ever build an electric city car (the new i3?) Or the best family sedan you could buy would be a new Chevy (the new Impala)? But that was sooo 2013. And with the global auto industry in a constant battle to meet new environmental and fuel economy laws and massive shifts in customer tastes, 2014 is shaping up to see a host of interesting and significant new vehicle introductions. Alphabetically, here are the top 10 new cars I’m most looking forward to test-driving this year: 2015 Acura TLX Replacing both the European Honda Accord-based Acura TSX and the larger TL (seen above) sedans, Honda’s luxury brand has a lot riding on its all-new 2015 Acura TLX sports sedan, expected to go on-sale in the second half of 2014. While a TLX concept (designed by Acura’s Los Angeles Design Studio) is expected to debut this month at the Detroit auto show, speculation sees the 2015 production versions sporting front- or all-wheel-drive, a new transmission and a pair of all-new direct-injected engines. 2014 Audi S3 I expect the cooking versions of the new 2015 Audi A3 compact sedan will be really nice cars (they’ll quickly become the brand’s best-seller here in Canada.) But the A3 I’m really excited about is the hotter S3 version, arriving later in 2014. Slightly smaller than the Audi A4 four-door, the S3 will come with around 300 horsepower from Audi’s ubiquitous 2.0-litre turbocharged four-cylinder gas engine, Quattro all-wheel-drive and the requisite suspension and interior trim upgrades — can’t wait! 2015 BMW 2 Series Coupe I considered the outgoing BMW 1 Series the Last of the Real BMWs. So I’m anxious to get behind the wheel of the compact sports coupe’s 2 Series successors, set to debut this month at the Detroit auto show. A bit longer, and wider than the old 1 Series two-doors, will the rear-wheel-drive 2015 228i (240 horsepower 2.0-litre turbocharged gas-four) and M235i (322 hp 3.0 L turbo gas-six) live up to the its predecessor’s high standards? 2015 Cadillac ATS Coupe The arrival of the 2013 Cadillac ATS sedan (seen above) marked the first time a domestic automaker offered a real challenger to the likes of the BMW 3 Series or Audi A4. And coming for 2014 will be the highly anticipated two-door ATS Coupe. The 2015 Caddy ATS Coupe is expected to be powered by the same four- and six-cylinder engines as the sedan. But speculation sees a high-performance ATS-V Coupe with a 400 horsepower twin-turbo V6 ready to take on the new BMW M4 Coupe — seriously. 2015 Ford Mustang Was there a new vehicle introduction last year that received more hype than the all-new 2015 Ford Mustang? Probably not. But with a late-2014 on-sale date, the worst part now will be the wait to get behind the wheel of what is expected to be Ford’s best pony car yet. As you may already know, Ford wants to sell the new Mustang to customers around the world, buyers who normally would shop coupes wearing BMW badges. So I’m looking forward to seeing if the new Mustang meets such lofty expectations. 2015 Ford F-150 As much as the 2015 Mustang is important to Ford’s brand image, the best-selling F-Series pickups (seen above) are important to the American automaker’s bottom line. And in the face of customers and governments demanding better fuel economy, Ford is taking some technological leaps of faith with the new 2015 F-150. Will buyers trust the durability of the new F-150’s aluminum-intensive redesign? Or the move to smaller engines, like a rumoured 2.7-litre turbocharged six-cylinder? We’ll all have to wait until next year to find out. 2014 Mini Cooper Hardtop While not as large as the full-size Ford pickup, the new Mini Cooper just keeps on growing. Wider, longer and taller than ever before, the new third-generation 2015 Mini Cooper hatchback (the inevitable Convertible and JCW models are coming), well, is not so “mini” anymore. Under its hood, a new three-cylinder boast an increase of horsepower to 134 to help out on the forward motion front. But I’m more interested in how the 2015 Mini steers and handles. Has the increase in size diminished the Cooper’s so-called go-kart handling? 2015 Porsche Macan Set to arrive in Canadian showrooms in spring 2014, the new 2015 Macan compact crossover will come in 340 and 400 horsepower versions using twin-turbocharged six-cylinder gas engines, which in the topline model, Porsche says will result in a 4.8 seconds 0-100 kilometres per hour time. While trophy wives across the country may be excited to get into a Porsche that’s smaller than their current Cayenne, I’m more anxious to see if the Macan drives that much better than the Audi Q5 it’s based on. 2015 Volkswagen Golf I actually got to drive the all-new, seventh-generation VW Golf way back in the fall of 2012. But those were European spec and built models. So with the rollout of the Mexican-made Canadian market 2015 Golfs this year, I’m wondering how the German compact’s trip across the Atlantic Ocean has gone. On top of a roomier-but-lighter body, the 2015 Golf will offer a slew of new engines. From a 1.8-litre turbo gas-four (replacing the decrepit 2.5 L five-cylinder) to an upgraded 2.0 L turbo in the GTI to a new diesel in the expected GTD. 2015 Volvo V60 A Volvo showroom without a station wagon just feels empty. But the Chinese-owned Swedish automaker looks to rectify that omission with the new 2015 V60, a sports wagon version of the S60 sedan. First seen at the 2010 Paris auto show, the V60 is going on-sale in Canada this month, ranging from with the 250 horsepower T5 AWD to the topline 325 hp R-Design. It will be interesting to see how the Volvo stacks up against its BMW 3 Series Touring and Audi A4 Allroad rivals.

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