From the sedate to the mental: this week, I am behind the wheel of Mazda’s mental Mazdaspeed3, the little car with big power stuffed under the hood and driving the front wheels only. Mental, mainly because this is one of the only cars I would say Mazda has ever made that has had more than enough, if not too much, power. Typically, Mazda is more about low-powered fun in the twisties. More…
It’s lighter, wider, lower and faster than its predecessor and with zero front lift, and zero rear lift (when equipped with rear and front spoilers) the 332hp, new for 2009, Nissan 370Z is one exciting automobile! I have always enjoyed the 350Z and Nissan has upped the ante quite a bit with the new Z — more so, even, than many expected. More…
I wish summer would come sooner. Every year, it seems like the hot weather does not arrive in the capital until mid-August, and when it does come, so does my yearly Porsche review. Not that I’m complaining about it: it simply would be nicer if both summer and the Porsche arrived earlier. Last year, it was the Boxster and Boxster S back-to-back (view the review here) in early September; this year it’s the Cayman and it is happening in late August. More…
The Kia Soul seemed to be a hit with everyone, including my co-workers, my friends and many random people around town, as well as with me. So will this week’s tester be a hit with just as many people, while it will it go unnoticed by others. To the untrained eye, it looks like pretty much every other Lexus IS sedan on the road, but to many my tester this week is a rare and welcomed sight — the 2009 Lexus IS-F. More…
Want to be noticed driving while down the road? How about getting noticed stepping out of your car, or maybe you want people to pull out their cellphone to snap pictures as you drive by or as your car sits in a parking lot? You could buy a Ferrari or a Lamborghini, or name your supercar; that would work for sure. Or, with a more modest budget, you could do it in this week’s tester, the 2010 Chevrolet Camaro. More…
Somewhat fittingly, that this week I am in a rally-inspired car since I will be doing my own rallycross on Saturday. I won’t be taking this car — too risky — but I’m sure it would be a blast! This week, I am zipping around town in a Mitsubishi Lancer Sportback Ralliart — phew, that’s a mouthful. I’d classify this week’s car as Mitsubishi’s answer to the Subaru WRX, an answer that Subaru counter-punched with the more-powerful WRX265 earlier this year. More…
This week is a little different, with a holiday in the middle of the week — happy birthday, Canada! It is nice to get Wednesday off, as I’m sure most will agree, but it certainly plays havoc with my day-by-day format, so I will do something a little different to offset the holiday — today is day 1 and day 2. More…
Sunday was both Father’s Day and the first day of summer, and did summer ever hit us hard, with temps above 30 degrees the past few days in Ottawa. I’m not complaining; on the contrary, I’m taking in all the sun I can get with lunch hour walks around the campus at work and top-down motoring on the way home! More…
If I were to pick a car to be the perfect winter run-about, I suspect it would have some bits in common with my tester for this week. It’s too bad you (the reader) have already seen the title and pictures of this week’s car or I could have you guessing — so without further ado, this week’s test vehicle is the Audi TTS Roadster! But back to my analogy of things I’d like to have in a winter runabout. More…
Let’s do something a little different this week — the flurry of cars I have had in the past few weeks has been a little overwhelming. Immediately after the Nissan GT-R I hopped into a Porsche Boxster S for 5 days while I was “waiting” on my week with the Mazda RX-8. So to say I haven’t been slumming it for the past few weeks is quite the understatement. More…
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