The Sportage sits five adults in relative comfort. If you fold down the seat, you get a reasonably flat floor
The Kia Sportage was into its third overhaul in 2012, including a major facelift and a larger four-cylinder engine. The first generation of Sportage, introduced to North America in 1993, had a less than stellar reputation. Despite featuring body-on-frame construction, with significant engineering input from Mazda, its various shortcomings almost finished Kia’s foray into SUV…
Mazda has mastered the art of building innocuous, practical family transport, and CX-30 is right on target
Car manufacturers sometimes market their products in a confusing way. In the old days, it was called “badge engineering,” where one model would be gussied up or slightly altered and sold as something else – even though it was virtually identical to the vehicle it was based on. The Oldsmobile Cutlass, for example, was sold…
Available with either a four-cylinder or V6 engine, this generation was offered in a variety of trim levels
There wasn’t much to separate the Toyota Camry between 2010 and 2012, aside from minor styling cues and options packages. These were all pretty good years for Toyota’s mid-size sedan, and it maintained its reputation as one of the more reliable cars on the road. Available with either a four-cylinder or V6 engine, with a…
First introduced to the market in 1982, it’s now in its eighth generation and has never been better
Things have slowed down a little in the compact sedan market over the past few years. It used to be that when people went shopping for affordable transportation, they’d be thinking about the Honda Civic, Chevrolet Cruze, Volkswagen Jetta, Nissan Sentra and so on. But these days, it’s compact SUVs that are catching people’s eyes:…
A high-performance car for buyers who like to drive with enthusiasm and want everyone to know it
The 2012 Chevrolet Camaro offered a wide range of powertrain choices, including a convertible and the hell-raising ZL1. General Motors was banking heavily on baby-boomer nostalgia with this, the fifth-generation version of the Camaro. Aside from the fact that it delivered better fuel economy than its predecessors, had better handling and braking, and was more…
This is a fun, lively car to drive. The shift mechanism, with its rifle-bolt precision, is a treat
The old saying “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” applies in spades to the Mazda MX-5, or Miata as many of us still call it. Yes, it’s changed over the years – it’s a little bulkier and more upscale than it used to be. But, more than three decades after its introduction, it remains…
Standard equipment includes telescoping steering, split folding rear seat, anti-lock brakes and more
In 2012, the Toyota Corolla sedan accounted for 40 per cent of the company’s total Canadian sales. It had been at or near the top of the sales heap in the compact car category for the previous two decades. This generation of the Corolla received a re-do in 2009, apparently styled in part in Turin,…
The adage “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” applies in spades to the Mazda3. Since it was introduced in 2003, it has been an unqualified success, collecting numerous awards around the world. Those awards include the Automobile Journalists Association of Canada (AJAC) car of the year for 2022 and 2021, plus a handful of…
In 2012, Subaru’s Forester was going into its 15th year. Based on the Impreza platform, and manufactured in Japan, it also received a bit of a redesign the year before, getting increased back seat elbow room and all-new rear suspension. Where the previous version featured strut suspension in back, this, the third-generation model, came with…
But if you really want one, be prepared to shell out the cash
The writing is on the wall. Electric cars are here to stay, becoming more and more abundant. There are at least 16 models available in Canada, and most of the major car manufacturers have something on offer. Hyundai has two fully electric models: the Kona and Ioniq 5. Kia – owned by Hyundai – has…
From a price of just under $22,000, the Ram 1500 has more than held its value
In 2012, the Dodge Ram 1500 was well into its fourth generation and offered plenty of choices. It had three engine choices: 3.7-litre V6, 4.7-litre V8, and 5.7-litre V8. You could get this full-size truck in two-wheel and four-wheel drive configurations, with a couple of automatic transmission choices and regular or extended cab body styles.…
This small SUV is aimed at urban drivers and those who keep an eye on fuel economy
If you’re in the market for an electric car, you might have to cool your heels for a bit. With the soaring price of oil, increasing scarcity of battery components and supply chain issues, the waiting time for models like the Nissan Leaf, BMW i3, Chevrolet Bolt, Kia Soul, Tesla and others can be up…
Tasteful interior, available leather upholstery, heated seats, rearview camera, blind spot warning and more
In 2012, the Ford Fusion was two years into a mild makeover and a revised drivetrain. You could get it with a 2.5-litre four-cylinder engine, plus a choice of two V6s and a hybrid. Ford also introduced a new six-speed transmission the year before and there was an all-wheel-drive version, so they were covering all…
The intangible driveability of so many Honda products is intact with the new Civic Hatchback
A few weeks back, I drove the new Honda Civic equipped with a continuously variable transmission (CVT). To put it mildly, I was disappointed. I found the CVT to be inconsistent, power-robbing, unrefined and almost unusable. It ruined, in my opinion, an other wise decent little car. Potential buyers, I cautioned, should be aware of…
What it lacks in beauty it makes up for with interior amenities and conveniences
There were few differences between the 2010 and 2012 Acura TL editions, aside from the addition of a six-speed automatic transmission, retuned suspension and a slight body refresh – mainly a new front-end treatment. Optional equipment includes Honda’s Super Handling All-Wheel-Drive (SH-AWD), which gives the TL a leg up on much of the competition when…
The Kia Sportage was into its third overhaul in 2012, including a major facelift and a larger four-cylinder engine. The first generation of Sportage, introduced to North America in 1993, had a less than stellar reputation. Despite featuring body-on-frame construction, with significant engineering input from Mazda, its various shortcomings almost finished Kia’s foray into SUV…
