Dear John: Premium compact sedans

Story by John LeBlanc

The “good things come in small packages” idiom can certainly apply to the burgeoning premium compact sedan segment. The idea of automakers offering what was once considered “big car” safety, convenience and performance features in a compact four-door — and charging a hefty premium for it — is catching on with new car buyers. And that’s certainly the case with this month’s Dear John letter writer. Read more

Comparo: 2014 Ford Focus 5-door Titanium vs. 2014 Mazda3 Sport GT

Story by John LeBlanc

Welcome to the heart of the Canadian new car market: the compact class. While the profits are thin for their makers, compact cars perennially sit at the top of the sales charts. And such fierce competition has brought some outstanding value to new car buyers. Take for instance this pair of front-wheel-drive, five-passenger, four-door compact hatchback combatants. Read more

Road Test: 2014 Subaru Forester 2.5i

Story and photos by John LeBlanc

Always a comfortable, modest and casual driving machine since the first version arrived in 1997, it’s been easy to think of the Subaru Forester as the Birkenstock sandal of the compact crossover crowd. However, like the current Subaru Impreza compact and slick-looking Legacy Concept from last month’s Los Angeles auto show, the Japanese automaker seems to be moving the all-new, 2014 Forester towards more mainstream Nike sneaker buyers. Read more

First Drive: 2014 Nissan Pathfinder Hybrid

Story by John LeBlanc

NASHVILLE, TENN. — While the rest of the auto industry was racing to catch up to rival Toyota’s increasingly popular gasoline-electric hybrids, Japan’s Nissan stubbornly stuck by its non-hybrid fuel-economy strategy, touting the fuel-saving benefits of it continuously variable automatic transmission technology, and forging ahead with its all-electric Leaf. Read more

Flashback Fridays: 2005 Audi TT 3.2 DSG S-Line Coupe

Story by John LeBlanc

Imagine if you could be the automotive equivalent to Woody Allen’s Zelig, able to drive the more significant cars throughout history. Notable cars, such as the 1911 Cadillac, which had the world’s first electronic starter, meaning the driver no longer had to haul on a crank to get the engine turned over. Or how about the first line of cars to sport automatic transmissions — the 1940 Oldsmobile — that offered Hydra-Matic drive? Read more

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