Road Test: 2012 Ford Focus Hatchback SEL

Story and photos by John LeBlanc

The whingers and whiners; the moaners and groaners; the grumblers and complainers—you know who you are. You’re the greasy wheels who’ve been squawking that automakers here in Canada don’t sell the type of small hatchbacks those lucky bastards in Europe can buy. Sure. Volkswagen keeps flogging its German-built Golf. But after that, it’s a sea of Asian hatches, cars that Canadian Euro-hatch fans say don’t carry the correct foreign papers to appeal to your sophisticated aesthetics and sensibilities. Read more

Road Trip: 2012 Honda Odyssey Touring

Story and photos by John LeBlanc

SPRINGBROOK, P.E.I. – I’ll have no one accuse yours truly of not being thorough when it comes to big decisions. Take for instance the annual selection of a family vehicle to vacation in. It’s taken me four years—and an equal number of different rides—to come to the conclusion that I may have—perhaps, and quite possibly—found my so-called Perfect Family Vacation Vehicles—or PFVV. Read more

First Drive: 2012 Kia Sportage 1.7 CRDi

Story by John LeBlanc

ZILINA, Slovakia – How serious is Korea’s Kia at taking on the more established European brands? Driving a diesel version of the automaker’s Sportage crossover in the country it was built should give us some clues. Read more

Road Test: 2012 Volkswagen Tiguan Highline 4Motion

Story and photos by John LeBlanc

Warning: If you have offspring in the range of 10 to 12 years of age in your household, you have what social experts call a “tweener,” kids caught between early childhood and adolescence. If you’re a Volkswagen dealer, you also have a tweener on your hands, the Tiguan crossover. Like those tweener children, the Tiguan is between two norms. On one hand, other compact crossovers — such as the Japanese rival Honda CR-V — offer more room and cost less to get into. On the other, when optioned to the max like my top-line Highline 4Motion model, the Volkswagen comes close in price to rival German brand cute-utes, such as the BMW X1 or Mercedes GLK. But ask any tweener: being different has merit. Read more

Video: 2012 BMW 328i Modern

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