First Drive: 2011 Ford Explorer

Exploring new worlds In the search for fuel economy, Ford’s iconic Explorer evolves from SUV to crossover By John LeBlanc SAN DIEGO, Calif. – You would be forgiven if you thought Ford’s decision to move its Explorer to a car-like unibody chassis after riding for a quarter-century on a body-on-frame truck-style chassis is late. After […]

The Crank: Can an all-wheel-drive 911 be a real Porsche?

By John LeBlanc Welcome to winter. Like the rest of Ontario, you probably woke up to the inevitable First Big Dump this week. But what if you had a Porsche in your laneway. Specifically, a new-for-2011 911 Turbo S, which, to the layman’s eyes, seems like the most ridiculous winter vehicle you could drive. But […]

First Drive: 2010 Acura ZDX

[svgallery name=”10_Acura_ZDX_hirez”] FTD SUV Acura’s so-called coupé SUV offers more form than function By John LeBlanc PEBBLE BEACH, Calif. – You probably don’t “need” the new 2010 Acura ZDX, an SUV that’s had most of its utility removed because of its coupé (Acura’s word, not mine) styling. Like its chief rival, BMW’s X6 Sports Activity […]

2010’s Top SUVs/CUVs under $50k

By John LeBlanc Every year, the Toronto Star‘s Wheels section asks its contributors to scratch together a shortlist of what they think are the top new cars—as in what’s available in showrooms, not just “new” for 2011—in various segments. Here are my picks for the Top SUVs/CUVs under $50k:

Road Trip: 2011 Infiniti QX56

By John LeBlanc PICTON, ONT.—There’s little doubt. Infiniti’s latest large SUV is more luxury hotel suite than family transportation. Having to extricate our daughter and two of her camping buddies out of the QX56 to stop them from watching Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back on the trio of DVD screens scattered throughout […]

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