Car Driven

Chevy Trax Coming To Canada, U.S Misses Out

It used to be that we Canadians got ourselves a few exclusive offerings from auto manufacturers that our American friends did not. For instance the Toyota Echo hatchback, Mercedes-Benz C-Class and BMW 323i were all cars Americans had to travel North of the border to get their hands on (the latter of that list is still true). But then it seems like manufacturers were willing to let them in on Canadian-only models. Well, Chevy has decided to break that trend.

The Chevy Trax was officially unveiled and it’s essentially the Chevy version of the Buick Encore, which is smaller than you think. The Trax is expected to come in smaller than the Equinox for reference.

Few details are known of the Trax other than it is a five-seater with a rather sleek looking body that is likely going to be based on the Cruze platform. Given the size and GM’s reputation for fuel efficiency, it will likely garner a 4 cylinder engine that is class leading or close to class leading for fuel efficiency as well.

The Trax marks the second Chevrolet that the U.S will not be getting. The Orlando MPV is also only available in Canada as well.

Stay tuned for more info!

[The Globe and Mail]

Test Drive: 2012 Toyota Camry XLE 4-Cylinder

By Kevin Harrison

A friend of mine is having some relationship troubles with his girlfriend. He feels as though he just does not know what she’s thinking most of the time and when he tries to predict her mood, he’s more off than six month old pasta. He just can’t seem to understand what she wants – a problem most men seem to have. He recently came to me for advice.

“Have you considered just asking her what she wants?” I replied.

I think I literally saw a light bulb turn on in his head. It was so simple and so obvious that he couldn’t believe he didn’t think of it before.

 
Truthfully, Toyota had a similar epiphany. While the Camry is a name long synonymous with ‘mid-size car’ and sells well no matter what, they must’ve gown tired of the same criticism: It’s fine as a car, but it’s boring. And while the Camry has a loyal following, the mid-size segment is more competitive than ever before with the new Sonata, Optima and Passat – typically non-players in the segment, now offering tremendous value for tremendous cars.

 
So what did Toyota decide to do?

Read the rest of this entry »

Test Drive: 2012 Kia Rio SX

By Kevin Harrison

Leather seats. Navigation. Bluetooth. Satellite radio. Push start ignition. Keyless entry. Back-up camera. LED lights. 17 inch wheels. Sport tuned suspension.

If you heard all of these things, you’d likely think the car that was being referred to was a BMW or an Audi. And likely the last vehicle to come to mind when hearing all these features is the sub-compact Kia Rio. Well start training your brain to think of the Rio because all that stuff was indeed on the 2012 Kia Rio that I had for a week. It was mind boggling.

The Rio is a close cousin of the Hyundai Accent, both of which were for people who only cared about getting from point A to point B and not much else. The Rio was the favourite for rental car fleets everywhere. It was the butt of most automotive related jokes.

Following the trend of just plain building better cars, Kia has injected the same formula for it’s entry level compact. But there’s obviously more to a car than just fancy features. Does the Rio have the complete package or does it as dull as its predecessor?

Read the rest of this entry »

Here’s Another Reason to Try To Lose Weight…

As it turns out, if you’re obese, cholesterol and heart attacks aren’t the only things to watch out for. You are also more likely to die in a car accident.

The University of Buffalo has just released its study of fatal accidents which reveals that if you are obese, you are 21 percent more likely to die of your injuries in a car accident. If you are morbidly obese, that number rises to a whopping 56 percent.

“The severity and patterns of crash injuries depend on a complex interaction of biomechanical factors, including deceleration velocity at impact, seat belt and air bag use, vehicle type and weight, and type of impact,” says Dr. Dietrich Jehle.

The population’s obesity levels are rising at an alarming rate, particularly in North America, so what does Jekle suggest?

“Crash test dummies have saved lives and provided invaluable data on how human bodies react to crashes, but they are designed to represent normal-weight individuals. If they represented our overweight American society, there could be further improvements in vehicle design that could decrease mortality.”

Jehle goes on to recommend that  “moderately and morbidly obese individuals to buy larger vehicles with more space between the seat and the steering column”.

While I agree that people in general should leave more space between themselves and the steering column, I feel as though this suggestion just goes along with the uncorrect stigma that “bigger is better”, which is already a huge problem in the automotive industry. If you conduct a very unscientific poll of why people buy massive SUV’s for instance, a lot of people will tell you that they bought them to feel safe. However, feeling safe and actually being safe or two diffent things entirely. Statistics have proven time and time again that just because your vehicle is bigger, it doesn’t mean it’s safer and with SUV’s in particular, it often means they are less safe due to their weight and ride height, making them more likely to lose control or roll over. So recommending that an obese indiviual buy a bigger car only means they’ll be more likely to get into an accident in the first place, which then means that the accident is more likely to be fatal.

As such, the study’s recommendation is largely reactive, as opposed to proactive, of the bigger problem. It did not mention anything about encouraging healthy eating habits or exercise for instance.

The study used drivers who were grouped based on body mass index (BMI) — weight in kilograms divided by height in meters squared — into underweight, normal, overweight, slightly obese, moderately obese and morbidly obese categories from accident data between 2000 and 2005.

Thoughts?

[University of Buffalo]

Test Drive: 2012 Toyota Yaris LE 5-Door

By Kevin Harrison

It’s a formula that has worked for a long time: make something cheap to buy and cheap to run and you’ll penetrate a market seldom paid any attention to which is people who think cars are merely designed to get you from point A to point B. Us car nuts generally are not a part of this crowd. We love to talk about horsepower and handling, style and exhaust notes. Price may be a factor as to whether or not we can afford a particular vehicle, but even when we can’t we still love to study up the specs for a good old fashioned Ferrari vs. Lamborghini debate.

But the fact of the matter is, car nuts are few and far between and it’s really those who don’t care about cars who control the market. Strange, no? Since this automotive indifference is so prevalent, it’s why we’re seeing the death of the manual transmission. It’s why we’re seeing hybrid/electric technology in sports cars. It’s why steering feel has taken a back seat to comfort.

These people who want basic transportation are more concerned about safety, reliability and fuel efficiency and there’s nothing necessarily wrong with that. As such, Toyota has taken a good portion of that market starting with the Tercel, which then morphed into the Echo and now to the Yaris.

The formula has worked for Toyota for a long time. Will it continue to do the trick, or will the competition give the popular subcompact a run for its money?

Read the rest of this entry »

Turn Signal Misuse Causes Twice As Many Accidents As Distracted Driving

We all have our pet peeves when it comes to driving. People talking or texting on their phones, people driving too fast or too slowly etc. One of my absolute biggest pet peeve is when people don’t signal their intentions. Not only is it immensely inconsiderate of other drivers but it’s dangerous too and there’s now some stats to back this up.

Distracted driving is generally regarded as the worse offense for accident causes as the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration pegged it for causing over 1 million accidents per year in the U.S.

That number doubles for when talking about turn signal related accidents to 2 million per year.

Whether it’s failing to turn when a signal is activated or just plain not using the signal altogether, the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) says that this happens over 750 billion times a year. I’m not quite sure how they came to measure that number, but it’s staggering nevertheless.

The solution? Well according to SAE, it resides in creating smarter technology such as “Smart Turn Signals” which could turn off the turn signal automatically if it’s deemed to become a hazard by using sensors, or alert the driver if and when they fail to signal. And here’s why that won’t work:

1) People already feel there is too much out of their control when it comes to vehicles such as seat belt safety warning systems, speed limiters and traction control which, despite being in their best interest, really turn people off. In short, people don’t like being nannied to death.

2) Surely there will be some sort of way of disabling these ‘Smart Turn Signals’ which renders it useless in the first place.

3) Education is the best way to change habits. By making people realize the importance of using their turn signals appropriately, people will start to do it and it will become as common sense and as frequent as putting on your seatbelt – something most of us don’t even think about anymore, we just do it.

What do you think is the best way to get people to use their turn signals properly?

[Society of Automotive Engineers]

Test Drive: 2012 Volkswagen Jetta GLI

By Kevin Harrison

I have an acquaintance named Tim who owns an Audi TT which he uses for his daily driver and who uses a fifteen year old Honda Civic as his beater in the winter months. Yes, I know, he could likely get away with driving the TT all-year round if he puts on a good set of winter tires, but that’s a different issue entirely. His issue, he says, is that his newly acquired fiancée has recently become pregnant.

While Tim always knew that taking the leap into holy matrimony would likely mean getting rid of his beloved TT eventually, he didn’t expect this to happen quite so quickly and as a result, he’s finding it difficult to part with the TT.

“I can’t be one of those guys,” said Tim in a recent phone conversation, audibly stressed and panicked. “I just can’t”.

I reassured him that getting a minivan as he was suggesting probably wasn’t necessary for just one kid, and is still the case if he ends up with twins which, the mere mention of the word forces Tim’s esophagus to swell shut.

Tim loves his TT mostly for its performance, but also appreciates the well appointment interior, exterior style and it’s small and nimble nature. I reassured him that there are great performance cars out there which also double as trusty family vehicles as well. The apocalypse has yet to come where anyone with a kid needs a minivan (which, by the way, I personally think people should be buying instead of monstrous SUV’s in the first place, but that’s for a different post altogether).

So he needs something safe, fun to drive, with the same sort of premium feel that he’s used to with his Audi. Why not stay within family blood lines?

The new iteration of the Jetta GLI has just come to market. Does it have what it takes to do double duty of performance car and family hauler?  

Read the rest of this entry »

Acura Apologizes For Racist Ad Casting

Remember that commercial that Acura apparently spent top dollars for to advertise for the new NSX for the Superbowl? It had Jerry Seinfeld wanting to be the first owner of ther new NSX, but a random guy beat him to it. Seinfeld then spends the whole commercial trying to sway said buyer with fairly ridiculous offers and in the end Jay Leno ended up getting the keys to the first NSX. What a brilliant premise.

The commercial was a pretty big hit and seemed to be fairly harmless and G rated, which earned Acura decent praise. Apparently behind the scenes though, this was not the case.

The company that Acura hired to cast for the commercial made a big no-no in the casting sheet. The company advertised for the salesman, who interacts with Seinfeld at the beggining, to be African-American. Nothing wrong with that, right? Well apparently they also stated that the actor was required to be ”not too dark”.

According to TMZ, the ones who unearthed the casting sheet from an unamed source, the PR company that Acura hired put that caveat in there because it had to do with lighting and special effects, and nothing to do with being racist. Here’s the thing with that though:

It’s. Still. Racist.

What they are essentially suggesting is that dark skinned African-Americans can’t be on TV. Really? Due to lighting? That’s what you came up with? Then buy more lights. Buy more expensive equipment. Spend hours or days on the lighting if you have to to get it right. Don’t stunt the growth of a young African-American’s acting career for something he cannot help. The Cosby Show was able to get by just fine lighting dark-skinned actors, after all. Putting “not too dark” into a casting sheet is just going along with a larger issue that’s developing in TV today, which is perpetuating  the stereotypical social issue that dark-skinned African-Americans aren’t to be trusted and that we should all tremble and clutch our valuables should we see a dark skinned male approaching. I wish I could say it’s becoming ridiculous, but unfortunately this sort of attitude has been around for a long time, especially when it comes to TV.

Read the rest of this entry »

Scion to Discontinue xB & xD

 The pioneers of the Scion brand, which Toyota created in the hopes of snagging a good portion of the youth market, are apparently on the choppong block. The Scion xB (pictured above) and the xD are reportedly going to get the axe.

The xB quickly became an iconic symbol helping to brand the new marque. Whenever you saw an xB, you simply said “I saw a Scion today”, which is pretty much every manufacturer’s main goal. It also helped that Toyota was among the first to introduce the box-on-wheels styling and was the first to make it cool. Or the first to make you want to scratch your own eyes out whenever you saw one. The xB’s styling was certainly polarizing when it was introduced back in 2004.

A few years later demand for cube-like styled cars started to dwindle. Honda recently killed off its boxy Element as a result, Kia tried a more shapely approach with the Soul and Nissan’s Cube became all but forgotten. In an effort to regain sales, Toyota redesigned the second generation xB with softer, more tame lines. This pretty much backfired as it very much upset xB loyalists who loved the sharp edged styling of their box, while it did absolutely nothing to entice naysayers at the same time.

The xD was an econobox that failed to catch on as well (even in our sub-compact loving market). Prospective buyers decided to opt for the Yaris and Corolla which are both much better known and thus much more likely to retain they’re value.

But don’t think that the Scion brand is dead in the water on the whole. The FR-S is expected to bring back former Celica and MR2 owners and Toyota hopes it will introduce some newcomers to the brand, while the innovative iQ will likely bite into a big chunck of Smart Fortwo sales as it’s more practical, more refined and just as good on gas. It seems Scion is still aiming at the youth market with these models, just taking a different approach.

Will you miss the xB and/or xD?

[Ward's Auto]

Mazda to Rid Itself of V6 Option?

The brand synonymous with Zoom Zoom is reportedly dropping an engine synonymous with decent power: the V6. Strange, no?

Mazda is certainly proud of its new SkyActiv engine (of which I enjoyed for the most part as well), and is likely looking to expand its availability across the lineup. It appears that Mazda may be focusing much more on fuel efficiency than injecting sport into every model it makes by going this direction, but at the same time, that’s the direction the overall market is headed. As such, Mazda USA boss Robert Davis has confirmed that they have no plans on developing a new V6 power plant.

Currently the CX9 and Mazda6 are the only models available with a V6 option, both of which are well overdue for a model redesign. Since most of the industry is dropping V8 engines like hot potatoes, it stands to reason that the replacements of both vehicles will downsize to a 4-cylinder with a SkyActiv trim level available. There is a good possibility of a turbocharged 4-cylinder taking the engine bay of the top trim level, however Mazda remains quite tight lipped on that possibility.

What do you think of ‘performance’ brand downsizing their engine options?

[Autoguide.com]

Toyota Looking to Make More Exciting Vehicles

 Supra. Celica. MR2.

All names associated with performance, all names which no longer exist in today’s car world. A while back Toyota took a new direction with its product concentrating more on reliable and fuel efficient vehicles. While that may have worked (Toyota was the number one auto manufacturer in the world for while), it definitely alienated their loyal performance nuts who were forced to look elsewhere to brands like Honda, Nissan and Volkswagen for their performance pleasure.

With the introduction of the Toyota GT 86 (that’s Scion FR-S in Canadian-speak) it seems the company may be looking to real back some of those customers. CEO Akio Toyoda recently mentioned that they are implementing a new development and manufacturing framework to come up with more exciting cars which will allow them to design multiple vehicles at the same time, reducing costs and adding the ability to cut the amount of people involved in the approval process. This means less people to focus on the vehicle’s potential negative’s and focus more on the vehicle’s strengths.

So does this mean more cars like the GT 86? Or does it merely mean a more rigid structure with enhanced springs and stabilizers like on the redesigned Avalon? Tough to say, but at this point anything to help get the ball rolling on a next generation Supra (one of my fave cars as a kid) would be much appreciated.

[Automotive News]

Test Drive: 2012 Subaru Impreza Sport Package 5-Door

By Kevin Harrison

Bigger is better. We hear that cliché all the time, but just how true is it? I recently went for a six inch sub at Subway instead of the foot long and I must admit, my stomach sure did appreciate that rather than stuffing it with another half of sub. Surely I alleviated myself of stomach cramps by going for less.

The bigger is better notion is a problem we hear all the time, and the auto industry is among the worse for employing it. Every car has grown in size from its original inception and every car now has a bigger engine. For Subaru they had a somewhat similar problem.

The motto: Most true Subarus should have all-wheel drive standard.

The problem: All-wheel drive means increased fuel consumption.

Subaru has been struggling with this dilemma for the past few decades as gas prices climb and show no signs of slowing down. Not wanting to fully abandon their all-wheel drive heritage (making the rear-wheel drive BRZ is probably as far as Subaru is willing to go), the only solution seemed to remain in the power plant.

But increasing horsepower or making a bigger engine would surely affect fuel consumption. Famous for their boxer engines, Subaru has concluded that to ditch the boxer could mean losing some of their loyal fans, so rather than putting in a diesel or making a hybrid powertrain, Subaru has gone to the drawing board with a new smaller engine - bucking the trend to upside, to match their newly redesigned compact offering.

Have they come up with a credible solution to their dilemma or is this just some great spin from their marketing department? I drove one to find out.

Read the rest of this entry »

Female Drivers Mistakenly Hit Gas Pedal More Often

You’ve probably seen videos like the above before: a driver pulls into a parking spot in front of a business or restaurant then without warning the car plunges itself through the store window. How on earth can such an accident occur? Well apparently most times it’s a case of the driver accidently hitting the gas instead of the brake. As unthinkable and as unusual as it sounds, it happens more often than you think.

A new study has actually revealed that more often than not it’s older female drivers behind the wheel when this inattention occurs. Nearly two thirds of all car-into-building accidents occurred with an older female driver. In fact, most were over the age of 76, while most of the rest were under the age of 20. Pretty big difference in age there. Why the difference?

It likely has to do with female brain patterns. Researchers speculate that the area of the brain which is used for driving in females probably isn’t as robust at a younger age (20 or younger) and probably deteriorates more as the driver gets older (76 or older).

Before us men start to gloat and tout the stereotype flag, the study also noted that men have more accidents in general. About 60% of all types of car accidents had a male behind the wheel.

[Wheels.ca]

Test Drive: 2012 Nissan Juke SL AWD

By Kevin Harrison

By all indications Pablo Picasso was mad. The famous Spanish artist could easily turn everyday life scenarios and paint them into a seemingly twisted snapshot that is both awe inspiring and head scratching.

People with distorted unconventional faces and sometimes with twin faces would relentlessly be found on mismatched bodies with questionable colour choices. It was sometimes a stretch, but look closely and you’ll notice that Picasso wasn’t exactly mad, he just saw things in a different way. So differently, in fact, that he is credited with inventing a new style of painting called Cubism. It was a way of painting in which Picasso analyzed and painted objects in terms of picked apart shapes and put them back together in an interesting and austere way.

Nissan is one of the few automakers to do the same with their designs. If you haven’t noticed, the compact CUV segment is about as interesting as spending an evening with a goldfish. Same general shape, same general function. But Nissan has decided to take a leap with their latest CUV design in the hopes of coming up with a Cubism (and no, I’m not referring to their other compact offering, the Cube).

The Juke has found itself on many top ten ugly vehicle lists and has even been accused of being a modern day Pontiac Aztek. While Picasso’s work was certainly polarizing, most of his paintings were concluded to be literal works of art from a hand which produced strokes of genius.

Has Nissan hit a similar point in design, or have they merely produced something only a mother could love? I drove one to find out.

Read the rest of this entry »

Volkswagen Scirocco Being Considered For North America

Volkswagen certainly seems to be making a valiant effort trying to get us Canadians the models that we want. First they considered offering the Passat Alltrack here, and now it seems they may be considering offering the Scirocco as well.

The last Scirocco to be sold here was the 1988 model year. After that, the only way to get a current generation Scirocco in Canada was through a very expensive loophole and even if you wanted to spend insane amounts of cash for one, your chances of nabbing one were quite slim. If you don’t know much about the Scirocco, it’s essentially a sleeker, better looking version of the GTI (and it’s also around the same price), although in Europe it can also be had in diesel form as well.

But at this year’s New York Auto Show, Johnathan Browning, CEO of Volkswagen of America, told the press that the next-generation Scirocco could find its way to our shores. Although it wasn’t clear whether Browning was referring to the facelifted Scirocco which is expected next year, or if he was talking about a brand new redesign a few years down the road. It’s likely the latter.

Also interesting news about the Passat Alltrack is that a diesel variant is being considered here too, which all but confirms that the Alltrack is on its way. It’s one thing to speculate about a model being sold in a market, but it’s another to start suggesting potential powerplants for a ‘concept’ that isn’t even sold here yet. That’s good news, wagon fans!

[Autoblog Canada]