Shameless Self-promotion - Toronto Star Content Update (part 4) - The Final Reviews

2016 Mazda 6 GT in Soul Red. See? Sedans don't have to be boring appliances...

May 27, 2016

You can read my Wheels review of Mazda's 6 sedan in GT trim here. (You can tell that this one sat in the Star's archives for a while. Not much snow in May.)

It's true that I have a fondness for Mazdas, but it's just as true that I'll call a spade a spade. This is no spade. It's a diamond.

Sure, there are some glaring omissions. While heated seats both front and rear are standard, a heated steering wheel isn't available. This is Canada, Mazda. I can get a heated steering wheel in a Kia Forte. Optional engine? Nope. No such luck. You can, however, get a manual gearbox in all three of the 6's trim levels, even if the top GT model's advanced safety and adaptive cruise package is automatic only. If my previous experience is any indication, the manual box would be a joy to use.

How it is that this nicely made, stylish, well-equipped, and fun to drive car gets continuously overlooked in this segment baffles me. Then again, plenty of people bought the previous generation Chrysler 200 and Dodge Avenger. Maybe midsize sedan buyers just prefer shoddy build quality and crappy dynamics.



 

2016 Polaris Slingshot. A vehicle so unusual that it deserves two photos...

...because this is where it gets really weird. Yep. It's a trike!

 June 17, 2016

You can read my Wheels review of Polaris' unusual Slingshot roadster trike here.

Many thanks to Dave Todd, owner of Spoiled Sports in Bowmanville, Ontario, for providing the test vehicle. 

Make no mistake, this thing is unconventional. Particularly now, as this vehicle configuration has not been available in Ontario, the level of attention it garners is astounding.

It is simultaneously a blast to drive and tiring - both driver and passenger have to wear a motorcycle helmet (and a full-face type helmet is a very good idea given the low height and lack of a real windshield) - and there's a lot of noise from the belt-drive transfer unit and snowmobile-style exhaust. You have to rethink the car strategy of straddling potholes and bumps, as the central rear wheel will encounter what the front wheels miss, and it doesn't always enjoy it.

While the Slingshot actually is pretty quick, and it handles better than the odd number of tires would suggest possible, this is more of a cruising and socializing vehicle than a three-day, Tail of the Dragon road-tripper. It would do it, no problem. Whether you'd want to is the question.

Just recognize it for the fun, attention-getting toy that it is and enjoy the sunshine. Through your visor.

Ernie Harmer and his 2014 Nissan Sentra, "Stingy" (background), with Nissan's 2016 Sentra SL

 July 22, 2016

Hard to believe, but after over 13 years of proudly providing content for the Toronto Star's Wheels section, this review was my last.

My take on Nissan's refreshed for 2016 Sentra can be found here.

And why is Ernie Harmer in the above photo and my story? You'll have to read it to find out...

I'm a Nissan fan, having not only owned seven of them over the years, but having had one or another as a daily driver since I was a teenager, longer ago than I care to think about. Unfortunately, as happens with every automaker, some models are better than others. Nissan has struck out with this one as far as I'm concerned; I wouldn't own this generation of Sentra, certainly not one with the available CVT, anyway.

A recent Car and Driver 5-way comparo summed up the dead-last ranked, CVT-equipped Sentra thusly: "Faster than walking, shelters you from the elements."

Nissan needs to either start using the Brazillian market Sentra's 2.0 litre engine here, or plunk in a version of the Juke's 1.6 turbo, because the current 1.8 is simply under-equipped to motivate this car with anything approaching enthusiasm. While they're at it, they ought to pull the engineers that designed and tuned the early 90's era Sentra SE-R and NX2000's "B13" chassis out of retirement and get them to do an emergency rework of this one - this Sentra has both zero verve and unimpressive ride quality. Bizarre, because the basic ingredients are good: it's roomy, it offers the latest safety tech, it's well-equipped for the money, and (in the right hands) it can return good mileage. The recipe just needs some serious tweaking.



Stay tuned! While this is the last of my Toronto Star Wheels reviews, there is more Star content for me to share. See you soon.

Shameless Self-promotion

Dexter

Blame the dog. It's all his fault. He kept me from regularly updating this blog and providing links to my content in a timely fashion.

Actually, like the proverbial dog that ate my homework, poor Dexter here had nothing at all to do with my lackadaisical web-keeping.

Part of it has to do with ongoing changes at the Toronto Star in terms of its online content. Where once pretty much anything that saw print in the Wheels section would find its way onto the Wheels.ca website, several reworkings and some personnel and strategy changes made that hit and miss. Now, content can sometimes be found there, or sometimes at the "Autos" tab on the Star's home page, or sometimes neither.

I'll try to stay on top of this. In the meantime, here's a back catalog of many of the articles that I have not yet linked to.

Good Doggie!

2016 Mazda MX-5 (a.k.a. Miata)

2015 Canadian International Auto Show (Toronto) - Small Cars to expect - February 20th, 2015

Find my coverage of what interesting small cars to watch for - including Mazda's latest generation MX-5 - at the Toronto auto show here.

2016 Cadillac CTS-V

2015 Canadian International Auto Show (Toronto) - Cadillac press conference coverage - February 16th, 2015

Find my coverage of Cadillac's new from the Toronto auto show, which included the CTS-V, here.

2016 Nissan Titan XD

2015 Canadian International Auto Show (Toronto) - Nissan press conference coverage - February 15th, 2015

Find my coverage of Nissan's news from the Toronto auto show, which included the Nissan Titan XD, here.

2014 Cadillac ATS4 2.0T at speed

 
2014 Cadillac ATS4 2.0T - December 12th, 2014

Find my review of Cadillac's very good ATS sedan here.

2015 Honda Fit

 
2015 Canadian Car of the Year Test Fest coverage (Best New Small Car Under $21k) - November 3rd, 2014

Find my coverage of the Best New Small Car (under $21k) in AJAC's 2015 Canadian Car of the Year, which was later won by the Honda Fit, here.

2015 Buick Enclave

2015 Buick Enclave - August 26th, 2014

Find my review of Buick's 2015 Enclave here.

Speedbump/Chevy the cat

Cat-astrophe - A tail from the dark side of cars - August 22, 2014

Find my story about the surprise that I had at work one day here.

Sadly, though it looked like it would be a happy ending at the time the story was published, it ultimately did not end well. After coming down with some sort of respiratory infection, Chevy, as he became named by the shelter, was put on antibiotics, but did not respond to treatment. As his condition deteriorated, they had no real option but to put him down.

If there's an upside to this, the story did generate considerable foot traffic and awareness for the shelter, so it is doubtless that several of Chevy's peers found good homes as a result.

Shameless Self-promotion

Toronto Star Wheels - April 13, 2013

I'd love to link you to my latest contribution to the Toronto Star's Wheels section - my coverage of the 15 finalists for the inaugural Canadian Green Car of the Year Award - however it does not appear to be on their website, www.wheels.ca, at the present time. I guess you'll just have to check out some less than stellar photos of the paper until such time as I can properly scan it, or it gets uploaded. That's my photo of the Mercedes-Benz B 250, incidentally.

While not known in time to make the press, the overall winner was the Ford Fusion Hybrid.

Sorry about the second-rate posting, folks!

Toronto Star Wheels - April 13, 2013

Toronto Star Wheels - April 13, 2013

Suicidal Marketing Strategies 101

2006 Infiniti Q45 - This is a real Infiniti Q-car

Infiniti announced today that they are changing their model naming strategy, with all conventional cars carrying a "Q" prefix, followed by a two-digit number representing that model's position within the Infiniti range. Today's G37 range will be split into G50 (sedan) and G60 (coupe and convertible), for example.


Crossovers and SUVs will use "QX" and the same numeric sequence, though a "Q60" and a "QX60" will not necessarily be related or even similar in size.

For that matter, the new JX35 will become the QX60, while the smaller FX37/45 will become the QX70. Get it? Because the FX is more upscale than the JX - how can you not see the logic?


Says the release:


"This strategic change reflects Infiniti’s desire for clarity and cohesiveness as it embarks on ambitious growth plans, including significant expansion of the Infiniti portfolio."


Cohesiveness? If you mean that buyers won't have a bloody clue what model is what because they all have effectively the same name, you'd be right, I guess. Clarity, not so much.


Let's look at how well this kind of strategy has worked in the past.


Acura Legend. Memorable - and popular. Sold a bunch.
Acura RL. Acura What?
But, on the plus side, all ten people who bought them could tell their neighbours that the expensive, vaguely Accord-looking thing in their driveway was an "Acura", and not a "Legend". Good for brand recognition, right? Who cares if you actually sold any?


Or, for that matter, Lincoln's current model matrix: 
MKX - small crossover, twin of the Ford Edge.
MKT - big crossover, twin of the Ford Flex.
MKZ - midsize sedan, twin of the Ford Fusion.
MKS - large sedan, twin of the Ford Taurus.

Quick! What kind of vehicle is the MKZ? Buyers apparently have no clue, but I'll bet almost anyone in North America can correctly identify and name a Town Car or Navigator.


Nissan, Infiniti's parent company, has made large blunders with their premium brand in the past. When it introduced the brand in around 1989-1990, it showed ads with rocks and trees and Japanese gardens, rather than the products themselves. It also put what looked like an artsy Texan's belt-buckle in the centre of the Q45 flagship's grille-less nose. Looks OK today, but it was fairly bizarre back then.


Toyota, on the other hand, chose to not only show its new Lexus models, but it did it with stunts like balancing champagne glasses on the hood of an LS 400 while it ran at speed on a dyno, displaying the car's refinement and technical prowess. Shamelessly aping the overall shape and appearance of Mercedes' top S-Class, the LS's targeted competitor, paid off.


This latest move is ill-conceived and doomed to failure. Hopefully it won't clobber the company too much, and things will revert back to the way they are now, with different letters for the model range (typically going up the alphabet as the grade rises), and a numeric representation of the engine's displacement (as in "G37" or "M45"). 

Infinti, please stop the madness!

Shameless Self-promotion

2012 Nissan Leaf SL

You can read my Wheels review of Nissan's all-electric Leaf here.

Shameless Self-promotion

Audi Q3 Vail

You can read my Wheels coverage of the latest crossovers to be introduced in Detroit at the 2012 North American International Auto Show here.

Shameless Self-promotion

2012 Jaguar XKR-S Coupe

You can read my Wheels article on my Best and Worst Vehicles driven in 2011 here. Guess which one of these two vehicles was chosen as best?

2011 Nissan Quest LE

Shameless Self-promotion

You can find my Wheels review of Nissan's 2010 Sentra sedan here.