Shameless Self-promotion - AutoTrader

Best New Large Car entries lined up at AJAC's 2017 Canadian Car of the Year event, October 2016

Good News! I've recently begun supplying content to AutoTrader, and my article covering the Best New Large Car category at AJAC's 2017 Canadian Car of the Year is the first piece I've provided. You can find it here.

Although it's automotive content that I'm providing, it's not reviews at the moment. There's a lot of skilled people already doing that, and many of those folks don't have a second, full-time job that limits their schedule, and hence access to cars and opportunities to drive and photograph them. It'd be pretty difficult to compete for the limited number of new and available press vehicles with that crowd.

Also, with no disrespect to AutoTrader or anyone else, online doesn't pay as well as the Star did, so traveling to attend events is not currently practical either. What was once a slight profit or break-even venture after expenses and lost wages were factored in would now be self-sponsored. No can do.

(Oh to be a US auto journalist. My understanding based on multiple sources is that we Canadians get paid a pittance in comparison to our US kin. They often get their vehicles delivered to them, too. That's very uncommon here in Canuckia.)

While supplying material to AutoTrader is new for me, if you trace the timeline back far enough, Autotrader that was Autos was once Canadian Driver, and I did write a few pieces for them.

Anyway, I'm pleased to have been asked to write for AutoTrader. Material published there is likely to get decent exposure once people discover that AutoTrader's website is for more than just buying and selling cars. To that end, depending on your interests, you may actually have seen Sponsored Content links to some of my articles in your Facebook feed. Keep an eye out!

Shameless Self-promotion - Toronto Star Content Update (part 1)

Eco-Run 2015 - Vancouver, B.C.

April 10, 2015

You can find my Toronto Star coverage of AJAC's 2015 Eco-Run event in British Columbia here.

Eco-Run is an event that highlights efficient technologies, even those that appear in vehicles whose overall efficiency may not seem that impressive compared to a Prius or Tesla (ironically, both products from manufacturers that did not participate...). As examples, the Chevy Colorado uses a direct-injected 4 cylinder engine that's far more efficient than the previous generation's port-injected powerplant, the Jeep a turbodiesel V6 to provide gas V8 capability and 4 cylinder economy. There was also a hydrogen-powered Hyundai Tucson and a three cylinder Ford Focus.

BMW DesignworksUSA's Alexandra (Sandy) McGill in Vancouver

April 17, 2015 

You can find an excerpt of my interview with BMW Design's Sandy McGill for the Toronto Star here. 

Sandy is a very talented, deeply creative person whose resume includes guiding design choices in materials and colours for numerous BMW Group products, including the first generation of the modern Rolls-Royce Phantom, several BMW models, and a couple of Mini concept vehicles. If that weren't enough, she's also really nice, and great fun to chat with.

The Early family's 8-foot Viking tent trailer

June 26, 2015

You can find my RV and camper guide for the Toronto Star here.

There are a myriad of permutations of trailer and motorhomes - which one suits your needs best? My brief guide attempts to explain some of the pros and cons, while breaking down the meaning of RV terms like "Super C" and "hybrid".

Yep, that's me. I quite liked Honda's CBR500R

 July 17, 2015

I did it - I finally completed my training and testing, and earned my motorcycle license. You can read all about it, and the two Honda motorcycles that were involved, in my Toronto Star article here.

2015 Ram Rebel in Ipperwash, Ontario. Clifford the Big Red Truck

September 25, 2015

You can read about Ram's 2015 Rebel pickup in my Toronto Star review here.

If FCA were to allow you to equip the Rebel with the 3.0L diesel that's available in other Ram half-tons, it might just be pickup Nirvana. As it stands, it's a damn good effort that falls down a little on some details and a lot more on its price.




I'll be updating my Star content further in a future post. Thanks for reading!

Shameless Self-promotion

2014 Mercedes GLK 250 BlueTec 4Matic

You can find my Toronto Star coverage of this year's AJAC Canadian Car of the Year here. My assigned category at this year's TestFest was "Best New SUV/CUV ($35K-$60K)". The Mercedes GLK turbodiesel pictured above was among the entrants in this category for 2014, and counts as one of my favourites. Others included the GMC Acadia Denali, Hyundai Santa Fe XL, Jeep Grand Cherokee, and the Kia Sorento.

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

Shameless Self-promotion

2013 Ford Fusion Hybrid, as appearing at AJAC's CCOTY "TestFest"

You can find my Wheels coverage of the "Best New Family Car (over $30k)" category's entrants here.

Please note that this article, and the one that follows, were written prior to the release of the actual winners, so my (apparently incorrect) guesses are included, as well as some minor tinkering from the Star's editorial staff.

2013 Ford Focus ST, as appearing at AJAC's CCOTY "TestFest"

You can read my Wheels coverage of the "Best New Sports/Performance Car (under $50k)" category's entrants here.

(Please see the note above.)

AJAC's 2012 Canadian Car of the Year and TestFest

Category Winners - AJAC's 2012 Canadian Car and Utility Vehicle of the Year

The Automobile Journalists Association of Canada (AJAC) holds an annual event dubbed "TestFest" during the last week of October at which every new or substantially redesigned light-duty vehicle has an opportunity to compete. For the past six years, this has taken place at the Niagara District Airport, whose runways are shut down and used as a road course.

Competition occurs first within groups of its peers (categorized as best as possible), and then for the title of overall Best New Car or Best New Utility vehicle. Scores are based on an amalgam of subjective votes by the journalists, test vehicle pricing, and measured scores derived from on-site performance testing. TestFest and the Canadian Car of the Year process are constantly being refined, and this is the only event of its kind in the world.

For several reasons, you won't find models that have either already competed (whether they won or not), been on sale for more than one year, or that have received only minor changes for this coming model year. The most critical of those reasons is logistics; there has to be at least three examples of each competitor on site and available for evaluation, and each must be driven by each voting journalist on the same day for their votes to count. Just getting through the "new and improved" crowd is tough enough - this year's larger categories had 7 entrants (there have been 10 car categories in past years), with the assigned drive route and off road or on-track testing for each car taking approximately 40 minutes just complete. That doesn't count time juggling keys, which are expertly handled by students from Georgian College.

This year (as in years past), journalists were expected to complete their 3 assigned categories, as well as as many additional complete categories were required to bring their total to a minimum of 18 vehicles altogether. That's over the course of the two primary testing days, Tuesday and Wednesday, and votes must be submitted early Wednesday evening. It's tougher than it sounds.

On Thursday, while the category votes are tabulated, journalists are free to drive other vehicles in other categories. (This year there were several electric vehicles available for brief drives in addition to those competing.) Thursday is a chance to drive models you might not otherwise be able to experience, and also a chance to try and guess winners from other categories that you weren't able to complete.

That's because on Friday the category winners are announced, and each journalist is required to drive whichever category winners they haven't yet tested. The votes for overall Car and overall Utility Vehicle are submitted by that evening. The final winners are announced in February at the Canadian International Auto Show in Toronto.

Five of this year's eleven category winners were Korean, with the Germans claiming all but one of the remaining spots. The Dodge Journey was the sole "domestic" winner, but before you cry "foul", please note that last year's results included five domestics, two of which - the Chevrolet Cruze and Ford Edge - went on to claim overall Car and Utility Vehicle wins.

Here, in the order of the photo above, from left to right, are your eleven winners:

• Hyundai Elantra - Best New Small Car (over $21,000)
• BMW 1 Series M Coupé - Best New Sports/Performance (over $50,000)
• Kia Optima LX - Best New Family Car (under $30,000)
• Mercedes C-Class C350 4MATIC - Best New Luxury Car
• Dodge Journey - Best New SUV-CUV (under $35,000)
• BMW X3 - Best New SUV-CUV (over $60,000)
• Volkswagen Touareg TDI - Best New SUV-CUV ($35,000-$60,000)
• Kia Optima Hybrid - Best New Family Car (over $30,000)
• Mercedes S-Class S350 BlueTec 4Matic - Best New Prestige Car
• Hyundai Veloster - Best New Sports/Performance (under $50,000)
• Hyundai Accent - Best New Small Car (under $21,000)

As for which ones claim the title, I'm going to go out on a limb and guess that the Kia Optima LX takes overall Car, and either the Dodge Journey overall Utility Vehicle, though I'd not be surprised to see the VW Touareg or Hyundai Elantra in those places instead. We'll have to wait until mid-February to find out if I'm right.

In the meantime, click this link to read Wheels comprehensive coverage.

Shameless Self-promotion

It may not be sexy, but you can read my Wheels coverage of the Minivan cateory at this year's AJAC Canadian Car of the Year here.

Shameless Self-promotion

You can read my Wheels coverage of the Best New SUV-CUV (over $50,000) category from this year's AJAC Canadian Car of the Year here.

Shameless Self-promotion

Myself (L), Mark Richardson (C), and Jil McIntosh (R)

Perhaps the ultimate in patting oneself on the back, you can read Mark Richardson's editorial about my Wheels colleagues and I receiving awards at this year's AJAC (Automobile Journalists Association of Canada) awards dinner here.

My award was the Wakefield Castrol Award for Journalism; Technical Topics, given for my article on Mercedes-Benz's new "V" engine families, which can be found here and here.