Vehicle: 2008 Ford Focus sedan with Sport Appearance Pkg and Luxury Pkg
Price as tested: CDN$22894
Performance: Even if Ford has called it the “new” Focus, which is nothing more than an ugly nose job. Its powertrain remains the tried-and-true 2.0 liter 4-cylinder 16-valve DOHC Zetec motor that has been used since the early days. 140hp and [...]
Vehicle: 2008 Lexus IS-F with Series 2 Pkg
Price as tested: CDN$68500
Performance: What the “F” stands for in Lexus language equals the “M” of BMW and “RS” of Audi, as its their performance division. As you would probably already guess, “F” stands for “fast”. Its pretty damn true for this IS-F. Unlike the lesser IS250 and [...]
Vehicle: 2008 Porsche Cayenne Turbo S
Price as tested: CDN$135795
Performance: Porsche has increased the Cayenne turbo’s displacement of 4.5 liters to 4.8 liters during this initial revision, for both S and Turbo. In the meantime, Porsche also brought out another mid-level 4.8 liter normally aspirated Cayenne called the GTS. Which is basically a Cayenne S with [...]
Vehicle: 2008 VW Golf GT Sport with DSG
Price as tested: HK$249000
Performance: There aren’t many carmakers that have produced twinchargers successfully. Both Lancia and Nissan have invested into technologies that combined both turbo and supercharge together about two decades ago, unfortunately, both executed unsuccessfully.
Its time for German to show off their engineering prowess through twincharger technology. [...]
Vehicle: 2008 Audi S5 with brushed aluminum inlays
Price as tested: CDN$66700
Performance: With the introduction of the new S5, Audi has finally brought back their legendary sports coupe. Because the latest car has to match its forebear’s performance prowess, both on the road and track. A single performance shortfall would make its predecessor ashamed. Not [...]
Vehicle: 2008 Audi R8 with Audi exclusive sideblade in body color, Bang & Olufsen Sound system, Premium Pkg and Audi Navigation Plus
Price as tested: CDN$150800
Performance: The R8 is currently powered by the same 4.2 liter DOHC FSI 32-valve V8 as the one in the awesome RS4, with a twist. The difference is this wonderful 420hp [...]
Vehicle: 2008 Honda Accord Coupe EX-L V6 with 6-speed manual
Price as tested: CDN$35490
Performance: Just like its sedan silibings, the Accord coupe is powered by both a 4-cylinder 2.4 liter and a 3.5 liter V6. This i-VTEC SOHC 24-valve 3.5 liter V6 has 268 ponies and 248 lb/ft of torque. It got the same well-honed refinement [...]
Vehicle: 2009 Toyota Matrix XR AWD Sport Pkg with automatic transmission
Price as tested: CDN$26855
Performance: Similar to the Corolla we reviewed earlier, new Matrix is powered by 2 4-cylinder engines. The difference is only the basic model is powered by that legthegic 132hp 1.8 liter, while the rest of the range is standard with a familiar [...]