Fuel Economy Tests

Port Carling, ON – We've seen the remodelled tenth-generation Civic sedan; we've seen the Civic coupe; and now for the trifecta, Honda is bringing back the five-door hatchback after a 17-year hiatus from North America. It's safe to say that Honda is on the attack to takeover the compact car market.

And if the three styling choices aren't evidence enough, they'll flat out tell you: “We are trying to keep dominating this [compact car] segment,” said Hayato Mori, Senior Manager, Product Planning and Business Development.

It might seem like a game of Risk when the words domination start being thrown around, but in reality, it's pure business. And it would be mind-boggling for any automaker to not want to be the leader in every facet of a segment. For Honda's sake, it's not just rhetoric; they have the tools to achieve those lofty goals, and adding a hatch to its lineup is a way of appealing to each and every Canadian. It didn't cost them too much either for research and development, as it was already being built in Swindon, UK.

For the Canadian market, offering a hatch makes sense with the advent of the Chevrolet Cruze hatch, along with a long list of consumer hatch options from Ford, Hyundai, Kia, Mazda, Subaru, Toyota and Volkswagen; with the latter automaker and its Golf model being the product Honda attempted to measure up to in terms of driving quality.

For the hatch, there's only one engine – a turbocharged and direct injected, 1.5-litre four-cylinder that maxes its peak horsepower at 174 in the base LX trim and gets a boost in the Sport and Sport Touring trim to 180 hp. The added power is thanks to a dual exhaust that's centre mounted for higher flow, only when filled with premium gas to achieve that extra boost.

Regardless of trim, you're offered the choice of a six-speed manual transmission or the optional continuously variable transmission (CVT). What's interesting is torque numbers adjust depending on trim and transmission choice: the LX manual receives 167 lb.-ft. of torque; the Sport gets 177; while all CVT models get a max of 162.

On hand for this first drive event was only the LX trim in both manual and CVT form – the other trims are expected to be arriving in the next few weeks.

After testing both transmissions out, I have to say they were both exceptional. If given the choice, I would lean to the manual. It simply makes the Civic more fun to drive and switching those gears is smooth like butter. In both cases, the Civic accelerated smoothly off the line and up to your desired speed.

It's not super aggressive in straight lines, but it excels in cornering and handling. Honda had us go through one of the twistiest roads on route to Muskoka, and that's where the Civic hatch truly shined. There was some tinkering with the suspension to accommodate the hatch rear layout, and that allows it to perform a composed balancing act through these windy roads. The hatch stayed firm with only minor steering inputs throughout thanks to its electronically assisting steering setup.

Another bonus to the Civic is its quiet ride. It might have been the most peaceful journey up to cottage country that I've ever experienced, placing me in a tranquil state as I passed by the beautiful fall backdrop. That relaxing vibe allowed me to achieve some decent fuel economy, ringing in a combined 6.5 L/100 km between the two transmissions. The LX models are rated at 8.0 L/100 km in the city and 6.2 L/100 km on the highway; while the CVT version comes in at 7.7 and 6.0, respectively. 

It's safe to say that this LX trim is no base model, and that's because Honda has positioned the hatch as its premium compact choice. The Japanese brand feels that consumers in the hatch market will want to go more upscale, and perhaps that helps them with the extra cost from being constructed in the UK.

Even the cloth seats look sharp in the LX with a two-tone dark colour with white piping and contrast stitching. The overall look is clean and polished, similar to the Civic sedan. It's easy to work the seven-inch touchscreen, but still possesses the touch sliding volume knob accompanied by boxy and large fonts.

The interior may have some styling details that need to be attended to, but it also possesses plenty of useful features including Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, a rearview camera, heated front seats, an automatic brake hold, and a plethora of storage compartments on the centre console, door handles, glove compartment and a cubby underneath its gear shift.

Each trim will come with Honda Sensing as an option, while the Sport Touring comes with it as standard. Honda Sensing is a suite of advanced safety technologies aimed to maximize the occupants safety. The technologies include: Collision Mitigation Braking System, Road Departure Mitigation, Adaptive Cruise Control with Low Speed Follow and Lane Keeping Assist. In addition, Honda LaneWatch – a camera that's displayed on the touchscreen during right hand turns to see your blindspot – comes standard in Sport and above.

Exterior styling differences are hard to come by in the hatch versus the sedan, save for the reworking of its rear that gets reduced by 135 mm. But if you look closely at the front, the grille does possess a more sporty look with a black stream running through it, and the hood becomes wider to accompany the standard turbo engine.

But in the end, when it comes to a hatch, it's all about that rear. Honda has created segment-leading maximum cargo and passenger volume. Rear legroom is exceptional, but the versatility in the hatch shines with 1,120 mm  of trunk width and 960 mm of length. In total, there's 728 litres of cargo space behind the second row, which leads the segment as well. According to Honda, it can store up to three golf bags or two large and two mid-size suitcases, and it's tonneau cover doesn't even get in the way as it can unwind from side to side – a world's first.

It's hard to find many faults with the 2017 Honda Civic hatch. It's reemergence was a long time coming for a country filled with hatch lovers, and it's great to see it back in the fold. The drive is not only smooth and quiet, it can be turn some hot corners for a base price of $21,390. As aforementioned, the hatch is the premium choice between the sedan and coupe and the costs reflect that. The Sport trim moves up to $25,190; while the Sport Touring begins at $29,390, topping out at $30,690 with the CVT and Honda Sensing package

The Civic hatch is currently available at Honda showrooms throughout Canada.

Detroit, MI – In an exclusive reveal in downtown Detroit, Honda showed off its new fifth-generation CR-V. For 2017, the CR-V raises the bar with more performance, space, ride comfort, safety features and fuel efficiency. The 2017 model will build off an already prosperous 2016 version that has seen its sales rise by 16.2 per cent thus far in Canada and 1.5 per cent in the United States, where it's the No. 1 selling SUV. 

The all-new CR-V is new from the ground up as it sits on a new platform that showcases a broader, wide stance with a more bold appearance. From the front, you will immediately notice its two-layer chrome grille with standard LED headlights. LED lighting continues in the rear for its taillamps.

The 2.4-litre direct-injected four-cylinder engine is carried over and is joined by a 1.5-litre direct-injected turbocharged four-cylinder engine that produces 190 hp and 179 lb.-ft. of torque. The new, turbo engine is the same one featured in the Civic, and Honda is saying it will provide the CR-V with best in-class fuel economy. 

The inside will possess a more spacious area that includes a top-class total interior volume, a two-inch increase in rear leg room, and 10-inches more rear cargo with the second row down. But the most important addition might be a simple volume knob. For the past two years, Honda has toyed with a sliding touch feature for volume adjustment, and based on the reaction from the crowd of journalists that gave this announcement a resounding ovation to the new volume knob, it was clear that Honda listened to its critics. 

In addition, Honda will be improving its suite of safety technology known as Honda Sensing, and we will find out exactly what will be added shortly. The one safety technology that was demonstrated at the event was a foot-activated tailgate that comes standard with the vehicle. 

The Honda CR-V will be assembled in three plants: the lead one being in East Liberty, Ohio, Alliston, Ontario and Greensburg, Indiana. 

Pricing is to be announced closer to the launch date later this fall.

The Hyundai Elantra is the most important vehicle to the South Korean brand, representing a quarter of its Canadian sales. It would make sense to work off this product and develop variants that can add more flair to the lineup. For 2017, that's exactly what Hyundai has done with the new Elantra Sport.

In a few weeks time, the Elantra Sport will start to make appearances at the dealership level, but before that, Hyundai wanted to provide a host of journalists a sneak peek at this sport-tuned product at a local event, they like to call Hyundai Fun Day.

At this year's Hyundai Fun Day, we had a chance to go on a geocaching adventure with the regular Elantra. It led to a long, but smooth ride throughout the northern parts of Toronto where we can experience both highway and city driving filled with plenty of U-turns.

One of the locations revealed a secret spot to where the Elantra Sport was hiding. We plugged in that address into our mobile device and found ourselves at the Powerade Centre in Brampton, home to the Brampton Beast of the ECHL. An autocross was set-up and each individual would have his/her times posted on a chart. It wouldn't be much time behind the wheel, but enough to whet the appetite for a future week-long drive.

A little about the Elantra Sport

The front-wheel-drive Elantra Sport is powered by a turbocharged,1.6-litre inline-four engine that produces 201 hp and 195 lb.-ft. of torque. There's a choice between a six-speed manual gearbox or a seven-speed dual-clutch transmission with paddle shifters, both on hand for this event.

The engine is not the only thing unique about the Sport, as its exterior has gone through its own exclusive changes. First off, the front fascia is more bold and aggressive that creates a confidence stance thanks to its hexagonal sport grille and horizontally-mounted LED lights that sit below its standard HID headlights. In addition, the Sport sits on 18-inch unique aluminum-alloy wheels that's finished off with unique LED taillights and a dual chrome tip exhaust.

The inside tries to reflect its bold image with an interior that adds not just a sporty-tone to it, but a little luxury. The first thing that gets noticed is its flat-bottom leather steering wheel that oozes excitement. The standard leather interior continues throughout complemented by some racing red stitching. Other enhancements include an eight-inch touchscreen with navigation, alloy pedals, sport instrument cluster, as well as heated front seats and steering wheel.

The three minutes behind the wheel

This day was all about lapping on an autocross, so as aforementioned there wasn't much time behind the wheel. I was allowed one practice run to learn the track, followed by two timed runs for the competition.

For the practice run, I chose the six-speed manual version and it was smooth from the get-go. I took this run at a medium pace and found it to be very responsive. On the course, there were plenty of quick turns and a slalom that the Elantra Sport mastered with precision and a loud engine noise to make sure all the on-lookers took notice.

After the practice run, I asked which car had gone quicker, and was told that the automatic would be the one to go with. I hadn't been it, so it was worth a shot to get the feel for it.

I hopped in and was ready for the show. However, from my initial takeoff, I noticed a little lag to get moving, something that wasn't the case with the stick shift. After a slow start, I powered off with the same minor steering inputs that allowed me to weave through the course. There were a few times, I had been late on turn, forcing me to brake harder than desired and having to once again pick momentum back up.

My time improved on the second run, but not enough to crack the top-10. It was a valiant effort, but one that I truly feel would have been made better, if I took out the manual for another spin.

Regardless of my results, it was all about having fun, and that's exactly what I accomplished in the Elantra Sport. I look forward to a further test drive on regular roads, but from what I see so far, that added performance will make for a more attractive and fun-filled ride in a package that starts at $24,999.

In this episode, we test out the fuel economy in the all new 2017 Ford Focus. As a breadwinner in the Ford line-up, the Focus compares very well to its Japanese counterparts. Its key advantage is the amount of technology it packs, including the newly updated SYNC 3 infotainment system.

Our tester was equipped with a 2.0-liter 4-cylinder engine and a 6-speed automatic transmission. Our test yielded 319 miles on a tank of gas and gave a decent average fuel economy of 30.6 miles per gallon.

After using up our tank of gas, we were able to fill it back up for $27.76 at a fuel cost of $2.33/gallon.

REAL WORLD TEST RESULTS

Tested fuel range: 319 miles on a full tank

Fuel economy: 7.7L/100km

Fuel economy (mpg): 30.6mpg

REAL WORLD FILL UP COSTS

CAD $27.76 @ $2.33/liter

AS-TESTED VEHICLE SPECIFICATIONS

2.0-litre 4-cylinder (DOHC)

6-speed Automatic

160 hp @ 6,500rpm

146 lb-ft @ 4,500rpm

Front-wheel drive

The all-new, fourth-generation Kia Rio will make its world premiere on 29 September in Paris, at the 2016 Mondial de l’Automobile. With a progressive new exterior and interior design, the Rio is revealed for the first time globally today through an exclusive set of images.

Design of the new Rio was led by Kia’s design centers in Germany and California, in close collaboration with the company’s global design headquarters in Namyang, Korea. The appearance of the new Rio is defined by straight lines and smooth surfacing, giving the car a distinctive, confident new look.

Progressive exterior design

At the front, the Rio wears the latest evolution of Kia’s ‘tiger-nose’ grille, now thinner in height and wider across the front of the car. Integrated bi-function projection headlamps – again, thinner and more sculpted than those of its predecessor – project a new U-shaped LED light signature. Changes to the front of the car, including moving the fog lamps’ position outwards within the front bumper, are designed to add greater visual width for a more stable overall look. The new Rio grows by 5 mm in width (to 1,725 mm), further adding to this effect.

In profile, the fourth-generation Rio’s lengthened, more balanced stance is achieved with a long bonnet and longer front overhang, a 10 mm longer wheelbase (up to 2,580 mm), a thinner, more upright C-pillar, and a shorter rear overhang. Overall, the new car is 15 mm longer than its predecessor (now 4,065 mm long), and 5 mm shorter in height (to 1,450 mm). Straight, clearly-defined lines run down the full length of the car’s shoulder and along its doors, further stretching the appearance of the car for a more stable, confident look.

The rear section of the Rio is now more upright, with a near-vertical rear windscreen and a shorter overhang. The straight line that runs from the grille, through the headlamps and along the top of the doors, continues around the back of the car, paired with thinner, more sculpted rear lamps, which now feature a new arrow-shaped LED light signature. Like the wider-looking ‘face’ of the car, the rear design of the new Rio gives it a stronger overall appearance.

Modern, driver-oriented cabin

The new Kia Rio will offer motorists a modern new cabin design, featuring sculptural forms and a more ergonomic layout than its predecessor.

Like the exterior, straight lines running the width of the dashboard characterize the shape of the interior, giving the cabin a wider appearance and increasing the sense of space for occupants.

The dashboard itself is now angled towards the driver, and at its center is a new infotainment system, a ‘floating’ HMI (human-machine interface), with a high-resolution touchscreen to power the Rio’s audio, navigation and new connectivity systems. The new HMI has allowed Kia to reduce the number of buttons on the center console.

The new Rio is available with a choice of black or grey cloth seat upholstery, or with black or grey artificial leather. A ‘Red Pack’ for the Rio gives buyers black with red artificial leather-trimmed seats throughout the cabin. The cabin itself features gloss black and metallic trim throughout, for a more modern finish.

Production starts at the end of 2016

The all-new Rio will offer buyers class-leading practicality and safety technology, the latest connectivity features, and more assured and engaging ride and handling characteristics.

The Kia Rio is the Korean manufacturer’s global best-selling model, with more than 473,000 sold around the world in 2015. The next generation will enter production towards the end of 2016 for Europe, with production timings for other regions to be announced closer to launch.

Mazda Canada Inc. today introduced the 2017 Mazda6, gaining further premium refinements and continuing to redefine the notion that one need not compromise driving pleasure for practicality and efficiency.

Long regarded as one of the best-handling, most engaging vehicles in its segment, Mazda6 once again raises the bar with Mazda's first application of the all-new G-Vectoring Control (GVC) in North America. GVC is the first in a series of new SKYACTIV-VEHICLE DYNAMICS technologies that provide integrated control of the engine, transmission, chassis and body to enhance the car's Jinba Ittai—"horse and rider as one"—feel.

GVC benefits drivers with more precise control of their vehicles, which its engineers have designed to help reduce the need for steering corrections, leading to greater confidence and control both in day-to-day and spirited driving.

But engineers didn't stop there. Their desire to seek constantly higher goals led them to bestow Mazda6 with greatly enhanced sound insulation. Using improved door seals, tighter tolerance between panels, thicker front glass, and sound insulation materials added to the underbody, rear console, headliner, and doors, the aim for Mazda6 was to outclass common midsize-segment cars with its attractive design and establish a unique "Mazda Premium" positioning.

For 2017, entry-level Mazda6 GX models now come equipped with a wide-angle rearview camera, redesigned steering wheel, redesigned seatback pockets, and redesigned side mirror turn signals.

Mid-trim GS models gain standard with navigation system, Smart City Brake Support with increased detection distance and expanded detection angle, heated steering wheel, and Advanced Blind Spot Monitoring (BSM) with enhanced range.

2017 Mazda6 GT model enhancements include a new full-colour Active Driving heads-up display, 4.6-inch full-colour TFT multi-information display (MID), and Traffic Sign Recognition.

Lane-Keep Assist has also made its way into the 2017 Mazda6 in the GT Technology Package, joining other safety technologies such as Mazda Radar Cruise Control (MRCC), Smart Brake Support (SBS), Forward Obstruction Warning (FOW), Distance Recognition Support System (DRSS), Lane Departure Warning System (LDWS), and High Beam Control System (HBC), in addition to SiriusXM™ Satellite Radio, i-ELOOP Regenerative Braking System, and Active air shutters.

With the top-of-the-line GT Premium Package, the 2017 Mazda6 also receives numerous interior appointments, including Nappa leather seating surfaces with contrast-colour piping, a black headliner, traditional Japanese chidori stitching on the steering wheel similar to what can be found in CX-9 Signature models, and a satin chrome plated finish to switches and trim throughout the interior.

These enhancements join a long list of upgrades made to the previous year's Mazda6, which included a completely redesigned interior, a new front fascia when equipped with full LED headlights in certain models, an LED-backlit "signature wing" grille, seven-inch Mazda Connect touchscreen display with Commander control knob, white LED interior lighting, electronic parking brake, and a Sport Mode drive selection switch in models equipped with automatic transmissions.

In Canada, Mazda6 continues to be one of the few midsize sedans offered with an available manual transmission for discerning enthusiasts. All Canadian models are powered by a 184-horsepower, 2.5-liter SKYACTIV-G engine.

The 2017 Mazda6 is available in Canada starting in mid August with a starting price of $24,695.

In this episode, we test out the fuel economy in the all new 2016 Mazda3. Redesigned just two years back the Mazda3 has traded its cheerful design for a sporty aggressive appearance.

Our tester was equipped with a 2.5-liter 4-cylinder engine, which is more powerful and less efficient compared to the base 2.0-liter engine. Our test yielded 274 km on a half tank of gas and gave a decent average fuel economy of 9.9L/100km.

After using up a half tank of gas, we were able to fill it back up for $28.95 at a fuel cost of $1.01/litre. At that rate, expect to spend around $58 for a full tank of gas.

REAL WORLD TEST RESULTS

Tested fuel range: 274 km on a half tank

Tested fuel range: 548km on a full tank

Fuel economy: 9.9L/100km

Fuel economy (mpg): 23mpg

REAL WORLD FILL UP COSTS

CAD $58 @ $1.01/litre

AS-TESTED VEHICLE SPECIFICATIONS

2.5-litre 4-cylinder (DOHC)

6-speed Manual

184 hp @ 5,700rpm

185 lb-ft @ 3,250rpm

Front-wheel drive

In this episode, we test out the fuel economy in the all new 2016 Ford Explorer. Sporting a 3.5-litre Ecoboost V6 engine, the Explorer has plenty of power to pull its weight.

Our tester was equipped with a 3.5-litre V6 Ecoboost engine. Our tests yielded 196.8km on a half tank of gas and gave a fuel economy of 16.2L/100km.

After using up a half tank of gas, we were able to fill it back up for $36.75 at a fuel cost of $1.046/liter. At that rate, expect to spend around $50 for a full tank of gas.

REAL WORLD TEST RESULTS

Tested fuel range: 196.8km on a half tank

Tested fuel range: 392km on a full tank

Fuel economy: 16.2L/100km

Fuel economy (mpg): 14.5mpg

REAL WORLD FILL UP COSTS

CAD $72 @ $1.046/liter

AS-TESTED VEHICLE SPECIFICATIONS

3.5-litre V6 Ecoboost

6-speed Automatic

365hp @ 5,500rpm / 350lb-ft @ 3,500rpm

All-wheel drive