Review: 2021 Kia K5 GT-Line

Kia has been on a roll, of that there is no doubt. In fact, few automakers out there are as poised and responsive to change and customer feedback as the Korean giant is.

While they have less of an identity crisis than sister Hyundai, the new Kia K5 neé Optima bears little resemblance to the outgoing model outside of the corporate “Tiger Nose” grille. And even that has been changed quite drastically.

Those that prefer an automaker steeped in heritage and doing things the same way, should probably look elsewhere as Kia seems to re-invent itself every few years. With the once-popular sedan market shrinking at a rapid pace, the new K5 adds a bit of visual excitement to an otherwise stagnant segment. Unfortunately, the excellent new Sorrento will likely steal the spotlight and the K5 might not get its day in the sun.

When you first look at the K5 there’s a lot to take in. Like the massive “sharkskinned” grille and the new signature “heartbeat” DRLs that frame slim LED headlamps.

A sloping fastback roofline helps add a bit of drama capped off by a full length light bar that’s made up of a series of dashes rather than one solid strip of light. My only complaint is the obviously fake exhaust tips on the back bumper, an automotive fashion trend that seemingly no one asked for.

2021 Kia K5 GT-Line

The K5 sits on Kia’s N3 platform, which also underpins the new Sorrento and is longer, lower, and wider than it was before. With a lower centre of gravity, a choice of turbocharged 4-cylinder engines, and no fun-killing CVTs to be found, the Kia has the cred, on paper at least, to be a good car to drive.

Dipped in a great shade called “Wolf Grey”, my GT-line tester certainly looked like it was going to be fun, drawing inquisitive looks from more than a few passersby.

The GT-Line represents the top end of the three available trims initially offered on sale from Kia. All are powered by a 1.6-litre direct-injected and turbocharged 4-cylinder that pushes out 181 hp and 195 lb-ft of torque, mated to a torque-converted 8-speed automatic. All-wheel drive is standard on all trims, and it’s a front-biased system sending power to the rear wheels when wheel slip is detected.

Coming soon, the full-fat K5 GT will be motivated by a 2.5-L turbo 4 making 290 hp and a stump-pulling 311 lb-ft of torque hooked up to an 8-speed “wet” dual-clutch transmission. It will be offered in front-wheel drive only, a puzzling decision by Kia considering that it’s the performance model and the Sorrento offers AWD with the same powertrain. While it might just come down to packaging, we hope Kia is able to offer it sometime down the road. Not having a chance to drive the GT just yet, we will reserve our judgment towards it until we do.

The GT-Line doesn’t have the more powerful engine but it gets the look with performance-inspired elements like a different bumper design, sharkskin mesh grille, snazzy 18-inch wheels, and a flat-bottom steering wheel.

It also adds a larger 10.25-inch centre touchscreen (versus an 8-inch), ventilated front seats, heated rear seats, and more, to an already loaded base model that includes lane keep assist, blind spot collision avoidance assist, a heated steering wheel, drive mode selector, Android Auto and Apple Carplay, and push-button start.

Kia’s latest UVO infotainment system provides crisp graphics, quick response times and features you typically find in much more expensive vehicles like built-in mood music, and wireless Android Auto and Carplay.

2021 Kia K5 GT-Line

2021 Kia K5 GT-Line

Compared to what you find in the Honda Accord and Toyota Camry, two of its main competitors, the K5’s tech is in another league. Ditto when it comes to using the Smart Cruise control and lane centering, where it keeps you in line with traffic in a natural manner, without any abrupt steering or braking movements. This is where Kia and Hyundai excel, and at this sub $30K price point these things matter greatly to customers.

. In reality it’s competent but also a bit of a snooze. Those wanting something sportier will probably need to look elsewhere or wait for the GT.

The Kia’s cabin is tightly screwed together with great ergonomics and excellent use of physical buttons. I especially dig the small jog wheel on the console that heats and cools the seats, a smart use of interior real estate. The aesthetic is great but overall quality is still behind what you’d get in the Toyota or Honda.

I seriously doubt most will care about that last bit. I can’t help but notice these things and then draw comparisons about them after driving what feels like a hundred cars a year. Kia has done its homework and they know what people are looking for here and they’ve done their best to give it to them. Their unique ability to adapt so quickly had definitely helped.

2021 Kia K5 GT-Line

Would-be customers will definitely be wowed by the tech and infotainment; it’s a step up from what you’ll find anywhere else. The K5 is very comfortable, comes with standard AWD, and is quiet and efficient around town and on the highway.

Is it as sporty as Kia claims? Not quite. And convincing Honda and Toyota faithful to jump ship isn’t going to be easy. But this car represents a big step in the right direction for Kia and an excellent and sorely needed addition to the ranks of the few sedans that remain.

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Farewell to Wheels

The two things I wanted to do after finishing engineering school at U of T were race cars, and play in a rock ‘n’ roll band. The two things I swore I’d never do were to teach, or have anything to do with computers. Within six years of graduation, I was racing cars, playing in a rock ‘n’ roll band, and teaching computer programming at Ryerson.

So much for career planning.

A few years later, I dropped into the Sheldons, our neighbours here in rural Milton, to borrow a tool from the “other Jim”. His wife Pam said, “You know a lot about cars. Can you write?” Turns out a young man had hired Pam as editor of a new newspaper in Milton to compete with “The Canadian Champion”, the longest-running community paper in the country.

Initially, the new newspaper was called The Milton Month, and subsequently, The Milton Weekly Tribune. The owner figured if they ran a car column, it would be easier to sell ads to car dealers.

The Driver’s Seat was born. We even won a couple of Ontario Community Newspaper awards for our coverage. When “The Trib” went under, I approached the editor of The Champion to see if he wanted to pick up my column. Effectively, his response was, “Don’t call us, and we won’t call you.” Still at Ryerson, later as a partner in a computer consulting firm, I did some freelance writing for various publications, keeping my hand in it, waiting for my break.

During this time, I was part of “The Hot Tub Group” (long story…) that led to the formation of the Automobile Journalists Association of Canada, to bring car writers and broadcasters together to help establish better professional ethics in our industry. I was quite proud of the fact that I came up with the organization’s name because the French translation – Association des Journalistes Automobile du Canada – ended up with the same acronym in both official languages – AJAC.

Through a process too lengthy to go into here, I snagged the car-writing gig for The Toronto Star.

I wasn’t good enough for The Canadian Champion, but I was good enough for the largest paper in the country.

Initially, the column was buried in the Monday paper after the rutabaga recipes. But still, it was The Toronto Star. I got invited to more “press trips” where we got to drive new cars before they had been revealed to the public.

One of the people I met on these events was the editor of The Canadian Champion. He said, “You weren’t as good a writer then as you are now.” Funny how I could learn so much in just a couple of years.

We subsequently became friends and laughed about our first encounter. A year and a half later, the late Dennis Morgan, an editor at The Star, told me about a plan to create an entire section on cars, which would appear in the big Saturday paper.

Thus began the Wheels section. During its peak years over the next three decades, it was often a double section, 64 pages or more. If you folded it into quarters, you’d have a 256-page “car magazine” with a weekly circulation of over 600,000. Monthly, that was 2,400,000, making it effectively the largest-circulation automotive publication in the world. The traveling got more intense. Covered every continent except Antarctica. (Do they even have roads there?) Among the highlights: Chile (The Atacama Desert with Audi). Costa Rica (Lexus). South Africa (several times, including Jaguar and Porsche).

Driving on the Autobahn with no speed limits. My personal land speed record is 300 km/h in a Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren roadster. Traversing Mongolia north to south in Land Rovers.

Again with Land Rovers, being part of a crossing of the Great Western Desert in Australia, and following La Ruta Maya in Belize.

I also got to drive and/or race on some of the world’s great tracks. Mosport – still one of the most challenging anywhere. Mont-Tremblant. Montreal’s Grand Prix circuit (not in Formula One cars, but in race-prepared VW Beetles).

In the USA: Road Atlanta. Watkins Glen. Daytona. Internationally: Nurburgring, both Grand Prix and Nordschleife circuits. Spa in Belgium. Monaco, but at about 40 km/h – it is public roads except when there’s a race on. One lap of Spain’s Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya in a quasi-Formula One car. Several others.

The most life-changing competitive event was when Doug Mepham invited me to navigate for him in Targa Tasmania in his old Volvo. Targa is a week-long around-the-island event where the police close the roads and tell you to drive faster. On the ferry coming back to Melbourne from Launceston Tasmania, we got to thinking – what if you had an island like Tasmania; a welcoming population like Tasmanians; a place that could use some tourism dollars like Tasmania.

I may have been the first person to use the words “Targa” and “Newfoundland” in the same sentence, right here in Wheels.

Doug contacted Robert Giannou, a racing buddy he knew in St. John’s, and a year and a half later, Robert had organized the first Targa Newfoundland. The most fun you can have in a car.

Doug and I did the first one in the Volvo. Subsequently Cort Nielsen, then the PR guy for MINI, came up with a series of MINIs for me to drive. I’m far from the fastest guy on a given track. But I can get to about 90 per cent of my capability pretty quickly. Turns out if you try to drive at ten-tenths in a Targa, you’ll end up being part of the scenery.

Which I did manage once – a double end-O at a buck-sixty.

But I also managed three victories in the Open Division (for “unlimited” cars), two in the pre-crash MINI JCW, and one in a JCW MINI Challenge car. These successes were largely attributable to the expertise and calming influence of my navigators, Brian Bourbonniere of Lawrenceville Nova Scotia, and Ray Felice of Guelph. Post-pandemic, I hope Targa returns.

At one point I had lunch with PR man Dennis Clark. I was looking for ways to augment my income. He said that many of my readers would love my job – driving cool cars in exotic locales – as long as they didn’t have to actually write about it. Thus was born the concept of the Autobahn Fantasy Tour, a week-long circumnavigation of Germany in Audis, BMWs, Mercedes-Benzes and Porsches, culminating in a one hour lapping session on the Nordschleife.

We ran that three times. Did two similar “Rule Britannia” tours in England, and two non-driving events to the Gran Premio d’Italia at Monza (“Forza Italia”), and another to the first US Grand Prix held at the Indianapolis 500 circuit. Guests on those events talk about them to this day.

I got interested in photography, and started a Car Calendar, which ran for fifteen years. We raised some $70,000 for our beneficiary SmartRisk, which evolved into Parachute. I can’t say that this job represents my wildest dreams having come true, because I could never have imagined a job as good as this one has been.

But as the lyrics of a Pete Seeger song, lifted largely from Ecclesiastes 3:1-8, say, “to every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose…”.

I’ve been doing this job for almost 38 years. It obviously can’t last forever, and I’ve decided that the time has come to hang up my metaphorical mesh-back driving gloves. I’m going to miss it. I’ve obviously driven some great cars and a few not so great; visited some fabulous places; and met a lot of some fascinating characters.

I want to thank all the people who helped make this happen – too long a list to denote here.

The car companies, for having faith that I wouldn’t wreck their cars (a few minor dings here and there…).

And mostly, to you, my readers, without whom none of this could have happened.

In closing, let me turn to a stretched-metaphorical phrase lifted from the best book I ever read (twice now, working through the third go-round), “The Hitch Hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy – A Trilogy In Five Parts” by Douglas Adams. (You just gotta love that title…).

“So long, and thanks for all the fish.”

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Buying Used: 2017-2020 Kia Sportage

In the early days, some car companies didn’t have auto-making in their mission statement.

Sweden’s Saab was originally an aircraft maker. Of the 16 engineers tasked with designing its first automobile, only one possessed a driver’s licence. France’s Peugeot made coffee grinders to start, then expanded into bicycles. Mazda was a purveyor of cork products before it got into machine tools.

Toyota made weaving looms that served Japan’s silk industry, then sold its automatic loom technology and spent the proceeds developing a gasoline engine in 1934. Germany’s Opel made sewing machines. South Korea’s Kia Motors started out as a steel tube and bicycle parts manufacturer in 1944, eventually churning out entire bicycles. As its expertise grew, it assembled Honda-licensed motorcycles and Mazda-licensed small trucks.

The first Kia to come to our shores was the 1988 Ford Festiva, a tiny Mazda hatchback Kia made under contract for Ford. The rough-around-the-edges Sportage 4×4 was the nascent automaker’s first offering when Kia Canada’s showrooms opened in 1999.

Now comes word Kia is dropping “Motors” from its name to signify its pledge to focus on electric vehicles and new mobility technologies. Who knows? The company may come full circle and start making bicycles again.

Sportage comes of age

Released for 2017, the fourth-generation Sportage was welcomed by consumers looking for a deal on a pretty compact crossover SUV, the styling furnished by Kia’s German studios. A few wags couldn’t resist pointing out its resemblance to the late, unlamented Subaru Tribeca.

Under the sheetmetal a multilink independent rear suspension graces all models, while a stiffer unibody (torsional rigidity up by 39 per cent) makes for a better foundation. Despite greater use of high-strength steel, which reduced mass by 25 kg, the Sportage remains on the porky side.

The wheelbase was stretched by three centimetres, while overall length grew by four cm – incremental changes that yielded a little more room inside, particularly in the back seats and the cargo hold, which expanded by five cubic feet to 31 (though it’s hardly class-leading). Incidentally, it shares its platform with its corporate mate, Hyundai’s Tucson.

The spiffy interior augments the perception that the Sportage looks pricier than it actually is, with soft-touch plastics throughout and plenty of secondary buttons (perhaps too many) to duplicate the functions of the touchscreen. The dashboard has an upmarket look that includes a centre stack that is canted towards the driver, lending the cockpit a sportier feel.

“Stylish interior and easy controls with many options. The seats are so comfortable, the ride is quiet, bigger interior room, including the back seat,” listed one impressed owner online.

In LX and EX trim, the Sportage is propelled by a 2.4-litre four-cylinder engine that produces 181 horsepower and 175 pound-feet of torque. The SX uses a turbocharged 2.0-litre four-cylinder that puts out 237 hp and 260 lb-ft of torque.

Both engines are mated to a six-speed automatic transmission – mercifully, a conventional automatic and not a CVT that’s increasingly common in the segment. Front-wheel drive is standard; optional is Magna’s Dynamax all-wheel-drive system, whose electronic locking differential proactively transfers torque to the tire or tires that can use it best.

The Sportage earned a five-star safety rating from the U.S.-based National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, and was named a Top Safety Pick by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety in 2017. A mid-cycle refresh in 2020 saw some front and rear styling tweaks, new safety features, including adaptive cruise control, and an 8-inch touchscreen with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto made standard.

On the road, the Kia’s base 2.4-litre four-cylinder – which is largely a carryover from the previous model – isn’t the most refined engine with its somewhat agrarian noises and buzziness at higher revs. The all-aluminum engine manages to motivate the Sportage from zero to highway speed in 8.6 seconds, which is hardly breathtaking in this crossover segment. Alternatively, the turbocharged SX can do it in an acceptable 7.4 seconds.

The Sportage’s European schooling reveals itself in the ride and handling department. Body motions are well controlled and the electric steering is accurate, giving the crossover some deft responses. The ride is firm but not stiff – unlike the pre-2017 models – providing good comfort without any nautical sensations. A Sportage EX circled the skidpad at 0.83 g, which is better than a Honda CR-V or Mazda CX-5 could muster.

Where the crossover’s performance disappoints is at the gas pumps, according to owners. Both engines can barely do better than 10 litres per 100 km in terms of fuel efficiency in mixed driving, with the 2.0-L turbo easily growing thirstier when the hammer comes down. Compared to its top rivals in the compact category, the Sportage is a relative gasoholic.

Owners talk reliability

The Sportage cleaved a win in the crossover wars with its unique styling, spacious cabin, hushed ride, composed handling and considerable value for the money. Lots of buyers can attest to Kia’s power to surprise, based on the positive reactions of friends and neighbours who climbed into a Sportage for the first time.

In terms of negatives, there are a few. Cargo space is markedly smaller than that of its chief compact competitors, fuel economy is disappointing and performance is also lacklustre. Blame the crossover’s porcine heft, at least in part, for the latter two deficiencies. Then there’s the mechanical issues that continue to dog the Korea-made Sportage, mostly engine failures that extend all the way back to 2011 models.

“My car needed a new engine at 43,000 km. Engine was shaking/vibrating severely and would not accelerate without putting the gas pedal to the floor. Kia was able to provide and install a new engine in less than two weeks, but not sure that will restore my confidence in the brand,” wrote one 2017 Sportage owner in a post.

This and other unfortunate owners have noted that the Sportage is prone to engine failure that may involve a sudden loss of power with an inability to restart, as well as vehicle fires. A U.S. class action lawsuit involving Kia and Hyundai models – including 2011 to 2018 and certain 2019 Sportages – equipped with Theta II 2.0-litre or 2.4-litre gasoline direct injection (GDI) engines are at risk of engine fires because of defects that block the flow of oil inside the engines.

To be fair, the ongoing engine issues are not rampant in the fourth-gen models, and Kia Canada is addressing them with a product improvement campaign. The recall includes a knock-sensor software update intended to prevent engine damage from the connecting rod bearings. Owners should keep an eye on the engine oil level as consumption can be a telltale sign of trouble ahead.

Beyond the engine, owners have reported sticky door handles and latches that refuse to open at times, presenting a safety concern. A few have also noted that power-window regulators can break and have to be replaced, and a small number of air conditioners failed prematurely.

All in all, the 2017-2020 Kia Sportage represents a fetching alternative to the usual offerings in the compact crossover SUV category, especially given its value proposition, but nagging concerns about engine durability might give used-vehicle shoppers pause. If you intend to keep your car for the long haul, you may be wise to shop elsewhere.

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First Look: 2021 Buick Envision

The next-gen Buick Envision promises to deliver more style, luxury and technology when it begins to arrive in Canadian dealerships near the end of the first quarter.

The compact five-passenger SUV, which originally went on sale in the summer of 2016, is all-new for 2021 and sports a fresh design, a new powertrain and new trim options aimed to attract more buyers to the brand.

Speaking of new buyers, Buick has become a reliable conquest marque for GM. For example, 61 percent of those who purchased the Encore GX in Canada, an all-new subcompact crossover that went on sale last year, are new to the Buick brand and 29 percent are new to GM.

As for the Envision, it sports a sleeker, sculpted and more expressive design with a wider stance versus the outgoing model. Full LED lighting and a new welcome and walkaway animation are notable exterior features. Three trims – Preferred, Essence and Avenir (the latter a first for Envision) – are available, along with a Sport Touring package (for Preferred and Essence) which includes darker trim accents and 20-inch dark finish alloy wheels.

Structurally, the 2021 Envision moves from a platform shared with the Chevrolet Equinox and GMC Terrain (D2), to one that also underpins the Cadillac XT4 (E2). Unlike the outgoing model, just one powertrain is available: a 2.0-litre twin-scroll turbocharged four-cylinder engine (228 hp / 258 lb-ft) paired with a nine-speed automatic transmission.

Of note, the 2.0-litre turbo four is a different unit than the one offered in the previous Envision. The new engine is its successor within GM’s EcoTec four-cylinder line. The ’21 Envision marks its first appearance in a Buick vehicle in North America, but it is also used in the Chinese-market model.

All-wheel drive is standard on all models above the base Preferred, which is also offered with front-wheel drive. The AWD system utilizes an electronic twin-clutch setup that allows for a variable torque split to each wheel based on road conditions. It also comes with a disconnect feature for improved fuel consumption. The Preferred FWD trim has three drive modes (tour, snow/ice and sport), while AWD models have four (tour, AWD, snow/ice and sport).

Standard features for Canadian-market Envisions will include a 10.2-inch infotainment display, heated steering wheel, heated front seats, air ionizer, Apple CarPlay / Android Auto, hands-free programmable liftgate, 18-inch wheels and more. All trims are also equipped with Buick’s QuietTuning sound insulation, which includes active noise cancellation.

Like an increasing number of new vehicles, the new Envision will ditch a traditional shifter in favour of electronic push / pull buttons to operate its automatic transmission. Other centre console features include a dual-wing centre armrest and a covered storage compartment located below the centre stack. This compartment also houses USB charge ports and an available wireless charge pad.

First Look 2021 Buick Envision

In terms of space, the 40/60-split folding second creates a maximum 1,492.5 litres of cargo volume. Maximum towing is rated at 680 kg (1,500 pounds).

During the product presentation, GM also revealed the refreshed 2022 Buick Enclave seven-passenger SUV, due to arrive this fall. GM Canada has indicated more information for the Enclave will be revealed in the coming months.

2021 Buick Envision pricing

Preferred FWD $37,598

Preferred AWD $39,998

Essence AWD $41,298

Avenir AWD $46,298

All prices include freight

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Opinion: Why Ford Needed Mustang Mach-E to be a Mustang

The announcement sent palpable shockwaves through the Internet: Ford’s all-electric crossover would be called a Mustang Mach-E, and folks all over weren’t having it. And it wasn’t only amongst Mustang diehards; Mustang and EV owner groups alike wondered what Ford was thinking.

Well-known as a brutishly entertaining gas-guzzling sports car, how could the iconic Mustang name be used on a futuristic all-electric, quick-but-quiet four-door crossover with optional all-wheel drive?

“It’s insulting to the tens of thousands of Mustang enthusiasts who love the Pony Car,” argues Mustang by Design co-author Jimmy Dinsmore, in the Ohio-based auto journalist’s online petition against the name. He launched the petition soon after the Mustang Mach-E was announced in November 2019, and it has garnered 16,646 online signatures, as of this writing.

Ford has since then argued that it didn’t take anything away from the traditional Mustang appeal, just added to it. And after some seat time in both the Mustang GT as well as the Mustang Mach-E, it’s easy to see Ford’s argument, with the extra practicality to go with similar or better acceleration numbers of the Mustang Mach-E.

But it seems more than that. The Mustang name is clearly treated carefully after more than 56 years by Ford, its spectacular early sales and steady-if-declining volume numbers over the decades giving Mustang designers and engineers rare corporate targets for fun and performance-tinged features on the Mustang to this day. Particularly important, Ford invested the extra funds needed into those Mustang performance and competition-baiting features.

And that’s exactly what Ford has done with the Mustang Mach-E.

Clearly, this is a statement vehicle for Ford. A statement that Ford can build a fast, fun and futuristic EV from the ground up, its corporate gaze clearly locked onto Tesla and its Model Y electric crossover that as of now is its only true market rival. And even if the family-friendly, electron-phasing Mach-E has a vastly different driving feel than the rip-snortin’ V8 and 6-speed manual-equipped GT coupe also seen here, the performance and desirability that just wouldn’t be possible without the extra effort and investment necessitated in part by the Mustang name.

Just look at Ford’s only other battery electric offering in Canada, the Ford Focus Electric. Introduced in 2012 for a starting price of over $41,000, it was obviously a quick chop and swap job with the regular Focus, stuffing its 23 kWh battery largely where the gas tank and cargo area previously resided, leaving little room for actual luggage. It had no engine, but the area up front was taken up by Its single electric motor driving the front wheels, power electronics and battery management system. Its 147 hp and 184 lb-ft of torque was generous compared to its electric hatchback rivals, but far from Mustang or even VW GTI hot hatch numbers of the day.

Of course, the ’21 Mach-E is in a different segment now, with much advanced technology. But that original Focus Electric’s starting price would be roughly $46,366 in today’s money, so not far under the base Mach-E’s $50,495 MSRP. The cheapest Mach-E also offers a 68 kWh battery, 18-inch wheels, rear-drive, 266 hp, 317 lb-ft of torque, a flat cargo floor, and additional storage up front in an extra frunk space.

The Focus Electric was clearly built as a compliance car meant to meet zero emissions vehicle rules, but it also showed a clear lack of EV ambition or performance enthusiasm on Ford’s part for what was up until 2018 its only battery electric vehicle.

Contrast that with the Mustang Mach-E, which is starting to trickle into owner hands now. It has multiple power levels above that 266 hp figure (from 290-346 hp, up to 480 hp on the upcoming GT later this year), and V8-like torque figures of 428 lb-ft, on up to a supercharged V8-worthy 634 lb-ft (in GT models). With 0-100 km/h times that start at a sports coupe-like mid-six second level, which is what the Premium Mach-E tester with the larger 88 kWh battery offered, the top Mach-E GT can blast as quickly up to 60 mph in a supercar-teasing 3.5 seconds.

So while quick acceleration blasts in this Mach-E were relatively quiet and composed, with enough thrust to be eye-opening without throwing your passenger’s phone into the back seat, the Mustang GT coupe’s bellowing V8 was instant excitement on demand, helped by that manual transmission that could interrupt conversation at any downshift. Different, but both with a fun performance kick.

That Mach-E closely targets Tesla, and has invested funds into its ‘cool factor’ as well as performance, is clear even before one hops inside. The Mach-E doesn’t offer regular door handles, but electronic E-latch buttons that unlatch the door, with the driver’s door offering a protruding hand ‘wedge’ to help guide along your hand in the dark, as well as Ford’s traditional but handy combo look integrated into the B-pillar.

Inside, flat screens replace gauges in front of the driver, while the massive vertical centre screen that can adjust the Mach-E from Whisper, Engage or the most fun Unbridled mode, a clear nod to Tesla’s Ludicrous acceleration mode that helped the brand become so well-known and widely featured in YouTube drag videos.

The Mach-E is also the first Ford to offer over the air updates, which will help it offer new or revised features going forward, which again has long been a Tesla staple.

The regular gas Mustang may not have this level of configurability, but Ford has offered increased adjustability in the Mustang coupe screens in recent years, with a digital tachometer that can be stretched across the binnacle as well as integrated drag race-style timing lights with its Track apps. Performance-wise, a Drag Mode has been available on automatic GTs since 2018, which Ford says helps GT drivers get the quickest time down your local quarter mile strip, while big numbers in the middle of the tach will help remind manual drivers what gear they’re in now.

From a Mach-E perspective, it’s really the 4-door crossover body, AWD, OTA updates and EV powertrain that are the most revolutionary aspects here for a Mustang. But they and sub-four second acceleration have all been available from Tesla for many years – even though the Model Y launched in mid-2020 in Canada, the Model 3 it’s closely based on arrived in 2017, giving Ford engineers a very close look at what time of performance and cool features it would offer.

An enthusiastic thumbs up from a Tesla Model Y driver while I was behind the wheel of the Mach-E suggested that the Ford BEV holds some visual or overall appeal to some (maybe many) recent Tesla owners. Another Model Y happened to be parked along my suburban and highway test loop, so I parked the Mach-E next to it for a sense of how the two compared size-wise. The Mach-E seems notably wider and lower than the Y, and more aggressive overall than the engorged Model 3 look of the Model Y.

Yes, the turn signals of the Mach-E still actively point in the direction of travel, just like a Mustang, but there’s clearly way more than the vertical taillights and other minor Mustang styling cues to tie these vehicles together. The Mustang Mach-E is an ambitiously great electric vehicle, with 340 to 491 km of range, with acceleration and the aggressive style that Mustang buyers have long appreciated.

Both gas and electric Mustang offer high performance, but with their own distinct pony car-inspired flavours. With a side of future tech flashiness inspired by Tesla, it simply wouldn’t have the backing, tech or performance to be this desirable if Ford had called it anything else.

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How a Car Accident had Me Rethink My Life and Become a Automotive Journalist

I was nineteen years old. Having had a driver’s license for only two three years, I had already blown the engine in my first car: a 1991 Honda Civic Si. The timing belt had snapped while I was attempting to rev its tiny 1.6-litre engine to redline for the millionth time.

This was the early 2000s and a quintessential era for modern street racing. Even if it was just as illegal back then as it is now, the laws around it were not as strict.

When I wasn’t busy roaming the streets in search of a new duel, I’d spend my evenings watching The Fast and the Furious DVD in repeat. My bedroom walls, also known as the basement in my dad’s house, were heavily decorated in Super Street posters. The room’s floors had transformed into layers upon layers of Car & Driver, Motor Trend and Sport Compact Car magazines. After the Honda died, I needed another car to roam the streets at night. And quick.

A Mother’s Lending Hand

Of course, being 19 and a bit of an idiot, I had no money saved up to replace my poor old Civic. But I did have one thing going for me: good grades and a decent job, which were enough to convince my mom to cosign for a new car loan.

I had my eyes set on a 2002 Mazda Protege5. It was all the talk 20 years ago. More importantly, for a young adult such as myself who was looking for something with a bit of sportiness, a lot of practicality and some form of tuning potential, the Protege5 compact station wagon was the ideal platform to fulfill my wildest street racing fantasies.

But then, my father barged in (my parents were divorced). He decided that the spunky little Protege would not be my next car. “That Mazda is too expensive. We need to find you a car that has the lowest possible monthly payments” – he told me with commanding authority.

The Lanos

My dad came home with brochures he had gathered after bouncing from one dealership to the next. Father had given me three choices: a Hyundai Accent, a Kia Rio or a Daewoo Lanos.

Needless to say, I was disappointed. But my dad had somehow convinced me that the Lanos would be the smarter choice because of its hatchback configuration and attractive price. And to be fair, among the trio, it was the best-looking option.

At this point, you’re probably wondering what I’m talking about. While today’s dominating South-Korean car brands are Hyundai, Kia and Genesis, another player was slowly trying to penetrate the North American market at the turn of the millennium. That player was Daewoo.

Daewoo’s automotive division, which only stayed in Canada between 1997 and 2002 until it was absorbed by General Motors, had a lineup of just three cars: the midsize Leganza, the compact Nubira and the subcompact Lanos.

And to its defense, the Lanos offered a lot for its price. Build quality was surprisingly good and its styling had been penned by none other than Giorgetto Giugiaro from Italdesign. What’s more, its 1.6-litre, single overhead cam “E-Tec” engine pumped out 106 horsepower, which was on par with the competing Hyundai Accent. It was also a similar engine configuration as my old Honda.

Roaming the Streets…in a Daewoo

But none of that mattered for a young adult like me. And it didn’t take long before I started modifying the Lanos with aftermarket air intakes, exhausts and body ornaments. Equipped with a manual transmission, my Daewoo would be my weapon of choice against Chevy Cavaliers and Nissan Sentras. And to my astonishment, that little thing did quite well!

Being 19, however, also meant that I was irresponsible to a great degree, and foolish. Speeding tickets kept piling on, to the point where my driver’s license got suspended for an inability to pay. But I kept on driving anyway. Well, I was young and foolish. To make matters worse, I was carrying a carrying a $10,000 car loan with mom’s signature on it. On top of it all was a $3,000 collection of speeding tickets and I was street racing at night with a suspended driver’s license. Once more – young and foolish.

The Crash

I eventually secured a job and a few paychecks later I was able to give the municipal court a large down payment on my fines.

Each morning, on the way to my job, I’d end up parked at an intersection next to a pair of dudes that rode in a Honda CRX. That intersection would then lead us to a 90 km/h speed zone which would eventually merge unto a 100 km/h highway. It was, at the time, the best possible scenario for a street race.

Just like the ending scene in The Fast and the Furious, once that streetlight turned green, we’d ignite our front tires in an attempt to get onto that highway before the other guy. Except, unlike the Toyota Supra and the Dodge Charger Paul Walker and Vin Diesel drove in the movie, we were behind the wheel of dinky subcompact economy cars. We thought we were heroes.

I still clearly remember the morning of the crash. It was a sunny September’s day with a fresh autumn breeze in the air. I recall being proud of the new clothes and shoes I was wearing that day, paid for with my hard-earned money.

As I pushed my little Lanos to the limits of its drivetrain, I remember wanting to get a head start on the Honda before entering the highway off-ramp. This would then allow me to catapult myself onto freeway speeds before he could.

But that morning, I pushed the car too far.

The little Daewoo’s rear tires lost traction and led to an exaggerated over-steering manoeuvre that had me suddenly facing a telephone pole. I quickly turned the wheel back towards the road. As the car’s tires went from grass to tarmac again, the car lifted towards the driver’s side and began an aggressive barrel roll sequence across the road.

I was then upside down. To my left, all I could see was dirt and water. I unbuckled my seatbelt and crawled my way through the passenger door. The Lanos was squished from the weight of its roof, all four tires standing upright towards the glaring sun.

During my ride in the ambulance, a police officer was interrogating me about the speed I was going at. I remember telling him that I didn’t know how fast I was going and that I had lost control of my car. Meanwhile, the paramedics ripped apart my brand-new jeans and polo to investigate my bruised-up body.

The Aftermath

I only stayed in the emergency room for a whole morning. I was indeed fine, but the doctor had given a week’s leave off work to rest.

When I went back to my Lanos to pick up any personal items I could have left in the car, there was nothing left of the little Daewoo. The car looked like it had been eaten alive by a giant shredder. Because Daewoo had left the country, the insurance company couldn’t replace the car. Instead, they gave me a check for the total amount of the loan. I paid it off and kept the remaining money.

Inevitably, I ended up facing the dreaded father-to-son speech, which felt even worse than the crash itself. I remember feeling ashamed for disappointing the people I loved. These people had come close to losing a loved one. I remember my dad looking at me in the eye and telling me: “Son, this is life giving you a second chance. What do you plan on doing with it?”

As I looked at the ground in shame, I recall focusing on the cover of a Ford Mustang Cobra vs Chevrolet Camaro SS comparison test on the cover of one of my Car & Driver magazines. I looked back at my dad and said: “Dad, I’m going to write in one of these magazines someday. And you’re going to be proud of me.”

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GM Invests $1 billion in Ingersoll to Start Commercial EV Production

Canada has officially become a key player in GM’s recently announced BrightDrop electric vehicle delivery service, with the firm’s confirmation that it will invest C$1 billion into its CAMI plant in Ingersoll, Ontario to start producing its BrightDrop all-electric delivery van there, which will become the first all-electric vehicle produced by a mainstream automaker in the country.

Members of the Unifor union at the plant ratified the deal officially on Monday, part of over $2 billion GM has committed to its Canadian operations in the past three months, with GM’s deal to bring pickup truck production back to its Oshawa plant, which had shuttered its vehicle assembly operations in December 2019, leaving only some parts production at the time, followed by some continuing mask production at the site as well.

Those GM pickup trucks are expected to start rolling off the new line in early 2022, around the same time the BrightDrop electric vans will start production in Ingersoll, said GM of Canada’s vice-president of corporate and environmental affairs David Paterson.

“The initial (BrightDrop) vehicle builds will take place in the US,” he added, while the plant is making the significant shift from producing gas-powered consumer SUVs with the Equinox to the battery-powered BrightDrop EV600 light commercial delivery van. “They will use our Ultium batteries out of the Detroit-Hamtramck plant, so in the initial builds to FedEx, at least 500 of them will come from the U.S.”

Currently, the Chrysler Pacifica Hybrid minivan is the only plug-in consumer vehicle built in Canada, outside of a handful of niche electric three-wheelers and powersports vehicles, while BrightDrop will join electric school bus and transit bus manufacturer Lion in Quebec as one of the few companies building zero emissions delivery vehicles in Canada.

But recent agreements made with Ford of Canada and Stellantis (formerly FCA) Canada in the past six months are scheduled to bring all-electric consumer vehicle production to both plants in the next two to four years, as Canada catches up to the U.S. and Mexico in terms of North American EV production.

FedEx will start using the BrightDrop EV600 delivery vans by the end of the year, even though BrightDrop itself was announced only last week as part of the virtual CES (online Consumer Electronics Show). Beta testing for FedEx was done in Toronto, while the business concept of the end-to-end ecosystem of electric vehicles, last-mile products, tracking software and services was jointly done in Canada and the U.S., said Paterson.

Not only will the rise in online shopping increase expected demand for GM for these urban vehicles, but also the expected increase in cities with emissions-free zones, at first, and possibly mandated emissions-free cities entirely over the long term.

Support for the CAMI project as the Ingersoll plant to come out of the CAMI plant is expected to be assisted by further funds from the federal government’s recently upgraded Net Zero Accelerator portion of its Strategic Innovation fund that aims to support clean tech initiatives, while Doug Ford has also signaled support to come for the investment, as most such projects in the U.S. and Canada include now as well.

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Review: 2021 Volvo XC40 Recharge P8

If you weren’t already confused by Volvo’s nomenclature, here’s a new badge to add to the mix – “Recharge”.

Like many other automakers, Volvo’s restructured naming strategy groups type of vehicle together by prefix: S for sedan, V for wagon, and XC for crossover. The badge’s suffix refers to its size. Polestar, formerly reserved for models with a few extra performance tweaks, became a standalone electrified luxury line.

And now along comes “Recharge” which will henceforth be worn by EV versions of models within Volvo’s lineup.

While there are already plug-in hybrid variants of every Volvo, this is their first full-on electric model. It’s underpinned by the same CMA architecture that the regular T5 gasoline-powered XC40 is built upon, which had been specifically designed to accommodate future electrification.

The XC40 was already a favourite in the compact luxury crossover segment, and aside from a few unique features, the Recharge P8 retains the same look. Like most of its ilk, the P8 has a blunt, smoothed over nose rather than an open grille, an exclusive sage green paint scheme, and 19- or 20-inch alloy wheels.

Inside is typical Volvo fare; modern Scandinavian minimalism that would border on austere if not for the sumptuous comfort of its seats. Charcoal is the only colour choice for now, but it’s brightened considerably by a large panoramic glass roof overhead. The focal point of the linear dash is a large, 9-inch vertical tablet-style infotainment screen, and a 12-inch display screen replaces the traditional gauges behind the steering wheel. Such luxury features as panoramic sunroof, heated power seats, and wireless smartphone charging are standard, as well as Volvo’s suite of safety features including adaptive cruise control, lane keeping assist, rear collision alert, and blind-spot and cross-traffic alert.

Powering the connectivity interface is the same Google Android Automotive operating system that made its debut with the Polestar2 (https://www.wheels.ca/news/polestar-2-makes-its-canadian-debut-in-toronto/). It seamlessly integrates phone apps with the vehicle so that you have the option of importing all of your Google calendar appointments, music preferences, and addresses etc. There’s no start button – provided the key is in your pocket, the P8 is ready to go once your backside meets the seat.

Review 2021 Volvo XC40 Recharge

The Android OS is easy to use and extremely good at recognizing voice commands. Instead of being offered “Poughkeepsie” no matter how many times I ask for “Peterborough”, a simple “Google, take me to” is all it takes to operate the Navigation system. The Google maps are automatically updated and offer charging station information, and let you know whether you’ve got sufficient battery range to reach your requested destination.

The 78kW battery pack is located underneath the Recharge P8, and doesn’t affect its rear cargo space which Volvo claims is the same 413 litres as the regular variant’s. There’s also a miniscule “frunk” space under the front hood, but it’s handy for storing home charger cables.

The torque delivery is quite astonishing from such an unassuming little vehicle, slamming you into the seat back with its silent thrust. It’s easily modulated though, and with its taut suspension and compact size, the Recharge P8 manoeuvres through congested traffic with quiet efficiency. There are two drive modes: “Normal”, and “One Pedal”, which dramatically slows the car once you lift off the accelerator. While “One Pedal” mode more aggressively reclaims kinetic energy to replenish the battery, “Normal” is smoother and much more pleasant for everyday driving and doesn’t require constant modulating of the accelerator. As expected, it’s supremely quiet, and delivers a premium feel without overt opulence.

The XC40 Recharge’s official range is 335 km, and the battery can be recharged up to 80 percent in one hour using a 150kW Level 3 fast charger. Buyers can opt for a home charger which can replenish the battery overnight in seven to eight hours, or simply plug it into their home grid – if they don’t need their car for the next 24 hours.

Review 2021 Volvo XC40 Recharge

Review 2021 Volvo XC40 Recharge

A pair of 201 horsepower electric motors mounted at the front and rear axles powers it. Combined, they produce 402 horsepower and a walloping 486 lb-ft of torque, making the Recharge P8 one of the most powerful vehicles Volvo has ever built. Since the P8 can blast from 0-100 km in just 4.7 seconds, this addresses criticism that the XC40 is the least sporty offering in a segment that includes the Porsche Macan, Audi Q3, BMW X1, and Mercedes GLA.

The Recharge doesn’t offer as much range as the less expensive Hyundai Kona EV (415 km), Kia Soul EV (452 km) or the similarly priced Tesla Model Y Long Range, but feels a lot more luxurious.

Pricing starts at $64,950, which is a rather astonishing $25,000 more than the conventional gasoline powered XC40. It’s also above the $45,000 price limit for the $5,000 federal rebate, and British Columbia’s $55,000 for provincial rebate. However, Quebec buyers qualify for up to $8,000 on vehicles up to $75,000 – which coupled with the federal incentive could add up to $13,000 off purchase price. When you compare it to the $111,500 you’d pay for competitor Audi E-tron – that makes the XC40 Recharge seem downright frugal.

The XC40 Recharge P8 is the first of five full-on electric battery EVs Volvo plans to launch over the next five years, by which time Volvo claims that half of their vehicle production will be electrified. It’s a solid first step

The vehicle was provided to the writer by the automaker. Content and vehicle evaluations were not subject to approval.

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Mercedes-Benz Unveils MBUX Hyperscreen

Mercedes-Benz unveiled on January 7, the crown on its EQS luxury electric sedan. The automaker has dubbed it MBUX Hyperscreen.

“MBUX Hyperscreen is both the brain and nervous system of the car”, explains Sajjad Khan, member of the management board of Mercedes-Benz AG and CTO. “MBUX Hyperscreen continually gets to know the driver better and delivers a tailored, personalized infotainment and operating offering before the occupant even has to click or scroll anywhere.”

What sets the Hyperscreen apart from earlier MBUX – Mercedes-Benz User Experience – models is that the latest version combines three screens, which give the driver and front seat passenger access to a myriad functions, into one.

The three screens are a digital gauge cluster, an infotainment screen and a screen to keep the front passenger occupied.

The Hyperscreen is one sheet of glass, 56 inches long, mounted on the dashboard. It dominates the dash running from the left A pillar to the right one. What the driver and front seat passenger see is one screen, not three. The Hyperscreen does away with scrolling and browsing for functions, leaving the driver to keep their attention on driving the vehicle.

“There’s no browsing for functions,” Khan says. “They find you!”

Functions include Blind Spot Assist, Active Lane Change Assist and Traffic Sign Assist. Others include seat belt adjustment, interior lighting and climate control.

MBUX intuition

Khan goes on to explain that the system has the ability to learn what the driver wants. “Thanks to artificial intelligence, MBUX Hyperscreen can continuously understand the operators wants, preferences and/or patterns; offering a customized, personalized infotainment and operating offer before the passenger has to click anything.”

So if the driver always calls someone on the way home on, say Tuesday evenings, the system recognizes the pattern and reminds the driver to do it. If someone else is at the wheel on Tuesday evening, there’s no reminder.

If the driver favours a warm seat and a massage, MBUX obliges by suggesting it. The driver then taps on the screen to warm the seat and start the massage without being distracted and drives on in comfort.

The system adds additional functions as required and takes them away when not required. They stay in the system’s brain until needed.

“All MBUX functions are linked to the user’s profile,” he says.

Keeping the passenger busy

While the focus is on the driver, the front seat passenger isn’t ignored.

The screen offers a separate display and operating area where they can watch videos and assist the driver in navigation, among other things. It’s possible to customize the passenger’s content. If the passenger seat is not occupied, the screen serves a decorative role.

Learning from customers

The automaker introduced MBUX in 2018 and has been keeping an eye on user feedback and the behaviour of the driver and passenger when it comes to what features they favour.

They found that 80 per cent of use is in the Navigation, Radio/Media and Telephone categories. Based on this, the navigation application is always at the centre of the screen unit with full functionality. Mercedes-Benz is confident that its zero-layer screen will reduce driver distraction caused by scrolling and browsing.

“The goal was a concept without distraction of the driver or creating complicated operation,” Khan says.

Hyperscreen

Only on the EQS

For now, the Hyperscreen will be available only on the automaker’s luxury EV, the EQS, which debuts later in the year. The Hyperscreen and its many attractive, new features serve as the perfect halo technology.

In fact, Khan goes so far as to say that the Hyperscreen is more than just a halo feature, it is what the EQ is all about. “With its unique electro-aesthetics and high user-friendliness, the Hyperscreen represents the entire character of the EQS – avant-garde, cool, personal and useful…the backbone of the vehicle or even the central brain of the vehicle.”

Since the Hyperscreen has the ability to run in a number of vehicles, it’s likely that it, will migrate to other vehicles on the automaker’s roster, but there’s no date set yet.

Hyperscreen

MBUX updates

That doesn’t mean that the automaker is ignoring MBUX. A new version will debut in the new S-Class, which was unveiled late last year. The updated infotainment system will let drivers save various preferences like seat settings, interior lighting color, favorite radio station, among other features.

These personal profiles can be enabled or disabled by using the new security features, or loaded in other Mercedes-Benz vehicles. A fingerprint sensor in the main touchscreen and voice recognition will come standard, and there is a PIN setting as well. Buyers can also opt for a version of the device with cameras that allow for facial recognition.

Lawrence Papoff is a long-time automotive journalist and former editor of Canadian AutoWorld magazine.

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Whitby Boy, 6, Designs Livery for Daytona Sports Car

There are formal COVID-19 lockdowns and informal ones. A formal lockdown is when Premier Doug Ford looks into the TV cameras and says, “Stay home for the next 28 days – or else.” An informal lockdown is when your job disappears and you have to stay home and look after the kids. And it gets really interesting when you have to keep coming up with ideas to keep the children occupied.

So you get a blank template of a racing car and suggest to your 6-year-old son that he colour it in. Then you send it to the team that owns the car. The team, Era Motorsport, headquartered in Indianapolis, was so impressed that it used the drawing as the basis of a colour scheme that will be on its No. 18 Oreca LMP2 sports car when it goes to the post a week from Saturday in the 24 Hours of Daytona, a.k.a. the Rolex 24 at Daytona, the first race of the 2021 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship season.

And that, in a nutshell, is what happened in recent days to the Jason MacEachern family of Whitby. Dad Jason and son Owen are second-and third-generation race fans who enjoy going to Canadian Tire Motorsport Park together, particularly when the IMSA-sanctioned Mobil 1 SportsCar Grand Prix is held in July.

Owen is in Grade 1 at Kendalwood Montessori & Elementary School in Whitby but is home riding out the pandemic with his father, mom Amanda and a younger sister.

Said dad Jason, a laser and pyrotechnician for global special effects companies who’s temporarily unemployed: “It was in the early days of the first COVID lockdown and every night I would go online to see if I could find some activities to keep the kids occupied.

“I got side-tracked – I like motorsports – so I went to the IMSA site and I saw that several of the teams had colouring contests for kids and some came with prizes. I downloaded one and suggested to Owen that he colour it. That was a long time ago, last March. It (the news) came out of the blue about a month ago. I got a call from the team saying that Owen had won, that he’d beaten entries from all over the world.

“They offered us a trip to Daytona. I’d always wanted to go to that race; I have a racing simulator and love to “drive” in that race. Obviously, we can’t go but they’ve offered us Watkins Glen (when IMSA races there in June) so I’ll take Owen there if things ease up.”

In a release, the team said that Owen’s design glowed bright with all three primary colours, transitioning from a blue nose, to a yellow middle body, and a red rear. On the side of the car’s body, the child added a lightning bolt. Jason had sent along a photo of his proud 6-year-old holding his masterpiece.

“It was so great to see so many interesting designs from so many sports car fans and aspiring designers,” said team owner Kyle Tilley. “We hope we gave them something to do during what has been a tough time for everyone. In the end, we reviewed all the images and we knew that Owen’s drawing was the winner.”

Once the news sank in that his design would appear on a professional racecar for the biggest sports-car race of the year, Owen sent the team a thank-you note:

“Hello Kyle Tilley and Era Motorsports.

Thank you for this contest. My name is Owen and I am 6 ¾. My favorite things are racing and hockey. I am learning to drive on a racing simulator. I chose this design because I like the colours and thunderbolts and flames are cool.

This was fun because my grandpa, dad, and me all like racing and we were stuk (sic) at home during COVID.

Owen.”

Era Motorsport

Dad Jason said that he and his son enjoy the IMSA races because they can get close to everything.

“One of the things I love is that you can walk in the paddock and meet the drivers and get autographs and you can walk out on the grid and be out there when the bagpipes parade through. I don’t want to bash NASCAR but you go to one of their races and everything is fenced off and you can’t speak to anyone or see anything.”

I asked Owen if he wanted to drive a racing car when he grew up and, of course, he said yes. “I don’t want to just watch,” he said.

Added Jason: “It’s pretty fantastic of Era Motorsport to do this, to take my son’s drawing and turn it into something that will look fantastic under the lights at a world class race. They’ve done a pretty amazing thing here and everybody should know about it. It’s pretty cool.”

The 59th Rolex 24 at Daytona can be seen on Discovery Velocity Channel, starting at 3:40 p.m. next Saturday. The MacEachern family will be watching.

Norris McDonald is a retired Star editor who continues to write for Wheels under contract. nmcdonald@thestar.ca

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