BACK IN VOGUE
With cheap gas, mega-horsepower is back in a big way.
As Canada’s premier auto show, the annual Canadian International Auto Show held in Toronto is where you can count on automakers to not hold anything back. Yet among the countless new cars and trucks you’ll find on display, we’ve managed to suss out four emerging trends that should be evident at this year’s big show: Cheap gas is back, and so is mega-horsepower Advances in technologies like directinjection, electric motors and turbocharging are boosting horsepower ratings in production cars to levels we are more used to seeing in Formula One race cars.
Take for instance the new Acura NSX supercar. The twoseat, mid-engine beast sports all-wheel-drive and a gas-electric powertrain rated at “over 550 horsepower.” If you need more room, there’s also the Canadian-built Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat sedan. With 707-hp from its supercharged 6.2-litre HEMI Hellcat V8 engine, the Dodge four-door is the quickest, fastest and most powerful sedan in the world. Close behind the Dodge in the horsepower race at this year’s show, you’ll also find the new Cadillac CTS-V. With a 640hp supercharged 6.2L V8, its General Motors luxury brand’s most powerful vehicle ever.
Truck and SUV buyers aren’t being left out of the horsepower wars, either.
Ford is showing off its latest off-road monster — the new F-150 Raptor, anticipated to make 450 to 500 horsepower — from Ford’s EcoBoost V6, handily beating the 411-hp rating from the previous model’s 6.2L V8. And if you’re in the market for a mega-horsepower luxury SUV, also debuting at CIAS will be the all-new 577-hp Mercedes-AMG GLE 63 Coupe and the 570-hp Porsche Cayenne Turbo S. Plenty of sports cars just in time for spring Although it’s just a concept for now, BMW’s Mini brand will be showing its Superleggera Vision. A joint venture between Germany’s Mini and Italy ’s Touring Superleggera design and body manufacturing specialists, the two-seat, open-top sports car hints at what a future Mini roadster may look like.
Back to the present, Japan’s Mazda will be debuting its latest incarnation of its iconic MX-5 roadster — or what you may know as the Miata. Set to go on sale later this year, Mazda says the new MX-5 keeps all the attributes fans have come to expect in the past 25 years, but in a lighter, more technologically advanced package. As well, Audi will be introducing to Toronto show goers the third generation of its TT, in both hardtop Coupe and open-top Roadster forms. A particular highlight in the third-generation TT is the Audi virtual cockpit.
If you want to take your car to a race track, there’s the new Ford Shelby Mustang GT350R. Essentially, the R is what the Boss 302 Laguna Seca was to the Boss 302 — a street-legal, track day weapon. While farther up the sports car food chain is the all-new Mercedes-AMG GT. Designed to take on the Porsche 911 Carrera, the two-seat, rear-drive sports car is powered by an all-new 4.0L twin-turbocharged V8 making 503-hp and a seven-speed dual-clutch transmission. Crossovers continue to cultivate fans The marriage of car-like ride and handling with SUV-like capabilities continues to be popular with Canadian new car buyers and this year’s CIAS has plenty of new crossovers debuting.
Audi’s first-ever crossover, the three-row Q7, is all-new. Shorter and narrower than before, the new Q7’s cabin is longer with more head room and is overall lighter for better performance and fuel economy. Ford’s ever popular Explorer crossover gets a thorough refresh, with new styling outside and in, plus a new topline Platinum trim that rivals luxury crossovers, like the Audi.
Arguably the hottest crossover segment in Canada is the smallest. This year, you’ll find new tiny utes like the Jeep Renegade, Honda HR-V and Mazda CX-3. Of this new trio, the Renegade is the most interesting. Designed in North America but built in Italy, the subcompact, four-door Jeep will offer two four-cylinder engines and the segment’s first nine-speed automatic transmission. Plugging in your car is a thing now Despite the long list of fossil fuel-burning unveilings, automakers are still having their corporate feet held to the fire when it comes to fuel economy regulations. That means the industry must continue to debut electrified vehicles, with more and more needing to be plugged-in to maximize their batteries’ capabilities.
The most interesting plugin gas electric hybrid debut this year is the second-gen 2016 Coverlet Volt.
With an increased electric range, now room for five passengers, upscale interior and mainstream styling, parent GM is hoping the Volt will be seen more as a mainstream choice than one for tree-huggers only.
Korea’s Hyundai is showing two new plug-in vehicles.
The first is the new Sonata Plug-in Hybrid that features a rechargeable battery large enough to allow the mid-size sedan to travel up to 35 kilometres on electric-only power. The second is the low-volume Hyundai Tucson Fuel Cell, the first zero-emissions fuel cell electric vehicle available to Canadian customers.