Sport Cars

Canadas 20 best-selling new vehicle nameplates generated just under half of all new vehicle sales volume in Canada in November 2014 as many of the countrys most popular nameplates posted huge year-over-year gains. 

The Ford F-Series was up 18%. The Ram P/U reported its best-ever November sales thanks to a 19% gain. Hondas CR-V, the countrys top-selling utility vehicle, was up 56%. 

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• Canada Vehicle Sales Rankings By Model - November 2014 YTD

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The F-Series and Ram gains werent unusual in the truck segment. Sales of the GMC Sierra and Chevrolet Silverado increased dramatically, as well. As a result, pickup trucks generated 18.6% of the Canadian auto industrys new vehicle sales in November 2014, up from 16.7% at this time a year ago and 17.2% in October of this year. 

Meanwhile, according to Automotive News, passenger car volume slid 3% thanks in part to the best-selling cars massive November decline. The Honda Civic was down 27%, a loss of 1528 units. Total car volume was down by around 1900 units.

Click Chart To Expand

Compared with last months edition of this list, the Nissan Sentra, Honda Accord, and Kia Sorento have all been knocked off by the Hyundai Sonata, Toyota Camry, and Jeep Wrangler. 

Compared with last Novembers version of this top 30, the Honda Fit, Jeep Wrangler, Volkswagen Golf, Hyundai Accent, Jeep Grand Cherokee, and Chrysler 200 are all present; the Subaru Forester, Nissan Versa, Kia Sorento, Honda Accord, Dodge Dart, and Ford Fusion are not.

Weve already published November lists for the 20 best-selling cars, 20 best-selling SUVs and crossovers, and complete figures for every pickup truck, links to which youll find at the bottom of this pot. Throwing all those vehicles into one group results in this list of the 30 best-selling vehicles overall. We end up with four pickup trucks, one minivan, 13 cars, and 12 utility vehicles.

Historical monthly and yearly sales figures for any of these top-selling vehicles can always be accessed through the dropdown menu at GCBCs Sales Stats page, and for those not viewing the mobile version of this site, near the top right of this page, as well.

December 2014 • October 2014 • November 2013

Like football players, all pickup trucks are not created equal. 

Im not talking about a comparison between Peyton and Eli, nor am I referencing the inevitable F-150 vs. Silverado battle. 

Have a look at an NFL roster and youll see a guy like Tom Brady, at 225 pounds, whose job it is to stand still and throw the ball, and a 198-pounder in Julian Edelman whose job it is to run and catch the ball. 

THE GOOD • Fuel efficiency • Tops class in ride & handling • Fuel efficiency • Tops in truck design • Fuel efficiency

THE BAD • Touchscreen needs re-canting • Base flat floor > underseat storage? • Youll pay a price • Optimistic onboard computer • Not sold on rotary dial shifter

There are many more players with unique tasks: especially large gentlemen who must protect the guy who throws the ball, more agile men who must run with the ball, and more fellas who come onto the field to attack the other team when, in this case, the Patriots dont have the ball. 

Last week, GoodCarBadCar was granted a few days with Rams new diesel-powered 1500 pickup, the first light-duty diesel pickup truck available in our market since the 90s and the first light duty diesel engine in a half-ton truck since before I was born. But just as "football player" can mean so many different things, so can Ram. 

This Ram featured the new 3.0L turbocharged diesel engine, four-wheel-drive, Laramie trim, the crew cab bodystyle, and a vast array of options. 
This Ram weve been driving isnt just a pickup. Its a luxury limo, a work truck, a fuel miser, an all-weather traveller, a style statement, a secure vault, and a family car. 

Maybe its time multi-positional football players made a comeback. 

Theres no point in me trying to summarize this, wait for it, $70,090 Ram 1500 Laramie EcoDiesel. You dont need your Ram to be a Laramie model. A Quad Cab will perhaps suffice unless youre still filling rear-facing child seats. The new VM Motori-developed V6 diesel is available outside of heavily-optioned Laramie Crew Cab models. So lets just take each element on its own, cognizant of the flexibility of the Ram lineup.

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• Historical Monthly & Yearly Ram P/U Sales Figures
• 2013 Ram 1500 Outdoorsman Crew Cab 4x4 V6 Driven Review

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2014 RAM 1500 LARAMIE CREW CAB 4X4 ECODIESEL As-Tested Price * (CDN): $70,090 Engine: 3.0L DOHC 24-valve V6 turbocharged diesel Transmission: 8-speed automatic Horsepower: 240 @ 3600 rpm Torque: 420 @ 2000 rpm Curb Weight: 5802 pounds Drive Type: selectable four -wheel-drive Length: 229.0 inches Width: 79.4 inches Height: 75.7 inches Wheelbase: 140.0 inches Passenger Volume: 3548 litres Cargo Volume: 1424 litres Centre Console: 42 tennis balls Upper Glove Compartment: 15 tennis balls Lower Glove Compartment: 18 tennis balls EPA City: 19 mpg EPA Highway: 27 mpg NRCAN OEE City: 12.1  L/100 km NRCAN OEE Hwy: 8.8 L/100 km Observed: 20.1 mpg Observed: 11.7 L/100 km * includes destination/delivery. MPG fuel economy ratings from the Environmental Protection Agency. L/100km ratings from the Canadian Office of Energy Efficiencys new 5-cycle testing for MY2015 vehicles.

THE DIESEL
Originally designed for GM purposes, this 240-horsepower V6 diesel generates 420 lb-ft of torque at just 2000 rpm. Not at all unlike other diesels, theres a moment of hesitation when the throttle is first applied during which the owner of a Hemi-engined Ram will say to himself, "I aint sure shes got enough pies in the oven." 

Thankfully that moment is brief, and the swell of torque enjoyed by the EcoDiesels driver when overtaking on a rural two-lane is something Pentastar Ram owners ought to try at least once.

The diesel doesnt deserve all the credit. It works in conjunction with an excellent 8-speed automatic. Youre always in the right gear, and the next gear is only a blink away. Together, they make for a tremendously refined powertrain. 

Theres a hint of dieselly clatter when manoeuvring in tight spots, back and forth in a nine-point turn. (Thank-you to the Elantra and Civic drivers in scenic Herring Cove who boxed me in. I needed my fathers help to direct me out, which wasnt embarrassing at all in front of my wife and mother.) But overall, this diesel has been forcefully silenced with enough sound deadening to hush a crowd of guffawing fishermen.

Better yet, the Ram diesel doesnt use very much fuel, not by pickup truck or even large crossover standards. In the real world, where I can fill the tank, measure the distance travelled, and then calculate consumption by re-filling the tank, the Ram used 13% more fuel than its onboard computer led me to believe. 

Yet at 11.7 L/100 km (or 20.1 mpg on the U.S. scale) in mostly urban driving, we used 9% less fuel than we did in our 5.3L V8-engined GMC Sierra tester did last fall, and that Sierra was driven mostly on the highway. (We also used 16% less fuel in this diesel Ram than we did in the Pentastar V6 Ram last summer.)
Then again, the EcoDiesel was a $4500 option on this Laramie model, above and beyond the Hemi. On an SLT-trimmed Ram 1500, the EcoDiesel would cost $5500 more than the standard V6. 

In terms of calculating your potential long-term benefits, your personal annual mileage matters a lot more than mine. But it might not matter as much once you start driving the EcoDiesel, once you see how slowly the fuel gauge needle falls, once you solidify your long-held belief that Truck = Diesel. 

All Photo Credits: Timothy Cain ©www.GoodCarBadCar.net Click Any Of These iPhone Images For A Larger Slideshow View

With our family of three in the cabin, a cooler full of sandwiches and chips and pop in the bed, and Ramboxes full of hoodies and blankets, we picked up my parents for a picnic at York Redoubt outside town. We were hardly consuming any fuel, relative to other pickup trucks, so we extended our journey to Herring Cove, Duncans Cove, Ketch Harbour, and the aptly-named Sandy Cove, where there is sand.

Thats the kind of freedom that, once paid for on transaction day, diesel owners enjoy throughout the rest of their ownership period. You dont convince yourself of the long-term financial benefits of a sunroof, and you shouldnt need to establish the economic advantages of this diesel, either.
CREW CAB
Regardless of the engine under the hood, Rams crew cab body, like the full-fledged four-doors from Ford and GM and Toyota, is huge inside. Leg-stretchingly huge. The bed is shortened, but the available leg room and under-seat storage is truly luxurious whether the seats are leather-clad or sheathed in cloth. Space will always equal luxury, but it wont be long until the feature count of a high-priced premium vehicle of today will underwhelm.

LARAMIE
Two-tone paint, heated and cooled leather seating up front, dual-zone climate control, and Chryslers big 8.4-inch UConnect are key Laramie features. It also says Laramie three times inside and once outside. (This Laramie badging tags along with four "Ram" mentions outside and eight inside, the Ram logo which appears twice outside and once inside, and just two exterior "EcoDiesel" badges, both of which the truck-loving teens on our street felt were the exact opposite of truckish toughness.) 

GCBC Instituted ISTBTP, AKA Interior Storage Tennis Ball Test Protocol, In Early 2014. The Ram Crew Cabs ISTBTP Results Are In The Spec Chart Above.

THIS RAM
Our test truck, optioned quite nicely by Chrysler Canadas PR department, included expensive options like the $1195 RamBoxes (which we used on a couple of occasions for big grocery loads), the $1595 air suspension (which, with 5 ride heights, is pretty awesome), a $1295 power sunroof, $1200 leather buckets up front, $850 side steps, and $4365 in smaller options, plus the optional diesel engine.

The seats wont massage, the sunroof isnt panoramic, theres no blind spot monitoring or adaptive cruise or even a soft-opening tailgate. By the standards of $70,000 luxury cars, this is under-equipped, but its still luxury living, particularly when one considers the overall flexibility of the package.

FIERCE COMPETITION
I remain convinced that, by a small margin, Ram offers the best-handling pickup truck range. This is most noticeable when encountering the expansion joints of an overpass mid-corner, where the Ram will feel perfectly normal and other trucks skitter, even if only a little. 

Yet by an equally small margin, the structure of GMs new trucks feel stronger and more solid, and the overall sensation is of the superior work truck. (This sensation was clarified during back-to-back drives on an off-road course at an event sponsored by, yes, GM.) 

Were hair-splitting now though, and it would surprise me if the new F-150 isnt the superior truck in most aspects. At least until the Fords competitors receive their own updates. And so the cycle goes. 
I prefer the Sierra/Silverados rear seat design; the wider availability of F-150 configurations locally available to me; the simplicity of Rams UConnect; the exterior design of the Ram; the silence of a Sierras cabin; a column shifter rather than the Rams rotary dial; the upcoming Fords freshness. The Ram’s touch screen needs to be canted more toward the driver, the fuel gauge should be larger, the dual glove compartments aren’t that large, there’s no built-in helper to lend assistance when jumping into the bed.

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• 2014 Toyota Tundra 4x4 SR 5.7L TRD Offroad Double Cab Driven Review
• 2014 GMC Sierra Crew Cab 4x4 5.3L SLT Driven Review
• 2014 Volkswagen Passat TDI Highline Driven Review

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But its easy to see why Ram is picking up market share in both the United States and Canada. The aluminum-intensive 2015 F-150 aside, Chrysler has brought Ram to the forefront of truck awareness by offering us things other truck makers arent providing, most notably in the form of their 8-speed automatic and this light duty V6 diesel. 

With Ram offering the power we require and the fuel efficiency we dreamed of, do we really need to measure the trivial interior quality differences, the slight towing capacity disparities, and the narrow pricing discrepancies? A diesel engine might just negate all other arguments. 

Especially since, where I live, diesel costs five cents less per litre. Thats like a football player that plays offense and defense and takes a pay cut for doing so. 

The Subaru Tribeca, long so unpopular it couldnt even be considered divisive or controversial, was the least popular new vehicle in Canada in November 2014. 

Granted, the Volvo S80 hasnt yet expired and it attracted fewer, as in zero, buyers in November. But we never track the vehicles which genuinely didnt sell. The Tribeca was down 92% to just 2 sales in November 2014, ranking it first both in terms of year-over-year decline and total volume. 

The Hyundai Equus, Jaguar XK, and Kia K900 (an Equus twin) joined the Tribeca with just 2 November sales. For the K900, this was a big achievement. No K900s were reported sold in Canada in October. Only 23 have been sold since the car arrived in March of this year.

As for the Tribeca, we expect to see an all-new three-row Subaru in the not-too-distant future. Theyd be wise to change the name. The first-generation Tribeca has been around since 2005 but has only generated 5759 sales since then.

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• Canada Vehicle Sales Rankings By Model - November 2014 YTD

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You can always select a make and model at GCBCs Sales Stats page to find historical monthly and yearly sales figures from both Canada and the United States. Pertinent links are clickable at the bottom of this post, but you can also find related links at the Best Sellers page.

December 2014 • October 2014 • November 2013

2014 Chevrolet Camaro Z28 : Top-time at the Nürburgring

With the facelift Chevrolet brings a new top model of the Camaro on the market that looks good at the Nürburgring.


The Chevrolet Camaro was the muscle car era a high-performance coupe, but in the latest version, it also offers a high level of racing prowess.

During the first generations while also had a lot of power, but were quickly only on straight sections, can the new top model of the newly revamped series, the Camaro Z28 also shine on the track.


The Camaro Z28 is fully trimmed for sportiness and features a 7.0 liter V8 with 505 hp (372 kW). The circuit is via a manual six-speed gearbox, and the gear is designed entirely for racing.

At the Nürburgring could come up with a dream time, the new Camaro Z28 now. 7:37:40 in only the American coupe lapped the legendary circuit.


So that the Americans could outdo the fast times of a Lamborghini Murcielago LP640 and a Porsche 911 Carrera S and thus makes in its class a good figure. The newly revamped 2014 Camaro will come to Europe, whether it is there to give the Z28 version, but is questionable.

Photo Credit: © Chevrolet