Ontario’s Drive Clean is becoming a lot less annoying. This program will now require less testing, specifically:

• Vehicles will need a test for registration renewal at seven years of age, instead of five.
• Light-duty vehicles no longer require a test for family transfers and lease buyouts by the lessee.
• No test is required for licence renewal if your light-duty vehicle passed the test in the previous calendar year.
• Vehicles plated “Historic” no longer require testing.

There’s a lot of arcticles on the most likely stolen cars, however the Toronto Star came up with this list of least likely stolen cars:

• Audi A6 4WD ($16,882)
• Mercury Mariner – 2009-10 model years ($1,970)
• Chevrolet Equinox – 2010 model year ($2,069)
• Volkswagen CC – 2009-10 model years ($7,098)
• Chevrolet Equinox 4WD – 2010 model year ($4,870)
• Lexus RX 350 – 2010 model year ($6,084)
• Saturn Vue ($3,747)
• Chevrolet Aveo – 2009-10 model year ($7,642)
• BMW 5 series 4WD ($12,200)
• Mini Cooper Clubman mini ($1,883)

Car And Driver just announced the winners of the 10 Best:

• BMW 3-Series/M3
• Cadillac CTS-V
• Chevrolet Volt
• Ford Mustang GT
• Honda Accord
• Honda Fit
• Hyundai Sonata
• Mazda MX-5 Miata
• Porsche Boxster/Cayman
• Volkswagen Golf/GTI

The AJAC awards are complete and the winners announced in each category. All of these entries will be eligible to win Car of the Year and Truck of the Year to be revealed at the Toronto Auto Show.

• Best New Small Car Under $21,000: Ford Fiesta
• Best New Small Car Over $21,000: Chevrolet Cruze
• Best New Family Car Under $30,000: Volkswagen Jetta TDI
• Best New Family Car Over $30,000: Buick Regal
• Best New Luxury Car Over $50,000: BMW 5 Series Sedan
• Best New Prestige Car Over $75,000: Porsche 911 Turbo S
• Best New Sports/Performance Car: Cadillac CTS-V Coupe
• Best New Minivan: Toyota Sienna
• Best New SUV/CUV Under $35,000: Hyundai Tucson
• Best New SUV/CUV $35,000 to $50,000: Ford Edge
• Best New SUV/CUV Over $50,000: Volkswagen Touareg

Halfway through the life of a specific car model, the manufacturers will perform a mid-cycle refresh. Often called a “facelift” by the press, the basic car including powertrain and engines stay generally the same, but subtle changes are added to freshen up the image of the car, introduce some new features that would draw in new buyers, or keep leasers that have their cars being turned in.

The Acura crossovers have been really popular in my circle – it’s by far the most popular car owned by my friends. If you are in the market for one, try to get a great deal on the existing 2009 model, or wait and benefit from the upgrades in the 2010s.

For 2010, both the Acura RDX and MDX are getting a refresh. For the RDX (pictured above), it’s primarily just a facelift, with the front and rear fascia’s changing, with new vents, new light housings and adopting the “shield” grill that started permeating the line with the Acura TL. There will be an addition of a front-wheel drive model in the USA, but it’s undetermined if it will make it into Canada. If it does, this will be a fuel-friendly car since the car will be lighter and already had a direct-injection turbocharged engine.

The MDX (pictured below) also gets new front and rear fascias. It also gets and updated rear-view camera and navigation system. Also included is a radar-based cruise control system and the addition of a six-speed automatic transmission. It is the same transmission coming on the new ZDX and adds a gear which will improve fuel economy on highway driving. The final major change is the addition of an active damping system for the suspension. Adopting the same magnetic-fluid system found on Corvettes and Ferraris, this system will instantaneously adapt to changing road conditions and allow the user to control how comfortable or sporty the ride will be.

BMW hosted an event called BMW Comparison Drive. At the event, BMW allowed us to compare their 3 series (323i, 328i xDrive, 335i xDrive and 335d Diesel) against the all-wheel drive versions of the Audi A4, Lexus IS 250 and Mercedes-Benz C300. It was a  cloudy day, but the track was dry – it threatened to rain but never did.

The event started with a 30 minute presentation about BMW and the various technologies they use. Not much new information was conveyed but the information was very pro-BMW. However, they did a good job and all the information was based on facts. Since they were comparing all the all-wheel drive cars, it’s important to note that the BMW xDrive cars cannot be equipped with sport suspension. This is unlike cars like the Audi A4 which can be equipped with lowered sport suspension which improves it’s handling and dynamics.

The short track was designed to test dynamics and not powertrain performance. Noone needed to leave 2nd gear at any part of the circuit. The course had five sections, starting with a long sweeping turn with a decreasing radius near the end. Following was an emergency braking while turning exercise, an emergency lane change, and a slalom through the cones. The final leg was a full throttle then full braking exercise.

All the BMW’s felt very good in the course, but the 323i was underpowered. It would be a great commuter car but anyone after some serious performance should pass this car over. The 328i performed great, but it was hard to notice the AWD in this course. A wet traction section would show it off some more, especially since BMW bragged that it was the only system that could put 100% of the power to either front or rear axles.

Some of my observations:

• The BMW’s interior is too stark, although the quality of materials is top notch, sitting in the Audi and Mercedes felt a lot better. It was about on par with the Lexus.
• The Lexus IS250 AWD is too burdened with the automatic transmission and AWD drivetrain to be a fun car. A manual IS250 without AWD would be more fun.
• The Mercedes has a great sounding exhaust, and it was only the C300. The C350 must sound fantastic.
• ABS braking is life-saving technology. And every car performed both braking maneuvers flawlessly and some had less aggressive touring tires.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration in the US has started an email subscription service for recalls. You can specify your car and be notified of new recalls on your vehicle. However, given that the NHTSA is in the US, recalls may be different between there and Canada. However, most recalls are for both countries and until the Canadian goverment offers the same service. In the meantime, Transport Canada has an online database of Canadian recalls.