November 4, 2009: Join Autos's Facebook group Follow Autos on Twitter By Jim Kerr Every fall, members of the Automotive Journalists Association of Canada (AJAC) gather together to test all the new vehicles, then vote for class winners, such as best family car or best SUV in selected price ranges. From those class winners, the Canadian Car and Utility Vehicle of the Year are selected. While t... Read Article

October 14, 2009: Join Autos's Facebook group Follow Autos on Twitter By Jim Kerr My teenage son just completed his high school driver’s ed lessons. The 30-hour class included watching videos of driving situations, emphasis on the dangers of impaired driving, and rules of the road. Armed with this information, the students in the class could write their driver’s tests and get a learner’s ... Read Article

September 23, 2009: Join Autos's Facebook group Follow Autos on Twitter By Jim Kerr Recently my mailbox has been filled with inquiries about braking problems. Many of these questions are related, and deal with brake noises, low brake pedal or pedal pulsation. This week, let’s take a look at one of the most important safety features on any automobile – the braking system. The driver’s int... Read Article

August 12, 2009: Join Autos's Facebook group Follow Autos on Twitter By Jim Kerr How much can your vehicle tow? Looks and vehicle size alone are no judge of towing capacity, and neither is engine size or power. Fortunately, the auto manufacturers provide maximum towing capacity information either in the owner’s manual or on placards on the vehicle. Sometimes the information is given in t... Read Article

May 6, 2009: Join Autos's Facebook group Follow Autos on Twitter By Jim Kerr Vehicle stability is affected by many factors: tire pressures, tire design, spring rates, shock absorber damping rates, sway bar strength and track width (the distance between the tires on the same axle). They are all carefully selected by the engineers during the vehicle’s design to maximize the vehicle’s st... Read Article

March 18, 2009: Join the official Autos Facebook group By Jim Kerr Did you know that the best safety feature on your vehicle was introduced to the market in 1959 by Nils Bohlin, a Volvo engineer? Or that it has been a standard feature on passenger cars since the late 1960s? And that 92.5 per cent of Canadians use it on a regular basis? If you guessed this feature is your vehicle’s three... Read Article

April 16, 2008: By Jim Kerr It all began with a simple question: "I want to put winter tires on my car but it has a tire pressure monitoring system (TPMS). What happens if I use another set of wheels for my winter tires? No one seems to be able to tell me." With provinces such as Quebec requiring winter tires during certain months of the year, and drivers in many other parts of the country readily switching... Read Article

March 24, 2008: By Jim Kerr Spring has flown by and already the first long weekend of Summer has passed. I know - Summer doesn't officially begin yet, but Summer travel season has, and the adventure of family trips to the cottage or relatives often overshadows the importance of making sure your vehicle is ready for the task. Service shops are often fully booked with last minute work before any Summer weeken... Read Article

February 20, 2008: By Jim Kerr Even though anti-lock brake systems (ABS) are a common feature on most modern vehicles, there are still a lot of misconceptions about how these systems work and what they can do for drivers. You may have experienced them in operation several times over the past couple of months as slippery roads have tested the braking capability of our vehicles, but what really happens when you step ... Read Article