Driving Top Picks: 7 Cars we want to drive most next year

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Don’t get us wrong—there were some absolutely fantastic new cars Driving.ca reviewers got to pilot last year. We’ve even got a list of our favourites jotted down! [Look out for that article next week. —Ed.] Yes, 2022 saw knockouts – as well as, to be fair, some disappointing duds – but in this business, we can’t help but get distracted on the even newer cars just around the corner.

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Automakers have a lot of new models they plan to launch in 2023, and we’re already salivating over the chance to give these seven in particular a spin. How about you? What’s on your to-drive list for next year?

Brian Harper’s Top Pick: 2023 Alfa Romeo Tonale

Last year I made a vow to myself to drive more electric vehicles and plug-in hybrids. At the time I said that if these represent the future of the automobile industry, there’s no use burying one’s head in the sand and pretending they don’t exist. I did get into a few, but not as many as I would have liked. Note to self: Must do better! And the one model I really want to have a go in for 2023 is the same model I wanted to drive last year, Alfa Romeo’s delayed-but-still-promised Tonale crossover.

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As a gearhead and a fan of Italian vehicles, I find its looks intriguing. A couple of things have changed, though. First off, the 2.0L turbo motor has been dropped, leaving the plug-in hybrid option as the only choice of powertrain. OK, no hardship there, the Tonale’s top-shelf propulsion unit is a plug-in hybrid that marries a 1.3L turbo-four — itself with a mild-hybrid belt-alternator-generator to add extra torque — and a 90-kilowatt electric motor that drives the rear wheels. Combine all three and you’re good for 272 hp of all-wheel-drive goodness. The bonus is a 15.5-kilowatt-hour lithium-ion battery that Alfa says allows the Tonale 48 kilometres of electric-only driving.

The more problematic issue is that Stellantis has announced a less-expensive (under-$40K) Dodge-badged version of the Tonale, the Hornet. And considering Stellantis says the Hornet GT will get the turbo 2.0L four-cylinder — with the R/T plug-in hybrid variant paired with the 1.3L engine/electric motor combo — it’s just going to cut the legs out from under the Alfa in terms of sales.

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Brendan McAleer’s Top Pick: 2023 Toyota GR Corolla

I’m going to say a Porsche 959, here, because I always say a Porsche 959 and it hasn’t happened. Yet. But you never know when the chance to experience a childhood hero car will come along, so maybe 2023’s the year.

Way further down the price-point curve, although arguably not much less desirable, is the Toyota GR Corolla. This little hot-hatch is on the must-drive list for many of us here, and for good reason: it’s a rally-inspired pocket-rocket with an overpressurized three-cylinder engine, all-wheel-drive, and a manual gearbox.

Yes, please. And also: when’s the last time anyone got excited about a Corolla? Some time plotting out the twistiest B.C. roads is in order for 2023, the better to see if Toyota’s foray into Subaru WRX and Mitsubishi EVO territory is good enough to hang with the greats.

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Stephanie Wallcraft’s Top Pick: 2023 VW ID.Buzz

Is there anyone who doesn’t have a soft spot for a Volkswagen microbus? For some, it might be the character Fillmore from the movie Cars that makes the connection — “the ’60s weren’t good to you, were they?” — while others may picture the fried-out Kombi named in the Men At Work song “Land Down Under.” For me, it only takes a fleeting glimpse of a Westfalia campervan conversion in the distance to get my heart racing and my mind dreaming of the open road.

With the Volkswagen ID.Buzz, this ability to dream of whiling away the summer months in a campervan appears primed for the zero-emission era. Technically, we’re still waiting on its precise launch timing, so living this nostalgia may need to wait until 2024. We’ll start brushing up on our vehicle interior decorating skills in the meantime.

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Matthew Guy’s Top Pick: 2023 Ford F-150 Raptor R

Long-time readers – thanks, both of you – know that this author is deeply invested in vehicles with an open cargo bed hanging out behind a four-door crew cab. In other words, you bet your bead-lock wheels this list is going to be filled with pickup trucks. The new Ford F-150 Raptor R finally gives this off-road beast the engine it deserves, binning its turbo-six for a burly V8 and swapping an exhaust note that sounds like Marilyn Manson screaming obscenities into a Hoover for one which will make a stop sign pregnant whilst simply driving past it.

In a different size category – and despite the shade I’ve thrown at GMC elsewhere – is the Canyon AT4X, which will pack trick Multimatic DSSV shocks, a three-inch factory lift, and underbody cameras into a right-sized package which will be able to get into (and out of) places the Raptor R simply won’t fit.

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Jil McIntosh’s Top Pick: 2023 Toyota Prius

I like piloting performance and luxury vehicles as much as anyone, and of course I’ll never turn down any behind-the-wheel time in a pickup truck, but the one I’m actually looking forward to the most is the all-new Toyota Prius — yes, really. It’s got a new hybrid system, it’s going to come exclusively with all-wheel-drive in Canada, and its oddball styling is finally retiring, so this new model looks smooth and swoopy and futuristic.

Hybrids have become commonplace in the market, to the point that when I’m in a conventional car, it bothers me that when I slow down, I’m wasting all that energy that hybrids automatically capture with their regenerative braking, so they can convert it to usable power to recharge their batteries.

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More than two decades ago, I drove the first Prius when it arrived in Canada. While it was pretty cool from a technology standpoint, it was a weird little thing with annoyingly vague steering that wandered all over the highway. It’s been fascinating to watch its progression and improvements through the various generations, and now I want to pilot this one, too.

Renita Naraine’s Top Pick: 2023 VW ID.Buzz

I love minivans, so there’s really only one obvious answer here: the Volkswagen ID.Buzz. We’ll likely have to wait another year or more, as the ID.Buzz won’t be available to North Americans until mid-2024, but I’m holding out hope for an early tester on the VW fleet. Sure, it may not seat up to eight like many minivans can, but sliding doors have my heart any day of the year. Besides, that quirky design seems like an experience on its own.

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Graeme Fletcher’s Top Pick: 2023 Toyota GR Corolla

I would dearly love to put the 2023 Porsche 911 GT3 RS at the head of my list. After all, it is bristling with the very latest technology Porsche has to offer. The reality is I need to get behind the wheel of the 2023 Toyota GR Corolla, if for nothing other than to find out if it can run with the hot-hatch leaders.

First, it boasts a 1.6L turbo-three that pushes 300 hp and 273 lb-ft of torque. That’s close enough to the leaders — the lighter Honda Civic Type R and heavier VW Golf R both get 315 hp. It fires the power through a short-shift manual transmission with rev-matching; and an all-wheel-drive system that lets the driver send 40, 50, or 70 per cent of the drive to the rear wheels. This gives it an edge over the front-drive Type R. Want more? Add the front and rear limited-slip differentials and the BMW-M4-like carbon-fibre roof panel that lowers the centre of gravity, and things get really serious.

Those lucky enough to have driven the GR Corolla say it not only lives up to the track-devouring capability demanded of any self-respecting hot-hatch, it manages to do so without beating up the riders on a daily basis. When can I book my wheel time?