Sommaire pour Fall 2025 de Vicarious

“I am not designed to come second or third. I am designed to win.”– Ayrton Senna “… it’s the season of detours, of choosing the long way home because the light is golden, the road is empty, and the engine note sounds somehow richer in the cool air. ” AS THE LEAVES TURN TO COPPER and crimson and the air takes on that unmistakable crisp edge, driving in Canada becomes something else entirely. It’s not just about getting from A to B; it’s the season of detours, of choosing the long way home because the light is golden, the road is empty, and the engine note sounds somehow richer in the cool air. Fall invites us to slow down and lean in at the same time, which is exactly the…

ADMITTEDLY, WATCHING THE brand-new Toyota 4Runner get loaded into a steel container, then hoisted onto a ship in the Quebec town of Havre-Saint-Pierre left me with an uneasy feeling. A larger port – several hundred kilometres west, in Montreal – has become notorious for people’s prized SUVs making their unexpected departure from Canada to unknown points overseas, making this scenario a troubling sight. Plus, having already enjoyed the 1,700 km drive from southern Ontario with the Toyota, I’d grown quite attached to the green truck. I needn’t have worried though. Several hours later in the village of Port-Menier, a deckhand unstrapped the truck and drove it out, good as new and ready for the rest of my adventure on Anticosti Island. Hidden in plain sight, Anticosti Island is Canada’s best-kept wilderness…

PREPARE TO BE WOWED BY THE 2026 Hyundai Palisade. Not only has the Korean car maker totally revised its flagship SUV’s appearance and content, it has also added a hybrid powertrain and an off-road model. This major update has been in the works for a while, Hyundai execs said, and the planning has clearly paid off. The new three-row, full-size SUV is gorgeous to look at, smooth to drive and offers more bells and whistles than we can possibly mention in a single first drive feature. With a host of new earthy colours and a completely new look, the Palisade has to be one of the most eye-catching full-size SUVs on the road. It’s not easy to make a big, boxy vehicle turn heads, but the Palisade does. From the front…

THE HONDA GOLD WING OCCUPIES a lofty space in the minds of most motorcyclists. The big, comfy, nimble machine is the icon for luxurious kilometre-crushing. Sure, Harley-Davidson’s collection of “Grand American Tourers” demand more public attention with their signature sound and overall ubiquity, but the Wing plays this game on a different level – one that is quietly reserved and infinitely refined. This year marks the Gold Wing’s fiftieth anniversary and Honda celebrated the milestone with some very pretty paint, a bespoke badge and little else. That may sound underwhelming, and in terms of a celebration I suppose it is, but I assure you this Gold Wing is anything but. First things first: a motorcycle model – no matter the manufacturer or badge it wears – doesn’t just survive for fifty…

“Welcome to the Baja 1000 — many call it the hardest race in the world.” Friday, November 15, 2024. Mile 160 on race day. “Good thing I’m circumcised.” The fine desert sand, nailed home by Pacific wind, gets everywhere. From the bed of Larry’s Silverado, 100 feet back from a steep sandy bluff, we have prime viewing for the race. Like cartoon wakes of Tasmanian Devils, dusty blooms mark the Trophy Trucks otherwise hidden in a distant gully. Thousand-horsepower engines bellow like a ’70s Who concert. “You don’t want to be too close when the trucks come over the hill,” Larry understates. With a sonic boom, his pal Brad Lovell launches a Ford Bronco DR, a steroidal beast, two feet into the air before landing clumsily, whuffff, like a 1,588-kg…

TO ANYONE WHO KNOWS the thrill of attacking a corner at speed, the word Corkscrew means only one thing: turns 7, 8, and 8A at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca. It’s legendary. Nail the sequence just right and you’ll find yourself grinning for the next 1:25.75 seconds; the time it takes to complete another lap if you’re lucky enough to be driving a Czinger 21C Hypercar, the current street-car record holder. But corkscrew has another meaning, one that inspires a different kind of exhilaration. It’s the gentle twist of anticipation before pouring a fine glass of wine or spirits, the promise of something memorable in every sip. The setting may be far from the famous curves east of Monterey, California, but the satisfaction is just as real, and it lingers much…

"The Expedition GMT feels ready for anything anyone can throw at it." LAUNCHED IN 1971, THE Rolex Explorer II was the very definition of a niche tool watch. Designed for spelunking, it looked much like the current-day version – complete with the 24-hour bezel and additional orange 24-hour hand – but it wasn’t a GMT watch as it is now. Despite its looks and those characteristics, that iconic orange hand couldn’t actually be set independently. It was a 24-hour marker used to track day and night, essential information when you’re poking around underground, absent the sun. Around the same time Marty McFly and Doc Brown were experimenting with time travel and stainless steel sports cars, Rolex updated their stainless steel adventurers’ watches to better function for travel and time zones.…

“A simple drive can turn into an afternoon of unexpected stops.” WELCOME TO THE FALL, A SEASON that invites us to explore, unwind, and discover beauty around every corner. It is a time when the roads are framed in fiery colours, the air feels crisp and clear, and the journey itself becomes as rewarding as the destination. Some trips begin with a packed car and a favourite playlist, others with a short flight that lands you in a city glowing under autumn light, or a train ride through the countryside where each bend in the track reveals a new view. However you choose to travel, the fall is about slowing down, savouring the ride, and letting curiosity lead the way. This is the season when discovery happens at every turn. Country…

JEFF WILSON Jeff Wilson is a producer with the Emmy-nominated production company Echo Bay Media, known for travel productions like Departures, Descending, Into the Rising Sun, and Over the Horizon, enjoyed around the world on Travel Channel, National Geographic, Netflix, and Discovery, to name a few. The team’s adventures have taken Jeff to Sudan, Djibouti, remote islands in Papua, and motorcycling across the Jordanian desert—although producing a culinary series in a 12th-century French château was decidedly more comfortable. Jeff’s passion for travel is only surpassed by his love of machines. He has spent the past dozen years sharing his award-winning photography and writing about cars, trucks, and motorcycles in several notable online and print publications. When not behind the camera or keyboard, Jeff is happiest behind the handlebars of a…

ROADSIDE CHIC is all about finding those hidden gems—the places that provide a perfect balance of comfort, luxury, exceptional service, and the opportunity to do as much or as little as you want. This season, ROADSIDE CHIC explores the beauty of slowing down. From the lakeside elegance of North Hatley, Quebec, to the volcanic allure of Tenerife, and the boutique charm of Picton, Ontario, each destination captures autumn’s golden rhythm; where comfort meets discovery, and every stay tells a story. “Manoir Hovey blends the intimacy of a country inn with the polish of the world’s most exclusive hotels.” Manoir Hovey, Québec Nestled in the serene hamlet of North Hatley, Québec, Manoir Hovey is an open invitation to slow down and escape the busyness of life. A historic estate set along…

THE BRACKEN-LINED BACKROADS of Scotland’s Loch Lomond area were a fitting landscape for the new, third generation Audi Q3 to demonstrate its capabilities. The twisty, rolling and painfully narrow laneways let the compact SUV show off its handling and stopping powers and highlighted its petite frame in relation to other vehicles on the road. The Q3 has not had an overhaul since 2019’s complete redesign, and this is a big one, with a dramatic facelift and a variety of suspension and technology improvements. However, if you want to see the full extent of the Q3 family, you’ll have to go to Europe where there will be a sportback body, along with hybrid and diesel powertrains. The 2026 Q3 will be coming to Canada in the new year with just one engine,…

FROM THE FAST-PACED WORLD of athletic wear at Nike to the refined interiors of Ford vehicles, Kristen Keenan has built a career on shaping how people connect with the products they love. Her work explores the intersection of colour, texture, and emotion, whether it’s a sneaker designed for performance or an automotive interior crafted for everyday journeys. In this exclusive VICARIOUS conversation, presented here in an abbreviated form for storytelling purposes, Keenan reflects on her design philosophy, her inspirations, and the delicate balance of creativity and functionality that defines her role at Ford. VICARIOUS: You’ve transitioned from designing for performance and lifestyle at Nike to shaping the sensory experience inside Ford vehicles, how has your design philosophy evolved across these two worlds? KRISTEN: I like to think of what I…

IT LOOKS LIKE A SUPERHERO ON two wheels. Optioned with the Sport Style Package, the 2025 BMW F 900 R could be the next big box office crossover hit: Spiderman the Transformer! Those bright red wheels make an especially bold statement, and while a vibrant, multi-hued livery on a sport bike isn’t unusual, this one suggests it’s going to be as much fun as a rolling carnival to ride. But it’s too flashy for a commuter bike, too naked for a touring bike, and too comfortable for a sport bike. Does this F 900 R have an identity crisis? In fairness, BMW also offers the 2025 BMW F 900 R in a sinister all-black (bad guy?) colour scheme too. Style is, of course, subjective, and choice is good, and this…

AS A TESTAMENT TO THE geographic diversity of this great country, each province has its own clichéd personality. Alberta’s is usually defined by oil and cattle; cowboy hats and boots – a Texas-of-the-north sort of place to those of us who don’t live there. In reality, it’s a province of incredible geographic diversity, offering everything from grassy plains to dense forests and the Rocky Mountains. Alberta has it all. For adventurers willing to cover some miles, you can sample it all within a week’s road trip, which is exactly what we did. Due to his mother’s excellent parenting and his stellar DNA, my son has turned out to be a heck of a kid. Turning 16 this year, he doesn’t burden his family with typical teenage attitude, threaten to get…

“Once we stop making cigars by hand in Canada, Canada will never have another handmade cigar factory.”—Kris Miller KRIS MILLER LEANS BACK IN HIS chair in the Frank Correnti Cigars factory on Spadina Avenue, telling me a story I never expected to hear. It’s about his Danish grandparents running through Nazi-occupied Copenhagen in 1943, bullets hitting brick walls behind them as they fled after breaking curfew. They found a building, tried keys frantically, and the fourth one opened the door that saved their lives. “My grandmother’s lucky number was four because it was the fourth key that opened that door,” Kris says, his voice carrying the weight of family mythology. “She passed away a few years ago. Lucky number four.” Four seems to have defined this family in ways beyond…

THERE’S SOMETHING TIMELESS about the satisfying click of LEGO bricks snapping into place. For some, it’s the joy of building; for others, it’s about what those bricks represent. With LEGO’s latest Icons motorsport sets, the McLaren MP4/4 with Ayrton Senna and the Williams FW14B with Nigel Mansell, fans can relive one of Formula 1’s most exciting eras, piece by piece. These sets aren’t just models; they’re miniature time machines. They transport us back to the late 1980s and early 1990s, when Senna and Mansell fought tooth and nail on circuits from Monaco to Silverstone. They were rivals, occasionally allies, but above all, two legends whose passion for racing helped define an era. The Builds Both sets come with a satisfying level of complexity. The McLaren MP4/4, built from over 900 pieces,…

WINTER EDITION Fast cars, fresh rides, and far-flung adventures, winter’s never looked this cool. We’re carving through snow-dusted roads in the season’s most thrilling performance machines, riding bold new motorcycles, and finding warmth in the world’s dreamiest escapes (complete with fine dining and unforgettable wines). From alpine drives and must-visit golf destinations to cutting-edge tech, timeless watches, smooth cigars, and more, this is your invitation to live well, no matter the temperature. Winter’s here. Let’s roll. FIRST DRIVE: 2026 BMW iX3 FIRST RIDE: 2026 KTM 990 RC R ROADSIDE CHIC: Wander The Resort FEATURED REGION: Desert Dreams, Endless Nights https://www.vicariousmag.com/product/vicarious-print-magazine/ SUBSCRIBE TO OUR PRINT OR DIGITAL MAGAZINES AND NEVER MISS AN ISSUE! SCAN AND SAVE!…

“WELCOME TO THE NORDSCHLEIFE for the first time drivers,” Ricardo Sanchez calls out over the radio as we make our way through the famous main gate and onto the most fearsome and famous racetrack in the known automotive universe. If you’re reading this magazine — and you are — the circuit in rural Germany needs no introduction. Passing through the main gate, palms sweaty on the wheel of a showroom-fresh BMW M4 Competition — the rear-wheeldrive model, which sadly isn’t available in Canada — I can’t help but notice a neon orange ambulance parked on the right and a flatbed recovery truck on the left. “Just follow me,” says Sanchez, who will be my guide to the 20-kilometrelong track for the duration of the BMW M Nordschleife Driving Experience. It’s…

GOLF ISN’T JUST A GAME. Nor is it solely a sport. It’s a lifestyle. It’s an obsession. It’s a way of life. From its earliest roots in Scotland to today’s technology-backed iterations, golf represents something unique to each person who has ever picked up a club. Golf can offer a much-needed reprieve from the modern-day rat race. It can provide valuable quality time among family and friends. It can scratch a competitive itch, especially for former athletes. It can be a never-ending quest for perfection. Ultimately, golf is the great equalizer. Whether your annual salary is $3 million or $30,000, you’re a famous actor or Kindergarten teacher, or are from Toronto or Timbuktu, golf doesn’t discriminate. Golf is man vs. nature. Nothing more. Nothing less. I first started playing in…

YOU’D THINK THE ARCHITECTS OF the Audi Driving Experience Center in Neuburg an der Donau, Germany, would have wanted to eliminate distractions. Yet as I accelerate down the circuit’s longest straight, my gaze flickers toward a dark grey building to the right, mind wandering to the secretive work happening inside. That’s where Audi is developing its Formula 1 power unit, the program charged with carrying the brand into the pinnacle of motorsport next season. Just moments earlier, a formation of fighter jets looped overhead before touching down at the adjacent Flughafen Neuburg. Distraction, indeed. But this is no time to lose focus. There’s plenty of excitement right here on the track, where the RS3’s race-bred engine shrieks at full song. Throttle buried, braking zone looming, I stomp the pedal hard…

"The fact that it doesn’t get the biggest motor may give it the “baby” tag, but a look at the power on offer shows there’s hardly anything “baby” about this low-slung, wedge-shaped road rocket." AS IS THE CASE WITH MANY low-volume supercar and hypercar manufacturers, Lamborghini isn’t one to release an all-new model any less than a decade or so after the last one. Many special editions will be released in the meantime: a roadster version, a super-light trackbased version, and perhaps even a slightly de-contented, more entry-level – if such a term can ever be applied to an Italian exotic – version, to be sure. But the bones will remain the same. So, when an all-new one is released, it’s a red-letter day. And so it goes with the…

“You’d be hardpressed to find any spot on the North Island that wouldn’t be a top-10 stunner in 95 per cent of the world’s destinations.” WE HAD NO IDEA WHAT TO EXPECT, really. I mean, we’d seen The Lord of the Rings, but that’s Hollywood and it can make any podunk peninsula look like it belongs… well, in Middle-earth, right? So, it was with this – not trepidation, but keen wanderlust – that we headed to New Zealand’s largest city, Auckland, a 14-hour direct flight from Vancouver, BC. We wouldn’t be spending long in town, however – it’s a thoroughly modern, cosmopolitan place but we had places to be; Auckland would have to wait for another day, and perhaps even another trip. So, we picked up our Mazda CX-80 SUV after…

THE TABLE ISN’T A REGULAR restaurant, it’s a hyper-local, single seating, ever-changing, seven course, once-a-night happening! Set amongst a tapestry of farmer’s fields along Prince Edward Island’s North Shore, The Table’s dining experience is focused on exclusively using hyper-local ingredients in an effort to discover and define Canada’s terroir. You won’t find black pepper, vanilla, chocolate, cinnamon or any other non-Canadian ingredients in their kitchen. Their seven course tasting menu changes weekly and focuses on showing off the fresh, seasonal, local ingredients of Prince Edward Island. Changing the menu every week allows them to accomplish one of their primary goals — celebrating Prince Edward Island’s unique ever-changing bounty, and the people behind it. Served in the welcoming and beautiful setting of a renovated rural church, Chef Hunter Guindon and his…

ASUS ROG Strix SCAR 18 Gaming Laptop Starting with our favourite gaming laptop of 2025, the ASUS ROG Strix SCAR 18 is the desktop replacement to rule them all. Bringing its vast experience and pedigree to bear, ASUS has created a refined gaming laptop experience. Striking a perfect balance of power, performance, and portability, the SCAR 18 is ready for whatever your work and play demand. Sporting the latest NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090, Intel® Core™ Ultra 9 Processor 275HX 2.7 GHz, and 64GB of RAM, the SCAR 18 is a powerhouse to behold. Whether rendering 3D models or playing your favourite games, this laptop handles it like a champ. The 18-inch mini-LED display presents images in vivid colour, and when combined with the SCAR 18’s fourspeaker, Dolby Atmos-ready sound system,…

“Driving the Vantage Roadster in autumn is less about speed than communion; with sound, with motion, with place.” THERE ARE DAYS WHEN DRIVING feels like routine, and then there are days when it becomes something unforgettable. Sliding into the cockpit of the 2026 Aston Martin Vantage Roadster on a crisp October afternoon, I knew instantly this was the latter. The air carried that unmistakable autumn bite, leaves twirling lazily across the pavement, and the road ahead promised a perfect stage. A car like this demands you lower the top and let the season in. "With the roof down, the V8 doesn’t just roar. It resonates, filling the air with Aston Martin’s unmistakable theatre." Beneath the sculpted hood sits a handassembled 4.0-litre twin-turbocharged V8, producing 656 horsepower and 590 pound-feet of torque.…