2019 Chevrolet Corvette ZR-1Derek McNaughton Welcome to our weekly round-up of the biggest breaking stories on Driving.ca from this past week. Get caught up and ready to get on with the weekend, because it’s hard keeping pace in a digital traffic jam. Here’s what you missed while you were away. Corvette buyers are cancelling orders as hype for new-gen model builds The mid-engine Corvette is finally coming. Handout / Chevrolet With the promise of drastic changes in the upcoming Corvette, Chevrolet dealers are struggling to move stock of 2018 models. We’ve entered the calm before the mid-engine storm, and the numbers prove it. In 2018, dealers sold 44 per cent fewer Corvettes than they did in 2015, and reports of customers cancelling orders for 2019 models are coming in. Seems like people don’t want the last of the front-engined Corvettes when they could have the first of the mids if they wait just a bit longer. Guess how many manual transmission cars Toyota actually sells 2019 Toyota 86 Clayton Seams / Driving Car writers love to lament the decline of the manual transmission, but it’s not that automakers don’t care about the enthusiasts, it’s that they know what sells. Carbuzz got the inside scoop about manual sales at a dinner meeting with a Toyota exec, reporting that even in the 86, one of the brand’s sportiest models, only one-third of buyers chose the manual transmission over the six-speed automatic. In the also pretty sporty Corolla hatchback, those numbers fall to 15 per cent. If any of these automatic transmission supports is on our staff, we hereby pledge to root them out and address the situation appropriately. Canadian cars get terrible fuel economy: report When it comes to fuel economy, Canada is basically the worst in the world. According to a new report by the International Energy Agency, vehicles on Canadian roads are bigger, heavier and guzzle more gas on average than those of any other country. Some of the factors contributing to this environmentally unfriendly statistic include North America’s enduring belief that bigger is better, lax fuel economy standards, and low fuel prices relative to the rest of the world. Click here to learn more about how our nation’s vehicles stack up against those of other countries. Police warn BC driver for using cell phone in McDonald’s drive-thru Vehicles in two separate drive-up lanes place orders at a McDonald’s drive-thru location January 17, 2006 in Rosemont, Illinois. Tim Boyle / Getty Images Is it distracted driving if you’re using your cell phone while in a McDonald’s drive-thru? News 1130 reports that a driver on his phone in a McDonald’s drive-thru was issued a warning by a B.C. police officer, so it would appear the answer to that question is yes, technically. The reminder from officials that driveways and drive-thrus are considered part of the roadway and therefore subject to its laws has prompted our Judgy-Pants columnist Lorraine Sommerfeld to explore the moral grey area and ask the logical follow-up questions, like  “how are you supposed to use an app to pay for your food if you can’t have your phone out?” It’s a first-rate first-world problem and we need your input—answer the poll in the link above. Montreal’s war on cars heats up amid driver frustration over Mount Royal Closure Cars cross Mount Royal in Montreal Thursday May 2, 2019. John Mahoney / Montreal Gazette Water-cooler talk in Montreal remains focused on one thing: traffic. For the last several years the city has been the site of a massive infrastructure update, rendering over 600 km of roads temporarily off limits. One particularly contentious route closure was that of the Camillien-Houde Way. Automotive journalist and Montreal resident Benjamin Hunting makes no bones about it: the Valerie Plante government’s Mount Royal closure frustrated everyone and served no one. And according to new information compiled by the OPCM, the majority of some 13,000 citizens share his views. We take the 2019 Mustang Shelby GT350 to the track The 2019 Mustang Shelby GT 350 has arrived, and Driving’s managing editor Jonathan Yarkony drew the long straw and earned the right to be the first of our squad to spend some considerable time with his hands on the rambunctious pony’s reins, including for a few laps of the M1 Concourse racetrack in Detroit. Live vicariously through him in our First Drive review. With aerodynamic upgrades, and a healthy 526 horsepower and 429 lb-ft. of torque on tap, it’s easily the most track-ready Mustang to date. New science suggests rideshare back seats are bacterial cesspools Man’s hand in rubber protective glove with finger pointing to dirty textile back seat. Car’s interior problem and solution. Cleaning concept. Next time you book an Uber or Lyft, you might want to bring some hand sanitizer, because apparently the back seats of the popular ridesharing vehicles are legitimately more bacteria-ridden than your toilet. Tests
Origin: News Roundup: Corvette buyers press cancel, Canada’s terrible fuel economy and the great drive-thru phone debate