Backfires

The joyful noise of the commentariat, rebutted sporadically by Ed.

COVERED WAGON

I was wondering how much you pay for your usually great covers. Why in the hell would you slap a label with my name and address over it? Most of the time, you have at least three corners on the back to put it. —Bob Connolly Sturgeon Bay, WI Don’t sell yourself short, Connolly. You’re cover-worthy—Ed.

FLIP THE SCRIPT

I have subscribed to Car and Driver since about 1970, and the comparison test of sports cars in the October issue [“Deep Roots, Long Shadows”] is conclusive proof that hell has most certainly frozen over. A BMW finishing last while a Porsche is topped by a Toyota and, heaven forbid, a Ford finishing first? Next I suppose you’re going to tell me that the new Corvette is actually going to be a mid-engine model! —Patrick Dee Albuquerque, NM Hurricane Irma did away with my perfect 2007 911, and I was not a fan of the subsequent generation, so I test-drove a 2018 718 Cayman at my local dealer. Returned with an enormous smile on my face and bought the car then and there. Fabulous fun! I have a feeling the car you drove for the comparo might have made it to at least second place had it been $10,000 cheaper, like mine, and had it had the phenomenal six-speed manual, also like mine. Just sayin’ . —David Benson Miami Beach, FL Having driven both F30 and G20 3-series, I must say that I concur with your gripe about BMW’s latest electric steering. It is atrocious when compared with prior generations’ hydraulic steering. What I can’t understand is how Toyota can tune the TABL E OF CONTENT S JANUARY 2020

C O L U M N I S T S

10. Sharon Silke Carty

Love, actually.

20. Daniel Pund

Funny face.

22. Ezra Dyer

The kids are alright.

U P F R O N T

12. Reveal: Aston Martin DBX

The British sports-car specialist builds a survival vehicle.

16. Winners and Losers

A look back at 2019.

18. Data Central

The best and the worst, just the way you like it.

T H E R U N D O W N

77. 2020 Chevrolet Bolt EV

Using a mountain to test the new battery.

79. 2020 BMW M8

An M5 and a Ford Mustang have a baby.

80. 2020 Lamborghini Huracán Evo

As loud as it is quick.

82. 2020 BMW X4 M Competition

The A to Z of the performance SUV.

84. 2020 Jeep Wrangler EcoDiesel

A magic combination.

E T C .

4. Backfires

Beard and Tesla fanatics, a chat with Nissan, de Sade references, Twain prizes, and Ed. buys some furniture.

88. The 10Best of 1970

We pick our 10 favorite cars from 50 years ago.

Backfires

Supra’s electric steering better than BMW did with the M2 Comp’s when both units are made by BMW. —Donovan H. Cupertino, CA I’m not great at numbers, but the GT350 winning Mr. October over the 718 and M2 left me Supra surprised. The 718 lost the powertrain category because why? It has four cylinders in a 2.0-liter engine. The GT350 has twice as many cylinders in a 5.2liter. The 718’s horsepower plus my 2000 E320’s just about equals the GT350’s output. At 3141 pounds, the 718 is 680 pounds lighter than the GT350. That’s roughly equivalent to three mothers-in-law. Apples to apples, squeeze those charmers into the winning cargo hold of 15 cubic feet and each one would have five cubic feet to herself to stretch out. Except the 718 still has only half an engine. But it does have 20-inch wheels, which tops the other three. Let’s see. Carry the seven. Oh, I stand corrected. The GT350 did win after all. —Robert Best Sandy Springs, GA Hey, C/D! Long time, first time, and all that. Don’t make fun of me for not noticing this before, but in what world do car enthusiasts prefer lower-decibel engines? Your four-way comparison labels the GT350 as the best of the lot. Great! No arguments there, but I noticed that it placed last in sound level. The Stang’s V-8 throws a whole 95 decibels at you at full throttle! This is excellent, and it should easily

10 Minutes with Ivan Espinosa

While we were in Tokyo for the

Nissan VP of product planning to discuss where his brand is going without Carlos Ghosn.

C/D: Where do you see the most potential to satisfy the enthusiast base that’s been a big part of Nissan? Ivan Espinosa: We have three iconic nameplates: GT-R, Z, and Patrol; that last name doesn’t exist in the U.S., but you know it’s a popular SUV. Those three really describe what Nissan is about. The fun and excitement of making fun cars that excite people.

C/D: Do you think the GT-R and Z are important to younger buyers? IE: We have robust data showing that most of GT-R awareness for younger buyers came from the Gran Turismo series. A lot of the younger audience learned about the car through that. There’s excitement there, and I think it will remain. We will continue to work on keeping those cars relevant for the future.

C/D: Is Nissan still committed to CVTs? IE: We’ll keep looking into available technologies and tap into those that satisfy our customers. Today, CVT is a big part of our lineup globally, but if market needs change, we might shift. There’s no unbreakable rules when it comes to customer satisfaction; so if there’s something we need to address to satisfy our customers, we will do it. C/D: What’s your favorite car in Nissan’s global lineup? IE: The Skyline coupe, 3.7liter with a manual transmission [known as the Infiniti G37 in the U.S.]. This is not a car that’s produced anymore, but it’s a car I drive every day. It’s an example of what Nissan is: an expensive sports-car experience in an affordable and accessible package.

C/D: What was your first vehicle? IE: Volkswagen Jetta, 1985, red. Funnily enough, my second car was a Nissan Tsuru [a.k.a. B12 Sentra].

chin music

Does David Beard have a beard? —Dylan Brooks Winston-Salem, NC

Find him on Instagram @nameonface—Ed.

be marked as the best of the comparison (against a second-place 87 decibels from the M2). I get comfort and whatnot, but GT350 owners couldn’t give one about the engine being “too loud, ” whatever that means. —Nathan McGhee Mechanicsville, VA Volume has its place, but silence is still golden—Ed.

On my birthday, I find in the mailbox my October issue of Car and Driver, and guess what? The Mustang wins. No truck test. Life is good. —François Cyr Sainte-Thérèse, QC

I’M TAYCAN

I will never be able to afford one, but the 2020 Porsche Taycan intrigued me [“Electric Fatherland, ” October 2019]. Now that I know it has electric motors front and rear, I wonder, where exactly are the whopping 17 cubic feet of cargo space? Is that a cumulative total of cubbies scattered about the vehicle, or does it have a dedicated cargo hold in the trunk or bonnet? —DC Taylor Purlear, NC The total cargo area includes the trunk and the space under the hood—Ed.

Backfires

I was beginning to think you needed to change your name to Gas-/Diesel-Powered Car and Driver until Mercedes, Audi, and now Porsche built EVs. You won’t be able to ignore Tesla any longer. You can use Teslas (as you did in the October issue) as the benchmark for all other models to live up to. Your article mentions the Taycan can recoup an impressive 62 miles of range in four minutes of charging.

E X P L A I N E D Wake me up when I can drive it cross-country in a reasonable amount of time.

Ignore Tesla? Apparently you missed it when we awarded the Model S two 10Best awards, spent 40,000 miles with one, timed one at VIR, and raced one against a Model T. We also road-tested every Tesla and just bought a Model 3. Shall I go on?—Ed.

In your comparison-test scoring, there is an objective category called “flexibility” [“Deep Roots, Long Shadows, ” October 2019]. What is flexibility in terms of vehicles and how is it measured? I can touch my toes. What score would I receive?

—Rob Gardiner, Madoc, ON

In your case, you get a four because you’re bending f\b_ X[RR` DR QR¼[R ½ReVOVYVaf N` aUR QVßR_R[PR ORadRR[ aUR aVZR Va aNXR` a\ UVa # Z]U±NPUVRcRQ Of N[f ZRN[` \S NTT_R``VcR YNb[PU [RPR``N_f±N[Q aUR "a\#Z]U aR`a . `ZNYY TN] ORadRR[ aU\`R ad\ aVZR` V[QVPNaR` aUNa N cRUVPYRμ` NPPRYR_NaV\[ ]R_S\_ZN[PR V` Z\_R NPPR``VOYR N[Q NaaNV[NOYR dUVPU V` dUNa dR _RdN_Q V[ \b_ `P\_V[T Ad\ aUV[T` aUNa `\ZRaVZR` Y\dR_ ½ReVOVYVaf `P\_R`' ab_O\PUN_TRQ R[TV[R` aUNa _R^bV_R ReaR[QRQ O_NXR a\_^bV[T S\_ N `a_\[T YNb[PU N[Q Y\da\_^bR R[TV[R` dUR_R N _RQYV[R PYbaPU Q_\] V` aUR ^bVPX R`a dNf \ß aUR YV[R AUR`R af]R` \S R[TV[R` dUVPU PN[ \aUR_dV`R OR QR`P_VORQ N` YNTTf \_ ]RNXf aR[Q a\ ]_\QbPR N dVQR_ TN] ORadRR[ aUR ad\ ZRa_VP` 6[ P\Z]N_V`\[ aR`a` dR Q\PX N ]\V[a S\_ RcR_f !`RP\[Q QVßR_R[PR—Dave VanderWerp

next? Bacan? Porsche is really pulling its car names out of its nether regions. To add insult to injury, this car is priced in Tesla Model S territory. So for anyone interested in this car, you’ll need a lot of dough. —Rick Perrotta Erie, PA It’s a Porsche. What’d you expect, Perrotta?—Ed.

I’m surprised you didn’t give Porsche a hard time for calling an upper trim of its electric car the Taycan Turbo. What’s next, the all-electric Aston Martin V8 Vantage? Then again, maybe Porsche is onto something. Honda could revive the Civic Hybrid at no expense just by making Hybrid one of the trim levels. Perhaps GM could improve sales of the four-banger Silverado nobody wants if it called that version the Turbo-Diesel. Speaking of trucks, why not make 4x4 a trim level regardless of drivetrain? Hey, these are just model names, right? They don’t actually mean anything. —Marc Rumsey Rochester, NY I gave up when the furniture salesman called my sofa a convertible—Ed.

FACE TIME

If you have any time after you’re done processing the cancellation requests based on the October issue, can you please print a retracI understand that a new editor means changes are inevitable, but why in the hell would you change all of the content of the magazine to cater to an entirely new target demographic? And when I say target demographic, I mean people who have never bought your magazine before.

I especially hated your article about people who failed at their jobs to become young professionals but who now have YouTube channels [“New Faces of Automotive Enthusiasm”]. However, I understand it is relatable to you editors, as that’s where most of you will end up if the magazine continues this way. R.I.P., Car and Driver. —Ben Greenberg Maynard, MA

BRAND NEW

In the article “New Cars for 2020” [October 2019], you point out that Cadillac has replaced the CTS with the CT5. Did it save some dough by straightening out the top of the S and using the same badge? Apart from the Escalade, how is one supposed to know one Caddy from another when each model name is a jumble of what appear to be randomly assigned letters? —A. B. Rubin Carlsbad, CA Marketing departments have apparently hijacked the auto industry. BMW