Car and Driver - USA (2020-01)

8

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JANUARY 2020 ~ CARAND DRIVER

EXPLAINED

I 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 demo-

graphic, 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

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 V

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 furni-

ture 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 retrac-

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.

I was beginning to think

you needed to change your

name to Gas-/Diesel-Pow-

ered 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.

In your case, you get a four because you’re bending

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In your comparison-test scoring, there is an objec-

tive category called “flexibility” [“Deep Roots, Long

Shadows,” October 2 01 9]. 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