Car and Driver - USA (2020-04)

10 APRIL 2020 ~ CAR AND DRIVER

Backfires

SI

C^ Y

OU

R^ D

OG

S^ O

N^

US

AT

:^ E

DI

TO

RS

@C

AR

AN

DD

RI

VE

R.

CO

M^

OR

JO

IN

:^ B

AC

KF

IR

ES

.CA

RA

ND

DR

IV

ER

.CO

M

Badwater, California, one of

the lowest towns in the West-

ern Hemisphere.” Badwater

Basin is a site, not a town, in

Death Valley National Park.

There never has been a

town at Badwater. Also, the

photo on page 77 looks like

it was taken on Horseshoe

Meadow Road, not Whitney

Portal Road. Did this Bolt

test take place or was it

fabricated from information

and photos found online?

—William Johnston

Marina del Rey, CA

If we send you Beard’s

sweaty socks, then would

you believe us?—Ed.

CALCULATED HUMOR

In response to the January

Editor’s Letter: Why the

anger toward subscribers

like me? Insulting our age

(“TI-86”) and intelligence

(“check my math”) and insin-

uating that we are criminals

(“prison commissary”).

Wow! Someone there has

blown a gasket! Too much

holiday stress? Good luck

getting back-seat Uber-rid-

ing millennials to read a car

magazine (or any magazine).

—Old, ignorant, but not

a criminal

Denver, CO

The TI-86 is still in produc-

tion and is used by students

today. As for the rest, we

regret that you took a few

jokes so personally—Ed.

Sharon Silke Carty’s com-

ment about not having to

get a stamp from the prison

commissary was the best.

I’ve been trying all day to

figure out how to work that

into a conversation and act

as if I thought of it myself.

—Ken Cooper

Chesterfield, MO

GOLF GAMES

Monumental error, listing the

2019 VW Golf SE as the slow-

est vehicle in the 30-to-50-

mph test [“Data Central,”

January 2020]. You say

34.6 seconds. Should be 4.3,

according to your own test.

—Doug Lee

Victoria, BC

There’s no mistake. While

the automatic SE did it in

4.3 seconds, the manual

took 34.6. Automatics

downshift during top-gear

testing, manuals do not.

For manual-equipped

cars, it’s a test of how well

matched the engine is to

the top gear. In this case

it’s not a great match—Ed.

REALITY BITES

I enjoyed “10 Minutes with

Ivan Espinosa” in January’s

Backfires. Perhaps I am the

first of many readers to

note that he slipped in a pun

(hopefully intended): “Today,

CVT is a big part of our lineup

globally, but if market needs

change, we might shift.”

—Jonathan Nadle

Pittsburgh, PA

50 YEARS ON

Why do you refer to and

show a 1970 Dodge Charger

Hemi but insert a quote

and performance numbers

from the November 1967

test of a 1967 Charger

Hemi [“The 10Best of

1970,” January 2020]?

—Pomeroy “Pom” Carter

Boca Raton, FL

Carter, the test numbers

are for a ’68 Charger Hemi,

which is a mechanical twin

to the ’70 model—Ed.

FINISH STRONG

Because the letters and witty

rebuttals are so well crafted,

I believe every Backfire

is a work of fiction, much

like the infamous letters to

Penthouse magazine that

often started with the phrase

“I never thought it would

happen to me, but.. .”

Backfires is clearly

spurious. However, I will

not cancel my subscription.

Keep up the good work.

(Nudge, nudge, wink, wink.)

—James McNutt

Carson, CA

Unfortunately, running

this letter proves they’re

real only to McNutt—Ed.

This is a joke.

—Tom Kaatz

Fraser, MI

I get jokes—Ed.

Using Shell V-Power®

NiTRO®+ Premium Gasolines

and diesel fuels appropriately

in all Car and Driver test

vehicles ensures the

consistency and integrity of

our instrumented testing

procedures and numbers, both

in the magazine and online.

CUSTOMER SERVICE

Call 800-289-9464,

email cdbCustServ@

CDSFulfillment.com, visit

service.caranddriver.com, or

write to Customer Service

Dept., Car and Driver, P.O.

Box 37870, Boone, IA 50037

for inquiries/requests,

changes of mailing or email

addresses, subscription

orders, payments, etc.

PERMISSIONS Material in

this publication may not

be reproduced in any form

without permission.

REPRINTS For information on

reprints and e-prints, please

contact Brian Kolb

at Wright’s Reprints,

877-652-5295 or bkolb@

wrightsreprints.com.

To order digital back issues,

go to your favorite app store.

Car and Driver© is a

registered trademark of

Hearst Autos, Inc. Copyright

2020, Hearst Autos, Inc.

All rights reserved.

Editor-in-Chief Sharon Silke Carty

Print Director Eric Tingwall Executive Editor Ryan White

BUYER’S GUIDE Deputy Editor Kirk Seaman Staff Editors Drew Dorian, Eric Stafford

FEATURES Deputy Editor Jared Gall Senior Editor Rich Ceppos Staff Editors Austin Irwin,

Annie White • NEWS Deputy Editor Laura Sky Brown Senior Editor Joey Capparella Senior

Editor, Technology Roberto Baldwin Staff Editors Colin Beresford, Connor Hoffman Social

Media Editor Michael Aaron • REVIEWS Deputy Editor Tony Quiroga Editor at Large Daniel

Pund Senior Editors Ezra Dyer, Mike Sutton • TESTING Director Dave VanderWerp Deputy

Director K.C. Colwell Technical Editor David Beard Road Test Editor Rebecca Hackett

Assistant Technical Editor Maxwell B. Mortimer Road Warriors Harry Granito, Keoni Koch,

Scott Olman • CREATIVE Director Darin Johnson Deputy Director Nathan Schroeder Staff

Photographers Michael Simari, Marc Urbano Assistant Photographer/Videographer Brad

Fick Photo Assistant Charley M. Ladd Production Designer Jeff Xu Product Designer

Landon Oliver • PRODUCTION Managing Editor Mike Fazioli Copy Chief Carolyn Pavia-

Rauchman Associate Managing Editor Jennifer Misaros Editorial Operations Manager Juli

Burke Research Editor Beth Nichols Copy Editor Kara Snow • European Editor Mike Duff

Contributing Editors Clifford Atiyeh, Brett Berk, Sebastian Blanco, Csaba Csere, Malcolm

Gladwell, Fred M.H. Gregory, John Pearley Huffman, Mihir Maddireddy, Bruce McCall, Jens

Meiners, Scott Oldham, P.J. O’Rourke, Steve Siler, James Tate • Online Production Designer

Sarah Larson • Online Production Assistant Ron Askew Intern Chandler L. Horning

Editorial Office 1585 Eisenhower Place, Ann Arbor, MI 48108 PRINTED IN THE U.S.A.

Editorial Contributions Unsolicited artwork and manuscripts are not accepted, and publisher

assumes no responsibility for return or safety of unsolicited artwork, photographs, or

manuscripts. Query letters may be addressed to the print director.

Publisher and Chief Revenue Officer Felix DiFilippo

Associate Publisher, National Sales Director Cameron Albergo

NEW YORK Group Advertising Director Joe Pennacchio Integrated Sales Account

Executive Richard Panciocco • CHICAGO Integrated Sales Director Rick Bisbee

DETROIT Group Advertising Director Marisa Stutz Sales Director Eric Drieselman

Assistants Toni Starrs, Rene Tuohy • LOS ANGELES Group Advertising Director Anne

Rethmeyer Digital Sales Director Lisa LaCasse Integrated Sales Director Susie Miller

Assistant Olivia Zurawin • DALLAS PR 4.0 Media Patty Rudolph • HEARST DIRECT MEDIA

Sales Manager Brad Gettelfinger • MARKETING Senior Advertiser Marketing Director

Merv Garretson Creative Director Sam Conant Associate Director, Advertiser Marketing

Jillian Gibala Associate Director, Advertiser Marketing Michael E. Coopersmith Marketing

Manager Chris Caldwell • ADMINISTRATION Advertising Services Director Regina Wall

PRODUCTION Manager Chris Hertwig • CIRCULATION Vice President, Strategy and

Business Management Rick Day

Published by Hearst 300 W. 57th Street, New York, NY 10019

President & Chief Executive Officer Steven R. Swartz Chairman William R. Hearst III

Executive Vice Chairman Frank A. Bennack, Jr. President, Hearst Magazines Troy Young

HEARST AUTOS, INC. Chief Executive Officer Matt Sanchez President & Chief Revenue

Officer Nick Matarazzo Executive Vice President, Chief Financial Officer, and Treasurer

Debi Chirichella Chief Brand Officer Eddie Alterman Chief Marketing Officer Michelle Panzer

Executive Director of Finance Paul Neumaier Executive Assistant Erika Nuñez Secretary

Catherine A. Bostron • PUBLISHING CONSULTANTS Gilbert C. Maurer, Mark F. Miller

INTERNATIONAL EDITIONS Brazil, China, Greece, Spain