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Glenna R.,
Dallas, TX
Love the arrows! Where’s
the radar? They tell me
every time. A detector
without the arrows is like
a car without headlights.
“
”
Ahead
Beside
Behind
Trust ...V1 earns it one ambush at a time.
Responses of the Year
Whoa! The January issue just arrived,
and it’s a keeper. Lots of info, photos, and
opinions to pore over, again and again.
For a guy who prefers the traditional
print magazine format, the staff at MT
has produced, in my opinion, one of the
finest issues available to a fan of, shall we
say, spirited driving.
Dave Holmes
South Hill, Washington
Congratulations to Mr. Loh and the
entire COTY team on what is perhaps the
best issue of MotorTrend that I have ever
read. I actually read the entire issue cover
to cover because I could not put it down.
Keep up the great work, Mr. Loh. You
deserve an attaboy.
Stephen Shechtel
via email
In his profile of the sixth-generation
2020 Subaru Outback as a finalist for
SUV of the Year, Miguel Cortina writes,
“Those who want more power can
get an optional turbo-four engine for
the first time.” In fact, a turbocharged
2.5-liter flat-four was available during
the Outback’s third generation, on the
Outback 2.5XT (2005–2006) and 2.5XT
Limited (2005–2009). A 2009 example of
the latter is still my daily driver.
Howard Donnell
Elgin, Texas
You’re right—good catch, Howard. Those
old Outbacks and their WRX engines were
pretty great. The new one, using its Ascent-
sourced 2.4-liter turbo flat-four, definitely
reminds us of the old car.—Ed.
I noticed that in your Car of the Year
edition you listed the Toyota Supra as one
of the finalists for the Car of the Year. In
your Best Driver’s Car edition (December
2019) you listed the Supra as 12th among
12 entries. I believe one tester’s comment
was that it was not “road ready.” Curious
how it can go from last as a Best Driver’s
Car to a finalist for Car of the Year?
Chris Neville
via email
The answer is quite simple: Best Driver’s
Car isn’t Car of the Year. In COTY, each
contender is judged against six criteria:
Advancement in Design, Engineering
Excellence, Efficiency, Performance of
Intended Function, Safety, and Value. BDC
Reader on location
This month’s reader on location is
Jeff Redman, writing to us from
Kenya. “Fifteen years ago we signed
up to sponsor a young man named
Thomas at an orphanage in Kenya. He
was a teenager when we first ‘met.’
After 15 years of letters and phone
calls, my family flew to Kenya to stand
up as his family in his wedding to his
wonderful bride, Catherine. In this
picture, my son Sam, myself, my wife,
Barb, and Sam’s girlfriend, Maddie,
are straddling the equator while on
safari. We are still trying to figure out
our next car, so MT is always with us."
is a test judged on driving dynamics. Also,
finishing 12th against 11 amazing sports
and supercars doesn’t mean the Supra is
a bad car, even if in context it sounds like
we think it is. Similarly, take a look at the
BMW 8 Series—it finished higher than
the Supra at BDC, but against our COTY
criteria (which keeps the entire model line
in mind), it didn’t earn a finalist nod.—Ed.
I always enjoy the Truck of the Year
story; the reviews, photography, and
comparisons are top notch. However,
this year I couldn’t help but notice an
odd exclusion from the finalist list. I
understand that someone could try to
make a case for any truck that didn’t make
the list, but seeing as the F-150 was the
top-selling truck in America in 2019, I
found it odd it didn’t get a finalist spot.
The F-Series has been the No. 1 selling
truck in America for the past 41 years. I
like to think there’s good reasoning for
its absence from the list, but I can’t help
but think it’s a case of the reviewers losing
touch with the average buyer.
Ben Teal
Greenville, South Carolina
We’re definitely not losing touch—Truck,
just like Car and SUV of the Year, is only
open to new or significantly updated
vehicles. The 2020 Ford Super Duty met
our criteria, but none were available in
time for testing. Rest assured, it—and the
F-150 when it gets its next update—will
be included in future Truck of the Year
competitions.—Ed.
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