8 MAY 2020 ~ CAR AND DRIVER
Backfires
SIC^ YOUR^ DOGS^ ON^USAT:^ EDITORS@CARANDDRIVER.COM^ORJOIN:^ BACKFIRES.CARANDDRIVER.COMWhy aren’t turbos electric? Why have
all the hardware of an exhaust-driven
turbo when an electric motor would be
so much simpler? Plus, it would speed
up quicker and be more controllable.
You can borrow my hair dryer to test
this theory.
—George Hovany, Gig Harbor, WAYour description of a turbo spun by
an electric motor and without the
exhaust-driven hardware is actually an
electric supercharger. Mercedes-AMG
and Land Rover both employ one in
their inline-six engines to provide
boost before the turbocharger wakes
b]5\dRcR_RYRPa_V¼RQab_O\`dUR_R
an electric motor assists the exhaust-driven turbine, are the next frontier.
Combining them, as Formula 1 power-
trains have since 2014 , is all but inev-
itable. With the turbine, compressor,
and electric motor all spinning on a
common axle, the motor can assist
with response and harvest energy
dUR[ \ßaU_\aaYRdVaU\baP\Z]YRaRYf
NON[Q\[V[TaURR¦PVR[PVR`\SN]b_RYf
exhaust-driven turbocharger. Garrett,
NYRNQR_V[aUV`¼RYQ`Nf`RYRPa_VPab_-
bos can provide boost so quickly that
passing maneuvers often don’t require
a downshift. After the $2.7 million
AMG One debuts this tech next year,
we expect to see these e-turbos trickle
down to more accessible production
cars by mid-decade—K.C. ColwellILLUSTRATIONBY^ PETE^SUCHESKIa small boat or light trailer, I
don’t need a monster truck
with enough torque to pull
houses off their foundations.
Can we somehow reward
manufacturers for building
smaller, more-useful-to-the-
regular-guy trucks, please?
—Paul Wright
Huntsville, AL
The only rewards car-
makers are concerned
with are sales—Ed.FORMULA 209
Subaru can keep its STI S
[“This Old Dog Is Wound Up
and Ready to Hurl,” February
2020]. There’s no way I’d payEXPLAINEDdamage, injury, or death,
does the company that sold
that car have any legal liabil-
ity? And what do insurance
companies think about this?
—Bruce M.
Big Sur, CAHow much longer will it be
until you change the name of
your magazine to just Car?
—Ed Anderson
Bow Mar, CO
The name Car is already
taken by some Brit rag—Ed.DIY AUTONOMY
Autonomous-texting tech
would make even more
sense than any of the
driver-assistance systems
you tested [“Hold On
Loosely,” February 2020].
—Mike McCormick
St. Augustine, FLSTARRY NIGHT
Regarding “A Star Is Born”
in the February issue: I am
assuming that since the Pole-
star 1 is a “star,” your pho-
tographer took the photos
in the dark. It would’ve been
nice to be able to see the car.
—Bill Simione
Denver, NCI just wanted to tell Volvo
that “Polestar” sounds like a
stripper’s name. Just sayin’.
—Mike Jurgensen
Lexington, KY
To us, it sounds more
like a reality show about
exotic dancers—Ed.BIG-TRUCK DRIVER
I just saw the diesel comparo,
and I wonder when we will
start rewarding truckmakers
for building “right-size”
trucks in the 1500’s size
[“Tugs of War,” February
2020]. If all I want to haul is$65K for a Subie. I’d much
rather have the Kia Stinger
GTS [“Sincere Flattery”].
The GTS offers better luxury,
the same performance,
and exclusivity, and I’d keep
$20,000 more hard-earned
dollars in my pocket!
—Robert Pavlik
Hudson, OH
Or you could buy an
Accord 2.0T and save
$30,000—Ed.BABY’S GOT
THE BENZ
Enjoyed your piece “What to
Buy: 1990–2002 Mercedes-
Benz 500SL/SL500” [Feb-ruary 2020]. While those
can indeed be great buys,
the real catch is a 2004–
SL600 in the low-to-mid-
$20K range. You get a reli-
able V-12 without the wiring
issues of the R129. In all
versions, the R230 series is
more evolved than the R129.
—Jeff Heinzelman
Carmel, INPARALLEL UNIVERSE
I’m guessing every kid who
has ever played with electric-
ity wrote in about Backfires
Explained [February 2020].
Putting four 12-volt batteries
in parallel is still 12 volts. YouCOMPRESSOR TURBINEELECTRIC
MOTOR48-VOLT BATTERYELECTRIC
CONTROLS