Car and Driver - USA (2020-05)

6 MAY 2020 ~ CAR AND DRIVER

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Plain and simple:

No V-8, no sale!

—Cris Eckert

Auburn Hills, MI

You’re regurgitating false

information. You have zero

evidence, and Ford is just

gushing interest for the

product through you.

—Ward

Weblandia

Great news about the new

Bronco. Now I can resume

my search for the real killers.

See you on the golf course.

—O. J.

Coopersville, MI

IN ACCORDANCE

I just read “Return to Center”

[February 2020]. The writing

was great, the testing was

spot on, and the driving

description was thorough.

Yet, I found myself uninter-

ested in what should have

been a great comparison.

After thinking about it for

some time, I know why. The

cars have become boring.

Include a Honda Accord

Touring next time. It would

emphasize how far these

cars haven’t come. I know

it wouldn’t win, but I don’t

think it would come in last.

—Zack Osteen

Vallejo, CA

As much as we love that

Honda, it would not have

matched the refine-

ment of the group. But

as you say, the Accord

is a great value—Ed.

I’m curious about the

60-mph time for the Alfa

Romeo Giulia Ti Sport Q2.

You recorded 4.6 seconds to

60 with a one-foot rollout. In

a previous test, C/D recorded

a 5.7-second time. Why was

the driver was free to watch

television. And as usual, this

driver will probably not be

punished severely enough

for ending someone’s life.

—D. C.

Springfield, MO

While I believe it was correct

of the National Transporta-

tion Safety Board (NTSB)

to blame Uber for the mod-

ifications done to the SUV,

there was no mention of how

much blame was assigned

to the victim. Though it is

tragic that Herzberg died, I

can’t help but feel that she

should shoulder a fair share

of the blame. Impaired or

not, jaywalking is a ticket-

able offense in many, if not

all, jurisdictions in North

America. And as you state,

she was crossing in the dark.

I would bet she was not wear-

ing an article of reflective

material that would have

made her more noticeable.

Did the NTSB, in fact, lay

some blame on Herzberg

for creating this dangerous

and lethal situation?

—Sean Cuthill

Victoria, BC

It amazes me that we have

allowed these autonomous-

driving systems to be

unleashed on public

roads without any testing,

approval, or certification. It

seems that for the last 50

years or so, we have been

letting corporations do what-

ever they want. Tell me, if

an autonomous car causes

exclude the Audi A4. I’m

considering purchasing one

and was curious as to why it

didn’t make this comparison.

—Josh Plitt

Indianapolis, IN

We asked. Audi either didn’t

have or didn’t want to send

the refreshed-for-

A4 for this test—Ed.

Why not include the Volvo

S60 T6 R-Design instead of

the T5 Momentum? The T

is what I get as a loaner when

I bring my car in for service.

It’s not much of a sports car.

—Jim Young

Willow Street, PA

Our intent was to test

base-engine models—Ed.

Decades ago, Saab was

criticized for using turbo-

charged 2.0-liter (and 2.3-

liter) inline-fours rather than

larger engines to compete in

the premium-brand market.

I owned two Saab 9000

Turbos and they were great

cars. Too bad Saab is no

longer around. I guess it was

too far ahead of its time.

—Rich Kosmerl

Lake Forest, IL

The Saab 9000 Turbo won

10Best four times. What

we criticized about Saab’s

four-cylinders back then

was their lack of refine-

ment, and those complaints

would still apply today—Ed.

BLAME GAME

In “Learning Curve” [Feb-

ruary 2020], you wrote:

“On March 18, 2018, Elaine

CONTRIBUTOR

John Pearley

Huffman

Pearley, as he’s known

to us, got his start by

sending outlets a

spoof of C/D called Car

and Pearley. It landed

him four job offers and

he’s never looked

back. A contributor

since 1999, he’s

penned an imaginary

visit to Ferrari, written

a Homeric ode to the

Murano CrossCabrio-

let, and expensed

countless Olive Garden

meals. His McLaren GT

feature is on page 60.

the mechanically identical

Giulia in this comparison

test so much quicker?

—Russ Smiltnieks

Germantown, TN

We were shocked by the

acceleration, too. We’re

looking to test a dif-

ferent one to see if the

time is representative

or an anomaly—Ed.