Car and Driver June 2019

WILD, WILD HORSES Great cover story on the Ford Mustang Shelby GT500 [“The Cavalry Has Arrived,” March 2019], but what’s with the ’80s color? The last time I recall that orangy brown was on a Buick Century sedan I cruised off a rental lot. Simon GibsonAbbotsford, BC Finally! A Mustang with a dual-clutch! Now I can stuff a 44-ounce Big Gulp in the cupholder instead of my usual aluminum can. The 2020 GT500 will help me keep my elbows clean and save some cash when I don’t have to go back to Wendy’s for another Frosty after I’ve stuck my arm through the first one. Jason Huff manLincolnton, NC “There will be no manual.” That is all you have to say? No sadness, no surprise, no questioning the wisdom of Ford; nothing but five words,…

In your March 2019 issue, you compared the Hyundai Kona Electric with the Chevy Bolt EV [“Always Be Chargin’”]. In the specs, both cars have prismatic cells from the same supplier, LG Chem. The Kona’s battery pack boasts 4.0 kilowatt-hours more than the Chevy’s yet has only six more battery cells to do so. Could you explain how a seemingly small difference in battery size yields such a difference in capacity? How large are these individual cells anyway? —Bo L. Movement, Pataskala, OH The energy stored in a battery, measured in kilowatthours, is calculated by multiplying a pack’s voltage by its amp-hour rating and dividing by 1000. Both the Bolt’s and the Kona’s individual cells are rated at 3.7 volts, but the Chevy’s hold 57 amp-hours while the Hyundai’s store 60 amp-hours.…

To start, I should clarify that I am not leaving the magazine. From now on, I’ll be Hearst Autos’ chief brand officer, developing new areas of business and continuing to help C/D shape opinion on cars and the industry. The decade I’ve had at the helm flashed by like a meteor, but it’s left me with a sustained sense of gratitude and satisfaction. My tenure overlapped with one of the most interesting periods in the history of the car business, and we covered it with appropriate levels of seriousness and absurdity. As important, the business of C/D itself has expanded and adapted, and we’ve deftly tiptoed through a media minefield that’s taken out too many of our fellow journalists. So which stories will I show my grandkids one day, in the hopes…

JUST TRY TO MAKE IT TO THE END of this story without scouring the internet for an old Jeep. Such is the supernatural desire-stoking ability of the concepts that the brand designs each year for the Easter Jeep Safari in Moab, Utah. The tamer Moab concepts use widely available bolt-on upgrades that promise easy installation through local dealerships. Others, such as the M-715 Five-Quarter concept shown here, spill gasoline near the raging fire of Jeep worship, fueling envy and lust. [See “J6” and “Wayout” on page 018 for two more big-deal concepts Jeep brought to Moab this year.] On paper, this Five-Quarter’s birth was not unlike that of any other home-brewed, purpose-built off-roader: Jeep purchased a used truck off Craigslist, stripped it of nonessential bodywork, messed with the suspension, and fitted…

THE ELECTRIFICATION OF THE automobile isn’t limited to hybrid and battery-electric powertrains. From power steering to air-conditioning compressors, engineers are on a crusade to electrify the car’s subsystems and accessories, too. Their next campaign? Brake-by-wire systems, which decouple the brake pedal from the calipers and use an electric actuator to pressurize the hydraulic fluid. Already in production on vehicles such as the Alfa Romeo Giulia and Cadillac XT4, these electrohydraulic systems improve response and control of automated braking and don’t require a vacuum source, making them a boon to active safety systems, electrified powertrains, and high-efficiency combustion engines. Continental says its MK C1 brake-bywire system reaches lock-up twice as fast as conventional systems that use the stability-control actuator to generate braking pressure during automatedemergency-braking events. In an Audi Q5 test vehicle,…

HELMETS HAVE COME A LONG WAY since the days of leather caps. Back then, they really just kept your brain matter in one place to make things easier for the cleanup crew. Today, a Google search turns up millions of pictures of cracked, scraped, or otherwise battered helmets posted by their unscathed owners. To see how modern helmets help riders and drivers defy death, we cut a $1000 Bell GP3 Carbon helmet in half. What we found will shock you! Foam The GP3 contains two layers of heat-resistant expanded polystyrene. A dense outer layer acts as a barrier between the helmet’s hard shell and the softer inner layer; the latter absorbs the brunt of the impact’s energy to slow down the driver’s head (and brain) in the event of a crash. Manual Air…