Car and Driver April 2020

10BEST REACTIONS The “10Best for 2020” feature highlights only five cars [January 2020]. Another sign of deep-state influence or the coming apocalypse? Not sure which. You choose. —Patrick Ramsey Northville, MI I loved this year’s 5Best list! —Vito Antuofermo Staten Island, NY I was intrigued by the changes to 10Best this year. I understand why you did it. I just want to know more about allowed price point and whether or not it has to be five cars and five SUVs and trucks. I’d rather you be mostly Car and Driver. Keep up your good work and irreverence. —Jay Hancock Greenwood, SC We had a base-price cap of $90,000. And there’s nothing that says it has to be five and five; the ratio may change in favor of cars in the future—Ed. (Everyone’s “I am outraged that the Mazda MX-5 Miata…

A few years ago, death was knocking on our driver’s side doors. Driving was over. Done. Kaput. We would become passengers in our own vehicles as the autonomous revolution took over our roadways and garages. The message wasn’t coming just from Silicon Valley disrupters. In 2016, Mark Fields, then the CEO of Ford, told assembled press in Palo Alto, California, that his company intended to have robotaxis on the road in 2021. Everything was changing. But then it didn’t. The advent of the autonomous vehicle has been delayed more than a few times by more than a few companies. Humans take the ability to manage the cognitive load of driving for granted, but building a computer system that can match our abilities is extremely difficult. It’s also incredibly expensive. Years of…

How does 900 horsepower strike you? Now imagine it’s stuffed into a car that weighs just 1400 pounds, including a driver. No, this isn’t Formula 1. This is the fire breathing, dirt-chewing World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series. These tube-frame open wheel racers are spartan by design: Anything that’s not needed to go fast on dirt is omitted. Modern sprint cars can reach nearly 150 mph and circle a half-mile oval in 13 seconds, most of which is spent searching for traction. In 2020, the series will line up more than 80 times in 24 states. Here’s a primer so you’re ready for race day. STAGGERING GENIUS World of Outlaws cars use a spool in place of a differential, so both rear tires spin at the same rotational speed. To compensate for the…

If living in the information age has taught us anything, it’s that our personal information is not safe in the hands of private companies. It’s somewhat more disconcerting to learn that our information is not safe in the hands of the government, either. An investigation by Vice found that, in several states, the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) supplements its income by selling drivers’ personal information—including their names, dates of birth, addresses, and the cars they own—to third parties. Florida’s motor-vehicle-licensing department made $77 million that way in 2017, and California’s DMV made $52 million. And they’re not the only ones. DMVs across the country—including those in Delaware, Indiana, New Jersey, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Wisconsin, among others—are profiting, too. This is legal under a 1994 federal law known as the Driver’s…

“DMVs should not be in the business of recklessly selling drivers’ personal information to third parties.” —Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) “This is just another example of how unwitting consumers are to the ways in which their data is collected, sold or shared, and commercialized.” —Mark Warner (D-Va.) “The DMV should not use its trove of personal information as a tool to make money.” —Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) “Congress should take a close look at the Driver’s Privacy Protection Act and, if necessary, close loopholes that are being abused to spy on Americans.” —Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) HEADSHOTS BY GETTY IMAGES: BRYAN BEDDER, STEVEN FERDMAN, TERESA KROEGER, MIKE COPPOLA…

In Tokyo, Carlos Ghosn awaits his trial. Out on bail, the disgraced auto executive is under house arrest for crimes he says he didn’t commit, biding his time as the Japanese justice system builds its case against him. But Ghosn didn’t build the Renault Nissan Mitsubishi Alliance into the world’s second-largest automaker by waiting for others take action. He begins to plot. If he can’t, as he claims, get a fair trial in Japan, he’ll have to go somewhere he can. But where? And how? In Escape from Injustice, coming soon to mobile-gaming platforms, you play Ghosn: You already saved Nissan; now it’s time to save yourself. Should you plan the escape alone or enlist the expertise of others? You could hire help, but former U.S. military special operators with a knack…