From the time I was a child I’ve loved cars. Mom tells me my first word was “car.” Dad took us on road trips all over the United States, leaving Alaska and North Dakota the only states that I still need to check off the list. When I was a teenager, I couldn’t wait to get my driver’s license, and to explore, and to drift my gifted piece-of-shit Mercury Monarch around corners in the snow.

Luckily, I’ve married my love of the automobile and travel with an ability to put coherent sentences together, and I’ve made a career out of it. Decades of automotive study, a short stint as a car salesperson, and 20 years of reviewing cars, talking to designers and engineers, and continually sifting through facts and figures has resulted in a degree of expertise about the subject.

Check me out, all old-school with a paper subscription to Car and Driver magazine that shows up in my mailbox, delivered by a human being driving a funny-looking little truck.

This is the December 2015 issue, opened to an article titled “Three’s a Crowd” by James Cobb and Norman Mayersohn. The article discusses what the authors characterize as an upcoming battle between car companies, dealerships, and consumer websites for the digital affections of modern car buyers.

Citing the departure earlier this year of a massive national dealership group called AutoNation from a massive dealership lead-generation network called TrueCar so that the former could better compete with the latter, as well as digital sales initiatives operated by Ford, General Motors, and Toyota, Cobb and Mayersohn conclude that both automakers and dealerships are increasingly interested in cutting out “the middleman,” what is known in the industry as a third-party consumer automotive website.

It is not until the middle of the last paragraph that Cobb and Mayersohn explain to the reader why I’m not terribly worried about finding a new career: “…the independents have vast member networks, an established track record, online expertise, user trust, and a reach that encompasses all brands and models.”

Expertise. Trust. Reach.

Will car buyers trust the experts at the car dealership? What about the car company that wants to sell them a car? And how will they easily compare, say, an Accord and a Camry?

Proving the point that trusted expertise matters, the advertising on the opposite page of the article attempts to sell the perceived merits of the Toyota Corolla S to the car enthusiasts who read Car and Driver.

“Clutch in. Boredom out. It’s time to put the fun back in driving. The 2016 Corolla brings even more excitement to your drive, thanks to an available 6-speed manual transmission. Stir the driver in you.”

Ugh. I’ve driven a Corolla S with a stick. This red one, reviewed for AutoWeb. The entire week I had that car in my possession, I wished it had the available continuously variable transmission (CVT). And I’m a guy who has owned manual-transmission vehicles since 1988. If you are a driving enthusiast who wants a small, fun car with great manual gearbox, check out a Ford Focus, a Mazda 3 or a Volkswagen Golf GTI.

2015 Toyota Corolla: Review - Autoweb

Do you trust my expertise on this matter? Or do you trust Toyota’s?

Dealerships have an even harder time earning consumer trust, and it is their own damn fault.

In the decades that have passed since I worked the lot at Camelback Ford in Phoenix, dealerships have been proclaiming that they’ve reformed their business practices and that the customer’s needs come first. This must be why, on September 14, 2015, Automotive News ran an article titled: “Why it’s time to rethink gouging.”

Why it's time to rethink gouging

Evidently, federal, state, and local regulators are investigating dealerships for fraud related to what are known as “F&I products.” Sold by a dealership’s finance and insurance office, these F&I products are designed to add hundreds or thousands of dollars of pure profit into a car purchase. Examples include extended warranties, service contracts, roadside assistance programs, Lojack, anti-theft window etching, paint protection treatments…the list is a long one.

Apparently, some dealerships were charging customers as much as $6,000 for products that cost the dealer less than $300, and occasionally without the customer’s knowledge.

That’s not a good way to build trust.

Last summer, while waiting for the Nissan dealership in Oxnard, California to fix, for the third time in two weeks, the rear hatch on my wife’s Murano, I noticed a dealership addendum sticker next to the factory window sticker on a brand new Nissan Versa Sedan.

The Versa Sedan is Nissan’s entry-level car. It is designed to give people with very little money a basic, roomy, functional, dependable, and efficient vehicle. Yet the Versa SV on this Nissan dealership’s lot, the one with a Manufacturer’s Suggested Retail Price (MSRP) of $16,725, was marked up to $19,699.

Say whaaaaaaaaat?

The dealership wanted $1,195 for Finishing Touch, an exterior and interior protection treatment. Nitrogen-filled tires ran $395. A two-year maintenance program cost $384. And then the dealership asked for “Additional Dealer Markup” of $1,000.

Talk about big, hairy balls.

What pisses me off about this isn’t that the dealership has the gall to do this. They are free to run their business in any way they want. In my opinion, if you are buying a new car, and you see something like this, leave that dealership immediately unless you want every single person that you encounter to try to bend you over their desk.

What makes me mad is that the hard-working, low-wage workers with extremely tight budgets who might find a Nissan Versa appealing in the first place are the last people who can afford to fork over nearly $3,000 extra for nothing but crap. Or, as in the case of the “Additional Dealer Markup” line item, literally nothing.

Keep up the good work, dealerships. Glad to know nothing has changed since the days when I’d let my customers think a $1,000 discount on a Ford Taurus station wagon represented a great deal.

When consulting and strategizing with my clients, I emphasize the requirement that their content must reflect accuracy and expertise, because only then can users of that content ascribe authority to a publication.

Consistently accurate and authoritative content builds trust, and if that content connects key pieces of information in a unique, meaningful, and compelling way, it forms the foundation necessary for customer loyalty, brand influence, and what us old farts like to call “word-of-mouth” promotion.

Today, the same thing is known as social sharing, because people apparently no longer have face-to-face conversations with one another. Except maybe on Snapchat.

Given the quality of some of the native advertising I’ve seen from car companies, and the inherent desire of dealerships to separate you from as much of your cash as is possible, it is quite clear to me that trusted expertise still matters, perhaps now more than ever.

But then, I have a vested interest in making that statement, don’t I?

Christian Wardlaw has 20 years of experience as an automotive journalist. Today, you can find his work on AutoWeb, Car Gurus, J.D. Power Cars, New York Daily News, and Overstock Cars.

Magazine and Toyota Corolla photos copyright Speedy Daddy Media, Inc.

Nissan Versa photo copyright Nissan North America; for editorial use only

Why Trusted Expertise Matters was originally published in The Automotive Report on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

If you’ve overlooked the 2017 Kia Sorento in your quest for a new family-sized crossover SUV, you’re doing yourself a tremendous disservice.

It is a terrific vehicle, sized between the traditional compact and midsize SUV segments, stylish, comfortable, and enjoyable to drive. It meets a wide range of budget requirements, and when loaded with every option, could easily pass for a luxury SUV except for the Kia badge on the center of the steering wheel.

Plus, it gets the highest possible crash-protection ratings from the federal government and the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS), and for 2017 Kia further stepped up the Sorento’s game by installing an automatic emergency braking system on every trim level as standard or optional equipment.

This is an SUV I can easily recommend to families. But I have a concern, and that relates to the Sorento’s third-row seat design.

When the Sorento’s third-row seat is in use, the head restraints are nearly flush against the rear window, and the seatback is less than two feet from the rear liftgate. Knowing that lots of people buy crossover SUVs and that lots of people prefer models with third-row seats and that lots of people choose crossover SUVs with third-row seats because they plan to carry kids back there, I got to thinking about whether or not people consider the safety ramifications of their choice.

When I was growing up, my family had a station wagon with rear-facing third-row seats. We didn’t use them often, but occasionally my dad would pop them open and let my brother and I ride back there, smiling and waving to the people who were following us. I don’t believe it occurred to him that another driver could smash into the back of our Ford Gran Torino Country Squire, showering us with glass and crushing us with sheetmetal.

I’m not trying to be dramatic. Have you ever seen what the back of a parked car looks like after another vehicle has hit it at no more than moderate speed? I see it all of the time, because Pacific Coast Highway in Malibu, California has lots of cars parked close to the highway and they get hit on a regular basis. Depending on the speed of the errant vehicle and the angle of impact, the parked car’s trunk vanishes, the metal pushed right up to the rear wheels.

This is a cutaway view of a Ford Transit Connect Wagon. (I know. Nobody buys these. The point here is to illustrate how third-row seats are usually located in a vehicle’s rear crush zone, and Ford has this excellent image to help show the problem.)

If seven people are seated in this vehicle’s three rows of seats, and the driver is stopped at an intersection, and somebody plows into the back of it, where will the crash energy go?

Because I’ve got kids, I wanted a definitive answer to the following question: Are third-row seats safe for children? I reached out to Russ Rader, Senior Vice President, Communications, for the IIHS:

Hi Russ,

I write for a number of outlets, including the N.Y. Daily News, Car Gurus, and J.D. Power Cars. I am a regular user of the IIHS website and ratings, and when I review vehicles I always discuss IIHS test results, whenever they are available.

As of late, I’ve become increasingly concerned about the third-row seats that are installed in so many SUVs, and even in minivans. For example, the Kia Sorento’s third-row headrests are almost touching the rear window glass.

Because so many families buy vehicles like the Sorento specifically because of the third-row seat, and because the third-row seat is usually inhospitable to adults and relegated to children, I’ve started talking about the lack of crush zone space between the third-row seat and the rear of the vehicle in order to educate parents who might be considering such vehicles about the potential danger of placing children so close to the rear of the vehicle.

Long story short, how much space is required, on average, behind the rearmost seating in a vehicle to allow adequate crush space for a rear-collision when the vehicle is hit from behind? Do minivans have enough? Do SUVs and crossovers have too little? Is it entirely dependent on the type of vehicle, and the underlying structure?

I don’t think people with children are thinking about this when they put their kids in the third-row seat.

Thanks!

Chris

Mr. Rader kindly responded:

Hi Chris,

IIHS has looked at the statistics periodically and deaths in the third row in serious crashes are relatively rare. Rear-end crashes are usually low-severity events at low speeds. That said, the safest place for children in a 3-row vehicle is in the center row. The third row should be the second choice if there are too many children for the number of seating positions in the middle row.

We haven’t conducted high-speed rear-end crash tests of 3-row vehicles, again, because this is not a common type of crash in the real world.

Let me know if you need more info.

Russ Rader

This is an understandable response. In most rear-impact collisions, speeds are low, such as in a parking lot. At higher speeds, the person that causes the accident has most likely slammed on the brakes, the front end of his or her car diving and sliding under the vehicle that is hit. Therefore, “deaths in the third row in serious crashes are relatively rare” because “rear-end crashes are usually low-severity events at low speeds.”

Still, they do happen. And Mr. Rader confirms that the safest place for kids, or for any passengers, in any 3-row vehicle is the center row of seats.

Keep this in mind when you’re shopping for a safe vehicle in which to transport your family. If you find that you must regularly shuttle more than five passengers, try to choose a model that puts some distance between the third-row seat and the back of the vehicle, like a minivan or a full-size, extended-length SUV such as a Chevrolet Suburban, Ford Expedition EL, or GMC Yukon XL.

If you’re disinterested in owning a minivan or gigantic SUV, and you buy a midsize crossover like the Kia Sorento, consider taking a second car to your destination when you’ve got a group of more than five passengers, instead of cramming everyone aboard a single vehicle.

While it is unlikely that someone is going to plow into the back of you while you’re stopped at an intersection, or you’ve come around a freeway curve to a mess of stopped traffic and you need to brake hard in front of other drivers who are not paying close attention, or you’ve parked in a parallel space along Pacific Coast Highway and just loaded everyone up after a day at the beach right before someone loses control and hits your parked SUV, it could happen.

If you’ve rolled the dice and lost, forgiving yourself could be a long time in coming.

Photos copyright Speedy Daddy Media, Inc., except the Ford Transit Connect cut-away, which is supplied by Ford and is for editorial use only.

Originally published at speedydaddy.com on February 13, 2017.

Are Third-Row Seats Safe for Children? was originally published in The Automotive Report on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

My mother says that my first word was “car.” In the days before seat belt requirements and, apparently, parental understanding of Newton’s First Law of Motion, I would stand up in the back seat, point out the windows, and name the different cars surrounding our own.

For as long as I can remember, I’ve been fascinated by cars. As a child, I amassed quite a collection of Hot Wheels and Matchbox vehicles, and when I bored of whatever Matchbox City play set I owned, I would flatten cardboard boxes, create networks of roads and parking lots of my own using markers and crayons, and spend entire afternoons in my room, orchestrating the comings and goings of my bustling metropolis’s residents.

When I became a teenager, I continued collecting Hot Wheels and Matchbox cars, but stopped opening the packaging. To this day I occasionally buy them, tucking them away in boxes in my garage. Recently, my mother shipped my old collection to me, adding to the hoard, and my wife occasionally picks them up for me when she makes Target runs. Often, they’re duplicates, but her thoughtfulness and acceptance of my car geekery are so sweet that I smile, pretend I’ve never seen that paint color or stripe treatment before, and tuck them away in the garage.

I’ve been reading Car and Driver magazine since elementary school. Somewhere along the line, someone bought me a subscription and I’ve had one since. From the days when the inimitable David E. Davis ran the publication to today, as it thrives under the talented stewardship of Eddie Alterman, C/D has been the best ongoing education I’ve ever paid for.

Written with humor and sarcasm, and bucking the trend toward basic language and uncomplicated structure, C/D brilliantly simplifies complex subjects and never takes itself too seriously.

Furthermore, while it is clearly a publication aimed at car enthusiasts, it remembers that its audience faces certain financial realities and family situations. So while there is always coverage of Bugattis and Ferraris and Lamborghinis, as shown in the photo above, C/D will also perform multi-car comparison tests of family sedans and compact crossovers because real people buying real vehicles in the real world still want to know if a Honda CR-V is more fun to drive than a Toyota RAV4 (the answer, by the way, is yes).

Perhaps, one day, I’ll land a gig there. But that’s a story for another day.

Shortly after I turned 16, my dad generously offered to buy me a car. At the time, I was planning to attend college far away from Michigan, so I needed something dependable, fuel-efficient, and practical. Given the budget he gave me, a used 1979–81 Honda Accord Sedan would be perfect.

Instead, a couple of months later, Dad pulled into the driveway with an 8-year-old 1976 Mercury Grand Monarch Ghia with a 351 Windsor V8 engine and a whole bunch of electronics just waiting to go haywire. He’d bought it from a friend whose wife rarely drove it, and the car had just 29,000 miles on the odometer. But those were 29,000 indifferently maintained miles, and while my dad paid big bucks to cosmetically restore the car so that it looked like new, underneath the fresh white paint was a rotting piece of mid-1970s Detroit crap.

I hate to sound ungrateful, and I know that my father certainly meant well, but I was crestfallen. Getting about 10 mpg, that Mercury literally burned through all of my money. Additionally, after a couple of years of trying to fix its various mechanical maladies, it finally required a complete engine rebuild. We finally sold it for $1,000 during my freshman year in college, after it had racked up more than $12,000 in purchase, restoration and repair receipts between 1983 and 1986.

After the not-so-grand Monarch, I bought a used 1984 Ford Escort, which I had for a short time before needing to pull some cash out of it to pay for tuition.

Then I bought a car that David E. Davis had always loved: a 1978 Ford Fiesta. Tiny, German, and fun, it cost me less than $2,000. It had a stick but an inoperative parking brake, and one day it rolled away, down a hill and into a parked car. I replaced it with another Fiesta, but a $500 repair estimate to replace the entire, rusted-out braking system was too much. At this point, I was done with used cars.

My first new car was a 1990 Ford Festiva. It was tiny, but it was not German and fun. Still, it was based on Mazda design and engineering, it was bulletproof, it was efficient, and it was cheap enough that I could afford the monthly payment while still in school. It also did not have air conditioning, so when I moved from Michigan to Arizona, I had to get rid of it.

A new 1994 Ford Escort GT replaced it, equipped with a Mazda-sourced 4-cylinder engine, a stick, a sport suspension, and a compelling blend of performance, utility, and affordability.

Shortly thereafter, I drove a Mazda Miata for the first time, and I’ve never been the same. My first one was a dark blue 1997 STO Edition with tan leather seats and appealing Enkei 5-spoke aluminum wheels, one of the final first-generation Miatas to come to the U.S. After that, I owned a succession of new and used Miatas, the last one a 2004 MX-5 Mazdaspeed that I bought new and still own.

The Mazdaspeed has just over 34,000 miles on it. It spends plenty of time in the garage, getting out every couple of weeks for a warm up run and to keep the battery in fighting shape.

When I haven’t driven it for awhile, I start thinking that perhaps the time has come to let it go, spend the money on a kitchen remodel, or dump it into my retirement account. But then I dust it off, fire it up, put down the top, release the clutch, and head out for an extended drive on my favorite roads in the local Santa Monica Mountains.

And when I get home, I tell Liz that I’m never selling it.

Cars are central to who I am. “Car” was my first word. Cars dominated my childhood play. A car magazine was instrumental in teaching me how to write, and specifically how to write about cars. I’ve been lucky enough to earn a living writing about cars and the industry that creates them, and fortunate enough to drive thousands of them ranging from a Yugo GV to a Lamborghini Murcielago LP-640 Roadster, and on roads and racetracks from The Road to Hana to the Nurburgring Nordschleife.

To say that I love my job is an understatement. But that’s a story for another day.

Christian Wardlaw is married, a dad, a California transplant, and a car geek who turned a love of automobiles and travel into a career. Currently, he is the editor for Daily News Autos, is a contributor to Car Gurus and J.D. Power Cars, and is wishing he was sitting on a beach on any of the Hawaiian islands.

My First Word was originally published in The Automotive Report on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

The 2020 Lincoln Aviator Grand Touring, a new plug-in luxury hybrid SUV, is nowhere near ready to take on the Tesla Model X let alone the Audi e-tron or Mercedes-Benz EQC 400. But it does represent a start down a path to greener pastures for Lincoln.

Besides, its estimated 18 miles of electric driving range and anticipated EPA rating of 23 mpg in combined driving aren’t the important numbers to remember for the Aviator Grand Touring. These are: 494 and 630.

That first one describes the amount of horsepower that the Aviator Grand Touring’s twin-turbocharged 3.0-liter V6 engine, 10-speed automatic transmission with an integrated 75-kW electric motor, and 13.6-kWh lithium-ion battery pack collectively produce. The second one is the amount of torque.

And here’s another figure to remember. Based on expected fuel economy ratings, Lincoln says you can drive an Aviator Grand Touring more than 400 miles between stops at a gas station or charging station.

When the Aviator Grand Touring goes on sale in late summer of 2019, Lincoln will offer the SUV in standard and Black Label specification, with a starting price of less than $70,000. To get first-hand experience with this new plug-in hybrid luxury SUV, I flew to California’s Napa Valley wine country* where I drove a top-of-the-line Black Label version priced at nearly $89,000.

Aviator Grand Touring by the numbers

Lincoln’s prescribed driving route started at elevation, ensuring that the Grand Touring would easily exceed the company’s quoted 18 miles of driving range. That’s why I covered 17.9 miles of electric-only travel in spite of starting the trip with an indicated 82% battery charge and 14 miles of range.

Using nothing but electricity, the Aviator Grand Touring is a quiet vehicle, but then so is the standard Aviator. All that’s missing is the pleasant background rumble supplied by the twin-turbocharged V6 engine.

On rougher pavement, the Black Label’s massive 22-inch wheels and tires generate more road noise than you expect, and at speeds above 70 mph there is some wind noise, but otherwise, the Aviator is a silent cocoon, an isolated sanctuary from the surrounding world.

In addition to the Aviator’s standard driving modes, the Grand Touring adds Pure EV and Preserve EV choices. In Pure EV, the Aviator operates solely on electricity. In Preserve EV, the system saves the battery charge for situations when using Pure EV mode is preferable.

Driven in Normal mode, the Aviator’s V6 occasionally activates to aid acceleration when necessary. That’s how I traveled a total of 21.6 miles before the battery reached its minimum state of charge (an indicated 0%), resulting in an average of 80.6 MPGe. Most of those miles were electric-only, but 3.7 of them involved the gas engine.

Once the battery was drained of range, I reset the trip computer. Over the next 69.3 miles, operated as a traditional hybrid, the Aviator Grand Touring averaged 19.8 mpg, well short of Lincoln’s expected 23-mpg rating in combined driving. Still, that as-tested number beat a standard Aviator under similar driving conditions by almost 4 mpg.

Another benefit is the Grand Touring’s electric motor, which provides instant torque the moment you step on the accelerator pedal. While the standard powertrain is quick to respond to prompts from your right foot, there is a slight delay off the line as the automatic engine start/stop system fires up the engine and the turbochargers spool up. By comparison, the Grand Touring leaps forward on sweet, instantaneous electric torque.

When equipped with the Dynamic Handling Package, which installs an adaptive air suspension and active steering, the Aviator Grand Touring’s handling impresses in spite of some extra body motion due to the weight of the battery pack. With no shortage of power, and the Black Label’s meaty 22-inch tires, responsive active steering, and Air Glide suspension, you can whip this SUV around corners with plenty of enthusiasm and a big grin on your face.

Slip into sumptuous surroundings

Remember when it was obvious that a Lincoln was nothing more than a Ford with extra chrome? Those days are fading fast. Especially in Black Label specification, the Aviator Grand Touring shares almost nothing with the 2020 Ford Explorer Hybrid — aside from its platform, vehicle architecture, and other components that are mostly unseen by consumers.

My test vehicle had the Chalet interior theme, which is supposed to remind you of a wintertime visit to a ski lodge. Materials match expectations set by the Black Label’s lofty price tag, with the exception of this theme’s glossy Silverwood trim, which isn’t the real deal.

Equipped with 30-way power-adjustable heated, ventilated, and massaging seats, the Aviator Grand Touring is exceptionally comfortable regardless of the weather. In hot, sunny conditions, the cabin kept me calm, cool, and collected.

The second-row captain’s chairs sit fairly high off of the floor, providing excellent thigh support. They slide forward and back, and when moved up a click or two you can stash an adult in the third-row seat for shorter trips.

Additionally, this plug-in hybrid SUV supplies 18.3 cubic feet of room behind the third-row seat, enough for a few pieces of carry-on luggage. Fold the third-row seat down to create a spacious 41.8 cubic-foot cargo compartment. Maximum volume with the second-row seats folded down amounts to 77.7 cubic feet.

Tech takes center stage

Lincoln offers a long list of technologies for the Aviator Grand Touring, from the company’s new Phone As A Key system and a 12.3-inch digital instrumentation cluster to the Lincoln Co-Pilot360 Plus suite of advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) and a dual-screen Lincoln Play rear-seat entertainment system.

Designed to replace the Aviator’s key fob with your smartphone, Phone As A Key appears to be simple and easy. But, during a demonstration of the technology, it was clear that if something goes awry things get complicated, and fast. No doubt, many people will find Phone As A Key useful. I’m not convinced that I fall into that camp.

Equipped with a Sync 3 infotainment system and a 10.1-inch touchscreen display, the Aviator provides access to the digital amenities luxury buyers expect, as well as a choice between two thundering Revel premium sound systems. Classy warning chimes recorded by the Detroit Symphony Orchestra are standard.

Drivers can use the voice recognition technology to operate the infotainment system. It’s not as natural to use as Siri or Alexa, requiring specific voice prompts in some cases. And even then, it can misunderstand what you say, causing frustration. The Sync 3 infotainment system also sometimes takes too long to load and to respond to inputs. My bet is that buyers in this price class are going to expect better voice recognition performance.

The Lincoln Co-Pilot360 Plus technologies work with impressive accuracy and refinement. However, the lane centering assist system sometimes had trouble recognizing that I was still holding the steering wheel, prompting unnecessary warnings.

Should you purposely let go of the wheel, the system steers for about 30 seconds, then warns you to retake control for about 15 seconds. If you fail to respond to those increasingly urgent requests, the adaptive cruise control begins to slow the vehicle under the assumption that you’ve suffered a medical emergency. Lincoln says the Aviator will come to a full stop in the lane of travel, but it does not activate the hazard flashers or initiate a 911 Assist call like similar technology from other automakers.

A head-up display is also available for this SUV, and wearers of polarized sunglasses will be delighted to know that it remains visible with your shades on your face.

A little of this, a little of that

With just 18 miles of electric driving range and a best-case-scenario of 23 mpg in combined driving when used as a gas-electric hybrid, the 2020 Lincoln Aviator Grand Touring isn’t likely to appeal to people considering a pure electric luxury SUV such as an Audi e-tron, Mercedes-Benz EQC400, or Tesla Model X.

It does, however, appeal to people who want to dip their toes into the EV driving pool without giving up the security and familiarity of traditional gas stations.

While Lincoln says the Aviator Grand Touring recharges in less than four hours with a 240-volt public or home charging station, using one isn’t absolutely necessary. Just plug it into a standard household outlet and it should soak up a full charge of juice between the evening and morning commutes. And since it works as a traditional hybrid most of the time, you’ll never need to worry about finding an available charging station on a longer trip.

Furthermore, with 494 horsepower, 630 pound-feet of torque, all-wheel drive, an Excite driving mode, and an available Dynamic Handling Package, the Aviator Grand Touring is fast and fun to drive in addition to serving as a soothing isolation chamber on wheels.

In other words, it’s exactly what many buyers in this segment are looking for.

* Lincoln paid for the author’s flight, lodging, and meals, and provided the vehicle for testing.

2020 Lincoln Aviator Grand Touring Review was originally published in The Automotive Report on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Each year, members of the Motor Press Guild (MPG) are eligible to attend an annual track event. For a nominal fee, members have access to a variety of vehicles that can be driven on a race track or on nearby public roads. Many members take this opportunity to drive at extra-legal speeds in a safe, controlled environment, getting a fix for their need for speed. Other members use MPG Track Day to cycle through various vehicles on public roads, comparing similar vehicles back-to-back, sampling new models they’ve yet to drive, or taking spins in models they simply enjoy. Journalists, analysts, and public relations representatives reconnect and talk cars for two days straight. It is a great time, thanks to the hard work of many, many people.

The past few years, MPG Track Day has been held at Willow Springs International Raceway on the northern edge of California’s Antelope Valley. Over the course of my career writing about cars, I’ve attended professional driving schools at this track, participated in automaker press events at this track, and even rented this track to conduct comparison tests. I know it well.

Nevertheless, for me, what is most educational about MPG Track Day is conducting what are known as “street drives” on local roads. Automakers gather most of their new-for-2016 vehicles at this October event, giving me a chance to sample what is new and notable. Thus, I spend just enough time on the track to qualify for driving privileges, represented by a green wristband worn on my wrist. Y’know, just in case I decide to get on the track.

This year, MPG board members wisely restricted track driving access. If a member did not have an active racing license, or proof of attendance of a professional driving school within the previous three years, they needed to have their driving talent assessed by a pro driver.

My last pro driving school was the Skip Barber MX-5 Cup school at Laguna Seca, which I completed in 2007 (and during which I completely botched my first solo attempt at navigating the Corkscrew, but that’s a story for another time.)

I jumped into a Chevrolet SS, which is an amazing sport sedan that few people pay any attention. On life support now that General Motors has announced that it will cease Australian manufacturing, this rebadged Holden Commodore has a 415-horsepower, 6.2-liter V8 engine, a 6-speed manual gearbox, and rear-wheel drive. Fully loaded, it still doesn’t cost as much as the cheapest Mercedes-Benz E-Class.

Yes, this full-size 4-door sedan feels a little soft at triple-digit speeds on a race track, but thanks to quick, precise steering, phenomenal brakes, sticky tires, and that fantastic V8 engine, the SS inspires confidence. And on a public road at sane velocities, this Chevy is an excellent sport sedan. Better yet, you’re not driving the same leased E350 or 528i or GS that everyone else has.

From the SS, I jumped into the car I’ve been patiently waiting to drive: the redesigned 2016 Mazda MX-5 Miata.

A Miata has been parked in my garage almost continuously since 1997. After purchasing a new STO Edition, one of the last first-generation Miatas to roll off of the assembly line, I kept upgrading until 2004, when I bought a Mazdaspeed MX-5 Miata, which I still own today. While the third-generation MX-5 Miata never quite convinced me to buy one (though its power retractable hardtop sure is a strength), I thought for sure that this redesigned fourth-gen Miata would have me falling out of love with the Mazdaspeed.

That didn’t happen. While the new Miata is a terrific car, superior in every way to the model it replaces (except for the cancellation of the hardtop option), it still hasn’t convinced me to put a “For Sale” sign in my car’s window. Maybe I’ll change my mind after spending a week with the new one this coming December.

Next, I drove the redesigned 2016 Honda Civic. I also signed a non-disclosure agreement promising that I wouldn’t discuss any driving impressions until later in the month. Let’s just put it this way: if you like the look, few things about the new Civic will make you wish you bought something else in the compact car class.

Mini-compact crossover SUVs are increasingly popular, and Mazda enters the segment with the new CX-3. It has a 146-horsepower, 2.0-liter 4-cylinder engine, a 6-speed automatic transmission, and the light, nimble, athletic driving character common to Mazda products.

Fun to drive, the CX-3 is also genuinely stylish. However, fitting four tall adults into this thing is tough, and the cargo area is small. Utility is not this Mazda’s strength, at least when compared to a rolling Swiss Army Knife like a Honda HR-V.

Volvo is gathering steam. Having nearly flat-lined after a disastrous period of ownership by Ford Motor Company, the automaker is slowly but steadily re-establishing a footprint not just in the U.S., but all around the world. Because a colleague is considering a V60 Cross Country for his family, I figured I’d give it a whirl.

Think of this as a more refined, more luxurious Subaru Outback. Plentiful turbocharged power, a tall ride height with extra ground clearance, decent rear seat space, and extra utility thanks to the wagon body style make this Volvo appealing. Add immensely comfortable front seats and the automaker’s long record for building safe automobiles, and a V60 Cross Country is a unique solution to the problem of luxury-level family transport.

While the V60 Cross Country is impressive, it is the redesigned XC90 that reveals the future of Volvo. The 7-passenger luxury SUV is a technology showcase, and displays new styling themes that other Volvos will ultimately showcase. Scandinavian design permeates the cabin, despite the XC90's development under Chinese ownership, and the optional Bowers and Wilkins stereo system is nothing short of stunning.

A supercharged and turbocharged 2.0-liter 4-cylinder engine delivers 316 horsepower and 295 lb.-ft. of torque, more than enough to motivate the XC90's 4,394 pounds. Eco, Comfort, and Dynamic driving settings are available, and I preferred Comfort mode, which gives the SUV a relaxed yet responsive demeanor.

An Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) “Top Safety Pick,” the XC90 is quite safe. The middle section of the second-row seat slides forward to put a child closer to mom and dad. The third-row seat is not designed for larger adults, but kids will be fine for short jaunts.

In my opinion, though it isn’t perfect, the new Volvo XC90 is a compelling alternative to other luxury SUVs.

This is the redesigned 2016 Toyota Tacoma, a midsize pickup that competes with the Chevrolet Colorado, GMC Canyon, and Nissan Frontier. Before driving it, I was sure that the stiffer frame, redesigned body, new 3.5-liter V6 engine, and reworked interior with new technologies would instantly put the GM trucks on the bench, while absolutely mopping the floor with the Nissan.

Now, I’m not so sure.

Get into the new Taco, and it feels a helluva lot like the old Taco. From the driving position and view over the hood to the V6 engine’s sound and power delivery, this new Tacoma looks, feels, and drives similar to the old Tacoma.

Of course, this similarity could also be a good thing. The old Tacoma was damn near indestructible. The new one likely continues this tradition.

Four-wheeling scares the shit out of me. I’ll run cars up to 150 mph all day long, but put me on a steep descent doing 2 mph, and my ass puckers up.

This fear stems from an experience I once had when climbing a steep ascent in a BMW X5, all alone, far from civilization. The first-gen X5 couldn’t maintain traction, and I had two choices: 1.) reverse down the barren, rock-strewn mountainside, or 2.) make a 3-point turn and head down nose first. I went with choice #2, and let’s just put it this way: I’m damn lucky to be typing this.

Conquering this fear is critical to my career, so I take advantage of off-roading opportunities at Track Day.

This year, I jumped into the burly Ram 1500 Rebel, a new off-roading version of the popular pickup. Equipped with an air suspension that increases ground clearance, a full complement of skid plates, and other off-roading hardware, the Rebel made quick work of the mountain trails adjacent to the track. All it really needs is a hill descent control system that manages the brakes and accelerator while the driver concentrates on steering.

The Infiniti Q70 is not a new car, but it is a car that I haven’t driven, one that I think deserves more attention from midsize luxury sedan buyers than it gets, one that I think is attractive in a segment where most of the competition isn’t.

Equipped with the optional 420-horsepower, 5.6-liter V8 engine and rear-wheel drive, this Q70S pictured above had plenty of power but returned appalling fuel economy. Those 20-inch wheels produce an unexpected amount of road noise, and this could be one reason why luxury sedan buyers skip the Q70 in favor of something else.

Otherwise, this Infiniti is worthy of consideration, especially if you love to drive, and especially if you love to drive something different from what everyone else is driving.

The dual-cockpit interior puts the driver forward in the cabin and closer to the windshield and controls for a feeling of connectedness and intimacy with the car and the road. The sport suspension delivers an uncanny amount of information from the pavement, and the traditional hydraulic steering provides a level of sensation often missing from modern electric steering systems.

After returning from my short drive, I checked out the back seat, and had plenty of legroom to spare, despite the fact that this wasn’t the Q70L model with the extended wheelbase. Plus, the interior is rendered in high quality materials, and you can access most features without consulting a screen or using your voice.

You might not be thinking about getting an Infiniti Q70, but you should.

Volkswagen brought this Jetta equipped with its new turbocharged, 1.4-liter 4-cylinder engine. This engine replaces the downright agrarian 2.0-liter 4-cylinder that mustered no more than 115 horsepower in the 2015 Jetta S. Ugh. This new turbocharged engine is a massive improvement over that weak and unrefined motor, and is included as standard equipment in the S and SE trim levels for the 2016 model year.

Turbo lag is evident when starting off, but 184 lb.-ft. of torque kicks in quick, peaking at just 1,400 rpm, and remains available as the engine works toward its peak 150 horsepower at 5,000 rpm. Put the 6-speed automatic into Sport driving mode, and the Jetta has no trouble staying out of its own way while getting 28.4 mpg on the local test-drive loop.

That’s not close to what the Jetta TDI turbo-diesel returned in terms of fuel economy. Too bad Volkswagen had to yank them off showroom floors, and the company has announced that it will suspend production of the 2016 TDI models while it works to resolve the excessive emissions problem and resulting scandal that has brought VW to its knees.

In addition to this new 1.4-liter turbo, the 2016 Jetta lineup includes a 1.8-liter turbo, a Jetta Hybrid, and a Jetta GLI performance-tuned variant.

The last car I drove during this year’s MPG Track Day event was this 2015 Volkswagen GTI. Unlike every other automotive journalist on the planet, I had not yet sampled this automobile, and now that I have, I know what needs to replace my Mazdaspeed Miata.

Convertibles are great, but recently accelerated hair loss and decades of over-exposure to the sun and elements has taken some of the thrill out of top-down driving. Plus, I’ve got a family and weekend projects to complete around the house. A GTI is a genuine dream car for a daily-driver enthusiast on a budget.

From the whoosh of turbocharged torque and the burp of the exhaust as the transmission upshifts to the zippy handling, sticky tires, stop-now brakes, and perfectly shaped and bolstered front seats, a VW GTI is a brilliant car for a person who likes to go fast and have fun, but needs real-world utility combined with decent gas mileage.

I did not drive the new Mercedes-AMG GT shown above, or the Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat, or the Cadillac ATS-V, or the Cadillac CTS-V, or the Lexus RC F, or the Mercedes-AMG C63. All were track-only vehicles, and while I was curious about each of them, I wasn’t willing to wait in line to get a handful of hot laps that would provide absolutely nothing of value in terms of understanding how each of these machines works in the real world.

Maybe next year.

All images copyright Speedy Daddy Media, Inc.

Driving Impressions from the 2015 Motor Press Guild Track Days was originally published in The Automotive Report on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

On Friday, September 25, 2015, Jacob Ross crashed a stolen luxury car during a high-speed chase through Sherman Oaks, California. Even by SoCal police chase standards, Ross was driving like a total asshole, as though he wanted to die and didn’t care whom he took along for the ride. Worse, a woman named Destiny Dispaquale was riding in the back seat of the stolen car, as well as a 5-year-old child.

Fast-forward the video to 1:04 and you’ll get slow-motion footage of the collision that brought the chase to a stop. Nobody was killed in the wreck involving five other vehicles at an intersection. Miraculously, Ross, Dispaquale, and the child emerged from the crumpled and smoking stolen car, reportedly a Lexus LS, essentially unharmed.

A woman was transported to the hospital after rescuers pried her out of her vehicle. Based on her license plate number, she was driving a 2014 Ford Escape Titanium, the loaded model with leather seats, a panoramic glass sunroof, and nice looking aluminum wheels. She was just sitting there at the intersection of Sepulveda and Magnolia, waiting to make a left turn, when, in an instant, her September night went from routine to unforgettable.

The video shows the stolen car approaching the intersection at a ridiculous rate of speed, about to blow through the red light. A red Ford Mustang turning left from Magnolia onto Sepulveda enters the intersection from the right. Ross sees the Mustang, drifts left to try to avoid it, and is unsuccessful.

Glancing off the front of the Mustang, the stolen Lexus is pushed further toward to the middle of the road and into a row of oncoming cars waiting in their left turn lane, where it violently collides with the Ford Escape.

This impact between the Lexus and the Escape is a classic small overlap frontal-impact collision, as defined by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS). The IIHS began testing vehicles for small overlap frontal-impact protection in 2012, and the test is designed to replicate what might happen if a vehicle were to strike a tree, a telephone pole, or oncoming vehicles on the left front corner of the tested vehicle.

Small overlap frontal crashes primarily affect a vehicle’s outer edges, which aren’t well protected by (a vehicle’s) crush-zone structures. — IIHS

As can be seen in the video, the front left corner of the Escape takes 100 percent of the crash force, the impact actually lifting the compact crossover SUV’s right rear wheel as the Ford is violently shoved to the right.

In IIHS crash testing, the Ford Escape earns a “Poor” rating for small overlap frontal-impact protection, and it has since it was last redesigned for the 2013 model year. One of the most popular vehicles in its segment, along with the Honda CR-V and the Toyota RAV4, the Escape is not as safe as other compact crossover SUVs that perform well in this difficult crash-test assessment.

Fortunately, according to reports, the woman driving the Escape was released from the hospital with minor injuries. Also, fortunately for the people in the second-generation Honda Fit that was waiting in the left turn lane behind her, the Escape took the hit rather than the Honda, which also earned a “Poor” small overlap rating when it was new. (The redesigned 2015 Fit gets a “Good” rating, but that only applies when hit by a vehicle of similar weight. The stolen Lexus still would have creamed a new Fit, too, because it is so light.)

Life is random, and you never know what’s going to happen when you get behind the steering wheel, start the engine, and head off down the road. That’s why, when I review and recommend vehicles, I am a strong advocate for choosing a vehicle that earns top crash-test ratings from both the IIHS and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA).

You want a car that performs well in both sets of testing because they are conducted to different standards. Additionally, you want something heavier rather than lighter, because heavier vehicles protect better in collisions with heavy vehicles. You want something that sits lower to the ground than higher, for a lower center of gravity and reduced rollover risk. You want something that offers added safety technologies, like driver assistance and crash avoidance systems. And it doesn’t matter if you’re buying a new car or a used car: get the safest one you can afford.

Finding crash-test ratings is easy. Results from testing performed by the NHTSA are available on safercar.gov, while IIHS test results are published on IIHS.org. It won’t take long to research the vehicles that have made your short list, and if one or the other of these organizations has not completed testing for the object of your affection, my recommendation is to move forward only if the IIHS has released full results because its standards are higher than NHTSA’s.

Christian Wardlaw has 20 years of experience as an automotive journalist. Today, you can find his work on AutoWeb, Car Gurus, J.D. Power Cars, New York Daily News, and Overstock Cars.

Photo copyright Ford Motor Company; for editorial use only

Why Crash-Test Ratings Matter When Buying a New Car was originally published in The Automotive Report on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Last week, I took my first meditation class. During the group introductions, I explained that one of the existing ways that I relieve stress is to drive. Not during a commute. And not into Los Angeles. Rather, I drive fast*, on the twisting 2-lane roads laced atop the Santa Monica Mountains between Malibu and the suburb I call home.

During class, the instructor introduced the concept of focused attention meditation (FAM) one of several techniques our group will explore in the weeks to come. To illustrate FAM, she provided several examples, including the act of hand-washing dishes. Sole concentration on this activity, on the water cascading onto the plates, glasses, and silverware, on the building bubbles of soap suds, on the swirling motion your hand makes while cleaning, is a form of FAM.

It struck me that when I’m driving fast, I’m actually meditating.

For nearly two decades, I’ve been driving the stretch of Mulholland Highway between Decker Canyon Road and Pacific Coast Highway, typically once per week. This is where I test cars for work, a downhill stretch of typically vacant road that twists and turns its way to the beach for several miles. I know the nuances of this ribbon of blacktop well. I know where the decreasing radius turns are, where the hidden driveways are, where rocks have likely fallen onto the road, and where hikers are likely to be resting against a guard rail.

Each time I drive Mulholland in a capably tuned vehicle, I am happy and at peace by the time I hang a right onto PCH and head north along the sand. The meditative effects of FAM likely have something to do with this.

Similar to the example of washing dishes provided by my instructor, when I’m hustling down Mulholland, a road I know better than the lines aging my face, I am solely focused on the elements involved in the task at hand. Steering feel and response. Braking feel and response. Tire grip. Suspension motions. Transmission shifts. Engine power.

For 10 minutes, and if the car I’m driving is engineered and tuned the way it really ought to be, I am one with the machine. Everything else fades to black.

*Driving fast is not recommended for everyone. Professional racing instruction, a perfectly maintained vehicle, intimate knowledge of the route ahead, understanding of traffic and pedestrian patterns on the route, understanding of the limitations of the vehicle, accepting the rules of physics, and a big, fat dollop of common sense are absolutely required.

Driving and the Meditative Effects of Focused Attention was originally published in The Automotive Report on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Self-driving cars are the wrong solution to the future of personal mobility

My buddy Mike is driving a 2015 Mercedes-Benz S63 AMG, the perfect ride as we attend an advance screening of “Winning: The Racing Life of Paul Newman” at Hollywood’s famous El Capitan Theatre. We’re on our way home to the northwestern suburbs of L.A., traversing the San Fernando Valley late on a busy night.

Though he is a driving enthusiast, Mike is a big proponent of autonomous driving technology. This is only partly perplexing to me. Driving in Los Angeles sucks. Mike races on weekends, and gets plenty of track time on automakers’ dimes. I get that he’d rather not drive 65 mph down the Ventura Freeway at 11 p.m. if the car can do it all by itself.

I’m in the front passenger’s seat, and Mike is explaining some of the big, bad Benz’s safety features, one of which is Distronic Plus with Steering Assist. He says the Steering Assist function is designed to keep the car in the middle of the lane, even in slight curves.

“Show me how it works,” I say. The 101 freeway has narrow lanes, and the S63 AMG is tracking right down the middle of one. A slight left curve is coming up, and Mike reaches for the steering wheel. “Wait a minute,” I tell him. “Let’s see what happens.”

After a very slight delay, the Mercedes bends left around the curve, but not before utterly freaking out the motorist driving the Honda Pilot in the lane immediately to our right. The technology worked. But the person next to us detected our car’s delay, assumed we were about to cross the dotted white line, and braked in an effort to give us some room.

Now, I realize that autonomous driving aids and, ultimately, systems that drive the car without driver participation are a work in progress. Still, testing self-driving vehicle technology in places like California, Nevada, and Florida is easy (all three allow testing of autonomous vehicles on public roads). I want to see what automakers are doing in Michigan (which also allows this type of testing). In the winter. During a blizzard.

I grew up in Michigan. I’ve driven westbound on I-94, in the dark, snow falling fast and hard enough to obliterate the road and require frequent stops to clear the headlights and thwack! the wipers on the windshield to de-ice them. What’s your self-driving car going to do under these conditions, when its cameras and sensors are caked with slush or covered with road salt?

At a recent Motor Press Guild driving event in the hills of Malibu, California, I spoke at length with BMW PR representative Dave Buchko about autonomous vehicles. Weather is a factor that can impact a self-driving car’s ability to self-drive. And when the technology is working during fair weather conditions, what happens if a dog runs into the road, or there is an obstacle covering part of a lane and the driver attempts to steer around only to be overridden by the software? I’ve experienced that last scenario with steering assistance systems, and momentary resistance at speed can mean the difference between hitting something and avoiding it.

Drivers are also going to be required to remain attentive and ready to take over should the technology fail for any reason, just as pilots are when an aircraft is set to auto-pilot. Then there are legal implications, such as the requirement for a driver to accept a “Terms of Service” type of agreement (and we all read those before accepting, don’t we?). Buchko also mused about “drivers” of driverless vehicles who might be drowsy, distracted, or even drunk, and whether the automaker, the insurance company, or the driver is ultimately responsible if neither the technology nor the driver have performed as required to avoid an unfortunate situation.

One thing we did not talk about is the impact of poorly maintained roads and infrastructure on an autonomous vehicle’s ability to get from Point A to Point B. I just returned from a vacation to New England, and as gorgeous as upstate Vermont is, in many places the pavement markings have faded to black. The photo below is an example, but doesn’t depict the worst examples we encountered on our trip.

Frankly, I don’t trust autonomous driving technology. Yet. One reason is that my experiences to date are mostly negative. A few weeks ago, a 2015 Hyundai Genesis Sedan kept emitting false lane departure warning systems during a test drive. Two years ago, a 2014 Subaru Forester’s EyeSight technology completely shut off when driving directly into waning summer sunlight that blinded the system’s camera. One time, a GM product equipped with numerous safety alert systems thought I was about to plow into another vehicle on a curved portion of road, the other motorist braking and turning right into Trader Joe’s from the right lane while I was about to pass in the left lane.

Given the amount of money and effort that is getting dumped into self-driving cars, I question the ultimate motivation of the companies planning to supply such components. (Not really. It’s all about $$$.) They don’t want to make driving safer. They want to make a big, fat pile of cash.

Is that cynical? Sure is.

My position is this: Driving is a privilege, not a right. The United States ought to make it harder to get, and to keep, a driver’s license. Licensed vehicles ought to meet minimum maintenance standards for safety, especially related to lighting, tires, steering and suspension components, and visibility. Busted for drunk driving? Goodbye, license. Caused a crash because you were Snapchatting? No license for you! (#SeinfeldReference) Elderly and can’t see or hear so well? Grab a senior citizen shuttle.

Making drivers better, like Mercedes-Benz and other organizations are trying to do through teen driving schools, ought to be a massive priority for our nation. But that’s not profitable, is it?

Additionally, it is critical to make our vehicles safer. Gratefully, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) is on the job while the NHTSA appears to be, umm, asleep at the wheel. Maybe they’re busy Snapchatting on the job.

Furthermore, our elected representatives need to make it a priority to better maintain our highways. Self-driving cars are not going to work so well if they cannot identify lane markings, or if they suffer tire blowouts and damaged suspensions due to potholes that a human driver would simply steer around. Of course, that won’t happen until some company with plenty to gain from smooth, clear, properly marked roadways makes huge campaign donations to a bunch of politicians (and then, only maybe).

The real reason that autonomous vehicles simply will not become a reality anytime soon, though, is that a society that refuses to relinquish its right to purchase and own assault rifles sure as hell ain’t giving up the keys to the F-150.

Let me know what you think about autonomous vehicles. Have you experienced driver assistance technology first-hand? What has been your experience in terms of the ratio of useful alerts vs. false alarms? And why would you want your car to drive itself to your destination? Why not?

Questioning the Viability of Autonomous Vehicles was originally published in The Automotive Report on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) says that drivers between the ages of 16 and 19 are three times more likely than drivers who are 20 or older to be involved in a fatal accident. Inexperience behind the wheel makes vehicle collisions the leading cause of death for teenagers.

TireRack.com wants to help you to make sure your children make it to their 20s. The company, in partnership with BMW, Michelin, the Sports Car Club of America, and others, has created a driving school that goes beyond the basic, rote instruction of a typical driver’s education program. For just $95 per student, you can enroll your kid in the Tire Rack Street Survival (TRSS) program.

Available at venues around the country, TRSS teaches your son or daughter how to control his or her own car under a range of unpredictable driving situations. Essentially, the program teaches your child how to deal with the emergency situations that typical driver’s education programs don’t.

The one-day program is for drivers aged 16 to 21, and the car they drive must meet minimum condition requirements. For more information, including dates, locations, vehicle requirements, and more, be sure to visit the Street Survival website for all of the details.

Parents, this will be the best $95 you’ll ever spend.

Take Your Kid to TireRack’s Street Survival School was originally published in The Automotive Report on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.