Main theme: The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has announced plans to update it's New Car Assessment Program (NCAP), which assigns cars star ratings (up to 5 stars) for safety. We discuss how improvements can benefit consumers by being more representative of current technology and crash scenarios, and by providing greater differentiation among vehicles. Currently, many vehicles are receiving four- and five-star ratings. While that means crashworthiness has improved, is it time to challenge cars a bit more?
Driven this week: 2020 Nissan Versa
Audience questions:
- How does the reliability of Ford's Ecoboost engines stack up?
- Does the addition of so many safety features make us worse drivers?
- Does the prevalence of LED headlights mean a higher cost to consumers?
- What's a good road-trip-friendly replacement for a Toyota Camry Hybrid?
As with other "Talking Cars" episodes, this one is available free through Apple Podcasts. (Subscribe to the audio or video.) You'll also find the audio on Spotify (log-in required) and video on YouTube.
• Mercedes-Benz A-Class, New-Car Problems, episode 225
• Tesla Smart Summon, Hyundai Palisade, episode 224
• Pedestrian Detection, Ford F-150 Raptor, episode 223
• California Emissions, Ford Escape, episode 222
• Lincoln Aviator, episode 221
Have a Question?
We'd love to include it in a future show. Click here to upload your video questions to our Dropbox folder. Please send high-definition (1920x1080) MP4 video files with high-quality audio. Or send an iMessage question to our TalkingCars@icloud.com account.
