Talking Cars 232: Toyota Supra Test Highlights and Advanced Safety Feature Names

Mike Monticello

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Main theme: Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) are now prevalent on new cars, but the names of these systems vary widely among automakers, which makes it confusing for consumers to understand what they're really getting. We discuss CR’s joint effort with AAA, J.D. Power, and the National Safety Council to develop standardized, function-specific names for these important features.

Driven this week: 2020 Toyota Supra

Audience questions:

  • How can a vehicle receive a “poor” or “marginal” score in the IIHS front-overlap crash test yet still be considered a Top Safety Pick?

  • Are the gasoline engines in hybrid vehicles designed differently from the ones in regular cars?

  • Because hot air rises, does slightly opening a sunroof reduce the car’s interior temperature?

  • I’ve heard that 17-inch winter tires give better traction in the snow than 18-inch winter tires. Is this true?

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.

• Live From California, episode 231
• Los Angeles Auto Show, episode 230
• CR’s Annual Auto Reliability Survey Results, episode 229
• Bentley Bentayga, BMW M850i, Peugeot, episode 228
• Lincoln Corsair, Women in Car Crashes, episode 227

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.



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