WASHINGTON, Oct 9 (Reuters) - Tesla Inc claimed its Model 3 electric car has the lowest risk of occupant injury of any vehicle in U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration on Tuesday said the claim goes beyond the scope of its analysis. The auto safety's agency's 5-Star Safety Ratings Program uses three crash tests and a rollover resistance assessment to come up with an overall ranking. The Model 3 achieved the top rating, five stars, on that ranking along with other vehicles such as the 2018 model Volvo S60, Toyota Camry, Honda Accord, Honda Civic, Volkswagen Jetta and Ford Mustang cars. Tesla said Tuesday its assessment was calculated using publicly available data, taking the weighted average of crash scores to calculate a vehicle safety score and then multiplying it by a baseline injury risk value. Tesla's analysis also said that its Model S and Model X also had a lower probability of injury than all other vehicles tested by NHTSA. Tesla said in August 2013 that the Model S had achieved a score of 5.4 stars, a figure based on Tesla麓s independent analysis of NHTSA data. Three months later, NHTSA explicitly barred companies from promoting safety scores higher than five stars. NHTSA is considering changes to its five-star crash assessment program and said it needs "to be modernized to incentivize the voluntary adoption of safety features." The agency is considering creating safety ratings for areas of vehicle performance not currently rated.
The Jetta Hybrid is gone this year and the troubled turbodiesel is getting a deserved timeout, but what's left is promising. A base 1.4-liter turbo-4 is available in S and SE trims and makes 150 horsepower and 184 pound-feet of torque. It's mated to a 6-speed automatic in most trims; a 5-speed manual is available in the base model. It shuffles up to 60 mph from a stop in just over seven seconds, but it's plenty for around-town commutes and returns decent fuel economy. In SEL trims, the mid-range 1.8-liter turbo-4 that makes 170 hp and 184 lb-ft of torque is available. It's not any quicker, rather its just a little more confident and sweeter sounding. It's mated to a 6-speed automatic only. A 2.0-liter turbo-4 is available in the hot-rod GLI and returns 210 hp and 207 lb-ft of twist. It comes with its own dual-clutch automatic or a 6-speed manual, both of which are fun to drive.
The Jetta is one of the larger compact sedans on the market with room for four adults and plenty of cargo. Its upright style makes it easy to get in and out, rear passengers get plenty of leg room once they're in. The trunk's 15.7 cubic feet of available space is capacious, but with a caveat: big elbow hinges swing into the cargo area and somewhat ruin the space. IIHS. All Jettas come with a rearview camera this year, and SE-equipped models add blind-spot monitors with rear cross-traffic alert. Top-of-the-line SEL models add a bigger engine and advanced safety tech such as forward collision warning with automatic emergency braking. VW packs every Jetta with a 5.0-inch touchscreen radio, although higher trims get a bigger display. As base, many Jettas are equipped with good features such as Bluetooth connectivity and a multifunction steering wheel. Higher trims are budget Audis, we say, although there's no way to pick and choose a la carte items to get there: VW walls off many features in trim levels to keep dealers happy.
A father and son have been killed after a deep sinkhole swallowed their car on a major Mexican road, officials said. Civil protection rescuers reached the rubble-covered Volkswagen Jetta lying on its roof at the bottom of the hole after working for more than eight hours on the closed section of road. The sinkhole appeared before dawn, at around 6am local time. A crane lowered rescuers into a yawning hole the width of two lanes in the middle of the highway. The initial hole was widened in order to build a ramp for recovery purposes. Gerardo Ruiz Esparza, secretary of the federal Transportation Department, said the sinkhole was apparently caused by the erosion of a drain that runs more than 50ft (15m) beneath the road. At a news conference at the site, Mr Esparza blamed heavy rains during the past three days. He said a preliminary analysis indicated the rain caused a creek to swell beside the road and blocked the drain with trash, contributing to the erosion. According to a statement from the department, the road was recently widened, but the existing drain was not thought to have been affected by this construction. Mr Esparza said later through Twitter that engineers would study the situation to determine responsibility. The Mexico-Cuernavaca road is connects the capital to the Pacific coast resort city of Acapulco.
