Today, the readers get to drive

Part of the problem is that popular, affordable cars that get good mileage - such as the Toyota Camry and the Accord and Civic from Honda - are upgraded only every few years.

There is no point, for instance, in reviewing a Camry today that was introduced, and written about, three years ago.

Q: I am pleased to confirm your assessment of the XJR Jaguar. But shouldn't you have said it has class in an age of sloppy dress codes and ill manners?

A: I know that Jag has a certain stature among some folks. But lots of them aren't coming down to breakfast anymore. Jaguar has to upgrade its image and get younger. That means its cars have to look more aggressive by featuring bulging fenders, big tires, and big wheels - a bit of menace to envelop those refined and exquisite interiors.

Q: I was told that a remote starter cannot be installed in a Toyota Prius. Is that true?

A: You could probably pay someone to tamper with the electronics of the Prius and be able to start you car from afar - though if you bought a Prius to be environmentally conscious, why would you want it to use extra energy while you lingered in the kitchen?

Anyway, my guy at Toyota says the company would discourage such retrofitting, because it would probably void the warranty.

Q: In a review of an Audi, you mentioned a continuously variable transmission. Is that the same as the DSG in other cars?

A: No, they are different devices. I'll offer an explanation that is so simple I will probably hear complaints from engineers, but the basics are as follows:

A CVT uses either a chain or a rubber belt that runs between a pair of convex pulleys. Depending on demand, the pulley at either end opens and closes, creating what is virtually a never-ending sequence of gears, up and down.

With DSG - a direct-shift gearbox - there are actual set gears. Unless the car is in automatic mode, the driver can shift to specific gears, but does not have to tussle with a clutch - there isn't one.

For performance drivers, DSG is the way to go. For those who want thoughtless shifting (and I don't mean that in a bad way), try a CVT.

Q: You have referred to a car as an investment, but when you lose 20 percent of the value as soon as you drive away, it doesn't take a CPA to figure out that a car is not a shrewd investment.

A: When I talk investment, I mean more than money.

Many folks also invest trust, social standing, and even the fun factor into what they buy.

But as Bob Dennett, a pal of mine and certified public accountant in Rye, N.H, says, a car "ain't gold."

Still, one of the first stories I wrote, for the now-defunct National Observer, was about a case in which a New Hampshire judge ruled in favor of someone who bought a car that - unknown to him - had been in a flood and never ran right. In issuing his finding, the judge said that "a car is worth more than the sum of its parts." Sometimes it's hard to place a precise dollar value on an investment.

Q: Regarding the review of the new Saab 9-3 all-wheel-drive system, is that the same system that was in the Saab 9-2?

A: No. The Saab 9-2 was basically a Subaru WRX in Saab clothing. The new Saabs will feature the latest generation of Haldex all-wheel-drive systems.

I drove the 9-2 up the Mount Washington Auto Road, at full throttle. It was a blast. I drove the new Haldex on test courses in Sweden, and it was far superior. Saab, being a small company - even though it is owned by General Motors Corp. - plans to offset the costs of developing the system by allowing other manufacturers to buy it.

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