C&D has explained in previous issues both why they tend to get quicker acceleration times than other magazines and the difference in the 0-60 and 5-60. They tend to get quicker acceleration times because they are willing to beat the hell out of the car to get it to move. They've stated this explicitly in previous magazines over the years. They will do whatever it takes to get the quickest time, regardless of how healthy it is for the transmission, motor mounts, control arms, etc. Road & Track, on the other hand, tends to follow a more manufacturer-approved method.
The slower time for 5-60 is simple: it basically turns a manual into an automatic. There's no clutch dump and wheels spinning with most cars when they're rolling along slowly. With most modern, smaller engines, the car bogs down when you simply hit the gas in first gear at 5 mph. They added the 5-60 several years ago to offer a test that would show the effect of low-down torque (or lack thereof), and also give a better indication at how quick the car will be at pulling away from a traffic light in a more real-world, car friendly driving fashion that would more closely resemble what most of us are willing to do to our cars in day-to-day driving. You'll notice that cars with lots of low down grunt will have smaller differences between their 0-60 and 5-60 mph tests.
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