A parsimonious enhanced Newell’s model for accurate reproduction of driver and traffic dynamics

•Empirically investigate the stimulus–response behavior between leader and follower in car-following.•Propose a parsimonious enhanced Newell’s car-following model for accurate reproduction of driver and traffic dynamics.•Calibrate and validate the proposed model with two field car-following experiments.•Test the model in the aspects of the spontaneous oscillation, the concave growth pattern of oscillation, the vehicle movement prediction and the linear speed-capacity relationship.•Compare the performance of the proposed model with a state-of-the-art model, namely, the improved Newell’s car-following model with stochastic wave travel time.