you don't understand. they're kinda going backwards on some of the parts which make the Core 2 Duo really good. namely, the shared L2 cache, and the good communication between cores. now, there will be higher latencies to sync the L2 cache, and to communicate between cores.
I don't think you've been reading up enough about what AMD is actually doing. it's quite interesting if you can understand it (most people won't be able to)
when you really look deeply into the architecture, AMD is innovating like there's no tomorrow. and from what I have been reading, their K8L architecture looks set to not just compete with Core 2 Duo, but with Core 2 Quad aswell.
yes, C2D is faster than current K8. K8L will be very different. not to mention, Core 2 Quad is simply 2 x Core 2 Duo's
now, I am not saying that AMD will win. I am saying, however, that K8L will be much better; and AMD are not stuffing around.