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Old 01-19-2001, 02:25 AM   #1
Unit 5302
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Thumbs down Who else is fed up with car mag's?

Yeah, I'm talking about the Motor Trend's, Car & Driver, Road and Track, and the rest of the bunch.

I'm so tired of seeing such unbelieveable bias in their pages and articles. If it's not German or Japanese, they don't even test them. God forbid they should test a car costing under 30k, hell half the time under 40k.

I swear to god they could hold a minivan comparo, and a BMW 3 series would win it because of it's incredible handling, and suburb feel while towing the trailer necessary to compete with the minivans in storage room.

9 of 10 times the cars they choose for comparing, 1-2 BMW's, a Mercedes, a Audi, a Lexus, and maybe some other freak European car they throw into the mix. Never do they compare an American car in the bunch. Not that it would matter because as everyone knows, the BMW wins anyway. You can read the comments they make about each and totally change the order in which the cars really finish. It's almost never the same as how they put it into the rankings. It just drives me nuts!

Anyone else feeling the same way? Oh, it's also why I cancelled all my subscriptions a few years ago, it was getting so deep I'd need a backhoe to dig myself out.
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Old 01-19-2001, 06:01 AM   #2
S Howard
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I agree wholeheartedly with you. Just look at the title--Car and Driver, Road and Track. That pretty much sums it up. A very specific target group is marketed and rightly so because their mags sell. Definately a 'Yuppie' market, if I were to stereotype.
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Old 01-19-2001, 09:35 AM   #3
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Yea you guys summed it up guess thats why you always see those mags in a doctors office

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Old 01-19-2001, 10:16 AM   #4
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?oops I screwed up, I'll try again..........


[This message has been edited by Fox Body (edited 01-19-2001).]
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Old 01-19-2001, 10:18 AM   #5
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Uh maybe it's b/c I'm missing something, but I've seen many different comparos in the past in Motor Trend (to me, Car & Driver and Road & Track sucks) b/t American muscle cars. I even have a few at home. For example. I've one cover article (Motor Trend) w/ comparo b/t Trans Am, Cobra, and Z28, and one with Saleen 351, Porsche 911, Viper, 3000 GT VR4, etc.
If it's the price range issue than I can kinda understand what you are talking about.

But for me, it's like this. Ford Mustang is my favorite, but I don't want to be informed only about Mustangs. If I want a good magazine to read about Mustangs, it's MM&FF (best mag out there). If I want to read about other cars and the occasional stang, I'll read Motor Trend. MT is just a broader scoped mag. (Now C&D and R&T just plain suck according w/ my interests)

Is there a little bias going on in MT scene? Perhaps. Well what about MM&FF?

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Old 01-19-2001, 11:21 AM   #6
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Subscribed to Car and Driver for over 20 yrs and finally decided to drop it in 1998 when only about 10% of the mag had any relevance to my interests - you can only take so many BMW, Lexus and Honda road tests. These days I get 4 Mustang mags, National Dragster Hemmings and a couple of restoration mags. Steal my brothers Motor Trend and Autoweek if it looks like there is anything remotely interesting inside and there is plenty of test and data info avaliable on the net if I want the scoop on a specific car

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Old 01-19-2001, 12:27 PM   #7
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I agree - the mainstream car mags suck. MM&FF is definitely the best mag. They have coverage on topics for everyone. N/A, power adder, drag, road race... even 4-banger stuff for the poor people missing half an engine.

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Old 01-19-2001, 05:15 PM   #8
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I am soooo sick of Car and Driver! The latest issue, they compare the Cobra-R, Viper, and Corvette. All they had to say about the Cobra-R was it was to loud inside. Well, duh, take a guess, its no family car you freakin weiners! I agree with ya on every point guys!

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Old 01-19-2001, 09:07 PM   #9
Mr 5 0
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Unit 5302:

So, you finally noticed?

I've subscribed to Car and Driver for years (along with MM&FF) and the euro/mega-buck bias has always been there. They don't try to hide it. They test lots of American cars and even Mustangs and Camaros, but they clearly are in love with the big-buck euro machines. So be it. I'm getting tired of all the car magazines to some degree, but if it's your interest, then you almost have to keep up and the mags help me do this.

I don't expect Car and Driver to be fair to American cars but they do have some good articles that keep me subscribing, although not forever. That bias does annoy me, too.
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Old 01-20-2001, 12:36 AM   #10
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You guys crack me up!!! Especially this one: 98'MustangGT I am soooo sick of Car and Driver! The latest issue, they compare the Cobra-R, Viper, and Corvette. All they had to say about the Cobra-R was it was to loud inside. Well, duh, take a guess, its no family car you freakin weiners! I agree with ya on every point guys!
------------------
1998 Mustang GT with a 4.6 liter V8, Black


heehee.
seriously, I think the TV show Car and Driver is much much much worse than the mag and the mag irritates me!
I like Mustang Illustrated and MM&FF. Oh and my Mustang Times (MCA Newletter... it's a neat thing to read personal car stories etc.) and my ISCA newsletter is cool too. Lots of show coverage. MM&FF pissed me off before because the only 2 FunFord Carshow winners lists they didnt print were the 2 I went to!!! But hey, I still want to work for em!!!

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Old 01-20-2001, 12:37 AM   #11
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I agree... Especially on the latest issue. What are they doing comparing a Cobra R to a Viper and a Vette? The Vette wants to be a snotty yuppie Euro-car, the Viper wants to be a real road racing car, and the Cobra R IS a real road racing car. Its not even in the same category as the other two. That's like comparing an NHRA funnycar to it's production counterpart. They have what I like to call "Cranial-Rectal Inversion"... In laymans terms, their heads are where their other ends should be...

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Old 01-20-2001, 12:50 AM   #12
Unit 5302
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Yeah, of course they do test a Mustang, or an F body every once and a while, but as an example take the latest Car & Driver. They test 6 sports sedans. BMW, Audi, Lexus, Mercedes Benz, Volvo, and a Saab.

The cars needed to have around 200 if not more hp, and cost 35k (hopefully) or less. No 300M, no Lincoln LS, no Catera, no American cars in the test period. That is the standard they make. If they were comparing 40k cars no American cars would have made the list.

If they were comparing inexpensive sport coupe type cars it'd look like this. Integra Type R, Mitsubishi Eclipse, BMW 325, Toyota Celica GTS, Subaru 2.5RS, VW Turbo Beetle, and maybe an Audi 2.4 or whatever. The only time they compare any domestic is against other domestics.

I'd like to see them treat American car's like they treat imports. If they did, who knows? Maybe the SHO would still be in the lineup, or the Probe, or any of the other domestic cars they have killed or have slated for retirement.

I've noticed the trend for quite some time actually, but it's getting worse and worse. You really have to read their BS close or you may actually listen to what they say. 9 of 10 times what they say is so clouded by what they want to see that it totally covers the truth.
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Old 01-20-2001, 01:30 AM   #13
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Hey I thought CRI was when the nerves in your eyes got crossed with the nerves in your @ss and it just gave you a sh!tty outlook on life?

Yeah, they do have certain bias toward euro/asian stuff. Must figure it's there god given duty to try and keep the US car market from backsliding into what it was during the 70's, 80's and early 90's (Fox body and SN-95 excluded of course ) Course I always get a kick out of Brock Yate's column.

Seems to me though they are also on a quest to homogenize the whole car experience.IMO I like the personality of that dull broad-axe sitting in the driveway. So what if the chassis had it's roots in the late seventies. It's a damn blast to drive. Course if any of'em are looking over this site it'll probably incite them into writing about the apparent neanderthal like attributes shared by most of MW's subscribers (shuffle, shuffle, drag, drag. As I walk out the room with my nuckles dragging )
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Old 01-23-2001, 01:25 AM   #14
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Now this is a conversation I need to be in.

Ok, C&D, R&T, and all the other spiffy mags out there, listen up! I like to read about all the new car line-ups as much as the next guy, maybe more, but who gives a flyin' squirrels penis if BMW or Lexus(Toyota) has anouther freakin' econo-barge that goes around the odd curve or two? If they really want my attention, why not compare a Viper to the Nissan Skyline GTR? By the way, I'm being very sarcastic. And for the love of God, please stop making all of America this yuppie SUV wannabe Trendy heck hole!!! I am sooooo tired of hearing about some new and improved SUV. Aren't they aware that Ford and Jeep already did that some 50-60 years ago? I think it was the Bronco and the Willis? Having seen the future of the car market, I am afraid, very afriad!
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Old 01-23-2001, 02:33 AM   #15
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Skyline GTR, sweet!!!! I read they might import the next mutation!
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Old 01-23-2001, 02:23 PM   #16
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My brother is in Germany right now and so far he's driven a Skyline, some crappy BMW, and a Lancer Evol VI. I am so freaking jealous. I really want a Skyline cause not too many people know what it is. Imagine a STOCK NISSAN running low 11's on street tires. The Lancer isn't that far behind with mid to high 11's. Although, they belong on a road course or at Pike's Peak. They need to get those things over here now!! I really would concider trading in the Cobra for a Skyline. But then I would snap back into reality and drive my pretty little girl home and give her a bath. HEHE I love her!(my wife ain't that bad either)
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Old 01-23-2001, 02:53 PM   #17
Unit 5302
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Do you really think they would be able to get them to pass emissions? Hell no. What about hp restrictions in some states? Nope. Some states, like MN, have a 500hp street car maximum buried in the books somewhere. Which is why the Diablo is illegal here. Is that messed up or what? Anyway, if they were imported here, we'd get a tuned down version of the car that the rest of the world gets because of all of our restictions.

I'm sure it would still be fast, but after all the crash testing, EPA approval, and modifications our DOT would require, they'd be a limited production model like the Viper because it would be too expensive for the mainstream public. Sad but true, that's why we always get screwed when it comes to the real exotic versions of cars the rest of the world enjoys.
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Old 01-24-2001, 01:59 AM   #18
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Hah Unit, I could sell Lambo's in MN. Matter of fact it could even come with 700 cubes of 24 cylinder fury. Put a set of 10mm t-bodies on it Course I would also have to sell a 49 state big-bore T-body to get things back into shape! I've heard about that kind of law before but considered it dubious? Imagine being pulled over by a cop. Then the rascal pulls out a set of scales and a G-tech, weighs the car while your cuffed in the back of the squad car, pulls out after weighing it. Sets a stop watch and does the biggest freaking burnout you;ve ever seen then screams away, blasting about a halfmile down the road doing a u-turn then pulling, and walking back to where your stuffed in his car.

"Young man I'm afraid after reviewing the evidience and confirming it with this G-tech meter. We are going to have to impound your car and most likely sell it off or employ it in our drug/illegal alien interdiction program. I measured rear wheel horsepower in excess of 600 hp."
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Old 01-24-2001, 04:08 AM   #19
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I am probably going to get flamed for this, but I really don't care. American car makers did it to themselves by selling $hitty cars. Now I am not calling all of the cars $hitty, but there are a good number of crappy vehicles produced by the Big Three. The thing that makes this even more sad is the fact that they have all been buying or purchasing controlling interest in a lot of different foreign car manufacturers that make superior products. Maybe GM should rebadge all Saabs as Saturns and vice-versa. Maybe Ford should ditch the Taurus for the Mondeo and give the Focus a Cosworth engine. Maybe Dodge should import the Lancer as a Colt again, but this time put the turbo 4wd car that the rest of the world got or at least give the public a turbo Neon based on the old Eclipse engine(rumor has it they might, but that was also said when the Neon first came out). I could go on and on with the comparisons with the domestic companies and the companies they acquired, but it really won't make a difference....we will still have the underpowered 2.4 liter 4 banger from GM in the Sunfire and Cavalier, the Focus will still have more power overseas, and the Neon will still be the same POS it is today.
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Old 01-24-2001, 12:18 PM   #20
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I love me some car mags!!!
Look at all the "American" car companies compared to the amount of foreign car companies. I'd say according to the ratio, the coverage on "American" cars is pretty good. We are outnumbered.

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