I just received the latest edition of Car & Driver Magazine (Feb 08).

 

The Highs:

Neo-rally-car performance, livable ride, a practical hatchback, packed in flaring fenders.

 

The Lows:

Control-button overload, frequent tank-ups, pricy and despised by insurers.

 

The Verdict:

 

The original juvenive deliquent gets cleaned up for dinner with parents.

 

 

 

 

The full article is worth a read, get your at a news stand.

I have had experienced some bad reads with car magazines such as that one. They tend to be overly biased towards American manufactueres and are quick to damn a Subaru for the slightest inconvenience.

 

And they wouldnt dare say that a new Cobra or Z06 was pricey and despised by insurers.

And they wouldnt dare say that a new Cobra or Z06 was pricey and despised by insurers.

They would be fools to do so! Because, the domestic auto makers pay heavily for their adveritisements. At least,last time I looked at that journal.

The Car & Driver article is on the website:

 

http://www.caranddriver.com/roadtests/14455/full-test-2008-subaru-impreza-wrx-sti.html

 

Here we go again... You left out the "dorky-looking wagonoid" quote. It's fugly. For looks, I'd pick the 02 bugeye or 07 pignose anyday over the Viagra Pill on wheels:Flame:

And they wouldnt dare say that a new Cobra or Z06 was pricey and despised by insurers.

They would be fools to do so! Because, the domestic auto makers pay heavily for their adveritisements. At least,last time I looked at that journal.

 

 

I am sure that all car rags face the same problem when evaluating vehicles they test. It has to be difficult for them to write negative press against car manufacturers that advertise with them. I would hate to be the car rag's ad salesman calling on a manufacturer to increase ad space, after the magazine's last edition just lambasted the manufacturer's latest offering. The car manufacturer would be so pissed, they would tell me where to go!

 

BTW, C & D had a full page Subie OB ad on the page proceeding the STI article. Makes me wonder if car manufacturer's ad budget buys "car test evaluations" in car rags. Hmmmm.

They would be fools to do so! Because, the domestic auto makers pay heavily for their adveritisements. At least,last time I looked at that journal.

 

That's definitely a real problem with most car magazines.

 

Of all the car rags, IMHO I find Car and Driver to be the toughest evaluators of cars. Sometimes I wonder why some car manufacturers still provide them with cars for testing. I actually enjoy the negative reviews the most because of their biting humor and sarcasm. On the otherhand, I've never seen a negative review in Motor Trend, known for their "Highest Ad Revenue" er, "Car of the Year" award... Anybody remember the Dodge Aspen and Plymouth Volare Motor Trend Car of the Year:lol: If only Yugo had more ad money to spend....

 

Car and Driver has been quite harsh about the WRX/Impreza's new styling and taken Subaru to task for falling behind in the fun-to-drive and performance category relative to Mazda/VW/Mitsubishi/etc. Some of C&D's comments about the WRX styling have been pretty funny:

 

http://www.caranddriver.com/autoshows/12768/2008-subaru-impreza-and-impreza-wrx-official-photos-info.html

 

Holy bejeebus—what happened to its face?

 

The ’08 WRX will again be offered in two body styles, a sedan and a five-door. The five-door looks more like a traditional hatchback this time around, so fans of the old wagon might be disappointed. Disappointment only begins to describe our reaction to the new car’s looks, however: If the WRX was hoping to win us back with its exterior make-over, it can forget it. The styling can at best be called a derivative of a copy—check out the Sebring-meets-Saab-meets-smiling-samurai front end—and at worst a total disaster. The new sedan in particular is disappointing, with a rear end that looks like it’s in heat and a high beltline that screams cheap-rump roast econocar. Here’s hoping the new styling grows on us as quickly as the 2006 model’s Tribeca-inspired nose job did.

Car and Driver built its reputation on more or less insulting its advertizers (auto manufacturers) by giving directly negative reviews of cars they didn't like. To think that C&D is American-biased is completely ludicrous, though. Hondas always get extremely good reviews from them (and I don't claim that's ad-bias; they just like how Hondas drive/are built/whatever) and domestics usually get a cold reception until they prove themselves.

 

The simple fact is that STis are despised by insurers, and they get very poor mpg for their power output when pushed. That may not be noteworthy in a Z06 or a Lamborghini, but then the target audience is completely different for those compared to any Subaru at all. At the same time, if the only 'lows' you can find for a car is that it burns a whole lot of premium fuel and it has high insurance premiums, that's a pretty good review!