1. EVO (tied)
1. Sports Car International
2. Top Gear
3. CAR
4. Car and Driver
and the rest are just fun or free subscriptions to read or I buy when there is a Lexus article.
I've had
Road and Track (still do actually)
Motor Trend (what Flipside said, not to mention to many #%$^&^*& SUV articles)
AutoWeek (not bad, comes weekly)
Automobile (which is the worst, IMO, horrible articles, pics and useless data, I do like their 1 year ownership articles)
I pick us SCC and some other import car mags but IMO, they are all the same. There is a new one
Modified Mag (IMO the best import tuning mag) that I enjoy reading. I also pick up many times
Excellence (Porsche mag) and every once in a blue moon
Forza (Ferrari mag)

Top Gear and Car and Driver, I actually look forward to Jeremy Clarkson and what Brock Yates have to say. I love their articles. Car and Driver is the best BIGcar mag sold for the USA market bar none. Best artcles, honest and nice, relevant comparisons.

CAR and EVO have simply the best pics and feature articles. EVO simply does a better job, CAR, IMO is like an EVO replica and STILL gets 4th place. And the Euro mags are so brutally honest, JUST LIKE ME. I love them. No holding back how they feel. Of course they truly want a sporting driving experience.

But, my suggestion, the BEST car mag, sold today, in the world, is for US!!! It's called

Sports Car International

These guys are THE BEST. Awesome pics, great editorials, great track data and HONESTY, HONESTY, HONESTY!! And they REFUSE to test drive SUVs and posuers do not getr full tests!! They also have a last page article on 1 used car to look for which is great. They had the 1st and only true test of the L-tuned IS 300 (they loved it). It only comes 8 times a year (bagged) in the mail and is OH so worth it.

I strongly suggest going to your local bookstore and read some of these "other" mags. You'll then understand my opinions more as well.

 

Not quite, Jim.......Don't always have time to read everything cover-to-cover, especially with the forums. I also trade a lot of stuff back and forth with friends and colleagues. That way we all get to read as much as possible without paying for it.

Now for some of my opinions.
I particularly like Car and Driver's comparison tests, editorials, layout, ratings comparisons, and overall view of the auto market. The editorials and monthly columns, especially, are first-rate....far better than any other car magazine. Brock Yates, though, can get a little off-key sometimes. But Patrick Bedard, John Phillips, and Csaba Csere, IMO, are some of the best in the buisness.
Although most of the major car mags do long-term reliability tests on a few vehicles, for auto reliability, there is probably no better source than Consumer Reports. They have the largest, most extensive, and most reliable database on actual owner repair experiences with cars...even better, IMO, than J.D.Power. I rely on CR more than any other auto mag for giving advice on reliability....and CR is confirming what many of us have suspected....that Hyundais and Kias are now vastly better than just a few years ago.
Road and Track is similiar to Car and Driver in some ways but tends to be less editorial-centered and more into the cars themselves...especially higher-performance ones. The testers and editors like Dennis Simanatis and Patrick Hong evaluate the cars...sometimes quite well, but don't do much in the area of writing. R&T does have one nice feature that C&D doesn't, though....the Technical Correspondence, that gives good answers to repair and modification problems.
Motor Trend?.....never really cared for it. It's an OK magazine now, but in the past, they have picked some real POS'es for their Car of the Year awards, IMO..... cars that literally fell apart, like the GM X-Bodies and the Omni / Horizon. They also don't seem to have the in-depth knowledge that some other mags have. I only read it when there's nothing else around.
Automobile magazine? Again, I read it, but it's kinda ho-hum to me....not one of the better mags. The editirials, IMO, are not well-written. Same with Autoweek.....but I like Autoweek because it comes out weekly. They often print some of my comments.
Auto World is also an excellent publication, but with everything else taking up my time....don't have much time to look at it.

Thanks for the responses, guys.

 

I'm with 1sicklex, EVO is an amazing magazine and first on my list. We get AutoWeek and it's interesting, but they seem to have too much 'breaking news' and not enough detailed writeups on production cars. I'll buy (in order of preference) Car & Driver, Road and Track and Motor Trend from the newsstand at airports depending on whats cars are covered. Sometimes other tuner rags too.

 

So far, it looks like Car and Driver is either at or near the top of the list for many of us.

 

I myself still like to read about good 'ol American push rod V-8's.

Hot Rod
Car Craft
Playstation 2 magazine
National Review (Politics)

 

I'm with Sick and Dave, EVO magazine kicks all other magazines BUTT!!!

 

I'll have to take your word for it, Richie....I don't know much about the magazine myself. But it looks like it's got a pretty good core of fans here.

 

IF possible, you should really buy it man!!!

 

Man, it seems like everyones bashing MT, one of my favs.

I'll have to check out some of the other magazines mentioned here.

 

Definately #1! My long time favorite.

 

Forgot to add: VIP Car.

 

Car and Driver is a great magazine, therefore it gets my vote....
The Super Tuner Mega Horsepower shoot out articles are the bomb.....!

MT was good a few years ago, but then I got accustomed to C&D...kinda strange, it could be that the Mag is a bit larger than the others to hold...(Fatigue??)

 

VIPCAR, Vipstyle, Richcar...

but i can't read a single word in them

 

Mine toooooo.

Its okay at least it gives me ideas and I know where to order what I want.

 

C&D is one of the only magazines that adjust the times for both altitude and temp. So their 0-60 and quarter mile times are the most accurate when comparing two cars that are not tested side by side.

MT used to be one of the worst at this. I always felt like kids were writing the articles and the 0-60 and quarter mile times were so inconsistent it wasn't even funny. I subscribed and cancelled it twice. Recently I picked one up and it seems like the new ownership is actually making the mag better IMHO.

Automobile ... well that magazine was never really was about road tests. I remember reading a review in it a while back and 3/4 of the article was how beautiful the road was and where they stayed in the hotel and oh by the way, the car was nice to drive. Not sure if they have changed their tune, but I remember a comment by David E Davis when he went start up Automobile that car magazines were too much about the numbers and not about other things. I could not disagree more.

Autoweek is a must have for anyone however - it compliments C&D and comes every week. As mentioned, a quick read and good articles.

Roundel is not a bad magazine but their reviews can be hilarious. Especially when the writer compares his BMW to his friends Audi and for some strange reason, he likes his BMW better. Those are classic comparisons -but hey, it is a BMW Magazine.