akhbhaat

Motor Trend and Evo (UK performance driving mag), mainly.

I do have a free subscription to C&D that I browse through from time to time.

mmarshall

I'm with you on C&D..........among the enthusiast mags they are the best.

Seize

I don't really subscribe to any car mags. I usually just go to my local Barnes and Nobles to flip through the pages of a mag(s) that catch my eye.

trent

Road&Track, and sometimes Car&Driver

Lexustom

Motor Trend and I have every issue since I started my subscription in 1968. Go figure.

Trexus

I have subscribed to Car and Driver and Motor Trend. I like C&D much better than MT reasons explained above by mmarshall.

Wow Lexustom you started subscribing to Motor Trend even before I was born...

Lexustom

Yup, I'm old. Not sure how it happened. One day I looked in the mirror and saw an old guy.

I am inclined to agree that C&D is the better mag. now. But with such a huge library of MT in the attic I'm possessed now and can't stop the subscription. HELP!

I don't subscribe to C&D and R&T cuz I have flying mags and muscle car mags coming in addition to MT. Every now and then I realize that once again I'm behind and have some great mags sitting on a table not read. 24hrs. a day ain't enough!

mmarshall

No problem ...I know opinions differ. That is why I started the thread.

hendjaz

I look at Autoweek online some times as it seems to have its current edition articles online, although I don't know if they are delayed for the web appearance. I received a mailer from them inviting subscription for the mag at $19 for the year. I am tempted. For those who look at Autoweek mag frequently should I pull the trigger for the mag version or just keep reading online? Already get R&T and am starting up C&D and MT but can never have too much auto info. Autoweek a worthwhile purchase in your opinion? Thanks.

Richie

IMO Evo rules all car mags.

neurocity

iTrader: (17)

EVO is very cool, but for us in the states it like $8 or $9 at the local B&N or Borders.

I'm partial to Autoweek, and Automobile.
My buddy is a tech guy for Road and Track, he told me the reviews and road test are so "padded" its unreal.

Don't know if its true or not, but it makes sense when your read some of the articles

hendjaz

"My buddy is a tech guy for Road and Track, he told me the reviews and road test are so "padded" its unreal."

Interesting. What do you think he means by "padded"?

neurocity

iTrader: (17)

He was saying that their reviews are biased, like if BMW spent a huge amount of cash in advertising in the magazine,BMW will have a more "in depth" and better review than say Audi or Benz.

My buddy is one of the guys who does all the equipment for testing cars, sensors, computers things like that.
He was telling me that when they tested some Porsche, it had some negative attributes, as do all cars. But the bad data he recorded, never made it to print, what replaced the info he had, was factory estimates.

Or the fact that a transmission on a test EVO blew itself apart during repeated 0-60 launches.
(hot day, 15-20 launches in like 30 min...of course it went!!)

Whenever they test a car, a factory rep (PR guy) is their to cover their ***'s if anything goes wrong.

If your company spent billions of dollars on a new car they were going to sell, and its gets a bad rap like an exploding transmission from a magazine, you'd be dead in the water. So you cover your butt, (whatever means) Go back and fix the problem like it never happened.

Like I said this is his word to me, whether its true or not is another thing.

mmarshall

I'm not exactly sure if this is what he means, but it is no secret that most of these magazines are quite heavily slanted towards acceleration, 0-60 times, high-G handling, etc.... and put a lot of emphasis on high performance at the expense of other automotive virtues. So naturally they are going to be attracted towards brands like BMW, Porsche and some of the newer Audis that have traditionaly emphasized performance at the expense of ride comfort.

mkaresh

C&D remains my favorite among the major American mags. But it used to be much better--I have issues from the 1980s on my bookshelf to prove it.

MT has actually improved quite a bit in recent years, to where they're almost as good as C&D. They used to be awful.

R&T doesn't review much, and lacks color.

Automobile reviews even less, and lacks substance.

I like the major British magazines much more, but am too cheap to buy them.

My general take on comparison tests (C&D's used to be better):

http://www.truedelta.com/pieces/comparison_tests.php