IMADreamer
Speed is the only mag I read regularly. It's a Road and Track publication and they do a good job.
As for the big names like C and D and MT I stay away. I think they are horribly biased towards their advertisers. Wanna know who wins the comparo? Just flip to the ad index and see who spend the most dollars.
Import mags are garbage. I'm sorry but I wouldn't wipe my butt with them. They degrade women and have no real car content. Plus the few articles they do have are just pubecent dribble. It really is embarrasing to think the next generation of car guys are like this. The import scene is garbage. It's too bad too because they have some great cars.
As for C&D, they've denied it so many times, it's not funny...
everybody advertises in C&D... and with all the Nissan ads in every single issue, it's surprising, isn't it, when you hardly see any Nissans win comparos eh?
A local writer I know wrote about this... even they get accused of pandering from time to time. Oh sure, car companies throw lots of stuff their way, to get an article or two in, but at the end of the day, they'll still tell you what they like or don't like about a car.
One factor is familiarity. The more comfortable you are with the car, the higher you'll rate it. If a manufacturer sends you a car over a dozen times a year, and it's a very nice car, you'll be more inclined to write nice things about it. It's up to the manufacturer to make
sure the car is
nice, though.
And what's interesting in C&D are the long term surveys of car owners who
actually agree with them about those particular cars. Gripes there are, but likes there are, too.
-----
Not all import mags are garbage. Sport Compact Car has quite a bit of tech articles in it (they went off on a ridiculous tangent a while back, but they're getting back to the good stuff), as does Turbo and High Tech Performance. Yes, many of the rest are pure garbage, but there are still some true and honest car guys writing for mags in that field. Don't dismiss them all out of hand.
@
RogueSsv: Max Power is one of these stupid import mags... British mag. Worst bodykits in the world... period... gappy fiberglass, poor proportions, wavy lines and poor panel fitment on many of the "showcars" they feature... and, oh, yeah... there's always a strip-tease at the end.
-----
As for degrading women? Look in a Lowrider mag lately? Heck... some good ole' Hotrod and Hog mags have some topless action going, too. Sad for me, as I'm starting to see more skin at carshows than cars (that's why I skipped the last big one here)... it's not just the Import Scene / Lowrider Scene anymore, even the manufacturers are in on it. Tasteless, tacky, and... ooooh... she's pretty...
