New Car Tests
Will there be any New Car Tests coming up in
the near future? I realise this is a more aftermarket/high-performance oriented
magazine, but the last New Car Test was over two months ago in February. I enjoy
reading the New Car Tests as they provide a very down-to-Earth view of how the
car drives. Which is one of the reasons I specifically considered, test drove
and bought my first car; a 2005 Ford Fiesta.
Andrei
G
Australia
The short answer is that we’re not sure. As for
the long answer...
Following New Car Test - Alfa 166 Sportronic, Alfa, Citroen and Kia have
not made any press cars available (all have the same importer). Peugeot no
longer make press cars available (see
Of Peugeot Press Cars), and Ford won’t make press
cars available if they’re to be tested by Julian Edgar (see
From the Editor). HSV haven’t spoken to us
since
The Spin Circuit.
In the last few months we’ve approached for
press cars Toyota, Lotus and Suzuki, in each case receiving no response. That
leaves, amongst others, the stalwarts of Mitsubishi, Hyundai, Honda, Holden and
Volvo who have always been positive in providing press cars, irrespective of
what we have previously written about their cars.
Do readers think that testing cars from a small
selection of the manufacturers - rather than from a representative range of
manufacturers – is the approach we should take?
Suspension Measurements
Just a quick comment on the article on Frank's
suspension –
Frank's Suspension, Part 1.
In the section titled "Ride Height Changes", the table with the ride heights
doesn't provide any indication of the units of measure. While I recognise the
fact that these measurements are given in cm, the paragraph immediately after
the table mentions the difference in height in mm, which may confuse people. I
would suggest you should specify the units of measure in the table, and for
consistency, maybe show these measurements in mm, rather than
cm.
Martin Pot
Australia
Fixed.
Viscous Couplings Off-Road
Re:
Viscous Coupling Variations. Great article - although I'd imagine there are a
few Forester owners wondering how the different VCs would apply in off-road
situations.....my guess is they'd be quite beneficial in soft sand or mud.
Please let us know your thoughts on this.
Rafael Wynn
Australia
Yes we think you’re right.
Come and Gone
Hi, I am one of the new readers flocking to
your magazine, the problem is as soon as my subscription is over, I won't be
renewing, As Mr Edgar reminds anyone who doesn't like his articles, stop
reading. Good advice and well taken. I subscribed to follow the EF
[Falcon]
build up, the rest I could take or leave and Julian the boys at Fordmods were
right that article about the gearknob was a wank,slot it into one of your
10 ways to cheaply modify your car,but a whole article well hohum, reader
numbers may be astronomical but like me the others may not come back. Then your
like it or lump editorial style may come back to haunt you.You got one
subscription from me but not a second
Jamie Stacey
Australia
We don’t think that someone who subscribed
just for the EF Falcon content would be very happy with the rest.
The Secret
Re the test of the Mazda SP23. (Mazda3 SP23 Test).
Your tester missed some very annoying and major detracting aspects of this car.
THIS IS NOT A GOOD CAR ! MAZDA HAS SPENT A GREAT DEAL OF MONEY getting the car
wrong! If you send me your email address I will send a critique which I hope you
will see as constructive.
Robin McGrath
New Zealand
You sent us this email but you need another
address to send in comments?
'Arrorgance'
After some consideration of your new
Autospeed format I have come to the conclusion that this not the
style of e magazine I will continue to subscribe to. To have to pay to
read articles I have already paid for irks me. To read your arrorgance in
some of your replies eg ( If you don't like AutoSpeed, with all respect
there is a simple answer - stop reading it. etc. , etc..) shows contempt
to some of your long time readers You may consider a name change as the
current name does reflect the content and where it does it's a rerun
anyway I suspect in few years your current batch of new readers will
have the same gripes when they start to read reruns or tire of your" personal
interest topics" Best of luck with "new " format Phew
! Now after all that ranting please remove me from you subscription
list
Kym Nagel
Australia
You don’t pay to read articles you have already
paid for. And as for arrogance, we don’t read magazines we don’t like - why on
earth would we pretend you should?
Repeats
Dear Autospeed, what happens when all repeat
articles have been repeated? Do you keep them going on some
continual merry-go-round? Pretty slack Autospeed!
Sean Howe
Australia
That would (eventually) be a problem if new
material wasn’t also constantly being published.
Good Work
Keep up the good work. I'm happy with the
changes. I really enjoy articles about technology. I have a Honda Jazz and love
it, you don't need 6 cylinders or 100+kW to be a car enthusiast as some paper
mags would have you believe. I think the power games between Holden and Ford are
ridiculous. Where can you use this power? As you recently suggested, perhaps the
manufacturers could concentrate on comfort a bit more. I am not interested in
rubber band tyres or tearing around corners.
Michael Stanley
Australia
Doesn’t Understand
Regarding Driving Emotion of 5th May. I don't
understand why the old guard have such a massive problem with the "new" (being
many months old now) format of the site.
Granted, I did prefer the old
format a bit, but as Julian said, if you don't adapt and change, you will die
(not in so many words though). The format change is not as drastic as some of
the readers make out. If I read a few letters that some of the readers write, it
seems that that they are of the opinion that the subject matter of autospeed has
changed from automotive and DIY to decorative throw cushions and light
elevator music reviews. Please wake up and smell the octane
boys.
Remember that you also started out not knowing much about cars and
that you had to start somewhere. When I started I wasn't even sure how fuel
injection worked and now, after 6 years of autospeeding, I am building very
complicated and efficient cars indeed and helped friends of mine modify
their cars efficiently as well. None of this would be possible without the
technical knowledge gained through his website.
Please give the guys who
are just starting out a chance to get to the level you are at and the only way
that they can do that is with articles being republished.
Francois van Jaarsveld
South Africa
|