The dark days of winter are upon us – the roads are covered in snow and ice, and we yearn for the day when we can hit the open road with abandon. No matter what that overfed groundhog in Pennsylvania says, it’s still a long time before spring gets here. So what’s a car guy to do?
The folks at the car magazines believe the perfect antidote is a colorful review of some really hot car. But what if the snowplow has blocked your driveway and you can’t get to Barnes & Noble? Well, Men.com will save you the trip.
ROAD & TRACK March, 2006
If magazine editors could be arrested for false advertising, then the guys at R&T would be dialing their lawyer just about now. The problem is that the cover has the gorgeous Chevrolet Camaro concept car – in arrest-me-red no less – from the Detroit auto show front and center. A reasonable reader might assume there would be a big feature on the Camaro inside. But alas, all that’s inside is a two-page spread that doesn’t say or show anything that intrepid web surfers haven’t already found since the car was unveiled in early January. Down in the corner of the cover there’s a tantalizing small pic of a Lamborghini Miura lookalike, but inside there’s just a paragraph that hints the Lambo concept may one day be a production car. Is there nothing of substance in this issue? Despair not. On page 65 is a comprehensive test of seven all-wheel-drive sedans. The winner? The Audi A4 2.0 T Quattro. A perfect car for tackling those winter-ravaged roads.
AUTOWEEK January 30, 2006
For BMW fans, this would appear to be a must-read issue since it has the new Z4 M Coupe, which is positioned as a challenger to the new Porsche Cayman. The details: A 265-horsepower version for about $40K; a Porsche-killer model with 343-horsepower for mid $50K. Too bad that’s about all you’ll learn from the 2/3rds of a page that the article runs. More than being about BMWs, this issue is about style. There’s a feature on Ralph Lauren and the cars he finds most stylish; a rundown of what’s cool with seven designers and creative producers; the automotive styles of the hip-hop culture; and what women designers bring to today’s cars. It’s an interesting package, but where are the hot cars?
CAR AND DRIVER March, 2006
Want hot cars in winter? Car and Driver has a few in this issue. On the cover is the fire-breathing Porsche 911 Turbo. There’s a three-page rundown on the 473-horsepower Panzer sports car, presented as 13 questions we all want to ask, surrounded by photos of a yellow pre-production model plowing through mountain snow. Turn a few pages and there’s a short feature on the new Lamborghini Gallardo Spyder, which has 512 horsepower and appears here in a very un-Italian baby blue paint job. BTW, the Lambo costs $195,000 and the Porsche costs $130,000. Want something more affordable? C and D editors compare the Volkswagen GTI to the Honda Civic Si. It was a close call – the GTI was a tick faster to 60 mph, but the Civic was a tick faster in the quarter-mile. In the end, the nod went to the VW. Not that the result will slow sales of the new Civic Si at all. Best read of the book is the tale of the magazine staff’s three-car effort to win a 25-hour race at Thunderhill in California.
