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After seeing all the ranting about Car&Driver no one mentioned the 10 Best. Which is the biggest joke. It was once a good idea 20 years ago but today is nothing more than a mechanism by which they can continually recrown the same cars year after year. I do enjoy their tech coverage and diver rights coverage (photo radar, etc.) but their car reporting has really fallen off the last 5 years. The new 10 Best is a great example.
My issues with the 10 Best for 2003.
1) Cars only get one chance to make it. Once a car has been tested on it's first year of production if it doesn't make it into the list it doesn't get retested until an "all new" version comes out. So the NG900 didn't make the list in 94 and that was it. The NG900/9-3 didn't get another shot until this year. 2 years ago the tame Sentra came out and didn't make the list. So as a result the new 175hp Sentra Spec-V doesn't even get tested. So the 10 best is only drawn from last years 10 best and the all new cars for this year. A very narrow field that favors the incumbants.
2) Dear, C&D editors, please explain to me why the G35 coupe and 350Z should BOTH be in the list? The cars are effin twins, the quarters and door skins are almost indentical. It's the same car with only a few tweaks and mods. They might as well have the Accord and the Accord V6 taking up 2 slots. I don't care how great it is... it's the same car listed twice and any 4 year old could figure out something's not fair about that.
3) C&D prides themselves over the fact that the 10 Best doesn't have classification but it's an honest car to car review without things like price, size, number of doors, etc. taken into consideration. But that is a lie. They do have de facto classes or do you mean to tell me a Ford Focus is actually a better car than the all new 9-3?
4) More Focus bitching. In a small car review in C&D a few months back the Focus came in 4th place. 4th place among small cars. How then does a car that can not best other small cars make the 10 Best? This is a glaring example of how the rules for the 10 best simply enshrine the chosen few. If you are going to include a token small car then shouldn't it be the one that won the small car comparo? (it was in 98 that the Olds Intrigue beat the Accord in the Family Sedan test but guess who didn't make the 10 Best and who was crowned king, again)
5) 10 Best illistrates C&D RWD bias. The percentage of RWD on the 10 Best has is way higher than the percentage of the RWD cars available on the market.
6) Criteria. What are their criteria? If it is a fair unbiased assement of cars how does the Accord and Focus make it on a list with the Corrvette and Boxster? Wha...? It would seem to me that any set of standards that would give top honors to the 'Vette and Boxter would disqualifiy the dull untilitarian Accord and tiny Focus. And conversely any standards that would crown the Accord and Focus should punish the absolute impracicality of the sports cars. Come, on they can't be judged on the same scale and be found equals.
The 10 Best has been a joke for a while now and this year it was luaghable. They need to revamp the whole thing before it can be taken as a serious test. First they need to open it up. If there are changes made then they need to retest the car (re: Sentra / Sentra Spec-V). Judging criteria and their wieghting needs to be made public and not run like a secret cabal that yearly announces the winners. No car that lost a comarpo test should be eleagable to make the 10 best unless the cars that bested it are also on the list. (re: Focus can only make the list if the 3 cars that beat it are on the list as well) Either get rid of the token small car/ de facto catagories or get over their self rightousness and make offical catagories. That way the Focus and Vette can be on the same list without cuasing any head scratching.
The car comparos they are a great and maybe someday the 10 Best will be to.
Dinger,
86 900T 245k
posted by 12.16.16...
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