Archive for the ‘Automotive Products’ category

Race For Number One

October 29th, 2011

Does your heart get fast and furious with the smell of NOS? Do you get sweaty palms with thoughts of lifting a rock-crawling Jeep? Maybe you are the type of fine luxury and prefer a smooth ride in the new 2007 Lincoln Town Car.

No matter which group you may fall into, you can sleep easy knowing you are not the only one. People who like cars and trucks. Lucky for us that do, there is no shortage on TV shows, websites, and cheap magazine dedicated to the subject.

Yes, I did say magazines, such as in print magazines. Print is not quite dead yet and still very popular automotive magazines. The bookstores shelves are often stocks complete with all the diversity of different magazines with special themes are different.

According to research the top five selling automotive magazines by subscription are:

  • Car and Driver – This magazine is for automobile enthusiasts interested in domestic and imported autos. Each issue contains road tests and features on performance, sports, international coverage of road race, stock and championship car events, technical reports, personalities and products. Road tests are conducted with electronic equipment by engineers and journalists and the results are an important part of the magazine’s review section.
  • Road & Track – This magazine is written for automotive enthusiasts and emphasizes cars and driving blended with wide-ranging feature stories, entertainment and event coverage. Its road tests run the gamut of domestic and imported sports cars and sports sedans. Additionally, it features technical articles on automotive subjects, nostalgic feature articles, humor and fiction and analysis of industry trends along with travel stories, book reviews and coverage of international racing events.
  • Motor Trend – Motor Trend magazine is an automotive publication devoted to domestic and foreign cars with an emphasis on performance, comparison tests, interviews, race coverage, new car previews and technical features, together with articles on the issues affecting the automobile in society.
  • Autoweek – For the car and truck enthusiast who just can’t wait to learn the latest auto news. This magazine features stories on the newest models, product test evaluations, industry trends, and car racing reports. It also includes spotlight stories on interesting people in the auto industry. The magazine also includes a large classified section selling cars and parts.
  • Hot Rod – This magazine is oriented to high performance and personalized cars and the sport of hot-rodding. It covers performance news, trends, technologies and auto events. It showcases a variety of different cars from custom built street machines to restored muscle cars. In addition, articles provide insight into the human side of the sport.

Looking at this list, you can see the diversity in the subject matter just on cars alone. No matter what your choice of ride is, a lifted pickup to an old Pontiac GTO, you can find a magazine covering it.

The Top Ten Autos in 2005

September 17th, 2011

Every year the experts in the automobile industry came up with their list of ten vehicles for years. Some experts put the vehicle through a series of tests, while others make their list purely on the market and consumer response. Vehicle of choice is certainly a personal one, but experts such as Cars.com, Consumer Reports magazine, Automobile magazine, and Car and Driver magazine, certainly worth listening to. What did they say this year?

Well, the Cars.com list of most popular vehicles in 2005 was topped by the Honda Civic. Cars.com analyzes the vehicular market to come up with the most popular new car models based on consumer interest (i.e. on the number of email requests for price quotes sent to dealers) and not car tests. Here are their top ten lists for 2005:

1. Honda Civic

2. Honda Accord

3. Toyota Corolla

4. Honda Odyssey

5. Toyota Camry

6. Toyota Prius

7. Toyota Sienna

8. Honda CR-V

9. Toyota Highlander
10. Toyota Tacoma

The Consumer Reports magazine list was also topped by a Honda, only this time it was a Honda Accord Hybrid, but the method of choosing the top cars is very different. Consumer Reports magazine took 200 vehicles and put them through 45 tests. At the end they chose the top cars according to nine categories. For example, the Subaru Forester was the best “Small SUV”, the Lexus RX330 was the best “Midsized SUV”, the Lexus LS430 was the best luxury sedan, the Subaru Impress was the “most fun to drive”, and the Toyota Prius was the best “green car.”

Meanwhile, Automobile magazine chooses the top vehicles in 13 different performance categories, such as, Coupe, Family Car, Luxury Sedan, Minivan, Pickup, Small car, Sports car, Sport sedan, amongst others. They come up with one “ultimate vehicle” and this year it was the Chrysler 300C.

According to Car and Driver magazine, the Chevrolet Corvette topped the list as a best “performance car” and the Ford Mustang was the best “muscle car”.