Truth about magazine testing

[starchland]

Interesting link about "rollout".

Explains the discrepency.

http://www.tremek.com/forum/showthre...326#post327326

[d112crzy]

interesting.

Explains why some stock accords run decently quick. Or why some cars are slower than they should be.

[AccordWarrior]

I knew that Car and Driver corrected for weather, but I never knew about this roll out.

They do usually admit sometimes when they've gotten cars that have run quicker than they should.

I remember in a 1995 comparison between the Trans Am WS6, Camaro Z28 SS and SVT Cobra that the Camaro ran a 4.9 0-60 time, and they noted it was probably a ringer.

[owequitit]

Another interesting thing about magazine testing, is that most people assume that they "flat shift" them, or shift without ever lifting off the gas.

In most cases this is actually not the case. They will typically launch hard, but not doing something that an owner might not be willing to do.

In fact I remember in their recent test of the Mazdaspeed 3, they were told by the Mazdaspeed engineers to flat shift it for quickest times.

C&D had some reservations because it is hard on the car, but also because that is not their normal procedure.

Mazda assured them it wouldn't break, and it didn't.

[starchland]

...

Mazda assured them it wouldn't break, and it didn't.

But they did...http://www.mazda3forums.com/index.php?topic=63851.0

[4thgenaccord]

Ok. on a drag strip I know every 1/10th of a sec counts, but for publishing about the car to the average joe, does 0.3 seconds really matter?

[AccordWarrior]

Ok. on a drag strip I know every 1/10th of a sec counts, but for publishing about the car to the average joe, does 0.3 seconds really matter?

Absolutely.

Two equal cars, one's 0.3 faster in the quarter...which would you buy?

There's a HUGE difference between saying your car runs a 13.8 than a 14.1, and when manufacturers brag about specifications, things like that absolutely do matter.

[4thgenaccord]

Absolutely.

Two equal cars, one's 0.3 faster in the quarter...which would you buy?

The one with better gas mileage. LOL j/p I under stand what your saying. So for test like this, there needs to be a flat standard testing that ALL manufacturers use.

[starchland]

yes every 1/10 sec is important. the majority of people buying car mags are enthusiasts so its even more important that when you spend say 50 G's on a car your getting all the bragging rights.