Guibo

It was Randy's fault.

Telepierre

I like these MT guys and the reading was entertaining more than really informative. With all the due subjectiveness in it I guess I could give them a 10% weight on my next car decision..and maybe that is what Corvette figured they are "worth"....

Big Dan 427

Wow they hammered the Viper! Lose bolts, parts breaking, parts flying off, unmatched tires that were toast! Holy $hit what did they send them?

Carnut12

Wow last year Porsche wins with the 911 C2S, a unanimous decision, and this year they are confident enough to send the C4S, typically not as good as the C2S as a drivers car, and they win again. I am not surprised at all, as much as some here bash it, it is an outstanding drivers car.

I think they made the right decision not sending the C7, it already has all the hype it needs, wait until all the kinks are worked out, to me this only could have hurt them.

I do look forward to seeing how it does next year.

OnPoint

Now that's funny.

Jp23rockstar

It was too hard for him to tame the beast, lol.

Telepierre

Hey maybe it was their turn to play the joke...?

In 2004 Corvette sent them a car that creaked like an old wooden boat, tuppeware plastic interior and ejectable seats (first in industry..) ..

/sarc off

jimmyb

They sent them a POS. Seriously, how does a car company like SRT send a car to be tested with mis-matched (and worn out) tires...as far as stuff breaking, that's a head scratcher. No one is going to accuse Viper of being comfortable, but this test car was falling apart. Hopefully it was a pre-production car.

Jimmy

PS. After Ralph whined earlier in the year about Randy being afraid (at some level) of the Viper, based on this performance, it seems Randy had more to fear than just an UNSORTED car.

Mike Mercury

Don't fret over this guys; Motor Trend is no longer the benchmark publication they once were.

Over the past 7 years or so, they have been found to:

* favor a car just because it is cheaper than its compettitors. So even though the car that costs more is better, they give the cheap car the win just because its a lower MSRP.

* if it's not a Honda or Toyota (who both advertise heavily in the publication), or a German kar - it's downgraded.

* If its a new, its better, even when it isn't. If its a BMW or Honda, its automatically innovative and revolutionary.

* more and more of their writers are young second generation import drivers.

* a lot of testing is done without a "third wheel" for verification. And, if the car they like - does not perform to the factory listed times - they post the mfgrs specs for 0-60 and 1/4 mile (instead of the slower numbers they actually got with the car).

and last (but not least)

* MT chose the Honda Ridgeline as truck of the year.

stevebz06

I don't think a Vette has ever won this competition, has it? Posted the fastest lap time, yes, but it's never been voted Best Driver's Car. When does the Lightning Lap happen? That's the one that I'll be looking for.

jschindler

Then who is the benchmark? I've read all of the major magazines since 1965 (and still have them all). While I don't always agree with them, I find them all to offer good information....unless you don't happen to like the vehicle they like, then they are crap

Mike Mercury

Kar and Driver is no better.

Look at these ratings:

....................................C6.........Boxter
Vehicle:..........................67.... .....60
Powertrain:.....................45...... ....42
Chassis:.........................42..... .....49

totals: .........................154.........151

C6 wins... NOT!

here is their numbers-chart in full (I left out two catagories above):

....................................C6.........Boxter
Vehicle:..........................67.... .....60
Powertrain:.....................45...... ....42
Chassis:.........................42..... .....49
"Gotta have it factor":......21...........23
"Fun to drive:":...............22...........24
total:............................197... ......198

so in other words, the car they want to win... will win, no matter what.

BlueOx

Viper beat by a Focus? That just made my day!!!

It's clear that the T/A they sent in to MT for the track day a few months back was just some juiced track car. This was justice being done to Ralphy. I'm sure he's prepping a Tweet right now calling the Viper they sent a "MULE"!

Guibo

GM also advertises heavily in the publication (Chevrolet, GMC, Cadillac, Saturn and Pontiac when they were still around).
If you'll notice, the BMW M6 placed near the bottom at 10th, being beaten by the Aston Vanquish which is neither innovative or revolutionary.

stevebz06

I perfectly understand how a slower car can win this deal, but "have to have " factor? I never remember being wowed by a Boxter.

Mike Mercury

It's tough these days.

But blind faith is not smart either

Right now, I only trust AutoWeek; but I still keep a cautious eye.

I trust C&D and MT - about as much as a NBC news "911 tape"

Guibo

Link?

Guibo

What makes AutoWeek anymore trustworthy or a benchmark. Since when was Motor Trend the benchmark?

Jeff W

After reading/watching this years BDC, if a C7 had been involved I doubt it would have been first. No matter how good it is, the 911 or R8 will win. That's just how MT works. I bet the C7 would have come in 2nd or 3rd the way they rate cars.

gthal

But isn't that the way it is suppose to be? You are right that they can manipulate the final result based on the "Fun to Drive" rating, etc, but I would expect that the "winner" is the car they thought was best overall. It isn't all objective measures that produces the best car at the end of the day.

My observation is that when another car other than the one we like wins a comparison based on subjective criteria or overall impression, it means the test is invalid. The problem is that a car will always lose and, often, that is based on subjective measures and overall impression. The folks who own that car will cry bias, pay-offs, poor magazine, etc. The folks who own the winner think the magazine has been objective and clearly came to the correct conclusion

Edit: Just to be clear, I do this too... just pointing it out