en-us http://www.intensedebate.com/users/426455 Comments by Jack_Baruth http://www.speedsportlife.com/2010/10/02/2011-ford-shelby-gt-500-racer-boy-review/#IDComment102581904 You can get the "good" stripes by not selecting the SVT Performance Package... the thin ones are meant to identify cars with that equipment. Congrats on the win! Wed, 6 Oct 2010 03:42:29 +0000 http://www.speedsportlife.com/2010/10/02/2011-ford-shelby-gt-500-racer-boy-review/#IDComment102581904 http://www.speedsportlife.com/2010/09/07/speed-read-2010-chrysler-300c-srt-8/#IDComment98606462 Check your email! Mon, 13 Sep 2010 22:09:12 +0000 http://www.speedsportlife.com/2010/09/07/speed-read-2010-chrysler-300c-srt-8/#IDComment98606462 http://www.speedsportlife.com/2010/09/07/speed-read-2010-chrysler-300c-srt-8/#IDComment98606445 Sorry, I'm still thinking of it as a player of old-school Risk! Mon, 13 Sep 2010 22:09:03 +0000 http://www.speedsportlife.com/2010/09/07/speed-read-2010-chrysler-300c-srt-8/#IDComment98606445 http://www.speedsportlife.com/2010/09/07/speed-read-2010-chrysler-300c-srt-8/#IDComment97511042 She is from the Ukraine, and she is super-cute :) Tue, 7 Sep 2010 21:16:25 +0000 http://www.speedsportlife.com/2010/09/07/speed-read-2010-chrysler-300c-srt-8/#IDComment97511042 http://www.speedsportlife.com/2010/07/10/avoidable-contact-36-the-culture-wars-gave-toyota-a-license-to-kill/#IDComment88089972 It's apparently the pre-cats, not the intake manifold, that makes Spyder engines fail prior to 2003. I stand corrected! Thu, 22 Jul 2010 18:17:20 +0000 http://www.speedsportlife.com/2010/07/10/avoidable-contact-36-the-culture-wars-gave-toyota-a-license-to-kill/#IDComment88089972 http://www.speedsportlife.com/2008/12/23/avoidable-contact-22-the-rise-and-sad-fall-of-car-and-driver/#IDComment77845113 Thanks for the feedback, even if you were too timid to leave it anywhere but in a year-old article. Sun, 30 May 2010 23:15:11 +0000 http://www.speedsportlife.com/2008/12/23/avoidable-contact-22-the-rise-and-sad-fall-of-car-and-driver/#IDComment77845113 http://paul.kedrosky.com/archives/2010/04/meet_the_averag.html#IDComment71542215 100% of the people who made that graphic don't know how to use an apostrophe. Fri, 30 Apr 2010 20:04:39 +0000 http://paul.kedrosky.com/archives/2010/04/meet_the_averag.html#IDComment71542215 http://www.speedsportlife.com/2010/03/11/avoidable-contact-33-a-modest-proposal-cops-dont-need-to-speed/#IDComment61543630 My quickie answer here is twofold: 1) Our government has consistently demonstrated its belief that regulation and control are better for "civilian" safety than training. This thinking should be applied consistently. If Tommy Kendall or Bobby Unser have to obey a speed limit, a cop who spends two days a year driving around tires in a Crown Vic should have to obey the limit as well. 2) Even trained drivers make mistakes under high speed and dangerous conditions. Watch any F1 race to see that. You simply can't train the average cop to be a master of 100mph P71 control. Thu, 11 Mar 2010 22:59:18 +0000 http://www.speedsportlife.com/2010/03/11/avoidable-contact-33-a-modest-proposal-cops-dont-need-to-speed/#IDComment61543630 http://www.speedsportlife.com/2010/02/22/avoidable-contact-32-nobody-wants-a-car-to-last-forever/#IDComment61418423 Hi Chris, I tried pretty hard to keep up with the maintenance on my Fox but after 90,000 miles it was pretty far from "excellent" condition. Even the seat frames ended up twisting over time. Not sure how that happened. I've been trying for a while to find a decent 3-door Fox to use as an airport car/everyday driver but they are almost nonexistent. Foxes loved to rust. For the record, I'm a Fox fan, have no impression that I'm "better than that now", or anything like that. I'd like to be able to pay $25K and get an everlasting Fox, just like they made 'em in 1990, only without the rust problems and some of the interior quality issues. Thu, 11 Mar 2010 06:57:13 +0000 http://www.speedsportlife.com/2010/02/22/avoidable-contact-32-nobody-wants-a-car-to-last-forever/#IDComment61418423 http://www.speedsportlife.com/2010/02/21/avoidable-contact-31-automotive-journalism-is-a-joke-and-it-needs-a-punchline/#IDComment61418132 Hi David, Responding to your last paragraph: It's primarily because the PR/press event/auto show circus continues to be built around the newspaper autowriters and their ilk. The automakers don't yet know how exactly to measure the impact of a particular online source, so as a result many legitimate contributors end up standing on the sidelines while the fellow from the Hicktown Register bumbles his way around Infineon in an Infiniti and rewrites the press release on the flight home. Thu, 11 Mar 2010 06:54:21 +0000 http://www.speedsportlife.com/2010/02/21/avoidable-contact-31-automotive-journalism-is-a-joke-and-it-needs-a-punchline/#IDComment61418132 http://www.speedsportlife.com/2010/02/21/avoidable-contact-31-automotive-journalism-is-a-joke-and-it-needs-a-punchline/#IDComment58280562 ...which leads us to the question: "What do you really need to know about a new sports car?" It's a topic for another time, but I would suggest that most dealers will let you do anything that is legal in a demo car. Anything you want to do that is illegal... well, should auto journalists be out doing illegal things on public roads and reporting it? Or should we be driving around manicured tracks and then trying to translate that to the experience of doing illegal things on a road? I don't know the right answer here. Tue, 23 Feb 2010 02:36:25 +0000 http://www.speedsportlife.com/2010/02/21/avoidable-contact-31-automotive-journalism-is-a-joke-and-it-needs-a-punchline/#IDComment58280562 http://www.speedsportlife.com/2010/02/21/avoidable-contact-31-automotive-journalism-is-a-joke-and-it-needs-a-punchline/#IDComment58242977 If I'd let the article run past its already considerable length, I would have gone into more detail about the idea that the change has to come from the "other side". An individual journalist who quits the merry-go-round changes nothing and destroys his own ability to obtain information. It's the classic Prisoner's Dilemma: if you quit going to press events and the other guy doesn't, he wins. You and I can hang out at Lemons as soon as I figure out a way to get a Porsche 962 past Phil. Mon, 22 Feb 2010 20:09:19 +0000 http://www.speedsportlife.com/2010/02/21/avoidable-contact-31-automotive-journalism-is-a-joke-and-it-needs-a-punchline/#IDComment58242977 http://www.speedsportlife.com/2010/02/21/avoidable-contact-31-automotive-journalism-is-a-joke-and-it-needs-a-punchline/#IDComment58222140 I thought your GTI was sticker-free! I added that second half of the sentence for the sole purpose of excluding you! Mon, 22 Feb 2010 16:50:06 +0000 http://www.speedsportlife.com/2010/02/21/avoidable-contact-31-automotive-journalism-is-a-joke-and-it-needs-a-punchline/#IDComment58222140 http://www.speedsportlife.com/2010/02/21/avoidable-contact-31-automotive-journalism-is-a-joke-and-it-needs-a-punchline/#IDComment58218518 A few responses: 1) Mr. Denimjacket reaches fewer readers every month. He's being replaced by Mr. Emoglasses, his Internet equivalent, and even if that guy has a similarly-sized audience, it's no longer the captive audience that Denimjacket had. 2) "Everyone knows reviews are part of an integrated PR/Marketing strategy." I'm not sure everyone knows that. As I noted to "imag" below, not every obvious thing is obvious to everyone. Some people continue to believe that auto reviews are honest, heartfelt attempts to convey the essence of a car to potential buyers. I know people who write reviews like that, so I would like to believe it as well. Mon, 22 Feb 2010 16:14:32 +0000 http://www.speedsportlife.com/2010/02/21/avoidable-contact-31-automotive-journalism-is-a-joke-and-it-needs-a-punchline/#IDComment58218518 http://www.speedsportlife.com/2010/02/21/avoidable-contact-31-automotive-journalism-is-a-joke-and-it-needs-a-punchline/#IDComment58218177 One of the benefits of being a bright, informed guy is that things seem obvious to you. I think you would be surprised about how many people view the automotive media, particularly concerning the barriers to entry/talent required/and so on. Your point regarding "blog-land" is spot on and it's one of the things I discussed with Banovsky after he printed his article. The problem is that there really isn't that much airspace between what a "regular guy" would write after a top-notch junket and what a "respected journalist" writes after that same junket. I wrote this article for a very specific purpose. You would be surprised at how many mover-and-shaker types in the industry read SSL. I'd like to see the current system of auto journalism and PR burn right to the ground. This column is just another log thrown under a pyre that I believe to be already smoldering. Mon, 22 Feb 2010 16:11:09 +0000 http://www.speedsportlife.com/2010/02/21/avoidable-contact-31-automotive-journalism-is-a-joke-and-it-needs-a-punchline/#IDComment58218177 http://www.speedsportlife.com/2010/02/21/avoidable-contact-31-automotive-journalism-is-a-joke-and-it-needs-a-punchline/#IDComment58217727 Correct, Mr. Crook ran Bristol for much longer than a decade. I should have noted that he was first Bristol's owner, and then managed the company after relinquishing his ownership. Mon, 22 Feb 2010 16:06:38 +0000 http://www.speedsportlife.com/2010/02/21/avoidable-contact-31-automotive-journalism-is-a-joke-and-it-needs-a-punchline/#IDComment58217727 http://www.speedsportlife.com/2010/02/21/avoidable-contact-31-automotive-journalism-is-a-joke-and-it-needs-a-punchline/#IDComment58128935 This is a very solid point: "Until he realizes that this business is as much about personal relationships and professionalism as outright talent, he’ll stand bitterly on the other side. " I do realize it, and I will continue to stand bitterly on the other side. I turned down a pretty decent print gig last year because it came with the caveat that I could no longer work with SSL and TTAC. I would suggest that one of your points (that there are very few bad cars left) works to undermine another one (that it's important to have perspective). If most cars are pretty okay, then the most important thing is to get what you want from a brand to which you feel connected, not to have a 230-comparison-test-point Honda Accord instead of a 227-comparison-point-test Nissan Altima. (I made those numbers up, before you check). Mon, 22 Feb 2010 07:50:57 +0000 http://www.speedsportlife.com/2010/02/21/avoidable-contact-31-automotive-journalism-is-a-joke-and-it-needs-a-punchline/#IDComment58128935 http://www.speedsportlife.com/2009/11/07/a-tale-of-two-race-cars-part-2-never-on-sunday/#IDComment45212851 Kai: It's not normal for Neons to have problems like this, but as one of the few people trying to optimize a Neon for the Performance Touring class, we are experiencing problems mostly related to the increased power and performance of the car. Mon, 30 Nov 2009 01:39:32 +0000 http://www.speedsportlife.com/2009/11/07/a-tale-of-two-race-cars-part-2-never-on-sunday/#IDComment45212851 http://www.speedsportlife.com/2009/10/11/2010-panamera-turbo-the-porsche-that-doesnt-zig-as-much/#IDComment38311559 I did not know that, actually! What I know about ol' Sergei is this: he wrote Piano Concerto No. 3 to earn enough money to buy his first car. Surely a man after our own hearts here at S:S:L! Mon, 12 Oct 2009 01:16:13 +0000 http://www.speedsportlife.com/2009/10/11/2010-panamera-turbo-the-porsche-that-doesnt-zig-as-much/#IDComment38311559 http://www.speedsportlife.com/2009/09/17/racer-boy-24-hours-of-lemons-or-endurace-racing-for-the-financially-and-mentally-challenged/#IDComment35715820 Okay, for one thing that Edmunds Reno win was candy ass and it was a sit-in with Eyesore. Krider's won it twice (I think), in California, against strong opposition. I took my car from 3rd to 1st in 2 hours and 46 minutes and stepped out with a 53-lap lead. At Flat Rock, in a true 24-hour race, against Ford SVT, Chrysler SRT engineers, all the major magazines, and several OEM suppliers. not that, you know, I have an opinion about this :) Thu, 24 Sep 2009 01:49:30 +0000 http://www.speedsportlife.com/2009/09/17/racer-boy-24-hours-of-lemons-or-endurace-racing-for-the-financially-and-mentally-challenged/#IDComment35715820