KMM:

I feel most auto journalists merely regurgitate the manufacturers' press releases. There are no Paul Frere's here.

 

1. Most car journalists are invited on manufacturer's cost to events, so manufacturers have certain expectations about reviews, comments and so on. Smiley

2. Car journalists who are too honest, won't be invited again. They also won't get any cars to review again.

3. Car journalists like Paul Frere were honest and their feedback was respected and taken in consideration by car developers and engineers. Nowadays, most engineers and developers at car manufacturers know best, they do not need "outsiders" to tell them what is good or not, they do not really appreciate input. Learned it the hard way. Smiley

If you want reviews and tests a la Paul Frere, you need an independent media outlet which has enough money and also "weight" with car manufacturers to be accepted and respected. Never going to happen though because at some point, criticism will be taken as an insult, especially by developers.

Car manufacturers do not want honest inputs, they want people to love their products. 


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RC (Germany) - Rennteam Editor Porsche 991 Carrera 4 GTS Cabriolet, Porsche Macan Turbo, Ford Mustang GT500 Shelby SVT (2014), Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT (2014)