Yikes! Much hate for the Robb Report! This suprises me a little bit. To me, the Robb Report isn't so much about reading reviews or technical data. Rather, it is about a certain type of lifestyle. Do you really need a review to evaluate a Tourbillion, a Ferrari F430 or a Kiton suit? It is about surrounding yourself with the best of everything. On every page of the Robb Report you find things you can dream about having. If it wasn't already accepted as the very best of its breed it wouldn't be in the magazine. Over the years you come to trust the content. If it is in the RR, it is likely among the very best of its kind available. It just boils down to different grades of perfection. It is hard to write a review when you are evaluating the very best of everything. Think of the reviews comparing things like the Scuderia to a Gallardo Superlegerra. They most often go something like this: "The Superlegarra is awesome! But the Scuderia is awesomer!!" Isn't that a bit redundant?? Sometimes it is nice to just sit down and bask in the glory of things you will likely never own rather than be distracted by gear heads arguing over power-to-weight ratios and dollar-per-hp calculations.

The RR unashamedy touts owning the very best of everything and doesn't apologize for it. In a way, that is what TS was all about as well. Most people I know would NEVER spend more than $100 for a watch and get their hair done at Supercuts. None of them would ever DREAM of spending over $100K on a car. Some might even call us vain. The RR says "The hell with them! If I want to dream about having a $350K watch or a $400K car, I will." Personally, I like that.

The reason I LOVE the RR Car of the Year issue is because it is a test conducted by people who actually own the kinds of cars they are judging. Anyone whose primary source of income is reporting for a car magazine like EVO isn't likely to have a stable of Ferraris and Lambos at home. If you look at the list of those who review and vote on the Car of the Year for RR, they are captains of industry, highly paid professional athletes and many of the wealthiest people in the world. Their opinions are based largely on real life experiences of both owning, driving and maintaining the very types of cars that are on the list. They are not "weekend warriors" who have mere brushes with supercars in order to pen an article. Rather, these reviewers live with the types of cars they evaluate. Their real world lifestyle gives them a particularly interesting perspective that you just don't get from "automobile journalists." I would rather hear how a Lambo or Ferrari performs from a guy who has 5 others sitting at home than a gear head who tests the supercar, wites an article about it and then drives back to his flat in a Volvo.

The other reason I love it is how and where they test the cars. It is really just an extension of the reviewers actual lifestyle. They go to Nappa Valley, have some of the finest wine and food, stay at the best resorts and take a week to just drive the cars and enjoy themselves. It isn't a whirlwind test conducted by a guy under a magazine deadline. And that is what the RR is all about - aspiring to a certain type of lifestyle. A lifestyle where you are constantly surrounded by the best of everything. Call me a snob, but I just don't get that feeling when reading Car & Driver.

The Scuderia was their top car in the Best Gifts edition. They already gave the Car of the Year award to the F430 three years ago and I think they consider the Scuderia a modified F430. So it wasn't eligable for the award this year. The same thing applied to the Gallardo Superlegerra last year.

 

im not really following you here, so just because someone owns a certain car they are now the expert on said car or their opinion should be taken with more weight than an evo writer because he has had less seat time? you can't honestly believe that a person with 5 ferrari's in his garage is more knowledgeable than a person who has driven hundreds of wildly differing exotics & supercars on which to base his opinion?

personally, i could care less what "captains of industry" think about the cars i am interested in...what would they know about driving dynamics? they could not draw on years of experience with a myriad of different vehicles from across the automotive spectrum as an evo writer could. imo, it is pretty silly to even entertain the opinions of such people who likely use these vehicles to impress clients or dates rather than carve mountains at 9/10's or hit the circuit.

i can tell you i wouldn't put much stock in the opinion of most of the executives i know, those guys are the reason so many cars are getting specced with automatic transmissions...so they can chat on their phones whilst driving their "sports cars". it's pretty disgusting really.

also, may i add that an evo writer has a measure of objectivity that an owner of a vehicle cannot have. if you plunked down for something you obviously have an affinity for some aspect of it and even if it turns out not to be what you expected there is a degree of face saving that goes on. i know guys that have italian cars that shouldn't have italian cars but they want the image and the prestige of owning one. they want the experience of owning an "exotic" without ever really experiencing the car if you get my drift.

i do understand that there are some salient points which these owners may be able to expunge upon which could prove useful to a prospective buyer...but that is a far cry from taking their opinion over one made by someone such as an evo writer who can detail every positive and negative in a way that lays the car bare to give you a basis to be able to form a logical opinion. then it is up to you to drive one and compare your thoughts to theirs, so far every car i have driven that evo has tested has met the standard set in the review. that is why i respect and refer to evo as much as i do, it is the only publication that i know of that has been consistent and accurate in it's reviewing. we care about the same thing...the thrill of driving.

ps. metcalfe's got a zonda so i think he knows a thing or two about living with an exotic.

pps. check out my evo threads, you think lounging in napa is the life? that is a lifestyle you can aspire to. oh, and car & driver sucks.

 

Very well said! But you appear to have somewhat missed my point. Let me try to clarify.

You assume that I read the RR for technical reviews and analysis of these cars and that I give it “more weight” than EVO. Not so. I don't read the RR for technical reviews, opinions on driving dynamics or to bemoan maintenance costs. That isn't RR’s purpose and it would not meet the expectations of its target audience. I read RR for the exact reason you might not read it - I truly enjoy hearing what the "captains of industry" think about most things - even cars. I realize that they often won't be able to give me an objective or mechanical review of the car. I neither expect nor want them to. I read the RR because it portrays a certain lifestyle that I find intriguing and somewhat aspire to. Certainly, if I wanted a technical analysis, I would turn to a different magazine – like EVO. I think EVO is a great magazine. I have been a subscriber for years (damn EU subscription rate is killer!) and read it cover to cover. I never said that the opinions expressed in the RR should be given "more weight" than those in EVO. All I said was that it is a different perspective that I sometimes enjoy more than EVO. Both have their place. RR is just different than EVO – not necessarily better.

Through my work I have had the opportunity to work and play with CEOs from some of the largest companies in the world. These men and women are also some of the wealthiest. From my experience not a single one of them would blow $200K on a car simply to impress clients or get a date. They are way past that stage. They would not be where they are if they were so consumed with image that they made frivolous decisions. Are some of them image conscious? Of course they are. But none of them are so insecure as to drive a car just to impress others. They have Fortune 50 companies to handle that for them. Most super wealthy people that I know who love cars have the same passion that we do and can hold their own with anyone on any aspect of automobile knowledge. In fact, they usually carve the canyons harder than us because they can afford to pay the tickets - or avoid them altogether! Damn lawyers.

EVO magazine offers a certain perspective on cars. It is a great magazine with an valuable perspective. The RR also offers a particular perspective on cars. Not as technical or scientific, but just as valuable. The RR gives you the chance to simply dream about owning a supercar rather than learning about its trap times at the Nurburgring. Both are great magazines. I read them both extensively. They just appeal to me when I am in different moods. In short, I believe it is possible to like them both.

IIVVX is a very good debater. I'll have to watch my step!

 

Dana: Great points. Initially, I misunderstood what you were saying, which is where my comments derived from.

Although, just to nitpick (because I know you don't mind), I wouldn't exactly turn my nose to EVO's 'Fast Fleet', or the financial reach and automotive ownership experience of the editors and writers. There is a certain element to their writing because of this experience and knowledge that transcends your standard automotive writing, and I think is highly valuable.

 

Agreed.

 

+1 EVO is the only magazine I buy every month without fail

 

+1 EVO is the only magazine I buy every month without fail

 

Only mag worth paying $100 for a monthly sub.

And all I can say about the RReport is that its a little too cheese dick for me. A publication that caters to those with more money than sense is not in my interest.

 

im seeing your viewpoint now, my post was made in haste and i seem to have misunderstood your main point. my apologies, but i did enjoy this little exchange. i think we understand each other.

btw, im the ceo of a small healthcare company and the other executives i have interacted with that have cars in the $200+ range usually have them to show that their company is flourishing and they are the ones to do business with. i guess "trying to impress" is the wrong way to put it, they simply want to make a statement to their counterparts. it's funny, since the economic environment has soured i have seen more purchases like this to show those respective parties are unaffected. it does work to a certain extent. and yes there are those that really enjoy their cars to the fullest extent and who purchase them after painstaking research even though they could simply buy all the ones they are looking at without a second thought! and there are also the collector's that lovingly tuck these cars away.

everyone's viewpoint is molded by their environment and interactions, maybe i simply haven't reached your strata yet?

 

very eloquently put.