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Car and Driver | 
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| Publisher: Hachette Magazines, Inc.
Category: Magazine
List Price: $49.41
Buy New: $11.97
You Save: $37.44 (76%)
Avg. Customer Rating:  39 reviews
Sales Rank: 87
Format: Magazine Subscription
Type: Consumer magazine
Subscription Issues: 12
Subscription Length: 12 Months
Issues Per Year: 12
First Issue Lead Time: 6-10 Weeks
Release Date: November 23, 2001
Shipping: Eligible for Super Saver Shipping
Availability: Usually ships in 1 to 3 months
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Product Description
This magazine is for automobile enthusiasts interested in domestic and imported autos. Each issue contains road tests and features on performance, sports, international coverage of road race, stock and championship car events, technical reports, personalities and products. Road tests are conducted with electronic equipment by engineers and journalists and the results are an important part of the magazine's review section.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 34 more reviews...
 Probably the Most Fun of the Major Automotive Magazines October 29, 2001
31 out of 34 found this review helpful
I've always enjoyed Car & Driver because it has a solid technical foundation supplemented by great photography and, perhaps most importantly, a great sense of humor about the automotive industry. The "10Best" issue is not to be missed, and aside from being the standard for excellence amongst automotive offerings for the given year, that issue will inevitably include some amusing feature and generally the 10 best stories about something involving hilarious hijinks and so on.
On a monthly basis, C&D is a pleasure because, hey, they feature the coolest cars. Their anti-SUV stance seems to be softening in recent issues, which to me is a travesty of a mockery of a sham. But I see this as an inevitable tip of the hat to the tastes of the American readership. Some readers, in the magazine's amusing letters to the editor section, accuse the magazine of an anti-detroit pro-BMW stance, but I disagree. Their position on the Corvette Z-06 seems to indicate that they favor Detroit when their products deliver the goods (in this case, Porsche Turbo performance at about a third of the price).
Reviews tend to be 3 or 4 pages long with great photography and welcome insight. These guys favor performance and aestheticism first and foremost, but definitely keep a watchful eye on safety and utility. This is an enthusiasts magazine and the staff will readily mock a "Consumer Reports" approach to writing about cars. Nonetheless, when "comparos" are being conducted (a comparison of multiple cars within a given segment), generally the article will show editorial ratings on a 10 point scale for a variety of attributes amongst the cars ("engine," "transmission," "back seat comfort" for example). In the end, however, the winner is often chosen on an independent scale ("best overall") that is influenced, but not determined by the sum of the others.
Technically, the magazine seems to me both thorough and accessible. I learned a lot of my automotive jargon from this rag, and as my understanding has grown I have not found the magazine to be too simple. But I should state that this is not really a magazine for those who want to modify their vehicles. In these cases I would recommend one of the primedia offerings (Sport Compact Car, European Car, and Turbo come to mind).
About the only problem I see with this magazine is that it's fairly obvious which way the editorial staff swings politically (to the right). If you don't share their political positions, sometimes these guys can be aggravating. (...)
Best all around car mag October 27, 2002
38 out of 43 found this review helpful
Some other magazines may be better in specific areas, but for my money C&D is simply the tops for the all around car buff. It offers the best balance of serious automotive journalism, including perhaps the most comprehensive testing, along with plenty of offbeat fun. C&D isn't above indulging in such hare brained stunts as sending a group of AWD minivans on a trek from Fairbanks to Prudhoe Bay, Alaska in the dead of winter (a trip a friend of mine and I did the previous summer in a rented Chevy 4x4 pickup) and racing a Porsche 911 against a Porsche powered small plane in order to entertain their readers. I've been reading it since the late 70's and I always liked their sense of fun and irreverence. In the years since, they've matured a bit, but thankfully not too much. I mean, what other car magazine rates, among other things, the "beer case" capacity of an SUV? As for the complaints listed in some other reviews here, the one that makes no sense to me is the charge that they are somehow "right wing". True, they are unabashed car nuts, which probably offends the Naderite contingent of the political Left that seems to hate anything related to the automobile, but why these people even bother to read a car mag in the first place is beyond me. They'd be better served reading "Bike & Granola" instead. The other, more serious complaint, is that they favor certain carmakers over others, most notably Honda and BMW. I've no experience with the latter, however, my current car, a 1991 Civic Si (picked in part because of a good review in a C&D comparison test) just turned over 200K on the odometer, has been extremely reliable, and to top it off is a joy to drive. So, if the guys at C&D consistently rate Hondas and Bimmers better than the competition, I tend to take them at their word, especially since I recall how, back in the 80's they were beating up on BMW for routinely selling overpriced, underpowered Yuppiemobilies to poseurs who cared more about impressing people at the golf club than handling, acceleration and braking. In sum, after two decades of following this magazine, it's still the first one I look to when I want to check out a specific car, or just see the latest trends in the auto world. Rating a car is a fine mix of the objective (test data and so forth) and the subjective (ride quality, handling properties, etc.) and these guys consistently do the best job. And, if they through in some fun and entertainment, so much the better. In fact, I may just have to start subscribing again.
The Best General Interest Car Mag Out There September 14, 2004
7 out of 7 found this review helpful
I subscribe to all of the mainstream North American auto publications, plus several European ones. There are several magazines which drip of advertiser influences. Their car of the year and/or reviews are obviously slanted toward the makers who advertise the most. Wouldn't want to upset the profit apple cart, you know.
Car & Driver, like its sister publication, Road & Track, are both top flight reads, written by engineers and former car industry hacks, who know how to keep it interesting even for those who are less mechanically inclined. The information is complete, the tests are consistent, the photography is top-notch. There is even good humor to be found (John Phillips is a must read).
I've read this magazine for decades, dating back deep into the David E. Davis (now of Automobile Magazine fame), then through the William Jeanes era and now Csaba Csere (pronounced Chubba Chedda). It has been consistently the best overall car writing available for a reasonable price.
If you like Car & Driver, you'll also enjoy Road & Track, Automobile and the weekly AutoWeek. Each are interesting, although reading all of these will get you some overlapping coverage. If your budget and time allows only one subscription, make it C&D or R/T.
Best Car Magazine out there! June 21, 2002
4 out of 4 found this review helpful
I have subscribed to them all at one time or another, Motor Trend, Road and Track, Auto Week. I always come back to Car and Driver. I love their writing style, which is always funny. My tastes in cars have changed in the last 10-15 years and interestingly enough so has the reviews of C & D to match my tastes. I like the hard stances of the opionion pages and find the hard nosed pro-car, speed, power to be a nice change from the safety comes first and scared of their own shadow American Public. What ever happended to a little adventure?
Excellent writing, wide variety of cars. July 5, 2002
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
The best car magazine on the stands. The pages may not be as wide as R&T, but the articles are unbias and very interesting. They test wide varieties of cars, yet understand that professional racing isn't for everyone...leave that to AutoWeek.
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