[Viffermike]

I quit reading this thread at the beginning of Page 2. Most of you are so off-base about how the magazine industry works, how a critical review is conceived and written, and the part bias plays in anything with an opinion attached, it's viscerally sickening.

(Background: I was a music critic for a major daily newspaper for a decade and spent nearly two decades in journalism, and I'm now in advertising and marketing for a large fashion retailer. I've not only seen both sides, I've worked on both sides. And I have friends in auto journalism, so I know.)

To the conspiracy theorists: Advertising revenue has far, far less influence on editorial content than you believe. I'm not going to say it has no influence, but understand this: relative editorial independence from advertising is the ONLY reason magazines with critical content have credibility and viability of ANY sort -- and of the American car mags, C&D does it best. By far. Always has. So, OP: keep your subscription. It's as good as a printed general-interest auto mag gets in this country.

To the quip about payola: That scandal changed the business structure of two entire major industries: music recording and broadcast. Do you seriously think mags would even entertain that model on its face? It's illegal. Yes, there are indirect ways around it that happen all of the time, but NONE of those are direct payoffs or promises of ad revenue in exchange for positive coverage or inclusion. If ANY critically journalistic periodical -- automotive or otherwise -- were caught doing that, it would have to be shuttered immediately. Mags such as C&D exist in fear of that very accusation, and that's why it doesn't happen -- and it's also a big reason why critical mags such as C&D are struggling so much compared to the likes of, say, Vogue, which has no critical content. Skeptics who assume everything is a conspiracy and collusion rules everywhere either don't or won't understand how critical journalism works.

I'm going to leave a discussion of bias out of this. It exists, but it is not nearly as pervasive as many think -- and it's mostly on an individual level.

Finally, to those who think BMW (or any car) should have a permanent place in the 10Best list: Riiiight. One poster said it best: The competition has caught up and, in many categories, surpassed it. BMW is no longer an enthusiast brand (and I would argue that ///M is no longer a true enthusiast brand, either), and BMW AG is now far more concerned with profits over plaudits. What it is doing now in full scale is using its heritage and brand to sell cars that are not truly reflective of that heritage. It's only going to get worse.