Debunking the 4WD magazine conspiracy theory

Which one was that?

The fella currently advertising Kia, ARB and fancy kids clothes whilst showing a few scenic pics of australia, on a weekend TV programme used to work for them I believe.

Good to see you dont waste money on subscriptions either ... even if you do get free CDs ...

Isnt that something called Subliminal Suggestion or we think your great come and advertise with us.

It does not matter what is written someone somewhere will point out bias in the content.
Ian

rv

sounds like i'll scratch your back if you'll scratch mine eh?

Correct Willie. It's more to do with what is not said in an article than what is, with many bad features on vehicles too often overlooked.
Cheers Craig...............

Hi Craig,

I wrote to one of the 4WD mag editors last year. His mag featured an article on the then reasonably new Toyota Hilux, which had been fitted with Hella Ralley driving lights for the trip.

There was a wonderful picture of the car coming out of a creek crossing - the Hella lights were half full of water ( as mine do every time I dunk them ). The writer mentioned that he had put them on for the trips so he had fulfilled his obligation to Hella for a free set, but not word about them filling up with water. Surprise surprise !

Telling lies by omission. I never got a reply from the editor either.

Willie.

"whose name resembles a large astral body orbiting near this planet"

Mick, thats too hard. Can't we have an easier clue lol..

*URANUS*

Mick, I'm 100% sure he had (maybe still does) a 4.2TD; not a grenade.........

Roachie

Mick


FYI The person you are alluding is a mate ofmine and on top of that he reads this forum quite regularly when he is home...:-)

Maybe you can contact him personally and convey your gripe as he lives in the same town as you do.


Cheers

yep its a 4.2

Would certainly be a difficult line for a magazine editor to take between attracting advertising & maintaining credibility by not being biased towards them. From where I sit most if not all of them suffer credibility issues when talking up products that are supplied free to them & then glossing over or not even mentioning failures & poor performance.
Cheers Craig............

A 4.2, well he definitly doesn't have to worry does he. Thanks for the offer Willem but I actually wrote to the editorial staff in 07 outlining my concerns and asking why a certain tack had been taken in respect to particular issues and enquiring about what processes had been used during reviews and assessments. I posed several questions surrounding the end use of test products and that there could be a perceived issue in respect to transperancy (or lack there of). I never received a reply. In the end it came down to a personal decision whether or not I wanted to pay $8 for rag that appeared to fast be becoming a glossy advertising catalogue. I didn't. Totally my choice and my opinion of course. Having had a family deeply involved in the publishing business in the past, I am well aware that advertising revenue can be a key driver for financial sustainability. Unfortunately editorial opinion and freedom can suffer as a result.

Cheers

Mick

me thinks Jim just landed a sweet advertising deal. So when does the ad start? :-)

LOL

Good one Stefan, but quite the opposite. I did advertise there in 2007 a few times and once earlier this year. The return did not justify the investment.

Also tried 4wd Action. No better.

Cheers,

Jim.

Warfer,

Don't know if I agree with you there. I am a subscriber to 4wd action and have been for years. The winch comparo was a classic. There were only 4 to complete the test. The 2 Warn winches failed to complete if my memory serves me correct yet the 9500lb Warn got second place. Now if I go bush I want something that will not fail or I could be in for a long walk. As mentioned above it is sometimes the things they leave out that makes for miss reporting and yes you have to read between the lines.

Goona

Hiya Goona

No worries people hav there views,I was looking at the premiere but after i rang a winch repairer that someone recommended i bought the warn 9.5,now any winch can fail at anytime,no matter what brand..But are parts going to be available for the chinese or low brand names or are you going to get spares for the warn just about anywhere...


Cheers

Baetit
You say "on EO I've not heard a true champion for Kia".Well, you have now as I have a 2.5l diesel Kia Sorento - its easily the best vehicle I've had - strong, powerful, smooth and tows effortlessly. Well finished and total value for money. Very worthy of the string of awards that the vehicle is winning

A true champion of KIA ?? you know better than that , EO only allows Nissan + Toyota ,lol,
Have just finished fitting out the wifes Kia Rio ..... Narva 175 driving lights , GME 3220 uhf , extra fuel + water + small Engle fridge . Not everyone needs a $$$$ 4x4 to travel on a regular basis to the far west of QLD.

Hi Tazbaz and Axle,

I have to confess to having owned all the well known brands except Hiunday or Kia and I simply have not had the opportunity to do that. I was not a big fan of Korean cars but I reckon they're pretty good these days. When I was a banker (that's "B") I used to look after a large shoe conglomerate and they made the point that Korea made the best joggers in the world and I'm sure many other things as well.

Recently toyed with the notion of owning a small 4wd as a run about but the bride opted for a hatch instead. Could well have been a kia.

Kind regards

Beatit , I bought the little Kia Rio hatchback last yr as a b/day present for the beloved ,runs on the proverbial smell of an oily rag , 500klm for 40lt in stop start city driving , now in the process of moving out west for the next few yrs and even though the road from Winton to Boulia is fairly remote it is bitumen all the way so no need for another 4x4 in the garage.

I ended up buying a Tiida (I know another Nissan) but we had somehow managed to get one of these a couple of times we hired a car and it just seemed so roomy - the bride was sold. No further discussion on my part - no ute, damn.

Maybe to Only Tiida with a tow bar as I need to tow my boat and box trailer.

It runs at about half the fuel cost of the Patrol.

Kind regards

Hi Beatit

I wondered about that to , espically when a 4.2 won car of the year not long ago.

In their assement they included a guide as to how points were achieved , so I did them using 4800 engine and even with my manual variant to more closely match the winner and it was a real no-contest with 4800 coming out a long way ahead.

To add insult to injury they even said something to the effect that fuel use (the only thing that could be a negative) wasn't an issue.

Even today its amazing that the only car left with big torque , live axles etc seems to be ignored whilst petrol heads for 80 something cents a liter - go figure?

The military hummer model is large but from the couple times Ive looked in the H3 civilian or whatever it is .... I would put it in a midsize category.

Mid-sized is no longer as it used to be , was that a prado was mid size , now a prado is bigger all round than what was a large 4x4 ,aka: an 80 series ,, get a good chuckle when people complain about the 'huge" 4x4 taking up road space blocking vision ect , new commodores + falcons are both bigger in width + length than an 80 series.

Axel. did I read correctly that you are off to live in Winton or Boulia ?

Interesting point Axel,

I read the other day that the Corolla is bigger than an EH Holden.

My GQ 3L Petrol (RB30) I bought in 92 weighed 1830 kg and yet the Terracan I bought in 2004 weighed 2030.

A VN Commondore tipped the scales at 1350, a current one is around 1800.

Changing times.

Jim.