If you've got the new May 2005 issue in your hands, please take a minute to go vote for what you think of it. Use the following link, and please make sure to press the "More Polls" button to get to all the questions (there's more than one).

http://carcraft.com/newsstand/116_cc_polls/

DF

Dave, it's great to have you back.  Jeff did an alright job I guess (Chevy craft), but the true lo-buck flavor of the magazine diminished.  I'm not really sure about the 'new' look of Car Craft, but if you can make it what it was before  you left it will again be my magazine of choice (Mopar Action is the only other magazine as well put together as Car Craft once was).  Welcome back.

You suggest the mag is all new -- and it does look a little different-- but

WHERE ARE THE V8 TURBOS? 

Come on!  JUST DO IT!

Do a home-engineered turbo build-up on a NON-SBC V8.

Back-2-Back:  Blow-through carb vs. megasquirt or SDS or . . . .

Show scrounging turbos at the junkyard.

Tell about used/rebuilt light truck turbos (Holsets on Cummins Dodges, Garretts on PowerStroke Fords, IHIs on Isuzu-GMs . . . .) for use on huge gasoline V8s.

Buy some of those cheap, imported clone turbos on eBay (Master Power, XSPower) (or get eBay to comp you more freebees)

HAIRDRY a cheap BIG-BLOCK (Ford, MoPar, Olds, Buick . . . something other than a belly-button, me-too, GMPP crate motor.  Check that--we'd even take a sick turbo power how-to on (yawn) yet another GMPP credit-card-crafter slug.  (Some of us are so turbo-tech-starved we'd even go nuts over a build-up on Steve M's "leaning tower of power" MoPar!)

Flow JY intercoolers (PowerStroke, etc) and compare them to Spearcos. 

Blow the lid off  N2O and turbo boost. (Squeeze--it's not just for huge, antique, power-hogging roots blowers anymore)

Dyno an alcohol-enriched turbo V8.

Update CC's low-buck water injection how-to and compare it to other systems available.

Show what happens when we (real AMERICAN Car Crafters) run high compression ratios with turbocharging, like the baggy-pants import "tuners" brag about in their "street" Hondas and Supras.

Dyno the difference between built turbo headers and iron manifolds on a real, American V8.

Not enough space? Just take the pages wasted on hotties-in-T-shirts (can't remember what the new "fashion show" is called . . . "Off Their Back" or something) and run some TURBO TECH FOR AMERICAN V8s!  

ive read every carcraft  back to 1968[my dad subscribed since hewas 18]i like the new look alot stand apart from the unwashed masses! love the amc and other odd stuff too[im a ford guy] but know thy enemy! my wife has a 99 ls1 6sp ta but between payment and insurance no money= no mods. lets keep the gen111 frenzy to a minimum please because hello ford still builds alot of rwd v8 stuff. thanks  

I definatly like it. and BTW, thank for putting my pic in the mag. Its just that much more fun to read, plus it gives me some braggin rights at school....  

Toally diggin' the new look as well as the shift away from the Gen III's, and more towards left field stuff like AMC's and Disco Novas.  Especially if that Newport(New Yorker?) is any indication.  Beaters ahoy!  I also like the background deisgn, as I was kind  tired of getting snowblind while trying to read Straight Scoop.  And the little tidbits of useless info wedged into the articles?  Greatness.  It's like a Sergio Aaragones sketch for gearheads.  The only thing I don't care for is "Car Craft" in boldface every time the words show up.  It seems a bit self-gratifying, and not in a good way.  I thought you were trying to be different from HOT ROD.(See how annoying that can get?)  If I wanted to be looked down upon while reading a car mag, I'd read Motor Trend.

Edited 3/31/2005 3:17 am by bear_to_go

I subscribe to over 20 different car/truck magazines, so I kind of like it when they remind me which one I'm reading . . . .

"If I wanted to be looked down upon while reading a car mag, I'd read Motor Trend."

BTW, I'd never waste any money on the "general interest/factory stock" mags (e.g. Motor Trend, [Import] Car & Driver, "Rodent Track," Automobile, Popular Mechanics).

Their "mainstream" elitist bias against owner-modified automobiles is simply too depressing.  Cars in these magazines are "no-tampering-allowed black boxes," leased from dealers and occasionally "tuned"  by expensive,  reputable or factory-authorized "experts."  Anything more than about three years old is dangerously obsolete and dated. "Serious" performance starts at over $50,000 and ends somewhere around the 12s in the quarter.  What a crock!  

Freiburger lies!. I read the editorials for the last few months and thought we had a advocate in charge. Now we get "On the Rack". Oh good. Now I understand that clothes make my car go faster.  Maybe next month there will be a tech article about chrome exhaust tips and after that one about putting a dagger handle on my dip stick.  Maybe I'll launch better with a sassy new antenna. Hey guys, buy a vovel and get a clue. Stay with your core readership. Tell people how to make power, put it down, and not break. I know you get tired of writing a 'how to index a cam' article every 6 months. New guys are coming along all the time. They need to know this stuff.  Ya, have fun with the text and the "in and out" list but stick with V8 rear drive American iron.  That's the ONLY reason I subscribe.  

I thought the chicks were cute, but a waste of valuable space in the magazine.  I'd rather see more tech than more "Ts and As." (not that I have ANYTHING against Early Fords . . . .) 

Of course,   I'm decades removed from the teenage testosterone storm, so what do I  know anymore about whether "sex sells" magazines . . .

I think the new look is great!I always loved this magazine because of the fact that they show cars that are built to drive and enjoy not just to look at.I'm glad that hot rod and phr have taken over the pro touring stuff car crafting to me is exactly what was in this months issue.The disco nova rules and the paint article sure beat hot rods paint and body(although i dont know why they even called it that).The readers rides and fun articles let me feel that I m not the only one that should consider professional help for my sickness.The info on the newer stuff is just enough to keep you up on what is going on.I personally LIKE seeing some decent looking women in car magazines.What is one of the main reasons most guys had cool cars?(to help get some looks from the ladies)why not put a few tasteful pics in ?Love all the drag testing you can fit in the mag(should be mandatory for feature cars , witnessed too, not just a buddies time slip)Great idea to bring back the coverage of cruises and race nights.One thing though If you turn the rambler into a rally car you'll lose a reader for life.KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK.  

I voted.

I was about to not renew my subscription when I read that The Great and Wonderful Mr. Freiburger was back on board.  So I renewed, I'd hate to miss all the Duster and Station Wagon coverage!

As far as the Violent Valiant, make it just that.  You'd be insane not to do something with it.  I love the oddball Mopars- so ugly they're cool! Hmm, or you could just give it to me...

-Laurie

Can't find the "more polls' link, maybe I'm an idiot.   Love the new mag, it's fresh.  I like the subliminal hints, the different rides, and seeing the people who put this thing together.  It  connects me to the people who I keep close to my crapper.  Keep it up.   James

Love the new look as well will be subscribing in my wifes name soon,  Ive been reading CC wor a very long time now, Back when Cheap Streat Chevelle was getting floor pans I bought my Chevelle cause I thoought I could keep up well that was dreaming but you guys rule Please don't give any more coverage to things like that ugly a*& orange crush Camaro and all the other over priced stuff, there are places for things like that in other mags.  Couple of women never hurt so long as its not 80's Easy rider style where there daped all over stuff and you cant see the mods.  I know there heavy but late 40's stuff rocks, lead sleds etc..  Couple of turbos Desotos Studes a Henry J or to odd balls from the sixties  a truck or to maybe a few extra pages I mean Modified is thick and it's just a comercial covered in models with some nopi and d1 action.  I guess I'm just saying make it thicker and keep it diverse.  Great job on one of very few down to earth mags,  Maybe you guys could share the low buck challange thing with GRM and get rid of the whole concours or looks part.