New Hybrid Cars Road Tests Seem Too Opinionated

By: Rob Adams
Staff Writer
Published: Jun 13, 2009

New Hybrid Cars may look similar in price and shape, but the vehicles are competing in the same fuel efficient market.

It is amazing that most car magazines and auto sites compare different new hybrid cars when conducting a review. This only leads to more confusion because the typical buyer for new cars already has an idea on what they want. They are searching the Internet for facts and information about each vehicle.

For example, most reviewers who report a road test on the 2010 Honda Insight will always pitch the 2010 Toyota Prius somewhere in their article. Moreover, most reviewers will run a comparison between the two new hybrid cars which leads the reader into more confusion. The vehicles do have similar profiles and shape, but that's because they are competing in the same market and are after the same consumer.

When we conduct a review, you will notice that we do not mention another hybrid car except the one we are reporting. We do this because it's not fair to the automaker and certainly not for the reader. I am not saying that we are perfect, and we do make mistakes, but the point I am trying to make is that our job is to provide information about the automobile for the reader.

I feel that when a trusted auto Web site or magazine tries to run a new hybrid car comparison during their one review, they are basically telling the reader, "You don't know anything about this car, I was in it, you were not. I have to force my opinions because I know-it-all." Consumers are not stupid, and that's one area where I feel most reviewers lack. If you're going to write a review and provide information about a vehicle, then do it without comparing it to some other brand.

For example, we know that most people who come to our site already know most of the differences between hybrid brands and automakers. They probably typed a keyword phrase in the search engines to read more information about a particular new vehicle. I am most certain that they did not type something like "2010 Honda Insight vs 2010 Toyota Prius."

One of the exciting things we are about to do is a live cam review. We have one automaker lined up already to test-drive one of their new cars for two weeks while streaming live video. This means you will be able to view the live cam and watch our hybrid driving.

We could be driving on the highway and talking about the mileage of the new hybrid vehicle, or better yet, driving in the city and unveiling a road test that is more in-depth on video than in writing. At the end of the two weeks, we will provide several snippets of the videos and a full review which might take several pages. For each page, there will be a set of videos explaining our different driving conditions.

We should never lose focus on our reporting nor should we force our own opinions about new cars. The reader is only looking for the facts and only the details on a new hybrid. In the meantime, we will continue to write our articles in the same manner as always, providing information to the reader, as it's our purpose and our job.