Quote:
Originally Posted by JohnnyBeagle
I love how this forum gets upset if anyone says anything other than complete praise for whatever BMW model they're talking about. Matt from Obsessed Garage got hounded for saying the G80 M3 he had was too digital and that he hated it and was selling it because it just wasn't doing it for him. Jason here says much of the same - its an isolated experience, the ride is bad, id8 sucks, and it lost much of the charm the M2 was known for in exchange for a lot of the technical prowess the M3/4 have.
Anyone who has driven a 718 Cayman, a Miata, a GR86, or a 911 and compare it to a G80 can tell Jason isn't pulling this out of his ass. There's a certain amount of isolated feel the latest CLAR platform BMWs have that take away a lot of the fun factor compared to those cars listed. If that doesn't bother you, great, you're getting a fantastic car with a tremendous amount of performance capabilities and a nice, luxury experience inside. If you pay attention to Jason's other reviews, he's all about the driving experience, which is a hard to qualify metric. It's the human experience quotient he is excited about - the steering feel, shifter feel, the rush of excitement from the engine sound and vibrations it provides etc. It's not just Jason, look up youtube videos of Chris Harris talking about the new Civic Type R - a much slower car than the G87 and how much he sings its praises for the experience and fun factor it provides. Fun and speed are related to a point, but on the street the fun factor is more important for many vs. sheer performance numbers and speed.
I don't think Jason's personal fleet of fun shitboxes shows an inherent bias here. The man has driven thousands of press cars spanning decades and when you have a new press car every week, you don't actually need your own modern car, you can collect all sorts of weird project cars and have fun with them. His reviews for pretty much every modern vehicle are genuine and honest.
Vehicle specific forums have fallen into the same tribalism we see in politics, sports etc. Hop on Rennlist and the Porsche owners are sniffing their own farts and look down on other brands while debating the merits of Speed Yellow stitching over Racing Yellow stitching. Swing on by to Corvette Forums and they're posting about how good the C8 is in their matching leather jackets. Here, people, including those that have never even sat in or driven the model they're talking about, are ready to torch top tier automotive content creators like Cammisa and Throttle House because they said mean things about the latest BMW.
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I can't get over the first paragraph - the ride is bad?! Haha
I don't disagree with what you're saying, but it's Cammisa's myopic view that is so undigestible, and rightly critiqued. For the exact reasons you stated, his opinion really doesn't mean jack for the average guy looking for a new car with a warranty because he has family and a job. His stance is geared toward retired dudes, or exceedingly rich dudes who have 10 car garages.
It's just plain out of touch. And this is why people who agree with my take read and take to heart reviews from Automotive Journalists like Motortrend, Motorweek, CarandDriver, etc. They still maintain some "Everyman" view that helps to put relatable context behind the experience.
I wonder how reliable Jason's shitboxes are? Who has the time to get their car serviced every month times 10 cars? Or wonder if it'll even start 1hr before a meeting across town? Here's the answer, less than 1%.
Anyway, yeah, forums baby. Love it.