Does it add a lot to the story? Also, what tests do you like the best and in what order do you find them "valuable"?

Braking
Skidpad
Drag Strip
Cones  

I love track tests.  They are the best way to truly show how well the cars have been scienced out.  

track test are good to a point the owner isnt gonna put 50,000 in a car and race it at the track unles it wan intended to do just that ah.. track test ..motor trend&
road and track  do that  

I like the track tests. It proves how hard it is to make a car really perform and I admire the owners for doing it.

I'm a drag racer at heart..so cornering and braking don't mean as much. Still cool to see though.

JIM  

Track tests are great to see, especially when it's an older car made to outperform a new ride tested by "Motor Trend" or the like.  It's easy to make them pretty, the real time is making them perform.  I like the idea of all aspects as well, why put an aluminum headed stroker and tubular control arms and coil overs and big brakes just to look pretty?  To each his/her own, but to me it's a waste of engineering..  The proof is out there that a very expensive pile of parts does not make a successful race car..  So lets see what it takes to make one work.  Can the factory stuff work with tweaking?  What does each chassis respond to?  How much do they really weigh, both total and corner weights, how much tire and at what offset will fit?  Keep the articles coming!

Jim  

You mentioned the wheel off-set. Some other people have mentioned that too. Do you think if we spec-out wheel off-set in our car features, people will buy something other than ARE Torque-Thrust IIs?  

Only if wheel manufacturers come out with a wheel that looks as good on so many different cars and doesn't cost twice as much, and they offer it in popular 15, 17 and 18" sizes with a decent custom offset program...

I put them on my car because I couldn't get the "proper" wheels for a price anywhere near the TTII's, and they do look nice when maintained.

Remember when you couldn't throw a stone without hitting an original Cragar SS, or later an SS/T.?

Personally, I know I could fit a 325/50 on the back of my car with the perfect offset 15x10 wheel, but I'd rather someone else go through all the trial and error..

Even using the available rig for verifying offset, it won't tell you how much the axle moves side to side under daily or performance driving, or how much of the fender needs trimmed or the inner wheel well needs massaged and where.  Those things you just find out the hard way.

Jim W  

You're talking about the Percy's WheelRite. Yes, it does tell you how much room you've got in your inner fenderwell and if your wheelwells need trimming. If your axle's moving sideways more than a small increment, you have bigger problems than wheel fitment. We're planning a story on this cool inexpensive tool.  

Between bushing flex and axle housing flex, under the pressure of sticky tires you can get 1/4 to 1/2" total movement at the top of the tire with a stock type suspension on an older car, and the clearances change when going through the full articulation of the axle as well (such one side mostly compressed then the other following suit versus straight up and down cycling).  In the front you can count on less variance due to suspension design, but I know a car with a track rod locating the LCA can pull the wheel back 1/4" or more under hard braking as well.  Again, this is more for the 60's, 70's live axle, rubber bushing crowd than anything else..  I may be totally off base about the WheelRite's capabilities, so I will very much look forward to the article.

Jim W  

Okay, 1/4 to 1/2 inch. I don't consider that a huge amount. I've seen absolutely silly wheel fitments on cars where they've been pulled too far inside the wheel well or much too conservative a width was used. I think most people would go with a wider or taller wheel if they knew it would fit safely. A $100 investment to gaurantee a pleasing fit seems worth it, considering how much people spend on wheels and tires.  

Yes. All performance info is awesome!

What good us a $50,000 car if it cannot show it does at least one thing well???  

Yes I think a thrashing should be done on feature cars. If a car has a 800 blown whatever and won't race it or spin the tires why feature that. I can see that in Hot Rod.  

I would love to know what offset of rim to put 315/35/17's on the back of a second gen TA. So I think the rim specs should be included in the spec sheet.  

The person who would know that is one of our top ad sales guys, by the name of John Barkley. You can email him at john.barkley@primedia.com  

I really don't feel trailer queens belong in Hot Rodding. Given' the title one would expect performance, a car that can't back up it's looks and spec sheet doesn't belong. Not based on specific performance numbers, but on the fact the car is actually used.