Home » It’s Been A While, Let’s Talk About The Autopian! How Are You Feeling?

It’s Been A While, Let’s Talk About The Autopian! How Are You Feeling?

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We are coming up on two years of The Autopian, if you can even believe it. It’s been one hell of a ride and we’ve been making a lot of improvements (we hope) along the way. We’ve also learned a ton and grown to over 1,100 paying members, which is quite an achievement, especially when you consider that the average membership transaction is over $100 per person.

You may have noticed Lewin Day around here lately. He’s going to be a regular fixture on the website as he’s accepted a position as our Australian Bureau Chief, which is an important part of our infrastructure given our outsized proportion of Australian readers and members. We love Australia and Australia seems to love The Autopian. Beau even sent Lewin on a secret mission in Australia and I can’t wait to tell you about it.

Vidframe Min Top
Vidframe Min Bottom

It’s possible you haven’t noticed Peter Vieira, our new Editorial Production Manager, but you’ve seen the impact on the site. He’s been keeping the place going day-to-day, helping us get more posts up, and creating many of the images at the tops of posts that make this place stand out. He’s also the reason why our social media accounts are so hilarious and have such an Autopian voice. Jason’s working on a story introducing both that should run next week.

Please ask us anything or tell us anything. Complain about things! Chide me for not doing more work on the E39! I do have some specific questions, if you don’t mind:

  1. We are going to experiment with more weekend content starting tomorrow. What would you like to see on the weekends? Do you ever look at the site on the weekends? What would get you to look?
  2. What kind of content do you like to see on the site? What do you want to see more of?
  3. If you’re a member, what kind of content do you like best?
  4. If you’re not a member (join here!) what kind of content would get you to join?

Thank you for reading and thank you for hanging out here, it’s a magical place.

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Captain Muppet
Captain Muppet
3 months ago

The site has grown to the point where I don’t have time to read all the articles and comments any more, so weekend content is going to mean I’ll have to filter out stuff. I don’t read any other sites now.

I’ll always read Torch’s stuff (I bought his book! You should all buy his book!), DT’s crazy rust marathons and deep dives, Mercedes’ motorcycles stuff and I love Adrian’s design stuff not just because it’s informative and hilarious, but also because it’s genuinely changed my relationship with the crayon wielding stylists I work with. There’s nothing on here I won’t read, if I have the time.

I love the comments too. I don’t know how you’ve done it, but the comments are friendlier and more intelligent than I’ve seen anywhere else on the internet. Mostly. I comment because I want to join in, and I self-edit a lot to avoid lowering the tone. It’s great that the writers comment to, and the times I’ve had a reply have been really cool.

If I had money I’d give you money. If the site was going to fail I’d find money, so please be honest with how well it’s going.

Ron888
Ron888
3 months ago
Reply to  Captain Muppet

I’m curious what others think.I’ve pretty much always struggled to read everything but obviously i’m not the average.

Jack Trade
Jack Trade
3 months ago
Reply to  Ron888

I’m the same – there’s just so much worthwhile writing on topics that interest me it’s hard for me to keep up.

Esp the deep dives, which often take me a couple of reads to really understand what say Huibert is explaining (I’m not an engineer, so I’m a little slower on the uptake at times than many here, but I appreciate the patience/willingness to try to teach me) or appreciate exactly what Adrian is conveying about the hidden complexity of design that we behold everyday but may not fully understand.

Mpphoto
Mpphoto
3 months ago
Reply to  Ron888

Chiming in just in case it helps the powers that be at Autopian World Headquarters. I read maybe 1/3 to 1/2 of the content. A website can’t be everything to everyone, and there are some articles that don’t interest me. I used to only read The Autopian on the weekend (catching up with the articles from the past week), but lately I switched to checking the website every night. The content is that compelling, and it’s easier to read one or two or three articles nightly, than to end up with like 12 browser tabs open and spending 4 hours reading the articles and comments on Saturday. The commenters here are knowledgeable, entertaining, and kind, so it’s usually worth the time to go through the comments.

Bob Rolke
Bob Rolke
3 months ago
Reply to  Captain Muppet

I read 90% of the articles. I only read into the comments on 10-20% though.

Those are super accurate numbers. I used the same data source Torch used to calculate KiloSwanks

Bongo Friendee Harvey Park
Bongo Friendee Harvey Park
3 months ago

> it’s possible you haven’t noticed Peter Vieira

No way! His presence is appreciated.

> We are going to experiment with more weekend content starting tomorrow. What would you like to see on the weekends? Do you ever look at the site on the weekends? What would get you to look?

I do look at the site on weekends. Disco Rob’s stories were awesome. I understand he has more urgent constraints, but I’d love to read more of that stuff.

> What kind of content do you like to see on the site? What do you want to see more of?

Honestly all of it except campers/RV/overlanding articles. Not because the writers aren’t good (Mercedes is excellent). It just isn’t my thing. Similarly, non-car stuff (e.g. planes, bikes, tanks, etc) isn’t really desirable here except Torch’s, who somehow managed to make an Indian fembot in space story fit. But like The Drive has a bunch of war machinery articles, and Jill O’Pnick has articles about bicycles, and, well, no. Also videos can suck it.

Favorite content: eng deep dives, design deep dives, shitboxes, Torch, morning dump, Thomas, wrenching, DT, Bishop, SWG, weird vehicles, auto arcana, so much killer stuff. All the long-form pieces. Tycho’s pieces are always educational. Cats.

What I’m hoping we don’t see: commodity stuff every other site already covers ad nauseam, e.g. motorsports from a competitive point of view (idgaf which piggers are going all the way this year), or car reviews. Also hot rods are boring tyvm

But Autopianized commodity topics? Motorsports from a design or engineering perspective? Or long-term car reviews? (E.g. “what’s it like to daily a :some model: for 5 years?”) Yes please.

> If you’re not a member (join here!) what kind of content would get you to join?

Not yet because my discretionary income is sub-zero, but planning to sub when that changes. I don’t expect more content as part of the membership, it’s just to give y’all money.

Last edited 3 months ago by Bongo Friendee Harvey Park
STEPHEN WALTER GOSSIN
STEPHEN WALTER GOSSIN
3 months ago

Harvey, your presence is a gift. Thank you sincerely for your continued sharing of wit, kind words and support.

Bongo Friendee Harvey Park
Bongo Friendee Harvey Park
3 months ago

You’re too kind and I’m blushing.

David Tracy
David Tracy
3 months ago

Thank you everyone for your feedback, especially the many of you who clearly took a considerable amount of time to really put some thought into this. We are beyond grateful for your support!

Phantom Pedal Syndrome
Phantom Pedal Syndrome
3 months ago
Reply to  David Tracy

No love for those of us who clearly took no time whatsoever to care, put no thought into this? No consideration of anything but our own well being.

No gratitude for me eh?

Well that just stinks to high heaven.

Adrian Clarke
Adrian Clarke
3 months ago

This is The Autopian. No-one whole asses anything around here. Except me.

Last edited 3 months ago by Adrian Clarke
Lizardman in a human suit
Lizardman in a human suit
3 months ago
Reply to  Adrian Clarke

Including scorn. You don’t spare the full fledged death glare when it is warranted. Like normal people trying to talk to you.

Arrest-me Red
Arrest-me Red
3 months ago
Reply to  David Tracy

You put out content for us and listen, which is why do feedback.

Widgetsltd
Widgetsltd
3 months ago

Hey y’all. Vinyl member here. I would definitely read stuff posted on the weekends. Bring it on! What do I enjoy currently? I read almost everything if I have the time (but not so much the RV stuff). My favorites are the technical articles written by your crew of engineers and experts:
– DT’s detailed new product analyses
– DT’s wrenching sagas
– Huibert’s chassis stuff
– Any engineering content really
– SWG’s rescues and his unique writing style

Manuel Verissimo
Manuel Verissimo
3 months ago
Reply to  Widgetsltd

Hurray for engineering!

STEPHEN WALTER GOSSIN
STEPHEN WALTER GOSSIN
3 months ago
Reply to  Widgetsltd

Hey, thanks a million for the kind words! It truly does mean a lot. More wild rescue stories on the way, as long as they keep me around! Cheers.

Bob Rolke
Bob Rolke
3 months ago
  1. I do check on the weekends. I would be happy to see some motor sports coverage. Not that I want or expect recaps, but I miss stories like E Blackstock’s being a Marussia fan back on the lighting site. Hardigree’s LeMans story here was good too.
  2. I like the articles on design, engineering, shitbox showdown, and marketplace madness.
  3. I am a member. My favorite articles are Jason’s (tail light or otherwise) and I’ve really liked the Damn good design series.
BagoBoiling
BagoBoiling
3 months ago

I do check on the weekends but don’t usually expect anything new. Will be happy to see more.
Love the variety of content. Read the morning dump everyday. Anything taillight related is fantastic. David’s article about Jeep and Racine was great. Not in the camper market but I read those because I always find them interesting. The Bishop stuff is great too.
Love seeing you guys grow and add so many great people/writers to the mix. It’s what turned me into a member a few months back. Keep up the great work.

Bill
Bill
3 months ago

2 years already? It’s flown by. Congrats for making a success of it, and thank you!

Adrian Clarke
Adrian Clarke
3 months ago
Reply to  Bill

Yes 2 years. I don’t believe it either. It feels like 10.

Slower Louder
Slower Louder
3 months ago
Reply to  Adrian Clarke

“ One night in Paris is like a year in any other place. “ – 10cc

Manuel Verissimo
Manuel Verissimo
3 months ago
Reply to  Slower Louder

That’s because of the noise and smell of piss.

Bongo Friendee Harvey Park
Bongo Friendee Harvey Park
3 months ago
Reply to  Adrian Clarke

It looks like 20 on some of you

NebraskaStig
NebraskaStig
3 months ago

1. Excellent! I often times look for added content, but understand the previous bandwidth to make it happen. Knowing something will be posted will encourage me to look more frequently when I can. I do feel the weekend content should be host to Mercedes RV articles (I enjoy the articles, but not in the market and feel they come up way too frequently… even more than motorcycles, which seems odd. Vehicle site, not Travelers International IMO. Else, give us B&B reviews for driver’s weekends) Likely great weekend getaway fodder, just like racing news.
2. I love the obscure car/vehicle articles the best. Or really anything automotive adjacent that comes along. I think weekend material is best served to the extra long articles, history of a specific manufacturer (GM, Audi, history), change in automobile history (mergers, buyouts, engine design, unleaded gas) , or flash in the pan tech that was so forward thinking for the time, got relegated to the bin until tech caught up (fuel injection, air bags, crumple zones). Think long NPR articles or “the history of gasoline” that makes for indepth reading with all of the tangents and side stories.
3. Velour member baby! How about a history of upholstery?? I love the GM hit or miss, shit box showdown, holy grail the best, but understand nostalgia isn’t for the new generation of readers. I’m really enjoying the Tuesday trade in articles as they fill that void as well (rose tinted glasses).
4. I bought a friend a prescription for the holiday season so doing my part here 🙂

Starhawk
Starhawk
3 months ago

Loving what I see so far with no complaints… mostly!

I’d like a ‘free’ tier for memberships. Paywalls, especially /subscription/ paywalls, tend to make something distinctly unpleasant fly up my butt and burrow in, not least because I’m a nerd and I can only imagine all too well how the current trend of Subscription-a-lize Everything! is going to turn out for the little guy (doubly so because, as hobbyist-grade IT in a rural East Coast US town of ~10k, if you walk through my door with your Dell, it’s because you can’t /afford/ professional help in the first place!) but also because I’m formally disabled and on SSDI.

I have a number of mental issues, you see. Was born this way. It’s not one single thing, it’s kinda everything together in a concert of dysfunction and awful, if that makes sense… I also can’t get decent healthcare here.

But, the point is, money’s tight. I hate “being thrifty” and “being needy” just as much as anyone, but keep in mind that when you write out how your lowest-tier subscription is “for all the cheapskates out there”… I literally can’t afford that kind of luxury. I’m sitting here pinching pennies so hard I can hear Honest Abe jump and yelp so that I van get through the end of the month with food on my table and a bank balance not written in red ink, and somehow that’s a lot more stupid hard than it was a few years ago.

I’d gladly be a member and support all ya’ll, but if you have to put a price tag beside it, I’m out. I just don’t have the cash. I dearly wish I did, but wishes don’t pay my bills any more than “oh, I’ll pray for you” from the local grannies does.

Oh — and before I forget — my best to Jason and his recovery. That man’s a national treasure and I want to meet him someday.

Bongo Friendee Harvey Park
Bongo Friendee Harvey Park
3 months ago
Reply to  Starhawk

> I’d gladly be a member and support all ya’ll, but if you have to put a price tag beside it, I’m out.

I don’t understand this. Isn’t that called being a reader?

Starhawk
Starhawk
3 months ago

Fine. Fair enough.

But then also don’t be rude enough to call those who sign up at the “cloth” level as “cheapskates” or the like. Some of us genuinely live a life where we’re genuinely unable to afford an occasional Starbucks latte, and it’s not our fault.

I’d support you guys with paid stuff if I could. Believe me. It’s the attitude that bothers me, really, more than the fact that I can’t pay up for something like that. Too much of America still buys into the Reagan-era cr*p about so-called “welfare queens” and the like, and how it’s our fault for being poor because we don’t “pull ourselves up by our bootstraps” or whatever.

Truth is, the real world ain’t like that, and people who insist on thinking otherwise /really/ get under my skin, /fast/. It’s a blame-the-victim mentality, and it honestly gets in the way of people like me doing what we’re supposedly expected to do — get ourselves the H-E-double-hockesticks out of this kind of financial mess. The things I could tell you about that… but this isn’t the place, and I’ve soapboxed enough.

Adrian Clarke
Adrian Clarke
3 months ago
Reply to  Starhawk

It’s done in jest and with tongue firmly in cheek like most things around here. Believe me if there was any malice to it I’d be burning the place down from the inside. I come from a dirt poor family and personally know what’s it’s like to not know where the rent money is coming from next month. So we do understand.
That being said jokingly calling people cheapskates is a long way from accusing them of being welfare queens or saying people need to get better jobs, or indeed blaming them for their situations.

Mark Tucker
Mark Tucker
3 months ago
Reply to  Adrian Clarke

Oh, no, I don’t think there’s any malice intended at all, though I agree that calling someone a “cheapskate” for giving you money maybe isn’t the best sales tactic. But no one here would ever demean anyone for not being able to contribute.

I think of it kind of like PBS: Watch all the Sesame Street and This Old House you want, but sometimes during a John Denver concert, we might bug you to help us out, and entice you with a coffee mug and a Greatest Hits CD. If you can, awesome; if not, enjoy the concert anyway. (I mean, as much as anyone can enjoy John Denver.)

Jack Trade
Jack Trade
3 months ago
Reply to  Mark Tucker

I might pay extra for a livestream of a darkened room with various writers sitting on a tiered podium hunched over laptops answering comments while Torch and David extol the virtues of the programming.

“Here at autopian, we rely on members like you. Without your generous support, think of all the vehicles that would have been crushed by now. And would you really want to see Adrian wearing a suit and working as a bank manager? And the auction house already told Mark he’s not welcome as its goal is to sell cars to people, not pit them against each other in some kind of diabolical ‘Sophie’s Choice’ setup.”

Starhawk
Starhawk
3 months ago
Reply to  Mark Tucker

There’s only one John Denver song I can honestly say I *don’t* like — “Darcy Farrow”. I’m an unusually strong empath on top of everything else, and sad songs with tragic stories just hurt.

John Denver was a national treasure, though, in every sense of the word, and the world got noticeably dimmer and colder the day he died.

Go eat a homegrown tomato. It tastes like sunshine and the kind of stuff that’s in people with really wonderful hearts.

Starhawk
Starhawk
3 months ago
Reply to  Adrian Clarke

Remember how limited the medium is in which you work, please — and that not everyone has nearly the same wavelength, if you’ll pardon the horribly mixed metaphors here, that you might.

In the future I’ll try to remember to take it a bit less personally, despite how I’ve been learned by the world out there.

Bongo Friendee Harvey Park
Bongo Friendee Harvey Park
3 months ago
Reply to  Starhawk

Eh, it’s a joke.

Freelivin2713
Freelivin2713
3 months ago
Reply to  Starhawk

Luckily, most of the content is free…I only see like 1 or 2 articles a week that are member only (& you can still read the comments on those) and the things listed on each member level but most of the main content is free

Starhawk
Starhawk
3 months ago
Reply to  Freelivin2713

Also true, but beside the point.

R53forfun
R53forfun
3 months ago

Congrats to the whole crew on a fantastic two years! I’ve loved it so far and am happy to be a member.

Also, hell yeah, Lewin! Congrats mate. Nice to see ‘Straya punching above its weight on a global scale. Love the Aussie content (including Laurence’s, of course) and frankly I’m learning a lot.

-Signed, a Stateside Antipodean

Last edited 3 months ago by R53forfun
Shop-Teacher
Shop-Teacher
3 months ago

Definitely excited for more weekend stuff. I do check in on the weekends, because occasionally something gets posted. But usually there hasn’t been, and that makes me a sad panda. I’d love to see some more motorsports stuff (although F1 can kick rocks).

Jack Trade
Jack Trade
3 months ago
Reply to  Shop-Teacher

Yeah on F1. I was a casual viewer (mostly b/c it seems so disconnected with anything in the real automotive world that I’d experience) at best, but the creeping anti-Americanism, culminating in the Andretti Motorsports debacle, has really turned me off.

Thatmiataguy
Thatmiataguy
3 months ago

I’m a member here, and I feel like the site is doing great.

I really appreciate that there are little to no ads. Having ribbons and popups everywhere, having content being blocked by adds, and having all those scammy adds at the bottom of most news sites really cheapens the experience and I very much appreciate that you have not succumbed to it.One thing that isn’t working for me: the autoplay videos aren’t great. I’ll click on them if I want to watch them, and mostly I don’t. The video quality on some of those autoplay videos is a horrendous over-compressed pixelated mess, especially the “the Toyota FJ Bruiser has tank tracks” one (currently autoplaying on this page right now in fact). When instagram video looks better than what I’m seeing embeded in the site, it definitely kills the high-quality content vibe for me. Could we at least get a resolution adjustment button or something like Youtube has? I think the volume of content is perfectly fine; as it is, its more than I can keep up with. I don’t want you guys to spread yourselves too thin by doing weekend content.Speaking of, I think my biggest worry about this site is actually the authors. I worry that you guys are constantly operating at 110% and I’d hate to lose any of the great writers we have here due to burnout. I know that you all are trying to grow the site and make it better and more sustainable, but I think weekend content would be a mistake if adding it resulted in someone having to put their entire personal life on hold as a result.I selfishly want more David Tracy stories, so if it was up to me, I’d want him to cover fewer news items if it gave him more time to catch up on all the stories he’s been saying he’d write.
Keep up the great work!

Last edited 3 months ago by Thatmiataguy
Bongo Friendee Harvey Park
Bongo Friendee Harvey Park
3 months ago
Reply to  Thatmiataguy

> my biggest worry about this site is actually the authors. I worry that you guys are constantly operating at 110% and I’d hate to lose any of the great writers we have here due to burnout

Agreed. Mercedes and Thomas are writing thousands and thousands of words every day. DT commented on this post at midnight on a Friday. Y’all, take some time for yourselves.

Doctor Nine
Doctor Nine
3 months ago

1.) That sounds great. I read about the same on weekdays and weekends, unless I’m off working or riding though, so as far as I’m concerned, it’s ok already.

2.) I like the history and inner workings of weird vehicles the best, so do that stuff. You all can do it, because I’ve seen you do so. Each of you does it with a unique twist too. So don’t just make it one person’s job.

3.) I like pretty much everything you do. All of it. Mostly, because it’s YOU who write it. You all are fascinating people to simply listen to/read. We could be talking about straight cut vs. bevel gears, or the inherent weakness of the metal in early 1980’s JDM shitboxes, and that would be interesting to me. Even the arts stuff. Who are you reading; what are you listening to? It’s about making this a community. That’s what I like.

4.) N/A. I’ve been a member since blast off. But I’d bet most people who can afford to do so, and stay longer than a couple articles, already are doing some kind of membership.

Freelivin2713
Freelivin2713
3 months ago

Yes, I check the site on the weekends- usually catching up on articles or reading old ones. I’m fine w/ anything since I read it all. Every writer is great and my favorites are David and Mercedes. My favorite feature of all is Shitbox Showdown so big kudos to Mark. Great work to everyone…this place is so awesome and amazing!

Mark Tucker
Mark Tucker
3 months ago
Reply to  Freelivin2713

Cheers! Thanks for reading!

Bongo Friendee Harvey Park
Bongo Friendee Harvey Park
3 months ago
Reply to  Mark Tucker

You have a knack for picking them!

Danger Ranger
Danger Ranger
3 months ago
Reply to  Freelivin2713

I LOVE Shitbox showdown! Although I wish I had space for some of them!

CatMan
CatMan
3 months ago

Love everything about the site, even topics I’m not interested in somehow get to be must reads before the day is done. A huge shout out to Mark Tucker for the Shitbox Showdown each morning. I don’t even pretend that I’m working until I vote on the day’s offerings

Mark Tucker
Mark Tucker
3 months ago
Reply to  CatMan

Thank you! Wow, two mentions in a row. I guess I’m doing ok.

Silent But Deadly
Silent But Deadly
3 months ago

As an international reader (another damned Australian) but still a non-member then what would/might/may get me to fork over US$70 (AU$107.30) plus transaction fees is a more international flavour to the content of the site especially when it comes to the news and new model components but also the car culture. I get it that it’s an American site and all but we all know there’s more to life, car news and car culture than just North America. I mean even Lewin is often writing with an American voice which is not something I could imagine other contributors like Adrian or Lawrence doing…

Fourmotioneer
Fourmotioneer
3 months ago

Enjoy:
– DT writing about being DT
– Torch writing about carefree jaunts to the pornography outlet
– Biege you slept on pieces are great
– Grail pieces have good research
– Hundal pieces on what goes wrong are also great
– MH presence is great
– resistance to being ‘cool’
-UAW strike coverage was alright

Would like:
– piece on why all of the aftermarket fuel hoses for euro cars leak (3 leaks in last two years for me. Have emailed DT…)
– More Sergio Marchionne content. It’s only been 5 years. Mine for content. Mine it. I miss him
– A piece researching the safety of EV conversions. Not an alarmist piece, but it turns out that BEVs are engineered products and conversions are “good enough!”

Less of:
– the Toby Keith story was funny, made him look bad, but didn’t seem like the right time
– crazy Italian stereotype stuff. Or really any encouragement to generalize
-Ski-Klasse stuff seems a little aimless

Last edited 3 months ago by Fourmotioneer
FleetwoodBro
FleetwoodBro
3 months ago

I think you guys are doing great.

The engineering explainers have been excellent.

Adrian Clarke’s stuff is educational and entertaining even though I disagree with him about the E type.

The Tracy articles in which he tackles a difficult automotive task are always winners.

The Torchinsky articles are always surprising and funny.

Streeter’s stuff about RVs and buses is always enlightening even though I have less than zero interest in those things. I don’t want to drive anything with a toilet in it, but that’s my problem.

One topic I can’t get enough of (maybe I’m alone in this) would be “what went wrong?” explanatory articles on well known defects. A random example, blown head gaskets on Subarus. What exactly is wrong with these engines that causes them to do this? Were engineering decisions made that led to it? Or is there an inferior part that they can’t seem to get right? I find that stuff to be fascinating.

Groover
Groover
3 months ago
Reply to  FleetwoodBro

Dude that “What Went Wrong” idea is gold.
I’d read the hell out of that.

Bjorn A. Payne Diaz
Bjorn A. Payne Diaz
3 months ago

2 years?! God damn! I love it here. Hope you all tolerate my antics. At the end of the day, everyone just needs to read my screen name.

Danger Ranger
Danger Ranger
3 months ago

I love this site, even though I am only the base level member, but I love 99.9% of what I read here. I would LOVE to see more SWG content. I enjoy his writing style (and he’s definitely easy on the eyes) Also, is Rob gone? I’m really hoping one of my Beet of Fleaters can make it to a meetup someday. Now that DT is in Cali, I’m hoping Mercedes has one in Chicagoland. I’m in SW Michigan, so one of them should make it. Also, I’m digging Adrian’s content and comments lately. Thomas also with the new beige sleepers!

Last edited 3 months ago by Danger Ranger
Bongo Friendee Harvey Park
Bongo Friendee Harvey Park
3 months ago
Reply to  Danger Ranger

I had a comment exchange with Rob not long ago. I think he’s focusing on school first, which is a good idea. Also he bought another Disco.

Col Lingus
Col Lingus
3 months ago

Rob has a bad case of “fool me once.”

STEPHEN WALTER GOSSIN
STEPHEN WALTER GOSSIN
3 months ago
Reply to  Danger Ranger

I recently submitted a pitch to tell the story of the Chevy Tracker I rescued a couple months ago. If DT approves it, you’ll be seeing this guy back up on the site soon.

Hey, thanks sincerely for the very flattering and kind words!

The48thRonin
The48thRonin
3 months ago

This has less to do with content (I can’t think of anything else I’d like to read and am interested in the majority of what gets posted!) and more to do with the comments, but I’d like some kind of an edit button and a ‘flag for moderator review’ kinda button. Most of the time people are being normal but there’s a few people that are definitely not all there that kinda ruin things occasionally, which is a shame because most people leave really good comments here.

Phantom Pedal Syndrome
Phantom Pedal Syndrome
3 months ago
Reply to  The48thRonin

Sorry.

Col Lingus
Col Lingus
3 months ago
Reply to  The48thRonin

Comment mediation is censorship.
Some of us are either brain damaged, or pissed off at times.
Comments are like watching a dumb ass on TV. If you don’t like it, maybe change the channel?
No snark intended ok?

Bongo Friendee Harvey Park
Bongo Friendee Harvey Park
3 months ago
Reply to  Col Lingus

This is a privately owned publication and the owners are free to moderate and delete anything they want. It’s not really censorship.

I’ve reported a couple of posts that used truly hateful language. Some people can’t behave, and some are just irremediable assholes. There’s a place for moderations.

Col Lingus
Col Lingus
3 months ago

Good point. It’s a shame that we have to deal with such bullshit though.
And will admit that I have told a few others to fuck off before. Which may or may not have been appropriate to do.
But overall, it seems like we have a great bunch of people here.
And I truly appreciate that.
Words can be weapons. Or incitement to do wrong.

Last edited 3 months ago by Col Lingus
Phantom Pedal Syndrome
Phantom Pedal Syndrome
3 months ago
Reply to  Col Lingus

I’m working on it…
Trying to be more thoughtful,
less intrusive with my comments.

TBF: I rarely interject with comments on the more technical higher functioning brain articles.

I save my nonsense comments for the nonsensical articles, mostly.

Bongo Friendee Harvey Park
Bongo Friendee Harvey Park
3 months ago
Reply to  Col Lingus

Yeah, this is a good bunch… On the whole. As an analogy: yes, I can change the channel, but when I watch the cartoon network, I don’t want to see Daffy Duck getting railed. When you go to your favorite spot in nature, I imagine you don’t want to see graffiti or busted up cars strewn about, and someone saying “well you can go to a different park” isn’t really a good answer, right?

Col Lingus
Col Lingus
3 months ago

Agreed.

Abdominal Snoman
Abdominal Snoman
3 months ago

1 weekends, I’d most likely read 3 weekday’s worth of articles in those two days. During the week, you publish about as much I find time to consume.

2 content, I love what you guys do already. Don’t change. You don’t generally post articles here that I could read at some place like R&T or C&D, but generally go way deeper, or provide a humorous side. My favorites are the articles that dig deep into the financial reasoning behind some things (like the always excellent morning dump), how something is made (I doubt there’s a more thorough description of the new Tacoma anywhere on the internet), or how something works in a very detailed level (Huibert / superfastmatt articles come to mind), but I also love when things like the unfortunately named Lexus Texas get covered and mocked, or Jason chainsaws a lead acid battery, David’s _____ gets _____ and then _____ happens which is how he justified doing _____ of all things. I also really like Adrian’s and Bishop’s articles a lot and always learn at least one thing completely unrelated to the article I then spend an hour on. I realize that I’m a lot more geeky than an average human, but that seems to describe many people I see here commenting. No matter what though, do not post more content unless it’s quality content. If you guys are really passionate about something, it really comes through in the articles, but if you start churning out pieces that are effectively a review or article I could have read on any other site just reworded, over time that will cause people to not read the incredible article you wrote right after.

As for questions you didn’t ask, I agree with several people here that I’d like to see more motorsports coverage, but probably not in the way that they want. There’s so many places that are completely dedicated to F1 / Nascar / IMSA / Indy that it’s not really that realistic to think you’d rise to the top in terms of quality and commentary. Instead why not write about things that are more accessible to readers to participate in as a spectator / driver? Maybe “I took this 37 year old RV that had a hole in its roof to Road America for the IMSA feeder race last weekend, and learned how to make a replacement toilet out of fiberglass after the water leak structurally compromised the shelf full of chef boyardi next to the shower thanks to Mr. Hon Da, pit chief for the Acura team, and boy was the racing awesome”. I have tried a few times to do Hooptie-X thanks to Mercedes’ articles but the timing never worked out, but I likely would have never even looked into it if it weren’t for them. Maybe an autocross article of “I saved 1.3 seconds per lap by using these tires / doing this alignment, avoiding this common bad habit”, or a deep dive into “we tried to enter this lemons race, and here are all 79 ways that we failed”. (BTW, if some of you want to try out lemons in the Chicago area, we have more working race cars than we have drivers available, we like building the cars as much as we do racing them)

My main complaint though is I despise the AUTO-PLAY videos. Not that I dislike having videos available, but if you’re doing work that requires the GPU, your site becomes a “Danger, do not click” zone because it may crash that thing you’ve been working on for the last 4 hours / cause issues with that zoom / slack / teams call… They also don’t always play nicely with Linux which is all my workstations in the office, or when I’m not in the office what I x2go / citrix / vnc / ssh to which may need the video decoding blocks free in the GPU.

Bongo Friendee Harvey Park
Bongo Friendee Harvey Park
3 months ago

> Linux which is all my workstations in the office

Are you hiring?

Abdominal Snoman
Abdominal Snoman
3 months ago

You good at C++ or a really good network admin? If so pretty much instant yes.

Bongo Friendee Harvey Park
Bongo Friendee Harvey Park
3 months ago

The latter

ADDvanced
ADDvanced
3 months ago

1. Weekends are awesome for content! The most popular days on my yt channel are Sat/Sun, with Sunday having a clear lead over all other days. Lots of people online, and less at work! Do sundays for big articles and see what happens.

2.Adrian’s articles are fire, even if he’s wrong about the Jaaaag. Car design is placed on a pedestal, and it’s refreshing to hear a designer talk shit. Mercedes’s deep dives into history are just awesome, and it’s always stuff I haven’t heard of before. Torch’s obsession with taillamps and running lights is unmatched in human history, and I’m looking forward to some updates on getting those project vehicles back on the road. David…. Imma be honest. I miss Detroit David. He was always up to no good, taking on the most idiotic projects one can think of, and pulling it off.

Not a member, but huge supporter and sharer of articles. Just hard to spare some change at the moment.

Professor Chorls
Professor Chorls
3 months ago

oh my god i really owe you guys the conclusion of the turbo van swap and how it almost got me evicted

Morgan van Humbeck
Morgan van Humbeck
3 months ago

In response to the last two questions: I periodically message various people at Autopian and post here that I have a history in online fundraising and, by some metrics, am literally the number one guy on earth. And I would love to help build towards something inconceivably rad. Like buying that race track from a few months ago

In any case, I’ve just got my dream job working for Brave Wilderness. In four months, once I’ve got another multi-million dollar fundraiser on my resume, I’m gonna bug you guys again

May the rust stay at bay, the tail lights remain bright, and the colour return to our highways

All love and blessings

Last edited 3 months ago by Morgan van Humbeck
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