WSJ: what a bunch of party poopers

Thanks for the warning. It confirms the wisdom of not subscribing.

Bob Wilson

 

As I wrote in my post, I used to subscribe to the WSJ, but stopped when the wall between News and Editorial fell. Over the last year or so the Editorial Board began interfering with, and killing storires that didn't line up with the Editorial Board's personal views, many of the WSJ's better reporters wound up quitting in disgust, and so did I. They're sadly no longer a trustworthy paper. Save your money for a better source of news. A reputation takes years to establish, and only hours to fall.

 

Again, there's not even a signature on that article.

 

I.e. standard Rupert Murdoch M.O.?

 

I'm not sure if Mendel is referring to the Wall Street Journal review, but it most definitely does have a full by-line. The review is the 1/6/18 installment of the WSJ's regular Saturday automotive column by writer Dan Neil.

The WSJ provides the following bio:

Dan Neil is the author of the “Rumble Seat” column which runs Saturdays in The Wall Street Journal. Previously, Mr. Neil was the auto columnist for the Los Angeles Times from 2003 to 2010. He also wrote the syndicated column “800 Words,” a column about pop culture that was syndicated by Tribune media in 2005 and ran until it was discontinued in 2008.

Mr. Neil began his professional writing career with the Spectator, a local free weekly, and began working for The News & Observer of Raleigh, N.C., as a copy editor in 1989. In 1991 he began the paper’s weekly automotive advertising section.

In 1994 he was recruited by AutoWeek magazine as a senior contributing editor and in 1995 he began contributing to The New York Times which continued until 2003. He went to work as a contributing editor at Car and Driver.

In 2004 he won the Pulitzer Prize for criticism for his column and to date, is the only car columnist ever to win a Pulitzer. In awarding Mr. Neil, the Pulitzer board praised his “one-of-a-kind reviews of automobiles, blending technical expertise with offbeat humor and astute cultural criticism.”

In addition to winning the Pulitzer Prize, Mr. Neil also won the Ken Purdy Award for Excellence in Automotive Journalism, from the International Motor Press Association, in 2001. He also was selected for Houghton Mifflin’s Best American Sports Writing, 2002.

Mr. Neil received a B.A. degree in Creative Writing from East Carolina University and an M.A. in English Literature from North Carolina State University. He is married and has twin daughters and a son.
​

The description of his writing as a blend of "offbeat humor and astute cultural criticism" may provide some perspective on the nature of this particular Prius Prime review.

By definition, humor and cultural criticism are subjective. Rather than getting frustrated and upset by this column, take it as purely an entertaining opinion piece, short on facts and devoid of rational analysis. Such is the style of our era.

 

If I had said the same thing, but with women, I would be labeled as sexist.

 

My point is that neither comment is appropriate for PriusChat, IMHO.

 

I have owned other cars that have gotten bad reviews, the first being my first new car.
It was a 1977 Mercury Cougar XR7 with the optional 400 CI engine. They slammed Ford for not making if
smaller and more fuel efficient.

My second is my 1999 Plymouth Prowler. All Prowlers have V6 engines and it was slammed for not having a V8.
The V6 that year put out about the same HP as Chryslers V8 aND was lighter. The Prowler was right in line with Mustang and Camarro HP but only weighed 2800 lbs. Most people don't know the history of the development of the Prowler being a test bed experimenting with aluminum. Aluminum engine, aluminum frame, body and even the rear brake rotors were an aluminum alloy.

 

Huh, someone rattled the bars?

 

I never said that Dan Neil's review was particularly well thought out or well written; just that it should be viewed as something other than a logical presentation and analysis of the vehicle.

At least it's not one of those fairy-tale fluff pieces which many newspapers run in the section with the automobile dealers' ads. Those are written to sing the praises of every vehicle sold by a paying advertiser.

A contrast to these two extremes is Jason Torchinsky's review of the Prius Prime published in Gizmodo's Jalopnik last October. Torchinsky does not avoid lamenting the sedate handling of the Prime:

"I took the Prime on some lovely, winding mountain roads . . . I put my sunglasses on and gripped the rational, adequate wheel. I stomped on the go-pedal, and, since I was in EV mode, was rewarded with a hum so mild, so unobtrusive, it made me gasp in basic acknowledgement. As I entered the first turn at a dizzying 28 mph, I felt those hard, efficiency tires not really grip, and . . . felt the incredible lack of almost anything through the wheel.

"This was a car that screams 'I’m currently in motion!' as you drive. I watched my speed climb from 34 to 36 to 44 to a dizzying 47 MPH as I came into a long, gradual bend; I let my body really feel the slight sensation of motion and hear the quiet drone of the A/C."
​

Torchinsky goes on to note:

"For most of the people who want this car, it drives just fine. It doesn’t care about being exciting and visceral to drive, because it does something else well. . . You know what that something else is: using less gas. . . This is the main technical job of the Prius Prime, and it does that job very well."​

Elsewhere within the review he criticizes the aesthetics of the car, dislikes the failure of the shift knob to provide indication of what gear the car is in, and complains about the rear window obstruction caused by the spoiler.

But he also does a good job of explaining the car and the apparent reasoning behind its design and engineering. His overall tone is good-natured and not vindictive.

If you want to read this review, titled "2017 Toyota Prius Prime: A High-Tech Pretend Tesla That Gets Incredible Mileage", it's available on the Jalopnik website here:

The 2017 Toyota Prius Prime Is A High-Tech Pretend Tesla That Gets Incredible Mileage

It's a good antidote to Dan Neil's style of commentary.


[note: I have no idea why the above link originally appeared as the entire HTML of the cited article. I have attempted to "edit" the original post and it now appears to be a normal link as intended. My apologies for any inconvenience this may have caused. ]

 

Now THAT'S a link.

 

Hopefully not another big link, but I really like the "we need a name for this" link in the Jalopnik article, discussing the strange-strange trend in the last 5 years or so, to big/bold/outlandish/absurd styling. This sorta thing:



Anyway, I'll try posting a link to that, hopefully not another tome:

this

(me fix )

 

He is the Master of HYPROMILING: how can I get the worst possible mileage from a fuel efficient car: 1) 500 lbs of bricks in the trunk 2) Floor it at every start 3) Climb Pike's Peak with bald tires, in winter. That's a start!
As they say, "Opinions are like ...holes, everyone's got one!!"

Posted via the PriusChat mobile app.

 

All you do is copy & paste the article title

We Need A Name For Whatever This Is

Select this icon



Copy & paste the link in the URL dialog box.

 

Neighbor!! The WSJ is owned by Rupert "Lucifer" Murdoch! You can't expect a responsible, balanced, pro-environment stance from that crooked, oil soaked corner! They HATE Primes and all responsible EV cars!! "You will buy HUGE Lumberwagons, and Land Barges, to gorge on all the oil in the world, and you vill LOVE it, jawvohl, mein leadah!!" I think that's probably Murdoch's Morning Blessing! But, alas, I have no opinions

Posted via the PriusChat mobile app.

 

I agree but not sure about this last technique. If the surface is sufficiently slippery, it should take less power to spin the tire than to actually move the entire car, and since the odometer will measure the distance the tire spins, you may actually get a better MPG result this way

 

I think there was a transient problem because I had the same difficulty with the link appearing as the entire html article. Or it may have something to do with how PriusChat interacts with the Jalopnik web site. Or maybe you and I both decided to implement the same "human error".

Anyway, I think the PriusChat moderators can fix it, or you can do what I did and go in yourself and delete all the unwanted stuff:



I'm not sure how long you have to edit your own posts but it's at least a few hours. After that, just like your 7th grade teacher warned you, they become part of your permanent record.

 

Yeah I've needed the edit button once or twice...