Good car websites?

[Station]

I used to like Jalopnik before it went shite with all the NASCAR, General American rubbish and stuff not related to cars. Sniffpetrol isn't interesting to me, and AROnline was awesome, but no longer has anything new.

There are a few I've found like Petrolblog which is promising but occasionally is just updates about the reviewers personal car fleet.

 

Are there any more decent ones that have flown under my radar?

[fred]

None for me, Retro rides is slowly dying (IMHO) sorry chaps , full of hipsters and well ......

Sadly I think most car forums are going the way of FB  

Unless there is something out there I have missed

[warren t claim]

Try Piston heads, it's sort of autoshite for rich people.

[vulgalour]

Forums are cyclical.  You start with a set up that works really well, info is shared, a few like-minded folk come in and share good stuff and it grows until you attract a wider readership.  Then things start to go a bit pear shaped.  Rules are needed, people start asking for more off-topic stuff, arguments, politics, religion...  Before you know where you are the original focus of the forum is lost but you're too popular to go under and the forum becomes something else.  People move off, a new forum begins, it starts over.

 

At the moment Autoshite is in that awkward growing stage, still finding out what its becoming where Retro Rides has been through it and is now settling out to try and figure out to whom exactly its catering.  The good content is still there, but the ones that may have encouraged you to sign up have in many cases wandered off to do other things and don't contribute anymore.

 

New car forums don't seem to be appearing.  People use online media differently now so you get shorter lived Twitter accounts and Facebook pages and that sort of thing.  I'm not sure where it's going to end up but forums are certainly something of a dinosaur these days.  I like them because they deliver what I want in a way I want it and I can share stuff in a way I want to share it so I stick around but many people don't have the patience (they lie and say they don't have the time) to get out what they put in.

 

So... in short, I don't know of any other good car forums you can try out that are just an enthusiast network or whatever.

[Parky]

Some one make forums are decent, I particularly like Mini2.com and the Fiat forum is decent too but apart from this place and Aronline I can't think of anything else worth looking at.

 

Apart from the brilliant Astra thread on detailing world!

[Junkman]

[cort16]

Social media is starting to kill websites the same way it did print. Websites just seem to be there to serve stories on Social media.

 

Piston heads has some great content if you stay off the moors (general gassing). I was reading a great thread the other day about a guy fitting an Audi 2.7 turbo engine to his Porsche Boxster.

[Station]

Not forums, I meant blogs.

[tooSavvy]

Well... I drive 'newish' $hite <as in, it was as soon as it left the dealer forecourt> Currently considering doing it again with DahhChaa <old Renault $hite.. but a bit 'emperors', for some inexplicable reason - LADA was always $hite?>

 

Probably in the wrong forum arena... more like, err, S&M

 

I LUV A$

 

 

TS

[Timewaster]

What happened to Pogs breakaway forum?

 

I think there were a few dummy spitters that tried to start up rival forums

[r.welfare]

The Truth About Cars and Curbside Classic are good coverers of the American automotive scene.

[garbaldy]

Not forums, I meant blogs.

I only do forums and if someone posts a link to a blog that to me is like going In to quickfit standing at the door and sending customers down the road to you back street shed,

Eventually the forum will die as it then becomes an advertisement for blogs with no content.

[JohnDeere]

The Truth About Cars and Curbside Classic are good coverers of the American automotive scene.

I'll second TTAC ... usually a good read - mix of U.S. moderns and a bit of shite. Their junkyard finds are always interesting. I also like model-specific forums. AR Online still has a few good updates, but not so often - that was the site that first led me to Autoshite.

[cort16]

if you want geek out over the inner workings of the US car industry this website is good, else it isn't

 

 

http://www.thedetroitbureau.com

[dieselnutjob]

The good content is still there, but the ones that may have encouraged you to sign up have in many cases wandered off to do other things and don't contribute anymore

 

 

where have they gone?

[Stanky]

Not blog or forum related, but I've found carfolio.com has a lot of very useful statistical data about a huge range of cars. Often found it useful for odd things like oil capacities and things.

 

Its got quite a bit of info even for obscure makes and models.

[Sigmund Fraud]

What happened to Pogs breakaway forum?

 

I think there were a few dummy spitters that tried to start up rival forums

 

MS is still around and as horrible* as ever. I make sure I check it a couple of times a year, which is enough to keep up to date with new content.

[Sheefag]

http://doncasternow.co.uk/forum/ is quite friendly.

 

[nacho man]

My mate is starting a podcast if any one wants a listen, he goes for a drive and chat with someone,1st episode has tiff needell in it.

 

Also the 2nd episode involves a 500 xj6 and the 3rd a austin trails car.

 

Worth a listen

 

http://www.podcasts.com/the-motor-mouthing-podcast-91c0708b6

[RayMK]

Practical Classics forum was good a few of years ago, with marathon restorations and loopy engine swaps providing information and entertainment.  Then, along came one or two strange know it all characters who seemed to kill people's enthusiasm to post.

 

Not a blog or forum, but Jay Leno's Garage on youtube is full of interest (for me).

[Felly Magic]

I watch Eric The Car Guy on youtube too, his 'fixing it forward' is a bit similar to car sausage, but the owner knows about it, it's American, but he did one series on doing up an utterly fucked Ford Contour V6, basically a Yankeefied Mk2 Mondongo

[quicksilver]

Autocade (http://autocade.net/index.php/Main_Page) is good as a sort of Wikipedia for cars. I've found all sorts of weird and wonderful things from far-flung corners of the world that I never knew about by using the 'random page' function.

[Asimo]

http://ateupwithmotor.com/          Good car history articles most, but not all, American models.

 

http://www.macsmotorcitygarage.com    Like a good car magazine.

 

http://www.cinecars.nl/en/         Dutch site, much in English. Many really well done videos.

[cort16]

bringatrailer is good

 

these are currently on the front page

 

 

 

http://bringatrailer.com

[xtriple]

Australian Rolls Royce forum! Seriously, real great bunch on there and know EVERYTHING there is to know about old RRs and B. In fact, loads of other dedicated websites link to them for the knowledge base. Also seem to be proper enthusiasts rather than owners with money and get their hands dirty.

 

Pistonheads is okay but EveRY thread will result in an argument eventually which will result in the thread being locked. There are quite a lot of knowledgeable, nice people on there but there are also quite a number who just want to argue the toss with anything said. Wankers...

 

MX5Nutz seems okay...ish. Some really good people but some right twats as well.

 

But that's it for me. One make forums are great for knowledge and advice and so I do frequent them but general forums, only this one and PH and I rarely post anything over there.

[406V6]

If you like Vauxhalls then Vauxpedia is the dogs doo-dahs. A bit like Aronline but with more depth on the older models and some biting commentary.

[solid61]

Have to agree about vauxpedia its the tits.Barn finds is also good if you have an interest in yankee stuff.

[HH-R]

Ages ago on here someone posted a link to an American blog where a bloke goes looking at obscure cars that have been scrapped. I remember a Datsun with a really early voice synthesiser which worked off a tiny vinyl record but I can't find it any more! Can anyone remember what it was?

[stripped fred]

I find with the one make forums there are a lot of regular know-it-all's who like to jump on you if you don't follow the party line. They do offer good advice but as they all know each other well they aren't always keen to let you into their little group or at least like to put you in your place. I find very few arguments on autoshite. People on here don't seem to take themselves too seriously and it's generally good humoured.

[Lacquer Peel]

Ages ago on here someone posted a link to an American blog where a bloke goes looking at obscure cars that have been scrapped. I remember a Datsun with a really early voice synthesiser which worked off a tiny vinyl record but I can't find it any more! Can anyone remember what it was?

 

I think that's Murilee Martin who posts scrapyard finds on The Truth About Cars and writes articles for some other sites.

 

http://autoweek.com/article/wait-theres-more/when-cars-talked-using-tiny-phonograph-records-nissans-voice-warning-system