Sau Review Team

[R31Nismoid]

Christian (Prank) & myself have been talking for a while now about starting a 'Review' type area of the forum/website. One that will link to the front page as better content that will be picked up by Google etc.

Basically review parts that you buy, take some video/photos & some quantifiable tests, then write up a review about it. Things like - did the product work as claimed, compare to other products, the quality of the product etc.

In the end scoring the product out of 5 stars or something. The write up would be submitted/checked and then posted up.

It could be any product as well. Things like brake kits, engine parts, tyres. Even car care products & audio.

I’m already in the process of writing one for a Brake Kit, and another member is reviewing a car Battery Charger.

The aim moving forward for this is that Companies/Manufacturers will approach us to review new products coming onto the market to help the community get a feel for it, and the world in general.

If you are interested in joining the SAU Review Crew – Then please post up. We would like some technical people only at this stage that can do the testing in a little bit of depth and don’t mind spending the time.

Maybe in the future it could be expended to attending events as Media for SAU and review those/write up about them.

If you have any ideas/feedback that would be good

Cheers

Ash

[R31Nismoid]

Moved here so people can reply - didnt realise the News section was locked

[adamskill]

sounds like a great idea mate. im looking forward to reading more!

[Triptych]

I would think step 1 would be getting a template sorted for all reviews to follow. I think it works better if all reviews basically look the same (in layout terms) which will make it easier for the not only the person doing the review to make sure they aren't missing important info but also for others viewing the review so they have quick access to areas they consider important before reading the full review (eg Review summary, star rating, pros and cons etc).

I would also look into some form of Disclaimer stating the review is only the opinion of the person who has written the review and the situations they encountered, Opinions and Situations vary so SAU takes no liability if things turn out differently in your situation compared to the reviewers. Always best to cover your arse but your disclaimer can just be a footer on every review.

[R31Nismoid]

Yeah the format, style etc will come with time.

For now we are just looking for people that are keen to get involved with it all.

Once there is a keen group we can workout what everyone thinks will work best, is easiest to follow/address and that type of thing. So kinda "next step" stuff.

Disclaimers aren't an issue

[Rowdy]

This sounds like a great idea. A database of dedicated product reviews would be a much better resource for someone researching theyre next mod rather than searching thousands of old threads for simmilar information.

A standardised template is also a good idea.

count me in

[Berk]

Sounds good, just need to try and stop people promoting their own products, giving false/biased reviews.

[R31Nismoid]

Yep definitely going to keep it unbias, that's a key aim.

Independent testing, review etc. Don't mind if someone that has a business wants to help. Import Monster have expressed interest in getting involved where possible. However they won't check their own product for instance.

Thanks for PMs so far, I will respond later in the week

Surely there must be more interested though? Plenty of people doing this all the time!

[Triptych]

I would love to help out but I wouldnt know where to start writing a review

[DivHunter]

Sounds like an injunction/suit waiting to happen.

[R31Nismoid]

It's really not. We are trying to do a good thing for the community, users etc. Its more than just products as Christian is also wanting to move towards event coverage and what not as well as stated.

We are sure there are people that would love to get involved with such an endeavour.

Let SAU worry about the legal stuff, we are certainly no stranger to any of that and know what we are doing.

[p_rice]

There should be more RSS, especially for Wasteland =D maybe even other threads? It'd be cool to get dedicated RSS feeds for different sections?

[Dreadnought]

Count me in too

[R31Nismoid]

Not getting much feedback in Gen Auto - so moving to FI as there is much more "tech" people that might not check outside FI etc.

Shoot ideas though, post up comments and so on.

We'd like to get this off the ground soon as we can

[zebra]

how do we stop people with no idea giving reviews on turbo kits etc.

ie, some random buys turbo kit, has his uncles 2nd cousins neibour fit it up, and it ends up a shit fight, so the review comes back saying nothing fits etc etc.

I would be more in depth but ive had 4hrs sleep and cbf

[R31Nismoid]

Random users couldn't just submit a review

We are looking for people that obviously have a bit of history with SAU, like to tinker/review products and have some reasonable(to expert) technical knowledge or are getting workshops to fit them up.

Could be things like:

Intercooler comparo - back to back results same dyno/day

Brake kit review - Does the kit bolt up, measureable improvements in braking force

Exhaust review - Ease of fitment, measure the noise level exterior/interior, take some audio

Car body products - Like say "XXXXX" wax. Apply it and see how long it lasts. Is it easy to apply, does it last as long as the label says

Accessories - battery chargers for instance, similar to the above in that does it work/easy to use etc.

All reviews will be "reviewed" by the group before going public anyway. Idea would be it would be in a private area before being put onto the frontpage. There would be a set of minimum requirements to follow - that would be for the group to determine once this gets off the ground and of course will be fine tuned as time goes on and more feedback comes.

There will always be conjecture on results. Look at any product review site from PC parts to Musical instruments. Such debate is always going to occur.

The idea is just to give people an idea in a simple/easy categorised resource.

[zebra]

yeah that makes sense.

thought it might have been kinda like productreview.com or whatever when anyone can do it.

Will it be an open forum with replies or like the news section?

[R31Nismoid]

Debate & discussion is healthy. So ye I think it should be open, and then obviously follow the board rules etc.

The product supplier could even say a few words as SAU Traders could submit new products/kits to the SAU Review Crew to gauge interest and so on and get feedback.

[zebra]

sounds good

[JustinP]

This sounds like a good idea.