Sau Review Team

[toffy]

Great idea , i could probably help with reviews also

[toffy]

Sorry , double post

Edited October 11, 2011 by toffy

[Guilt-Toy]

I am interested in helping out to get things going.

[pipster11]

this sounds good

i've love to have enough funds to buy heaps of cool gear to test

should be a great source of reference too, i've been trying to find out if the eboost street is any good and it would be nice if there was an unbiased review of it

[Simon-S14]

i'll put my hand up. im forever doing work with various different products.

[zebra]

I would..but no Nissans in the garage atm lol

[STATUS]

happy to help out.

[R31Nismoid]

Awesome - looks like we are getting somewhere with a bit of interest

This will go across all states, so probably 2-3 people per state, maybe more if this really takes off!

Once SAU Nats is finished I'll start setting it all up.

If you think it's a crap idea, then please speak up and let us know why. More feedback we get the better!

[nisskid]

happy to help where i can, have an RB20 R32 and sees track work 1-2 times a month.

[pipster11]

Awesome - looks like we are getting somewhere with a bit of interest

This will go across all states, so probably 2-3 people per state, maybe more if this really takes off!

Once SAU Nats is finished I'll start setting it all up.

If you think it's a crap idea, then please speak up and let us know why. More feedback we get the better!

i think its a great idea, about time too

all the pc sites have reviews of new products, why not for cars?

[Kozeyekan]

Happy to help out. I'm a qualified editor/proofreader with some experience in journalism and copywriting. I can work from either end of the spectrum.

[R31Nismoid]

Ah Excellentee!!!!! That would be very handy to have.

Once SAU Nats is done and dusted i'll start getting this organised and a new private section for those interested to start some discussions/points and get all of this happening

[BeEnAr]

Ash, this is a great idea! Hell the tyre reviews alone would be worth it in itself. Even car reviews would be good. Start the SAU Empire!!

[Carbon 34]

Im interested in being a part of this. lots of experience

[tridentt150v]

Interesting idea, but how does this differ from SAU's strict policy on negative comments on businesses and workshops?

How can we say XXX is junk if we can't also say XXX service is way to expensive or shoddy etc etc

A true review KB needs more than just rainbows and butterflys.

We'd also need to limit the scope. eg tyres, batteries, oils do we do these things or let the general media do this for us - after all there is plenty of open access stuff around for that type of product.

But I'd be interested,

[R31Nismoid]

Commenting on a product in a constructive way like "this doesn't work as it should", "this product does not live up to the manufacturers claims" if "XXX was done in XXX it would be better"...

Is quite a lot different to the usual forum dribble of:

"Blah blah blah are a bunch of thieving pricks and they blew my motor" or "XXX give shit tunes" and that type of thing.

[turboedsloth]

Sounds like a really good idea, in the process of rebuilding my 32 from the ground up and will be trying out a few things along the way. I also have experience having to deal with the "car stuff" working at teh local auto one and being a mechanic i get to see a few things

[R31Nismoid]

Commenting on a product in a constructive way like "this doesn't work as it should", "this product does not live up to the manufacturers claims" if "XXX was done in XXX it would be better"...

Is quite a lot different to the usual forum dribble of:

"Blah blah blah are a bunch of thieving pricks and they blew my motor" or "XXX give shit tunes" and that type of thing.

Also thinking - You need to take price into account as just one facet...

Eg. Take a $1,000 brake kit vs a $10,000 one.

Obviously performance will not be "on par", but it comes down to an economy of scale. If you get 60% of the performance for 90% cost saved, that would hopefully be covered in the review, then it's not really a shit product. It's just suiting the market that it is targeted at and so on.

Plenty of things to look at more in depth and hence the reviews will not be release by "anyone", it will be from someone on the team so they know the requirements and the group can talk/discuss a review before it goes ahead, during, after etc to workout the best way to benefit everyone who will read it.

But that's not to say if you pay 10k for a product in a market that expects it to be better - than such comments cannot be said.

Anyone (business etc) that approaches the Review Team with a product will be made very aware that if the product is indeed lack lustre or does not perform - it will be published as such.

I think most legitimate people would support that - and if not, their loss on market exposure and testing.

Plenty of PC parts get called out as under performing, yet companies still submit other things for review that are comparatively awesome

[Kozeyekan]

I think most legitimate people would support that - and if not, their loss on market exposure and testing.

Plenty of PC parts get called out as under performing, yet companies still submit other things for review that are comparatively awesome

There is a big difference between reviewing a product and reviewing a service.

As always, truth is an absolute defence against libel, however, with a product any negative issues raised can be repeated or addressed by anyone with a similar product.

With a service however, such as car tuning, part sourcing, etc. there is no way to exactly repeat the procedure.

For example, about ten years ago a food critic ripped up a Sydney restaurant (I think it was called Blue Angel, from memory), claiming that the lobster he ordered was overcooked. Being an objective review, he was undercover and did not inform the restaurant of this fact and then went away to write up the review. When it was published (I think it was in the Sydney Morning Herald) the restaurant lost loads of business and went bust.

The owner sued, claiming that the lobster was, in fact, not overcooked. As there was no proof either way, the courts sided with the restauranteur against Packer's clan of lawyers. The settlement was allegedly for millions of dollars. Since then, try to find a negative restaurant review in the newspaper. At worst it'll be mildly critical of ingredient choice or decor, rarely (if ever) of taste or service.

When reviewing a product though, if the reviewer says the part did not do as it should have, can show evidence of the same and keep the review professional (i.e. not a "rant") they have nothing to fear.

Say you review one of those magnetic fuel molecular aligners (or whatever they're called) and the box claims a minimum 5% increase in power, you call it crap and suggest the intelligence of the people making it is somewhere between a single celled organism and a wet fart after an all weekend curry binge. They will naturally be upset that you focused on the people and company and not the product and may sue your arse.

If however, you call the product crap, have dyno sheets to back up your assertions and keep the comments to the product in question, you have nothing to worry about, and can pretty much trash it to your hearts content. (check out websites like angrysnowboarder.com for examples, though I'd still try to avoid challenging company reps to bare knuckle brawls...)

If every reviewer can document their experience and back up their reasons then no company can have a valid reason for any legal recourse. Also I doubt that a negative review in SAU will affect part manufacturers very much, unless SAU can manage to get a million or more members.

Edited October 25, 2011 by Kozeyekan

[R31Nismoid]

There is a big difference between reviewing a product and reviewing a service.

As always, truth is an absolute defence against libel, however, with a product any negative issues raised can be repeated or addressed by anyone with a similar product.

With a service however, such as car tuning, part sourcing, etc. there is no way to exactly repeat the procedure.

If however, you call the product crap, have dyno sheets to back up your assertions and keep the comments to the product in question, you have nothing to worry about, and can pretty much trash it to your hearts content.

If every reviewer can document their experience and back up their reasons then no company can have a valid reason for any legal recourse.

Totally agree. Removed the stuff not relevant and it's not really going to be service related if at all possible.

Obviously specific parts that require a re-tune or similar will be hard, so it must be approached carefully but they will be limited scenarios at least for the initial term as that would require much more experience within the Team.

As I said though the intention will never be to "trash" a product even if there is the proof. It'll be viewed in a constructive light with regards to the feedback/review. Bagging out a product outright is just a poor way to go about things and won't achieve anything.