Doug's reviews in general originally rubbed off to me as annoying, and semi-ignorant. Even now he's slow to catch on to stuff like auto-hold so he makes something out of it that really is no big deal. He reminds me exactly of this classmate I had in college. The "Doug Score" just seems arbitrary and sometimes inconsistent. He won't score cars based on what they are, but on an absolute scale. No real respect to performance figures from the time a car was originally conceived. It can make someone wonder if he carries some type of bias or just has short-sighted attitude towards things.
But in the end, I don't think that's actually the case. I won't discount the idea he carefully says certain..."trigger" remarks to help his videos circulate. I mean he missed the spare tire, and I believe there are other cars in the industry with the same Bose setup in the trunk. Bad publicity is still publicity. He has a successful business model. People look for his reviews not to shop cars, but for entertainment. He'll nitpick any car really. That's just his thing. Even he knows his reviews are limited in depth because he really just takes cars around the block — yet for something so simple, I don't think anyone else is matching his success without more elaborate editing/production involved. I give him a lot of credit for not making insane clickbait titles in all caps with stupid thumbnails, and keeping his sponsors to a minimum (I think he's only mentioning Turo).
He probably crafted this review to assume the position of consumer with a singular perspective of today's standards. He's not wrong. The Nismo is well behind in terms of practical value now that the likes of a Mustang GT can put out significantly higher performance figures for possibly less money. The common person probably won't be able to make sense of "purist" driving experiences, and have rooted enthusiasm in Z-history or Nismo for that matter.
I'm sure a fair share of us advocate getting a used Z over a new one. We have complained about power, the interior, and overall failure to see an update in a decade — a whole 10 years.
|