I just stumbled upon this thread, and I feel that it serves to highlight the importance of critical thinking, even in motoring literature. It's very easy to agree with everything written in Top Gear or C! because they're recognized local publications, but as illustrated here, these people have asses to kiss too. Well, all journalists have, but it's a matter of how much ass-kissing you allow to get in the way of an unbiased review.

At the end of the day, it's still all about heavy research (reviews, user input, etc) and critical thinking. Sad though that a lot of buyers don't bother, and these are the people that these sellout journalists prey on.