The Purpose

Coming Up On Seven

In just a few weeks, DSPORT will be celebrating its seventh year in circulation. Sometimes it feels like only yesterday when we stayed up for three days in a row to get the files to output correctly on the first issue. Other times it seems like a lifetime ago when we made our first DSPORT DVD, although that was just a little over two years ago. Time seems to have a mind of its own when you get into publishing.

As time goes by, it is sometimes easy to forget what you're fighting for. When you forget, you ask questions like, "Why would anyone want to deal with the daily, weekly and monthly deadlines that affect those working in the world of publishing?" For a while, I think even I had forgotten the answer to that question. I've been so involved in the fight and making sure that I threw every punch I could muster, I couldn't hear the bell that ended the round. But the round did end. And, I finally remembered the answer to the question.

The Awakening

Ironically, extra work would be the key to the answer. In an effort to take DSPORT to new levels, we've been working around the clock to improve and expand the magazine and DVD significantly. One component of this expansion involves DSPORT's first-ever New Car Review. Our DSPORT 2010 New Car Review will be on newsstands next month as our September 2009 issue. This September edition will also be our Seventh Anniversary Edition. For this special issue, we gathered so many new cars for review that we literally ran out of space in our parking lot for them. It was on the trek to Willow Springs Raceway with a caravan of 15 of these cars that it all came back to me. The answer was simple, "I love cars." The acceleration, speed, sounds and smells of performance are intoxicating, but it's also the shared bond with other like-minded enthusiasts that is equally rewarding. Why it took a three-hour ride in traffic with a 15-car caravan to remind me of that, I don't know. But for some strange reason, there was something about the trip that took me back. I felt like I was on my way to the street races in Compton or Hacienda Heights as a freshman in college. There was an air of excitement about what was to come.

Doing it DSPORT

We took the new cars and pushed them to the limit at the racetrack. We tested straight-line acceleration, lap times and the "fun-to-drive" quotient of the vehicles. When we returned from the track, every vehicle hit the four-corner scales and the chassis dyno. We wanted to do a New Car Review that even hard-core DSPORT readers (not the stereotypical Motor Trend, Car & Driver or Road & Track reader) would appreciate. We wasted no time on cars that enthusiasts wouldn't appreciate. You won't find anything about family four-door sedans, electric or hybrid lane blockers, SUVs or minivans. Instead, you will find the most comprehensive and useful information on new cars that you actually care about. By combining the advantages of both video and print, DSPORT's 2010 New Car Review should be able to inform, educate and entertain better than any other 2010 New Car Buyer's Guide. When you pick up next month's issue, let us know what you think. We want your feedback to make the Review even better next year.

Tell us More and have a chance to Win a Trip To Japan

We want to know more about all of our readers so that we can make a better product for you. The best way for us to learn more is to have a qualified survey of our readers. For taking the time to complete our survey, we wanted to give our readers a chance to win something special in return. We couldn't think of a better grand prize than a VIP seat on our 2010 DSPORT Tokyo Auto Salon Tour. To enter this sweepstakes, you need to be at least 18 and a resident of the U.S. To enter, you can either fill out the survey (page 107) and mail it in before 11/30/2009 or you can click on the "TAS 2010 Sweepstakes" link from our home page at www.dsportmag.com. The winner will be chosen on 12/15/2009. Entries are restricted to one per person. Good luck and I hope to see you in Japan

Michael Ferrara