Why magazines can't always do "Apples to Apples"....

After all the posts about road test ringers I had someone ask why can't the buff magazines always test "Apples to Apples"-i.e. the top option vs the top option of whatever cars their comparing. They try to, but their at the mercy of the manufacturers and what they have in their test fleet. It's been that way since the '60's and it's still that way. For example way back in 1969 Popular Hot Rodding tested a bunch of musclecars. They got a Hemi Charger with a Torqueflite and 3.23:1 gears. They said it was like running with one flat tire. They went through the traps in second gear and couldn't even break out of the 14s. Now if they'd had a 4-speed and some 4.10 gears it would have really rocked. They also tested a GTO Judge with a 3-speed stick! Really? The scribes bitched and correctly stated-that the car would have been much quicker with either a 4-speed or a TH400. They asked for a Ram Air IV GTO with a 4-speed and 3.90:1 or 4.33:1 gears. What did they get? A Ram Air III with a 3 speed and 3.55:1 gears!!  They got an L88 Corvette with a TH400 and 3.36:1 gears, when they asked for one with a 4-speed and 4.56:1 gears. Wonder why the test results weren't truly indicative of what the cars could run?  In 1971 a mag tested an LS6 Corvette against a 455HO Trans-Am. The 'Vette won the drag race easily by 3 or 4 tenths. However-the 'Vette was a 4-speed and had 4.11:1 gears and the T/A was an automatic with 3.08:1 gears. Had the T/A been a 4-speed with the standard 3.73:1 gears-the results would have been different. Or if the 'Vette had been an automatic with 3.08:1 gears it would have been different-the T/A would have won both times. The absolute worst one was a 1973 Motor Trend "Ponycar Comparo" That they declared a Javelin AMX the best peformer over a Chevy Camaro, a Pontiac Firebird, and a Ford Mustang. Except the AMX was a 401 / 4-speed model-the top performance option, and the Camaro wasn't even a Z/28-it was a Type LT with a 165 hp 2bbl 350 and a TH350!! The Firebird wasn't a Trans-Am or even a Formula 400-it was an Esprit with a 2bbl 350 and a slushbox, and the Mustang had a 351 2bbl with 177 hp and an automatic! Now if the Camaro had been a Z/28, the Firebird a Trans-Am or even a Formula 400 and the Mustang a 351CJ-the Javelin would have finished dead last!!  But that's all GM and Ford had available in their test fleets at the time. They did have an addendum on the article-that included test results of the premium models-and they added a 340 'Cuda to the mix as well-and the results were very different. The 340, 4-speed, 3.91:1 geared 'Cuda smote everyone in the drag race except the SD-455 Trans-Am! The Ford guys got the shaft a second time-The Mach 1 supplied this time did have the 266 hp 351CJ engine-but it had an automatic and 3.00:1 gears! If it had been a 4-speed with either 3.50:1 or 3.91:1 gears-which were options-it might have beaten the 'Cuda and givcn the T/A a run for the money. This still happens. As late as 2011 a magazine tested a Camaro SS, a Mustang Boss 302 and a Dodge Challenger R/T. The Dodge Boys got screwed. The Camaro had 426 hp, the Mustang had 444 and the Challenger 370. Why? Because a 425 hp SRT8 Challenger wasn't available at the time. Not that the results would have been totally different-the Boss 302 still would have won-but it would have been a lot closer because in addition to the extra hp-the SRT8 package included better tires and Brembo brakes. What you have to do as readers is gather the data and decide for yourself and take into account things like different gear ratios etc. For example-the supercharged 662 hp GT500 Mustang is only a couple tenths quicker in the 1/4 than the 435 hp base model GT. The reason-it smokes the tires all the way down the track. The car is literally doing about 90 mph when the wheelspin stops. Here's the catch 22-if you put drag radials on the GT500-the times would drop dramatically. But then you'd lose the world-class cornering of the street tires. That's where the old term "Buyer Beware" came from. Anyhow-don't be too hard on the magazine guys-their doing the best they can with what their given. Mastermind