Method
Pipeline: research → accuracy audit → writer → human approve → publish. Nothing public without an approve gate. We do not invent drive stories, star ratings, or community quotes.
How we score
DriveRevu scores are meant to feel familiar if you research cars on traditional review sites — structured axes you can scan — plus a separate social-research layer when free, cited ingest is ready.
Traditional research axes
Production reviews use a structured scoreboard (editorial research), not a single vanity star. Default axes:
- Driving — ride, handling, power delivery, everyday drivability
- Comfort — seats, noise, climate, long-trip manners
- Interior & tech — materials, ergonomics, infotainment, storage
- Value — price vs capability and ownership-cost signals
- Safety — public crash ratings, assist tech, open recalls
- Efficiency — EPA fuel economy / EV range and charging when cited
Category hubs under Rankings (Value, Family, Towing, EVs, etc.) remain research navigation. An overall mark and axis numerics publish only after audit and human approval. Until then the UI shows honest empty states — not placeholders that look like real scores.
Social research layer
A second panel on review and model pages is reserved for community signal — themes from public forums (including Reddit) when we can ingest them for free, with citations. That panel is live as UI structure with a clear Coming soon state. We do not fabricate quotes, sentiment meters, or “owners say” copy.
Accuracy gates
| Claim class | Min confidence | Rule |
|---|---|---|
| NHTSA stars / IIHS award / open recall | 0.90 + primary | Block publish if fail |
| Towing / payload / battery kWh | 0.85 + OEM/gov | Block if conflict unresolved |
| Soft “good for families” | 0.70 + rubric | Review OK |
| Reliability composite | Always labeled | Proxy methodology — never scrape paywalled scores |
| Invented “I drove it” | Forbidden | Block |
| Invented community quotes | Forbidden | Block — social panel stays empty until real ingest |
Sources we use
- Government: NHTSA, EPA (public)
- Safety orgs: IIHS public awards/ratings
- OEM press / official spec sheets
- Licensed data only when we have a deal — never scrape forbidden sources
- Public community discussion — planned, free ingest only; not live yet
Reliability honesty
We do not paste paywalled reliability scores. Any reliability composite is a labeled proxy until a stable, disclosed formula exists. If we cannot cite it, we say so.
Rankings & concept
Axis hubs under Rankings and category lists under Best of are research navigation. We do not invent numeric ranks or award seals until audited scores exist. Concept vehicles stay labeled and out of production score chrome — see Concept.
Brand rules on About.