Discussion
is anyone else getting bored of it? I have a good level of faith in their testers and journalists (which is why i haven't cancelled my sub yet) but the road tests seem to be getting shorter and there hasn't been a 'look at this daft thing we've made goodwin do' story for a while.
i am sure this weeks will be ace and i'll change my mind but i am quite disenfranchised at the moment. even 0-100-0 took all of 5 mins to read this year.
is it just me..?
[...and my evo hasn't come yet!
i haven't read all of last months evo yet so no matter but still...]
i am sure this weeks will be ace and i'll change my mind but i am quite disenfranchised at the moment. even 0-100-0 took all of 5 mins to read this year.
is it just me..?
[...and my evo hasn't come yet!
i haven't read all of last months evo yet so no matter but still...]
Zod said:
They make up most of their scoops.
really..? i just thought they recydled AMS ones!
i leave those bits until i am really bored - that sort of stuff is a bit "auto express"
. ____________________
anyone remember the timing cars on a welsh b-road item. or when sideways challenge/0-100-0/trackday car of the year/car of the year/through europe in a murkylager&FRS...where the kind of stories they did. when you got 5 pages on the f355/911gt2...
The one thing that I really dislike about Autocar is their sensationalist, 'tabloid'-style covers and news section. I enjoy the rest of their writing though. I stopped reading Top Gear when it turned into some sort of 'lads-mag' with a vauge car theme (a bit like the TV show) but Autocar seems to be more straightforward, down-to-earth. I've been thinking of switching to evo when my Autocar subscription runs out in a few months but I don't know if I'll be able to put up with only one issue a month.
baSkey said:
Zod said:
They make up most of their scoops.
really..? i just thought they recydled AMS ones!
i leave those bits until i am really bored - that sort of stuff is a bit "auto express"
. Me too. I mean, who cares about some BMW Mini or Audi off-roader that might be coming out in three years time and might look like something like their artist's impression.
garlick said:
As an Autocar employee, I really should get involved here. Already you have told me a fair bit about what we do wrong, and I agree that we are great at road trip stories etc. Anyway feed the info and i promise i'll listen.
oh yeah you even got a mention in the ldn speed record thing..!
let me win the £20k and i'll delete the posts!
i think i'd like more 'old skool' in depth articles. i appreciate the market pressures but i think auto express does well from the 'news'/13 yr old nerd end of the market. i know loads of people (myself included) who went:
AE > TG > TG&AC >AC&revs(!!!!)& MINIWorld & FORD MAGS > AC & ANYTHING REALLY!>AC&evo
ac = autocar
ae = autoexpress
tg = top gear
now really considering just keeping evo and getting a few odd things like octane again. maybe it's a function of lack of time as well as the articles...
Part of my job to keep the mag in top form, been here since Jan and I can assure you that the team here are the most committed car enthusiasts you'll ever meet- we aim to keep the mag at the top of the wish list for any enthusiast- so as I said, all your points are noted with interest, keep them coming.
PG
PG
i don't know what anyone else thinks BUT (!)
you know stories like the car property ladder thing - (red sh4gged 6series) - i think you need to make more out of those. actually work your way through the cars and then serialise it. i don'teven know if that's still going on... did the pair of them just give up..?!
i am a bit of a sucker for the trying to make a £300 car go at 150mph sort of stories too.
another idea for editorial content might be doing a £2006 challenge 9a bit like Grassroots Motorsport magazine in the US) BUT getting professional teams to do it. so try and get prodrive vs williams to do challenges with old maestro turbos they've built for 2 grand... you could get university courses like at Herts involved and they could compete against the top guys now... you could serialise bits of the build up to that - a page on a couple of teams each week.
there's a good chance i am being hugely naive about the publishing industry but some of these ideas might lead to something..!
you know stories like the car property ladder thing - (red sh4gged 6series) - i think you need to make more out of those. actually work your way through the cars and then serialise it. i don'teven know if that's still going on... did the pair of them just give up..?!
i am a bit of a sucker for the trying to make a £300 car go at 150mph sort of stories too.
another idea for editorial content might be doing a £2006 challenge 9a bit like Grassroots Motorsport magazine in the US) BUT getting professional teams to do it. so try and get prodrive vs williams to do challenges with old maestro turbos they've built for 2 grand... you could get university courses like at Herts involved and they could compete against the top guys now... you could serialise bits of the build up to that - a page on a couple of teams each week.
there's a good chance i am being hugely naive about the publishing industry but some of these ideas might lead to something..!
Edited by baSkey on Monday 31st July 14:46
Garlick,
Autocar is a great mag but personally I would like to see more features on used cars that enthusiasts would want to buy. I’m not talking about 40 year old classics as there are already plenty mags that cover these sorts of vehicle but cars from the let 80’s to late 90’s. Full details and roadtests of forgotten performance cars for varying budgets.
Just my thoughts you understand……….
All the best.
Martin.
Autocar is a great mag but personally I would like to see more features on used cars that enthusiasts would want to buy. I’m not talking about 40 year old classics as there are already plenty mags that cover these sorts of vehicle but cars from the let 80’s to late 90’s. Full details and roadtests of forgotten performance cars for varying budgets.
Just my thoughts you understand……….
All the best.
Martin.
MGYoung said:
Autocar is a great mag but personally I would like to see more features on used cars that enthusiasts would want to buy. I’m not talking about 40 year old classics as there are already plenty mags that cover these sorts of vehicle but cars from the let 80’s to late 90’s. Full details and roadtests of forgotten performance cars for varying budgets.
The thing is, there are a plethora of used car mags around that cater for what you are requesting. Surely Autocar has always been a magazine that reports on the "now" rather than the past?
JonRB said:
MGYoung said:
Autocar is a great mag but personally I would like to see more features on used cars that enthusiasts would want to buy. I’m not talking about 40 year old classics as there are already plenty mags that cover these sorts of vehicle but cars from the let 80’s to late 90’s. Full details and roadtests of forgotten performance cars for varying budgets.
The thing is, there are a plethora of used car mags around that cater for what you are requesting. Surely Autocar has always been a magazine that reports on the "now" rather than the past?
i agree.
i think articles about 'car culture' which may involve buying and selling or just hooning around would include used cars and that would probably be enough. that 309gti versus mcs was a big disappointment and the articles were too short. jethros M3 stories in evo are to a similar aim but far better!
My honest feedback would be that Autocar is coming across as rather like one of those printed "round robin" Christmas missives which certain family members circulate to their families once a year, detailing all the wonderful achievements they have completed in the last twelve month........
"We managed to spend a month training one legged lesbian freedom fighters morris dancing in the Congo....... or
"look at all the supercars we managed to thrash the knackers off at someone else's expense this week while you were all at work....
What used to float my boat were the articles like "supercar on a budget" and the in depth road tests. Attainable sports car stuff.
Details, dear fellow, details are what we want. Things we can reasonably aspire to.
"We managed to spend a month training one legged lesbian freedom fighters morris dancing in the Congo....... or
"look at all the supercars we managed to thrash the knackers off at someone else's expense this week while you were all at work....
What used to float my boat were the articles like "supercar on a budget" and the in depth road tests. Attainable sports car stuff.
Details, dear fellow, details are what we want. Things we can reasonably aspire to.
Edited by Vesuvius 996 on Monday 31st July 15:47
I agree with the comments about cars we can aspire to.
Reading about driving a Gallardo from point A to B is all well and good as long as there's something else there to get the enthusiast's heart racing at the "I could get one of those / do that!" thoughts.
I would imagine that the vast majority of `car enthusiasts` buy 2nd hand cars. Purely because for the same outlay as a new car, an enthusiast can dig out something thrilling. For example, for the amount I spent on my most recent car I could have bought a brand spanking new range rover or something, i didn't and bought a GT3, a car which when new was in a completely different price range.
Articles that promote these performance desires always appeal to an enthusiast, be it about buying an old 205 GTI for a grand (something i contemplate regularly for no good reason) or the reality of stretching yourself into an early F360.
I appreciate that the mag covers new metal, but a few more of the above would stop my hand faltering when reaching for AC.
Reading about driving a Gallardo from point A to B is all well and good as long as there's something else there to get the enthusiast's heart racing at the "I could get one of those / do that!" thoughts.
I would imagine that the vast majority of `car enthusiasts` buy 2nd hand cars. Purely because for the same outlay as a new car, an enthusiast can dig out something thrilling. For example, for the amount I spent on my most recent car I could have bought a brand spanking new range rover or something, i didn't and bought a GT3, a car which when new was in a completely different price range.
Articles that promote these performance desires always appeal to an enthusiast, be it about buying an old 205 GTI for a grand (something i contemplate regularly for no good reason) or the reality of stretching yourself into an early F360.
I appreciate that the mag covers new metal, but a few more of the above would stop my hand faltering when reaching for AC.
vette78 said:
I agree with the comments about cars we can aspire to.
Reading about driving a Gallardo from point A to B is all well and good as long as there's something else there to get the enthusiast's heart racing at the "I could get one of those / do that!" thoughts.
I would imagine that the vast majority of `car enthusiasts` buy 2nd hand cars. Purely because for the same outlay as a new car, an enthusiast can dig out something thrilling. For example, for the amount I spent on my most recent car I could have bought a brand spanking new range rover or something, i didn't and bought a GT3, a car which when new was in a completely different price range.
Articles that promote these performance desires always appeal to an enthusiast, be it about buying an old 205 GTI for a grand (something i contemplate regularly for no good reason) or the reality of stretching yourself into an early F360.
I appreciate that the mag covers new metal, but a few more of the above would stop my hand faltering when reaching for AC.
Reading about driving a Gallardo from point A to B is all well and good as long as there's something else there to get the enthusiast's heart racing at the "I could get one of those / do that!" thoughts.
I would imagine that the vast majority of `car enthusiasts` buy 2nd hand cars. Purely because for the same outlay as a new car, an enthusiast can dig out something thrilling. For example, for the amount I spent on my most recent car I could have bought a brand spanking new range rover or something, i didn't and bought a GT3, a car which when new was in a completely different price range.
Articles that promote these performance desires always appeal to an enthusiast, be it about buying an old 205 GTI for a grand (something i contemplate regularly for no good reason) or the reality of stretching yourself into an early F360.
I appreciate that the mag covers new metal, but a few more of the above would stop my hand faltering when reaching for AC.
Totally agree - I bought a 996 a few years old instead of a new M3CS.
Would love an article about running an early 360!
I don't find Autocar worse than any other magazine. It's always been the one to read for information in my view, rather than necessarily a cracking yarn.
And it's the only one I bother subscribing to from abroad. The only car mag I really enjoy the writing in is Car which I can get at the airport. If I've read that month's Car already then I'll get Classic & Sportscar and drool over the adverts.
Evo? Don't really rate it.
And it's the only one I bother subscribing to from abroad. The only car mag I really enjoy the writing in is Car which I can get at the airport. If I've read that month's Car already then I'll get Classic & Sportscar and drool over the adverts.
Evo? Don't really rate it.
baSkey said:
i am sure this weeks will be ace and i'll change my mind but i am quite disenfranchised at the moment. even 0-100-0 took all of 5 mins to read this year.
I wasn't too pleased with this years 0-100-0 test at all. Just seemed to skim over every facet and basically said bugger all about the cars vs tests of old!
I'm pretty much bored of all mags now, Evo was a bit shaky a while back too but last one was good. Too much complacency? Web-based magazines/news taking over?
Dave
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