Evo magazine - seems like everyone's leaving
Discussion
I've been reading this thread with horror, I've subscribed for years and was sad to read the loss of Catchpole in particular and Jethro. I do too think I preferred when Harry was the Editor, but then it was often Zonda centric!
Look forward to getting my subs issue now, some good news at last!
Look forward to getting my subs issue now, some good news at last!
Patrick Bateman said:
To be fair, there is far more choice now for performance cars on the whole and with it far more very expensive ones. It's not like they held back with the offerings of the time. In the 1999 ECOTY you've still got the latest Ferrari, Porsche and Bentley. Throw in a GTR, an M5 and a Lotus too and that's still a hell of a lot of value.
Granted there was an 80bhp Punto in there along with a regular Audi A6 but they're not cars that would get a sniff now because there's so many performance variants.
What is there at the cheaper end of the spectrum that could have been worth adding to the final this year? They had the 208 GTi last year but can't think of any acclaimed small hot hatches this year?
Hmm-I'm looking back through their reviews from this year as I'm now struggling! They never rate the MX5 that highly which means they wouldn't include it where others would. Apart from that?Granted there was an 80bhp Punto in there along with a regular Audi A6 but they're not cars that would get a sniff now because there's so many performance variants.
What is there at the cheaper end of the spectrum that could have been worth adding to the final this year? They had the 208 GTi last year but can't think of any acclaimed small hot hatches this year?
I think the problem with the pricing is twofold though. You have the lack of 'affordable' cars but also what seems like a super-saturation of £100k+ cars. I mean they had 4 mid-engined 500bhp+ supercars this year, as well as three special editions costing over £100k. Less than half of the cars were under £100k.
But it's another thing where the problem is more than just one thing. Reading about fast cars I can't afford can be exciting when the writing is good, but it just didn't feel like it. It felt procedural reading the article, which is probably when the thoughts of "It's just not relevant" start popping up.
German brands own ~90% of the premium car market, so the performance mags are inevitably going to be tilted heavily toward Teutonic metal.
What is irritating about all the UK car mags (not only Evo) is that they just trot out the same old tired guff. Take it to a track, drift it for a few hero shots, and then rate it on whether the writer thinks it will make them sound cool. They need a new format.
What is irritating about all the UK car mags (not only Evo) is that they just trot out the same old tired guff. Take it to a track, drift it for a few hero shots, and then rate it on whether the writer thinks it will make them sound cool. They need a new format.
Muzzer79 said:
IMO, the downturn started when Trott took over,
Could be coincidence, might not....
I agree, (for me) he really took something away from the evo brand. Could be coincidence, might not....
Not sure if I've said this before but it feels like the DriveTribe 'machine' is sucking up respected and popular people from the motoring world; giving them a platform and perhaps lifting them into a position where they can 'torquefill' the gap left while the Grand Tour trio are busy filming the next series and, ultimately, replace Clarkson, Hammond and May once they finally put their scripts down. 'New' Top Gear bombed spectacularly because the BBC tried to shoehorn a new team into the shoes of the former presenters. DriveTribe is a clever way to get Grand Tour fans onboard with new faces.
I know that's kind of off topic but it is linked to the likes of Jethro and Henry etc.
Yipper said:
German brands own ~90% of the premium car market, so the performance mags are inevitably going to be tilted heavily toward Teutonic metal.
What is irritating about all the UK car mags (not only Evo) is that they just trot out the same old tired guff. Take it to a track, drift it for a few hero shots, and then rate it on whether the writer thinks it will make them sound cool. They need a new format.
You are right and you can blame Clarkson and co for virtually patenting the smoky oversteer shot which now seems de rigeur in any so called test- they are usually anything but a test but a superficial soundbite at best , and invariably of cars most us can't afford, and if we could we still couldn't afford the tyre bill. But it seems to be what most people want. Back in the day mags like Autocar tested everything, and very comprehensively. So you'd get a 911 test one week and a Fiat Uno the next-and that sort of suited me as I find cars , regardless of image or performance , inherently fascinating. What is irritating about all the UK car mags (not only Evo) is that they just trot out the same old tired guff. Take it to a track, drift it for a few hero shots, and then rate it on whether the writer thinks it will make them sound cool. They need a new format.
But I am in minority - just read the many threads on here blustering about how only rwd is any good, how any Astra is the worst car ever made, how they once drove a Hyundai and its understeer made the driver physically sick and how anybody more than a decade older than them who drives a Jazz should be banned for life from the road. Methinks they do protest too much...
coppice said:
Back in the day mags like Autocar tested everything, and very comprehensively. So you'd get a 911 test one week and a Fiat Uno the next-and that sort of suited me as I find cars , regardless of image or performance , inherently fascinating.
But I am in minority - just read the many threads on here blustering about how only rwd is any good, how any Astra is the worst car ever made, how they once drove a Hyundai and its understeer made the driver physically sick and how anybody more than a decade older than them who drives a Jazz should be banned for life from the road. Methinks they do protest too much...
Autocar still do that coppiceBut I am in minority - just read the many threads on here blustering about how only rwd is any good, how any Astra is the worst car ever made, how they once drove a Hyundai and its understeer made the driver physically sick and how anybody more than a decade older than them who drives a Jazz should be banned for life from the road. Methinks they do protest too much...
True about the rest though
s m said:
Autocar still do that coppice
True about the rest though
Indeed- but I suspect its sales are a tiny fraction of what they were. Hardly surprising given how expensive it is for so very little text. Together with its former and now long defunct rival Motor it has employed the journalistic greats over the years - Roger Bell, Eoin Young, Russell Bulgin, Alan Henry and more recently Chris Harris of course- but it is but pale shadow of its glory days. True about the rest though
JFReturns said:
£20k heroes feature fantastic, reminds me of why I started buying EVO 220 issues ago.
Who remembers issue 31, the M3 vs. Tuscan, Skyline etc. Awesome issue which I still read:
Sorry, just remind me how much was an M3/Skyline/Tuscan back in the late 90's early 000's ? They were expensive cars back then, in fact, in real terms, i suspect more expensive than todays similar cars.......Who remembers issue 31, the M3 vs. Tuscan, Skyline etc. Awesome issue which I still read:
PorkRind said:
limpsfield said:
Harry Metcalfe (evo founder) is part of Drive Tribe too.
Hmm. Interesting to see see how this plays out.
Hmm interesting indeed. Hmm. Interesting to see see how this plays out.
He's upped the number of Harry's garage he's been doing of late, I do hope it doesn't impact that or the content etc.
Shame.
Max_Torque said:
Sorry, just remind me how much was an M3/Skyline/Tuscan back in the late 90's early 000's ? They were expensive cars back then, in fact, in real terms, i suspect more expensive than todays similar cars.......
IIRC: an M3 was £38k basic in 2001 (similar to a Boxster S), a Tuscan was about £48k (same as an RS4), an M5 was £52k, a 996 C2 was £55k, a 996 GT3 was £75k, and a 996 Turbo £86kAnd that was after many manufacturers had reduced their prices due to people going to Holland instead
twizellb said:
JFReturns said:
£20k heroes feature fantastic, reminds me of why I started buying EVO 220 issues ago.
Who remembers issue 31, the M3 vs. Tuscan, Skyline etc. Awesome issue which I still read:
Yes i have that issue too, used to flick through when i had my Tuscan.Who remembers issue 31, the M3 vs. Tuscan, Skyline etc. Awesome issue which I still read:
We lived in Wellingborough at the time, so had a nice run down to Evo towers to pick up some copies of that issue, and a quick chat with Peter Tomalin.
Read a fair chunk of the latest issue last night and I have to say it was a great read. Readers letters back to 3 or more pages, rather than one page and some rubbish from the forums. I read the print version for its content, I dont want to read forum material.
There were little pieces of leftover Trott ideas, especially the 20K heroes article. Great concept apart from the inclusion of the Tuscan in the piece. They admit that a 20K Tuscan would be a basketcase and realistically you should save more and buy a good un. Kinda defeats the purpose of a 20K hero if 20K buys you a zero rather than a hero. Photography is still top notch, love Franchitti's columns, buying guide was very realistic being an EP3 Type R for a couple of grand. I just wish the buying guides were as in depth as they were previously. I also wish they would stop banging on about investment potential, last months article about buying a 360 CS and not driving it. Kinda defeats the whole ethos of the "Thrill of driving"....
Onwards and upwards now that Trott has trotted off, lets see what the next few issues are like as the ECOTY 2016 article seriuosly had me questioning my subscription. The content was woeful irrespective of the result.
There were little pieces of leftover Trott ideas, especially the 20K heroes article. Great concept apart from the inclusion of the Tuscan in the piece. They admit that a 20K Tuscan would be a basketcase and realistically you should save more and buy a good un. Kinda defeats the purpose of a 20K hero if 20K buys you a zero rather than a hero. Photography is still top notch, love Franchitti's columns, buying guide was very realistic being an EP3 Type R for a couple of grand. I just wish the buying guides were as in depth as they were previously. I also wish they would stop banging on about investment potential, last months article about buying a 360 CS and not driving it. Kinda defeats the whole ethos of the "Thrill of driving"....
Onwards and upwards now that Trott has trotted off, lets see what the next few issues are like as the ECOTY 2016 article seriuosly had me questioning my subscription. The content was woeful irrespective of the result.
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