Evo magazine - seems like everyone's leaving

[LotusOmega375D]

Davey S2 said:

I like Octane but it makes you feel amazingly poor when you read it.

Got bored of Evo years ago when it became Porsche monthly.

As for Octane? That's just a glorified auction house catalogue.

[coppice]

Motor Sport - for those who don't move their lips when reading, and who don't think that ..err.. motor sport begins and ends with recent F1

Octane - some good stuff ; very much enjoy Jay Leno , John Simister, Meaden et al. But I have to resist urge to beat the heroically snobbish , smugtastic , namedropping and intensely irritating editor Robert Coucher to a pulp.I may not be alone in wanting to do this ...

Autosport- once definitive; now F1 fanzine for those with 8 second attention spans - on a good day

Evo- obsessed with track use of road cars. Troy Queef prose from some .

Car - once the greatest(and how couldn't it have been with such as Bulgin, Blain, Llewellin, Manney , Bell, Nichols , Bishop and Long John Kickstart on the team over the years? ) . Now a glib parody of what it was

C and SC - unpretentious , decent and likeable. Unlike Octane, no watch content

Autocar- how are the mighty fallen ....simply dire. No content except for images of yet another pumped up new Audi or Merc

[anonymous-user]

sagarich said:

Dickie Meaden on the way out too?

Fair point about the publishing industry, most publishing execs I have met and worked with are clueless about digital and try and repeat the models that worked in print.

They remind me of dinosaurs slowly sinking into a tar pit, too stupid and proud to do anything about the inevitable.

[KennyR32]

I'm an EVO subscriber, but I have to admit the last 3/4 issues have been poor and a bit dull. Print is dying, but like others have said it's nice to get a physical copy rather than read content online.

It's an interesting time. Only time will tell I guess.....

[battered]

Does anyone read printed magazines any more? I used to buy dozens, I had shelves full at home. These days I might buy 1 or 2 a year, and most of the mags have been given away.

I never liked Evo or Octane. I don't like the journalism style of Evo, people have given me copies and I've junked them before I've read them through simply because the authors come across as such a set of cocks. Octane is just a mag for dreamers. Oh, should I buy the XKSS that comes up at Coy's next month or do I think the ex-Stirling Moss Gullwing is more me? Perhaps I'll wait for a '73 RSR instead.

[zeb]

astrsxi77 said:

I very much agree with this.

I was no great fan of Catchpole when he first arrived - what does this child know about cars? (even though we're of similar age!) - but was quickly proven wrong. His avoidance of the modern hyperbolic - everything is "epic"..."EPIC" - style is refreshing.

I think at least part of the reason for the drop in EVO's readership must be due to the age of the readers themselves.

As I get older, my interest in modern cars decreases; their irrelevant gadgetry; the unending bloating; Diesel Sline, Diesel M, Diesel SUV coupe-cross. It's a total bore, as was seeing unjust 5-star ratings thrown about like confetti, so I stopped buying EVO as my interest ebbed away.

Now I would far rather read about classics and youngtimers, as the Germans call them.

So we seem to have the same idea, and there must be many others like us of a certain age, shunning magazines like EVO. You know, those who roll their eyes every time the new 400bhp hot hatch breaks a Nurburgring lap record, sparking yet more tedious column inches and speculation.

wise words indeed, glad to see its not just me.....

[slk 32]

coppice said:

But I have to resist urge to beat the heroically snobbish , smugtastic , namedropping and intensely irritating editor Robert Coucher to a pulp.I may not be alone in wanting to do this ...

+1

Quite possibly the smuggest man ever to oil his way through SW3

[Digitalize]

Print is dying, and I work with the print industry! Sadly the publishers either are too stubborn to properly consider digital, or too tight fisted to make the outlay required. A PDF version of the magazine is not how you do a digital magazine, yet this is how they all are.

Unless they embrace digital copies as they should be, fully interactive experiences, they'll never do anything but shrink. Maybe this is something DT will be doing, if they are still looking at written content as well as video. I could see the Evo-esque videos supplementing a more indepth article for those interested, and with them both existing together.

With a digital platform you could even move away from a standard release schedule (the editors and designers I know will kill me for suggesting this) and move to a much more frequent, but smaller release schedule, an article or two a week, more bitesize, rather than waiting a month for the next issue to be released, alongside this it means they could pump out their news as and when it becomes available, keeping it relevant and possibly the place you first see things, rather than skipping past it because you saw it all a month ago on the internet.

[Leins]

I've noticed that nearly all the printed mags have started moving into the "modern classics" area more and more of late, trying to capture the interest of those readers (like me) who also appreciate features on cars from the 80s & 90s. However, it does feel a little forced from some, as if these cars have now only become acceptable due to their risen values

In saying that I do quite like Modern Classics mag itself, despite the somewhat iffy journalism and "guaranteed investment" forecasts

Lost interest in Evo many moons ago, when it seemed to have lost the ethos of its Performance Car Mag origins

[iSore]

astrsxi77 said:

I very much agree with this.

I was no great fan of Catchpole when he first arrived - what does this child know about cars? (even though we're of similar age!) - but was quickly proven wrong. His avoidance of the modern hyperbolic - everything is "epic"..."EPIC" - style is refreshing.

I think at least part of the reason for the drop in EVO's readership must be due to the age of the readers themselves.

As I get older, my interest in modern cars decreases; their irrelevant gadgetry; the unending bloating; Diesel Sline, Diesel M, Diesel SUV coupe-cross. It's a total bore, as was seeing unjust 5-star ratings thrown about like confetti, so I stopped buying EVO as my interest ebbed away.

Now I would far rather read about classics and youngtimers, as the Germans call them.

So we seem to have the same idea, and there must be many others like us of a certain age, shunning magazines like EVO. You know, those who roll their eyes every time the new 400bhp hot hatch breaks a Nurburgring lap record, sparking yet more tedious column inches and speculation.

Fot the price of a couple of copies of EGO, you can get ten well thumbed CAR mags from the seventies or eighties. This was motoring journalism at its height; LJKS, Bishop, Barker, Mel Nichols, Doug Blain etc. LJKS made motorcycling interesting for those (like me) who aren't interested. He also wrote some terrific drive stories back in the day. I couldn't give a st if the Porsche Pecan diesel is better than the F Pace. However - a 1976 group test with the Fiat 131, Marina and Cortina Mark 3? Where are my reading specs - I may be some time.

I've never 'got' EVO, just like I don't get Top Gear mag, CAR since about 1990. The trouble with the classic mags is that it's all been said a million times before.

Jaded? Moi?

[iSore]

coppice said:

But I have to resist urge to beat the heroically snobbish , smugtastic , namedropping and intensely irritating editor Robert Coucher to a pulp.I may not be alone in wanting to do this ...

Do what my mate once did and call him Bob Crouch. He likes that. I worked with him over 20 years ago - he's alright really.

[Patrick Bateman]

astrsxi77 said:

I very much agree with this.

I was no great fan of Catchpole when he first arrived - what does this child know about cars? (even though we're of similar age!) - but was quickly proven wrong. His avoidance of the modern hyperbolic - everything is "epic"..."EPIC" - style is refreshing.

He gets what it's all really about. I've never been one for track battles or any of that crap, completely bores me.

Three of his best videos-

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xkAT82-R0S8

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4bziUYnN8Mg

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QCpCbZaD8xc

[s m]

battered said:

zDoes anyone read printed magazines any more? I used to buy dozens, I had shelves full at home. These days I might buy 1 or 2 a year, and most of the mags have been given away.

Yes, I do. Personally I find the Internet rubbish for proper car reviews. If there were ones like in Autocar or like CAR used to do in the 80s/90s I'd be interested but the ones on the Autocar website are a cutdown, poor prećis ime.

Video reviews are interesting to watch sometimes but rarely go into any detail enough for me

[CABC]

s m said:

battered said:

zDoes anyone read printed magazines any more? I used to buy dozens, I had shelves full at home. These days I might buy 1 or 2 a year, and most of the mags have been given away.

Yes, I do. Personally I find the Internet rubbish for proper car reviews. If there were ones like in Autocar or like CAR used to do in the 80s/90s I'd be interested but the ones on the Autocar website are a cutdown, poor pre?is ime.

Video reviews are interesting to watch sometimes but rarely go into any detail enough for me

A lot of people use Readly for a digital version of AC, TG, Car, Modern Classics, Classic Motoring and others. It's an exact copy of the print version too. Main benefit is that you get around £30 of monthly mags (depending what you read, it could be over a £100) for £10 on your tablet. This is not innovation at all, but it is here and works. Worse, the titles clearly don't make £5 per copy that i read so their model is broken. I wouldn't spend £5 on most of the mags these days. Occasional Motorsport and Octane (and i don't wear a watch!).

[Zod]

I have a subscription on my iPad, but I've just about given up reading it. Time to cancel.

[LotusOmega375D]

iSore said:

The trouble with the classic mags is that it's all been said a million times before.

Haha, that's a sign of old age. I had a pop at C&SC on here for publishing a similar story to one I remembered from a few years ago. They came on to PH and told me that the previous story was from about 25 years ago, so they thought it would be OK to publish the new one.

[s m]

CABC said:

A lot of people use Readly for a digital version of AC, TG, Car, Modern Classics, Classic Motoring and others. It's an exact copy of the print version too. Main benefit is that you get around £30 of monthly mags (depending what you read, it could be over a £100) for £10 on your tablet. This is not innovation at all, but it is here and works. Worse, the titles clearly don't make £5 per copy that i read so their model is broken. I wouldn't spend £5 on most of the mags these days. Occasional Motorsport and Octane (and i don't wear a watch!).

I guess it would work if I had enough computer storage.... I never find it that easy to hook up old hard drives to 'leaf back' through things I want to look at again whereas mags seem handier

Whatever works for you personally I guess.

[iSore]

LotusOmega375D said:

Haha, that's a sign of old age. I had a pop at C&SC on here for publishing a similar story to one I remembered from a few years ago. They came on to PH and told me that the previous story was from about 25 years ago, so they thought it would be OK to publish the new one.

Ha!

The other thing about classic mags is that they try to gloss over the fact that some cars were absolute crap when new (see: MGC) with a 'they weren't that bad really'. Read a 1970 edition of CAR and you'll realise the Mark III Cortina was in fact a steaming turd. LJKS wrote an article damning the AC Cobra as being utterly horrid to drive - you won't read this in C&SC.

I buy the odd copy, and Buckley is the first bit I read. He doesn't give a st and says what needs to be said.

[Digitalize]

s m said:

I guess it would work if I had enough computer storage.... I never find it that easy to hook up old hard drives to 'leaf back' through things I want to look at again whereas mags seem handier

Whatever works for you personally I guess.

I think this is the first time I've ever seen anyone say a stash of magazines would be easier than digital copies stored on a hard drive! For one you'd need one hard drive to store hundreds of thousands of magazines.

[RichB]

battered said:

Does anyone read printed magazines any more?

I have a subscription to MotorSport and Octane but I do read them. As has been said, MotorSport is one the few mags that actually has some decent informative journalism and articles that go over more then 2 pages. Octane because my main area of interest is classic and older cars and they do get some really interesting cars to write up. Oh, and it has to be said the photography in Ocatane is first class.

Edited by RichB on Thursday 27th October 17:00