Evo - The thrill of money

[Dr Boxcat]

Having been a reader for a long number of years it does pain me to start this topic, but in the last mag they described the near 100k Aston V8 roadster as almost being affordable. err. really?

[EDLT]

Stopped reading it a while ago, partly for that reason and partly because car x is not as good as a Porsche.

[Mastodon2]

To the people they think buy their magazine it is!

[Ozzie Osmond]

Agreed - the gap is getting stupidly wide between what a handful of wealthy people can afford and the real world for most of us.

Gave up my subscription a while back and now just buy it if and when the mood takes me.

[Colonial]

Must be time for the monthly EVO is bad thread.

[MartyPubes]

I only buy it for the watch adverts these days.

[j123]

Colonial said:

Must be time for the monthly EVO is bad thread.

All the conservatives always say if you don't like something don't buy it. And if you say there is nothing else to buy they tell you then start your own. Unfortunately that philosophy doesn't work so well in this economic era/generation. Very few have the money to put together a new car magazine - especially one free from manufacture advertising bias. So at this point we are left with Mr Dennis and Mr. Hastletine and Mr. Bauer- or whoever-the bland it is that runs CAR..o and yes of course somehow Mr. Murdoch. j

Edited by j123 on Tuesday 6th September 00:35

[Dr Boxcat]

j123 said:

Colonial said:

Must be time for the monthly EVO is bad thread.

All the conservatives always say if you don't like something don't buy it. And if you say there is nothing else to buy they tell you then start your own. Unfortunately that philosophy doesn't work so well in this economic era/generation. Very few have the money to put together a new car magazine - especially one free from manufacture advertising bias. So at this point we are left with Mr Dennis and Mr. Hastletine and Mr. Bauer- of whoever it is that runs CAR..o and yes of course somehow Mr. Murdoch. j

don't get me wrong Colonial, I've seen the monthly evo is bad threads, I'm not knocking the magazine massively, I'll probably keep getting it, I enjoy dreaming about the adventures they get up to and reading the good bits that is peppered around, Richard Porter's column always entertains.

I do feel they've lost touch a bit, maybe they are trying to captivate the supercar buying public and pander to them, they are the ones with money after all, the high end advertisers would be keen for that. Especially with joe public driving enthusiast falling on downtrodden times. and as J says in this climate there aren't really other alternatives, drivers republic had a decent stab at the whole we're passionate about driving not money thing, but that didn't last very long.

I'm thinking back to those early days of evo I guess, when the front cover was littered with hot hatches and a supercar peering over in the background was the "what if we were loaded" car. It felt like a magazine for the enthusiast, not just for the fortunate enthusiast. With there being less exciting new cars being launched as frequently it must be tough for a motoring magazine to come up with fresh material. Nowadays I find I get more enjoyment out of reading the ph threads (especially this one right now - hahahah - http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a... than reading about the time it takes to change gear in the latest euromillions fantasy, or what button to press to allow me to do 60ft powerslides not just 15ft ones - don't get me wrong I love nice cars - this is not what I'm talking about. Its nice to read about them sometimes, just not week in week out rubbing it in the common man's face, it makes them feel just that little bit less special.

[Mr Whippy]

It's the best car mag out there, but there is some junk in it too.

I'm starting to chuckle a bit when Evo (no idea who actually writes said copy, probably Harry) start patting themselves on the shoulders when a manufacturer tweaks a car, and they start taking the praise for bringing that to the manufacturers attention.

Hmmmm... when you start believing your own bullst, it's time to stop!

Dave

[Colonial]

My reading is that it is a comparative affordability which is a different thing.

[LooneyTunes]

If I were a motoring journo and could push my publication in a direction that meant I spent most of my time driving exotica, would I do it? Let me think...

[900T-R]

Except most exotica is actually a bit frustrating to drive in normal day-to-day conditions. Hang on, we'll b*gg*r off to North Wales or the Alps then (repeat ad nauseam).

Oh, and most copies of evo that sit on my shelf are chockful of Volkswagen & Seat ads, indicating what most of their readers really have on their drives...

[Daniel1]

I remember reading the pull-out article they created for driving holidays and thoroughly enjoyed the section about getting your car transported to the south of France, for a mere £1500 or so.

Now i only buy the Ecoty issue.

[robsti]

It always puzzles me how the writers eg (Chris Harris) can afford the cars they personally own?

[TKH]

I too now only buy ECOTY

I remember the heady days of STi 5 vs EVO 6 / Clio Williams and David Yu's expolding GTR

Too many adverts these days

So have switched to Octane but i think its an age thing as i now buy newspapers for the free CD and shoes because they are comfy

My teenage boy reads EVO so maybe its us guys

[vescaegg]

robsti said:

It always puzzles me how the writers eg (Chris Harris) can afford the cars they personally own?

Id say you can make a fair old wedge writing for a magazine like Evo. Especially if you are well known and were before you joined.

Wish I could afford a GT3 4.0!

[markcoznottz]

robsti said:

It always puzzles me how the writers eg (Chris Harris) can afford the cars they personally own?

They all seem well off reading between the lines. Metcalfe, harris, barker, maybe meaden dont seem to be scratching down the back of the sofa to pay the gas bill. Tomalin and Bovingdon (yes I know hes gone), maybe no so much.

[louiebaby]

vescaegg said:

robsti said:

It always puzzles me how the writers eg (Chris Harris) can afford the cars they personally own?

Id say you can make a fair old wedge writing for a magazine like Evo. Especially if you are well known and were before you joined.

Wish I could afford a GT3 4.0!

If I was independently wealthy, (I'm really not,) I would do everything I could to get a job as a motoring hack. I'm not saying it's easy, but it must be one of the best jobs on the planet. I'm now too old and tall for most motorsport.

[toon10]

I'm going to go against convention and say I really enjoy the magazine to be honest. There's not many other mags that feature the cars I'm interested in. I don't like reading about the latest modified Corsa and couldn't care less how many mpg the new 1.2 Polo does, etc.

There are some features I'm not intrerested in but appreciate others are such as track cars, I can't afford a toy and prefer drivers cars that are good on the road. I also like Porsches :-)

I don't care that I can't afford a Lambo or a Ferrari, I still like to read about them.

The biggest problem for me is that they are diluting the magazine with far too many Diesels, SUV and 4x4 cars. I don't want to read about cars that don't offer thrills but they seem to be creeping into the pages a lot more.

[Roberty]

I still love it, I'm not lucky enough to find the £100k Aston affordable either but I'd far rather read about that than the latest Family shopping trolley from Ford or Vauxhall.

For me it's escapism as much as anything else.

I get to read about the cars I aspire to but will in all probability never own and the cars I might own one day after depreciation has done it's worst.

And I'm not a Porsche hater either so using Porsche as a benchmark for everything is fine by me.