What is happening at EVO magazine?

What is happening at EVO magazine?

Author
Discussion

s m

23,278 posts

204 months

Friday 10th January 2020
quotequote all
greenarrow said:
Just re-booting this thread to ask the question - where is the current issue? By my reckoning it was due in the shops this Weds (the EVO website suggests subs were to be posted out on 2/1/20) but I cant find it any where in the usual retail outlets.... . following all our criticism last month, has it finally succumbed to magazine fatigue and the cancellation of subscriptions.....?
No new 911s to test?

havoc

30,154 posts

236 months

Saturday 11th January 2020
quotequote all
monthefish said:
What issue are we on? I've lost track...
I'm still finishing ecoty - evo's long since stopped being a priority read for me.

Didn't think the story was bad...but just 6 cars tells me they couldn't rustle up any more.

greenarrow

3,627 posts

118 months

Wednesday 15th January 2020
quotequote all
The EVO website indicates the next issue is out next Weds in the shops (22/1/20), which will be 6 weeks since the last one. I'm guessing then that perhaps its reverting to 12 issues a year, hence the gap? Its funny, although I like to moan about the mag, I still like to flick through it each month. Would Divert attention away from the awful January weather.

Edited by greenarrow on Wednesday 15th January 11:39

Smifffy

1,992 posts

267 months

Tuesday 21st January 2020
quotequote all
EVO has now been replaced in the house of Smifff by;

Autocar : great, current coverage of what's happening now in the industry
Modern classics : A bit nerdy but I'm drawn by the passion and down to earth approach
Harry's Garage : YouTube brilliance from Lord Metcalf which he's now expanded to his Farm and even his enguide builder/Lambo shop has spawned his own channel
The Smoking Tire : YouTube US based reviews. Not an absolute favourite but good to watch some oddities which he drives

It feels like on demand car video is coming of age. Not sure how Harry commercialises it - but perhaps just having a stream of manufacturers queuing up to offer him models to test is enough for now whilst he builds subscribers.

Either way - I get from these titles what I used to get from EVO.

I take no pleasure in predicting EVO's demise in the next 12 months - or perhaps Lord Harry will get tempted on a buy-back and then add his new found video production into the mix? (he'd pushed video on EVO for years but ironically it seems more successful under his own brand?).


simonrockman

6,869 posts

256 months

Tuesday 21st January 2020
quotequote all
s m said:
greenarrow said:
Just re-booting this thread to ask the question - where is the current issue? By my reckoning it was due in the shops this Weds (the EVO website suggests subs were to be posted out on 2/1/20) but I cant find it any where in the usual retail outlets.... . following all our criticism last month, has it finally succumbed to magazine fatigue and the cancellation of subscriptions.....?
No new 911s to test?
My subs copy arrived at the weekend.
718 Vs NSX
718 Vs Alpine A100
The only 911 is in the long term tests

Then in non-Porsche news
C8 (not read it yet)
An excellent DBX first drive on why it's better than other SUVs
A very damming review of the BMW M340i, one of the most negative reviews I've read in Evo, but it still gets three stars. Fun to read
More Yaris love
More fawning over Gordon Murray
and a very un-Evo but excellent articles on ultra low emissions zones.

s m

23,278 posts

204 months

Wednesday 22nd January 2020
quotequote all
simonrockman said:
s m said:
greenarrow said:
Just re-booting this thread to ask the question - where is the current issue? By my reckoning it was due in the shops this Weds (the EVO website suggests subs were to be posted out on 2/1/20) but I cant find it any where in the usual retail outlets.... . following all our criticism last month, has it finally succumbed to magazine fatigue and the cancellation of subscriptions.....?
No new 911s to test?
My subs copy arrived at the weekend.
718 Vs NSX
718 Vs Alpine A100
The only 911 is in the long term tests

Then in non-Porsche news
C8 (not read it yet)
An excellent DBX first drive on why it's better than other SUVs
A very damming review of the BMW M340i, one of the most negative reviews I've read in Evo, but it still gets three stars. Fun to read
More Yaris love
More fawning over Gordon Murray
and a very un-Evo but excellent articles on ultra low emissions zones.
Yep, skimmed over most of the above

I’m looking forward to the Yaris test(s) and comparison(s) soon

Plus hoping they get to test GM’s Escort - maybe up against the Alfaholics GTA 290R.

No doubt there will be a gamut of new 6-pot Cayster articles imminent though

RSTurboPaul

10,470 posts

259 months

Wednesday 22nd January 2020
quotequote all
simonrockman said:
My subs copy arrived at the weekend.
718 Vs NSX
718 Vs Alpine A100
The only 911 is in the long term tests

Then in non-Porsche news
C8 (not read it yet)
An excellent DBX first drive on why it's better than other SUVs
A very damming review of the BMW M340i, one of the most negative reviews I've read in Evo, but it still gets three stars. Fun to read
More Yaris love
More fawning over Gordon Murray
and a very un-Evo but excellent articles on ultra low emissions zones.
I'm please that someone is 'calling out' the seemingly ever-increasing detachment of the driver from the driving process. It is somewhat depressing to think that great marques like BMW (who, like them as a brand or not, have produced some great cars through history) seem to be resigning themselves to an autonomous world where people just want a nice sofa to sit on and some gadgets to play with while the car drives itself.

The ULEZ article was from the hand of a member of the Alliance of British Drivers, I believe - who are basically the only organisation truly fighting for drivers' rights, seeing as the RAC Foundation are pro-Big Brother tracking and charging, the AA seem to be in basically the same mindset, and IAM Head Office have stopped being an organisation that challenges nonsense rules (such as ISA and similar) and instead are seeking to maximise commercialised income. I don't understand why more people are not joining the ABD as Members and supporting the cause TBH, but then such is the apathy of the British public at large that the petition against ISA only stands at a few thousand signatures out of a driving population of, what, 40-50million people? If we don't stand up for ourselves then we only have ourselves to blame!
[/rant]

Edited by RSTurboPaul on Wednesday 22 January 00:41

CABC

5,602 posts

102 months

Wednesday 22nd January 2020
quotequote all
the driver's car blueprint piece was very lightweight for such a weighty issue.
worthy of a lot more depth. there was a similar (though better) piece on what makes a good handling car last year.
this could have been a deeper and more researched, maybe even a little contentious to stir debate.

s m

23,278 posts

204 months

Wednesday 22nd January 2020
quotequote all
CABC said:
the driver's car blueprint piece was very lightweight for such a weighty issue.
worthy of a lot more depth. there was a similar (though better) piece on what makes a good handling car last year.
this could have been a deeper and more researched, maybe even a little contentious to stir debate.
Yes, they could have got a disparate selection of cars fitting the blueprint over the years to drive and relate how they all were drivers’ cars

greenarrow

3,627 posts

118 months

Wednesday 22nd January 2020
quotequote all
Smifffy said:
EVO has now been replaced in the house of Smifff by;

Autocar : great, current coverage of what's happening now in the industry
Modern classics : A bit nerdy but I'm drawn by the passion and down to earth approach
Harry's Garage : YouTube brilliance from Lord Metcalf which he's now expanded to his Farm and even his enguide builder/Lambo shop has spawned his own channel
The Smoking Tire : YouTube US based reviews. Not an absolute favourite but good to watch some oddities which he drives

It feels like on demand car video is coming of age. Not sure how Harry commercialises it - but perhaps just having a stream of manufacturers queuing up to offer him models to test is enough for now whilst he builds subscribers.

Either way - I get from these titles what I used to get from EVO.

I take no pleasure in predicting EVO's demise in the next 12 months - or perhaps Lord Harry will get tempted on a buy-back and then add his new found video production into the mix? (he'd pushed video on EVO for years but ironically it seems more successful under his own brand?).
Similar to me. I have bought every issue of Modern Classics. Its replaced EVO as my go to mag, as its the only mag on sale that features the cars I actually tend to buy or want to buy, i.e. sporty or interesting cars from the 90s or 2000s. The Ford Focus 20 year anniversary special a couple of years back was so influential, I went and bought another Mk1 late last year.....

I like to flick through Autocar, still a decent read at times, but too many road tests of diesel cars. They really need to get up to date!

I also wonder about EVOs demise this year, but that said, if they've survived this long they may yet survive.

This months issue sounds like one I may buy, although the old 718 Cayman v Alpine thing has been done to death and EVO usually come down on the side of Porsche, even it means getting a test car with £20K worth of extras on it to tip the balance, like they did in the original 718 Cayman S v Alpine group test!

ruggedscotty

5,638 posts

210 months

Wednesday 22nd January 2020
quotequote all
Modern Classics feels like a revamp of Performance car from the ninties, its a damn good read and enjoy it.

loved the focus article interesting read that, ended up reading more on the internet about the focus and how it came about. what a game changer that car was.

just think it could have been called the ikon infact it was a 50 50 what it was going to be called. no one at ford wanted it out before the big launch so they had badges made for focus and ikon and it was literally down to what envelope was picked on the day of opening of the show and they put focus on the car.

brilliant car it was the Mk1.5 1.6 Silver was all the car you ever needed lol

back to mags, Autocar is good for news and the like, car is pretty okay topgear im still out on. evo used to be good but its kinda I don't know bit too fanboy for some marques...

urquattroGus

1,858 posts

191 months

Wednesday 22nd January 2020
quotequote all
I’ve been critical of Evo but of late have enjoyed reading it again. Fair play to the editor.

acme

2,972 posts

199 months

Wednesday 22nd January 2020
quotequote all
We all remember the shambles that was ECOTY 2017. I note on last month's article at the end of ECOTY where they discuss the cars that came last in chronoligical order where they note the publisher insisted the format was changed, and they no longer work for the magazine as a result......

Does show they took note of all the complaints.


acme

2,972 posts

199 months

Wednesday 22nd January 2020
quotequote all
greenarrow said:
This months issue sounds like one I may buy, although the old 718 Cayman v Alpine thing has been done to death and EVO usually come down on the side of Porsche, even it means getting a test car with £20K worth of extras on it to tip the balance, like they did in the original 718 Cayman S v Alpine group test!
It's worth reading the article, and interestingly they do comment on that initial test and the 20k of extras it had.

Also interesting, or at least I thought was extent to which they villify the flat four, I know there's little love for it but Adam Towler goes way beyond it in the article, calling it a shambles!



epom

11,586 posts

162 months

Wednesday 22nd January 2020
quotequote all
Henry back always helps.

DMZ

1,408 posts

161 months

Wednesday 22nd January 2020
quotequote all
I'm very much liking evo of late. There's some proper hard hitting commentary on cars. Which is nice to see instead of the usual isn't the big screen very nice or whatever.

This one is a recent favourite of mine: https://www.evo.co.uk/bmw/x3/202087/bmw-x3-m-2020-...

havoc

30,154 posts

236 months

Wednesday 22nd January 2020
quotequote all
acme said:
Also interesting, or at least I thought was extent to which they villify the flat four, I know there's little love for it but Adam Towler goes way beyond it in the article, calling it a shambles!
Torque-heavy turbo-4's have no place in sports cars. Zero delicacy, zero effort required, poor noise. All of which is anathema to Porsche's DNA.

...so I can't blame them. It was a lazy move by Porsche, and someone needs to say so...

acme

2,972 posts

199 months

Wednesday 22nd January 2020
quotequote all
Rarely have I seen Evo be quite so harsh of it. It does seem a massive error when few seem
to criticise the Alpine’s engine. Especially when seemingly the 981’s engine was its USP.

It’ll be interesting to see how it plays out in the 718, will the remainder go six too before they apparently make it all electric.

Limpet

6,335 posts

162 months

Wednesday 22nd January 2020
quotequote all
simonrockman said:
A very damming review of the BMW M340i, one of the most negative reviews I've read in Evo, but it still gets three stars. Fun to read
Just read this review, and ouch! This car is on my list as well as a potential M140i replacement...


simonrockman

6,869 posts

256 months

Thursday 23rd January 2020
quotequote all
simonrockman said:
Then in non-Porsche news
C8 (not read it yet)
I've now read it, it turns out that the C8 piece was really "Why the C8 isn't (yet) better than a 718". I suspect that if I went through and counted the number of times the name "C8" appears in the piece and the number of time "Cayman" does there would be more Porsche references than Corvette ones, but that would be childish so I didn't do it.