Why do you buy Wheels and Motor Magazines?

[Polyal]

Well I finished reading the latest Wheels mag, put it on the pile of my other ones and thought to myself, why did I buy that?

It wasn't very insightful, I knew all of the statistics and "exclusives", maybe one article was interesting. I get dejavu every month as I swear Wheels/Motor just share articles.

Ive brought every Wheels/Motor mag for the past 9 years! And for what?....All the info I can just get on the net anyway.

It seems that I have just gotten into the habit of buying and collecting them. When I was younger all the spy pics were cool, but now its all a bit ho hum.

How many other members buy the mag on a regular basis? Do you think its worth it?

[b2tf]

I have a subscription to Wheels which I will probably renew when it runs out. I refuse to read MOTOR as they seem to be the bogans of the automotive journalism world (IMHO anyway).

I buy it cos I like reading about cars in general, and because they usually have some good articles about future concepts, what car makers are doing etc etc. I dont get too caught up the political stuff but John Carey and Michael Stahl occasinally write good contributions. COTY is always interesting but to be honest I dont read half of it, more just read who the winner is and why they won it.

[mcflux]

Street Machine, Street Action, Street Fords, PFM and E-Series Lite/Maximum Torque for the win :P

I used to like Wheels/Motor but it no longer interests me, for the exact reasons that you've mentioned Al. I believe that Wheels/Motor magazines become interesting after about 15 or so years, when you open up an older issue and go "ooh! Look how great that EF looks", "lol @ 165kw V8s", "look how bland Mazda was then (barring RX7/MX5)", etc etc

I've got an old late 70s edition of Modern Motor that I found intact in the middle of a bush reserve of all places. It had a wicked article about Brock in a then-new VB commodore, having done some cannonball-style rally across Australia. It had all these interesting articles about motorsport, imports, and funny ads about how the oil companies would provide "all the answers you need in the 80s".

I also bought an old 60s Modern Motor mag off ebay, it had adverts on "how to hop up your Falcon/Holden six", an article on the XM falcon range of the time, plus all these little pommy imports from the time.

Treat the magazines like wine Al; buy them, store them, read them next decade.

[Flouro_Joe]

I read them a the library, doctors, hospital or wherever. I never buy them only Muscle car

[bigAl]

there a waste, i bought em for about 18 months solid a couple of years ago and relised im wasting my $$$

[XR8-260]

I never buy them anymore - price has gone up to 8.95 :(. I just get them from the library. Also, one of the online databases that I use has all the articles (no pics though, just text).

[jarridtheruler]

Yeah im over them too, i realised i was only buying them as there was a gt, or a clubby or something on the cover. Then i would go home, read one or two articles about cars im interested in, then put them on my floor.

[Powdered Toast Man]

I had a subscription for the past couple of years but didnt renew it this year as I was getting bored of the mags. They always have the same stuff in them and I found myself not reading them. So I decided not to waste my money and only buy it when there is something interesting in it. I think I have bought 3 issues this year so I have already saved myself more than the "yearly saving" of a subscription.

[FPV8U]

I used to buy both of them every month, but now they would be lucky if i bought two a year, im just not interisted in their opinions, for example in there opinion a 2003 XR8 can do just shy of 100Km/h in 2nd gear, why is it that mine can do around 112km/h then?

I know my speedo isn't out by more than 2km/h from when i went from WA to VIC as a police officer told me so from his Radar, he told me i was doing 112-113km/h when my speedo read 114-115km/h.

I only buy Australian Muscle Car, Street Fords & Performance Ford.

[ClevlndStemer]

I enjoy reading them both, used to get Street Machine to but i lost interest in it.

[nugget378]

Ive never bought one of either in my life,dos'nt interest me in the least...

[Fairlane]

I read em but im over them. Motor is just plain crap and Wheels is pretty pointless, 95% of the news and the like is just speculation or recycled stuff which ive already read on the net. Even the car comparisions arent that great, they are no better than the net reviews.

In fact im really sick of this speculative crap that appears in those mags, its acutally quite funny to read mags from a few years ago and see how far they were off the mark- According to the mags we should all be driving Turbo Diesel Torana's by now. So now i rely on the net for the latest info, hell the info on the net is a whole lot better for stuff like Orion, VE, etc.

Pretty much the only auto mag that i really enjoy is AMC- now thats a good mag- well researched articles, original articles and timeless- the articles in there are virtually reference pieces- its like getting a book, not speculative plucked from thin air trash.

[Polyal]

Originally Posted by Fairlane

I read em but im over them. Motor is just plain crap and motor is pretty pointless, 95% of the news and the like is just speculation or recycled stuff which ive already read on the net. Even the car comparisions arent that great, they are no better than the net reviews.

In fact im really sick of this speculative crap that appears in those mags, its acutally quite funny to read mags from a few years ago and see how far they were off the mark- According to the mags we should all be driving Turbo Diesel Torana's by now. So now i rely on the net for the latest info, hell the info on the net is a whole lot better for stuff like Orion, VE, etc.

Pretty much the only auto mag that i really enjoy is AMC- now thats a good mag- well researched articles, original interview and articles and timeless- the articles in there are virtually reference pieces- its like getting a book, not speculative plucked from thin air trash.

LOL...Ill have to buy a copy of Australian Muscle Car, sounds interesting, is it solely old school?

[Fairlane]

Originally Posted by Polyal

LOL...Ill have to buy a copy of Australian Muscle Car, sounds interesting, is it solely old school?

Yeah pretty much, they do did quick runs in modern muscle cars from time to time- ie Typhoon, GTS etc.

But they do fantastic articles from Motorsport history- Bathurst, Group A, Group C, Speedway, Drags, look into the whole history of how some the old classic muscle cars were developed, solve some real tricky muscle car myths do spec articles on Muscle car mechanicals and usually do some really good buyers guides for muscle cars even the newer ones

[GTP534]

Bit of a coincidence really! Recently, I didn't renew my Wheels subscription after 14 years. I was ending up not reading them and felt it was just a waste of money when I could just buy the issues which interested me. I think since I started subscribing to Australian Muscle Car magazine about 3 years ago Wheels just did not interest me anymore. AMC is great and I read that cover to cover.

Cheers

Jim

[falzoony]

I use to buy them alot but not any more. since the VE has came out all you read about is how good it is and how shite the Falcon is. Although I do enjoy reading them if there is a write up on new luxury german or english cars, I can still dream cant I?

[XRated]

They're the type of magazine I buy once every 3-6 months. Monthly they're repetitive - I prefer magazines that focus on 'reader's rides' so you generally see different cars, stories, and modifications regularly.

[xwgasaxe]

I have a current subscription of Motor and I am sick of it arriving a week after it has been in the shops and reading about the latest comparison between a GT, STI,EVO and Clubseal.
Far out how many times can we compare these cars, Still I haven't seen them flung out of a catapault yet to see which ones aero package is better.
Letter to ED coming up!!

[fou_bleu]

I flick through the mag (not read) and buy it if i see a story or 3 i like!

[S3SR]

im really just a sucker for the pics and gossip about nothing, that and well the coles discount card sorta pays for it (only buy when i go grocery shopping)
that and if they are road testing certain cars, tyres, tracks.....etc

[Sapper]

Being a mechanical engineering student I find that Motor/Wheels have no info that I can really sink my teeth into. Its all just emotive articles which, to me, don't actually say much at all. Street Fords/Street Machine/Performance Ford are better as there are a few tech articles and the write ups actually say something tangible without the usual padding from most journalists.

[Dr Smith]

I stopped buying about 6 six year ago, after having bought every edition of both Wheels and (Modern) Motor since the XD came out. More recently there has been the internet where spy shots pop up far more quickly and information is shared instantly. With the mags you now get the "exclusive inside story", "we talk to the engineers", shots of early sketches and clay work, proto testing photos, which are obviously and naturally supplied by the manufacturer. I think that these deals are done a long time in advance and the mags then "control" their info and photo's to get the "extra" help from the companies. There will always be claims of bias by the "losing fans" in a roadtest however my biggest gripe came when an SS performed better then ever before just after the XR8 was released. Holden knew of BA Ford's power output but had no real idea of the weight gain so a 260kW XR8 seemed like a performance demon. Next came the incredible figures from an SS press car that the HSV of the day couldn't match.....wouldn't you check things out rather then trust any manufacturer is such a situation?

[Falcon_Phill]

I only buy the ones with the pretty pictures to see what people have done, what i could do and to see other models i dont usually see. I could give a stuff about what some guy thinks about a BA to a VZ or some rubbish, like you said its free on the net and at the end of the day its just someones opinions. I just love the cars! Streetfords and Ford street machine are what i buy on a monthly basis.

[jdg]

They're an interesting read and perspective. Although I wouldnt buy a car based on an opinion i read in wheels. Autosalon, HPI etc and other aftermarket type magazines are quite interesting.

[Falcon Freak]

When I was younger we had three Australian motoring publications - Wheels, Modern Motor and Car Australia. They were published by different companies and offered differing opinions on cars. Modern Motor was my magazine of choice.

Nowdays we only have two - Wheels and Motor - and they are both owned by the same company ACP. The former is smug and self-righteous whereas the later is only suitable for dental surgerys to flick though absent-mindendly while waiting for your root canal (which is only slightly more painful then reading these two ACP publications). There is no alternative opinion available to what ACP publishes. Therefore their opinion is taken as gospel by the uninformed.

What I'd give for an impartial publication which is intelligently written and contained journalists who understood what the word ethics meant. I like the German magazine www.auto-motor-und-sport.de and would like an Australian magazine to be written in this manner.

FF

[banarcus]

Originally Posted by FPV8U

I used to buy both of them every month, but now they would be lucky if i bought two a year, im just not interisted in their opinions, for example in there opinion a 2003 XR8 can do just shy of 100Km/h in 2nd gear, why is it that mine can do around 112km/h then?

I know my speedo isn't out by more than 2km/h from when i went from WA to VIC as a police officer told me so from his Radar, he told me i was doing 112-113km/h when my speedo read 114-115km/h.

I only buy Australian Muscle Car, Street Fords & Performance Ford.

And here is another example of how much know how these journos have as written in a Motor article on Carpoint: http://ninemsn.carpoint.com.au/car-review/2152793.aspx

MOTOR magazine Past Blast
Ford Falcon XR8

Words: David Morley

.......as it's an engine-out job just to fit extractors, it's not easy or cheap matter to screw more out of the 5.4.The long-stroke design also means that swapping to bigger cams and revving it harder isn't really an option.

Aside from a piggy-back computer that will really only maximise what you've already got, the most viable way to go harder in an XR8 is forced induction. Even then a turbo just won't fit. That leaves you with a belt-driven supercharger, but it's not going to be a cheap one by the time you've got it sorted.

Tuning, it seems, is just one more field of endeavour where the turbo six has got big bro kicked to bits.

[Polyal]

HAHAH nice post FF, all very true. Wheels/Motor seem to be the Womans Weekly of the automotive world.

[Steffo]

I may not agree with everything that they write, but I enjoy reading the articles as a passtime.

[uranium_death]

I do not pay for the magazines. I get them for free.

I am not involved in any illegal operations.

I mainly read Australian automotive things.

[Tles]

Originally Posted by Fairlane

According to the mags we should all be driving Turbo Diesel Torana's by now. .

I thought that was rumoured to be Holden's next big export. Hell i'd buy one to go beside my Territory dual cab RTV