...have they done to it ?
Now two sections with one dedicated to super cars and yank junk with just a small section two dedicated to normal cars at normal prices.
Clarkson gets less funny by the month and the new car guide comments are as old as the hills.
Absolute garbage and subscription cancelled forthwith.
Cancelled Diesel Car as well recently. Ivor Carroll gone and a load of kids and feminists writing tosh.
Definitely a gap in the market for a car magazine that covers Peruda Nippa (?) upto BMW 5 Series and no higher.
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Haven't read it recently but What Car? used to fit that bill.
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I enjoy reading Top Gear, but I do think this new Top Gear 2 section is rubbish, especially the frankly childish 'Frank Savage' deals section.
Also what has happened to the new car stats in the back? They used to show torque figures, something becoming more and more important now when comparing diesels, but not anymore, they've removed this detail..
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A UK magazine that includes 'yank junk'?
Where do I subscribe?
Kevin...
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I also remember as a kid (OK, I'll admit to about 15 years ago) when you could by a small book that listed every UK car on sale. Great for details, traffic light GP when you wonder why your dad's Granada was beaten away by a Montego.
Can't find it now.
I agree, a magazine that covers joe public price range in cars. Much more fun comparing something you can actually buy, with a combined value of £50k compared to a supercar with a set of tyres costing £50k....
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Clarkson gets less funny by the month..
If you read the roadtest column he writes for a sunday newspaper, the name of which escapes me - Sunday Times, maybe? - you can safely skim the first 2/3 of the article because you can guarantee it'll have nothing whatsoever to do with the vehicle in question. The first time the manufacturer or model name generally appears is usually below the photo on the 3rd or so column.
Don't get me wrong - I'm all for creative and witty reviewing, but unfortunately Clarkson manages neither and seems to wallow in his columnist status to the detriment of actually getting the job done..
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'tis a shame Diesel Car is going downhill, Ivor was good.
--
groups.msn.com/honestjohn - Pictures say a thousand words.....
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Kuang
There's nothing new under the Sun (the hot Sun, not the chip-paper Sun): that's exactly how they did the Sunday Express car reviews in the 1960s, if I recall correctly. It used to drive me bananas.
So Top Gear magazine is working to the same standards as the broadcast programme, eh? Well, there's a surprise. Borrowing from Alan Coren's comment on Kilroy-Silk during a recent Radio 4 News Quiz programme, I suggest that Clarkson is a difficult man to ignore, but it's worth the effort.
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Agree with the TG sentiments (applies to the TV programme as well as the mag, BTW). But so many of the big car mags available are preoccupied with horsepower (preferably 500 and above), speed and prestige marques. Frankly I couldn\'t give a about Bugatti Veyrons, Comicseggs and the latest 5-litre V10 turbocharged muscle.
I used to think What Car? was as boring as hell, but if you want sober, objective assessments of cars - including 1.4 litre superminis - plus oodles of data, it\'s the one to go for. It might not be exciting but it does bear some relation to everyday motoring for most people.
Sadly Autocar isn\'t the mag it was. It too now has a schoolboy obsession with super-power, 0-100, extreme handling and trackdays. CAR mag of yore used to refer derisively to Motor and Autocar as \'Motocar\' on account of their stodgy journalism. Well, the new \'Motocar\' has swung too much the other way. And the ed-in-chief is an ex-CAR editor. Funny that, eh?
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Someone reported on this board a while ago that Autocar had published a grossly irresponsible article encouraging retaliation against bad drivers. I checked it out and grossly irresponsible it was. I wrote a letter of complaint to the editor. Guess what: no acknowledgement, no response at all. I guess I'm naming and shaming here, and it's well deserved. That most motoring magazines and television programmes are focused on the urges and perceived needs of teenage boys is tiresome, to say the least. It's grumpy old git time again, but I yearn for the Autocar and Motor Sport of the 1960s.
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I have just bought the lastest, and my last, issue of a well known CAR magazine. Cover had a blurb about "1500 miles in the ***** we couln't break" - pathetic! Why would anybody want to break a car? Probably because it wasn't theirs! The author looked considerably less personable than my local Big Issue seller and writes with some pride about doing 150 mph before slowing down to negotiate slippery tightening rock surrounded curves. Totally irresponsible and no relevance to the day to day driving that most of us have to suffer. Interesting to read about nice cars but not about them being two and a half times over the legal limit on a damp 'A' road!
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It has been said many times before but(sadly) sober objective motoring journalism does not attract viewers or readers in sufficient numbers to make the programme or magazine commercially viable. Hence sexing up.
If we want an appraisal of the latest car from any manufacturer it is all available on the internet.
It is easy enough to ignore the first 2/3rds of Clarkson if you wish, but at least the last third will be critical if he deems it necessary. His celebrity status means he can afford to do so without worrying about retaliation from the manufacturers.
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I said more or less about the TV Top Gear programme: too much supercar stuff and seeing who could go fastest etc. I would love an Aston or the like but I need to know about cars nearer the £10,000 mark. I need to know things about the cars too and not some bloke posing in an Aston Martin screaming ''Wheeeee''Clarkson's lot don't mention diesels without looking down their noses. There should be a programme catering for folks like me who want info on ordinary cars.
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Definitely room for a straightforward ordinary car magsine. If you are on the continent look at the car mags. Simple informative and covering new and second hand. Have stopped buying cars mags now and get my motoring fix on Saturday Telegraph and Sunday Times.
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I need to know about cars nearer the £10,000 mark
Completely agreed - I used to regularly watch 5th Gear because their grouptests were realistic and aimed at your average car buyer. They even went as far as getting a crowd of the general public to give each car a going over and give their verdict. I'm personally far more interested in rear visibility when parking and comfort over rough city streets than I am in BHP comparisons and 0-100 sprints, and that's where the program scored highly. The presenters were also entertaining and down to earth too, which definitely can't be said for TG...
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There's an idea in here somewhere, HJ.
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