Matt, bang on when you mentioned the 'first person' stuff - there are a couple of 'offenders' on that front and it's Sutcliffe and Harris. Some people dig it, some people don't.
Good stuff that sticks out is the Motorsport page and Cropley.
I don't buy thsi argument that Autocar is a lifestyle mag that some here have proffered, to me it's an informative journal which should objectively put forward unbiased views - the bias towards BMW can be somewhat obvious at times and I'm not the only one who says this.
"My pet mistake that seems to be in every week is the "Road testers' choice" box in the back. In number 2 is the BMW 330d, yet the narrative talks of the 320d? Which is the choice? Looking above in the detail doesn't help as there is no red highlighted bar for neither the 320d nor the 330d. Nor for that matter is there a red bar for the S-Max which is at number 1!"
I've been buying Autocar for years now - from what was originally "Motor" to date.
Yours was the magazine you could count on for absolute accuracy in print.
But I'm seeing more and more little innaccuracies creeping in. For example, in last weeks Autocar it was stated in the mag that the C36 and C43 AMG Mercs were only available in left hand drive.
Absolute rubbish - both were sold in the UK in RHD. If you are going to refer to prior models, please get the research correct. And this is just one example off the top of my head. I will generally find one or two such mistakes every week.
Autocar should not only be well written and have great pictorials, it should be technically accurate as well.
If we want verbose prose, we'll buy Evo magazine. If we want sarcasm we'll buy Top Gear.
26 October 2007
Matt, bang on when you mentioned the 'first person' stuff - there are a couple of 'offenders' on that front and it's Sutcliffe and Harris. Some people dig it, some people don't.
Good stuff that sticks out is the Motorsport page and Cropley.
I don't buy thsi argument that Autocar is a lifestyle mag that some here have proffered, to me it's an informative journal which should objectively put forward unbiased views - the bias towards BMW can be somewhat obvious at times and I'm not the only one who says this.
It's good that you care enough to listen though.
28 October 2007
What wonderful specific feedback thus far!
Here's mine:
"My pet mistake that seems to be in every week is the "Road testers' choice" box in the back. In number 2 is the BMW 330d, yet the narrative talks of the 320d? Which is the choice? Looking above in the detail doesn't help as there is no red highlighted bar for neither the 320d nor the 330d. Nor for that matter is there a red bar for the S-Max which is at number 1!"
There is more in another thread: http://www.autocar.co.uk/forums/t/776.aspx
The other major point for the website is to put in a clear and permanent link to "Ask Goodwin".
Thanks Ed.
18 December 2007
Matt,
I've been buying Autocar for years now - from what was originally "Motor" to date.
Yours was the magazine you could count on for absolute accuracy in print.
But I'm seeing more and more little innaccuracies creeping in. For example, in last weeks Autocar it was stated in the mag that the C36 and C43 AMG Mercs were only available in left hand drive.
Absolute rubbish - both were sold in the UK in RHD. If you are going to refer to prior models, please get the research correct. And this is just one example off the top of my head. I will generally find one or two such mistakes every week.
Autocar should not only be well written and have great pictorials, it should be technically accurate as well.
If we want verbose prose, we'll buy Evo magazine. If we want sarcasm we'll buy Top Gear.
Cheers
26 October 2007
I've been reading Autocar since kids went up chimneys and it's not as good as it used to be.
Seriously though - many thanks for this.