Local Car Magazine eg Torque

[Genie47]

One of our local car magazines should start a "Illustrated Swimsuit Issue" that happens once a year.

 

Confirm will boost sales of the magazine. Imagine scores of pre-pubescent boys asking their friend who has just returned from the news-stand. "IS it here yet?".

[Picanto]

local mags are crap. period.

 

granted, foreign mags have far more access to exclusive interviews, technical material, because of their sheer readership/circulation.

 

but what they lack is local context. how it drives on Singapore roads, is it what Singaporeans are looking for, etc. no doubt, there's a thin line where advertising dollars can blur objectivity, but you can sense it quite clearly from the style of writing and certain phrases.

 

in fact, there needs to be a certain level of sophistication and intelligence - which some people lack - to read between the lines.

 

if anyone thinks he can do a better job to improve the local mags, then i think he/she should start contributing to them for a start? rather than sitting anonymously behind a computer screen, wasting their natural talents.

 

easier said than done. would you dare to write so many negatives about a car model knowing that it will affect the mag relations with the distributor? not as easy as you think one lar.

[Relagsingh]

Top Gear Singapore is a good mag but most of the time, i read more of the local context and see pics only... not so much on the british part.

 

its the columns by the brit motoring journalists that are interesting. theirs and ours are like night and day.

[Relagsingh]

local mags are crap. period.

 

granted, foreign mags have far more access to exclusive interviews, technical material, because of their sheer readership/circulation.

 

but what they lack is local context. how it drives on Singapore roads, is it what Singaporeans are looking for, etc. no doubt, there's a thin line where advertising dollars can blur objectivity, but you can sense it quite clearly from the style of writing and certain phrases.

 

in fact, there needs to be a certain level of sophistication and intelligence - which some people lack - to read between the lines.

 

if anyone thinks he can do a better job to improve the local mags, then i think he/she should start contributing to them for a start? rather than sitting anonymously behind a computer screen, wasting their natural talents.

 

it does'nt take much sophistication and intelligence to read local mags when its always so one sided, predictable. its like looking at my same old daily motion every single day.

 

 

mags are for the public and they are free to criticise and comment. so are you saying those who can't write an article or a review should'nt comment? then we should just do away with this forum! might as well right?

 

just compare it with the foreign mags including m'sia's version of AUTOCAR. Sometimes i find their articles better written. They just carry more substance and content.

 

that's all from me. i dun wana waste my natural talent, or rather i got not much talent at all. so i should'nt give too many comments...

[Kyojin]

it is not fair to what you say in the last statement

 

the statement was directed at the people who make sweeping "all local mags are crap" statements or dissing them as if they were scums of the earth. there's no need to put a "crap blanket" over everything you don't agree with. if i don't like what someone is doing, i don't go: "hey, your family is made of losers."

 

if such people think they can do a better job, then they should do show how it's supposed to be done, rather than making non-constructive and insulting statements like these. after all, as you say, the writers are indeed making a living out of this.

 

no doubt there's a lot of room improvement, but you can see how local mags have improved over the years. anyway, magazines are not written for everybody. which is why some people prefer certain titles over others and (as you say correctly) it's the consumer's choice.

 

it's easy to criticize the work of others and sling mud behind a computer screen, but can you do it as well or even better? now that's the question...

[Hishercar]

over the yeats it is true that the local mag has not improved very much

 

apart from bigger format, more pictures

 

the cons

 

very superficial reviews

 

 

it is more like an advertisement magazine

[Relagsingh]

i duno journalism can be compared with other ppl's families... geez...

 

i can't really cook. if i ate something that is uncooked or taste awful, erm... i think i can make some noise right? unless its my mum's cooking. that one i LL.

 

these mags are sold off the shelves and i wun waste my money on them cuz they're really not worth it. i'd rather spend more on better mags.

 

now you talk about mud slinging bahind the monitor... but you know what? i've actually sent in a letter to one of the local mags with some negative comments. no reply from them at all. i suppose they're quite satisfied with their work?

 

ok, maybe my statement is a bit too harsh. but thats how i feel anyway. i'm not holding back. its subjective. hmmm.... maybe i should change...

 

local mags are like toilet paper. period.

[Relagsingh]

its the ads that keeps them floating on the shelves... or else they would've been 'shelved' away long time ago....

 

ok.... there's only one local journalist that i like. he's considered as one of the pioneers. Ian Kuah. But he rarely gives any reviews now, or rather almost none at all. maybe he's retired? since i haven't touched a local mag for donkey years.

[Hishercar]

Ian Kuah writes beautifully and his pictures are good

 

infact he appears to be stationed in UK or something because he often hire cars from uk car rental for his testing

 

 

what you do personally think of

 

Dr. Winston Lee

Dr. Andre Lam

Mr. Christopher Lim - is appears to a pain because since he became the in house motoring section of the business times - he very yah yah now

, most in the car industries appear to be "afraid" of him because he wants to be treated like a KIng

 

 

if you happened to be at a newstand, try and take alook and give comments so that forumers need not need to waste money subscribing the magazine

 

thanks

[Mingsect]

Top Gear Singapore is a good mag but most of the time, i read more of the local context and see pics only... not so much on the british part.

 

 

singapore automotive market dun get new models enough to justify so many magazines.

 

those articles that they took from topgear uk , half are on different specs.

what we get in singapore are the stipped out version..

 

the other half are diesel review ( pretty much useless here )

[Mingsect]

So, in short, do you guys think it worth reading our local car magazine or should I go ahead and subscribe.

 

get the latest copy of Uk's Car & Uj EVO magazine and a latest copy of torque @ borders ,

 

after comparing 3, i'm sure u'll get your answer

 

 

ps. if you have the borders member card , it's 20% off.

[Cepheusc]

Dr Andre Lam is very good with tyres review. His knowledge of tyres is as good as the professionals

[Mockngbrd]

EVO mag is da bomb

[Picanto]

whoever and whatever DRS do the review, more or less sure got some bias one.

[Hishercar]

yes but what about the car as tyre is just but one part of the car only

 

what do you think of

 

Mr. Christopher Lee review

 

or Dr. Winston Lee review

[Hishercar]

if nobody seems interested in buying or subscibing to our local motor mag then either

 

the quality is bad or not up to expectation

 

expensive not value for money

 

or we are just too cheapskate .... free reading from library and etc

 

 

i believe with so much negative response for our local motor mag, the editiors should seriously consider doing something about it

 

unless they are just using the motor mag company as a tax shelter

[Shull]

how much is Torque selling?

 

for abit more, i'd rather buy the UK version of TG.. although the content is not exactly relevant to our local car scenes..but it's a very good read..

[Mingsect]

end of the day. like what we see the show room

our market is too small..we dun get smax with the 2.5 turbo engine option

 

 

most uk motor magazine abt 30% to 40% are advertisement.

 

and the leading magazine get invited to nissan GTR, merc, bmw ,toyota launches in Europe.

for press... they get to test the ride first, and write first hand..

 

from the manufacturers ,, not the dealers

 

 

it's a vicious cycle that our local mag will never be able to break out of

Edited October 28, 2008 by Mingsect