Wheels Magazine - General feedback on magazine!!!

[BP'93]

So i've been an avid reader of Wheels Magazine for seven or so years now. But recently the quality of work has dropped off dramatically, the reliability is quite a miss and there seems to be no existence of an editor. Don't get me wrong, it's a pretty good magazine but just today's issues don't compare with 3-4 years ago :(

One example of the lack of editing is the additions of new and revised modeles in the Showroom section of the magazine. The Mitsubishi Outlander, launched in November 2012 has yet to appear, even in the February 2012 Issue. Don't get me started on the deletion of models either!

Anyone else feeling this? Would like some feedback?

Cheers, Byron.

[stevz]

The last time I purchased a motoring magazine would have been in the late 90's. I just don't see the value in them when you can find far better quality information and material on the internet. By the time the magazines hit the stands the news they contain is already old news. Their days are well and truly numbered.

[Geez Louise]

I just received from a friend today a Wheels magazine from November... 1973!

Wheels use to be a great magazine to read, but I would say in the last 5yrs, the quality has dropped in both the writing and coverage.

Cheers
Col

[Pepscobra]

I stopped buying Wheels and Motor magazine about 3 years ago. It got to the point where every month both mags were running almost the same stories, reviews and so called 'exclusive' reports.
Doubt I'll spend another dollar on either of them again.

[Madaya]

Thus Wheels....I woke up today, couldn't decide on whether to drive the Lambo Gallardo, or the Aventador, so I thought I'd drive down to the newsagent in my brand new V12 Aston Martin Vantage, keeping the revs below 7000, as the motor is still a bit tight. Bought my copy of Financial Review, and was struck by an article describing the virtues of the Ferrari F12. Struth! Drove sideways in the Vantage to the nearest Ferrari dealer, breathless. I was dissapointed to hear that the F12 had a big waiting list, so I put one on order, meanwhile, grabbed the showroom Spyder, will send the butler round to pick it up.
Got a phonecall from the workshop, the Veron was ready to be picked up after it's service. I couldn't be bothered flying down to Melbourne to pick it up, so I told them to air frieght it to my house.
The little lady told me that the Bently was getting a little harsh. "What the hell do you expect from a Mulsanne", I told her. I arranged for a swap at the local dealer, the Continental GTC W12 should ride a bit softer.
My daughter's Porsche Panamera needed a new ...blah, blah, blah.
I think I made my point.

P.S. I only subscribed so as I could get a 64pc Sidchrome socket set thrown in with the deal. All I need now is a Siddy spanner set and I'm in clover. Enjoy the odd article about the 'supercars, but just about every page is devoted to cars only a hand full of Aussies will drive, and I doubt these people would lift a Wheels off the rack.

[NX74205]

I've got every issue since March 1993. I agree with the point above about too much supercar coverage and not enough 'everyday' cars. Sure, enthusiasts dream about supercars, but realistically, that information is of no use but the wealthiest of Aussies.

And whatever happened to the "annual" tyre tests?

[wrongwaynorris]

I stopped reading Holden Monthly decades ago . Mike Mcarthy's departure pretty much signed it's death knull for me . I wouldn't even use it as toilet paper these days , a worthless tawdry rag that is more about excecising writers egos and pumping sunshineup their largest benefactors backside , Holden .

[MAFIA]

got sick of both wheels and motor magazine ford and holden debate! No matter what the results are, the holden reporters always bags out the holden!!!! Sick of it!!!

[Archilino]

Originally Posted by NX74205

I've got every issue since March 1993. I agree with the point above about too much supercar coverage and not enough 'everyday' cars. Sure, enthusiasts dream about supercars, but realistically, that information is of no use but the wealthiest of Aussies.

And whatever happened to the "annual" tyre tests?

X2 have every issue of wheels & motor since the EBGT came out, the amount of coverage on the net these days of auto related news/reviews almost makes it redundant but I'll still get my monthly copy as long as they make it.

[eb2fairmont]

Brought every issue since march 1985

Stopped buying last month. It used to be that wheels would take a few hours to read due to the quality content.

I can now read it within an hour and I get more interesting information about the mechanations of the industry online. Wheels no longer covers model development in great detail or provide information about the movers and shakers in the industry. It's sad.

The replacement of information with glossy photos and drivel means it no longer hold special meaning for me.

I'll fick in the newsagent but doubt I'll buy going forward.

[Polyal]

Originally Posted by stevz

The last time I purchased a motoring magazine would have been in the late 90's. I just don't see the value in them when you can find far better quality information and material on the internet. By the time the magazines hit the stands the news they contain is already old news. Their days are well and truly numbered.

Pretty much this...I brought every wheels/motor mag as a younger man from about 1998-2006 and slowly I began to get disinterested.

Im also a bit sad about Australian Muscle Car Magazine, that thing has gone down hill something shocking since the change in editor and bloody Grover coming on board...I liked that magazine.

I only buy classic car mag's now, and they all seem to be UK based.

[wannafordxr6]

I used to subscribe to various mags and now don't. Motor and Wheels were my main ones but they just got worse and worse. On holiday I buy a few to read and I got 4 car mags for Christmas (Wheels, Motor, EVO and Top Gear).

I find that some of the internet channels (Drive, Jalopnik etc.) are the best way to keep the interest alive these days.

[Resurrection]

The Australian motoring magazine industry went down the toilet in the mid 1990s when ACP purchased a number of other publishing houses. As a result all magazines are published by the same organisation. I used to buy (Modern) MOTOR as it was a better read than Wheels. Now they are all the same.

[ryeman]

Is Robbo still there?

[Madaya]

Yeah.

[ryeman]

It's basically a 'performance' mag now and no longer of interest to the 'general public' like it used to be IMO.
GOAUTO is enough for this old fart!

[vbvbvb088]

Who remembers in the 'Motor Manual'... an industry section called 'Brass Tacks' by Ian Mellor(?). Given modern industry environments I wish they devote ime to this. As Phil Collins (cover? Supremes?) said... You do not know what you have got until it's gone'.

[bigwil]

I've got well over 1000 mags from wheels to street fords, given up on street machine, motorsport news and when my subscription runs out motor too will be gone, wheels was a great magazine in the 90's but losing there way now same with australian muscle magazines, its seems everything Paul Gover touches he destroys.

I have 400 mix mags from 1980 wheels complete set to the current magazines all for $1.00 each, if anyone interested please let me know.

[Olbucko]

I have been reading Wheels since the late 50's and a subscriber for the last 10 years. Last year I renewed my subscription for the last time, and that was only because they bribed me with a free socket set.

Over the last few years I have found less every year to interest me. I used to spend 3 hours or so reading each new issue, now a new issue is sometimes read and forgotten in half an hour. A previous post asked what happened to the annual tyre tests, what happened to the annual handling, performance, & safety test, tecnical articles, road tests of the few cars still made in Aust. I did not see a single road test of the SZ Diesel Territory, the one and probably only diesel car to be built and designed in Aust.

If they want me to renew my subscription next year they will have to do better than a new socket set, maybe a set of ratchet ring spanners in metric and SAE might make me change my mind

[ryeman]

Most auto journos behave as if they are auditioning for the marketing position for their favourite manufacturer. It's now decades since you got any useful data such as wheelbase (fundamental to the calculation of internal legroom) or track (shoulder room) turning radius let alone bore/stroke etc etc etc the worst being the newspaper variety

[Rodge]

Holden Spend a lot of money advertising in Wheels and it appears that the tail has been wagging the dog for some time now...imagine how silly a dog would look being wagged by its tail, especially my dog Skippy in my avatar with his short tail , that's how silly the Wheels mag has become.

[Silver Ghia]

Originally Posted by BP'93

So i've been an avid reader of Wheels Magazine for seven or so years now. But recently the quality of work has dropped off dramatically, the reliability is quite a miss and there seems to be no existence of an editor. Don't get me wrong, it's a pretty good magazine but just today's issues don't compare with 3-4 years ago :(

One example of the lack of editing is the additions of new and revised modeles in the Showroom section of the magazine. The Mitsubishi Outlander, launched in November 2012 has yet to appear, even in the February 2012 Issue. Don't get me started on the deletion of models either!

Anyone else feeling this? Would like some feedback?

Cheers, Byron.

I thought all this happened in the late 1980's when I last purchased a Wheels magazine.

[jpd80]

The best thing our Aussie motoring journos could do is get rid of monthly hard copy,
make their publications online only and start charging healthy subscriptions to view.

the ensuing silence in the free view press would be most gratifying to fans on both sides of the fence..

So my vote is for Motoring Journos to take a big cup of ****** and take your nasty anti-manufacturing attitudes with you...

[DFB FGXR6]

I have been buying/subscribing Wheels and Motor for 10 years now. Motor seemed to go off the boil about 5 years ago, and now has too much emphasis on "Hot Tuner" cars for my taste.

I still enjoy reading Wheels, but the content has slipped in quality over the last couple of years. I think the last two previous editiors have run it down quite badly. Being an enthusiasts magazine, I can understand the covering of Supercars, at the end of the day, consumer advice for non-car people is better sought from the likes of the internet of newspaper car sections. HOWEVER, the reduction in technical data supplied is not good enough. I like to study the specs, compare bore and stroke, revs, wheelbase ect ect ect (Yes I'm a car bore, but hey...). I also find the "drive" stories boring. If I want to read about roadside attractions, I will buy a travel magazine. I also dont wont to read about watches that cost absurd amounts of money. Mega tests are now far to brief in their content as well.

What I find very disappointing though is the reduction in material on local cars. The SZ Territory was not covered except for a "drive story" with a BMW. FG MK II had no coverage. The new Camery and Aurion also recieved very little also. Once apon a time, these models would have had many many pages devoted to them including development stories and interviews, as well as model by model write ups. I know local cars now command a much smaller piece of the sales pie, but Wheels is a Aussie car mag and should be focused as such.

As I said, I still enjoy reading Wheels, but a few changes should be made to satisfy the enthusiast again.

[Ben73]

I used to always buy wheels and motor, but I started to get over them, a year ago I got a subscription as a present, it runs out next month so I guess next month will be the last time I get one of those magazines for a while.
Unique Cars is a mag I love. Some other brand specific mags are also good and ill buy them once in a while.

Performance Garage is a mag I have been buying lately. It's pretty interesting and cheaper then most other mags.

[4stanger]

Tough gig for the local car magazines in recent times.
Tough gig for the local car manufacturers in recent times.
Is there a missing link?

[BP'93]

The quality went down the hole a couple years back now. I just find I can easily go go carpoint.com.au, caradvice.com.au, drive.com.au, carsguide.com.au and goauto.com.au and get the information as soon as its released.

Wheels places too much emphasis on supercharged vehicles, prices that any normal aussie couldn't afford. They'll be one affordable review/test of a car to every premium review or test in Wheels.

Sad because it "was" a good magazine back in the days.

I got a letter just before Christmas stating it would cost $69.95 for 24 issues, yes 24 issues. So I subscribed but in reality most of the issues might head to Ebay :/

[wrongwaynorris]

" What I find very disappointing though is the reduction in material on local cars. The SZ Territory was not covered except for a "drive story" with a BMW. FG MK II had no coverage. The new Camery and Aurion also recieved very little also. Once apon a time, these models would have had many many pages devoted to them including development stories and interviews, as well as model by model write ups. "

In all sincerity what did you expect to read in Holden Monthly ?

[wrongwaynorris]

Iv'e been saying this for over two decades now and will continue to say it .

Ford could find a cure for cancer , put a man on mars , cure world hunger , reconcile the Jews and the Arabs , build a car that ran on water , got 10,000 kilometres per litre of water , had a 1000 star safety rating , could be driven by though control and cost 10cents and the cover of Wheels would feature a story about how the new model Commodore have changed slightly the shade of colour of plastic on the ashtray lid .

[Powdered Toast Man]

I'm a Wheels reader, not so much because it is a great magazine but because I like having something to read while eating breakfast before heading off to work. I used to have a subscription years ago but stopped it as I was only interested in a few issues each year.

I agree with most posters its become more of a performance mag nowadays focusing on hipo high price performance models whereas when I started reading it back in the '90s is was a much better all round car review mag. Still its more informative and interesting (i.e. not stuffy, boring, straight facts, they try and write a story in the main articles) than most of the other car rags. For those who think the writing is biased you just have to remember the writers are only writing their "OPINION" as to the quality of the cars they test.