What's wrong with EVO?

Andyk

Member
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61,038
Growing tired of Evo is like growing tired of Radio 1 - it means you're old. The mag tells you what new cars are like to drive at or near the limit. And to anyone who says that's not something you can ever do: get on track or get up early on a Sunday morning.

Or stay at home listening to Radio 2 with your pipe and slippers before spending the afternoon polishing your Maserati :jptongue:

Must be me then...Have you heard the sh1t they play on Radio one these days !!!
 

MrMickS

Member
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3,951
Radio 2? It has that annoying ginger bloke on it and that chap with his posse in the afternoons that I couldn't stand when he was on Radio 1.

Give me a nice ‘80s station on the DAB any day. Or Minster FM with their helpful messages about local businesses and PPI.

Writing quality has to degrade if the market is the yoof of today. Have you seen the way they communicate?
 

m1980k

Junior Member
Messages
467
If Evo is Radio 1 and Octane is Radio 2 - what is 6 Music?

Back in the day when Dickie and Barker were editors at large, Bovingdon was staff writer and Harris was a contributor and it was about the real thrill of driving

Yeah, I actually listen to 6 music and do miss the days when Harris wrote for Evo. Perhaps it's not quite as good as it was at its best, bit there's still plenty to enjoy, with Vivian and Barker and Meaden still there. They screwed up ecoty, but I think it's better now that Nick Trott has gone - his long term test pieces were always about options and colours etc. And while Octane and Modern Classics have their place, I still prefer to read about new cars.
 

Felonious Crud

Administrator
Staff member
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21,012
On the topic of journalism, I very much enjoy Henry Cathpole’s videos. They’re beautifully shot, entertaining, informative and witty, and his hair is, frankly, inspirational.
 

urquattrogus

Member
Messages
838
I used to really enjoy the fast fleet.

Somehow now it just seems like an afterthought, often with a selection of boring cars.

I have actually come round to CAR a bit more, the writing can actually be quite good sometimes, and certainly not dull, it doesn't take itself too seriously.
 

Zep

Moderator
Messages
9,110
Yeah, I actually listen to 6 music and do miss the days when Harris wrote for Evo. Perhaps it's not quite as good as it was at its best, bit there's still plenty to enjoy, with Vivian and Barker and Meaden still there. They screwed up ecoty, but I think it's better now that Nick Trott has gone - his long term test pieces were always about options and colours etc. And while Octane and Modern Classics have their place, I still prefer to read about new cars.

I agree, there is still some bits to enjoy. I am disappointed in this months quality (its like they accidentally loaded the paper for Autocar when they printed it) and I enjoy Vivian, Barker and Meaden but the rest is all a bit meh. I can't see myself moving to another mag so perhaps I will have to return to the days of standing in WH Smith checking to contents before buying. Its shows how much attention I pay these days that I didn't know (or have forgotten) that Trott had gone but this can only be a good thing.

For me it used to flow, there was some consistency in the sub editing and the stories carried you along. Now a lot of the first tests are cut and paste jobs from the blurb and as you say, ecoty was basically unreadable.
 

alfatwo

Member
Messages
5,517
I checked out the latest Octane in Sainsbury's this afternoon, Its gone the same way as EVO... Its no longer A4 size and the paper feels rough and cheap looking!


Dave
 

Andyk

Member
Messages
61,038
Enjoy the interview with Matt Becker and Colin Goodwood on this months EVO though.
 

WaveyDavey

Junior Member
Messages
69
Having been an EVO reader since the beginning, I tend to initially hate the latest format change only to later flick through older magazines and find the previous formats very ugly. I suspect it will happen again.

That said, I too noticed a drop in paper quality.

Content-wise, I find it hit and miss, but mostly hit. Catchpole continues to contribute and elevates the quality to another level. I notice the most interesting articles are about the most interesting cars (obvious, perhaps), and since a lot of new performance cars generally aren't that exciting (step fwd generic fast Audi/BMW/Merc comparison test, incessant fast SUVs, etc.) then I find myself skipping more and more articles. I think this probably says more about modern performance cars than Evo.

Bovington and Catchpole contribute videos to the otherwise unremarkable Drivetribe, and are worth a watch.