Auto Action – Like or Loath(merged AGAIN!!!!!!!!!!!)

PVDA · 8 Oct 2003, 12:16 (Ref:744000)

So what do you think of the new look for Auto Action.

My biggest gripe was that someone forgot to include the price on the front cover so it took some convincing that it's $4.95.

**GTRMagic** · 8 Oct 2003, 12:16 (Ref:744002)

It didnt arrive in my regular newsagent today

The Tool Man · 8 Oct 2003, 12:46 (Ref:744036)

It probably did GTR just thats its half the size it used to be - it probably slipped under the shelf and into obscurity.

Its great Full Colour though and a good read in the lead up to Bathurst.

I agree about the price thingo - the Silly B#$$H tried to charge me $6.95 and told me its always been that. NFW I only paid the $4.95 .

pete55 · 8 Oct 2003, 21:50 (Ref:744555)

I think it's pretty ordinary really. The Bathurst preview didn't include entrants in Konica or any of the other support categories, well didn't even mention them really. Colour is good, girl pics are good {just don't know why they are in this magazine}, car pics are the usual low standard {maybe they could swap the quality of the girl pics to the car pics}.

**GTRMagic** · 8 Oct 2003, 22:53 (Ref:744598)

They didnt have it, the newsagent normally has the AA/MN thing together for me when I rock up at 6.30am on a lonely Wednesday morning, but it had not arrived

Having now got it, the size is nutso... its like a Good Weekend magazine or something... cant fold it in half like a normal person...

Content is good for the first time in a while, Mark Winterbottom has the makings of a good interviewer

Scott75 · 8 Oct 2003, 23:31 (Ref:744621)

It's a hell of a lot better than it used to be. Looks great with the full color. I wonder whether MN will go to weekly or stay the same now the AA have gone full color??

Dazz · 8 Oct 2003, 23:41 (Ref:744628)

The full colour thing is great, the size thing is not.

It's only a little bit wider, but that makes it even harder to read on the way home on our lovely spacious Sydney trains. Plus it doesn't fold naturally any more, and is too big not to fold.

And there are mostly side bars on each page so the extra size is not really being used in a advantageous way anyway.

Yeah I thought for a Bathurst preview issue ot was very light on. Big glossy pics are fine for browsing at the news agents, but it's the articles (fact or fiction) that should be the main focus.

I know it's politically incorrect to say it, but the girly pics have definitely improved though in the latest issue!

rocket · 8 Oct 2003, 23:50 (Ref:744632)

the color is good, the girls are good, the bathurst preview is ****, the coverage of the world scene is better. but i wonder how long till they up the price, maybe thats why its not printed on it???????????

Food Processor · 9 Oct 2003, 01:27 (Ref:744663)

When in doubt, ask an expert, so I rang Mrs Foody's cousin, who works in the print industry.

He said that the main reason for the change in AA's format/size has nothing to do with making the mousetrap bigger, better or anything else. With the new size, you can print three pages across on a single run instead of two, so it is cheaper to print that way. That is why supermarket catalogues and real estate magazines are the same size; quick, cheap, etc.

He also pointed out some things that I did not pick up. The outside pages (cover to P6, P55-60) are on different paper to the rest of the magazine, so the print quality and colour are better. Check out how dull the colour is in the pic of Richo's VY is on P7, compared to the pic of The Kid's BA opposite. Then he started babbling on about ink density and heat-finishing and he lost me.

He laughed his head off about the lack of a cover price. Apparently, that is sacred and a BIG drama for a publisher.

One thing I did notice was that there is a big difference between the outside and the inside of the magazine. All the current racing reports (MotoGP, WRC and ARC) are right at the back. All those bits had to be done after the weekend. When you get inside, almost all the stories are a week old - Spurle for Mosler, Vermeulen wins SuperSport title, features. They were done well in advance, obviously.

The Bathurst preview is very basic, though I liked the Winterbottom and Richo story. Another story on building a new VY (didn't they just do that with Dynamic?) And the news? Murphy to DJR, which both deny in the story. The rest is "I can do this, I can do that" and lots of photos of the editor. No update on the NZ V8 date, no news on McFadyen's Dynamic Konica drive, nothing on the latest TEGA and Holden teams inquiry.

It does look better but will it stay at 60 pages? Will the cover price stay the same for long? Will they ever get any real news? I suppose we will have to wait until things settle down after Bathurst to know for sure.

**GTRMagic** · 9 Oct 2003, 01:36 (Ref:744672)

While Motorsport News streaks ahead in leaps and bounds.

It is said that the true success of a printed publication is the number of advertisements in it... how interested are commercial partners in publishing their wares in your journal.

On this basis alone, ignoring content, Motorsport News outrates AA 2 to 1...

RaceTime · 9 Oct 2003, 01:41 (Ref:744676)

I couldn't believe it when I just bought it (had to do something while getting the nail extracted from the Tarago's rear tyre

The size may make sense to a printer but NOT to the consumer and definately NOT to the newsagents who then have to fold them to send them to their sub-agencies!!! Being such an odd sze means they are now getting damaged when sent with other mags.

As for lack of a cover price - well I only paid $3.50 for it - simply because - no cover price it was a barter situation - they had nothing to show what the price is so I offered what I thought it was worth. Have to say though that he rejected the 10 cent offer

...

Mattracer · 9 Oct 2003, 01:44 (Ref:744677)

Yes but I'd rather read news than look at ads for springs, although the job vacancies in the teams make for interesting reading.

Size is weird, almost like it's gone all trendy but the colour is great. Pretty good overall I thought. I'd still buy MN regularly if it was weekly and the stories hadn't been covered by AA ahead of them.

Mattracer · 9 Oct 2003, 01:46 (Ref:744679)

I paid $4.95 as per usual and there was no quibbling over the price, even I though I couldn't see it anywhere on the cover.

**GTRMagic** · 9 Oct 2003, 01:47 (Ref:744681)

No point having news if the thing doesnt turn a buck.... ACP doesnt like to lose, hence the return of M.Fogarty...

I prefer MN's Autosport-inspired size myself

prn 31 · 9 Oct 2003, 04:44 (Ref:744769)

I don't think that AA looked too bad - but it is a wierd size. My copy had a price tag, and of course the printers didn't leave off the bar code (a mortal sin) and most of the newsagents have scanners now, anyway.

It would seem editorially its a bit over the place with Fogarty being O/S. One of the readers picked up Asst Ed Tim Robson as being a bit lightweight and he is. Only one letter got a reply.

Yes, the Konica stuff isn't there, but there were apologies that some usual segments were absent - so lets wait and see.

The Winterbottam a article was a breath of fresh air, the GRM studio photos was interesting and the Rev was on form as usual. Haven't read Foges track test yet - an indulgence, but never forget that Foges is a world class scribbler, so it should be interesting.

Now if we can bring back Tech Talk, it would be close to its peak when Edwards was in the chair. I don't agree with GTR that MN is a better read, I find that its a bit all over the place - better size though.

**GTRMagic** · 9 Oct 2003, 04:52 (Ref:744772)

I only think its a better read because the articles seem to have been researched, and the info isnt regurgitated 3 times thru an article... case in point the "Murf to DJR" beat up..

I had dinner with someone recently who has a financial interest in a Formula Ford, does this mean I will be the next Formula Ford debutante... perhaps if they built a 2 seater version and took out the centrepiece...

And I dont know how I would go on a race weekend, talking to all sorts of people from the red and blue sides of the fence.. maybe I have 35 drives lined up next year? Well 33 anyway.

prn 31 · 9 Oct 2003, 05:18 (Ref:744779)

Quote:

Originally posted by GTRMagic
I only think its a better read because the articles seem to have been researched, and the info isnt regurgitated 3 times thru an article... case in point the "Murf to DJR" beat up..

I had dinner with someone recently who has a financial interest in a Formula Ford, does this mean I will be the next Formula Ford debutante... perhaps if they built a 2 seater version and took out the centrepiece...

And I dont know how I would go on a race weekend, talking to all sorts of people from the red and blue sides of the fence.. maybe I have 35 drives lined up next year? Well 33 anyway.

Hey GTR, were those last two paragraphs supposed to belong to another thread. :confused:

The new NSW State FF champion James Pettit, comes from the next suburb to me, wonder how he will go in the National series? (Our local paper ran an article with colour photo.) I did my OLT with a guy who went on to become the state FF champ the following year (Jack Lynch) 2000(?) He was awesome in his old man's road car. Got swallowed up in the National series the following year (no budget) and disappeared

- probably now at Uni

**GTRMagic** · 9 Oct 2003, 05:43 (Ref:744785)

No, if you read the 'Murf to DJR' article it intimates that because Murf had dinner with Steve Chalker, then a Murf deal has been signed, sealed and delivered for a drive at DJR in 2004.

So I figured that if I have dinner with a FF car owner, maybe AA will take a pic of me doing that, and think I am running a FF in 2004.

The Tool Man · 9 Oct 2003, 05:59 (Ref:744793)

The eight page Bathurst Liftout in todays Sydney Telegraph was more Bathurst Informative than AA.

The Official Program, which I read cover to cover while sitting on the throne is okay and has some good articles but as we mentioned earlier the entry lists are way out beacuse they use the 1st draft.

**GTRMagic** · 9 Oct 2003, 06:03 (Ref:744797)

There may even be some more changes in the entry list if some second drivers done extract the digit and get some competitive laptimes happening

Mofo · 17 Oct 2003, 05:27 (Ref:754011)

OK critics, what's your opinion on Auto Action's new format.

But more importantly, what about the content.

Personally, the Bathurst issue struggled for news, had pathetic Japanese F1 coverage and lacked all the hype that Foges promised us ...

protoge · 17 Oct 2003, 05:43 (Ref:754020)

Loved the new format, having a racing mag in full colour is excellent. As for the coverage, well i enjoyed the bathurst report, but will wait for a few more issues before seeing if it any diferent or not up to scratch.
AA is still the no.1, Motorsport News still cant cut it.

RaceTime · 17 Oct 2003, 06:04 (Ref:754028)

Hmmmm for content and informaiton on race meetings IMHO AA can't cut it.

This new format is ridiculous - like I mentioned elsewhere - its size reminds me of a 12 inch vinyl record cover - making it just as impossible to read next to someone as the old format was.

As for it being a better size - all they have done is increase the size of photos - they certainly haven't increases the length (or depth) of race reports....

**GTRMagic** · 17 Oct 2003, 06:07 (Ref:754029)

That would cost money RT

RRR · 17 Oct 2003, 06:18 (Ref:754035)

Quote:

Originally posted by protoge

AA is still the no.1, Motorsport News still cant cut it.

Talk me through this comment. You are seriously out of touch mate.

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