Where would you like to see the magazine?

ishigakisensei said:
Not trying to be offensive, but Colorado is hardly even a mini-epicenter of US drifting. Via the internet often times, lots of drifters know about the show and how it misrepresents the scene.
No, we're trying to stay away for califucking ourselves. We're doing quite well without national attention, we prefer it that way.

Maybe I just don't hang out on lame boards like drifting.com enough.

EDIT: I just checked and only 3 of my buddies on the coast have ever heard of it, and only in passing. It seems to be a young kid thing if anything.

I think all the comments above about what you would / would not include in a US version are pretty much correct.
Sounds great. I'd subscribe, after seeing a first issue of course.

EDIT: I thought of something else. Most magazines that focus on tuning and tuner cars usually don't go into the kind of depth that the TG guys do when reviewing a normal car, they just sorta list parts and how to do some of the mods which is lame IMO. It would be great if TG were to take a few highly tuned cars from various places, do full reviews and compare them to supercars. Cars from places like Mines, Top Secret, RE-Amemiya, and various US and Euro tuners. Or travel to other countries and write articles, sort of like JC's Motoworld. I think May would go bonkers on the wangan.
 
That's what I mean about the Discovery Channel Top Gear mistake. All the humor was sucked out of it, and when people saw the show it was pretty bland to them. Then when I show them an ep of the real Top Gear they're hooked.

Exactly. Granted, even the not-so-spicy Discovery version had a lot of interest, but its the personality of the presenters that really draws people to watch the show, and the magazine is no different. My anti-auto, never-driven-a-car, female roommates are now addicted to the show after seeing a British episode; I'm proud to admit that they can now identify the pysique of a 911 and a Gallardo when seen on the streets! :D
 
It would be great if TG were to take a few highly tuned cars from various places, do full reviews and compare them to supercars. Cars from places like Mines, Top Secret, RE-Amemiya, and various US and Euro tuners. Or travel to other countries and write articles, sort of like JC's Motoworld. I think May would go bonkers on the wangan.

I had a similar idea, sent it off to TG a while ago...I think it would be a great idea for an episode. Something like the Car&Driver Challenge, but with presenters a bit more dynamic than a soggy cardboard box.
 
There are various cars in Japan tuned to over 1000HP and that break 200MPH on the wangan, wouldn't it be something to have a race on the autobahn? Or send one of them over to Daikoku Futo? That would be awesome for the show.
 
zenkidori said:
No, we're trying to stay away for califucking ourselves. We're doing quite well without national attention, we prefer it that way.

Maybe I just don't hang out on lame boards like drifting.com enough.

EDIT: I just checked and only 3 of my buddies on the coast have ever heard of it, and only in passing. It seems to be a young kid thing if anything.

Arguing in front of guests is poor form and trying to look like a badass who is on the inside of the latest fad is just a juvenile reaction protecting a fragile ego. Drifting.com IS for kids just like FormulaD and about 99% of US drifting wannabes. Underground drifters who could embarass my skills while sleepwalking all know about it because it got talked about when it came out. Saying it's well known doesn;t mean that it's well liked.

I really don't understand your crusade to deny a very successful cable TV show is well known.
 
ishigakisensei said:
zenkidori said:
No, we're trying to stay away for califucking ourselves. We're doing quite well without national attention, we prefer it that way.

Maybe I just don't hang out on lame boards like drifting.com enough.

EDIT: I just checked and only 3 of my buddies on the coast have ever heard of it, and only in passing. It seems to be a young kid thing if anything.

Arguing in front of guests is poor form and trying to look like a badass who is on the inside of the latest fad is just a juvenile reaction protecting a fragile ego. Drifting.com IS for kids just like FormulaD and about 99% of US drifting wannabes. Underground drifters who could embarass my skills while sleepwalking all know about it because it got talked about when it came out. Saying it's well known doesn;t mean that it's well liked.

I really don't understand your crusade to deny a very successful cable TV show is well known.

... Enough about drifting... Take it elsewhere...

This thread is about TopGear Magazine.
 
Ahem ... so anyway, back on topic.

I'm going to get the webmaster for this site added to the distribution list for our press releases from now on, so you should see details of new editions as they appear.

In the meantime, any suggestions for new territories most welcome, particularly if you can tell me what the state of the market is there at the moment. (Very interested in Argentina, Chile and Brazil at the moment)
 
hokiethang said:
And honestly, the american car magazine market could use some competition cause as it stands now it's a battle of "who can suck up to the car manufacturers more".

It doesn't help that two of the big three (Car and Driver, and Road & Track) are owned by the same parent company, the French no less (Hachette-Fillipachi).

I too paid an astronomical price to subscribe to the magazine, I'm all for a North American version. The market is stale; we have the big three (above two plus Motor Trend) that all review the same cars in the same timeframe (this last round all of them featured the same powder blue topless Gallardo); there's Automobile which has a little attitude but nothing like Top Gear; then there's specialty mags for the Tooner, er, Tuner crowd, the hot rodders, the muscle cars, the 4x4s.
 
It might have been covered in this thread but what American car mag tends to be the best from the readers perspective? We got some distant family coming from the States soon and I want them to get me a mag but I don't know which one.
 
hokiethang said:
Part of the humor of the magazine too is the comments from JC, whether negative or positive. As much as I would enjoy them (along with most of the Americans on this board), the average American would likely get offended (remember, this is the country where heaven forbid someone be offended by a word on TV...). It'd suck the humor out of it I know, but I'm not sure how to market around the block this country has on being offended.

It's time somebody stuck to their guns, it isn't against the law to OFFEND somebody. People have to learn they can't cry/protest/sue every time something offends them, people do not have the right to be free from offense.

SL65AMG, they're all sort of bland and it's like they are in the same echo chamber together. Rarely ever critical. Of the big three, I slightly prefer Road & Track because they at least seem to acknowledge enthusiasts are out there and have been on a track once in their life. I like Automobile mag a little more than that, slightly more enthusiast/track oriented. But it's like arguing over flavors of cough syrup when Top Gear is a nice pint of Guiness. :)
 
I've noticed that Car and Driver (my pick for best American rag) has tried to stop previewing and road testing new cars, which you can all find on the Interweb in about 5 seconds anyway, and doing comparison tests instead. Hell, the last month featured an Exige against a Cayman S, a bunch of boxes (HHR vs. PT Cruiser vs. Element vs. Scion), a bunch of cheap sports sedans (Jetta GLI vs TSX vs. Mazdaspeed 6 vs. Pontiac G6 which obviously loses because it's a GM product and C&D hates GM products apparently), and some off-road stuff I don't remember. This month they're doing more comparison tests and really wild features; they raced diesel beaters across the country on a scavenger hunt. Sex dolls were involved. Kind of Top Gear-ish, actually.
 
janstett said:
hokiethang said:
Part of the humor of the magazine too is the comments from JC, whether negative or positive. As much as I would enjoy them (along with most of the Americans on this board), the average American would likely get offended (remember, this is the country where heaven forbid someone be offended by a word on TV...). It'd suck the humor out of it I know, but I'm not sure how to market around the block this country has on being offended.

It's time somebody stuck to their guns, it isn't against the law to OFFEND somebody. People have to learn they can't cry/protest/sue every time something offends them, people do not have the right to be free from offense.

Oh I completely agree, I think someone should stand up to the people that don't want to be offended. It's just something to be mindful of. We do live in the most litigious country on the planet, and worse, they actually win these frivolous lawsuits (like the idiot who burned themselves with hot coffee? and the idiots suing over video games causing people to kill...) I'd love nothing more than to see someone stand up against these idiots and win.

Give the government enough time (be it Republican or Democrat) and it will be against the law to offend someone, hell, it's already trending that way now, with the censorship of television, and radio. They want to extend it to subscription services such as cable and satellite radio, which is completely and utterly stupid.
 
I don't really share the opinion on AMS - Autobild is rubbish (putting an ugly car on the cover and saying this will be the successor of the A2 is just ridiculous). The AMS Magazine is quite good, they test all new interesting cars and the articles are often kind of poetic. The theoretical stuff can be quite interesting as well...
But - and its a big but - the TV show is rubbish. They've all these cool cars and drive them on racetracks - from time to time. But you never hear the engines or see smoking tyres. All this is completed by the extremly boring comments on the cars - the voice is nice though :bangin:
I don't understand why the BBC didn't manage to bring Top Gear to Germany (in English but with subtitles). We can't even get it via satellite! Germany has probably the highest number of carfreaks and the BBC is just ignoring that market
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btt: I never saw a Top Gear magazine here in Germany - maybe I should look for it...
What I would be really pleased about: The original UK Top Gear magazine with a DVD which contains the recent Top Gear Episodes (for people who can't watch it...)

Jan :)
 
Don't get me wrong, AMS is a very good magazine. It's just that it's at the more practical end of things, whereas Top Gear is more on the entertaining side.

We are aiming in the long run to get the TV show and the mag in Germany but, as you probably know, it's a very competitive market and launching either would take a large investment.

The UK version is on sale, mostly in airports and large stores, so keep an eye out for it.
 
Hey -- why not an electronic, downloadable version of the magazine? Use the resources at www.newsstand.com and let people from all countries read the magazine in its full glory!
 
We were discussing this earlier in the thread. It's definitely something we're thinking about.
 
Yo dude,
I really love the mag, is it coming over as singapore version of Top Gear Mag ?

cheers
 
There is a possibility of a Singapore edition later this year. It will probably be in Malaysia before Singapore (in English), though, as the Singaporean market is not big enough on its own.
 
Top Gear is gaining popularityin the US

Top Gear is gaining popularityin the US

I am an American and I live in Florida. I am a fan of Top Gear. I have seen the editied versions that the Discovery Channel aired last year. Thanks to this site I have been downloading and watching the unedited versions. The unedited versions are superior to what we get here in the US.

I have located the Top Gear magazine at a bookshop near my home. I just purchaed my first edition this past tuesday. I love the publication. Unlike American magazines, which about 1/2 of it's contents are adverts. Top Gear has some adverts, but nowhere near the amount in the US magazines. I love it. It is written well and the photography is spectacular. I have let a few friends read it and they agree it is superior to any US automobile publication.

I can only hope that BBCAmerica will aire Top Gear in the US. Top Gear will continue to gain popularity. "Buzz" is being created. It did win an Emmy after all.


Top Gear is getting noticed.
 
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