I've been reminded just why UK Mags are so ****

[gazelle]

I don't see what all the fuss is about. Why wait for the new edition when you can just log on to the ever changing mag that is this forum. Low cost, high quality articles, and bar a bit of sniping, like minded participants.

I have no intention to undertake major changes to my defender, but I enjoy the threads on major builds and find them interesting.

I don't see the point in putting this into a magazine. We have the better and more responsive version already

Martin

[NRS91]

good point...

forums are fantastic when they dont have too many rescritions... some of the gaming servers you cant even scratch you own ar53 while sat at the computer without being told off by admin lol

i think the main gripe about magazines is that theyre supposed to be a worthwhile suppliment to our hobby and passion yet they do have some awful drizzle in them...

[Anderzander]

those who typed it don't know there PTO from their B*ttPlug

That is a fabulous quote.

If its true then their involvement with PTO driven tools is going to be a horrible affair.

[NRS91]

and here is the PTO to fit to your series... o erm... well thats not meant to be here...*tucks back into pocket*

lol

[dirkthe1]

That is a fabulous quote.

If its true then their involvement with PTO driven tools is going to be a horrible affair.

im sure i saw a video on the internet the other day, in which the women appeared to get the 2 confused-although she didnt seem to mind to much......

[RangeyRover]

OK, Moglite et al make good points - no-one's making us buy the mags, and I don't buy them for that very reason.

However, to turn this round a bit - given how many members this forum and others have, there is clearly a demand for something that does not currently exist and that goes a step or three further than the current crop of comics. Soooo why the bally flip won't someone print one?

They have.

But it's aussie.

http://www.4wdaction.com.au/custom/009/

got addicted when out there for last summer, I need to ask them if they will do an overseas subscription. I had issues 1-6 which are busy passing through all my club, had write ups on shockers, dobbein x link toy axle swaps for GQ patrol ones, it was like reading this forum to be honest.

I think that the format needs to be exported sharpish.

[landroversforever]

Even I with next to nothing in practicle knowledge of LRs... I am always spotting mistakes in the mag, engines labled wrong etc! I wish they had less adverts, and also did have the 'we're going to rebuild this' and all the parts come from one place - this isnt any help to the reader.

I subscribe to LRM, which i think is the better of them, TOR is ok, just a little thin and is read quite quickly.

[Hybrid_From_Hell]

Well, have some good news for you - they do NOW

Add to cart then select county for delivery - cheap

Nige

[RangeyRover]

Well, have some good news for you - they do NOW

Add to cart then select county for delivery - cheap

Nige

thats $7.50 aus per mag

So $200 aus aprox for 13 issues inc postage, which is about 93 quid, or £7 a mag

its good though so I'm in. Subscribing is a recent development.

Want 2nd dibs?

[Dave W]

The internet is killing printed magazines in all areas of interest. Circulations are down and even LROi, backed by a publishing giant in the magazine world have hit hard times. Low revenues mean more advertising pages because they are reducing the cost of the advertising. That cuts down on editorial pages and they have to cut the expenses budget for those researching/writing the stories so they rely more and more on contributors.

In the LR mag business this is made even harder by the quantity of magazines competing for the same advertisers and stories, not only are they undercutting each other on advertising costs but they are competing for the good contributions. Nett result is that the good content is spread thinly between them, advertising fills more and more pages and what's left has to be padded out with something and the cheaper that something is to produce the better. If it were possible to combine all the magazine content together you'd probably end up with a much better product once all the mediocre stuff was spiked.

If someone were to collate the best technical articles from this forum into a monthly digest, you'd have a magazine which would make a far better read than anything the "professionals" are creating. Therein lies the problem... why would you spend money on a magazine when you can access a resource like this forum 24/7 ?

[dirkthe1]

could the option not be a compromise- a low cost (i.e. non glossy) "magazine" with little or no advertising content, with voluntary contributions, ie in the style of a parish magazine or fanzine.

just a thought.

[steve_a]

They have.

But it's aussie.

http://www.4wdaction.com.au/custom/009/

got addicted when out there for last summer, I need to ask them if they will do an overseas subscription. I had issues 1-6 which are busy passing through all my club, had write ups on shockers, dobbein x link toy axle swaps for GQ patrol ones, it was like reading this forum to be honest.

I think that the format needs to be exported sharpish.

They do, but it is expensive. I think I had a 9 month subscription for about £65. You don't get any of the freebies for taking it, the mag arrives late, often beaten up and missing the DVD at least once. I could justify it because I was coming out.

There is also custom 4wd action, which might be more up your street.

[Hybrid_From_Hell]

^^^^^

Dats the one I get

I also have a exclusive and rather rare picture taken not long ago

Apparently all the UK 4x4 mags met up to discuss '2009'.

The editors photographers, and other involved Journos got together

basically to share ideas thoughts and what they would be doing content wise

in each of their mags.

Somehow wind of the meet got out, and a picture of them all together was leaked....

Nige

[bobtail84]

^^^^^

Dats the one I get

I also have a exclusive and rather rare picture taken not long ago

Apparently all the UK 4x4 mags met up to discuss '2009'.

The editors photographers, and other involved Journos got together

basically to share ideas thoughts and what they would be doing content wise

in each of their mags.

Somehow wind of the meet got out, and a picture of them all together was leaked....

Nige

Nige, you can be so harsh.... but fair.

[RangeyRover]

They do, but it is expensive. I think I had a 9 month subscription for about £65. You don't get any of the freebies for taking it, the mag arrives late, often beaten up and missing the DVD at least once. I could justify it because I was coming out.

There is also custom 4wd action, which might be more up your street.

I meant 4wd custom action, its made by the same guys as 4wd action, I thought my link was pointing at the custom mag?..

Anyway, subscribing tomorrow.

[Lara]

John, you are generalising again so a quick smack on the wrist. Okay so some of the mags just print what the marketing man says about the product (actually most do), some attempt to modify the marketspeak, get it wrong because they know next to nothing. Some speak the truth, then they can never get another product from anyone else because they were less than positive.

As to head to head tests, you want to try it, it's a nightmare, you can't turn round to people who essentially pay the bulk of the costs of the mag with adverts and say 'this is cr*p, but Joe Blogg's stuff is the dog's b*ll*x'. It's bloody hard work telling the truth about a product in a negative way but making it appear positive to the retailer/manufacturer but stil warning Joe Public about any issues. Most of the smaller mags have to 'blag' the product in the first place, so add that to the mix. Then you have get your tests right, both technically and on a level playing field. This is why so many mags get it almost right.

On top of that there are the oddballs. These are the readers that actually do know more than all the mag staff put together and are upset that that is the case.

Very few 4x4mag staff come from a true 4x4 background, it might be bikes, cars or even needlepoint. They have arrived in 4x4 via publishing. The icckle minority have approached it through a genuine love or deep knowledge of things 4x4.

Throw in budgets, low paid staff, annoyed contributors, big advertisers with carp products blah blah and yet you want it to be perfect for you!

Very good Devils Advocate!

BUT

Superbike Magazine used to call a carp test bike, carp!! even to the point that I think it was Honda stopped giving them bikes to test, until they realised that that was even worse than sorting their **** out!

Haven't read it for a while but it used to be a real "call it how you find it" mag! proved you could if you had the balls!

Do think we are asking a bit much though as most Landy owners are happy with fairly standard trucks with a few add ons and are not as "perved" as us lot

LRM is probably the best LR only mag though, balance not too bad.

TOR is ok for a read but what they call "well prepared" needs serious attention!!! My god they have featured some carp

Lara

[nicks90]

OK, Moglite et al make good points - no-one's making us buy the mags, and I don't buy them for that very reason.

However, to turn this round a bit - given how many members this forum and others have, there is clearly a demand for something that does not currently exist and that goes a step or three further than the current crop of comics. Soooo why the bally flip won't someone print one?

just re-reading this thread and picked up on the above point, yes the glossies market themselves to the masses, yes they have editorial / tech limitations and personally they aint my cup of tea,

and i agree there are alot of people intersted in something more intellectually demanding on a technical front - but the main problem with that is those people interested in technical builds are usually builders themselves and they populate forums such as this.

Why would i spend £5 on a magazine featuring highly tech bespoke builds when i can read all about the vehicle, see more pictures, a more detailed writeup, interact by ASKING QUESTIONS as the build progresses if i aint sure on something and most importantly - read about it in 'real time' and feel involved as it happens by reading this very forum!!!

Also how many actual builds are happening every year on the sort of level you want? Quick trawl of the members vehicle section will show about 20 serious builds in the past 12 months. How many of those would be willing to NOT post their build on a forum and instead have it featured in a mag?

Would you rather pay money and read 500 words and 10 pictures in a magazine - or read 20+ pages and 150+ photos of Jez's build on Mouse? It was exciting coming on here in the morning to see the updates - watch the days tick by and wonder if he would get it done in time, see ALL the photos, the banter etc You wont get that in a mag.

[landrovermanuk]

I must admit I subscribe to LROi and LRW but agree with most thing said. I just keep on hoping things will improve. I have found this forum very informative( if not a little confusing) and the members very helpful. I have also found the Australian forums to be very good. They are very good at making, mending and improving their vehicles. Again they are also very willing to give advice. The only problem with these sites for people like me is that I'm jealous that I can't seem to juggle the time, money, family, work, cars and forum time like everyone else on here....( How the hell do manage to build a top off roader, earn money, keep the wife and kids happy and do a full write up with photos and sleep?)

Plus the one bolt on goodie I would love would be a mega squirt kit, as i don't seem to be able to get my head round it...lol

Regarding mags like LRE, I find them to be a bit more like club mags(in a good way), they feel more personal, maybe thats because they are writen and produced by the people who ran the other mags in the days when they were small and independant...

Anyway mags give us something to read when we can't get access to forums like this...Just look at them as Land Rover nicotine patches...

John.

[Madcowz]

My neighbour kindly gave me about 200 mixed LR magazines when I was looking into buying a Defender.

I have read through and enjoyed most of them and am now going through each and every one and removing the Tech Archive or Workshop sections and putting these into indexed Lever Arch files. The rest of the articles adverts are going into the recycling bin.

Hopefully by the end of this exercise I will have been successful in:

1) Stopping the wife nagging about the huge pile of magazines in our bedroom.

2) Creating a pretty useful workshop guide and HOWTO collection.

Which in conjunction with my Workshop manual & Haynes book should prove useful in the future.

Going back to the original and now old post and some of the comments, I would like to say in the defence of Joe public, that not everyone who buys bolt on bits wants to, for a lot of people it is a necessity.

I for one would love to be able to weld (safely and so it stays together in anything stronger than a moderate gust of wind), fabricate/bend/bash/heat or use a lathe to conjure up clever additions to my vehicle, but I can't as I don’t have the skills or the equipment. And further to this, I don't know anybody who I can drop in and ask for hands on advice or tuition so can’t even get started.

And one final point. If we didn’t have Land Rover magazines, I would have nothing to read while doing a poo.

[Bill Shurvinton]

Dave - I'm not talking green oval, just off-roading in general. Imagine Practical Performance Car but with more mud.

ROTFL. There is an awful lot of product placement in PPC as well. Just that the readers rides are more interesting.

[dirkthe1]

And one final point. If we didn’t have Land Rover magazines, I would have nothing to read while doing a poo.

what about take a break, chat, heat and the other celebrity gossip magazines.....or am i the only one who buys them

[jacks906]

thats why i stopped buying the mags

best soruce for insparation i find (other than LR4x4 ) is on the internet rather than mags

lotsa info, ideas, build specs etc and the bonus of being free

dave

[TheRecklessEngineer]

what about take a break, chat, heat and the other celebrity gossip magazines.....or am i the only one who buys them

I prefer Andrex...

[Dave W]

And one final point. If we didn’t have Land Rover magazines, I would have nothing to read while doing a poo.

That's why they invented laptops with wireless, allows you to view your favourite reading material (I'm thinking Land Rover related but whatever floats your boat) online AND keeps your legs warm too

You know you've been there too long when your legs are either completely numb or you have the worst case of pins and needles ever AND at the same time you have 3rd degree burns on the top of your legs thanks to the laptop using you as a heatsink !

[Dunc]

Just to add my normally controversial 3 pen'th...

When LRE started it was much less 'flash' and very down to earth with articles on maintenance and buying guides. They used to properly serialise rebuilds and even had welding articles. I bought it from issue one and had every one until a while back.

I only buy the occasional mag now for something to read at breaktime at work. All the mags have changed now, much more generalised and adverts. I guess it's the nature of the beast because other magazines from custom bikes to narrowboats have gone a similar way.

But it must be what folks want otherwise they wouldn't sell.

I'd love to pick up a magazine each month for £3 that was as thick as a haynes manual and covered topics like what size tyres will actually go under a Disco or how to make your own bodylift or budget panel flare tool for the home workshop but i doubt there's sufficient market. The reason they feature a vehicle with a list of what was bought where means it makes it seem easily accessible for the 'normal' reader, which is why they seem to trumpet certain names out again and again.

Like somebody said earlier, if you don't like it don't buy it.

I'd love to have the old half inch thick LROi of the late 80s / early 90s with five page reports on the Transylvanian Trophy or seven pages on the Croissiere Blanche with at least half a pages talking about the intricacies of different tyre chains because that sort of stuff floats my boat, but there would be a huge amount of people who would have their arses bored off by it. As for the newby to the scene who's just bought an 09 plate Disco and picks up LRO to see if it's for him; imagine how far he'd run if the first article he finds is a step by step account of cutting the arches and getting longer springs on and a body lift so you can run 37" Creepy Crawlers.

I can't remember where i was going with all this so i'll just stop now.