uzthedentist Posted February 14, 2005 Share Posted February 14, 2005 I was bored today. On call again and the nurses are looking after all the patients anyway. So i decided to wurite a letter to the editor of JP. How many of you would agree with me on this??: Dear Editor, I'd like to say congratulations on the magazine. I have been reading it for a year now and the standard of journalism is excellent. However, I am writing to you on what I feel is an inherent Subaru Impreza bias in your magazine. My local newsagent used to reserve the magazine for me each month and I looked forward to the wide variety of cars and coverage of events. But over the last 5 months, I’ve been dismayed at the contents. This is because EVERY month there are articles on Imprezas. Why is this? How different is one 350bhp Impreza from another? From the spec lists the answer would be: not much. Surely there must be other cars that you can cover with interesting and innovative specs and modifications? Imprezas already have their own magazine, with articles on modified Imprezas every month. So why does JAPANESE performance magazine feel that it must fill its pages with at least one Impreza a month? Don’t get me wrong, I really like Imprezas, and have had many an enjoyable tussle with one on track, but seeing one with 3-400bhp every month with the same old spec is beginning to get tiring. This month (March) should have been renamed IMPREZA PERFORMANCE. 3 articles on imprezas and 50% of the questions in ‘Jap answers’ dedicated to Imprezas. It’s quite obvious why you feature so many Imprezas in your magazine. It can be seen on every Japanese meet, track day and event across the country. There are so many Impreza drivers, that you feel it’s in your interest from a sales perspective to produce a magazine for them. This provides you with more profits, and a larger circulation. However, at the same meets, you see Toyotas, Nissans, Mitsubishis, Mazdas and Lexuses. As the Market Leader you should be more representative of these marques. Now as a Jap car enthusiast, having owned a GT4, 300zx, and Starion, I am a fan of the Subaru Impreza. However I cant help feeling that If you just didn’t feature them so often in your magazine. That maybe when the one special Impreza comes along, more people will stand up and take note. Rather than it being ‘just another Impreza’. Thanks Uzman Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
terribleturner Posted February 14, 2005 Share Posted February 14, 2005 Yeah, i think it's a good letter. I've also noticed that too, specially with the Impreza special supliment this month. Maybe it's just because there's just so damn many of them and you can pick them up now real cheap. Don't get me wrong, i like the impreza, but we need a little more variety, oh and more Supras Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
baojun Posted February 15, 2005 Share Posted February 15, 2005 Totally Agree. EVen I drove Evo before, I mean, there's nothing wrong with the cars. But the contents of the meg. become really bored. always Evos & Imprezas. Sometimes really want to have something different. Supra, skyline, Rx-7, Mark 2, Chaser. Or eeven more other cars. No need to be really very powerful car but something new and intresting.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
uzthedentist Posted February 15, 2005 Author Share Posted February 15, 2005 yep like a luxury v8tt soarer or drift spec fc rx7s etc Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CJ Posted February 15, 2005 Share Posted February 15, 2005 Good letter with relevant content Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MichaelG Posted February 15, 2005 Share Posted February 15, 2005 I prefer buying Jap Performance to Banzai now, but this months JP is just taking the pi** with the amount of it dedicated to Impreza Shed Wagons. Theyre tinny, they all sound the same............and they suck lol Michael Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grazer Posted February 15, 2005 Share Posted February 15, 2005 I thought the plural of Lexus was Lexi Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barney Posted February 15, 2005 Share Posted February 15, 2005 Have to agree with you. I subscribe to both Banzai and Jap Performance but I'm seriously considering my renewals. Both magazines are full of "mostly" company owned cars tuned to the max, and whilst interesting to a point, every month this bias IMHO becomes very boring, the abundance of Subaru's in particular. Personally I would much prefer to see a mix of older/newer privately owned cars which are not necessarily hugely modified with interesting features on the owner and ownership of the car. What about features on Soarers, earlier generation Celica's, Supra's, Nissan 200 & 300's to name but a few. After all, these car fall under the umbrella of "Performance" cars. I appreciate these magazines are consumer driven, they have to be to stay in print, but to my mind they are in danger of becoming glorified glossy advertisements for the company's featured. Your letter, in my opinion is very worthwhile highlighting a very valid point. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Class One Posted February 15, 2005 Share Posted February 15, 2005 But will they publish it?? Whilst taking my usual morning break I was reading the Feb issues of the mag and i found it stuffed full of Evo Evo Evo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hadyn Posted February 15, 2005 Share Posted February 15, 2005 they put in evos and scoobies because thats all the mindless masses want Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SimonB Posted February 15, 2005 Share Posted February 15, 2005 To be fair, they can only feature cars that people have asked them to feature. How many Supra owners have? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Supragal Posted February 15, 2005 Share Posted February 15, 2005 Good content but I'd add some paragraphs and run a spell/grammer check before you send it... Maybe we should get them to feature the club? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tDR Posted February 15, 2005 Share Posted February 15, 2005 they put in evos and scoobies because thats all the mindless masses want Originally posted by hadyn on logicaltuning.com: Whats next for you? My next car will be an early Lancer Evo, as i fancy something 4WD, easy to launch and the fact that it's a little bit different - just like the S14. The only link you'll ever need if you own an S14 is www.sxoc.com ^^ PMSL! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J4CK50N Posted February 15, 2005 Share Posted February 15, 2005 I thought the plural of Lexus was Lexi lol - Alan Partrige told me that too!!!! On a more serious note I have noticed them leaning towards the impreza too. I love the impreza, and happily owned a 2 door Type R for nearly 2 years, and is by far the fastest point to point car I've ever owned, but I dont want to read about the various mildly modified ones with ridiculously big spoilers and 24" wheels every issue!!! IF I did a would buy max power. A bit of variety would be nice. Not just Supras either, other performance Jap cars such as, RX7's, the various Nissans, various mitsi's etc etc etc So on the whole a very good letter!! Just my 2p worth J4CK50N Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kghelmet Posted February 15, 2005 Share Posted February 15, 2005 i do love scoobys but of late you would think they are the only jap car on the road and living near santa pod i see loads of great jap cars on there way home. i used to get total vauxhall when i had my calibra turbo LE but that mag turned into a nova/astra mag. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hadyn Posted February 15, 2005 Share Posted February 15, 2005 ^^ PMSL! lol, well im not a member of the mindless masses am i mate, thats why i got a supra in the end - im too far addicted to RWD! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Green Peace Posted February 15, 2005 Share Posted February 15, 2005 I have to agree...I stopped buying it because I thought it was really boring, would be nice if they also covered the lifestayle elements of Jap car ownership too would be nice to see an articale on someone doing the gumball in a Skyline or Supra...rather than the occasional blinged up motor sat their like someones brand new kitchen. I'm not too much into the eye candy of Jap cars I love reading stories and adventures, I like to hear about the people behind the cars too, not all of us are into making our cars look like Pimp mobils as much as having fun with em, and actually driving them...maybe I'm odd....(no comments please Jake lol) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tDR Posted February 15, 2005 Share Posted February 15, 2005 lol, well im not a member of the mindless masses am i mate, thats why i got a supra in the end - im too far addicted to RWD! You made the right choice m8 - Supra much more fun, much more mod potential and looks soooo much better Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CJ Posted February 15, 2005 Share Posted February 15, 2005 ^^ PMSL! The ghosts of posts past come round to haunt us all eh? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
terawua Posted February 15, 2005 Share Posted February 15, 2005 Dont know if any of you get access to the US publication 'Super Street' but I have a copy of the Jan 2005 with a lovely 1032 (allegedly) HP supra, corolla, celica, subaru impreza, honda civic, and lexus IS300... a lot more balanced than Jap Performance wouldnt you say - plus its always nice to read something a little different, like a mag from foreign shores..... in fact I think I could scan it, if not for fear of the copyrighters beating down our (BBS) door. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Ryan Posted March 22, 2005 Share Posted March 22, 2005 I have subscribed to Super Street for the past few years and it is 75% advertisments. When they do a feature on a car they talk about nonsense for the first 3 paragraphs before mentioning the car. It's on par with Lax Power IMHO. I no longer subscribe. I own a copy of every issue of Jap Performance and I absolutely love it! I too notice a heavy amount of Imprezas and Evos each month but that is because there are many many products aimed at these cars and the owners are willing to spend shedloads to have their cars featured. The Impreza / Evo / Skyline clubs seem far more active than most others so they get lots of tuned cars and outings etc. Honda Revolutions has had a few cars featured too. Tuner cars show the potential of these models. I like to read about them even if they did take £100K to build. It also reassures us readers that there are experts about who know what works and what doesn't. Personally I find that very reassuirng. JP Motorpsorts' Supra was a great car to feature. Look at the huge spec on that. £1200 for a Veilside Inlet Plenum.....ouch! I've seen plenty Supras featured over the past 6 years. But lets face facts that Imprezas, Evos and Skylines are the biggest attractions for most readers and there are a damn sight more of them on the roads than many other makes. I'm sure there are a few people on here who could have their Supras featured if they wanted too. Unfortunately I don't have the cash to spend getting my car up to the standard necessary to write an article with enough content to keep people interested. The technical articles make the magazine stand out from any other. I absolutely adore JP. Looking back over recent months I think the Editor has taken note of the fact that there are so many Imprezas / Evos etc and has tried to address the balance somewhat with RX7s, 350Zs, MX5s, 200SX build up, Civics etc. It just so happens that the new STI9 was released and so they put it up against the Evo FQ-340 for comparrison and that GGR have an amazing STI9 with 500bhp which rightly deserved a big feature. It's a hard call to make for anybody to try to not be bias but I think JP gets it right every month. Are there any worthy Supras here who are willing to go forward to fly the flag for us? I'm new so I don't know who drives what yet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bobbeh Posted March 22, 2005 Share Posted March 22, 2005 I think its more of a 4WD thing over a RWD, but yeah scoobies are gonna be previlent because of sales.. for some bizzare reason they believe 4WD 'ownz' just because of some race events in the UK. They need to look further afield. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Ryan Posted March 22, 2005 Share Posted March 22, 2005 I agree, but the thought of 4WD is becoming more appealing to me for being able to throw the car around without fear of losing traction and the back end going walkies. I like to drive with confidence, not drift everywhere. Maybe some new bushes and suspension would make a difference. But until I experience a 4WD car to feel the difference for myself I'll hold off choosing which path to follow. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SkyJawa Posted March 22, 2005 Share Posted March 22, 2005 I prefer buying Jap Performance to Banzai now, but this months JP is just taking the pi** with the amount of it dedicated to Impreza Shed Wagons. Theyre tinny, they all sound the same............and they suck lol Michael Thats a very blinkered attitude. They aren't that tinny anymore, though the older ones were better as such as they were lighter. They certainly don't all sound the same, varies greatly by exhaust and the flat 4 burble when one is zorsted up is still one of the best sounding jap cars out there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bobbeh Posted March 22, 2005 Share Posted March 22, 2005 Agreed. I dont dislike scoobies, they are great cars, they're basically this day and ages cosworth equivilennt. Sadly a victim of their own success. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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