latest excellence- tons of typo's and editorial issues?

[MotoSook]

I think it's great that Manny is participating in this discussion and actually has more than a few posts on the forum . Although there are some other groups out there that do their share of keeping the Porsche passion strong, the guys here at Pelican are doing a bang up job. Hopefully the feedback here will make Pano a better magazine in addition to adding Stout to the staff.

All that said, I must confess I have not read a Pano or Excellence in a long time. They come to the house and get stacked in my office. I might flip through it, but rarely do I make time to read it. I can blame my lack of time, but the larger factor is that there is little entertainiment for me anymore. I use to look forward to getting Pano and Excellence. And to be completely honest, I was more eager to get the monthly (but late by a month) Excellence because it was not so dry like the Pano. Sorry Manny. Trying to give honest feedback.

There are a lot of guys out there who have extreme passion and talent that would be great content for Pano. The kinds of projects we see in this forum should be featured in Pano, but not so slimmed down that the details that have driven a guy to go to extremes are lost. I come to the Pelican forum because there are a lot of guys and gals who are passionate and love to share their passion. I learn, I am impressed and I get motivated by these wingnuts. That's what I want to get out of Pano.

[MotoSook]

Oh...and how about a feature on Grady Clay? Or Steve Weiner?

[urseppos]

I think America needs another Porsche mag as I prefer the European/English periodicals due to their write ups, choice of paper, easier reading, etc. My friends here in the US all agree as I constantly inundate them with mags from across the pond.

The US stuff is boring and a bit stuffy. Just my honest opinion.

[Manny Alban]

What you'll also see change over the year, more towards the latter half, is the website. Right now our website is pretty much a tool for administrative work, but not at all a destination. Certainly not one of the sites I use every day. The website isn't going to receive an update, but a complete attitude adjustment. Pete Stout is going to be part of that as well. Pano, the website as well as other forms of social media will combine to, hopefully, better serve our members.

There's a lot of work to do in PCA. It's a club of volunteers. The paid staff is only 9 people. It's what makes our little car club so great. Volunteers started the club back in 1955, volunteers have kept it going and will continue to move it into the future. Independent and enthusiastic.

[wdfifteen]

Originally Posted by Amochosto

Typo's?

LOL

Ah, you beat me to it. I was about to mention something about irony.

[chrenan]

Panorama isn't THAT bad, it's not as enjoyable a read as Excllence, but that may flip-flop with Pete moving offices.

Is there any chance people in this thread are confusing Christophorus (Porsche's in-house magazine) with Panorama? Christophorus is just a corporate marketing machine for the new models disguised as a magazine.

Thanks for providing your input Manny and for all you do with the PCA - as a Polar Region member I really enjoy the club.

[Marc Bixen]

I like what Manny said about "professional courtesy". That's what I was referring to with subtlety in reference the the tech questions. I know Excellence covers Porsches ass in this area. I've read sooo many times that the Excellence "experts" have no knowledge of such a problem existing, yet in actuality, we in the professional world have seen it many times. Recently a reader wrote in about his 993 rear window "exploding", Excellence said "we've never heard of such a thing". I won't say it was common but it certainly happened to more than a few cars. And if you read Tony Callas' 993 inspection article this month, hell, you'd never consider one of these great,final air-cooled, auto's. Tony, some things are better left unsaid. You make a 993 sound like a nightmare. I guess that's why they still pull big bucks on resale.

[petrolblue83911]

To be clear- I wasn't talking about Panorama!

This was about the latest issue of Excellence Mag-

in my copy, the letters section and several others were scrambled, as in partial paragraphs from multiple articles were mixed up!

no issues here with PCA or Pano!

[yellowperil]

Originally Posted by Manny Alban

I'm not arguing about the editorial content, just the statement that PCA is controlled by PCNA or Porsche AG. There is so much behind the scene politics within the club that will never be printed (due to professional courtesy as well as it really won't be productive), but suffice to say, I never received one hate mail or phone call regarding this change of editors. However, I do get hate mail when they serve chicken two nights in a row during Parade (one is usually from the wife).

I love both Excellence and Panorama magazines. The phrase "the" wife not so much. My wife is a PCA member and Porsche owner. We both feel it's a bit derogatory.

[Manny Alban]

uh, I was referring to MY wife

[yellowperil]

My apologies, Mr. Alban. I shouldn't have mentioned it. It was wrong on my part.

[RWebb]

Originally Posted by MotoSook

Oh...and how about a feature on Grady Clay? Or Steve Weiner?

great idea!


BTW - P AG certainly has some influence - even unconscious

[yellowperil]

For F1 fans this month's (Feb) Excellence has a great article on F1 driver Stefan Johansson, mostly in regards to his porsche career but he was one of my favorite F1 drivers who always seemed to give it his all. Never won in F1 but I seem to recall he was within sight of his first win only to settle for second because of a flat front tire or lost wheel or something. Tough loss.

[Hads930]

My wife calls our PCA membership the $50 magazine subscription that we never read. I have not even opened the past few. I do almost nothing with the club, the last time I was around P car guys it was Pelicans getting together for beers. I am on Pelican Forums almost daily, local or national club websites, almost never.

[Head416]

Interesting that he would go from Excellence to Panorama, which at this point I don't even open anymore. Seems like a huge step backwards. Perhaps he's intrigued by the challenge.

[epbrown]

I don't get people's preference for Roundel over Panorama. I was bored by Panorama when I was a PCA member and I flip through the Roundel in seconds. Excellence has a better hit rate with me - I no longer subscribe, but I flip through at the newsstand and buy it if I find something interesting, and that's about 5 or 6 times a year, typically an interesting project Zachary Mayne has found.

[cairns]

Roundel isn't what it used to be IMO. They used to have great articles (like the US Army finding Nurburgring in WW2) but it seems more and more mundane lately. What they still do- which Panorama doesn't- is honestly critique the cars and run comparison tests with other models. That's what I'd love to see in Panorama.

The past months fawning over the diesel Cayenne is a case in point. According to Pano, the truck has no flaws and God only wishes he had one. The article could have been a Porsche press release.

When we were looking at a new car (SUV Diesels) a few months ago we looked at them, the Mercedes, the Audi's and the X5. They all had their plusses and minuses but the Porsche's sky high price and complete lack of value for the $ kept us shopping. Had the Benz been available with the options we wanted that would have been a better deal than the Porsche. An honest test of all four would be a great article and one I would gladly contribute to. My wife loved the head up display the MB and Porsche didn't offer. The Mercedes had by far the best NAV system- with real time weather. The Porsche's stereo (base) sucked and the Bose and Burgmeister options were either pricey or hideously expensive. The Audi was a bus- much bigger than we wanted but had the nicest interior- incredibly well done IMO. When people buy cars like that it's not the name on the hood or all handling and suspension (and the Porsche wasn't much better in that department IMO) If Pano were, first and foremost, more honest about the cars the mag would not only be more interesting they'd be giving their members a lot more for their money.

And typos or not, Excellence is still one of the best car magazines out there IMO. Well worth the $.

[GH85Carrera]

Originally Posted by Manny Alban

What you'll also see change over the year, more towards the latter half, is the website. Right now our website is pretty much a tool for administrative work, but not at all a destination. Certainly not one of the sites I use every day. The website isn't going to receive an update, but a complete attitude adjustment. Pete Stout is going to be part of that as well. Pano, the website as well as other forms of social media will combine to, hopefully, better serve our members.

There's a lot of work to do in PCA. It's a club of volunteers. The paid staff is only 9 people. It's what makes our little car club so great. Volunteers started the club back in 1955, volunteers have kept it going and will continue to move it into the future. Independent and enthusiastic.

That is good news about the web site. Right now it sucks. It REALY REALLY needs a makeover to make it easier to find simple information. I wanted to find a simple schedule for Parade to plan my week of vacation. Just a preliminary what night is the banquet for what and so forth. It was just a waste of time trying to find it. I had to go back to the regestration page and write everything down to make my plans.

[M.D. Holloway]

His post is one to proof read for grammer or spelling errors - not the job of the EC. That is the job for an actual proof reader. I bet in the past Sally Jo did it. He may have assumed that the content coming in was of sound mind and body.

You guys may also want to give your local chapter a try - some of their rags are decent. Unfortunately I don't see Excellence payimg much for an EC or for that matter a deep staff.

[exc911ence]

As much as Pano reads like a press release for PCNA, for a time, it seemed Excellence was acting as an agent for the RGruppe guys. As nice as some of their rides were, it was getting a touch boring. Variety is the spice of life!

It appears that 911&Porsche World is looking to fill that role now... I read UK magazines to gain exposure to the UK Porsche scene, not to read about John Glynn's travels in So-Cal. I subscribe to Excellence for that!