Porsche Porn....

[Deeks]

How many people on this bbs have a subscription to a monthly Porsche mag/publication ??

In the UK the best mag by far is "911 and Porsche World". It's a great magazine, with fantastic variety, great photos, mechanical and DIY articles etc...etc... (my favourite articles are "Tried And Tested" and "Running Reports")

The only problem is that you can read it from cover to cover in about 2/3 days and be left itching for the next 27 days waiting for the next beautifully packaged silver envelope to arrive with your monthly dose of Porsche pornography... !!!

I say - Roll on the 25th of each month..... (God forbid any late delivery)

PS. Has anyone in the UK sampled "Excellence" ?

[dickster]

you after the highest number of hits thread or what?

i'm not a fan of 911 & porsche world, but theres another publication called GT or something that is porsche........pretty good.

i don't have a sub.

i haven't really tried excellence, but then it covers other marques doesn't it??

[Milu]

Excellence used to be available at Selfridges in London and I used to get it on subscription............Very unsatisfactory service but a good magazine, I now have it posted to me in Italy, service is still awful.

Like the Dickster I have reservations about 911 World sometimes although I enjoy it. My peeves relate to;

the tests that read as if they were done with a standard questionaire and a phone call with the owner,

lack of technical detail sometimes,

future articles that are referred to but never seem to appear,

and the pat formula for content.

[tmctguer]

i really like 911 & Porsche World.
i am so-so about Excellence.
i am lukewarm about Panorama.
i tried but really disliked 9.
i like GT, but can't find it easily.

[masraum]

Nope, Excellence is a Porsche only magazine. Pretty good. I used to get 911 & Porsche World, but don't much unless there's an article that I really want. GT Purely Porsche has some really nice photography and it's articles are pretty neat, but It needs a little more. Not sure what, just more. I too yearn all month for my next installment of Porsche Porn, that's why I supplement with Road & Track, Motorsport, Vintage Motorsport, and occasionally Classic Cars, Classic and Sports Car, Evo, or anything else that strikes my fancy. Guess I'm just an automotive slut.

[Milu]

As the topic is porn how about a shot of my girl flashing her goods?

[jyl]

Here in the US, I subscribe to "Excellence", which is quite a good Porsche-only magazine. I seem to receive it after the newstand issue comes out, which is a bit irritating but probably builds character.

As you note, one magazine is not enough. So I also buy "911 & Porsche World", which I think is a very good magazine. Funny how much the authors seem to dwell on rust and heaters -- makes me chuckle, here in California.

Two magazines are not enough either - still leaves 3.5 weeks of the month bereft of Porsche reading. Anyone have suggestions for additional Porsche magazines? I was thinking about:

- "Panorama"? I'm not a PCA member (yet?) but I've browsed a couple of issues. Seemed kind of dry - lot of racing news, presented in a just-the-facts-ma'am way, without much sense of the speed and power. Pretty interesting if you knew the folks involved, I guess, but for me it was like reading the list-like battle descriptions in the Iliad (he smote him, he smote him, he smote him, he smote and missed him, etc etc) compared to, say, the powerful D-day scenes of "Saving Private Ryan".

- Any German Porsche magazines? I've got to think the home market would support some good ones! I remember as a kid my dad got me a subscription to "Auto und Sport" (I think) and I was awed at the evident quality of the technical illustrations. I don't speak German, but with a dictionary and the remmants of my college German I'm sure I could struggle through a story or two. Think, one magazine could take up 2 weeks per month.

- Any French Porsche magazines? I do speak French, and like their car magazines a lot, but I don't recall ever seeing any single-marque French auto magazines (I'm sure there's a "2CV World" but we're talking Porsches).

- How are early reports on "9" Magazine? I haven't seen an issue around yet.

[RatBoy4]

I subscribe to Excellence. I've been getting it for over a year nad have been pretty happy. There are some quality articles and some good tech help too. I can't complain.

[epbrown]

I'm with Steve. In addition to Porsche and 911 World and GT Purely Porsche, I regularly read Evo, Car, Classic and Sports Car and Classic Car (named Thoroughbred and Classic Car in the US). GTPP is fairly new and is improving, and I picked up its sister mag BMWCar a couple of times because of it. Even the worst UK car mag seems better than most US equivalents, though I trip over the language occasionally ("more oik than earl"? afghan? shed?).

Emanuel

[YTNUKLR]

Excellence used to be better. I like 911 and Porsche World better because they have more down-to-earth articles like a Boxster that got rolled or a 356 Notchback they just rolled out of a barn after 20-odd years. How about the Speedster with the color-change paint? That stuff is cool. Excellence has a Motec 3.8L 914 that makes 380hp and looks like rice with the wing way up like that. Or they'll have an '85 Cab with a 993 Bodykit and 750+hp and Rear-wheel drive. That's stupid. Excellence used to have stuff about a restored 356, or a perfect survivor 914 or early 911. The Market Reports seem to be way off. However, I very much enjoy the ongoing '51 Glaser Cab restoration. 911 World lacks a lot of technical detail but it's neat anyway.

[CJFusco]

I am a US resident, but I will weigh in with my opinions.

I subscribe to EXCELLENCE, ROAD & TRACK, as well as the PCA publication PANORAMA.

I think EXCELLENCE is by far the best all-around Porsche mag out there. 911 & PORSCHE WORLD is good, but probably better for the UK resident than a Porsche owner in the US (a lot of stories about UK trackdays, the woes of restricting European roads, new UK dealerships, plus almost all the want ads are in Europe). GT is a pretty good publication, and has the best photography in MHO. The new mag, 9, didn't impress me too much. I find PANORAMA next to useless.

As far as general car mags go, I think EVO is by far the best. Besides a definite bias toward Porsches, the road tests focus on PERFORMANCE CARS ONLY, and that is a broad topic, ranging from hot hatches to McLarens, and everything in between. They run special articles on classic performance cars, articles on performance driving, and a wonderful ratings system section in the back where they weigh the plusses and minuses of every car they've tested over the last 15 years or so. TOP GEAR is also a great publication, but I get bored with some of the tests of "average" cars, especially when most of them aren't even seen on US roads (Peugeot, Renault, SMART, Opel, Citroen, etc). American car publications pale in comparison to their (admittedly more expensive) european counterparts. The best of the bunch, though, are probably ROAD & TRACK and CAR AND DRIVER.

[tmctguer]

i used to religiously read the 2 european car mags "Classic and Sports Car" and "Classic Car ". IMHO, they are the standards by which car magazines should be judged. they had great photography, good articles on a variety of cars, auction results, great comparisons of similar cars of a given era, etc., etc.

[cegerer]

"R Gruppe News" is, by far, the best of the lot. Takes longer to read than "Excellence" and "Porsche & 911 World" combined! -- Curt

[MrKJBlue]

I think theres a good community feel to 911 & porsche world and a good diversity of stories, although I think theres too much back slapping of certain companys going on, and theres a tendancy to fall in line with the word of Porsche GB.
I tired GT porsche and didnt feel the writers had a lot of history or passion about Porsche, but maybe that will come in time.
For more reading matter a month i'm going to join Porsche club GB.

[Neilk]

John,

Flat6 is a decent French Porsche magazine. There is another magazine but I forgot the name. One thing you will notice though is that Flat6 will share articles with Excellence. I have seen several features appear in each other's pages.

I think we can all agree that one reason we are addicted to this site is that the magazines we read don't entertain us as much as the content here.

[Deeks]

So Excellence is a Porsche Only Mag...? Great.
Anyone know if it's available in the UK apart from Selfridges in London ?
R-Gruppe. I've never heard of it. It sounds quite "die hard Porsche"
Where can I find out more?

[epbrown]

Originally posted by Neilk
I think we can all agree that one reason we are addicted to this site is that the magazines we read don't entertain us as much as the content here.

Nah, the writing's better in the mags, it's just that the board has a better response time.

I remember reading Excellence once with Bruce Anderson's letter column and seeing a Porsche novice wanting to put a 3.6L engine into a black '73. It sounded familiar, and turned out that Jack Olsen had written Anderson months before and never heard back; he was halfway through finishing the car by the time the letter appeared.

Emanuel

[cegerer]

"R-Gruppe. I've never heard of it. It sounds quite "die hard Porsche" "

You are correct, sir. www.rgruppe.org

[pwd72s]

Curt..."R GRUPPE NEWS" isn't a monthly!

[cegerer]

Maybe that's why it takes so long to read? -- Curt