Radio Race Car Magazine!
 

Is it just me or is the magazine being taken over by Rock Crawling?

In the July edition there was a full 6 page spread on one crawler review, and numerous other pages scattered through the magazine Rock Crawling related. There was VERY little race reports or anything remotely interesting. The Schumacher Indoor Master Finale at Worksop got 3 pages :thumbdown:

I'm not trying to give the Mag a bad name, honestly! but i would like to see a good balance of info for all classes.

i agree they tend to do a lot of right ups on the same things in one issue:thumbdown::thumbdown: what about other scales of models :thumbsup:

what can be more "Race" or exciting than rock crawling?

oh yeah, anything :p:lol:

Rock crawling is not racing.
Drifting is not racing.
Bashing around in the street is not racing.

Radio RACE Car should be about race cars and racing. It's been off track for years with too many reviews of toys.

yea theres been four nationals now and i aint seen any race reports yet. and i agree anything that does go in like the worksop indoor masters only gets a couple of pages.

j

Personally I prefer 'Racer' mag instead....good reviews and a good commitment to grass roots club racing....

I don't buy any of the mags now, Jimmys reviews are far better and any of the product info was posted here weeks before the magazine gets printed.

Probably because of a change of Editor. Dez Chand has left the magaazine and it is now been edited by 'Mad Pete':bored:

Jimmy - please feel free to edit as you wish...

I am not wanting to get into a slanging match but at the magazine, we are not just catering for the 1:10 off-road racer, which is where this site focusses upon...

That said, I don't disagree with your opinion about the delay between print and other media so Racer has a website for the latest news and features, and then this allows the magazine to follow it up with in-depth coverage with more information that can be learnt over time.

For sure we would all like a magazine with only coverage of the class or classes that we are into but if that was the case, we would never learn about new ones or ideas that can cross over.

I used to do the national reports for RRC.
When Dez Chand was editor he liked crawlers and bikes but tried hard to do an even spread across a large range of classes - and there are LOTS of classes now... In my opinion he did a great job and really tried hard to appeal to all. I fully respect the job he did for RRC.
However I believe the management no longer wanted race reports to be part of the magazine. And Dez left recently.

So this is the new editors first full edition so I wouldn't judge too harshly yet, but I do think it is a marketing mistake to not have any BRCA reports in there. Maybe there are plans I am not aware of, but as the new editor has not contacted me I don't know.

Glad to be helping Matt now :thumbsup:

I would say that for magazines it must be pretty tough these days, with websites, etc. all throwing info about new products and things freely out there then it does mean they have to try to compete in a way or find a new slant on things. I personally think that Matt's angle on it is likely to be a good view, websites for quick snippets and then mags for in depth reviews and long term tests, race report round-ups, etc.

Some tried the new online magazine formats, IDM I believe it's termed but this blend of the two I'm not sure really works, personally speaking. It's neither the quick web based snippet we all enjoy, or the magazine that we all like to pick up and have a read through at a convenient moment.

I would also like to see a lot more race focus in the magazines and I'd be glad not to have to see or read about another rock crawler anytime soon but I understand that there is a market for them and I do want to be made aware of all things RC out there just in case it takes my fancy. I'd much rather get team driver's interviews, input on how their season is progressing, how their cars are doing, what they are doing to their cars during the season to improve them, etc. all with great pictures. Personally I don't consume printed magazines anymore and haven't for a while. I only read digital mags (laptop/iPad/iPod) and websites.

Jimmy, what we really need is an oOple iPhone/iPad app with regular updates such as race reports and reviews. Season standings, etc. I'd be very happy to pay for the content. :)

Don't get me wrong, im not saying i just want to see 1/10th off road and nothing else. I would just like to see all classes get an equal amount of reports/info etc

I do like reading how other classes are growing and becoming more popular, but nearly half of July's edition was rock crawling. I understand how much work goes into the magazine and understand the delay to being printed. I was really looking forward to the Worksop Finale report, and when i discovered it only had 3 pages, i was a little dissapointed :( This is the biggest winter series meeting in europe!

As someone said earlier, there's been 4 1/10th Nationals/Regionals now and not one report :confused: if the management aren't wanting 'race' reports in the magazine then how is the magazine going to appeal to new-comers to the 'Racing' side of the sport instead of just encouraging bashing.

I was also surprised not to see a review on the CAT SX2 and Cougar SV yet!

The Cougar SV review will be in Racer within the next couple of issues (September issue I believe) :)

If you picked up a copy of Racer magazine, you would see that we do have a driver profile in our 1:10 off-road National reports where we talk to a range of drivers (not just team ones I must add) to get their perspective on the event, how their season is going, etc.

radio race car
 

perhaps a change of name might be the answer , there is a good deal of difference between racing rc cars and just playing around with them. the magazine name radio race car clearly implies the mag is for racing rc cars.

the only problem i can foresee is the one brought by the member starting the thread if you buy a mag with that title you would expect it to be about racing and not someone trying to put a truck on top of a great pile of stones.

If you are not happy or critical of the magazine you are reading, why not make contact with the editor, Matt Benfield if Racer mag - and contribute. Im not saying this as a dig, but it really is rewarding to write a small feature, provide a few photos and then see them in print a month or two later. It is also quite easy to do if you are handy with MS Word and have enthusiasm to do it.

Any events you go to, during booking in - ask race control to print out extra end of round sheets and final results for you to take home. Then watch a few finals with a notepad, no need to write loads, or about all races, just some. The event/club you are at will be grateful of the coverage too.

Afterall, the articles in magazines are mostly written by the users of those cars. Why not become contributor? :thumbsup:

Just to clarify, I think this thread started out as a "constructive critiscm" of Radio Race Car magazine but after a few comments some people now think it is about RACER magazine (including some by the editor Matt himself) - two different mags altogether, not to be confused with each other......

I would usually shy away from posting on threads like this for obvious reasons.

When posts refer to RC magazines (plural) or Racer is mentioned, I have to voice my opinion.

The magazine content reflects products in the marketplace and so there are times when it seems that one section has been ignored over others. I know that when Racer started out, the RTR market was small and limited - everything was focused around racing products - but in the last 13 years, this has developed. If ADH Publshing was to launch next month, I am unsure if Racer would be the title...

I am sure that both UK magazines would appreciate this...

I don't like being negative and must say I appreciate the huge efforts that go into writing reports, compiling the magazine layouts and can only imagine how much work goes into editing the publication. To that end, all the folks at the magazines, which the majority of us love to read, get my praise and full support and will continue to do so.

Dan :cool:

Personally, and this is only my opinion, I have only occasionally subscribed to magazines over the past umpteen years, for one main reason, these are mags aimed at the racing scene, whether it be crawlers, electric off-road, bikes even, but the constant full in-depth reviews of the latest 'Tamiya re-shell' or some other budget runner really gets frustrating. I Tamiya nobody would get 4 pages, a proper racing car would struggle to get 2 pages :( .

But that is only my opinion, if things changed, I would more than happily buy into the mags, but until then, I won't really.

I will confirm however, the thread was related to Radio Race Car and NOT Racer Magazine.

Like I said I appreciate the amount of work that goes into the magazine (both RRCi and Racer) I would just like to see a good balance of info for all classes.

Maybe I should have just kept quiet!

Not at all! i understand you have to voice your opinions when the subject is mistaken for the wrong magazine. I only highlighted the last comment just as to make it clear that the thread wasn't in the slightest pointing to Racer. :blush:

Not really Matt - the issues discussed do after all relate to both magazines to some extent, and certainly you are both competing for the same target market.

As for content etc - I've done for work for MTB mags before and know a few (now mostly ex) editors of said publications and can safely say that what goes is is driven by the market.
The internet has somewhat damaged the middle market (I'll call this the hobbyist) because it allows instant access to info, a community of like minded souls and its free!
That leaves the newbies and the pro's. The 'pros' write articles, feature in race reports etc, so for them the publication is almost 'my name in lights'. And the Newbie wants simple, basic info.
TT01's get reviewed every issue but that is because the sort of person that buys a TT01 (and the mag its reviewed in) doesn't even know its been done before in a dozen back issues. And that mag sells.

The fact is I like Ooples reviews myself, mostly as they are pretty much 'where I'm at' in the RC world, but I'm also sure that a month 'Oople mag' of race reports and race car reviews would not sell well enough to cover costs. So I accept that the current magazines aren't aimed at me right now and leave it at that.

I've seen them, I do from time to time get to read them. I am one of those people with a severe magazine addiction. :)

I was more talking about what some motorbike magazine's do in that some rider (usually magazine staff but pro or otherwise, in TBM's case someone like David Knight of enduro fame) has a regular column where he talks about his bike, his season, the last event he participated in, etc. You get to follow him all year, hear on a monthly basis the changes he makes to his machine/fitness/etc. We got to see the full gory details of his breakup with KTM to go to BMW, the BMW disaster that led him back to KTM. It's the kinda thing you go back for more and more and although the news is available on the web you only get the actual details from the man himself in the magazine which gives you a reason to keep buying it. That or where the rider has a long term test machine that they ride all year, participate in events with and you get to read month after month how that guy on that bike performs over a season, the upgrades he makes, etc. It has more value than a 1 off write up by some pro or random person in my opinion because you get to go through the ups and downs with them, the things that worked and didn't work, etc.

I like the reviews but oOple/Jimmy's reviews are closer to the products I would actually buy as in 10th scale racing stuff. I would equally like reviews of 18th scale stuff if only there were some new stuff to review.

And again, I want my magazines digitally. I have to somehow justify my iPad purchase! :lol:

Surely its trade description act ? the title of both mags is "RACE" so should be about racing, if i buy Autosport and found it filled with revews of Mondeos and Vectras i would 100% ask for my money back.
OK first issue of race car under the new editor but yes it was nearly all rock crawling plus a 6 page reveiw on the mini z !!!, how about some club racing reveiws (both on and off road).
Have to say if next month is no better as a shop (FTD Models) we will stop stocking race car, have sold 1 copy this month and by now would usually be sold out.

I started RC in 1998, to help me get right into it, I used to get RRCI and Racer every month. I think the first RRCI I got had the Schumacher SST '98 Peugeot 406 on the cover, and the first Racer had a Traxxas 4-Tec touring car on their cover. As I'm a TC'er, they always had reports I wanted to read (because of the TC boom of the time) of TORC, BTCC, Eurocup, HPI Challenge and of course, BRCA Nationals. The reviews were always in-depth and the photos great (though at the time, I thought RRCI had better write ups because they drove everything they reviewed, whereas Racer went for better photography and rarely said how something drove).

Until 2003/4 I was still buying both mags, but began to leave Racer on the shelf when mistakes started creeping in with spelling, or facts etc. I can't stand that. :lol: I stuck with RRCI because they kept policy of driving in the real world (race meetings I mean), and usually covered race meetings in more depth (tech charts for example). But, as Editors came and went various restyles and relaunches diluted the mag and it is what it is now.....

I'm going to get back to reading Racer, mainly because I want to see how far they have come in the 6 or so years that I haven't read it monthly. I'm a regular reader of their website and I like the up-to-date news and the staff cars part.

The demise of Maxbashing magazine shows I think, that the UK bashing scene can't support a bashing-only magazine. And the fact that Racer and RRCI have had to go down the non-race route shows that racing alone won't keep the bank manager happy. I don't think any of the US-based mags are thinking differently, they are aimed at both the race and the bash guys. Even RCCA have boats! But if its true that RRCI are leaving the race scene behind, then I feel they are making a huge mistake.

And why buy RC mags? Well, what else are you going to read on the loo? You take your iPhone or laptop in there? :D

Said from a racers' position?

Crawling/monster trucks (monster trucks, yeeaaa) and stuff may not be to the taste of all, but that does not mean it's not got a market.

Seems sensible for the two mags to cover different angles on the hobby.

.....but I've never done anything for Racer?

:lol::woot:

Nice one Stu!!:p

After a layoff from racing for over a decade, I received a rrci subscription for xmas and have so far been quite disappointed with what I have seen vs rrci from the late 90's.

sure, the r/c scene is somewhat different these days but there seems to be a disproportionate amount of coverage given to toys/bashing. there is hardly any coverage of the "premier" racing events (nationals, us invitationals etc) and virtually no reviews on 10th OR equipment. why no reviews on any of the current crop of buggies? even if they have been reviewed x years ago, why not re-review them to see how they fare in the modern racing world? for example, the b44 review in rrci was done using Nimh - why not re-review it with Lipo and show how the team tune the cars etc? I actually found an old rrci last night (from 1998 I think) with a really interesting piece that Craig Drescher did on the Yokomo YZ10 that showed how the team were developing the car etc.

on the subject of race reports, how does a rock crawling event justify taking 4+ pages when the Worksop indoor (the premier winter race series for 10th OR) struggled to get a couple of pages the previous month? and why no coverage from the OR nationals - hasn't there already been 4 rounds?

I could go on, but i wont. It looks like rrci has a new "direction" that seems to be at odds with the racing fraternity and I for one, wont be renewing my subs when they expire unless Radio Race Car International gets some more Race Car stuff in it...

Not getting involved in the slagging off of the mags, both have been brilliant beyond and above the call of duty to myself and the Micro Section with all the promotion we try and do.

As for the "why has rock crawling got so much coverage"...if it wasnt for Dez Chand giving me about 6 pages for the first UK Micro Challenge event in 2007 and probably the same amount for UK Micro Challenge 3 I doubt we would have had the public knowledge of the micro scene as we do now.

Both RRCi and RACER have also promised a load of pages to the UKMicroX 2010 event in august and I am eternally greatful for all the coverage I can get in both mags!

I dont think anyone is right to knock the mags for giving coverage to something new, or a new class...this hobby is about RC and the mags are all about promoting RC..not just 1/10th on and offroad.

Granted I have zero interest in rock crawlers and Mini-Z's but ive seen the micros that I represent go from nothing to having reviews, event coverage and even myself and my Championship winning Blaze being spread over about 4 pages of RACER! (Thanks Mat!!)

Everything has its place...

agree 100% but if you look back over the last few editions, it seems like the 10th OR is being bumped down the pecking order, when in reality there is somewhat of a resurgence underway. every month, it seems like there is a review of a SC, Rockcrawler, Nitro or Carpet racer but precious little for my favoured class (10th OR).

I understand that rrci has to cater for lots of different tastes - maybe it's just too diluted for mine...

As I said when I started the thread, I'm NOT trying to slag off the magazines. The number of people that put there hard work into them deserves credit. Someone i know well has done a lot of work for an RC mag and i have seen how much time and effort goes into it. I was just simply saying, if a magazine is covering numerous classes, make it appeal to EVERYONE! I.e, Give every class they cover the same amount of 'mag' time.

One of the things I thought of was maybe cut the mag into sections, Off road, On road, Crawlers/Monster trucks, Micro/12th and finally Equipment. I've checked and the RRCi has 112 pages, so if they split it into sections, each class would get 22 pages of coverage, and still leaves spare for advertisements etc...

+1

I'm not intending to slag anyone or anything off (I don't have to buy or read it), merely posting an observation from my point of view. Praise must be given to the contributors; not sure if they get paid but without them, the mag would probably be an awful lot thinner.

Definitely agree with giving each covered class equal 'mag time' too.

you on a 4 page spread is a nasty thought

Instead of going for the bland, clinical ''what happened and who finished where'' style, take a different tact? Jimmy pulls it off excellently with his behind the scenes interviews, scoops, and general ''mates having fun'' atttitude. And awesome action photography. :)

Admittedly, he doesn't have the constrictions of space/word count, but being totally honest, his race reports set the standard of any class.

Make up for the fact that its old news by giving readers aspects they don't get on rushed, same day web reports?