Alon

I have been craving some project/DIY content as well. I will be contributing to the Living the Legend monthly article (the car and its owner, their experiences, repairs, mods, etc.) and you can count on me discussing all updates and modifications performed to my 993 Carrera S.

Don Magee

Picked up issue No. 2 last night and I liked it. I would, however, echo Cabrio 993's comments and suggestions.

Nikoncamera

I know I'm not in Canada or the US ....
Issue 1 has only just arrived on the shelves in Australia!
I was begining to worry that it wasnt coming out to Down Under.
I like it very much, but just remember to keep it all real... real problems , real solutions and real honesty, theres nothing I hate more in some " marque" type car magazines than no true results in comparisons etc ( "they were all winners", "we'd be happy with any of them in our driveway"... blah blah blah )
The other thing that would be worthwhile ,would be for you to occasionally get some non-Porsche fanatic type journos to write some pieces, again just to bring a sense of perspective to our favorite cars, and to ourselves . I say this because I tend to value a story about Porsches more highly when it appears in a general motoring magazine, simply because they dont generally have a " barrow " to push, and/or approach our cars with a slightly more competative view, than a marque specific magazine.
With this in mind, it also may not be such a bad idea to have comparisons with other makes of their equivellent competitor ( of the same period ) , occasionally. Sometimes we learn more about our cars if we are exposed to their shortcomings aswell as their strengths.
Keep up the good work, and I look forward to the next editions.... even if they take forever to get out here!
Cheers Lyndon

Toga

Excellent magazine, very nice pictures!
I received august issue last week... I won't reveal to much about it to preserve the pleasure of the readers living so far away :-) just let you know that something is coming after Ocean's 11 and 12... Not about car's? You'll see!

Keep up the good work!

Cheers

Reynard38

Been buying it at Borders. Great magazine.

Marv

You asked for feedback, so I will do my best to give it.

First, a little about myself as a reader. I was indoctrinated with sports cars since childhood. My fondest memory was opening the center page on a car magazine and seeing a Ferrari 250 GTO for the first time spread out over two full pages. It was breathtaking and from there on I would always own and drive a sports car. After high school I bought my first car, a 1966 Triumph TR-4A for the princely sum of $1100 US dollars. After a slew of Triumphs I bough my first Porsche in 1988 and the string of cars continues to this day.

When not driving, I do like to read. My favorite read is Excellence. I have them all since issue number one. When each one arrived I would optically devour them from cover to cover. I also get Panorama, but I do not keep those. Just to keep the suspense from over boiling at this point, Total 911 looks to be a keeper, too!

When I receive any magazine the first thing I do is leaf through to catch the gist of the issue. This gives me a chance to purge the magazine of those endearing lap flaps that flutter suddenly from their captive pages. When I did that with Total 911 the first thing I noticed was not the lap flaps, but the photography. The pictures were stunning and large. Some of the effects are truly wondrous. However, some leave me wondering. For instance, your first issue, bottom of page 83 looks a bit confusing. It looks like the photographer sneezed at the moment he hit the shutter or perhaps the was trying to present a view of the myopicly challenged after stumbling onto a track after a 6 martini lunch. I can forgive that. Perhaps I need to take another course in art appreciation?

Some of the interior shots do look like you have the negatives reversed. Why would the passenger get a steering wheel and where is the driver's wheel? Oh, well, it is your first issue.

The table of contents is a little confusing. The features section is clear enough, but the regulars section seems a bit out of place. How can they be regulars when this is only the first issue? It must be some subtle British thing. After all, we have fire plugs and they probably look like American phallic symbols to you.

Content wise the list of articles is, if I may use a a British term, bang on! I enjoyed all of them, not only for their informative facts, but for their style as well. For that matter, the whole magazine oozes with style. There are little things that add a nice touch such as the watermark on the top of page 15 where VarioCam is discussed. These things take extra time in the layout phase and it adds a subtle, but nice touch to the read.

I found the articles to be a nice balance for my reading appetite. Your style is not unlike Excellence, but it does not feel like a "me too" magazine. This may be subjective, but there also appears to be less advertising in Total 911 than Excellence. I do not find Panorama as engaging a read. For example, when I was searching for more information on the 997, Panorama featured an article on the driving impressions of the car. Ah, yes, I thought, this is exactly what I am looking for. However, I was completely disappointed to find that 90% of the article was about the impressions of the various hotels, restaurants, and service stations encountered in his extended trip and virtually nothing on the car itself. This is not atypical for Panorama and for that reason it does not find a permanent place in my home study.

Another subtle feature about your magazine versus Excellence is that I have found your first issue to have more class. If you compare the front covers of the two I feel that Excellence tends to be a bit loud compared to Total 911. Granted, this is only the first issue, but I think that perception is carried from cover to cover in this issue and I like that.

The down side of all this is that you have created an almost impossibly high standard for yourself with issue one having been such a smash. Nevertheless, I very much look forward to the next issue, which if I stop writing now I can go out to our neighborhood book store and grab issue two before it is swiped by someone else!

I have a strong feeling that I will soon be a subscriber to this magazine. I was taken back by the price at first, but the quality of the magazine may demand such action on my part. I look forward to getting to know your team better as the months progress.

Regards,

robmug

Wow - thank you all for the feedback. It's reassuring to know that some of the things we were seeking have been carried over into the magazine. The class, high standards etc were all our goals. We don't mind setting ourselves high standards - in fact we've been quite critical of our forst few issues and we think we can get even better.

Marv - the interior shots were of a UK car - right hand drive; however, the reproduction quality is poor as the photos came out too dark.

Lynodon - interesting suggestion re non-Porsche type journos. We'll be expanding the Living the Legend section as we move forward, so hopefully this will bring the extra dimension (as well as 'keeping it real'.

Marv

Ha! I think I got you with what you guys call a "wind up"!

Yes, sir. I know all about you guys driving on the wrong side of the road.

And... I thought the underexposure was intentional and I liked the effect as it matched the effect of all the exterior shots.

As promised I just picked up issue number two at the news stand and if anyone has not yet got one yet, go for it. Issue two looks like another great one!

Thank you and keep up the great work.

tlark

I picked up #2 at B & Noble. Only copyies left and I got the last of Issue #1 two weeks ago. I don't know what they are ordering in this particular store, but they seem to be selling out. Well done again....I think for all the color and quality its not too pricey. Like the 911 data section at rear, I hope you continue to add to it and keep it in every issue and grow it almost like the Porsche Red Book. Nice work again.

993RS

I am in Switzerland. Do you guys take subscriptions?

robmug

Hi - yes we do take subscriptions; www.total911.com has secure online ordering.

Thanks for all the other feedback too!

Marv

Issue two cites the 0-60 time for the 993 as 5.6 seconds. My '96 USA owner's manual specs it as 5.3 seconds. The Tip is over six seconds. Does the UK get a slower car?

robmug

Lol - thanks for the wind up! You've no idea how long I spent trying to decide whether to respond on that point!

Thanks again for the positive comments; the feedback is overwhelmingly positive, and sales seem to suggest we're on the right track. We appreciate it so much.

robmug

Marv - comment forwarded to Phil Raby

Bob Rouleau

Marv, the roads are slippery in the UK - all that rain you know, hence the slower 0-60 times