ED’S LETTER
“I HAVEN’T BEEN THIS EXCITED ABOUT AN ISSUE OF WHEELS IN, WELL … SINCE MY FATHER BOUGHT ME MY FIRST COPY WHEN I WAS EIGHT YEARS OLD”
FEELS DIFFERENT, DOESN’T IT? Chunkier. Heavier. More substantial. And then there’s the way it looks. Hopefully you’ll have already noticed the cleaner appearance, the new fonts, the thicker paper and greater emphasis on hero photography.
Welcome, then, to a new chapter; to the first issue of a totally redesigned Wheels, and to the starting gun of a wholesale reinvention of Australia’s best and most widely read car magazine. It’s a step-change that’s been a year in the planning; one we believe will further cement Wheels as the leader in all facets of this brilliant, thrilling, occasionally baffling thing known as the car.
Hopefully that excites you, though I’m equally aware that at a time of rapid change in the motoring world, suddenly transforming your favourite magazine might alienate, too.
So rest assured: what follows over the next 156 pages remains true to the Wheels ethos. This is still your go-to bible for fearless and objective reporting, world-class writing and top-notch photography. It continues to be a journal for car buyers and a forum for car lovers to revel in the passion, detail and expertise that makes them so interesting. What this redesign has allowed us to do is sharpen the focus. And you, our readers, have been central to that. This is your magazine, after all. The response to a lengthy survey we conducted last year was stunning, and some 400 percent larger than expected. Not only did that underscore how engaged you are with this title, but it threw up some unequivocal results: namely that Wheels should continue to be a blend of big features, compelling comparison tests, industry-leading reviews, and an assured authority on significant industry issues. You also wanted Showroom to be even larger, which it now is (and renamed Databank, with dual-cab utes joining next month), and a greater focus on attainable, realworld metal topped by a smattering of exotic, expensive supercars to provide a monthly dose of escapism.
Another driving force is to deliver stories you can’t get anywhere else. To leverage this title’s hard-earned clout with car companies for early access, to grill the bigwigs, and for all of our stories and reviews to have a level of detail and depth that sets them apart.
Magazines are an immersive experience, after all, and we value the fact that you’re prepared to pay for this in an era of abundant free content. We know you want something that takes you deeper than what can be delivered from behind a screen, and that’s our overarching goal – to provide an experience and quality that’s worth your hard-earned $10.95.
There’ll also be a renewed emphasis on our Australian-ness. Wheels is Australia’s car magazine, and while this country doesn’t make cars anymore, there’s still plenty of good old Aussie ingenuity and talent to uncover and to celebrate.
What won’t change is our dedication to thorough road testing, proper performance testing, and to marquee events like Car of the Year, which spans 70 pages in this issue starting on p61.
There are sure to be things for us to polish and tweak, so please continue to send us your feedback, but enough talk. Dive in, take a poke around and enjoy. The truth is I haven’t been this excited about an issue of Wheels in, well … since my father bought me my first copy when I was eight years old. I hope that after reading it, you’ll feel the same way.