That's really sad. It was one of the few other magazines with late model project cars that I ever read. And I'm really disappointed that they didn't give one of those models-and-fluff tuner magazines the axe instead.
That's really sad. It was one of the few other magazines with late model project cars that I ever read. And I'm really disappointed that they didn't give one of those models-and-fluff tuner magazines the axe instead.
I have mixed feelings about this. I have a collection of SCC that goes back at least 10 years (I don't usually hang on to my mags any longer than that) and I sometimes read an article or two and dream about my next car. As a few others here have stated, they "turned a corner" about a year ago and one of the indicators was a reduced page count. Unlike some/most folks that post here and/or read the print versions of my favorite mags, I actually like to read the ads. If they are of some use (occasionally, some are not) I will do business with them. I also make it a point to mention the mag/ad that pointed me to a business. I stopped buying SCC "regularly" when the tech disappeared. I will miss some of the editorial writers and hope they can find jobs soon.
I guess I'll share everyone's sentiment for the hell of it. They used to be a great mag. Perhaps someone from SCC is cruising the board right now, and a good magazine with real tech articles and data can rise from the ashes.
I liked SCC in its heyday for the same reason I like GRM now: it's one of the few books that really conveys that the editors are having fun DRIVING cars. I've never owned anything remotely resembling a sport compact, but if you're having fun the rest is just details.
SCC was the first car magazine that I really got into, and as others have said it was the project cars and the tech articles that interested me the most. I dropped off reading it about the time that I discovered GRM.
SCC turned a corner for the worst early in 2000 IIRC, the writing became much more juvenile and a lot less technical. I remember the article where they cut apart a Sentra to lower the drag times and (once again from memory) it was one of the worst pieces of drivel I've had the misfortune of reading. They wrote it like some guy was seriously cutting up his daily driver or something and didn't know what he was doing or what people were doing to his car. As I said, juvenile drivel. But I'm 99% sure I've been spelling juvenile wrong so what is my opinion worth? If they had just written the article as the truth: they had this prototype Sentra that had been imported to the US on some special permit and now HAD to be crushed and they were trying to figure out the best way to trash it before it was sent to the crusher - that I would have respected.
As well as the juvenile potty humour, at times SCC also fell into the "bling is better" mentality. My favorite was the 3rd Gen RX-7 build up where they put drilled and sloted rotors on it because they were so much better than solid rotors because ... blah blah blah... Next installment a couple of issues later and they are installing solid rotors because the oh so bling drilled and slotted rotors fractured and gave them a bit of a "moment" out on track. Not a single mention of how they put those rotors on in the first place and thought they were the finest part known to man, just raving about how much better solid rotors are because they are so much sturdier and have more thermal mass ... blah blah blah.
IMHO the finest project car series SCC did was the "Hybrid how to" series. After I got back from the challenge in October I pulled all those issues and re-read them looking for some inspiration. Tonnes of detail on all the tricks you will need to know to perform a given swap. It didn't hold your hand explaining how to pull the engine, but it had all the details you would need for all the special little problems the given swap would present. Absolutely brilliant and worthy of being gathered together and published as a book so all that knowledge can be held in one place and you don't need to buy back issues off e-bay to get it.
In second place was the MR2 build up SCC did back in 1997 - 1998. Sure they spent $30,000 or $40,000 building (and rebuilding) the 3S-GTE engine which isn't very GRM, but neither is a Dodge Viper or Radical SR8. I enjoy reading about both because it is fun to read about what is really possible when a skilled group of people go at a problem and money is no object.
Rather than trying pick up this writer or that writer I would beg GRM to emulate their project cars and tech articles. While I really liked your project 914 a while back, I didn't learn a whole lot about how to restore one. Or maybe you need to launch (yet another) magazine: GRM for dummies. Exact same content but in painful detail for each project installment, sort of like Homer Simpson's "How to make a Bird Feeder" book. "Step one: pick up hammer in right hand ..." For example the CRX track rat project. Fantastic article, but for us more challenged individuals can we have a bit more detail: like exactly how to swap in a pair of SPC aluminium lower control arms? Anything special we need to know if we've never wrenched on a Honda?
Some people criticize SCC's project cars as they went overboard on the suspension but I know that if GRM does it they will actually take it out and quantitatively measure how it performs in as scientific method as possible, and not just rave about how great it handles by throwing mindless adjectives at the page.
Anyway, I renewed my subscription to GRM for 10 years so here's hoping they are around to celebrate their 50th anniversary!
Thomas
I've got a stack of late 90's early 00's SCC and they got me started on my automotive education.
Technobabble (Coleman) was my favorite and is the reason I held onto the later issues that were getting more rice-oriented. still, there was always something that I enjoyed and learned from in every one of those mags I paid cover price for.
I think I own all the issues that are touched upon in this thread. And, they were likely the only mag to ever have a multi-page feature on a Hyundai Excel ("Incognito" - 4G63t swapped), even if they were incorrect in stating it was "the only one on earth".
the "Dave Spot"
if memory serves correct it was the "Dave Point"
SCC is the only magazine I used to regularly read and wonder why there was more advertising than content. One issue, I actually took the whole thing apart and removed all of the ads. The stack of article pages (I kept an ad if it had real content on the other side) was maybe a third the size of the ad stack. I paid $6 for this?!
My subscription just ran out. Only bought it cause it was for a school kids fund raising. Glad I never renewed. Long live the KING LONG LIVE GRM!
I actually liked that magazine. It had fallen from the days when the issues were 250+ pages, but it still had some interesting bits.
Wonder if I'm going to get a refund check in the mail for the remainder of my subscription...
used to read SCC back in the early 90s when it seemed to be the only mag covering compacts. I drove a 1985 Mazda 626 in college and I remember seeing readers rides containing these cars. I was excited. Then I found GRm in the mid 90s and I realized the big difference between the 2 mags. SCC was show and GRM was go! I still recently picked up SCC , usually at the airport for the longrides to Arizona. I have to say everytime I was pissed and over it as soon as I once again realized it was a catalog for rims ,tail lights and showboat/performance$$$ cars with no #s. The covers always lured me in, oh well, long live GRM
maroon92 wrote: I usually pick up SCC as an in-between for GRM. Similar styles...I like the rally coverage, and the "grassroots" racing focus. I will miss it, but I am glad I didn't get a subscription.
Which is EXACTLY why I read it, all the other sport compact and tuner magazines show crap and are biased, and SCC was not, and the coverage was what I loved and the articles were more Grassroots minded. It is one of the few, other than Grassroots, Classic Motorsports, Vintage Motorsports, Top Gear, and some others, that I could just pick up and not have to look in them first, I would just buy them knowing that they had stuff I would want to see and read and know that it was good.
Bummer!
SCC was one of my favorite mags! Perhaps I was lucky that the store I always bought my copies from hasn't been selling them for the past year 1/2 or so I was spared the issues that lacked the technical aspect that I enjoyed so much.
I agree with some of the others that it would be AWESOME if GRM could get Dave somehow involved-if it was possible.
They were also one of the few mags out there that also had some rally content/poject cars (rally beater was imho the best).
One less magazine to check the stands for...
-PB
Tim Baxter wrote: Most people don't want to take their laptop into the garage or the john.
Until the E36 M3house gets an LCD touchscreen, you guys are safe but... all that hoohaw about "better at complex blah,blah,bah..." is just hoohaw. There is some damn good content on the web - embrace it or die.
(please embrace it - you guys are my only paid subscription for a reason)
Print media is going through a severe retraction right now. My sister, an editor at a mag, called me last night and was freaking out because of how many mags are currently going out of business. She said the rate, which usually is high, has reached silly levels. She's only been working since 2004 and has had one mag die while she was around, and it was a martha stewart media one...
walterj wrote:Tim Baxter wrote: Most people don't want to take their laptop into the garage or the john.Until the E36 M3house gets an LCD touchscreen, you guys are safe but... all that hoohaw about "better at complex blah,blah,bah..." is just hoohaw. There is some damn good content on the web - embrace it or die. (please embrace it - you guys are my only paid subscription for a reason)
Not hoohaw at all.. remember, you ARE talking to the web guy. You're right, there's plenty of good content on the web, but it tends to be very linear and relatively short (at least compared to a magazine). Different media, different strengths.
I stare at a computer all day, and sometimes, all night if I am watching Top Gear downloads or a show I missed on TV. That's why I still read magazines, because I want to give my eyes (and sanity) a break. I can read wherever I want. I also carry a magazine with me whenever I go out in case I get stuck waiting somewhere. I hate to see magazines die out, but I am supporting them as much as I can!
sad to hear they're off life support. guess no matter how good you where, you can't go on sucking forever without consequence. i'll miss what SCC was. worst thing to me is primedia probably doesn't even know what killed it.
belteshazzar wrote: sad to hear they're off life support. guess no matter how good you where, you can't go on sucking forever without consequence. i'll miss what SCC was. worst thing to me is primedia probably doesn't even know what killed it.
I'm sure Primedia has no idea what killed it. I thought SCC were really turning a corner and gettting back to their roots with new EF civic project and the budget supercar NSX.
What really probably killed it though was (obviously a lack of sales) indirectly the fact that sport compacts have gotten so much better over the years and the manufacturer's and gov't emissions have really made modding/tuning a modern car (2000+) an exercise in futility.
The days of slapping (OBDI) on a header, cat back, and a CAI and unlocking 20% more power are over. Also, initial buy-in of a sport compact these days is usually north of 15 grand. And for a few dollars more, you can just get the factory hot-rod (Si, WRX, GTI, SE-R and any other acronyms you want to throw at it.)
And lastly the generation gap. Very few of SCC's target demographic (16-30 yr old males I'm assuming) are interested in 20 yr old cars. With the modern machines you can either do a few simple bolt-ons or you're looking at a major outlay of cash. They want their car to perform a certain way, look a certain way, and want it NOW - instant gratification and minimal work.
Anyway, I guess my point is that a lot of factors added to its demise, not just the editorial staff. Oh yeah, and Coleman's Mazda3 rally car build over on specialstage is berkleying amazing. GRM should look at publishing that.
-Thor
I don't agree that newer cars can't be modified or aren't worthwhile modifying. 20% more power from a header, cat back and CAI hasn't always been possible outside the realm of marketing, either, although a new downpipe and intake can bump a 2004 Mazdaspeed MX-5 from 150 rwhp to 200.
I have a few copies of SCC in the bookshelf, but the magazine was never a "must read" to me. I've got more random French and Belgian tuning magazines because I like to see what's being done elsewhere. To each their own. It's still a surprise to see one of the big boys go down, though. I would have expected SCC to be strong enough to survive. I do have to admit that my recent professional dealings with them have been very disorganized and full of miscommunication though.
And now you'll never find out how an upgraded LS1 Miata fares against a modified GTR. Bummer, I was looking forward to that test...
My car enthusiast-ness grew up with SCC, but I stopped reading it a few years ago. Declining page count and less technical content were the reasons, like everyone else.
Coleman is probably the only reason I can bore my friends to death talking about suspension geometry and whatnot.
belteshazzar wrote: worst thing to me is primedia probably doesn't even know what killed it.
I am positive that Primedia has no idea what happened to SCC... Sport Compact Car was a Source Interlink Media publication...
though I am certain that Source Interlink Media is equally as informed as Primedia as to why their publication went away...
I swear, sometimes companies pick what branch to axe by throwing darts.
I was a big fan of SCC back in the day, but like others have mentioned, they lost their way over the past few years. I was considering getting it again, but then saw that Dave's column was no more, so decided against it.
My friend bought Project SE-R from Dave, and I had the privilege to have lunch with Dave and Josh Jarquot before we started our cross-country drive with the SE-R. Definitely two class individuals and real auto enthusiasts. I'd love to see Dave's work in GRM, I've always thought the two would be an excellent fit.
In addition to Dave/Josh (who left a few years back), some of the individual contributors will also be missed (Mike K. comes immediately to mind). It's too bad to see any auto magazine go down, but I guess it had to happen.
Glad to see that GRM is alive and well, I don't know what I'd do without it!
DJ
From what I've heard, many of these magazines (Primedia and Source Interlink) have very expensive advertising. Something like 5-10 times what GRM charges for a similar sized ad. Circulation may be a little more, but not worth the excessive price.
And from my short time in the Sport Compact industry, it seems the portion of shoppers to spenders is very high. Not many tuners can spend the big bucks required to make the desired car, but they all make a lot of noise and talk big.
There are a lot of small to medium size aftermarket tuner suppliers, but not many large ones (who can afford to pay the ad rates). And large retailers of tuner parts have been challenged by the mom's-basement ebay vendors who have everything drop-shipped. All of this results in relatively low sales, and non-existant profits.
Kramer wrote: From what I've heard, many of these magazines (Primedia and Source Interlink) have very expensive advertising. Something like 5-10 times what GRM charges for a similar sized ad. Circulation may be a little more, but not worth the excessive price.
That must be why I never saw a "Captian Crazy Soap says..." add in Scc. Bummer.
impulsive wrote: Technobabble (Coleman) was my favorite and is the reason I held onto the later issues that were getting more rice-oriented.
i find all this thread interesting, especially for this comment.
I remember when Sport Compact Car was a spinoff of MiniTruckin' magazine, and really just about what the mini truck clubs called "mascot cars." That is, lowrider custom compact cars. It didn't get to performance oriented imports until later. Most of you would probably consider those early issues to be ONLY about "rice."
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