Love the writing. It was worth the wait!
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Sneak peeks at ongoing Christmas Special compilation work
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when you make these, you just go around the forums looking at car brand threads right?
Strop’s corner 
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No, people send me there cars and ask if I’m interested in reviewing them. Or occasionally I reach out for a specific design. Car brand threads and lore are obviously great sources of information to make the articles interesting and a good read. But the reviews an sich are based on the .car file, with some flavour added via BeamNG tests. Though that last one is not conclusive and mainly meant to add flavour.
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Presenting: 48 pages of goodness:
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Yep cat’s outta the bag. I was more than happy to provide Miros with my thoughts on the Cellia Novia, but am keen to continue the broader idea of a periodic little ramble or blurb on a selected car or topic (related to performance or Automation or Beam etc.) Call it an op-ed or something. I will leave it to Miros to decide what arrangement suits him best.
As for personas I have a range of characters available for the job, all from my parent company of which (in-character) me is obviously a part of. Each driver has a slightly different emphasis and very different personality.
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This magazine lacks some kind of nice logo. This front page is, um, not well made, sorry to say it. 
Considering the only tool I used to make this whole magazine was Open Office Text Editor, it could have been worse.
That said, open for suggestions.
I’m also curious about feedback on the rest of the format. Whether shorter versions of this could be a periodical thing, or whether I should stick with articles in this thread itself (which I presume is easier for people reading on mobile devices)?
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So I’ve read the magazine and I can simply tell you how much I love the fact that this is the first time my car is being featured, despite the fact that it’s lacking some visuals to make it even more interesting to read.
Either way, it’s definitely worth to download and read and it is also a great christmas gift for me, and anyone else that got featured on the magazine. And I hope that everyone will eventually gets the chance to experience the same that the authors of this journal do with this beauty.
With that being said, Merry Christmas, XXX1X XX11, Forza Novia!
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Suggestions in this respect? More pictures just or any ideas?
It’s of course still automation. It’s not like I can do interior pictures or so.
Can’t tell you in a specific, but I’d like to see some colors and interesting key visuals, with some kind of interesting layout. Say, adding any aesthetic value to the magazine would be pretty nice, but it will take some more time and work to make it look even better.
With that being said, I’ve been thinking about trying to redesign the magazine cover in Photoshop/Illustrator. I’ll see what I can do, and I’ll try to post it here as soon as I’m done with the cover.
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I do like that!
Let’s see if I can come up with something for the January edition in a few weeks. I might get back at you for that, if you don’t mind…
I’ll go for the magazine approach coupled with short teasers as articles in this thread I think.
I hope that the magazine can give expose to all brands and original or quality creations that want to be featured in it.
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excuse me but how if people want to see their cars here, how to submit it?
Anyone interested just sends me the .car file and all relevant information and lore. If it’s a quality design or interesting car and fits what I want to publish (a good balance of reviews, looks at oldtimers and special vehicles) it gets published.
There is no formalised submission process, and that also means I will not accept every car, and that it might take some time.
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Join The Exhaust Note on a trip to Southern China, where we’ll go on a road trip in two domestic market off-roaders: the 1996 Mei Ling QY-Series 6487QW and its younger cousin, the 2006 Mei Ling QY-Series 6508QW Premium.
The QY-Series are quite legendary around here, especially the 90s model, which is still produced up to this day. Based on existing SUV chassis, but built the stereotypical Chinese way - cheap, low quality, no eye for detail - the QY-Series are affordable, uncomfortable, loud, unreliable in terms of electronics. But the SUV has rugged underpinnings and is a capable offroader. It’s difficult to destroy the massive and old-fashioned four liter inline six engine and its running gear, especially coupled to a manual gearbox.
The older QY-series is still popular as an offroader and utility vehicle on the Chinese countryside. You can get one for the equivalent of $6000. Also exported to Pakistan and North-Korea, you won’t be able to drive one of these in the West due to emission regulations. Mei Ling has informed us that new Chinese emission regulations, especially in the bigger cities, are a worry for continued production.
The newer 6508QW Premium that we drove has the same engine, but with a newer fuel injection system and better catalytic converter. This reduces emission to more acceptable levels, although still very high. The updated engine makes 180 horsepower, compared to the 162 of the first generation. With the newer SUV weighing a good 400kg more, this does not result in a spirited driving experience. Our ‘Premium’ trim was also equipped with a four-speed automatic of doubtful quality, which didn’t help either.
Call us purists, but we actually enjoyed the 1996 Mei Ling QY-Series 6487QW, despite its uncomfortable thin and worn fabric seats; the dinky radio that didn’t work; the rust that was eating away the chassis. It is a cheap mountain goat that will keep going.
The newer 6508QW attempts to be a Western SUV more, but it’s old-fashioned engine and low production quality only accentuate its shortcomings. A capable off-roader still, this 2006 Mei Ling is a good example of that period in Chinese automotive industry where they mainly tried to copy Western design with old platforms and engines and doubtful quality.
Join us for an even more in-depth view on these two vehicles, this month in The Exhaust Note Magazine!
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A short one this.
What is beatiful? What is silent? Though “sois belle et tais-toi!” it will not take because it has a serious kick? What can make you buzz and fell electrified much like it does itself when you put the pedal to the metal?
Read the full review of this amazing car soon.
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February Edition perhaps?
Yeah, I’ve got 6 articles and 3 more in draft, but a busy month, some other interests and quite honestly a bit of a writer’s block has put a damper on things.
Let’s see what February brings.
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