Props to PHR!

[Ricochet]

Well, I finally just received the latest issue of PHR. (I swear the mailman reads it before me!) Hats off to to Hunkins, Steve & the rest of the guys at PHR. That issue is awesome. From the Mustang, to Jason's (Datsbad) Camaro, the "I'm still drooling over Alloways latest creation" Challenger and everything in between. You guys obviously take alot of pride in what you do and it shows. Keep up the good work!

[awr68]

Ditto!! I'm impressed that they always seem to find plenty of new and totally worthy cars to shoot too...major proof this g-hobby has truely taken off!!

[Steve1968LS2]

Thanks guys.. glad you like our efforts. As for the cars there are quite a few cars out there that are right for the magazine but it is hard to find a nice mix of high dollar showpieces and lowbuck "average joe" cars. We keep trying to tweak the look of the magazine to give the pages a more dynamic feel with more color and larger art. In February we will debut a whole new look for the Hometown Hotrodding section since I feel very strong about the importance of this area.

If you guys ever have ideas to make the book even better just let me know and (if they are not insane.. lol) I will float them at the next edit meeting.

Thanks again!

[Damn True]

There are a few things Id like to see:

a) More emphasis on performance. For example, in this article http://popularhotrodding.com/features/0406phr_owen/ you guys emote about how fast the car is. Yet you never actually tell us HOW fast it is. Let's see some lap times. Perhaps a comparison between Owen's best time @ Laguna or Sears vs. GT1, GT2 or NASCAR? Sure he most likely wouldn't be faster, but it would ad some real nice insight into the quality of his build to see how close he is. Did a guy build a '98 Mustang to race in SCCA SoloII? Well, how's it run? Did a guy build a '55 Chevy drag car? How's it run? Don't just show me a nice paint job and give me his dyno numbers at the crank. Show me the end result of the total package. If possible, more, more, more track cars. There are tons of superbadass auto-x and open road racing machines that would be great to see in print. More go, less show.

b) More actual cost information. I think most of us would benefit from knowing how much stuff is REALLY going to cost us. Not only to purchase something, but to have it installed or dyno tuned. How much is it going to cost a REAL consumer (not magazine guys or connected guys with sponsorships who get "bro-deals") to do a basic strip & repaint, install an 8 point cage or the like. Now I know labor cost vary. But it wouldn't be that tough to forge an agreement with a few shops (one in SoCal, St. Louis and Phili perhaps) who could provide an average cost estimate for purchase and installation of a given gizmo or service. Include the cost estimates in a sidebar along with a disclaimer that costs vary based one location and quality/depth of work contracted for and you will do all of us regular guys and a lot of the shops a favor. I'm sure most shops would prefer to answer one call from you than 27 from consumers in their area about pricing.

c) Test more stuff. I think it would be very helpful to the consumer to see how well a given car, individual part or system works against stock or competitors products. The more performance comparisons the better. I think your readership would be well served by you, and the other mags for that matter, taking on more of a role as consumer advocate in terms of exposing what does and does not work. Which companies do and do not serve their customers well. For instance, if you are going to do an article on a new product from Procharger, don't call them and say "Hi, this is Steve from Popular Hot Rodding and blah, blah, blah." Call them as Joe Sixpack from Temecula and see what kind of service and delivery they provide in addition to how well their stuff works.
I understand it puts you guys in a tough spot as a commercial entity to call into question the quality of service or workmanship provided by a current or potential advertiser. Or to say how great brand "X" is when brand "Y" just bought a full page ad. But, if said advertisers knew going in that they would be held accountable by you it would raise the bar for all of them in terms of doing what they do, and doing it well. Not that car porn is all bad, I enjoy perving out on a great looking car or product as much as anyone else, but there is an opportunity to provide much more than that.

[coolclassiccars]

had to get the mag to read about myself(15 min of fame) i'm hearing about it,seeing it on pt ect..see i'm shawn ridgley ( nobody) just a regular guy that has been buying / working on gm muscle cars(can i say that here)you see after building say 20 cars and selling them as soon as they are finished or just before completion,you see i slaved over the blue rs coupe(datsbad) has now.you see i slung the mud on that car blocked sanded ,spent 6-8 hours to lay off the stripes,laying down the basecoat blue,selecting the white,for the stripes,by the way someone has to give tony miley credit for the paint yea i helped him but that car has never been wet sanded.too watch jason bring back the car piece by piece to me to be bought from him,why not just buy it all back,i thought.by the way this has been 2-3 years ago since then i have been hanging around watching what has been going on here,so i get this idea to join in on this pro touring look and the rest of the story would make for a great upcomming issue of phr mag, of say a certain RED 66 CHEVELLE,steve are you listening?LOL

[Datsbad]

yeah steve you listening , his 66 chevelle is definately magazine material . do it so shawn can put his hard on away

shawn , send a pic to johnny and a little article about all of this . there are not many chevelles done PT style . i am sure he would use it . get to hershey or somewhere you know they will be , they wont come to you and you CANT PAY THEM TO PUT IT IN THE MAGAZINE !

This is one of the best 66's i have seen , it is worthy of an article at least .

[Huxsol81]

heres to the "Average Joe" cars
also how many of those high dollar show piece cars have actually had their
respective owners turn a wrench on them????

[Datsbad]

not sure if mine is high dollar but i have turned damn near every bolt on mine .

[markss28]

I think at PHR is doing a fine job. I really love Project g/28. It really shows more or less what the average guy can do for about $20K which is about the same price if not lower then a new cheap car. I have a 1973 camaro and Im following almost the same direction. The only thing I didnt like about the article was the fact that the Speedomotive engine didnt seem like it held up to its claim
horse power. Other then that the car is Awesome and I cant wait to to see the
Air bags on it.

[Steve1968LS2]

Originally Posted by markss28

I think at PHR is doing a fine job. I really love Project g/28. It really shows more or less what the average guy can do for about $20K which is about the same price if not lower then a new cheap car. I have a 1973 camaro and Im following almost the same direction. The only thing I didnt like about the article was the fact that the Speedomotive engine didnt seem like it held up to its claim
horse power. Other then that the car is Awesome and I cant wait to to see the
Air bags on it.

You noticed that too? Well, when you think about it that is a lot like real life huh.. not everything goes as planned.. lol

All comments were read, noted and will passed along.. thanks..