I have two documents open on my computer as I type. The first is this Word document, the second an Excel spreadsheet divided into three columns. In the third is every ounce of feedback we received from all of you when we invited your submissions a couple of weeks ago (in bullet-point form, of course).
So many of you were generous with your praise for Ti, and we were heartened by the overwhelmingly positive response to what we do. Our vision for how motoring journalism can be done more intelligently and relevantly for an informed, discerning 21st century audience clearly resonates among you. But no one ever made anything better just by focussing on what they were already doing well – it’s your excellent ideas and invaluable constructive criticism that’s of even greater value to us. So it is this that we’ve collated into one document and we plan to act on as much of it as is possible.
In short, we’re not going to pull that age old stunt of inviting your input just to make you feel involved and then ignore it altogether – we’re taking it seriously.
Specific points of order? One suggestion came up time and again, as DCBath noted: ‘It is amazing how many people have commented here that meeting up with others is what they want.’ So in-person events, be they track days or just simple coffee runs, are very much on the agenda. We are a tiny team (you’d laugh if you knew how small) and we mustn’t spread ourselves too thinly, but we are investigating how we can hold a small handful of Ti events in the near future. Stay tuned.
It’s great that so many of you are enjoying the new Last Blast podcast series, but as Mike H wrote, ‘it would be really helpful to be able to get Last Blast on my preferred podcast app.’ You’re absolutely right, Mike. We’re looking at how we can create an RSS feed and make Last Blast available via the popular podcast apps while password protecting it. That last part is crucial because the full length Last Blast podcast is exclusively for you, the Ti subscribers, and it would hardly be an added benefit it it were available to everybody.
SteveG said, ‘it would be good to have a login that saved a username which would automatically be assigned when leaving a comment,’ which is a fair point and one we’ve raised with our developers.
Several wanted more car reviews, of both new and old cars. ‘More road tests please, especially including older cars,’ wrote JamesA, while Marky09 commented, ‘I am probably alone here in wanting more car reviews.’ Curiously, others among you have said you’re not interested in car reviews because you can find those elsewhere, so there’s clearly a balance to be struck. You will definitely be seeing more beautifully photographed tests like our recent Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 RS versus 911 GT3 story, and we’ll be writing about cars from right across the spectrum too – not just the exotic stuff.
There is an issue with the podcast player on the app, of which we’re well aware. Jay wrote: ‘If you’re 15 minutes into a podcast and you get a phone call or something it takes you back to the near start and you lose where you are.’ Annoying. Again, it’s with our developers as I write.
Dave asked for more writers and even more perspectives, while Benson would like to see more of a focus on the cheaper end of the market. We’re always looking to add new writers to our roster, as long as we think they will produce work of the highest standard, and we will continue to try to find the right balance between aspirational and relatable subject matter. It’s such an important thing for any automotive title to get right.
There are so many comments I haven’t been able to include here, plus lots of ideas and suggestions I haven’t raised but we are giving serious thought to nonetheless. The last one I wanted to highlight for now, however, comes from Chris. He said: ‘I really like well produced YouTube videos like Harry’s Garage, I doubt you have the time, but if you did I would watch it!’ Time is, indeed, the limiting factor. As it happens, though, we will be filming two videos next week as we begin to figure out what The Intercooler’s video offering might look like. In short, we’re on it.
In fact, there’s some very tasty stuff coming to the app and website over the next couple of weeks. We’ll be getting back into the new Porsche 911 GT3 RS to drive it in the dry (weather permitting…) and have a play with its adjustable dampers and differential settings. I’ll be writing about Theon Design’s 964 restoration, we’re going to be celebrating the 10th anniversary of the extraordinary McLaren P1 by driving one on some of our favourite roads in Wales (in the company of a more modern McLaren, just to see what 10 years of progress really looks like) and there’s a review of a new Ferrari supercar coming as well.
What was that about finding the right balance? I promise there’ll be plenty of real-world stories too, like a tour of Citroën’s astonishing heritage fleet in Paris.
One last point: more than a few of you asked for more motorcycle content on Ti. On Tuesday next week (at midday, because of the embargo) we will be bringing you Andrew English’s thoughts on the new Norton – I’m interested to find out more about the machine itself, but I’m more curious to see how two-wheeled stories do on The Intercooler. Our contributors are well aware that if they’re going to write about motorcycles, they must do so in a way that’s entertaining and insightful even for those of us who don’t ride and know very little about bikes. If bike stories aren’t your bag, please know that we’re not about to post endless articles about them. We are a car magazine and we’ll only write about bikes when there’s a great story to be told.
That’s it for now. Thank you again for taking the time to tell us what you think of The Intercooler. Your feedback is already proving to be invaluable. Not yet had your say? We always want to hear from you. The comments section is waiting and if you’d rather not speak in public, the info@the-intercooler.com e-mail address is for you. This doesn’t link to some call centre on the moon, but directly to Andrew, me and the immediate Ti team. We look forward to hearing from you.
