Knowledge Seekers - Autocar Asean.

We're always plowing for good reads so we'll be featuring what we like on the magazine rack and what we will pass, here. So that you spend your 10 bucks wisely or waste it on something else.

Title: Autocar Asean

Type of content: Glocal automotive news and launches, test drives and reviews of both freshly-baked and on-the-road models, expert viewpoint features of supercars and all-things-you-can't-afford and motorsports coverage.

Unique content: 7/10 - Well since most automotive magazines do cover test drives, this one is no less. But interestingly enough, they call it 'First Drives' instead. Which means it doesn't only cover newly launched models but also revisiting older ones which may not have gotten their due spotlight, or were somehow forgotten and got stashed away to make way for novelty.

Interesting content: 8/10 - Always an enjoyable read. A nice almost 50-50 mixture of local/regional news versus global content. The latter puts a lot of credibility into this Asian version, featuring one of the industry's finest driver and road tester, Steve Sutcliffe (hey, how many of yous actually got to test drive a new F1 model before? Or have raced with Button?). But the local point-of-view isn't any lesser than its global counterpart with veteran writers like Faisal Shah and Chips Yap holding the editorial reign. Very few automotive writers can bring out the emotive bits from mechanical bodies as well as them. You'd find yourself nodding in agreement when something they say strike a note with your own driving experience but then, you could never find the right words to describe that feeling. And now you read, you just go aha, so that was it.

Content presentation: 7/10 - Local shots are quite standard without any 'wow' factor. Only the imported content comes with shots that make you wanna hop right into the magazine's track. Design and features are pretty standard, so it would be nice to kinda push the creativity a bit more. What can we say. It is practical.

Price: RM9.90 - Buy. If you have any testosterone in you, buy. You may not quite know all your nuts and bolts about your car but hey, at least it's the 101 that you need to minimally qualify yourself as a 'bloke' on that beer table. As for the auto-enthusiast. Buy. Keeps you wired with all the important bits in the industry without too much rubbish or too common content that is beginning to taste like stale bread. Every page is very much enjoyed.

We're not bashing. We just want things better.