''Quattroruote'' (English: ''Four Wheels'') is an Italian

automobile A car, or an automobile, is a motor vehicle with wheels. Most definitions of cars state that they run primarily on roads, Car seat, seat one to eight people, have four wheels, and mainly transport private transport#Personal transport, peopl ...

magazine A magazine is a periodical literature, periodical publication, print or digital, produced on a regular schedule, that contains any of a variety of subject-oriented textual and visual content (media), content forms. Magazines are generally fin ...

established by Marchigian entrepreneur Gianni Mazzocchi in February 1956. Over the years it has increased its reach by joint ventures with several other international publishers in countries such as Russia, China, Romania and England in 2007, where it launched a partnership with

Top Gear (magazine) ''Top Gear'' is a British automobile magazine, owned by BBC Worldwide, and published under contract by Immediate Media Company. It is named after the BBC's ''Top Gear (1977 TV series), Top Gear'' television show. It was first published in Octo ...

. Among its regular features are montly updated tables of

used car A used car, a pre-owned vehicle, or a secondhand car, is a vehicle that has previously had one or more retailing, retail owners. Used cars are sold through a variety of outlets, including franchise and independent car dealership, car dealers, ...

prices.

History and profile

''Quattroruote'' was established by Gianni Mazzocchi in 1956. The publisher of the magazine is Editoriale Domus. Its head office is in

Rozzano Rozzano ( ) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Metropolitan City of Milan, in the Italian region Lombardy, located about south of Milan. Rozzano borders the following municipalities: Milan, Assago, Zibido San Giacomo, Opera, Pieve Emanue ...

( MI), where the historical museum of the magazine is located. The magazine is published monthly and it offers news on road and track tests, price lists for new cars as well as quotations for used vehicles. The magazine is also published in various countries, including

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

and

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

which was launched in 2006.

Circulation

''Quattroruote'' had a circulation of 596,742 copies between September 1993 and August 1994. The circulation of the magazine was 464,000 copies in 2004. Between February 2006 and January 2007 the magazine sold 450,500 copies. It was the first best-selling automobile magazine in Italy in 2007 with a circulation of 425,539 copies. The magazine had a circulation of 354,735 copies in 2010, making it the fourth best-selling European automobile magazine and the absolute best selling in Italy.

The Automotive Safety Centre

The test-track belonging to the magazine is located in Vairano di Vidigulfo ( PV). The Automotive Safety Centre, opened in 1995, is 4500 m long, with an 1800 m main straight, where

acceleration In mechanics, acceleration is the Rate (mathematics), rate of change of the velocity of an object with respect to time. Acceleration is one of several components of kinematics, the study of motion. Accelerations are Euclidean vector, vector ...

tests are carried out. During these tests it is possible to reach 300 km/h. The race track has been approved by FIA for

Formula One Formula One (F1) is the highest class of worldwide racing for open-wheel single-seater formula Auto racing, racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The FIA Formula One World Championship has been one ...

tests.

The handling track

The handling track, connected to the speed test area and used for handling test of vehicles, has bends and

chicane A chicane () is a serpentine curve in a road, added by design rather than dictated by geography. Chicanes add extra turns and are used both in motor racing and on roads and streets to slow traffic for safety. For example, one form of chicane is ...

s of different radii where

oversteer Understeer and oversteer are vehicle dynamics terms used to describe the sensitivity of the vehicle to changes in steering angle associated with changes in lateral acceleration. This sensitivity is defined for a level road for a given steady state ...

and

understeer Understeer and oversteer are vehicle dynamics terms used to describe the sensitivity of the vehicle to changes in steering angle associated with changes in lateral acceleration. This sensitivity is defined for a level road for a given steady state ...

of vehicles can be examined.

SUV test area

The SUV test area is next to the ASC straight section, where

off-road vehicle An off-road vehicle (ORV), also known as an off-highway vehicle (OHV), overland vehicle or adventure vehicle, is a type of transportation specifically engineered to navigate unpaved roads and surfaces. These include trails, forest roads, and ...

driving and overturning characteristics are established.

Safe driving

''Quattroruote'' organizes safe driving courses on an area of about 17000 m² where students, followed by expert instructors, are taught driving techniques on wet or dry surfaces, handling and stopping.

Events

''Quattroruote Day''

Anniversary of the first issue of the principal magazine, the 2006 (fiftieth) and 2016 (sixtieth) ''Quattroruote Day''s are represented by much merchandise and advertising.

''TG Cup''/''GT Cup''

It is a yearly racing festival/race organized by Quattroruote. Up until 2015, it was organised in partnership with ''Top Gear'' and would feature

The Stig The Stig is a character from the British motoring television show '' Top Gear''. Created by former ''Top Gear'' presenter Jeremy Clarkson and producer Andy Wilman, the character is a play on the anonymity of racing drivers' full-face helmets, w ...

. Rebranded as ''GT Cup'' from 2015 on.

Rome ''Top Gear'' event

Organised by Editoriale Domus and ''Quattroruote'', and set also in

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

, is an international car exhibition in

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

Books

One of the most significant of ''Quattroruote'''s book series is the famous ''Tutte le auto del mondo'' ("All the cars of the world", sometimes stylized as ''Tutte le Auto del Mondo'') or "''TaM''", any issue of this series was for sale any year, with the death of its "director" in Lido di Jesolo (in the

Province of Venice The province of Venice () was a province in the Veneto region of Italy. Its capital was the city of Venice. It had an area of 2,467 km2, and a total population of 836,916 (2021). The province became the Metropolitan City of Venice by 1 Janu ...

), this books was not more published. In 2006, Quattroruote published the book ''Pericolo, attraversamento rane!'' (''Danger, frogs crossing!''), collecting various photographs related to vehicles and roads, with funny comments.

References

External links

{{Commons category
Official website
1956 establishments in Italy Automobile magazines Magazines published in Milan Italian-language magazines Monthly magazines published in Italy Magazines established in 1956