Letter to OD after ACI

[BUSA]

This is my letter on the OD forum and this clearly shows that magazines are being paid for rating a car. One time they used to pick the Elantra against Optra, Corolla, Octavia and now they put her last. Also their pitstop section seem to have copied team-bhp style Indian car scene et all.

Dear OD,
I hope you have some explanation for this.
I had high hopes from a respectable publication like you and have been totally dissapointed for the lack of knowledge which you presume to show in your latest issue.
I have been a regular reader of OD and have been highly dissapointed from your April issue.
Points you need to note and apologise to the public for the same.
Page 112 - You say " The Optra 1.8LT has all the features one would come to expect with the moon roof a kiddie's delight, but the lack of climate control at Rs. 11.8 lakh is a bit hard to fathom." Who says? You have not done your home work firstly. Optra 1.8LT comes with climate control as is standard since April 2005 on all 1.8LTs the NY editions.
The car you have test driven is Optra Royale 1.6LT as it is clearly visible in the pictures. The car number being GJ 17 C 8147, now you please refer Jan 2006 issue Vol 8 No 5 and the comparo between the City Vtec and the Optra 1.6 LT features the same car as visible by their number plates. Also the three spoke steering, silver facia, 2 Din Mp3, 14inch alloys and the colour cadillac white is something which the 1.6LT has and not the 1.8LT. Also the 1.8LTs tail lamps are absolutely different from any other Optra as it has fogs in it and hence the tail lights are not circular. You are trying to compare a car which is compared to a Honda City to the other D segment cars. I seroiusly suggest that before publishing any such articles please have a look inside the real 1.8LT.
Also you say that out of all the cars in the shootout the Octavia runs on the widest tyres wheras all the cars featured here run on 195/15s.
Also the 1.8 Turbo does not have Climate Control which you have mentioned. http://www.skoda-auto.co.in/RiderTurbo.html
The 1.8 Lt has steering remote which again you have put as N(No)
I really cant fathom how a Indias No. 1(so called) magazine can publish such rubbish and fool the public. A lay man who is not aware about this will buy a car on your decision and hence go wrong in buying his car. You have rated the Corolla second which has only two things going for it Toyota badge and the engine but many cons like poor built, ugly looks(subjective), poor suspension, not up to the mark, ok handling and the costliest car.
Also your FE figures dont seem realistic.
I demand answer for this a apology to me and GM for wasting my money on your magzines since the last two three years and wasting my precious time as well.

Edit - I have send this to GM as well.

[ritik123]

Nice one there. I never had any faith in OD after reading just one of their issues, some three years back. Haven't looked at OD since. And with Adil being with Top Gear, I wonder if TG will be any better.

Let us know if they publish this though !.

[.anshuman]

Originally Posted by ritik123

Nice one there. I never had any faith in OD after reading just one of their issues, some three years back. Haven't looked at OD since. And with Adil being with Top Gear, I wonder if TG will be any better.

Let us know if they publish this though !.

i thought adil is with car.

[islero]

Yes, Adil is with CAR, Gautam Sen is with TopGear.

[suman]

Originally Posted by BUSA

Also their pitstop section seem to have copied team-bhp style Indian car scene et all.

You are absolutely correct and I was amazed when I saw it yesterday; I'm wondering mods, can we not do something about it? Its eerie - like seeing your own team-bhp with a different name! And I also thought the number of registered users was a fudged number as there were only 4 people on line when I logged in and all 4 (including me) were guests!

[himanshugoswami]

Hi Busa,

Please read my letter to OD on the following link:

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/collec...ight=overdrive (Autocarindia vs Overdrive)

[GTO]

You are absolutely correct and I was amazed when I saw it yesterday; I'm wondering mods, can we not do something about it? Its eerie - like seeing your own team-bhp with a different name!

Imitation is the best form of flattery, isnt it? Probably the left part of their brain was not functioning enough to be original in thought and implementation.

GTO

[ksethuram]

I have been a regular reader of OD for over 5 yrs, and here ends the running.. From next month no overdrive. I have heard Mag's favouring certain brands but not to this level giving false information and comparing different segments.....

[kb100]

MAN.. that's pathetic!!... but this is about the basic CULTURE of the organisation - having exhibited what they have I doubt if they are going to change!

I doubt if they have an editorial board that is guided by ANY non commercial values!!

[BUSA]

I didnot have the patience to read the whole magazine. I have a different style of reading. First i read any line from the middle and then after that read the whole article. But this time i didnot read the whole article and in what ever i read i saw the faults i have put. Infact if i read the whole thing i am sure i can tell u many more mistakes. I was pissed with OD some time back when they had done track day and they took the top version of all cars but took a Optra 1.6 which comes on thinner rubber then the 1.8 and also has less flat out acceleration.

Anyways OD didnot have the guts to reply to what i asked and have deleted that. Now what do i do? Should i link this article on that forum (only with the mods permission otherwise not doing so).

The funniest peice of news in the OD being that Mitsubishi is getting a Getz-Swift rival. Its called the Colt and will come with a MIVEC engine. Heck, the Cedia doesnot come with a MIVEC engine and a colt with

I am happy that i dont visit any other forums then team-bhp since when ever i have i have been dissapointed. It doesnot get better then this aka www.team-bhp.com

[carfreak]

for quite a few years i have been regularly reading indian auto mags.before the new entrants came in(car,top gear)the competition was always between overdrive and autocar india.bs motoring with their humorous write-ups was a sure buy even though their test reports were slightly sketchy.and between autocar and overdrive,the former won undisputedly.have said this before-i can relate better to autocar-whether it be their driving impression or fuel efficiency figures anything for that matter.i have often felt hormazd has a soft corner for fords(and sometimes he goes to extreme levels to convince readers to buy one!!)but that mag is the least partial of the lot
uptil now the main problem with overdrive was the editor-adil.the way he replies to letters sent in by readers.one gets a feeling he suffering from some attitude problems!!even for the smallest criticism,he comes down heavily and that can be still seen in the magazine 'bike',which i read often.anyway i stopped overdrive then.dont know now how it fares with yogendra.but it can only be better not worse.

[tsk1979]

Bloopers are common. Till around the month of Dec 2005 or so, most of the buyers guides in BSM/Overdrive/Autocar listed indigo engine as 62bhp. I sent them a letter(via email) but they did not rectify that and also did not publish the letter.

[mysteryairship]

Overdrive seems to be in the pay of advertisers who influence the content.Maybe GM needs to take them before a consumer court.

[Boom Shiva]

I used to read these mags before T-bhp. Because at the time they were the only source of information for someone who wanted to know about cars. Even now, people buy them because they don't know of any alternative.

Once I found this forum, I didn't need to pay money to read half-assed, manipulated reviews anymore. I think if T-Bhp ever decided to advertise and go mainstream, it would put a nice dent in the circulation figures of these mags.

[suman]

Originally Posted by tsk1979

Bloopers are common. Till around the month of Dec 2005 or so, most of the buyers guides in BSM/Overdrive/Autocar listed indigo engine as 62bhp. I sent them a letter(via email) but they did not rectify that and also did not publish the letter.

Here's another one - check out OD specs for the Endeavour 4X2 & 4X4, they are different! Just can't understand how anything would be different except the weight!