[9thsphinx]

Always wondered how things get together, fall in place and present itself so beautifully. Now I do.

Everyone knows and celebrates the end product - The Official Team Bhp Review! Kudos to the mods for bringing in quality over everything else.

Thread rated 5 deserving stars.

Merry Christmas!

[saket77]

Brilliant thread Rush. It was very exciting for me to get behind the scenes and particularly interested in the review process of TBHP as we have been reading the TBHP reviews in detail for so many years now. Only by the looks of it, one can see the attention to detail paid to the smallest of the aspects of the car for TBHP reviews. One of the most informative threads here. A big thank you for sharing it.

Regards,
Saket

[//M]

Thanks a lot GTO.

I recently reviewed a yet-to-be-launched car for my company. Lots of brain storming and discussions later, I used some of the Team-BHP parameters in reviewing the car and my seniors were very impressed with my work.

All these parameters really gave a detailed picture of the car coupled with pictures from every angle possible, with utmost attention to detail.

I am glad that Team-BHP has given us the opportunity to go through such exemplary reviews of each car from varied segments that we as regular readers are actually armed to review a vehicle in a wider perspective just by spending a few hours with it, with special focus to customer convenience.

Brilliant work by the Team-BHP support. Keep up the good work guys.

[Funny]

This was a wonderful read. Thanks team.
I was wondering, has there been any instance where you guys couldn't manage to attend a press drive?

[avingodb]

thanks for that behind the scenes update. I am here because I liked reading the quality reviews on team-bhp. There is no doubt that you guys work hard for the near neutral review of the vehicle.

And I salute your decision to decline expensive gifts ; PR these days is closer to corruption than we are made to believe.

On a lighter note, I have heard from my friends who are in auto PR of the T-BHP guys being the most tough nuts during reviews

[Gannu_1]

Man, this has to be one of the most insightful and interesting threads I’ve read in a long time! Thank you so much GTO!

Let us also say our forum is blessed with two immensely talented photographer-moderators - Tanveer and Rudra Sen. Tanveer has a knack of clicking incredible panning shots, like the Elantra posted here. Here’s one from Rudra during the Fiat Multijet drive event:


As they say, a picture is worth a thousand words. There are some things that a snap or two can reveal but takes a paragraph to explain. One of the main reasons our forum reviews are a hit among the aam junta is due to the depth and detail of the review. You guys don’t spare even a nut and bolt in the car! Raise that boot carpet, expose that bolt head, click a snap! A plastic cover has come off from the cladding, not a good sign, click a snap! Even the prescribed review format is well thought of and structured - starts off with the pros and cons of the car followed by a brief history of the manufacturer/previous generations of the car, then the exteriors, the interiors, the engine bay and the most interesting part - The Smaller yet Significant Things. Can’t imagine the amount of efforts you must put in for these drive events - click snaps, drive, click snaps, jot down some crucial bits, drive the other variant, have food, get some sleep, drive. Must be real hectic. Not to mention, arrive back and report for your usual duty.

There’s a reason why Mercedes must have flown you guys all the way to Canada to preview the W222 S Class or Jaguar invited you guys to UK to preview the F Type. Isn’t that a benchmark sorts?!

Originally Posted by GTO

We follow a fanatically structured, well-researched approach...which I trust shows in all of our official reports.

Absolutely. You’ve no idea how some of us eagerly wait for a TBHP review. I have a bunch of colleagues here who frequently ask me “Hey, is the review for <Enter car name here> out yet?”.

Once again, thank you so much for the thread! Wish you guys a merry Christmas and a fun-filled rev-happy year ahead!

[commonman]

Man,what a lot of work to do ! I really wonder, is this part of any journalism program/course? You must take apprentices from media schools,so that they know how to do the real media work, means reporting without bias. Great work! I am in awe !

[vb-saan]

This indeed a Christmas special from Team-bhp. Great read, thanks for sharing!

[S.MJet]

Nowhere on earth one can find a place where reviews are truly unbiased, gives 200% to capture every aspect & minutest of details, maintains highest level of standards AND proudly shares the process itself, which further strengthens transparent & unbiased approach.

Thanks GTO for this one, proud to be part of Team-BHP.

[GTO]

Kanthi drops the following email:

Dear Mods,

I am long time lurker (since 2007). I cannot say that I am an avid follower of team-bhp; all I can say that it is a indulgence and guilty pleasure. I admire the candid nature of the reviews, the adolescent humor/banter (hanky-panky thread) that brings a smile, the flamboyant writing style of certain writers (miss you Yeti), the eye to intricate detail.

What I love the most, is that none of the articles are condescending in nature. Be it a beemer or an alto, an amby or an audi; the vehicle and the owner are treated with professional courtesy.

Today, I happened to read GTO's monologue on what happens behind a review. I wanted to convey my thanks to all the reviewers were and are responsible for the superb content. It was heartening to hear that some of you have to take a break from full time work and family to go that extra mile. My wife calls me an workaholic, waiting for her to read this

I wish you all a merry X-mas and a happy new year.

Some highlights of the article:

1. 'The team-bhp number plates on review cars are photoshopped.' No dammit, it is freaking Merlins' magic. Are you telling us that the luminance/light-source, angle of text, color temperature, the glossiness are all worked upon to give that realistic feel. We demand you create a section/video of how your team does that. Amaze picture for reference.

2. 'The airport pick up and drop from home is the scary part'. Well ajmat hates other do the driving! On a serious note, it shows how precious time is.

3. "I always wonder, if there was an award for the 'worst job in the world', these dudes holding the big placards under the hot sun would get it." Not surprised to see this humane observation. Kudos guys.

4. 'Best part about these drives for me are the interaction with the techies and the management lot, and most of them I met are truly passionate about what they do.' Probably they should be named. Organizations are not homogenous, so some one going extra mile getting recognized is a booster.

5. SchumiFan echoed this sentiment, 'Reading this makes me want to give more respect to the newbies for the official reviews S2, Crazy Driver, nkrishnap.' I still cannot get over the feeling that Vid6639 is a new comer, time flies. 'nkrishnap', your fiat reviews are stunning. You have done more justice to the car than FIAT marketing could ever do.

6. On the first page, there is a picture of range-rover with a container of human stimulant. While drink & drive is not condoned, I think it is a good metric for gauging the suspension/handling. The fluid left would demand some ice cubes though.

-admirer

FYI on point no.6: That's a cup of mint tea

[Mafia]

Thank you Team-BHP team for all the sincere hard work!

And also along the way you have created a benchmark in reviewing new launches!

I can put out a really long list that this forum has helped me sort out with my ride whenever they turn up!

[prashanthyr]

I read a variety of automotive content on the web - from Top Gear to CarAndDriver, AutoCar and Jalopnik, but nothing compares to this team we have here - TeamBHP.

Thanks for not just the official test drives, but everything about TeamBHP. The amount of work that goes in to a test drive report is insane.

The only thing I ask for is - Can we put in officially or widely acknowledged issues / recalls (and solutions) of the car in question along with the official review? for ex: The initial batches of the City were panned for inconsistent panel gaps - it would help prospective owners to know if this has been fixed or got worse as time goes on.

Thanks once again and happy holidays everyone!

[tharian]

Lovely insight into something which is not known otherwise.

Goes on to add how transparent T-Bhp is in providing information .
Also liked the statement that long term vehicles are declined since those inputs are taken from members ownership reports and that surely makes us feel empowered and part of the auto journalism indirectly.

I stopped buying monthly auto mags more than a year back after buying them for almost 20 years which goes on to show how T-bhp is part of our lives.

[Sutripta]

Originally Posted by theMAG

E.g. the India launches I covered did have lesser technical information shared by the manufacturers than the coverage I did in Japan.

That is only to be expected. But my question was about what happens in India.



Another question:- What is the equation between TBhp and a) the bike manufacturers, and b) the commercial vehicle manufacturers. Reason for asking is that these two sections were brought to (TBHp) mainstream some time back.

When are we getting our own test equipment? (Can one hire ARAI facilities?! VRDE I'm sure is out of bounds.)

Does anyone push for factory visits?

Regards
Sutripta

[drmohitg]

Very interesting thread and it was a pleasure to read the whole process. Have got multiple more questions regarding the whole process. One of them being how does a car maker decide as to whom to call? How much has there attitude changed towards TBHP per se given the phenomenal growth of the forum with every year. Also there are so many different shows, national and then local, TV and print, followed by magazines and multiple internet forums. How does a car maker decide whom all to call? Or sometimes do we need to ourselves approach them to give us a car for a review, for instance lets say back in 2007-2008 when the overall size of our forum was less than what it is today. Do mainstream shows like Car and bike show, ACI etc get priority in such events or more time with the car?

Really interesting thread.