[Sebring]

The problem is when PR agencies create 'rungs'. Based on eyeballs, one set gets elevated and the other set will be left behind. If MotorBeam was indeed invited to the launch, they must be given as much access to information as the others. Else why invite them, in the first place? TeamBHP is in a class of its own and can't be compared, I feel. We are the 'dudes', who crash their party! LOL

Originally Posted by NaXal

Strange? So much outrage from these people for not getting to review first or simultaneously?

[DASKD24]

Originally Posted by simeonovitch

Have you actually sat in any of the three for you to make such an absurd claim.

I have. The Seltos is about the same size as a Creta or a Jeep Compass, and the XUV absolutely dwarfs it.

And I'm pretty sure the Harrier and the Hector would, as well

You're absolutely correct!
My bad, I wanted to write "not as big as", it was sleepy eyes. Apologies!!

No Harrier and Hector are sure bigger and this isn't as big. Also the boot isn't practical.

[Vid6639]

Originally Posted by thoma

Wondering what happened to ours.

We attended the event and drove the Seltos. All manufacturers do this preferential treatment and looks like Kia did a bit more than usual.

In the end it is up to the OEM's on whom to invite and whom to not and we either stick to that or don't.

Each media agency/OEM has their own criteria on whom to call and whom not to. With the amount of online media coming up these days, it's bound to happen that some will get preferential treatment.

Level playing field is good but guys like Autocar, NDTV etc have a lot more invested as well in terms of ad revenues and they do print, online as well as TV.

The problem is reviewing the car first and not reviewing the car proper.....

[SoumenD]

Originally Posted by sharninder

Looking at all the reports from the last two days, I'm actually conflicted. This will replace the Ecosport TDCi and will be our only vehicle. I'm keen to go for a Petrol this time around but I'm expecting atleast around 12kmpl. Anything below that is going to be expensive for my monthly running of about 1600kms.

Well within city, no petrol Compact-UV(not even Ecosport/Nexon/XUV3OO) would give you that kind of mileage. Period!!! Heck, even premium hatches (except Baleno ofcourse) like i20/Jazz too can't get that figure in city

With 1600kms per month you are better off with diesels if mileage expectation is anything more than 10kmpl.

[rahul_goyal]

Originally Posted by simeonovitch

1600 km a month is 19,200 km a year.
Let's round it off to 20 thousand KM a year.
That's 1 lakh km in 5 years.

You, sir, NEED a diesel.

Let's do a quick analysis to find out the difference in cost. Please correct me if I get anything wrong. I am taking Creta as example for this as its the car from same segment.

Ex- showroom price of SX MT for both:
Petrol - ₹ 12,25,534/-
Diesel - ₹ 13,59,797/-
Difference - ₹ 1,34,263/- .... (A)
(Road tax and charges will be more on diesel)
(Also note that cost difference between petrol and diesel for BS6 engine will be more)

Average running cost for 1600km for 5 years
Per litre cost as of today
Petrol - ₹ 72.08
Diesel - ₹ 65.75

Average assumed
Petrol - 10kmpl
Diesel - 16kmpl

Per litre cost
Petrol - ₹ 7.20
Diesel - ₹ 4.10

Difference - ₹ 3.10

Extra running cost on petrol vs diesel ₹ 2,97,600/- ... (B)

Difference after deducting extra money paid on buying a diesel ₹ 1,63,337/- ...(C) = (B - A)

Also, add higher maintenance of diesel. Yes the difference has become less in modern day cars, but its still comes to 1.5 times of petrol, IMO. Gurus can confirm.

Assume average maintenance of petrol is ₹ 10,00 per year and for diesel it will be ₹ 15,000 per year.
Difference at 5 year of ownership = ₹ 25,000. ...(D)

Difference between petrol and diesel = ₹ 1,38,337/-. (E) = (C - D)

Add depreciation according to 10 year limit on diesel. I don't know how this is exactly calculated. But I expect that this difference will have serious impact on value (E).

Not to forget that there is a possibility that per litre difference between petrol and diesel may get thinner in the future (as has been the trend in last 4 years).

Buying a diesel may get you a pleasure of low running costs but you'll probably end up paying equal or may be less on petrol.

So it will boil down to how you like to drive, with torque and turbo surge of diesel or refinement and smoothness of petrol.

PS : I have been driving a diesel for 10 years, but is in same boat as you. Leaning towards petrol.

All the best with your purchase.

Cheers.!

[naveen.raju]

Originally Posted by Ithaca

Can a 6'2" driver sit comfortably in the Seltos.
Can a 5'11" passenger sit in the back seat when the 6'2" is in the front seat.

1) No. You will struggle if you want to sit high as your head will touch the roof. Also, the steering will need to be at the highest level as anything lower will brush your leg.
2) Yes, but not by huge margin. And those hard plastic seat back can make your knees uncomfortable (if your knees are touching the front seat backs).

My observations here:
https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/india...ml#post4632280

[jaaz]

Originally Posted by Vid6639

The problem is reviewing the car first and not reviewing the car proper.....

Competition to review first is ok, but getting preferential treatment leads to biased reviews. Journos should always be independent without any hangover. Or else, they'll have the same fate as our national television channels.

Earlier, Editor-in-chief used to run media houses, but now, it's corporate bigwigs, who have vested interests.

Hope, the Car industry, will never goes the main stream media way.

[ashenoy]

Originally Posted by Ithaca

Can a 6'2" driver sit comfortably in the Seltos.
Can a 5'11" passenger sit in the back seat when the 6'2" is in the front seat.

I took a test drive of the 1.4 Turbo this past Tuesday. My brother in law was along as well. I'm 5' 11", and my BIL about the same height. We were able to sit behind each other very comfortably with legroom to spare. We are both very slender though. With a healthy 6' 2" person in the front seat, your mileage may vary.

All else with the car being top notch, I did find the ride quality very much like I recollect the first generation Ecosport being. I could feel every rut and ripple of the concrete road I was driving on.

[AGwagon]

Originally Posted by ashenoy

With a healthy 6' 2" person in the front seat, your mileage may vary.

Sorry, but I think you meant to write something else!

[quickdraw]

I don't know why people are treating KIA as some godsent company, even before the launch they've made quite a few gaffes regarding the product planning and looks like the managed to upset some part of the media too. All the while giving hi-fives to themselves.

The only reason there is so much hoopla is because it's the hottest segment for Indian middle class right now and MG like idiots shot themselves in the foot. In the end I know people will want the bigger MG. Kia makes sense for neuclear 2 people families with occasional passengers. The car is good, it only seems great because of lack of any real competition. Hopefully that changes in coming years no thanks to our government who is hell bent on sinking the entire industry.

Anyways, I've been having a tough time deciding the colour. We collectively liked steel with maybe a orange roof. But can't find real world pictures of this colour anywhere.

[Alive2Drive]

Originally Posted by rahul_goyal

Let's do a quick analysis to find out the difference in cost. Please correct me if I get anything wrong. I am taking Creta as example for this as its the car from same segment.

Sir this is a fantastic elaboration of the costing. I have the same dillema and with this analysis and given that I stay in Delhi , I will go for petrol for sure .

Mileage Delta is not that big that I would be willing to reduce the vehicle life by 5 years.

Mod Note: Please quote ONLY the relevant bits of a post. Quoting a full, long post inconveniences our mobile readers.

[neil.jericho]

Originally Posted by NaXal

Strange? So much outrage from these people for not getting to review first or simultaneously?

The social media post from shared on this was quite unintentionally funny. First of all, they call themselves prominent auto publications which to some, can be viewed as a small stretch. Now coming to the social media post, if only they put in as much effort towards writing and producing well thought through reviews, the number of people visiting their sites would have multiplied tremendously and consequentially more people would have cared about their outrage. And Kia would have given them a more prominent place in the reviews.

For now these groups come across as the those cranky neighbours who are complaining about being seated furthest away from the on stage couple at a wedding while the family members have front row seats.

[sharninder]

Originally Posted by rahul_goyal

Let's do a quick analysis to find out the difference in cost. Please correct me if I get anything wrong. I am taking Creta as example for this as its the car from same segment.

Thank you for the detailed post. I'd done almost this math in my mind, but never went into this detail.
I'm fine with 10-11 kmpl, it was the 6kmpl figure that worries me
Either way, I'm happy manufacturers are at-least giving us some options these days. Last few years manufacturers like Maruti and M&M had excluded petrol at all from a certain class of vehicles.

[ajmat]

Originally Posted by Vid6639

The problem is reviewing the car first and not reviewing the car proper.....

As was shown up in the inclement conditions in Goa over the past week. I will be interested to see how they actually reviewed the cars!

[rahul_goyal]

Originally Posted by sharninder

Thank you for the detailed post. I'd done almost this math in my mind, but never went into this detail.
I'm fine with 10-11 kmpl, it was the 6kmpl figure that worries me
Either way, I'm happy manufacturers are at-least giving us some options these days. Last few years manufacturers like Maruti and M&M had excluded petrol at all from a certain class of vehicles.

Deviation from ARAI figures is expected in the real world, but if ARAI mileage is quoted as 16 kmpl, then realistically it should give 9-11 kmpl overall. If its giving you 6 kmpl, then either there's something wrong with the car or you are driving in bumper to bumper traffic too much. (This excludes certain cars which are known to be guzzlers; read Grand i10/i20 AT)

The calculation given above is for monthly usage of 1600km, for anyone with higher usage say 2500km a month, diesel would still make sense. Unless, the govt. bombs you with some new regulation (you can't really be sure these days).