[14000rpm]

Originally Posted by 1968chensaro

I used to previously buy Overdrive. for past 1 to 1 1/2 years, I was having a feeling of some thing is missing in the magazine. It is not the same as it was previously.

overdrive was good only during the adil jal darukhanawala era. thereafter , the only thing that was good was the F1 coverage. It was the best though I'm not sure if it still is. Autocar is good coz Sorabjee is awesome at his job here. The sad part is that we end up paying too much for the ads. The latest issue had a coverage of the 20K drive in the ikons in a separate booklet. It was purely an ad for ford and guess what, we pay to see the ad!! who wins here? ford ? or the reader? its autocar all the while!! that, i believe is exploiting the readers loyalty.
I remember an old expedition called silk route in 7 armadas. now that i'd say was the best coverage of any expedition by far. not sure which mag carried that article covered in multiple parts.

[vasudeva]

I have stopped buying these rags since perhaps 2007. Coincidence could be that I have become a TBHP member. Free and infinitely more useful advice.

My office library subscribes to Overdrive. In July 2009 issue, I came across some writeup that really shows the depths to which these people will sink. Perhaps there is no editorial control at all.

The specific article relates to Landcruiser Test from page 88 written by B D' Souza.
First he says ``ever heard of anyone younger than your dad ever wanting to buy a Toyota'.

If this statement in true, then is this statement also true. This was written in the 3rd para on page 89.

``In India the Land Cruiser was already a popular choice among affluent businessmen and Bollywood stars who imported it from the Middle East. However in recent times, it gained notoriety in a dastardly accident with Salman Khan behind the wheel and more recently for being Sushmita Sen's choice for an illegal import''.

If we trust Overdrive, something is wrong with some or all of these statements:
1. Landcruiser is not manufactured by Toyota. Otherwise, why would young people like Sallu and Sushi buy it.
2. Sallu and Sushi are hiding their age (older than they advertise) and have a kid tucked away somewhere. No one except a dad buys a Toyota.
3. All Bollywood stars have a hidden kid somewhere. No one except a dad buys a Toyota. Even Imran Khan is not as innocent as you would believe.

The same issue had a comparison between camry, Accord, and Laura; and no prizes for guessing which was their choice. That is a subjective opinion, and some cars do need all the help they can get.

[joy_swift]

I subscribe to both Autocar and Overdrive and found Autocar to be much better in terms of content than Overdrive.

@Vasudeva - On a lighter note,Salman's age is not too far away from becoming a grandfather ..Its another matter that he hasnt still got married

[brownears]

Autocar wins this poll hands down, but I think this poll is now obsolete. AutoBild India has more useful information in one issue (it is bi-weekly) than all these put together in a month. The others are more expensive, have way too many advertisements and are not so strong on getting first-hand news from cars worldwide.

[vrprabhu]

Originally Posted by 1968chensaro

Until Sirish Chandran took over as chief Editor, the magazine was doing good business. After he taking over, the magazine started to focus mainly on fast and furious foreign cars which are only a distant dream for any average indian buyer. They also started to devote more pages for rallying and racing (both local and outside india). They have started to allot less number of pages for the locally available car and always seem to fly to a foreign destination to test a funky car which may not come to India. Even if it comes to india, this will sell 10s or 20s only. Previously they were doing many comparison tests on the locally available cars. They also did some novel comparions such comparing mileage, cost of ownership etc. Now they have stopped all these things. csk

Agree with you- I have been buying both OD and Autocar for nearly 7-8 years now. (In fact my love affair started with the Indian Auto Journal in 1988 and moved on to AutoIndia and thereafter to Overdrive and AutoCar, with BSMotoring and TopGear in between. Must have spent a fortune on them so far! I have preserved about 70 issues of AutoCar!) Earlier OD used to be pretty reader and India centric, but they seem to have lost focus. In between the language quality also deteriorated (plenty of cussing) and picture quality was also went down. There also seems to be "know it all" attitude in the articles. In fact "ask their expert" does not throw any clear solution to the problems posed. They still have a couple of good writers (shubabrata for one), but as you say they have stopped doing / writing features which I looked forward to.
Generally AutoCar is more lucid and coverage is better (even my daughter who was about 10 when I was buying them used to read it and got hooked to motosports) - but their two wheeler coverage is turning miniscule. Don't like the changed size of the mag now! Like their road tests (but not their holier than thou approach - don't know how singing praises of some manufactures can amount to non-partisan reporting?). Also like their travel section - both the car and bike; and the pictures are much better. Reading AutoCar leaves me more satisfied.
However, I do miss the articles by earlier writers - dilip bam - for one.

[ArchieS]

Always my vote goes to the BSM, the guys have a superb language and all of 'em are crazy one way or the other. but to be frank, at times i feel they are too biased to give a positive only review for Honda vehicles or is it just me thinking that. anyways i love readin BSM and only BSM.

[GTO]

Originally Posted by vrprabhu

However, I do miss the articles by earlier writers - dilip bam - for one.

As a self-confessed fan of Dilip Bam, I just have to guide you here!

[Ricci]

I have to say , BSM's articles reveal a passion that's absent in other mags , they're more clinical at best ( but not always unbiased ) and long-winded ad copies at worst ( AJD always writes long stories for Bajaj bikes , it's a trend ).

[14000rpm]

Originally Posted by Ricci

I have to say , BSM's articles reveal a passion that's absent in other mags , they're more clinical at best ( but not always unbiased ) and long-winded ad copies at worst ( AJD always writes long stories for Bajaj bikes , it's a trend ).

i just bought my 150 bucks worth ad mag (read Autocar India) .Its the 10th anniversary issue with 450 pages . it obviously has got more ads and a dvd not worth watching.
the rest's gotta be good.

[Nitronium]

The 11th year anniversary issue of OD was a very good read, though i did find a few articles merely extensions of others. And am I the only one that feels that most OD articles end rather abruptly?

[aaggoswami]

Although late, dont buy the Anniversary issue of ACI. Its just too much add laden and the only articles really worth reading were Fortuner and Eclass ones. One more small booklet on Ikon being a great car ( agreed, but a booklet was not necessary ). Quality has gone down. Earlier there were technical articles, but now they are becoming absent.

Stopped OD reading long back. Yogendra Pratap was better with OD than AutoBild. AJD's case is weird. First was Car and Bike, its refined version called OD.

About Dilip Bam, initially I appreciated him, although I was quite young during AutoIndia days. I remember him giving positive point to Splendor and negative point to caliber for engine installation. This was something I did not like, but his articles in AutoIndia were worth reading. One of the test I remember he did was to check the bottom end of both KD125 and RX135.

Another one I miss is Asraf Sheik. He used to write for OD initially. Later on I was able to locate his article on Pulsar ( stating that pulsar has capacity to beat CBZ ) in ACI. Never read his article after that.

Moral of the Story is that IMHO, the mags have gone too much commercial. No point in buying them any more. Hormazd Sorabjee is not the same person who was with AutoIndia. I really liked his reports, but not now.

Originally Posted by brownears

Autocar wins this poll hands down, but I think this poll is now obsolete. AutoBild India has more useful information in one issue (it is bi-weekly) than all these put together in a month. The others are more expensive, have way too many advertisements and are not so strong on getting first-hand news from cars worldwide.

[vasudeva]

A recent program of CNBC Overdrive went like this:
1. Honda Civic vs Laura: guess which won hands down. Of course, the Laura. That is subjective and their opinion, but what is not is the way that Laura was glorified and Civic panned (quality, low cost of Laura ownership). Words cannot express what went on.
2. A prospective buyer asked he is going for Camry but any other options: What would you expect: a whole-hearted endorsement of Superb extolling its much lower cost of ownership, `build' quality, reliability, etc.

[benbsb29]

Vasudeva, guess which car won the OD car of the year last year?
Ans. The Fabia.

There was a whole supplement to support the cause.

Looks like Autocar has gone the Honda way, while OD leans towards Skoda.

[karanraheja]

Originally Posted by vasudeva

A recent program of CNBC Overdrive went like this:
1. Honda Civic vs Laura: guess which won hands down. Of course, the Laura. That is subjective and their opinion, but what is not is the way that Laura was glorified and Civic panned (quality, low cost of Laura ownership). Words cannot express what went on.
2. A prospective buyer asked he is going for Camry but any other options: What would you expect: a whole-hearted endorsement of Superb extolling its much lower cost of ownership, `build' quality, reliability, etc.

Didnt you realise that Overdrive team is an ardent Skoda fan after the Fabia won Overdrive COTY .

Edit : Benny beat me to it!

[vasudeva]

Originally Posted by benbsb29

Vasudeva, guess which car won the OD car of the year last year?
Ans. The Fabia.

There was a whole supplement to support the cause.

Looks like Autocar has gone the Honda way, while OD leans towards Skoda.

Autocar was always the Honda way (our office library has their issues going back to 2001 and their tilt has always been clear). They are also Skoda people, and very rarely Toyota (if it contests with Honda or Skoda).

Refer the previous example: the poor viewer was almost decided in favour of Camry, till he got a strong endorsement for `The Superb'.