[Govardhansupra]

Can someone explain what "Default thread age cut off" means? I seem to get a small idea, but I don't understand the difference between "Default" and "All threads" as I'm definitely able to view all threads made till date.

You may specify a time period from which to display threads. Threads older than the age you specify will not be shown.

This is what is written there

Also, by the way, this option is in User CP--> Edit Options.

[warrioraks]

The first thread gets repeated four times on clicking - ‘All time favourites’. Please look into this.

[locusjag]

I wish our moderators would nip any and all fuel price rant threads in the bud. It's obvious that auto enthusiasts are going to be unhappy with fuel prices all the time. And there's no scope for a sane discussion on this topic on this forum; I got called a "fascist" in 2020 just because I reasoned out why the government needs its taxes and excise inflows from fossil fuels so that import bills can be controlled and also because economic activity and tax inflows are subdued overall.

There is no other place on the forum where you can hurl pejoratives at fellow members and get away with it. There's a burning fuel price thread right now on top of the "Indian car scene" section and you can see everyone picking on one member because he dared to go against the grain.

Fuel price rant threads should not be allowed at all on our forum if you ask me. These threads add no value to anyone, whilst they give rise to some really ugly name-calling and bigoteering. I wish this suggestion gets heard.

Yours humbly.

[ashokabs]

I joined Team-BHP a long time ago when I was an 'enthusiast' who enjoys performance in cars. Now, I am 75 years old and I must confess that I am no longer only looking at performance per se but performance which improves the driving experience in day to day driving in our over crowded roads. I believe that many people who trawl Team-BHP are not enthusiasts. I wouldn't claim to know the percentage but it might be worth a survey.

The objective of the website, as stated, is to provide the most factual information on the Indian auto scene. In this respect it is not a website as per original mission only for enthusiasts. However, when I read about cars like the Turbo Altroz having a lower engine tune than the Nexon and how this was the wrong thing for Tata Motors to do I wonder!

I would think, taking the old Pareto Analysis, that 80% of those who read Team BHP are not enthusiasts. These people are certainly not happy with the Altroz and Tiago 1.2 litre NA engines. These engines are genuinely a little underpowered for city driving. Tata Motors is providing a good driving experience for a majority of drivers by providing the turbo engine in 109 bhp tune. I would guess that this would also keep the cost lower. Increase the engine bhp further might require a new transmission which would certainly add cost.

Cars can be made available for enthusiasts with higher bhp to weight ratio for performance at higher prices. It is upto the company to decide if this would add to their profit and also if it will bring in higher overall sales of their bread and butter products.

I am not denigrating the needs of the enthusiast. I just get the feeling that general movement of the website is more towards providing for enthusiasts. There also seems to be a bias towards luxury and expensive cars in the articles that have been published recently. Wonder if this is true or just my impression.

[Tgo]

Originally Posted by ashokabs

I am not denigrating the needs of the enthusiast. I just get the feeling that general movement of the website is more towards providing for enthusiasts. There also seems to be a bias towards luxury and expensive cars in the articles that have been published recently. Wonder if this is true or just my impression.

I can see why you feel that way.

• Big ticket purchases are what people feel proud of and will certainly be the talking point rather than a run-of-the-mill car which has nothing new to talk about or has just generic solutions to each issue owners face
  
  
• The launches in the mid size and the slightly higher end have brought in lots of new features (Air purifiers, ventilated seats, auto headlamps and wipers, superior engines and gearboxes...) making them more tempting, and also raising more queries about them on the forum.
  
• Higher priced cars are generally safer than lower variants and might be the reason they are being grabbed by BHP-ians and you see more threads about them.
  
  
• The apparent direction the forum is taking comes from the hot threads or new threads. Some BHP-ians are more active in their updates and present information in an more appetizing way, that their threads are always active and visible at the top.
  
  
• Most of the purchases and new threads in the last year or so are coming from people with disposable income or who had held onto their cars for quite long.
  
  
• General progression is life is to move to the next higher pedestal and so it is with cars too. Any current car owner would look for a better car for his next purchase which means moving up the segments.

Alternatively, I suggest you go through the searches and find other threads which might align with your interests. We have excellent threads on Photography, Artwork, Watches, Phones, Gardening, Computers, DIY, Home improvement... you name it.

The community is much more diverse than its name suggests.

[VKumar]

Dear Mods and Core Team

Just like we have the marketplace for stickers, other merchandise. Can't we have the car care items also in it? Products like cleaning items, tyre inflator etc. Just like a trading kind of, but, only of the items which have receive a good review from multiple members.

For a reference, a major portion of us don't know the D of detailing, but still we go, wash the car and apply the polish/wax. It is also proven that there are many fake options available for multiple brands. So, having the same set of products in the Team-BHP market place can be more assuring for us, also, we can have the reviews from members about various products right in the place. I mean, with the knowledge ocean we have on board, there is an answer to every query. IMO, a lot of hardwork and midnight oil has gone into building this knowledge bank, we can use it for on boarding only the best set of products for any price range, and have the experienced members write the tips and tricks to help newbies like us too.

If the original products can be bought from T-BHP, why would I even look at Amazon etc? Would prefer the original and verified one for my ride, even at a higher price. T for Team-BHP, T for Trust!

Additionally, with the products and knowledge of members, with only well verified reviews. It will be a marketplace cum enthusiast-democracy:
"Of the enthusiasts, for the enthusiasts, by the enthusiasts"

[TorqMaster]

Hello Mods - do you think it would be a good idea to have a thread for bhpians sell their stuff or buy stuff used stuff?
I know we have a classifieds listing page. But for bhpians to reach other bhpians quickly and be of use to each other than going through the classified page it may work. In order not to make it like olx you could also impose a one item per week to be sold and price discussions to be strictly over DM / PM.

[DrAakash]

So i just installed a new browser called Brave, on Android. It a privacy focused browser, and it shows me which sites have very trying to track me, sending me ads, among other stuff like data and time saved by using Brave.
Surprisingly, Team-BHP features at the top of this list of websites. Though I'm not really signed in more than half of the times I'm browsing here, I'd still want to know more about these trackers, what they are, how do they work, how is my data being utilised, if its just for ads or is there any data sharing being done with third parties.
Team-BHP is one of the rare websites that allows any member to be in contact with every memeber, so it's quite democratic that way. So, if this thread gains traction, my intention is to gain knowledge about all this, and not necessarily to criticise.
Mods, please merge with existing thread if applicable.

[neofromcapone]

Interesting. Methinks the bigboard forum mechanism would be responsible for that level of tracking.
I do hope this thread can enable some clamp down on the tracking, by tweaking some nuts and bolts.

[GTO]

Originally Posted by DrAakash

Surprisingly, Team-BHP features at the top of this list of websites. Though I'm not really signed in more than half of the times I'm browsing here, I'd still want to know more about these trackers, what they are, how do they work, how is my data being utilised, if its just for ads or is there any data sharing being done with third parties.

Hey man, thanks for pointing this out. We will look into this further just to ensure there is nothing out of the ordinary.

1. We don't do any kind of tracking ourselves. However, we use 3rd-party ad servers (e.g. Google DFP, Google Adsense) and 3rd-party ad code from the big networks in India (not shady ones) who might be doing some kind of tracking for targeted ads. Fortunately or unfortunately, there is no digital ad network that doesn't track you. It's the reason you'll see DSLR ads if you've been searching for cameras or visited camera websites.

2. We have never sold any data to 3rd-parties and never will. While we have received offers for email databases & the like, we have strongly opposed it.

3. USA visitors *might* see more ad tracking than India, as we have outsourced our USA ad inventory to a 3rd-party network.

[DrAakash]

Originally Posted by GTO

1. We don't do any kind of tracking ourselves. However, we use 3rd-party ad servers (e.g. Google DFP, Google Adsense) and 3rd-party ad code from the big networks in India (not shady ones) who might be doing some kind of tracking for targeted ads. Fortunately or unfortunately, there is no digital ad network that doesn't track you. It's the reason you'll see DSLR ads if you've been searching for cameras or visited camera websites.

2. We have never sold any data to 3rd-parties and never will. While we have received offers for email databases & the like, we have strongly opposed it.

I do have a vague idea about how targeted ads work, it's just the number of trackers/ads that's unsettling for me.
BTW, thanks for the quick reply! This is precisely what i was talking about when i mentioned democracy in my earlier post.
Also, props to you for not giving in to data sharing, in the times of big data!

[binand]

Originally Posted by DrAakash

Surprisingly, Team-BHP features at the top of this list of websites. Though I'm not really signed in more than half of the times I'm browsing here, I'd still want to know more about these trackers, what they are, how do they work, how is my data being utilised, if its just for ads or is there any data sharing being done with third parties.

From what I recall, Brave counts each blocked item once per site loading. For example, say site a.com has tracker b.net embedded. Each time you load a.com and b.net is blocked, this counter is incremented. So the high number for team-bhp.com for you is probably because you visit the site more often than google.

Try to see items blocked per site load, if you can.

[DrAakash]

Originally Posted by binand

So the high number for team-bhp.com for you is probably because you visit the site more often than google.

Try to see items blocked per site load, if you can.

I do spend more time on Team-BHP than Google, though Google.Com is my default tab when opening the browser, can't say if it counts as visiting the site itself, it should i think.
Loading Team-BHP adds 11 trackers to the list. Loading Google adds 7. A search for Google.com from the search bar adds 2.

[binand]

Originally Posted by DrAakash

Loading Team-BHP adds 11 trackers to the list. Loading Google adds 7.

team-bhp.com loads Twitter, Instagram and Facebook none of which Google would be loading.

[DrAakash]

Originally Posted by binand

team-bhp.com loads Twitter, Instagram and Facebook none of which Google would be loading.

Are those trackers or just plugins? Like i said earlier, i only have a vague idea about trackers being used for targeted adverts. I don't actually use any social media except Team-BHP and WhatsApp, so those trackers being there is inconsequential for me right?