overdrive magazine february 2011 issue preview

February 2011 Volume 13 Issue 6 ` 125www.overdrive.in

I n d I a ’ s n o . 1 c a r & b I k e m a g a z I n e

KIZASHILARGER THAN A LAURA, MORE FEATURES THAN AN ACCORD

Ducati Monster 796

Mahindra Thar 4x4

Yamaha SZ-X vs Bajaj Discover 150

Volvo XC60 vs Audi Q5

Chevrolet Volt

Mercedes-Benz E350 Cabriolet

H-D Iron, SuperLow, Forty-Eight

Tata Aria vs Skoda Yeti

maruti suzuki takes on the premium establishment

testedBMW X1Most affordable BMW yet!

wInners cIrcleCNBC-TV18 OVERDRIVE AWARDS 2011Honouring the best of the best

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February 2011 Volume 13 Issue 6 ` 125www.overdrive.in

I n d I a ’ s n o . 1 c a r & b I k e m a g a z I n e

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beauty In the beastducati monster 796

motoringnewsLogon to w w w.overdrive . in/news/

Mercedes sharpens C-Class sedanMercedes-Benz refreshes popular C-Class sedan. Launch end-2011

The Mercedes-Benz C-Class was the first of the new generation Mercs to sport squared-off lines, the very design ethos and prod-

uct philosophy change that has brought back Mercedes-Benz’s traditional strong brand image globally. Mercedes-Benz revealed the comprehensively refreshed new C-Class as its star showing at Detroit’s North American International Auto Show. The changes are at once subtle and dra-matic and it’s almost hard to believe that

most of the body panels of the outgoing car are carried forward on to the new car. The reason for that is a significant change to the front end which brings the design in line with the latest Mercedes-Benz cars. The front bumper is now more sharply etched and the downward crease makes the form look more powerful as well. The chrome strips are part of the trim specification and will probably feature on the Avantgarde in India variant as well. The new C-Class sports an all-aluminium hood

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Minor changes to the front and rear of the car make a world of difference but the most significant change is inside the luxurious cabin

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T e sTmahindra thar

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devil may careWords shubhabrata Marmar Photography Martin Alva

the new mahindra thar brings back the open top adventurer


Com pa roskoda yeti Vs tata aria

Siren songWords Bertrand D'souza Photography Gaurav S Thombre

The Tata Aria and Skoda Yeti vie for your attention


R i deducati monster 796

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transcendental Words Abhay Verma Photography Aditya Bedre, Gaurav S Thombre

the ducati monster 796 is an experience beyond the sum total of its parts

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Com pa roVolVo XC60 vs Q5

NordiccharmWords Shubhabarata marmar Photography martin alva

How does the Volvo XC60 rate alongside the perfect-for-India luxury SUV, the Audi Q5

When Bert came back from Gotheborg having vis-ited Volvo’s facilities, he was mightily impressed. The Scandinavians appeared to have the bit firmly between their teeth, their safety technol-ogy was clearly beneficial and un-gimmicky and

their upcoming vehicles were, without a doubt, sexy.And as Ray wrote two issues ago, the good news for Volvo is that

their new owners, Geely Zeijiang have announced their intention of not stripping Volvo of its Scandinavian-ness at all. The brand will be based out of its traditional home, will retain its core values and out-side of the products Geely needs for the Chinese market specifically, Volvo will be allowed to do its thing. So if the XC60 is any indication, Volvos will only get safer, and hopefully, sexier.

The same buzz, unfortunately for the brand, has so fair eluded it in India. It appears that expats based in India, who understand what Volvo cars are about have no problem buying them here but Indians typically tend to favour the German equivalents.

The XC60, then, is the SUV which is now shouldering the mantle of bringing Volvo into the game. The company is working on expand-ing its reach and the XC60 is the product that has been tasked with bringing the customers into the showrooms. You’ve read this in prac-tically every story we have ever written about Volvo’s Indian offerings and the XC60 is no different.

Or is it? Where the S80 and the XC90 are both nice looking, they lack buzz. And the XC60, arguably, is practically bubbling over with it. We’ve not been in a car that’s caused this much turmoil in Mum-bai’s traffic in quite a while and it’s a great size too. To put it in per-spective, we have the Audi Q5 with us. The Q5, until the BMW X3

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Words Vijayendra Vikram Photography Gaurav S Thombre

TransformersWith the advent of 150cc commuters, things are changing fast in the Indian motorcycling arena

Com pa ro

The first time I saw the Discover 150, I thought it was ab-solutely pointless, a result of Bajaj’s trademark permu-tation and combination exercise. It wasn’t until I rode it that I discovered that a powerful engine in a commuter is like a slice of lemon in your Corona Extra. First there

is the added punch that speeds up things between traffic lights. You can think about pipping that youngster on his Pulsar, while still in your formals, sling bag et al. Then there is the comfort of a commuter that can keep you (and your back) happy in the saddle all day long. Of course compared to a 100cc commuter fuel efficiency is a trade-off but not to the extent that it pinches seriously. The real catch is the price that gets you a full 50cc extra bragging rights at roughly the price of a premium 100. So, is this the way forward for the commuter bikes that had been subjected so far to the stereotypical Splendor or Passion image? I think so.

Yamaha was quick to see the potential of this new segment spawned by Bajaj and launched the SZ series with a 153cc engine quicker than we expected. Yamaha, so far, has tasted success only in the premium segment and hasn’t been able to crack the volumes seg-ment. A go at the 125s with the Gladiator too didn’t prove fruitful, in spite of it being a very good motorcycle. So rather than trying to break into the Hero Honda domain for the umpteenth time, Yamaha did the brave thing of exploring the 150cc commuter segment. The FZ16 was the apt engine donor while cycle parts were toned down to keep a check on prices. However, the SZ is a bit expensive compared to the Discover and we spent some time in their saddles to see if the SZ is actually that good or the Discover is still a better bet to place your hard earned dough on. Read on…

Style and buildThe Discover has been around for ages and apart from the new graphics, Bajaj has done very little to keep it updated. But its slender styling is attractive. The teardrop theme for the headlight, tank and tail panels still looks good and the decals efficiently mask its age. The only distinguishing factor seems to be the 150 stickers and a layered LED-effect tail lamp. Things have changed since then. Park it next to the Yamaha and you can immediately spot the difference. The Ya-maha SZ-X is certainly the looker here and it’s from Yamaha’s post FZ-16 era. This means there are a lot of cues taken from the FZ, the angular headlamp unit and the stays that hold it in place for instance.

Bajaj discover 150 vs Yamaha sZ-X

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T e sTmercedes benz e350 cabriolet



exhibitionist Words Bertrand D’souza Photography Mohd Nasir

the e350 cabriolet is a stunner but does the open top proposition make sense for india?

I love convertibles, my fascination with all things without a top must emanate from a love for motorcy-cling. But on those two-wheeled wonders, where the wind in your

hair sensation is left to the bare rustle around the base of your helmet, a convertible allows you to feel just that, the wind in your hair. India, obviously, is just not the right place for a convertible, period. Yet that has not stopped BMW or Mercedes from launching almost everything they have in their range that comes without a top, God bless their souls. So here’s our take on the latest in the line of convertibles that is slowly making

their march towards India, the Mercedes-Benz E-Class Cabriolet.

STYLINGIn this issue itself we have yet another con-vertible, actually a jeep without a roof or any shred of overhead cover and let me tell you it is just as sensational. The Thar of course looks butch and masculine but it’s the aura of laying bare your insides that is perversely appealing. It’s wholly narcissistic, driving with the top down is so attention grabbing. In the E-Cabrio that sense of attention is heightened because it’s a German luxury car, everybody is going to look at the dude inside.



T e sTbmw x1

The x files Words & photography Martin Alva

The bmw x1 has all the allure to snare SUv-loving india


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The popularity of SUVs may be dwindling in the wake of the not so bygone economic crisis and the rising fuel prices else-where in the world. But no

matter which way the economy tips or how expensive crude gets, SUVs are a big hit in India, and their sales continue unabated. Driving the SUV is making a statement that cannot be matched by a sedan. BMW seems to have understood this Indian lust for life-style vehicles and has responded in a way which will make premium car manufactur-ers sit up and reconsider their strategies. No one complains when they get more for less and that’s just what the X1 is; it is more for less every way you look at it. SUVs are more expensive than sedans generally and now a premium SUV is cheaper than a premium sedan. BMW shook the whole premium car market by launching the X1 at ` 22 lakh ex-showroom. And BMW India president An-dreas Schaaf made some bold remarks at the launch. He expects 80 per cent of X1 buyers to migrate to BMW from rival brands. (We do not wish to dispute this.) Schaaf also ex-pects the X1 to be the highest volume genera-tor for BMW in the coming years. We totally agree. At launch, BMW confirmed bookings of over 1000 X1 units and that was over a month ago.

Consider the X1’s direct competitors. Firstly there is the Honda CR-V of which the cheapest variant, the 2-litre, front-wheel-drive, manual transmission version is priced at ̀ 22.7 lakh (ex-showroom Mumbai). Com-paring the CR-V and X1 is like comparing chalk and cheese. Indians don’t hold the Japanese car makers in as hallowed a space as they do the Germans. A Honda stands no chance against a BMW in terms of brand perception and comparing these cars on technical aspects, the entry level CR-V looks weak when pegged next to the entry level X1. The 2.4-litre CR-V costs ` 24.5 lakh (ex-showroom, Mumbai) and that is the on-road price of the X1 petrol. The same is the case with the Hyundai Santa Fe which is priced at ` 22.7 lakh ex-showroom. It’s not just the SUVs and the soft-roaders that the X1 is gun-ning for. We predict the sales of the Accord, the Camry and the Superb are going to be hit. And that goes for the Mercedes C-Class as well.

With all the hype surrounding the X1, it becomes imperative that we subject it to a thorough road test. We have both the diesel and the petrol X1 variants, the X1 sDrive18i and the X1 sDrive20d Exclusive.

The x files

Dr i v emaruti suzuki kizashi


Pop kiz Words Bertrand D’souza Photography Shamik Banerjee

the answers to all questions on maruti’sfirst time offering in the d-segment


When in doubt, flat-out! Words Sirish Chandran Photography Kishen Nanjappa

The life of a motoring journalist doesn’t want for the crazy. But when there’s a surfeit of adrenaline and opportunities limited only by the scale of

one’s imagination, well, let’s just say my mum prays a lot. There’s the time I belted a 800cc Alto up the highest motorable passes in the world on the Raid de Himalaya rally where, if you get it wrong, you need a parachute. My first time in the Veyron, and at 320kmph a truck lumbered into the fast lane. I braked so hard my face peeled off. Thus emboldened, the next time I found myself in Lamborghini’s Murcielago I gave it the beans clocking 300kmph on the Italian expressway. But none of this comes close to what I did last month: I started drinking tea.

A nice strong tea bush is the reason why I didn’t have to unbuckle my seatbelts at the bottom of a river, having rolled spectacularly down a mountain. It was the Rally of Kerala, the last round of the 2010 Speed INRC, only my fourth rally (my second on tarmac) and I was leading the 2000cc Group N class. It was an early morning start, cold and damp, tyres weren’t up to temperature, and for the first time the pressure was on me – the first Group N Cedia to be flagged off. Obviously I was overdoing it and barrelling into a hairpin right we realised our notes were wrong (we should have realised it the day before after having had a big moment at the very same corner). Nothing much to do - left foot slammed on the brakes, tyres locked, car refused to turn, and with tyres howling we flew off the cliff. Our nice tea bush arrets our plunge and holds us until spectators from the other hill can push us back on to the road. Fifteen Mallu men lifted the car out including two sitting on the boot for balance. We lost five minutes and

the lead. But that’s rallying – or so they say. At least

I have the consolation of earning my spurs leading from the front and pushing hard to stay ahead. Of course if I had been sensible and driven within my limits I’d have won my first rally but where’s the story in that?

My rallying story began early in 2010 when I realised that with a bit of tuition I could drift a car on a frozen lake and even pull off the Scandinavian flick. Soon after I noted that I wasn’t getting any younger and if I wanted to regale my grandkids with rallying tales now was the time.

My first rally was the tarmac event in Nashik where we went in with zero testing. And it’s not like we had no time – the rally was postponed by two months! Yet when the car reached, it had no stickers, and we didn’t have tyres (prompting desperate calls to Yokohama). When we did go testing at 6pm, the ECU blew. And that wasn’t all – my rally suit and helmets came at 4am and so we started our first rally in brand new rally kit and shoes (thank god the helmets fit) in a unfamiliar car. I was supposed to drive as Colin said: when in doubt flat-out.

30-29-28… When the stage marshal counted down the seconds for my first stage, I was an absolute nervous wreck, trembling with fear, excitement, anticipation. Will I make a fool of myself, muck up my reputation? 15-14-13… I pray. Nothing like fear, lots of fear, to make you remember god. 9-8-7… Concentrate! It’s my rally debut. My first special stage. 4-3-2…

And so began my first rally. The fastest I’ve driven on the road. Getting my brain re-wired to how fast a rally car can belt down a twisty bumpy mountain road (at least four times the pace of a road car!). Adjusting to

F e at u r eteam overdrive’s inrc season


screamed the late colin mcrae, ever so slightly manically, as he flipped, barrelled and rolled down yet another mountain, inspiring an entire generation to follow in his footsteps.sirish chandran counts himself as a follower

T e sTJaguar XF-S


Cat’swhiskersWords Martin Alva Photography Gaurav s Thombre

The Jaguar XF gets new whiskers in the formof a mighty diesel engine

I stopped by a fortune teller a few days back. Our conversation went something like this:

“Your heart rules your head.” “Maybe.” “You are very impulsive.”

“Maybe.” And so on. Then I left and soon forgot all about my encounter

with the mysterious woman who seemed to know more about me than I did myself. Of course I didn’t believe a word she said. It was not until I saw the Jaguar XF that I thought about my brief interlude with the lady seer. Maybe she was right. If I were using my head, I wouldn’t be so excited about driving the Jag. After all, it was just another test car, at least that’s what I kept telling myself. If I wasn’t impulsive, I wouldn’t have photographed the car with my mobile phone the mo-ment I saw it in the parking lot. I fairly leaped into the driver’s seat… and what a spin my first drive in the Jaguar proved to be. Big, expen-sive cars are business as usual at OVERDRIVE but I fear I’m gushing


2011AWARDS Photography Gaurav S Thombre

The oldest, most prestigious auto awards in India

have been announced. We salute the winners of

the CNBC-TV18 OVERDRIVE Awards 2011

C N B C - T V 18 OV E R DR I V E AwA R D S 2011

OVERDRIVE FEB 201198

2011AWARDS

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An everyday electric car Words Ray Hutton

The Chevrolet Volt is an expensive novelty – but it won’t leave you stranded

DR i v eCheVroleT VolT

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The motor business in Europe and North America is groaning under the hype surrounding electric cars. As the Nissan Leaf and Chevrolet Volt go on sale, encouraged by state rebates and the promise of minimal running costs as well as ultra-low emissions, you might think that the era of the international combustion engine is over and that the electric revolution has begun.

The truth is that, although most of the major manufacturers will launch electric cars over the next couple of years, even their most optimistic proponents only expect them to account for 10 per cent of all new cars sold. So there is still plenty of life in the piston engine.

The pure electric cars that are available – or about to become so – all have a problem with their batteries. The latest lithium-ion power batteries are more efficient at storing energy than the previous lead-acid, nickel-cadmium and nickel-metal hydride types but remain bulky, heavy and expensive.

More batteries give more range but weigh and cost more. Most manufacturers have settled for a nominal 160km range for a battery electric vehicle (BEV) as the best compro-mise in price and practicality.

Run out of charge and you are stranded. They call it ‘range anxiety’ and it is a real issue

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R i deharley-davidson forty-eight, iron and superlow


low riders Words Abhay Verma Photography S Bharath, Gautam dK

we check out the latest offerings from harley-davidson

Cruising at a steady 100kmph, I ride into the sunset on a lonely road, the thump of the V-twin between my legs quite audible despite George Thorogood

screaming ‘Bad To The Bone’ inside my hel-met. Dream come true? Actually, yes! As a matter of fact until a couple of years ago this could not have been possible. But when Har-ley-Davidson formally launched its entire line-up of motorcycles at the Auto Expo last year, I nearly had to pinch myself to believe it. I have always been inclined towards sporty motorcycles, but who wouldn’t want to

straddle a Harley-Davidson? I have ridden a lot of motorcycles during my tenure at OVERDRIVE. Heck of a lot. But I had to wait really long for a Harley. Reason? The an-nouncement of any new and exciting launch usually has the OVERDRIVE office up and about deciding who will be the lucky one. And in this case, Shumi was the first one to go for the Harley Boot Camp and then the ride to Jaipur a year back. But when Harley organised a week-long, 1000-kilometre tour across Raj-asthan and then, when the story fell to me, I was tingling with excitement.

Harleys have always enjoyed a special


Words Harriet Ridley

Superbike sensationThe new ZX-10R Kawasaki sets off the superbike class revolution

Kawasaki has launched its all-new ZX-10R Ninja with eye-watering power claims and a chassis packed with race technology. The bike takes

on the best in the superbike class – astonish-ingly no longer from Japan, but from Europe, with BMW’s S1000RR leading the way.

Kawasaki claims 200.1PS for its ZX-10R compared to BMW’s 190bhp. While manu-facturer spec sheets tend to be widely opti-mistic, BMW’s claimed figure translated to almost exactly that at the back wheel. And Kawasaki’s engineers appear confident their claimed figures will stand up on the dyno. As I write, no Kawasaki has yet been available

for independent dyno runs, but the riding experience appears to back up the claims...

The Ninja is blindingly fast. You better hang on tight as you whack open the throt-tle; the bike takes off like a rocket ship. The linear power delivery keeps coming from 4,000rpm, turning into a crazy rush of speed at 8,000rpm, then from 11,000rpm sending you into orbit with lightening speed.

The Ninja’s engine, a 998cc inline-four with two fuel injectors per cylinder, is com-pletely new and has been built to work with the chassis as well as produce tons of horse-power. The crankcase is specially positioned to optimise mass centralisation on the bike. To squeeze as much power as possible from

KawasaKi ZX-10R NiNjaR i de

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prius to lonart r av e lo g u e

Meteoric markThe Toyota Prius is a car striking enough to drive to a meteor-made lake at Lonar Words & photography Martin alva

A lot goes into planning a travelogue but the most important thing to keep in mind is the theme. Will the car match the profile of the

place I’m going to visit? That’s why the pre-vious two travelogues with the Toyota Land Cruiser Prado were a bit off-road in nature; it’s no fun endlessly driving a mighty SUV on the road. It has to taste dirt. Similarly, when the Toyota Prius was the car of choice for this travelogue, I had something epic in mind. The Prius is in every way an epic car. It is the world’s first standard production full

hybrid car developed entirely in-house by Toyota. It was available for sale when most of the other big car manufacturers didn’t even have a hybrid concept. It has sold over 12 lakh models worldwide. It has a five-star EuroNCAP safety rating. It has won numer-ous awards around the world including our green award for 2011. For a long time it was the most fuel efficient and environmentally friendly car in the world.

Though the Prius is well known around the world, it isn’t that familiar and identifi-able in India. Of course we petrolheads are familiar with the Prius but the general public

is a bit oblivious. The common folk gape and stare at the Prius and most wonder if it is the Etios. The futuristic and the bit uncon-ventional interiors of the Prius further add to the wonder. And finally, the price tag sends them into a tizzy.

So, I was on the look-out for a place with an epic yet a downplayed profile. Something that was remarkable but at the same time uncelebrated. Lonar, a small town with a big salt water lake was just that, the ideal desti-nation for me in the Prius. If the lake in the opening picture spread does not look ordi-nary, you are absolutely right. This lake is


motorsportF1 NEWS MOTOGP WRC INDIAN


Karthikeyan gets back on Formula 1 track

Words Abhay Verma

The dream of an Indian driving at the Indian GP and Narain’s dream of being the first driver to do it is going to come true

The World’s Fastest Indian is back in Formula One. Narain Karthikeyan will drive for the Hispania Racing Team, replacing Bruno Senna

probably, for the 2011 season. Which means that the dream of an Indian driving at the Indian GP and Narain’s dream of being the first driver to do it is going to come true. Backed by the Tata Group, 34-year-old Narain returns to F1 with considerable experience. He drove for Jordan in 2005 and for the next two years was the WilliamsF1 test driver. The new HRT principal Colin Kolles has known Karthikeyan since his F3 days and has been associated with Narain’s Le Mans adventure as well. An optimistic Narain said that HRT

has worked on the problems it faced in 2010 and the updated chassis will be a step or two ahead. WilliamsF1’s engine and gearbox supplier Cosworth will supply powertrain and hydraulics, the latter being one of the problems with HRT’s 2010 season. Being among the older drivers on the grid, he has upped his fitness regime. Karthikeyan is excited about the new circuit at Delhi, the gradient changes and expects spectator-friendly, spectacular racing. He had earlier done a simulator session with Force India F1 but ruled out the prospects of an Indian driver in an Indian team racing on Indian soil for the moment. Narain was the first Indian to score points in Formula One, and he hopes to continue where he left off.

Back on track


bootlidsimilar vehicle in your garage? write to us at [email protected]

You’ve come a long way, babyThe first Merc to be assembled in India, the W124 E220 CDI and the new W212 E350CDI, fender to fender

Mercedes ownership doesn’t come cheap – not unless you’re willing to look at a 16-year-old W124 E220 CDI, the first

Merc to be assembled in the country and the car on which Merc’s built-to-last forever reputation was built. I’ve probably said it be-fore but allow me to repeat myself, the W124 Merc is one of the few cars I haven’t stopped lusting after and when the chance came to drive Charusen Dave’s car I wasn’t going to let it by. Also having spent five months in the

new W212 E350CDI, the E-Class that has re-established Merc’s reputation that took a dip with the W210 and W211, it would give me a good opportunity to compare the two and see just how far Mercedes has moved the game on.

Entry is via – shock! – a key, no blipping key fob. And the dials are old school ana-logue units, though the dash is still pretty handsome and doesn’t feel cheap in any way. When I first sat in a W124 way back when I was in college stuff like power win-dows and power mirrors were things of won-

der, but today the switches, on the trans-mission tunnel behind the gear lever, feel archaic and quaint (though everything still works). Back then it came with an aftermar-ket Blaupunkt cassette player (swapped for a CD player here) but in-car audio has pro-gressed so much that today you won’t find that even in a taxi. But one thing that hasn’t changed is the position of the parking brake; depress the foot lever to the left of the clutch to engage, release a lever on the right to disengage (no handbrake turns on a Merc even 20 years ago). Even the position of the

ToTal Mileage 30275km DaTe acquireD July ’10 THiS MoNTH: Mileage 832km Fuel 203.2 litres eFFicieNcY 8.1kmpl

B e t t e r r i d i n g 212

g e a r & g a d g e t s 216

h e l p d e s k 218

c a r B u y e r s g u i d e 246

B i k e B u y e r s g u i d e 263

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mercedes-Benz e 350 cdi

Gear & GadgetsT h e c o o l e s t s t u f f t h e r e i s !

TAG Heuer 300 SLR Calibre 1887 Chronograph. The screw-in caseback features an engraved Mercedes-Benz 300 SLR and a limited edition number. This exclusive edition of only 3000 pieces is water-resistant up to 100 metres.Price ` 2.34 lakhwww.tagheuer.com


Bosch washing systemsThese Bosch cleaning systems enable one to wash and clean a car with far less effort and in much less time. Saves car wash expense as well. A fixed nozzle can be switched between fan spray, high pressure pencil jet and low pressure spray for rinsing. it also has an integrated detergent tank, self coiling electric cable and a nozzle hose. The maximum pressure produced is 130 bar. Aquatak 100 Plus ` 13,625-49,000boschindia.com

The GTX-555 is similar to the GT-X333 with all the features such as USB port, front aux-in for phones and iPods. other features are connectivity to subwoofers and amplifiers. This unit gets a Cd transport for those who still prefer compact

discs and do not mind paying ` 4,000 extra. Price ` 8,990www.jblaudio.com

GT-X333


The most anticipated game of the decade, GT5, has finally hit the overdrive game centre and it does not disappoint, much. But more of what isn’t so awesome later, first the mind numbing dynamics and gameplay. True to tradition Gran Turismo 5 delivers a tremendous punch to the gut, more than that in an F1 car. The graphic realism isn’t out of this world, its exactly like this world we drive in. And that is part of what makes GT5 addictive. The colours, lighting and detail are exquisite, as is the choice of cars. Tough luck is having to go through the entire game to lay your hands on the super exotics. Good luck is all the stuff both old and new you can do throughout the game.Gameplay strictly remains the same. You earn licenses, unlock cars, race. You then make progress as your skills improve to help achieve higher licenses. And of course let’s not forget money. The exotics you’d like to get

your hands on are expensive, so you are going to have to drive long and fast to collect enough cash to buy your stash.There are new features that will keep you busy for months, stuff like rallies, drift competitions and some others. But what’s also new is the opportunity to drive on Top Gear UK’s test track. Wanna be the next Stig, give it a go.What’s disappointing is the range of cars. it’s still limited and not as comprehensive as i expected though there are some surprises in there. What was i expecting? Well, the Nano to start with. And then of course there are also the circuit locations, which are restricted to a handful and then repeated every way possible. Yet it is the game we’ve been waiting a very long time for, game enough to finally buy ourselves a PS3.Price ` 2,500www.grand-tourismo.com

Gran Turismo 5

overdrive magazine february 2011 issue preview

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