January 2016 issue of OVERDRIVE on stands now

When it comes to New Year resolutions, Delhi leads the charge with its tall ambitions of starting out on a clean slate, quite literally. Its recent awakening to the pollution problem has spawned some interesting new regulations " the odd-even policy, the ban on diesel vehicles above 2000cc " OVERDRIVE gives you a full report ahead of the 15-day trial period in the capital.

After the reputation that the diesel SUVs have earned in the process, Mahindra too make an attempt at a fresh start " their first ever petrol engine, the mFalcon will be debuted in the upcoming KUV100 crossover. More details and analysis in our motoring news section this month.

Tata Motors’ New Year resolution seems to be to take the fight to the big players in the premium small car segment " do the Hyundai Grand i10 and Maruti Celerio have much to worry about with the Zica on the horizon? Bert gets you the low-down in a comprehensive first drive.

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Proposal to make 6 airbags mandatory in cars deferred by a year to October 1, 2023: Nitin Gadkari Uttar Pradesh: 1 killed, 2 injured in Bareilly as electric bus explodes during charging

Also all-new is Hero MotoCorp’s platform for their scooters " the first ride review of the Duet and Maestro Edge scoots told us they’re on to something. Ashok resolved to find out more and so was promptly sent off on a road test. Earlier this year, Ashok took the older Triumph Bonneville to freezing Ladakh. After that experience, he resolved to ride the new Bonneville when it came out. Guess who made good on that resolution ahead of the New Year itself!

Who pits a sportsbike against a cruiser in a single test? Apparently, Rishaad Mody. Why? We ask ‘why not?’ The Avenger and Gixxer SF may be different flavours but they’re both still motorcycle. And that’s a fresh, new way of look at both the machines. In another case of mix and match, we tried to think of a worthy contender for the new Mahindra Mojo - the proven KTM 200 Duke came to mind and Ashok got to test both for a slightly more traditional OD-style comparo.

Another revival attempt from General Motors comes with the new Chevrolet Trailblazer - but did it get our road test editor Halley’s heart ablaze? Read the drive story to find out. The Range Rover Evoque, though, has Halley convinced that there never may be a good time to buy a car like the Rangie - now that there’s a new model ahead of 2016 already. Didn’t they just update it? To help him clear his head, we sent him out stargazing to the clear skies under the Thar Desert - but not without a convoy of mammoth Mercedes-Benz SUVs. On the cutesy-er end of things, Rohit drove the uber-urban EcoSport along with the rustic TUV300 to demonstrate two very different interpretations of compact SUV. Rishaad also examined Honda’s new resolution to enter this burgeoning segment with the BR-V " Rishaad previewed the car in Thailand but has resolved to find out more about the India-spec model.

The new Mahindra XUV500 AT may not have had a change of heart but our features writer Rahul sure did - he drove it with the new automatic transmission and came back a different man. Again, you’ll have to read that drive story to find out how. But this wasn’t the end of the life-altering experiences for our newest recruit - if being the only Indian autoscribe covering the Rainforest Challenge Malaysia isn’t life-altering, then what is?

The first and most prestigious automotive awards of the season - the Indian Car/Motorcycle of the Year and the CNBC-TV18 OVERDRIVE Awards - honoured the best of the industry. We give you all the lowdown on the jury rounds, the judges, the winners and the ceremony. And hope that the recipients resolve to repeat the performance this New Year. We’ll be watching out for them at the Auto Expo 2016 - we’ve already listed out the cars, bikes and more to watch out for this year.

If you haven’t already thought of New Year Resolutions for yourself, then riding better is always a good one to start with - our resident motorcycle man, Shumi, gives you some great tips to keep in mind in 2016. And for the car-people, there’s the Can-Am rendition of the delicious McLaren 650S on our poster this month - do you need more reasons to go grab that copy now?