It is almost impossible to get hold of our long-term Skoda Slavia’s key, which Shapur has been clinging onto ever since it arrived in the Autocar India fleet. It isn’t hard to see why, though – the combination of 150hp turbo petrol and dual-clutch transmission, along with the very European driving dynamics, make it a hoot to drive. Luckily for me, his packed schedule with back-to-back travel for all the special stories for our (previous) 300th issue and (this) anniversary issue resulted in the Slavia being left uncommissioned in one of the corners of our office parking lot. And with a full tank of fuel, too!

Straight up, finding an ideal driving position is a breeze thanks to the electric driver’s seat controls and multiple steering adjustments. And I can’t applaud the 10-inch touchscreen’s seamless connectivity enough, especially with wireless Android Auto. Also, while the sound system isn’t branded, the quality is impressive, with clear vocals and strong bass. 

Enough has been said by Shapur about its strong 150hp 1.5 TSI turbo-petrol engine. So I won’t repeat it. It is quick, and the mid-range pull is strong, but because of its linear nature, I miss the drama of yesteryear’s turbo-petrol mills, wherein turbo lag was followed by manic boost; those had a charm of their own. Also, at high revs, the 1.5 TSI sounds quite boomy. 

The seven-speed dual-clutch isn’t very smooth in stop-go traffic either. It makes the car lurch ahead while rolling off from a standstill. While decelerating, the downshifts occasionally feel jerky. The overenthusiastic auto stop-start system kicks in even before the car comes to a full halt, which gets very annoying at crawling speeds. Finally, enthusiasts who want to unlock more out of this engine will be disappointed as most tuners haven’t been able to crack its ECU.

One evening, I drove the Slavia at my docile best and tried to induce its cylinder deactivation technology as often as possible. It was a smooth-flowing 22-minute journey from office to home, with the usual traffic signals and auto stop-start feature doing its thing, and the best I managed to achieve was 13kpl as per the instrument cluster display, which is quite accurate. But bring in bumper-to-bumper traffic and high ambient temperatures into the mix, and after just a few minutes of idling, like any other turbo-petrol car, fuel efficiency nosedives to single digits – which is what we’ve been averaging to date.

After spending a couple of weeks with the Slavia, I revisited our road test and can relate to every little detail mentioned, especially this statement, which summarises my experience perfectly: “The Slavia is so good, it is one of the most rounded offerings in the segment, and with its practical yet fun-to-drive nature, this sedan has got serious potential to sway SUV buyers in its direction.”

Also see: 

Skoda Slavia DSG long term review, 5,700km report

2022 Skoda Slavia review, road test

At a special pop-up in Marriott Hyderabad, Chef Robert brought flavours from his hometown Tangra in Kolkata

Kainaz Messman of Theobroma talks about the learnings of traditional food from the food collaboration in Singapore

The siblings helming the new CakeWalk cafe hope to give us a taste of the memories associated with their legacy bakery, which was once among the city’s favourite date spots in the Nineties

Moplah’s is a product of this nostalgia. Its name itself is a tribute to the restaurateur, Venu Nambiar’s neighbours at his ancestral home

The Navratri thali evolved in the 1970s, reflecting changing cultural trends and diversifying across India. Today, it’s adapting to urban dining preferences with restaurants offering inventive options

Celebrate the flavours of heritage rice this Deepavali with an inventive range of traditional sweets and savoury snacks that encourage farmers and customers to explore native grains 

Popular wedding caterers are setting up kitchens for Deepavali, enabling customers to try, buy and post traditional sweets. We travel to each festive outpost, sampling the coffee and ladoos

Convenient, affordable and prepared in home kitchens, gravy carts or kulambu kadais in Chennai offer a variety of dishes, with the option of customisations and even customisation is possible. These vendors serve authentic Tamil Nadu flavours and generally functions in busy localities for limited hours. As the rates are pocket-friend, they have a good patronage in the neighbourhoods they operate.

Palooda and Paalum Pazhavum are just two of the many traditional drinks that are served for Iftar

1. Last Supermoon Of 2024 Emerges This Week—Here’s What To Know About The ‘Beaver’ Moon  Forbes
2. November supermoon will rise this week, and here's why it's so special  NBC Chicago
3. The Next Full Moon Will Be the Last of Four Consecutive Supermoons  Science@NASA
4. Beaver Moon 2024: See the final 'supermoon' of the year rise next to the 'Seven Sisters'  Livescience.com
5. Be sure to catch this week's full supermoon, the last one for a year  MLive.com

Pythons Have Surprising Social Lives  The New York Times

1. iOS 18.2 public beta 2 now available, here’s everything new  9to5Mac
2. iOS 18.2 makes AirPods more powerful than ever, here’s why  9to5Mac
3. Apple Likely Planning to Release iOS 18.2 on December 9  MacRumors
4. iOS 18.2 Public Beta 2 Upgrades Find My and Brings More AI to Some iPhones  CNET
5. iOS 18.2 beta 3: 4 Apple Intelligence features you can test now  Mashable

1. Israel's West Bank settlers hope Trump's return will pave the way for major settlement expansion  ABC News
2. Ex-Trump aides warn Israeli ministers not to assume he’ll back annexation in 2nd term  The Times of Israel
3. This Is How Netanyahu Will Annex the West Bank  Haaretz
4. Eyeing Trump support, Israeli minister pushes for West Bank settlement annexation  CNN

Bengaluru’s rental housing market saw an average price correction of 5-10% during the April-June quarter of the current calendar year, according to local brokers who spoke with HT.com. This news should cheer up tenants in the city. The primary reasons … Continue reading →

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Paul Sawers, TechCrunch, Nov 13, 2024

According to this article, "Meta has launched a new partnership with a slew of universities in the U.S. and U.K., as it looks to ingrain VR across the education system." I guess it's a big deal (per Mixed, Upload, Social Media Today, Technopedia, ReadWrite, etc etc) but it's hard for me to stifle a yawn. It's not simply that I was here for the Second Life hype, it's that their product is a "digital twin" of the university - "environments that directly replicate their real-world campus counterparts" - the least imaginative use of any media ever. I think there's a lot of room for VR in education, but this announcement isn't it.

Government Computer News reports that the Navy is building a business case for using weblogs for project management. Enterprise blogging software by Traction Software, Inc. called TeamPage was selected for evaluation for being one of the first weblog systems designed for business use.

Salt Lake City and 17 other Utah cities are planning to construct the largest ultrahigh-speed data network in the country using fiber optic cables. The project to complete a direct fiber optic connection to homes is considered by The New York Times as one of the most ambitious of its type in the world.

The Award for Best Government Website went to www.govt.nz at the 2003 NetGuide Awards in Auckland on November 14. New Zealand's State Service Commission�s E-government Unit develops the portal and has authored a RSS standard for press releases and event-related content published by government agencies.

Read to the end to see a baby penguin who, for some reason, has the energy of a 58-year-old mob boss. In today’s edition: Hello to everyone in Portland posting selfies with folks IRL that they’ve worked/gossiped with on Slack for ages.???? Etch, please! Kevin Geary attempts to stir up FOMO with his big, bold […]

Read to the end to see a Halloween costume that’ll make you break down into the giggles. In today’s edition: Quoth the fake plugin malware, “Aw, Snap!” The Monster’s Award party has begun, and it’s gonna be a graveyard smash. Some practical tips for hunting zombie pages on your WordPress site. Hot Off The Presses: […]

I can’t say how well Toyota will be able to change course in years to come when the company realizes that it’s really time to switch to electric vehicles (BEVs). What I can say is that I’m a bit shocked the company is still dragging its feet to such an ... [continued]

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Steve Hanley wrote a great article about some nonsense lobbying Toyota is already engaged in following the results of the US election. I found Toyota’s complaining to be insidious, ridiculous, and laughable, so I decided I’d follow up on Steve’s piece with a quick op-ed of my own. For some ... [continued]

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WordPress powers over 40% of all websites on the internet and one of its greatest strengths is its extensibility through plugins. Choosing the right plugins is an easy (and often free) way to enhance your site’s functionality, security, and performance. Here are three essential plugins that every WordPress site should consider. Yoast SEO Yoast SEO […]

Taking amazing photos when you’re exploring the world on your own isn’t an easy task, but having the right tools can help you get there. Here are three amazing photography gadgets every solo traveler can buy without spending a fortune because they come with a low price tag. Bluetooth Shutter Bluetooth shutter barely costs any […]

JavaScript is a requisite and a crucial part for developing WebPages and Websites whether it be a professional website or a simple page or whether you are  an experienced developer or a naïve person JavaScript is a must for Web Development. In this day and age , JavaScript Framework have become extra specialized and powerful …

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As more businesses move to the cloud, they are becoming increasingly vulnerable to cloud network security threats. Here are the top three threats and how to avoid them: Data breaches One of the most common and devastating cloud security threats is data breaches. These can occur when hackers gain access to a company’s cloud-based data, …

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Fully updated to reflect modern developments in the field, the Fifth Edition of An Introduction to Optimization fills the need for an accessible, yet rigorous, introduction to optimization theory and methods, featuring innovative coverage and a straightforward approach. The book begins with a review of basic definitions and notations while also providing the related fundamental background of linear algebra, geometry, and calculus. With this foundation, the authors explore the essential topics of unconstrained optimization problems, linear programming problems, and nonlinear constrained optimization. In addition, the book includes an introduction to artificial neural networks, convex optimization, multi-objective optimization, and applications of optimization in… [Continue Reading]

A couple of weeks ago, Google announced the new features for travel search ads through integration with travel feeds. These may now be out in the wild, as we are seeing pricing and other rich markup showing up for hotel ads in Google Search.

Lluc B. Penycate posted some examples and screenshots on X of these out in the wild. He wrote, "I think we are seeing the new Google Hotel Ads format announced last week(s) which integrates rooms, prices and availability."

Here are those screenshots:

Google wrote a couple of weeks ago, "all hotel advertisers can now showcase feed data, such as hotels, prices, dates, ratings and images, in this ad format" and then shared some mock examples of those ads. But these look like them in real life.

Forum discussion at X.