Top Gear trio with Autocar India Editor

The iconic BBC car show Top Gear is filming its Christmas special episode on Indian soil with the star cast currently in Mumbai.

The show’s stars which include Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond, James May and the Stig are in Mumbai and have been snapped driving around Mumbai by a Team-Bhp member. The trio are driving imported British cars; a Vintage Rolls Royce, a Jaguar and a Mini. The show is expected to have then drive across Indian cities and highways with a particular theme, just like previous special episodes. They are expected to be in Delhi by the end of the week.

Hammond and May in Mumbai

Jeremy Clarkson in Mumbai

Congestion charge coming to Delhi

Delhi may soon become India’s first city to levy a congestion charge if a recommendation by a special task force is to be implemented.

The concept of congestion charge is not new and international cities like London have successfully implemented such a scheme to reduce vehicular traffic in crowded areas.  If implemented, private cars would have to pay a congestion fee to drive in selected zones or to enter the city. The exact details of the zones for which the congestion fee would be levied and the amount have not yet been decided.
With this move more commuters will be forced to use public transport in the city. Delhi has more vehicles than Mumbai, Bangalore and Kolkata combined and the average vehicular speed has dropped to under 15kph.

Dinesh's winning entry with his Lancer

J. Dinesh Kumar, a car & bike racer from Chennai has won IndiMoto’s inaugural ‘Fan of the Month’ contest.

On the 1^st of January 2011 we kicked off a new contest for fans of our Facebook page. Called ‘Fan of the Month’ the contest had fans submitting photo entries of themselves with their cars & bikes. The winner was chosen based on the number of ‘Likes’ a fan’s image got which was an indication of its popularity.

The maximum number of ‘Likes’ were received by Dinesh’s photo which has him posing with his thoroughly modified Mitsubishi Lancer. Dinesh is a mechanical engineer and runs a user car dealership in Chennai. He is an avid follower of IndiMoto’s blog and the Facebook community.

This is what he had to say after winning “I love Indimoto because of its updated information service and the admin who is the main reason for its peak power achievement. Congrats to INDIMOTO and I am proud to be a part of India”s Leading Auto Enthusiast community.”

As IndiMoto’s Fan of the Month, Dinesh’s photo entry will feature on IndiMoto’s fan page for all of February after which it will be replaced by a new winner. So get famous and be featured on India’s largest auto enthusiast community. Mail your photo entries (of you with your car/bike) to fan@indimoto.com now!

BMW X1 is Indimoto Most Liked Car of the Year 2011

BMW’s recently launched X1 has bagged India’s first social car of the year award – IndiMoto Most ‘Liked’ Car of the Year 2011.

The compact SUV was voted as the winner by our 65,000+ auto enthusiast community on Facebook (www.facebook.com/indimoto). The enthusiasts casted their votes by simply clicking on the ‘Like’ button of their favourite car’s image. The car which received the maximum ‘Likes’ won, in this case the BMW X1. The BMW 5 Series finished a close second, losing out on the top splot by just one vote. The Mahindra Thar finished third.

IndiMoto.com’s Facebook community which was launched in July 2010 with the aim of becoming a social platform for auto aficionados has rapidly grown to become India’s largest, bigger than well established ones like Autocar, Overdrive, Team BHP, etc. IndiMoto.com’s community is currently adding over 1,000 fans per day and has already become Asia’s largest auto enthusiast community.

The 12 models which were included in the IndiMoto Most ‘Liked’ Car of the Year 2011 Award in order of the number of ‘Likes’ they received are as follows:

1. BMW X1                      (263 ‘Likes’)

2. BMW 5 Series              (262 ‘Likes’)

3. Mahindra Thar             (85 ‘Likes’)

4. Volkswagen Vento       (73 ‘Likes’)

5. Volkswagen Polo         (67 ‘Likes’)

6. Skoda Yeti                  (56 ‘Likes’)

7. Chevrolet Beat           (49 ‘Likes’)

8. Tata Aria                     (45 ‘Likes’)

9. Nissan Micra               (44 ‘Likes’)

10. Toyota Etios              (40 ‘Likes’)

11. Ford Figo                  (35 ‘Likes’)

12. Maruti-Suzuki Wagon R (15 ‘Likes’)

Only cars which are built or assembled in India and were launched during 2010 were nominated by IndiMoto.

Indimoto Most Liked Car of the Year 2011

Indimoto is proud to launch India’s first social car of the year award where over 17 million Indians on Facebook can vote for their favourite car  by simply ‘Like’-ing it on Indimoto’s Facebook page.

In this day and age when social media is a part of almost every netizens life and more than 17 million Indians are there on Facebook, we felt the need for such an award. All locally built or assembled cars which were launched during 2010 feature on the list including the BMW X1, new BMW 5 Series, Ford’s Figo, Chevy’s Beat, VW’s Polo & Vento and many more. In all there are 12 cars & SUVs vying for the honour of being named the Most ‘Liked’ Car of the Year 2011.

THE CAR WHICH GETS THE MOST ‘LIKES’ TILL 16TH JANUARY 2011, WINS! To make your favourite car win just go to the album on Indimoto’s Facebook page and ‘Like’ the car’s photo.

New Year resolutions for car owners

With 2010 coming to an end we have jotted down some New Year resolutions for 2011 aimed at the Indian car owner. Follow one or more of these and make our roads a safer and nicer place.

1. I will control road rage – Increasing traffic and decreasing traffic sense makes all of us go berserk at times but controlling road rage is the key to a more harmonious city. Jerks abound on our roads but let us not become one of them in 2011.

2. I will not honk excessively – The horn is the second accelerator in India but you can actually drive without it. Just try it in 2011 and the roads will be a quieter and nicer place.

3. I will not litter – How many times have you rolled down your car’s window and chucked out that wrapper or spit? The roads are made with our collective tax money so treat them like they were yours. Plus littering makes you look like a jerk to fellow motorists.

4. I will follow traffic rules – We understand its rather difficult to follow traffic rules when everyone around you are flouting them but then that’s what keeps you from being a jerk yourself.

5. I will get my car serviced regularly – With time in short supply, quite often the poor car becomes subject to irregular servicing which adversely affects its performance and life. Stick to your car’s maintenance schedule in 2011.

6. I will not drive drunk – This is hazardous and 2011 should be the year when you decide to never drive in an inebriated state. Take up this resolution and hire a cab to take you home after your New Year celebrations.

7. I will drive less – That’s the key to saving fuel, reducing pollution, traffic and saving on your car’s wear and tear. So cut out the unnecessary trips and keep your car’s mileage to the minimum in 2011. You could also get into a carpool for free via www.indimoto.com.

So how many are you aiming for?

Avis Female Chauffeur Service

Car rental company Avis is piloting a unique female chauffeur service in Mumbai. This is the first time that a major car rental company has started a female chauffeur service in India. The service is expected to find favour with single female travellers will feel more comfortable with another woman at the wheel.

Female chauffeurs have been appointed by Avis to ferry the guests of Mumbai’s Oberoi hotel in spanking new BMW 5 Series sedans. The lady chauffeurs are between 25-53 years of age and are all fluent in English. The Avis will see the reaction to this service and then roll it out in other parts of the country.

Videocon's Ducati V6200 phone

Ducati has launched a new mobile phone in India in association with Videocon Mobiles. Called the V6200 this Ducati is a sporty and rugged phone aimed at auto enthusiasts.

The Videocon Ducati V6200 comes packed with advanced outdoor technology including GPS, thermometer, barometer, altimeter, digital compass and torch which would be useful to adventure lovers. The phone comes pre-loaded with MayMyIndia maps with lifetime validity. It is priced at MRP of Rs. 11,995.

Hyosung GT650R

Korea’s Hyosung has tied-up with India’s Garware group to establish an assembly plant for its bikes at Wai in Maharashtra.

The company has also launched the Hyosung GT650R sports bike and the ST7 cruiser in India. While bookings open shortly, deliveries will commence in the first quarter of 2011. The 650cc GT650R will be available in two variants; faired and naked and will be priced around Rs. 5 lakh. The 680cc ST7 will set buyers back by a whopping Rs. 6.5 lakh.

We are assuming that these prices are for the imported bikes and locally assembled ones should be cheaper because of lower duties and tariffs.

Video games make safer drivers?

According to a new study by the University of Rochester playing action themed video games improves a person’s driving ability.

The study made two groups of 18-15 year olds, one which played slow paced video games while the other was put on a diet of fast paced action games like Call of Duty 2 and Unreal Tournament. It was found that the group which played the racy action games made faster decision by up to 25 percent as compared to the other group. The difference would probably be even higher when compared to those who do not play video games at all.

The study’s author Daphne Bavalier suggests that playing action video games and specially driving games helps make safer drivers as it improves a person’s reaction time and ability.