[vb-saan]

Of all the Indian auto shows, my favourites are the CNB show in NDTV and Autocar Show, especially those segments presented by Renuka and Hormazd.

With the other shows hosts - especially from odmag, zigwheels etc., I feel all of them talk in the same tone and get too monotonous. And I noticed that some of the segments in Timesdrive are heavily inspired from international shows like Fifth Gear!

Of the international bunch, my favourite is TG, followed by Fifth Gear. However, it would have been great if Ben Collins remain as the Stig. He, as a presenter was awful in some of the Fifth Gear episodes

And coming back to Indian auto shows, the guys from Kerala (or who understand Malayalam) have a huge advantage – that they enjoy the extremely funny (pun intended) auto shows in Malayalam channels. They often come with some hilarious comments, and one unique trait among all the reviewers is that they never say anything bad about any car they test. One show which is quite different from the pack is Flywheel. But at times I feel it gets into a bit of self-indulgence mode.

[Abhi_Automobile]

Nice topic.

I generally prefer the Autocar Show on Bloomberg TV. Closely followed by Car and Bike Show on NDTV. If I get free time and catch it by chance, I don't mind watching the Overdrive either.

I like Renuka's attention to detail. She tends to talk more about the 'meat' of the car rather than frivolous detail. She's fairly direct too. Doesn't mince words when she doesn't like anything. Also, Hormazd is well respected auto journo. So, it all helps. SVP is more of a details person. He likes to talk more on the design language etc. Generally, both of the shows are good in their own subtle ways.

The Hindi shows are run by a set of 'shameless' idiots. I used shameless since they don't feel ashamed by their own lack of knowledge. Best avoided at all cost.

[amitg79]

Among the Indian auto shows, I feel Siddarth Patankar's reviews are quite good.

One thing in common about all Indian auto shows is - Bad camera techniques. Why do they have to tilt and rotate the camera when they show a car? Literally can become a pain in the neck.

They have to take a leaf from Top Gear's book. Top Gear's camera techniques, editing etc really make you lust after the car being shown. Even if its a family hatch. Granted, our telly shows don't have a huge budget, but for a start, please keep the camera straight!

Off topic - In a reverse vein, I have also observed that Indian Auto magazines are way better than the ones abroad (I've seen the ones in the US).

[PPS]

I personally like watching Car & Bike show on NDTV and Autocar show. I make sure i watch all the auto shows on various channels on the weekend if i have the time. I like watching Shireen too on Overdrive.
On Zigwheels the tone with which Adil Darukhanawala speaks i find it as if he is boasting all the time!
But these crappy hindi auto shows can throw up surprises also like on one instance i remember a Blue Azure/Brooklands being featured on Top Speed.
The most hilarious show was the one on Star News many years back where the female presenter would wear a short skirt and the camera would zoom in onto her legs everytime she would talk about legroom in the car.

[venks]

Voted for SVP and CNB show all the way. I like his presentation and rendering.

[the VTEC guy]

Voted for Autocar.
Car and Bike is one man show. SVP becomes monotonous at times. And I feel they mostly cover Cars in detail. Bikes get very less coverage.
Autocar is bit balanced. More presenters is also welcome.

[S2!!!]

Voted for Overdrive CNBC Tv18.

Was a regular viewer of CNB show on NDTV but I do feel they focus on SVP more than the car. There were sooo many times I have said "show the damn car, cameraman!!!". And yes the reviews are way shorter than I like. He shows the exterior of the car (when we are seeing him actually cause of the cameraman) and he sits inside the car and in no time the review is done with.

Next comes Autocar which did have some reviews that got me confused. In many of their comparos they will find several things to criticize for car X and compliment car Y but yet in the end the verdict states- "as an overall package it definately has to be car X- that is our winner." So it is not as elaborate or as clear as it should be.

Zigwheel guys lack enthusiasm in their review and seem very bored whereas Times Now needs to get a little original (though I do like times drive too for the fun purpose).

Hence, I like Overdrive as the reviewers are good and most of the times have an honest and straightforward review (especially Sirish and Schumi).

I am surprised to see no mention of Living Cars- newsX. It seems promising from what I saw. Will reserve my judgement till I see a few more episodes.

[DicKy]

Voted for Car n Bike show. SVP shows the cars in much detail,that one feels like seeing it in person,
unlike the Autocar show where only the performance of the engine is given priority, not to get wrong Autocar magazine and Hormazd are my respected ones in the industry before Teambhp came to my life.
Sometimes i feel SVP gets a bit monotonous but he is way better than Autocar or Overdrive in presentation,some of the presenters can't even present properly.
And coming to mallu auto shows on TV,even if it's an Indica or a Merc for them, "It drives so smoothly that you don't feel like tired after travelling"!!!, with Flywheel being an exception though only high end cars and exotics are shown rather than ordinary cars.
In international Top gear wins hands down.

[girishglg]

Surely there is a lot of scope to improve for our Indian auto shows compared to their western version. Hope these precise comments keep reaching the presenters via their facebook/ twitter or their other social media contact points on a regular basis so that they come up with a better show in the year ahead.

[Nilesh5417]

I haven't watched Autocar much but been watching CNB & Overdrive. Though the content is pretty good in CNB, over the years, SVP has actually lost the plot in terms of anchoring. Sometimes i wonder if he really enjoys it or is doing it cause its his brand now and he hasn't found the next big thing. I find Shireen as just the doll face and Overdrive as lay mans car show. But i quite like the purposeful anchoring that Shirish brings to the show!

As for the Hindi versions, the less said the better!

[motorworks]

Voted for CNB @ NDTV, but I feel its got to go a long way to be one of the all time best auto shows. They cover a lot of international content, I remember SVP doing couple of episodes at Ferrari's hometown.
When Auto car was aired thru CNBC it was good too, now that it is being aired thru UTV bloomberg, { which I dont get in my tata sky}, I think it does not have the visibility that it had. Over drive is also not bad, they do good reviews of indian cars.

Top gear on BBC entertainment has become just entertainment rather than an automobile centric show. They hardly seem to review new cars, rather they are shown dping weird experiments, which may be interesting, but not something which you can call the best. Fifth gear in discovery turbo is a good alternative.

[sameern.85]

In my personal opinion, I think the Indian Auto Journalists can really present with a mix of humour and jokes in a way that reaches the audience.
Internationally, I am a bigg fan of TopGear, I also think fifth gear has done a great job thanks to Tiff Needle and his team. Mind you, Jason Plato is a driver at BTCC (British Touring Car Championship)
If you are a seriors driver, watch EVO magazine's Chris Harris (formerly at Autocar)
As far as Indian auto journalists are concerned, SVP is the best but cant really express his views metaphorically enough so that we get the message.
Simply put, international shows are based on infotainment (information + entertainment), most of the India shows just give us dull and drab BHP and Torque figures without knowing what exactly it means.
Sad..!

[amitku]

SVP and C&B on NDTV is very highly rated, however C&B does not cover Motorsport in a major way. On this front Times Drive and Overdrive give a more balanced coverage.

[bkbkr1212]

At present, CNB seems to be the better of the lot.
Times Drive(especially Joel) is one show where they show how a show shouldn't be :-)

[swiftdiesel]

I don't watch any of the Indian shows because they are so cliched and predictable. I've voted for "Any other" (read: Top Gear) for that reason. IMHO, Top Gear is worlds apart, and yes I know it's more of entertainment than technical details, but hey it ticks all my boxes! Sorry folks, nil votes for Indian shows from me.