[13x01] January 21st, 2008

[Mr. Nice]

I was actually going to stop posting on this site because I get offended easily and can't take any criticism... That said, if you don't watch car shows for the cars, don't watch Fifth Gear. Also, if you just plain don't like Fifth Gear, DON'T WATCH IT. It's stupid to subject yourself to a show you find to be so distasteful.

[pepitko]

I quite liked it, it wasn't brilliant but it wasn't bad either and I don't agree that it was just average.
I liked the cinematography in the Caterham - Lotus shootout. It is good IMO that the shootouts at Anglesey (sorry if I'm spelling it wrong) are back, it looks that 5G are comfortable here.
Merc Black Series was cool, its definitely not worth the extra 30 grand in my view.. BTW what was the red light blinking on the dashboard all the time? Traction control in a track merc ??

Room to improve? I am not sure about the "is it new or is it any good"... I like them putting in more info, but they should focus on something important that destinguises the cars rather then just spelling out 0-60 times...

[JCTK]

Originally Posted by awdrifter

The C-Crosser is just a Mitsubishi Outlander under the skin, I was actually kinda surprised it did so well off-roading.

is it just me or did they really didn't said a single word about the Citroen and the Mitsu is exactly the same car with different styling...

the opening Johnny did sounds like they're suggesting Citroen designed the whole thing...

[manithemoneyman]

digustingly boring... only thing I liked was how relatively cheap the Lotus was and how it could do a 4 sec 0-60 time.

And that Merc in the auction was just mesmerizing

[Mark355]

Average ep. Best part was Tom's bit.

[Handonam]

not vicky's tits?

[Aston Martin]

Their camera work in the cafe is still shocking, why the fuck film it from behind a pepper pot?

[crashmaxx]

I liked it overall, it was above average for Fifth Gear and compared to most TV shows. But there is still a lot of room for improvement.

I loved the shootout! It was my favorite part and very nice to see one so hardcore. But it could have been a little longer and Vicki could have made it a little more entertaining. I mean the roof almost comes off and the door blows open, yet she barely had anything to say. Talk about a missed opportunity.

The "its new but is it any good" thing at least had them drive the cars now, but was still useless and boring. Maybe if they had some more colorful comments it would be worth watching. The BLS was certainly enough of and overpriced joke to inspire some ribbing at it.

The auction was pretty boring and dumb for me. It was like "here is some rich jerk's collection of silly cars that he doesn't even car to talk about for sale" I just couldn't see the point in it. Was the auction for charity, or why is he selling his cars? Wasn't terrible, but it really needed some more substance.

I guess Plato's hands are still burnt from the gloves we was wearing. Maybe it was just me, but it looked like he was trying to cover the burn marks on his hands. The review was good, but could have been longer and more detailed for sure. I also didn't really get a sense that he was having fun with the car or if it annoyed him. His conclusion was dead on, it sounds like and improvement, but still no match for a 911, and not worth the extra $30k.

I like Johnny and his comparison had some fun to it. I lol'd when the peasants got in. But as it went on, it just got boring. He needed to be a lot harsher with the cars and have some more interesting challenges. Would have been nice to at least see some eggs break.

I liked the celebrity bit for once, but it did go on too long. I would have preferred something sillier and madder then the knife and cucumber, like a katana and a vegetable with some relevance to the segment.

The used TT thing was pretty good. Useful and informative, and nice to hear you can get them in such good shape for such a nice price. Although they failed to mention that it is really a hairdresser's car and not really a sports car like the new TT is. There is some really genuinely good reason to get a new TT over an old one.

I wish they would just ditch the damn cafe. It is much dumber then the old office scenes and those were dumb. Especially the retard cam and only having Vicki and Ford there. They really would be just better off putting the little bit of info they offer in the cafe into the films themselves and just showing films end to end.

[edkwon]

Originally Posted by Shawn

I'm sorry, but I wholeheartedly disagree. The only reason Fifth Gear has survived 13 series against the new Top Gear is because of the informational reviews they do.

Top Gear is all about awesome challenges and stunts, and they're good at it. Fifth Gear tried copying them and becoming more of an entertainment program, and it failed miserably. Now they're going back to doing less entertainment and more sensible car stuff, and that's the only reason anyone would watch FG while TG is still around.

agreed, ppl are missing the point that TG has strayed from the mission of straight car reviews of all varieties of cars, at the expense of more entertainment. So yes TG is more fun to watch, definitely, but FG is doing a good job of just reviewing the latest cars that i want to hear about, and in greater volume. The show backing off from copycat TG-like segments is a move in the right direction IMHO.

[smtk]

I liked it. They dumped the nonsense cafe bits in favour of useful car info.

Little or no filler and hardly any flat spots. Just good old cars and tyres.

[NooDle]

Well it was certainly different from other episodes... Me no likey this one. I gave it 5


Lotus V Caterham
Good segment, but the result was known in advance. It wasn't really a fair race. Caterham looked shit because the doors were opening...

Laguna v Cadillac
Super lame. We didn't learn anything more by seeing them drive the cars. this whole bit about "its new but is it any good" could go... too short and not informative

Citroen v 2CV
This looked like a great idea in the beginning but ended up half heartedly. I expected the 2CV to be atleast competetive...
No real insight on what the C crosser is to drive either...

Bernie Cars
It's Bernie. getting even richer. Nuff said. They should skip these auction thingies unless they actually buy something

Plato CLK
Me likey. Too much smoke and such, but a real review. The good and the bad.

Chef in M5
I don't usually care for these "celebrity" segments, but this one was OK. Did go on for a bit too long, and they should have known that it would take ages for a regular driver to do the cucumber slice thing...

I liked the second hand car bit about the TT. They should do more of those...

[4G92Lancer]

I can't believe none of you have mentioned the blood on the front of the Merc!

About 29:15 as I make it...

[Shawn]

^ They were probably going too fast to notice...

[Prost264]

You're probably the only one who didn't skip that part..

[4G92Lancer]

Originally Posted by Prost264

You're probably the only one who didn't skip that part..

Damn Fifth Gear haters

Typical though, blood sprayed on the front of a car - no interest. Vicki shows a tiny bit of clevage - whole thread...

[Prost264]

No I'm really a fan of Fifth Gear- but fans are the most critical.

[Dumah Brazorf]

A post only to say
"Welcome back, it's a joy to see you're perfectly healed, Jason"

[CrazyRussian540]

This is probably the first full episode of FG I've ever watched, so I was extra picky.

One thing I'd like to say about the Audi TT segment.

When he was talking about the dash, and the digital displays, he mentioned that the only way to repair that is to replace the whole dash (for 900 quid). Although this is what most Audi dealers will tell you, it infact isn't true (I was quoted from $500-$1200 at 3 different dealers). I replaced all the LEDs and displays on my Audi dash for a total of $30, and about 2hours of my time. Most shops can do it for about $200.

Also when he was talking about the cam belt. I don't know about the TT, but when my A6's belt tensioner failed, the engine seized up before the valves could have a change to destroy the pistons, and mangle the rest of the engine. I'd assume the newer TT would do something similar. It was annoying to fix, but still way cheaper than the 500 quid ($1000ish).

That was a fun time.

[edkwon]

Figured out the name of that chef: Heston Blumenthal

heres a clip of one of his shows, he's kind of like the British version of Alton Brown, giving a science oriented approach to his cooking:

+ YouTube Video