[13x02] January 28th, 2008

[Viper007Bond]

http://www.finalgear.com/shows/fifthgear/13/2/

[Redliner]

Wow....I can't believe I am going to be the first to comment...anyway:
I think it's better than the previous one.
No celebrities (yay!).
The M3 x C63 AMG was nice, but the result was obvious, since we already saw it on Top Gear. The footage was epic Great scene when Tiff slides by in front of Jason
The Landcruiser review was interesting.
Vicky and the stunt was ALMOST too long, but not enough to bore me.
And a strange thing happened: I felt more excited about the Clio 197 and the Mazda 2 than about the M3 or the C63 AMG . Maybe it's because the chances of actually having one is much higher....(not really. Sporty Clios, or any hot hatches for that matter, are ever offered in Brazil and Mazda doesn't even sell cars here).
It was good, I give it an 8.

[Wizegui]

Probably the best Fifth Gear episode to date. Definitely worth watching. 9/10.

[Viper007Bond]

Originally Posted by Wizegui

Probably the best Fifth Gear episode to date. Definitely worth watching. 9/10.

Figures the good one we can't get a rip of that we can use.

[awdrifter]

Pretty good ep. The Clio 197 vs the dune buggy was surprising to me, the buggy has a lot better power to weight ratio, but I guess it's geared low for off-roading instead of track.

M3 vs C63, it's pretty much what I expected. The C63 has more power, but the M3handles better, no surprises there.

Mazda 2, I looked up the weight of the car, 2100lbs, that's pretty impressive for a 4 seater. I wonder if the engine bay is big enough to accept the MazdaSpeed 3's 2.3L turbo, if it can, it'll make a great tuner car.

Vicki's crash, it's too long. Cut it down by half and make the M3 vs C63 part longer.

[Austere]

I didn't think it was very good, overall, but it had its moments.

The shootout was very good even just purely from the fact that Vicki used the phrase "inside me" but it also had the benefit of being truly interesting. I thought it was obvious which car would win but I was completely wrong. By over 4 seconds at that.

The "It's new but is it any good" segment is better now that they drive the cars but it's still not terribly interesting. Tom makes a point of saying that the engine in the Vauxhall loves to be revved but he didn't rev it! Drop it down a cog or two and let us hear it to see if it's any good you blithering idiot!

The Landcruiser review was dull. It wasn't bad and it was certainly informative but it was still very dull.

The thing with the Mazda wasn't the least bit interesting. I'm sure that some people don't know about the disadvantages of increased weight but do those people care? Do they watch Fifth Gear? Anyway, they proved the point with the acceleration test so there wasn't any need for the slalom test or braking test. I skipped the whole ending of this segment.

The test with the BMW and the Mercedes was the usual power sliding dressed up as a review. It was still fun tho, obviously. The more I see of that Benz the more I loath it. I thought it was a good car that I personally don't like but now I'm finding out that it's not even a good car. The only thing I like about Mercedes-Benz these days is the fact that they keep all my spare parts in a nice air-conditioned warehouse...

Toms wife and kids with the diesel segment thing probably won't pan out. The day-to-day activities of a regular person who doesn't have the charisma to be on TV coupled with the boredom and tedium of fuel economy and diesels and all that... I don't look forward to it.

The last quarter of the show is just another stupid stunt with a car rolling over. I didn't watch it. I thought they scrapped this sort of segment...


I feel like i've forgotten something... Ah yes - the bit with the second-hand Boxter! I like this bit because it's important to have information on older cars if you're buying second hand. I think if they dropped the "It's new but is it any good" segment they could spend a bit more time talking about older cars and their common faults. It might not be very interesting for people like us (people who watch the show just for fun) but I think a lot of people would get a lot out of it.

[kekekeke]

Originally Posted by Viper007Bond

Figures the good one we can't get a rip of that we can use.

If you want to watch the clips then check the video offers forum. You can get a rip from thebox.

[Koppel]

Actually really liked it. Much better than the first episode of the season.
Didn't quite get why Toms family had to show up and don't even care.
In the M3 vs. C63 segment I really cheered for the M3 and was happy to see that its what I expected - power and balance, a precision tool from germany.

Since I'm into movie making I enjoyed the crash and its editing aswell.

9/10 - Fift Gear as it should be!

[Prez]

much better than last week. No celebretys

Clio vs R180 shootout - suprising result, but nothing special. And i don't like Vicky.
Colt vs Tigra - it was ok
Landcruiser V8 - i liked, Tom did a good job.
Mazda 2 - enterteining & informative. Good job from Johnny, last week was a disaster.
Used Porsche Boxter S review - didn't they give this same model to somebody in their competiton all ready? And now again.
C63 vs M3 - TG all ready tested them!! So nothing new. C63 is pointless on a track.
VW Polo Bluemotion 71mpg - Toms wife is going to test that out in the near future. Quite interesting.
Vicky and car stunt - booooring, and too long. Havent they done it all ready? Or was it TG? They did a world record or something like that

[Handonam]

you know, i think i kind of understand the reason for the "it's new but is it any good" segments. They don't waste too much time during that part of the segment as opposed to how they used to review worthless cars in earlier seasons, which take up more time. Most of the useless cars i'm talking about are cars that seem economical and unentertaining to some of us.

So basically, these cars aren't getting the fancy segments. I think that's fine by me. It helps to prevent jason and tiff from having to do that crap haha


viper, did you check youtorrent/isohunt for this ep?

[Sony]

Meh, nothing special.
Vicki's shootout was boring and pointless in my opinion, plus it had Vicki, being fake (sorry but thats how i see it) and again (and again and again) trying too hard. I read that shes down to earth, kewl girl in real life. Why cannot we see that in the show.

Tom is quite good, tho I would prefer more to the point testing (how for example diff locks actually work (visibly not technical mumbojumbo), or how this suspension works in reality,... when I watched a test for Tuareg somewhere they showed how off/on difflock for example makes a difference in real life). Other than that, a good enough test. But still, fifth gear tries too hard with filmography and flashy Top Gear takes and zooms and whatnot yet it lacks originality and authenticity in presentation. Sometimes it just feels like such a rip off of everything.

Mazda, not bad, I like Johny, pretty interesting test. Though Id prefer if the test were like at least 70% more serious road test and 30% or less of reviewing the car through these entertaining bits.

Boxter segment. These segments are brilliant. Very usefull and informative, nicely presented.

Jason and Tiff. Whats up with "but he can only try once" . Stupid. Are they reviewing the cars or testing their driving skills ? And whats up with all the drifting. They test which is better in that manner and then they drift half the time in the shootout. First do a proper test, then do all the silly things

Last part.. skipped, didnt see the point

[Rapier]

Quite good, but the mazda 2/weight test where awful.

Accelerating is quite okay, but a heavier corsa or something will not have 200kg more that high up in the car, and it would most likely have bigger brakes and better suspension(that's one of the reasons the car is heavier in the first place). A dutch magazine compare the mazda to the corsa and yaris. And the cars have very similar braking distances and slalom times.

70-0 in only 25 Meters, no way. No normal car can do that, porsche 911 are known to excel at this but only barely get in the low thirtys from 62mph (like 33 using the ceramic brakes)
to do it in 25m from 70, you would need something like a WTCC car on warmed up slicks and brakes.

The car-stunt was identical to the Top-gear one from years ago, why do they continue to copy. There must have been something else they could do.

[Sony]

Originally Posted by Rapier

70-0 in only 25 Meters, no way. No normal car can do that, porsche 911 are known to excel at this but only barely get in the low thirtys from 62mph (like 33 using the ceramic brakes)
to do it in 25m from 70, you would need something like a WTCC car on warmed up slicks and brakes.

.

Good point. I think Johny meant 70kph (also the dashboard camera shows the car slowing down from 70khp not mph) but the woman narrator said mph for some reason.

[M3_Powered]

I'd give it a solid 8/10. I preferred it to last weeks episode. I really liked the M3 vs C63 segment of course. The M3 will always be king.

[4G92Lancer]

Originally Posted by Sony

...but the woman narrator said mph for some reason.

Woman?

Originally Posted by Rapier

The car-stunt was identical to the Top-gear one from years ago, why do they continue to copy. There must have been something else they could do.

Fair enough, it was similar, but Fifth Gear's been doing these silly stunts WAYYYY longer than Top Gear. Besides, not everyone in TV land remembers/or has seen the Top Gear stunt from years ago...and it's not like they own it.

[lvnproficy]

It was better than last week's episode, but still, I wasn't really entertained. It was more like something to glance up to on my comp every now and then while I worked. I wasn't completely captivated by it

7/10

[Shawn]

It was pretty solid once again. The M3 vs. C63 was the highlight... Tiff's powerslide was indeed very theatrical.

One thing I've noticed though, is the reviews don't seem to have as much of a point or message this series. Like the Mazda2 review is alright but it's not proving much, obviously a car 200kg lighter will perform better.

Tom's family is cute... he's got the most attractive wife out of the three FG/TG presenters we've seen with their wives.

[The One Upper]

A whole lot more charismatic LOL
that was a direct comment towards that dumber than a bag of hammers strongman. WOW what a dumbass.

Good ep. Quit crying about that is it any good bit! I like this show to inform me objectively on new affordable rides, and top gear to fake things and set up challenges to seem dramatic though heavily scripted

Friggin' awesome driving in supercars combined w/ down to earth cars and we got ourselves one great show. 9/10

[Roberto]

watched this on my PSP and it was ok! I didn't really enjoy the Plato/ Tiff thing or the Mazda 2 review. The head to head thing was quite interesting and I think its useful info for the normal car buyer. The stunt thing was OK, nothing special. It was good not to have a celebrity segment (unless the big man was one?!)

Overall 5/10. I think the last one was probably better.

[Sony]

Originally Posted by 4G92Lancer

Woman?

ups.. . Im not sure why I wrote "woman"