[13x04] February 11th, 2008

[TopGearManiac]

I was hoping this episode would never air but hey Welcome to the country that I grew up when I was still a toddler

[superchevy]

Originally Posted by Prez

Did anybody notice when Tom and Vicky were sitting in the Daihatsu and Tom said to Vicky about the legroom ''I have 4 or 5 inches behind of you'' and then the camera showed Vickys face.

i did! it's the only reason i ventured over to this thread to be honest.

[Sony]

I must also say this was not a bad ep, better than the usual. No celebs, no boring too long crash tests... The 6 series was a bit too "slow" and the van match was kinda uninteresting. Though I understand that some people that drive them daily might find it interesting.

Though I was not impressed with the test of the unimog. I think a Touareg or a Cayenne with good offroad tires couldve done everything they did with the unimog on the show. They shouldve shown the difference, the point where your ordinary everyday SUV cannot cope anymore and the unimog can.

[Cobol74]

^ Great idea - I agree.

[Mark355]

Everything but the van shootout was excellent. Not even Vicki can save a segment about vans.

Jonny was fantastic as usual. Tiff in the DBS? Awesome. 9/10!

[H0nzik]

It wasn't that bad for fifth gear but I had quite high expectations of the 635d segment as I was expecting it to be a bit like the Top Gear transcontinental races and it failed miserably at that. To me it seemed like the main point of it was to make fun Poland, while going to Poland was used as an excuse to really slowly on the German motorways and afterall they had to refill in Germany anyway, so they could have just as well hammered it. And they didn't really say anything about the car either. And diesel's cheaper in Luxembourg anyway, which is way closer to the UK than Poland.
As i think about it, all the segments could be done better if done by Top Gear (or should not had been done at all, which would have also made it a better show) but still kind of an OK episode for Fifth Gear.

[superchevy]

yeah, i also thought the bmw review would be bigger. that really could've been a much stronger presentation. they failed at building up the tension and climax of travel across europe on a single tank of diesel.

[Shawn]

^ That, and also the premise was stupid. What's the point of going to refuel in Poland if you're gonna use the whole tank plus more getting back to the UK? They made it seem as if it was a plausible idea to go fill up in Eastern Europe because of cheap fuel.

It had some funny moments though, and the 635d with those rims could easily fool me for an M6 unless I'm paying close attention.

[Austere]

Originally Posted by superchevy

yeah, i also thought the bmw review would be bigger. that really could've been a much stronger presentation. they failed at building up the tension and climax of travel across europe on a single tank of diesel.

I agree. It felt a bit flat all the way through. The segment the other week with the hillclimb in the VW Beetle had the same problems.
Top Gear are very good at getting all the post production right (like the editing and music and what not) and it gives the segments a real feeling of a beginning, middle and end with like, ups and downs and changes in pacing and stuff like that...

Originally Posted by Shawn

It had some funny moments though

Sure did! I liked when he mentioned those two guys pushing an empty pram way out in the middle of nowhere. That seems so shifty.

[bos78]

I liked it, but the TG imitation was in full effect. I thought it was good anyway and gave it a 7. Maybe they should have Sabine Schmidt drive that VW van around the Nürburgring.

[chilicoke]

Am I the only one who thought this episode was incredibly boring? The "how many people turn their head" test was very very lame.

[Gibby]

Fifth Gear have brought the quality back this series, I loved the DBS review and as always Jonny Smiths review was good.
Lovely stuff, Role on Episode 5!

Gib

[sam-l]

Originally Posted by chilicoke

Am I the only one who thought this episode was incredibly boring? The "how many people turn their head" test was very very lame.

It was lame, but I don't think it deserved a 1 just because of that...

[Flynn]

Originally Posted by superchevy

yeah, i also thought the bmw review would be bigger. that really could've been a much stronger presentation. they failed at building up the tension and climax of travel across europe on a single tank of diesel.

I must say, I was expecting him to hammer it home but he didn't

[teeb]

Originally Posted by Shawn

Tiff is fackin' awesome, the DBS segment was simply superb. What a car and what a tight track! Anyone know what the track is called?

I think it's the handling circuit at Millbrook proving ground.

I only say that because of two things - a vague reference to the track being where the stunt driver did the Casino Royale work (and the roll was filmed at Millbrook), and Tiff referring to it as the handling circuit.

[Aston Martin]

It was hilarious, mainly for the 5 inches of 'fat' Tom.
6-Series diesel run... we haven't seen that before.
Sweet Jesus... Black Edition Unimog?
Tiffs segment was awesome.

[chilicoke]

Originally Posted by sam-l

It was lame, but I don't think it deserved a 1 just because of that...

Usually each episodes have highs and lows that balance each other out, However I just felt they did almost everything wrong with this episode .

First, Vicky's track test on the two commercial vans was a good concept and fun to watch, but she continuously complained about the Mercedes's traction control and its inabilities around the corners just doesn't make a whole lot of senses. Every cars have some sort of "sport" model, but that doesn't mean they should all be track machines.

Then there was the "how many people turn their heads" "test". I wasn't too sure if this idea is even TV-worthy, sure enough the segment sure was a real drag. I know this wasn't suppose to be a serious test, but their conclusion rely entirely on head counts while not considering other factors was (IMO) pretty stupid.

Johnny's (?) review on 6 series diesel was better, but I couldn't help but thinking he was trying too hard to be funny. Also, his comment: "thats like having a car like, BMW 6 series but buys trousers from Tusco(sp?)" was somewhat ignorant, because as we all know, wealthy people don't like to save money. /sarcasm

Tiff's driving in the DBS was really cool, but Fifth Gear's usual style of shooting location (dark, narrow, run-down looking track) just (IMO) don't work on camera. The segment had potential and should have been much more impressive, but showing the same corner (camera location) over and over just feels amateurish. Furthermore, Tiff (race car driver) racing against a movie stunt driver for the fastest lap time was nothing short of predictable; another meaningless race.

Maybe I was too harsh giving this episode a 1, I guess it was the combination of the above that made it incredibly disappointing.

[Sony]

Originally Posted by chilicoke

Usually each episodes have highs and lows that balance

Then there was the "how many people turn their heads" "test". I wasn't too sure if this idea is even TV-worthy, sure enough the segment sure was a real drag. I know this wasn't suppose to be a serious test, but their conclusion rely entirely on head counts while not considering other factors was (IMO) pretty stupid.

It was just light entertainment. I thought it was fun to see how the child in all of us would always prefer the Lambo because it looks most like what we imagine as a supercar. Mean looking, wide and low, pointy. The other two truly were boring looking in comparison. But yes, it had no scientific or any other more serious value.

Originally Posted by chilicoke

Usually each episodes have highs and lows that balance

Tiff's driving in the DBS was really cool, but Fifth Gear's usual style of shooting location (dark, narrow, run-down looking track) just (IMO) don't work on camera. The segment had potential and should have been much more impressive, but showing the same corner (camera location) over and over just feels amateurish. Furthermore, Tiff (race car driver) racing against a movie stunt driver for the fastest lap time was nothing short of predictable; another meaningless race.

Sadly i completely agree with this, it was just a too predictable and unimaginative segment with a depressing track.

[efoolution]

... one of the better FG episodes, I think. A nice mix, no annoying star ... I even liked "it´s new but is it any good", wich I normally hate.

Tiff with his entusiastic DBS Review was the highlight of course, just watching him driving like he does on such a narrow course ... amazing.
Vikcki and the Vans ... I´d never have guessed a BRABUS could not beat a (not given to any tuning company) VW ... that is simply a huge disgrace for Brabus.
The Supercar Club ... nobody cares what car get´s the most looks ... and it to be the Lambo ... I could have told them that. Pointless ...
Johnny and his Diesel ... nothing new (to People who already knew about the good sides on modern Diesels), nothing ertaining ... but could have been worse.
Tom and the Unimog ... Unimogs are highly impressive ... and Tom showed that. I was a bit dissapointed they didn´t quite capture the steepness and so on of these hills. It seemed they didn´t put much efford in filming that, and that bit could have been much better if better filmed.

[Mercury]

Well I gotta say I haven't watched a fifth gear episode in a long time and for the first 75% of the episode it was business as usual...but then came the DBS review!

First, the music was down right awesome! The whole leap into the preview with that song in the backgorund was amazing! Then watching Tiff drive like a mad man in that narrow circuit was simply fun! i didn't think Tiff can still look like that driving a road car but he did a great job on this one. It was almost TG fun that review.

The stunt driver gimmick and the rest of the episode were pretty fifth gear average, but that review...sheesh that was fun!