[13x05] February 18th, 2008

[Viper007Bond]

http://www.finalgear.com/shows/fifthgear/13/5/

[Cobol74]

Really good episode - that biker is really, really cool; I hope he makes it in Rallying. I even found the mundane bits of interest! Yes, return to form for FG this series.

[Werner]

Nice ep! the music you hear when vicky is doing the quicklaps is getting really, really annoying !

but still, good ep

[awdrifter]

Good ep. Those slow car shoot outs are getting boring, but I guess they can't always find fast cars to test. The Freelander and X-Trail test is pretty good, IIRC you can get the X-Trail with the 280hp SR20VET in Japan, I wonder if that's an option for the EUDM X-Trail, if it is, I would definitely pick the X-Trail over the Freelander. 135 vs Cayman, I would pick the 135 as well, it's cheaper, it's quicker, and it can seat 4 people. But it is pretty ugly, the Cayman looks much better.

[Viper007Bond]

8/10 for me, but I wish they'd stop doing these boring shootouts.

[MadCow809]

8/10 as well.

brilliant race between Plato and Tiff.

and how ugly is the 135 : p

[The Chad]

I think I want a 135i. I'm not sure. They aren't technically accurate, because Tiff claims that the Bimmer has an LSD; it does not. It uses the traction control to create a computer emulated differential that applies brakes to the wheel that is spinning wildly to get power transferred to the other wheel.

My problem is I have "penis envy" when it comes to model lines. I could not buy a Cockster, I mean Cayman, knowing there was a better version out there. Same with the 335i, when the ///M3 is available (though the price differential is higher there). The 135i is the best 1 you can get.

Until they release the ///M or Tii version of that. Some guy @ BMW corporate is quoted, when asked if the Tii would go into production, said "There's always room for improvement."

[Flynn]

When it came to the used car choices I had the funniest feeling about Johny: I thought to myself "Imagine if he came up with a Capri as one of them, I know he won't but just imagine if he did" that was what I was thinking it seconds before he revealed it to be the Capri. He mentioned "The professionals" which I have been watching repeats of, really a great 70s tely series that. Apart from me having the fleeting thought that it was a Capri seconds before he revealed it, the other coincidence is that I just that day made a thread about the Capri in the "General automotive" forum.

[anti-net]

I really quite liked it, I agree that the shot outs are getting a bit boring but sometimes there interesting it depends if I'm interested in the car or not. The soft-roaders review was ok, they kept it short and sweet which was good because I think it would have been boring if it was longer.

Caymen Vs BMW 135i - Shows how an ugly as my arse can be actually quite good...who would have thought it

Ok and the used new car bit...this pissed me off, I'm 18 and I'm about to pass my test, I live in a city therefore no insurance company would give me a sensible offer on insurance for any of thos cars, and for the GTI I doubt I could actually find a company that would give me a quote. In the UK insurance is in groups, from 1 to 20, 1 been the lowest, I got a quote for a group 1 Corsa....£1100pa. The insurance companies know there charging more than they have to but they know they can make a tidy profit.

Anyway, End of rant! I give it a 8/10

[Flynn]

Yeah the insurance companies are capitalism gone mad!

[Austere]

I liked the shootout because I like small hot hatches. They were pretty close in the end... I think i'd go for the Renault if it were my money, even tho it wasn't the quickest.

The 'It's new but is it any good' segment was OK but I think they should have pointed out that the Peugeot is likely to fall apart and the Skoda is very unlikely to. For me, that would be the main deciding factor if I was looking to buy one of those cars but they didn't even mention it. In fact they said the Peugeot was "more solid".

As I was skipping the Travis Pastroni bit I caught a glimpse of the WRC car being rolled so I went back and watched that one little bit. He seems like a pretty cool guy.

The Freelander vs X-Trail segment was total filler and a waste of time. They're old cars and they've tested them before so there was no point. I'm sure most people know that the Freelander is better but it's so expensive.... That's why there's such as a thing as an X-Trail - It's the cheap alternative.

I thought dedicating the used car segment to first-car buyers was a very good idea. I was a bit disappointed in his recommendation of an Astra.... Surely he could have found something safe that also has at least a wee bit of panache...

I skipped the scooter segment.

I liked the Cayman vs 135i test. I don't like the BMW but I loath and despise the Cayman so it was really good to see that it's not just horrendously ugly but it's also slow and sloppy and sounds awful and is unbelievably overpriced.

That episode was better overall than the last few.

[static]

Pretty weak episode. There was no "fast car you actually can afford" segment, shootout was superlame and I don't care about some biker.
The only intresting bit was Cayman vs 135i.

My god that bimmer is ugly, I mean honestly it looks like carbage! I liked the Cayman, allthough it's underpowered but if that bothers you, buy Cayman S. There is absolutely nothing you can do to salvage 135i.

Give me 130i hatch anyday!

[Steve Levin]

Two comments:

Did folks notice the photographer in the Pastrana rollover? He's like "oh cool...great shot...great shot...great shot...I SHOULD GET OUT OF HERE!"

Also, in the Twingo sequence at Anglesey, there's a spot where you can see tire tracks on in the mud just before the apex and the remnants of all the mud flung onto the track in what was clearly a previous "oops"

Steve

[Redliner]

Am I the only one who LIKES the aesthetics of the BMW 135i?

[Steve Levin]

I don't think the 135 is a bad looking car at all. Perhaps it just looks more awkward in person.

Steve

[bartboy9891]

Originally Posted by Austere

I liked the Cayman vs 135i test. I don't like the BMW but I loath and despise the Cayman so it was really good to see that it's not just horrendously ugly but it's also slow and sloppy and sounds awful and is unbelievably overpriced.

That episode was better overall than the last few.

I wouldn't say that the Cayman is overpriced. It doesn't really cost that much more than a similarly spec'd Z4. Also it is about as quick as the Z4.
Handling-wise, the Cayman is still said to be one of the best handling cars on sale today. I wouldn't call it sloppy because it lacked the power to do a big drift.
Sound and looks you can have because that's based on personal preference.

[The Chad]

Originally Posted by Redliner

Am I the only one who LIKES the aesthetics of the BMW 135i?

Having seen the 135i in person, in Detroit, I must say it looks better in person than it does in pictures.

[bos78]

I agree. I saw the 135i at the New England Auto Show and it looked pretty good to me. Nice and chunky. The 3-Series is huge now, so they need a small car to fill in the place.

Anyway, I thought the episode was good. I skipped over the biker because I really didn't care, so i can't comment on that. I like the Panda and Twingo, but the shoot out in the beginning did drag a little. A little TG imitation I wouldn't mind is if they would keep track of the shoot out times.

[Sony]

I really liked the 135i vs. Cayman idea. Good choice of cars, the bmw with its benchmark engine and the cayman with its midengine layout and incredible handling. Though it was kind of obvious that it wont be able to cope, Cayman was seriously lacking in the bhp area and the bwm's handling was of course great, it is a sporty bmw. I didnt like that the test featured a drifting part of the test, they shouldve squeezed it somewhere in between other tests and replaced it with a drag or how many gs can it pull in a circle or whatever.
The panda vs. twingo was kind of interesting, I dont know why I still found it slightly dull.
The biker is a really kewl guy, I remember him from Leno or Conan. Crazy man.
The 4x4 segment was not very good in my opinion. I prefer a proper car review. They couldve done a 4x4 Tiff vs. Plato kind of shootout only offroad (not just muddy tracks that my fwd car can take).

[torqueless]

Originally Posted by The Chad

I think I want a 135i. I'm not sure. They aren't technically accurate, because Tiff claims that the Bimmer has an LSD; it does not. It uses the traction control to create a computer emulated differential that applies brakes to the wheel that is spinning wildly to get power transferred to the other wheel.

My problem is I have "penis envy" when it comes to model lines. I could not buy a Cockster, I mean Cayman, knowing there was a better version out there. Same with the 335i, when the ///M3 is available (though the price differential is higher there). The 135i is the best 1 you can get.

Until they release the ///M or Tii version of that. Some guy @ BMW corporate is quoted, when asked if the Tii would go into production, said "There's always room for improvement."

really?

it's either that or the new evo X for me then.

i love the 135i. it's everything i want in a small sports car. except light...but there are ways to lighten it. and the turbo inline 6 responds REALLY well to simple mods.