[14x01] August 11th, 2008

[dino_martini]

Originally Posted by cyber2nd

Haven't watched it but to compare FG to TG. To me both shows are excellent compared to crap that is passed off as car shows in Australia.

And Canada.

TG/FG are excellent compared to what we get.

It's a pretty good epsiode. I love the look of that Ford Kuga. Fuel Economy bit was interesting, sort of a case of 'ambitious but rubbish'. And I would really like to drive a convertible M3 on the track with Vicki Butler-Henderson beside me.

During the opening bit I saw a Dodge Challenger...when did Fifth Gear test the Challenger?

[Viper007Bond]

Originally Posted by dino_martini

During the opening bit I saw a Dodge Challenger...when did Fifth Gear test the Challenger?

Upcoming I assume.

[boafan]

M3 beats C63 again. Good. Top Gear, Fifth Gear, Best Motoring, good.

[HoldenHistory]

I thought it was better than any of the recent seasons of FG.
Was a little put off by the harping on about being "the only show to watch if your a motorist" stuff at the beginning.
Interesting that Ronnie has been on both Fifth Gear and Top Gear.
Rinspeed was the icing on the cake.

[torqueless]

excellent show.

how great is that prize?!

[edkwon]

Originally Posted by teeb

I really enjoyed the episode.

Fifth Gear is really living up to the idea of a "magazine show" - they've got news, features, reviews, and odd things, the lot.

And the new presenter is doing something both relevant and not annoying. Congrats!

Thanks, i think this is the best way to describe Fifth Gear, and that's why i like it, i get the same enjoyment that i do from reading a car magazine and getting info.

new presenter, off to a good start, more of him means less VBH and thats a good thing.

ok, i might be the only one who doesn't like the new opening theme and intro sequence, really enjoyed the OP from series 10-13, oh well.

[Dsemaj]

Too many presenters. The new studio bits seem stupid. But an alright episode - but Tiff seemed really whiny about going in the Rinspeed

[Martin]

New guy isn't too bad. I'm glad they are out of that stupid cafe and have ceased shooting at those weird angles where you have some random person out of focus at the edge of the picture while Tom and Vicki are chatting it up at the back.

Overall it was decent.

[SL65]

That was a solid ep. I gave it a niner

I'm really liking the new set as its more natural, a bit more formal and more dedicated also. I like how they didn't bother with "funny" scripting either. It was just honest and straight hosting, which was a nice change from Vicki saying weird shit and putting Tom down.

HOW CLOSE WAS PLATO TO TIFF?! That was pretty crazy, it had me cringing momentarily! That was a good 'dogfight'. Its hard to get use to watching a WRX be so tail happy...

I liked that Ford Kuga review because Tom broke the shit out of it I was thinking to myself - how pissed off would Ford have been when they got it back, haha. Its great, we don't get enough reviewers like Tom these days. Although he'll probably blame it on the car...and rightfully so!


This was a very promising start to the series. And next weeks ep looks like a cracker!!

[Viper007Bond]

Yeah, the new set is pretty good.

[Dygear]

New presenter is pretty good, speaks with his hands a little much. The new presenter's segment was boring, and useless. Jayson & Tiff's segment was good, but not up to their normal standards and a little on the short side. Tom's segment was also good, but I disagree with the outcome based on what the car said it will do. Johnny's segment was quite interesting actuality. VBH's segment was cut in the middle ... don't do that again, scews with the flow, I understand it was a boring segment but why make us suffer through it twice (I did like the first part ... kinda ... second part ... blah? Tiff's segment, why what was the point of giving this a whole segment tiff did make if funny tho?

Overall ... 7.25

[Buba]

That wasn't half bad! Even Vicky was bearable...
The new guy seems pretty cool and likable, IMHO...

[Elvis313]

I liked it.
Being used to Top Gear, it felt different, not worse.
It seems to be less entertaining but much more informative and down-to-earth.
Need to watch more episodes before I rate this one, though.

[mat1h]

Where's that video Tom mentioned about in the show? : Vicki doin donuts with Ronnie

They said it'd be up on the website.

[Werner]

I liked this episode, thank god they ditched that vicky shoot-out thing with the annoying music. Sullivans face was priceless when drifting with Vicky

And tiff and jason were a bit to close for comfort in the WRX and Evo! this smiley sums it up perfectly

[sutratiago]

Starting with a diferent location was very inteligent. The old "truckers" bar/pub was a bit boring...
But then there's the same thing all over again... They lack the SOUL that TG has. They need to make it more spontaneous rather than the same standard features for all cars...

For example:
Ronnie segment - He has a Mercedes SL which featured an episode in TG... why would he want Vicky's help to buy a BMW M3 or a C63 AMG?... even the EvoX was there by mistake...

Tim's Fuel - I was expecting something less obvious than that...

Tiff Evo vs. Jason Impreza - cones fetish again... and the race only had 1 great moment: Tiff getting scared like hell when Jason almost ripped Evo's cheap bumper off!

Ford Kuga - really, that was so forced! Imagine that a LR Defender at the same speed would jump all over those holes and land on his face...
Tom was thrashing the Kuga on purpose so it could make some spectacle noise and damage...
" - How much was the damage in the Kuga?
Tom: 7 grant..."
no wonder!

Jonny - Interesting bit and there really is a point.

Underwater Scuba thing - Cool invention, except it's very monotonous!

Overall it was average

[Aihyah]

its much better now. for a lack of a better way to describe it, they've de gayified it. they were seriously going for the gay audience in the last seasons for some reason, even the "swish" car+audio logo segments were quite fruity. and of course they had the lame presenter as well talking in those awful cafe locations or whatever.

now it seems to be back to business. hope it stays that way.

[4G92Lancer]

Hmmm, well i'm a solid 5th Gear fan (excluding Lovejoy, but at least they had the sense to drop him) and I can't help but think that while Andy Wilman seems to stretch Top Gear very thin, the 5th Gear producers seem to have Attention Deficit Disorder. This show is SO packed, that it's bouncing all over the place and never seems to settle down...

I think it's a case of finding the balance between quality and quantity. Sure this new presenter is okay, but did the show really need him? He'll have to make a far more noticable contribution to have any chance at convincing me.

And despite all the mock banter between Tiff and Jason, it's always the mistakes and the genuine stuff that enthralls me the most. Great stuff...

[Sony]

Again they are making changes. When will they realize that the foundations suck. In my opinion it was very very average. True, it is better than what I have on my local tv but its still not very good. Johnny, Tiff and Plato should stay and write their own lines and decide themselves as to how they will conduct roadtesting and reviews of the cars, everyone else bye bye. And if they want a woman on the show they should get a hot one that is not an automotive expert. You get a new viewpoint on cars (layman's view) which would be also very funny and youd get to see some thongs.
Anyway it is sad really, because it could be so much better but somehow they just manage to keep messing it up...

[mmap]

I rather liked it... Probaly even go as far as saying best FG episode I've seen (and I've seen them all...)

I liked the new presenter. I was a bit worried as the chemistry between the wookie and Vicky had been good, but these two seemed to work rather well together.

The new studio looks great.

Now what was wrong with the Ronnie bit?? I liked it a lot. Could/should have been longer.

Jason and Tiff? Great as allways.

FG is not TG nor should it be. The worlds second best car program just raised its game a bit and that's not bad at all.