[15x01] January 5th, 2009

[Viper007Bond]

http://www.finalgear.com/shows/fifthgear/15/1/

[teeb]

So far only seen the KTM vs Lotus test (was channelskipping).

It was good though; looked good and interesting stuff.

Although I am not entirely sure why the 'boxes' thing was done? A handling course, a braking test or an acceleration test would have done nicely.

[Cobol74]

Yes OK. Nothing to hate and the Ferrari was a nice review by VBH.

The MPV crash, ouch!

Shootout good stuff and Joe Calzaggi and GF was quite fun.

Yes, a solid 8 me thinks.

[ahpadt]

All of the films felt very short and clumsy. Whats the matter with fullsize reviews?
Fifth Gear is better than No Gear anyway, so its still a good watch.

Alfa rape

[thedguy]

That Ferrari was fucking hideous. I'm insulted by it being named after my beloved home. It's made worse by the fact that the v8 in it sounds like a "tuned" 4 banger.

So far nothing epic of an episode really but then thats a bit how all fifth gear eps are really.

[Wizegui]

Originally Posted by thedguy

That Ferrari was fucking hideous. I'm insulted by it being named after my beloved home. It's made worse by the fact that the v8 in it sounds like a "tuned" 4 banger.

So far nothing epic of an episode really but then thats a bit how all fifth gear eps are really.

That's exactly it! It sounded exactly like them old Ford Escort rally cars. It sounded nothing like a V8... As for the episode, aside from the rather boring celebrity segment, I thought it was pretty decent. 8/10.

[turbokompressor]

boxes in the KTM and Lotus-NOT FUNNY. I watch Tiff and Jason to see proper driving, not attempted humor.
As always, Jonny did his part brilliantly -in my opinion,he is the best 5th gear presenter.
The car wash was authentic:everything that happened to those cars has happened to my car too; also,if you have metallic paint on your car,don't wash it in an automated car wash because it will leave circular scratch marks on the paint(always have it profesionally washed by hand).
The Volvo City Safety:they should have tested the feature against an object with a much smaller signature-smaller surface area- like a pole or something like that;I say this because the parking sensors of a Lexus RX400h were not able to spot a ~40cm tall pole with the diameter of ~12cm that I placed in front of the car.This is an object you are more likely to hit than another car(so,fifth gear,if you are reading this,please try it ,I am curious).
The Ferrari California-ugliest Ferrari ever made except for Mondial- is over rated.
That car will never-ever do 0-100km/h in less than 4 seconds(on a leveled surface,without tangential gravity's help).
The boxer's wife/girlfriend is a natural.

I can't wait to see the Porsche Carrera ,a very aerodynamic car (coefficient of drag 0,29 in a car that needs cooling for a 385HP engine is very impressive);the first Porsche Carrera S to go beyond 300km/h.

[Dumah Brazorf]

Stupid question...
Why FG episodes are more compressed than TG ones?

[Viper007Bond]

Originally Posted by Dumah Brazorf

Why FG episodes are more compressed than TG ones?

Fifth Gear has commercials. That makes for 44 minutes of video compared to Top Gear's 60 minutes. Scene rules dictate videos over like 50 minutes long or something (I forget the exact number) be bumped up to a larger size than 350MB to maintain a good bitrate. Very few groups use the 4xx or 5xx sizes -- most just go up to 700MB.

[NecroJoe]

Originally Posted by turbokompressor

The boxer's wife/girlfriend is a natural.

Except for her lips...those are definitely NOT natural.

That racing looked like a LOT of fun, though.

Would have liked to have seen multiple laps, or a switch of the cars with Jason and Tiff.

Vicki didn't have a single criticism of the California...not ONE! That kinda bugged me...

The crash was to be expected...but I wouldn't have expected the truck to hop that ditch!

The prize? Damn...wish I lived in the UK!

The Superb looks like a Passat CC...looked good, but it can't just be "Like those, but cheaper"...it needs to offer something more to be really taken seriously. The hammer/windshield thing was funny. :-p

The Golf review..eh...nothing special.

The car wash thing: This was actually a big deal for me. For the past 11 years, I've rarely ever gone to anything but the kind of automatic car washes that only have pressure sprayers (no spinning mops, no brushes, no touching of the car at all, no wheel-alignment-screwing-up wheel grabbers). When I bought my current car, I swore to never take it through a war wash where someone/thing would touch it. I had to look for a LONG time before I found one!

Basically, you drive in, and park (no railings to drive between). The machine starts up, and a 5-7foot tall arm with nozzles encircles your car, washing it with nothing but water pressure. It circles around once for a water blast, once for soap, one for a rinse, and then if you choose any of their other options, it does those last. Then, there's a high-speed blower-dryer to blow most of the water off. It's quick, and nothing ever touches the car...I wonder how much better this sort of wash would do in that test.

[MadCow809]

Very disappointed with this week's ep. Definetely not up to the usual 5th gear standard. The usual great "tiff v.s plato" segment was let down by a meaningless box test and we didn't even get to see more of the vehicle performance review like we normally get.

The whole episode feels cramped and choppy, they need to focus more on the actual segments instead of trying to cram in more stuff.

[Prost264]

The parts I watched all seemed very rushed, and then abruptly cut off.

I started looking forward to Fifth Gear more than Top Gear, but not if they continue with this format.

They could really do with just Johnny, Tom, and perhaps Plato OR Tiff.

[FordGT]

I liked this weeks episode. It was worth watching just for the California.

There was a lot going on but that's better than having nothing going on. 9/10

[awdrifter]

I liked it. But all the segments feels a bit rushed. They probably could've cut out the crash test and give the KTM vs Lotus and the Ferrari California a bit more time. I like the California's look, it would've been nice if they could test it properly on a track.

[DittoMuch]

Liked it gave it a 7/10


As others have already said the box test was pointless. The crash needed a comparison like a volvo estate third bench. The golf could have used a bit more but was solid enough. The car wash did work and I did like it but I think I would have held onto it for another episode to expand the other segments just a little.

[f1freak]

Did Vicki seem a little slimmer to anyone else. It's hard to tell with that jacket she always wears. She definitely needs to take it off. Very slowly...

...oh uh, where was I? The Lotus v. KTM box test was only slightly funny but the race was fun to watch. The car wash thing was alright (I think they should've done one of those touchless washes too though but I don't know if those are common in the UK). Johnny's Golf review was good and informative, but it seems like a fairly major car and deserves a more in depth review. The Bowler piece with the cock (it's official since he has an RS4) and cockette should've saved everyone some time and found its own way to the cutting room floor. The California seems impressive but, as has been said, she didn't really have any complaints about it. I'm looking forward to TG getting it. The crash test was actually pretty good.

It just seems like in the past few series Fifth Gear has tried to cram too much into one episode. Instead of being Top Gears less interesting but more useful rival, they're trying to emulate them by doing their own cocking about and just not going into enough depth, except in the lousy pieces that shouldn't even be in the show to start with. They smashed 7 larger segments plus a few smaller parts in a 44 minute show. That's at best 6 minutes per segment. I think if they just did fewer things, lose the stupid celebrity bits and did the good things more in depth they'd be just what they should be. And lose Tim as well. I think they're slowly getting there though. 6/10

[MadCat360]

Originally Posted by f1freak

Did Vicki seem a little slimmer to anyone else. It's hard to tell with that jacket she always wears. She definitely needs to take it off. Very slowly...

Originally Posted by Viper007Bond

Fifth Gear has commercials. That makes for 44 minutes of video compared to Top Gear's 60 minutes. Scene rules dictate videos over like 50 minutes long or something (I forget the exact number) be bumped up to a larger size than 350MB to maintain a good bitrate. Very few groups use the 4xx or 5xx sizes -- most just go up to 700MB.

Why do they do that? Limit the sizes?

Overall I thought the show was good. I dunno what people's problem with Jason and Tiff's box thing was. I thought it was funny. Maybe they're trying to edge the show to be more like Top Gear; I hope not.

[Mercedes5CLR]

Originally Posted by MadCat360

Why do they do that? Limit the sizes?

Overall I thought the show was good. I dunno what people's problem with Jason and Tiff's box thing was. I thought it was funny. Maybe they're trying to edge the show to be more like Top Gear; I hope not.

I actually like 5th Gear to be in this size. TG is a better cap in 700 MB format due to the size and length of the film. Plus, most of us here burn copys of the TG films to disc after the season ends.

[otispunkmeyer]

was pretty good bar the boxer and his gf..... tbh that just smacked of some bint wanting to be on TV no matter what she did and used her semi-famous boyfriend to do it.

rest of the show was good though, the california review was nice, i liked johnny's golf review and that crash test was awesome! i dunno about anyone else but i felt all the review sections kinda just ended abruptly, i dunno how to explain it, its like they never bothered to do like a closing or parting shot and instead just flipped the record button off.

i like that new skoda too, very nice car.

[Shawn]

It was okay, nothing too special. Most of the stuff was rather forgettable.

The weakest link for me is still the new guy, Tim. He's unfunny and uninteresting... and he doesn't get much to work with. I mean come on, that car wash segment was so boring and stupid. Fifth Gear had already done a better car washing segment, then one where the guy has the super expensive waxes and stuff.

He also blows in the studio segments... those segments are as hard to watch as they were last series. I don't like Tim and Tom's chemistry.

I liked Jonny's review quite a bit, but I don't know what to think about the new Golf. As if the MkV wasn't already the same thing as the new Scirocco, the MkVI even looks like it from the front. I didn't think the last Golf was a good looking car, but it somehow looks like it should have come after the MkVI. The design is kind fo a step back for me.

As for the California... people can say what they want, that car is highly desirable to me, and I don't care if I'd look like a big twat driving one. Although I should admit, I thought it was similar to the AMV8 in price, not the DB9 and Conti GT. With that kind of price tag, I'd just save up a bit more for an F430 or Gallardo. But I think the California looks alright, certainly no uglier than the F430 or 599.