[15x07] February 16th, 2009

[Viper007Bond]

http://www.finalgear.com/shows/fifthgear/15/7/

[nouseferaname90]

I decided to go about this by live commenting, by editing.

First bit:

It's a new record. I facepalmed within the first 4 minutes. "The Stag"? Really? Now they are just trying to be Top Gear, which is not ok at all. They are different shows with different purposes. That quad thing was absolutely useless.

Around 9 minutes in:
Tim crosses his legs like a girl.

Gas vs Diesel:
Somewhat useful, and not horribly horrible. But then again, it's not universally applicable. Tim really is not growing on me and I am not enjoying watching him. Then again, it wasn't horrible.

The lotus little bit:
I'm buying a Lotus Eco just for the fact that it has hemp all over it and it has a cannabis leaf on the side. If they do ever make it.

Mini vs. MiTo:
Beginning of it: Looks to be going on alright. VBH seems to be doing a good job of reviewing the handling (but why a cabrio vs. a MiTo hardroof?). Not a full car review, but thats ok. Disappointing how there was no timed lap comparing them. That made the entire thing rather stupid.

Does it work:
Tim is pissing me off even more. Again, not universally applicable as I have heard reviews (cnet) where the B&O system is worse.

Johnny
Informative, got to the point, good for the purpose it served. Funny to watch him.

Tom:
Liked it...but then again, I usually find the segment good. Finding it useful.

I really can't be bothered to comment on the Ferrari thing.

[Speedtouch]

They've become a bit lacking of the 'something' again I think.The segments are just a bit too short, and contain too little detail. And there is a limit of how far you can go to try and follow the successful theory. I mean, the best driving road AND 'The Stag' in one show? Jesus they have run out of ideas.
What they need to do is concentrate a bit more. Give us a better review (even if that includes being funny once in a while - but at least they're trying) that is longer, instead of doing what VBH does which is go and carefully test 2 cars right down to the smallest bolt. Right? Hmm. She spends too much time waffling on about thigns she has already said. She needs to go.
The 'challenges' between the two boys is a nice thing to do every week, if it is done well. But it unfortunately suffers the same problem. The producers don't give them enough time. Its a case of 'pretty pictures of vehicle used in race; rev it; get out stopwatch; spend 3 seconds per lap; end'. Declare a winner and say it was a tough fight. Sure... They need more time and better challenges.
However here comes Jonny, who seems to manage to get it just right. He doesn't get much longer than the others, but he gets to the point. And keeps it fairly interesting. He also touches on things that no-one else does. He gets the obscure stories instead of the mainstream car releases, but he makes them interesting and better, because simply put, mainstream car releases are boring; because everyone does them.
Tom also almost manages this. But his '3 tough tests' are supposed to be amusing enough to take your mind of the fact he is unbelievably vague, but tests such as 'ask the public' are quite annoying.

I know this is more of a review of the current series rather than this specific episode, but I must say, it ain't as good as last series. And yes, I know that this is why Top Gear exists, but we are still waiting on that, so my car fix has to come from Five. My personal opinion? Bring back The Gadget Show please.

[Luca]

I enjoyed Tim Shaws segment.

[Lupul]

This might have been a better episode then the ones before... but that thing with the Stag really pissed me off. And pray tell, why would you make a statement against diesel after a test on two cars from a manufacturer which, let's face it is an expert in high rev's petrols? He did mention it might vary but it doesn't cut it, he should've used cars from mid range (you can't say Iveco makes great petrols and Ferrari has excelent diesels right?)

The bit about the stereos again pissed me off... it seemed like Tim was showing off something about his job and not testin' cars.

Other then this it was quite an ok episode.

However i don't know what you can say about something remembered simply by referring to something else.

[anthrax]

- Quad bikes: awful wheel drive!?
- FG dog?
- The greatest road in the world... that leads to an empty palace....

[awdrifter]

Missing something is definitely the right phrase to describe this ep.

The quad bike shootout is pointless, and it doesn't seem like either of them enjoyed it. They could've gave this to Tom and Johnny and they would probably enjoy it more.

Suzuki Splash, diesel might not get better mpg for this car, but generally diesels do get better mileage. It's just that would the initial cost of the diesel outweight it's fuel savings.

Lotus Elise Cannabis, I wonder what happens if that car was set on fire.

Alpha Mito review. How about giving us a proper review instead of driving around in a go cart track. I think those two cars would be perfect on their handling circuit. But Vicky did point out the good and bad of each car, so that was an ok review.

Premium stereo test, that was pointless. Of course you can tell which one is better when the car is stationary and you don't have any road and wind noise. Drive it around the test track at let's say 45mph and see if you can still tell the difference.

License plate auction, I don't get the meaning of 1 HRH (1 hour something?), so it wasn't too interesting for me.

Hyundai 120, I would've preferred some road driving reviews, but it's ok.

Best driving roads, not nearly as good as TG's driving road ep. Maybe it's because Tiff doesn't want to break any speed limit laws in an Arab country, or he's not familar with the road, the driving doesn't seem too impressive. Even in TG's American special the roads they drove on seems more fun that this.

7/10

[Stefano1337]

this episode was just about worth my time and effort to get it, nothing more than that.

unfurtunate, really. fg has great presenters, and if five were to let them lose, they probably could make a decent show, as it is, it's ridiculous in the true sense of the word. much too fast, snappy, modern and 'cool'. there is no need at all to be so embarrassing.

here's the thing: five is worried about their viewers being bored by one segment, so they make them really short and snappy. action is probably the right word, don't switch off now, something fantastic is going to happen any minute, but it never comes. i remember jo brand explaining the fastness of two drivers around a track in average speed rather than lap times in some programme or another, and that's probably a good metaphor for what's wrong with fifth gear. when a programme is desperate for viewer attention, it starts to assume their viewers are stupid (because they can't afford smart viewers, so to speak), it starts to convey less and less information by boiling everything down to it's lowest common denominator, like a summary for a book. for god's sake give me the whole story. just compare the diesel vs petrol segment to exactly the same thing jeremy clarkson did years ago on top gear, which one was better and why?

there we are, it was an entertaining programme, but you can just see the potential being wasted. and that's annoying.

[eldiaoble]

Originally Posted by awdrifter

License plate auction, I don't get the meaning of 1 HRH (1 hour something?), so it wasn't too interesting for me.

HRH - His Royal Highness/Her Royal Highness

[MDBT]

FG should stick to cars, as they don't know a darn thing about quadbikes.

The honda they drove in the 3rd challenge was a 686cc single cylinder, sohc motor, not the 700cc two cylinder they claimed it was. C'mon, can't they even read the spec sheets before they film these things?

[insane]

I liked it actually.
MDBT: 686 isn't close enough to 700 for you? And OK they may have got the cylinders wrong.

It was nice to see them actually testing cars rather than just talking about them, and to me, not much felt rushed, although that best driving road thing could go out.


Yeah, I'm ready for the neg-rep

[GerFix]

Not as annoying as some previous episodes this season, but I still think the show would be better if they ditched the Plato vs Tiff dogfights (they are tat) and the tedious celebrity segments. I also think the show would be better if they gave Tim Shaw some intravenous Botulinum Toxin at the beginning of each series ... they could then park him and his ventilator over by the window and let Tom and Jonny do the studio segments.

"The Stag" .....

[Stefano1337]

i'll make sure to buy my copy of the telegraph to find out that the stag is acually some bloke who owns a quad bike dealership, who from time to time competes in amateur class events.

[turbokompressor]

Bang und Olufsen vs Bose
I would expect people who buy an Audi A8(except for gypsies and other interlopers) to require accuracy and finesse from their stereo. Those things are not easily measurable as the subjective perception of sound and the objective measurements differ very much depending on frequency, loudness, timbre, masking phenomena, phase et c.
It may be obvious that that the Band und Olufsen system is better but to quantify by how much, it takes a lot more than what they did: they should have brought another A8(at least one) fitted with a stereo in the same price range as the B&O system and compare the two(by comparison I mean thorough tests, in controlled conditions and with precision tools, done by people who know what they are doing).5000 pounds for a (car) stereo is a lot; for that money it shouldn’t just sound louder and more controlled but also to have a certain finesse that is characteristic only to very expensive systems. That can not be measured on the spot, with a 30 second audition.

[SirEdward]

Too short. Stefano1337 is right. Who cares to have all these bit and pieces of information! I want to learn more, not to be entertained passively and fill my brain up with nonsensical and uncoherent bits of shattered and useless... s**t. Who cares to know if Hyundai is cheap and cheerful or cheap and nasty, if I don't know how it drives? I don't care if it has air-con (well, I care, but it's easy to tell), I want to know how it works!

...The "stag"... !!! Luckily Tiff was ironic there.

The entire quad-bikes dogfight was useless. Very funny, since I like both Tiff and Jason as presenters, but completely useless. 5/10

The diesel vs. petrol is just pointless. Why a suzuky splash? to confirm what Tim already wanted to know? Test a good Renault sedan diesel, or a VW, or even a BMW against a petrol car with the same amount of power, and drive it in some place fair and not in a jammed city center. And learn to drive diesel, by the way, and things will change completely. I myself can reach 51 mpg, on average (3100 miles), with a 1.3 tons car and a honestly powerful diesel engine designed about 10 years ago. I can't understand how Tim is not able to do the same with a lighter, less powerful car with a more modern engine. Otherwise it would have been a good bit, only way too short. 2/10

The eco-lotus bit was ok, short and quite interesting. But it was just news... 6,5/10

Mito Vs. Mini - Ok, good bit, horrible idea to set the thing in a go-kart track, i'd have liked a standard road-test better, and very few information. But it was ok. 7/10

Car Stereo comparison - I can't be bothered by that... not without a thorough test! 4/10

Johnny's licence plate thing - ok! 8/10

Hyundai vs Skoda - ok, but way too quick. The review was over just when it might have begun to become interesting... 6/10

Ferrari+girls - oh, please... 5 minutes for them, 3 minutes to the Hyundai... well, ok, matbe it's because I'm italian and I don't even know who the girls were (apart from the information given in the show), but really... I don't see the point in this... 3/10

Best road in Abu Dhabi... just pointless. And Tiff wasn't driving fast at all. Look at the Three american supercars from Top Gear to see what I mean. 4/10

final rate: 5/10.

[FordGT]

It was pretty good I think!

[Currahee474]

I lol'd at the Stag.

As stated before, most of the segments were too short and did not contain enough detail. I give a 5/10. Last weeks episode was sooo much better.

[SheZZaR]

the audio system test is flawed. The Cars should have already been puted to ACC mode. Why? Cause we all noe from the previous series that the B&O audio tweeters would rise wen the ignition key is swtiched on to ACC mode. IIRC, the Audi sound system can be turned on without switching it to ACC. thus, by asking Tim to turn the key to ACC = flawed.

SheZZaR

[markryder]

I've started to forget to download fifth gear when it's released. Last weeks episode I even forgot to watch after downloading it. And I'm feeling quite OK about it, because the show is just a dissapointment. Instead of giving away cars all the time, why not spend the cash on trying to improve the show some what? And how on earth can no one producing the show see that Tim is just pointless and annoying!?

[cobs]

The episode isn't bad for the current series, but that's not saying much.

I like the FG presenters, just not the current format. They spend what feels like a large portion of the episode doing voice lead-in, lead-out for section breaks, and they spend a lot of time on the advertising for the competition prizes, to the detriment of the rest of the content. They already have advertising gaps for real ads - the extended product placement for the prizes is such that I'm surprised they haven't done a cable news style advertising ticker at the bottom of the screen for the whole ep.

FG at the moment tends to be disjointed. The parts of the episode are often too short, so that it'll end just as it gets interesting.
The niche that FG had previously carved out was based in no small part on having a number of professional drivers on tap for shootout and dog fight comparison pieces. They've also got Jonny and Tom for real reviews that can make sense, and be funny. I also looked out for the serious pieces too - like the real world crash tests.

Having the odd portion where they're dumped outside of their comfort zone is a good thing - just not every episode. It just makes it look like the car manufacturers won't give press fleet vehicles to the program for testing.

I don't know about the rest of the world, but we get regular FG repeats - I caught a couple of older eps from series 8 recently, and it's like night and day. Series 8 had proper shootouts on a proper track, longer reviews and some serious stuff from Jon Bently, plus a bit of fluff.
The difference was the fluff hadn't taken over..