[13x08] March 10th, 2008

[SL65]

More motoring thrills and spills as Fifth Gear continues its 13th series, with Vicki Butler-Henderson, Tom Ford, Tiff Needell, Jason Plato and Jonny Smith at the helm. This week, Tiff and Jonny go behind the scenes at the NASCAR Daytona 500, Vicki heads to Anglesey for another shoot-out, Tom drives the new Citroën C5 in Lisbon and Jason meets skier Chemmy Alcott, who tries out a Group N rally car.

Celebrating its 50th anniversary this year, the NASCAR Daytona 500 is one of the world’s truly great races – and Fifth Gear is lucky enough to have been granted privileged behind-the-scenes access to this American phenomenon throughout the race weekend. While Tiff Needell gets behind the wheel of one of the 200mph race cars, Jonny Smith talks to some of the fans, team owners and competitors – including ex-Formula One driver Juan Pablo Montoya – ahead of the big event.

Also this week, Vicki Butler-Henderson is in Anglesey for another Fifth Gear shoot-out. This time the the Porsche Cayenne GTS is facing off against the BMW X5. Both are big 4x4s, but both handle like cars – so which will be quickest?

Also featuring in this week’s show is the new Citroën C5. The old version was a bit bloated and rather eccentric – something which did not win it a lot of fans in the UK. Citroën have now had a complete re-think, and the new C5 is sleek and contemporary, modelled on the principles that have made many German car makers so successful. Tom Ford drives the car in Lisbon and discovers whether it has now earned the right to genuinely challenge the might of models like the BMW 3 Series.

Finally, Jason Plato meets Chemmy Alcott, Britain’s best-known downhill skier who also happens to be a genuine petrolhead. Comfortable with going down near-vertical slopes at 90mph, how will she cope in a Group N rally car at the same speeds, driving on loose gravel? Jason is there to find out.

NASCAR

[ahpadt]

NASCAR............................

[Aiolos]

X5 v. CTS seems interesting.

Originally Posted by ahpadt

NASCAR............................

+1, like who cares about NASCAR?

[bartboy9891]

I'm looking forward to the NASCAR segment.

[Necx0]

So am I that should be very very interesting.

[Viper007Bond]

Originally Posted by bartboy9891

I'm looking forward to the NASCAR segment.

Me too honestly. The races themselves are a bit boring to watch, but racing them, etc. isn't.

[Handonam]

nascar

[kekekeke]

I am looking forward to the NASCAR as well. Altough I don't watch it, I have become more and more of a fan of high speed oval racing. F1 needs to do at least one oval a year.

[scoops]

Originally Posted by kekekeke

I am looking forward to the NASCAR as well. Altough I don't watch it, I have become more and more of a fan of high speed oval racing. F1 needs to do at least one oval a year.

i think that would be a waste of F1 technowlogy. the cars are designed to corner like a jet figter. an ocal would be basically them just taking off all the wings and spoilers and getting top speed. probably would wreck the engines too as the nascar engines are basically designed to be high RPM for hours on end, not going through gears like an F1. (depending on the track of course, some courses do happen to have a few turns....)

[torqueless]

if nascar had right turns, it would be awesome.

[Demon_X]

i hope tiff bashes nascar fans!

what kind of shoot out is the GTS vs. and X5? thats dumb..the bmw will probably win..5th gear always lets the slower car win

everthing else seems enjoyable

[Cobol74]

Group N rally car - yes result.

[Flynn]

Chear, I am looking forward to seeing that rally machine as well.

[powah]

What they should do is put a Nascar around a track with both sided corners. Might make it a bit more interesting.

[Flynn]

Chear, I can vouch for that. The thing is, it is just like Touring Cars...but...well...LESS! Apart from the very powerful V-8 engines ofcourse. It would be so much better with actual tracks. Only problem is, might make it abit like the Australian V8 supercars.

[Viper007Bond]

+ YouTube Video

[Flynn]

'Scuse my ignorance, but isn't the term "rednecks" used to refer to native Americans? Or has the term evolved over time to mean all people from the southern states of America? I say because I have been noticing this alot recently.

[Viper007Bond]

Originally Posted by Flynn

'Scuse my ignorance, but isn't the term "rednecks" used to refer to native Americans? Or has the term evolved over time to mean all people from the southern states of America? I say because I have been noticing this alot recently.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Redneck

Means uneducated hicks basically.

[Flynn]

Ah sorry I always forget about Wikipedia. I am sure in cowboy movies they used to call the native Americans "rednecks"

[NooDle]

Originally Posted by Flynn

Ah sorry I always forget about Wikipedia. I am sure in cowboy movies they used to call the native Americans "rednecks"

I think you mean "redskins" which is sort of correct.

Episode looks good. Cayenne should eat the X5, and the NASCAR bit can be fun...
afterall it's very powerful cars doing very high speeds very close together, isnt it?

Not looking forward to the Citroen C5 section. If Tom has a really cool or weird car, his segments are usually fun. He doesn't seem to be so funny when he's talking about "regular" cars