[01x03] October 13th, 2008

[Eyce]

Originally Posted by Icedvovo

The rest? Hmm. Why couldn't they get Warren's Camry going? Or is it always going to be a Ford/Holden thing? Hmm.

It was losing oil during the drag race timing, they made reference to it a couple of times.

---

What bugs me still is the Track Filming.

They're going on about the double-left hander being so important during the Stig lap... so they cut to a view of him in the car for the entire duration. Awesome.

[robyob]

Originally Posted by Icedvovo

Would Neil Crompton be an overkill to replace Charlie?

OH dear GOD NO! NONONONONONONONNOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

The horror.

[takahashi]

I gave Steve and Warren an 7 but Charlie -4.... I just don't like him at all.

Hang on... that (7+7-4)/3=10/3=3.33... that is about right.

Most of the thing shown in the show are on par, Warren said most of the thing about the X6 that said by Tom Ford on Fifth Gear. He did not copy did he? I hope he sees all the stuff by himselves. Back video parking is hardly a new thing, Warren. I have one in my Kluger for more than 12 months. Also, more aggressive testing is required, you guys like to baby the cars. I like to see test driving car probably, like in the good old days with no cops at Yarra Blvd.

[WellsieTRD]

Strating to get the Top Gear feel now. Solid 8 from me

Missed the first bit but really enjoied the rest I did see. SIABSC needs to be shorter and Charlie needs to learn how to make the interviews entertaining.

On the whole though, comming along nicely

[takahashi]

Originally Posted by Icedvovo

Would Neil Crompton be an overkill to replace Charlie?

hmmm... not sure about that. Negative personality is somehow better than no personality Icedvovo

[fbc]

Originally Posted by SL65

I'm yet to see Charlie properly host that segment. Lucky all the presenters so far have been reasonably talkative and not required much prompting because Charlie really doesn't have much to say/contribute.

That's the one segment that so far has consistently failed to grab me - mainly because Charlie seems to struggle with the interviewer role, but also probably because I have an idea who the guests are & I'm not really interested in anything that have to say. But in time Charlie's skills will improve.

Originally Posted by Icedvovo

I laughed out load at Steve's cabbie impersonation - "How's the price of fuel these days?".

Likewise - loved that line & the delivery, with one arm around the passenger seat

Originally Posted by Icedvovo

Would Neil Crompton be an overkill to replace Charlie?

Not convinced. Neil's very, very good at what he does - whether he's got enough larrikin / comedic skills for TG is questionable.

[WellsieTRD]

Not really sure about Neil's contractual arrangements with 7 and V8SC so I don't know if he could.

[Mr Snow]

Originally Posted by Icedvovo

Would Neil Crompton be an overkill to replace Charlie?

Neil might get a bit overkill on the technical department though... and Ch7 wouldn't let him go.

I gave it a 8/10 (same as last week but I consider it's a high 8)

Liked the Black review, opinions and detail included finally. Thought the SIABSC could have been trimmed to make the cheap car challenge longer.
And warren should have taken the BMW down a rough track rather than on a grassy knoll. Although he did give an opinion which was good.

[GerFix]

Well, I think the show continues to display progressive improvement. The studio segments seem more cohesive and the reviews, more complete.

If I had to be critical, the reviews seemed to dwell on the salient point a little too much. With the X6, I would've liked to hear a bit more about it's road manners and a bit less reiteration of the "Frankenstein" factor. Steve's review of the CLK sounded like a Test Drive review ... only with criticisms ... I would've liked to see some city driving demonstration of why it is no good as an every day commute (as claimed). This road test also smelled a little like Clarkson's M5 test .... M button replaced by ESP button.

The "challenge" was OK but a little empty. I think they have to either make the challenges longer by adding a third element (best of 3) or shorter ... this one could've just been the bunky slapper race ... the drag was ho hum .... with the exception of Warren's time ... 13.50sec for a standing quarter!!!!! ... that would equate to a trap speed of over 100mph

The cinematography on the road tests and challenge was excellent ... not quite TGUK, but close. The music, though is a bit ... ambient.

I found Charlie much less annoying in the studio this time and his interview with Julia Zamero was the best (by far) out of the 3 episodes .... probably because she was so animated. For the first time we actually had some response from the SIABSC during the hot lap .

All-in-all, I think it was a solid follow-up to episode 2. As the rough edges are being knocked off and my expectations rise, I think I need to revise my episode score yardstick ... I'll give this a 7.

Off Topic : What is the message in that Skoda commercial? Are they saying that the Octavia is so slow that your children will enter and complete puberty before you reach your destination??

[cdougw]

Crap.

What really irritates me the most is that vignette black border thing around the footage if your playing it on 16:9. They put it on pretty much every shot on a car review. Even when inside the car looking at the hosts. Bloody annoying. They're trying to be all artsy, but it just feels claustrophobic.

The CLK black review sucked.

yeh... i hate it.

[cdougw]

People are saying that its getting better.. sure it is.... but its still S**thouse

[cdougw]

Haha and dont get me started on the filming of the Track.
During the chicane do they film like a kilometer away, or what?

[cpd]

A solid 8. Better than the 8 I gave last week.

Most of it's been said already, after only 3 pages!

Zamira really carried SIARPC. It's obvious she hosts her own show, but Cox did look reasonably comfortable when he was asking the quiz questions, with a script right in front of him and a clipboard to hold onto. Whether by design or not, I thought it helped alot.

I agree the challenge was too short, but the episode was only 50 minutes long. They need to work on making the pieces fit together properly without that extra 10 minutes.

[fbc]

Originally Posted by cdougw

What really irritates me the most is that vignette black border thing around the footage if your playing it on 16:9. They put it on pretty much every shot on a car review

So I take it you also hate the vignette effect used on TG UK?

[Sgt Greenie]

long time reader, first time poster...
to me, it was quite decent...

3 biggest gripes

1. charlie was useless in interview, when julia is a funny woman, with great sense of humour, as soon as i saw who it was, i went "ooooh this could be good" but it was a bit of a let down
2. kW or HP, pick one or the other!!!
   i prefer kW, cause thats the measurement we use in aus, but stop jumping between the two!!!
3. needed one more challenge in the cheap car comp

8-9 for me (its getting better)

Originally Posted by GerFix

Off Topic : What is the message in that Skoda commercial? Are they saying that the Octavia is so slow that your children will enter and complete puberty before you reach your destination??

its saying that by the time you need to refuel, your kids will be old

[whitehornmatt]

Originally Posted by GerFix

with the exception of Warren's time ... 13.50sec for a standing quarter!!!!! ... that would equate to a trap speed of over 100mph

Quarter of a kilometre perhaps? None of the cars looked very quick.

Off Topic : What is the message in that Skoda commercial? Are they saying that the Octavia is so slow that your children will enter and complete puberty before you reach your destination??

I hate that ad, it was almost acceptable the first time, but surely Skoda have more than one ad?

I was quite happy with the reviews, but the challenge was too short and SIABSC was too long. I gave it a 7, better than the first episode, but I liked last week a bit better.

Is it just me or was the grass greener on the track?

2) kW or HP, pick one or the other!!!
i prefer kW, cause thats the measurement we use in aus, but stop jumping between the two!!!

I don't know about others, but I've never been able to properly quantify power in kW, HP seems to make sense, as it relates to something you can know about. I've been on a horse, so I understand a horsepower, and I can measure a centimetre, but how do you do that with kilowatts?

[cdougw]

Originally Posted by fbc

So I take it you also hate the vignette effect used on TG UK?

No, cause they use it sparingly. On artistic shots. And they Never use it inside the car, looking at a host.

[cpd]

Originally Posted by GerFix

I found Charlie much less annoying in the studio this time and his interview with Julia Zamero was the best (by far) out of the 3 episodes .... probably because she was so animated. For the first time we actually had some response from the SIABSC during the hot lap .

Bleeped out swearing makes it better. For the same reason May had in 02x05 for accusing Clarkson of not being a real man because he doesn't find flatulence funny, when clearly it is.

Edit: Wow, I just re-read this and I don't think it makes much sense. Let me try again. Flatulence = funny (in the right context anyway) = Swearing while trying to drive fast.

Off Topic : What is the message in that Skoda commercial? Are they saying that the Octavia is so slow that your children will enter and complete puberty before you reach your destination??

Seriously?

[Icedvovo]

Originally Posted by Eyce

(Warren's Car) was losing oil during the drag race timing, they made reference to it a couple of times.

Saw that. But it's traditional in Top Gear challenges to keep the cars running no matter how bad they get. A bit of a weak effort I thought. I wanted to see big-ends on the ground before he gave up!

Originally Posted by cdougw

What really irritates me the most is that vignette black border thing around the footage if your playing it on 16:9.

Yeah, they've got that cranked up to a billion.

I reckon it's because they're essentially just imitating the TGUK design language, the editors are often working against their natural instincts. So, with no style barometer in place there's always a danger of overkill.

[Icedvovo]

Originally Posted by cdougw

No, cause they use it sparingly. On artistic shots. And they Never use it inside the car, looking at a host.

Never really noticed that before, but I reckon you're right.