[01x06] November 3rd, 2008

[01x06] November 3rd, 2008


  • Total voters
    117
rant:
-Steve's 9-3 driving is the so called professional shuffle position which to me is the most stupid way to drive. Ergonomics dictate that you will tire much quicker, your muscles aren't in a position to have even half as much "torque" available in your arms/elbows, your response to a fast corner is never going to be as quick as a 10-2 solid grip which also ensures you are more alert as the 9-3 induces lazyness (some idiot politicians want us to do the 4-8 grip which shows politicians for what they are) it'll cause more accidents then anything else.
A race car has a steering quickener gearbox which give a 30% or so faster response (i.e. you turn less for a sharper corner) which is why that does allow you to drive more 9-3, but with normal driving you will either need to shuffle (stupid stupid as you have a lot less grip on the wheel at ANY time) or you end up with one lame arm doing next to nothing, a LOT less grip and a LOT more work for a LOT less precision)

Your wrist position at 9-3 cancel each other out at any corner, it's a total push/pull method where both have less that adequate grip whereas at 10-2 at least ONE has a full grip on the steeringwheel while the other is redundant and can take over that grip if the corner requires a sharper turn.

Interesting rant but I think in this day and age you are wrong.

The 9-and-3 position is all about control and safety. Modern steering wheels all have spokes at about 9 and 3 o'clock. With your hand/fingers in contact with a spoke, you will always have a better idea as to where your wheels are pointing without having to take your eyes off the road to glance at the wheel. Also, with your hands at 9-and-3, you can operate the indicator stalk without moving your hands to a new position on the wheel ... in fancy cars, it also means you can operate the wheel mounted audio controls etc. with your thumbs (again without letting go of the wheel). Lastly, if you drive with your hands at 10-to-2 and your airbag deploys, you will suffer greater injury. They have looked at this in America .... the hand closest to the A-pillar is thrown up and out into the pillar (this causes additional injury to the driver). They also found that the airbag applies greater force to the forearms as it deploys if the hands are at 10-to-2 compared to 9-and-3.

I doubt that Steve advocates a true shuffle technique ... it is much more likely to be a hand over hand (as you describe in your last paragraph) .. always grasping the wheel at its junction with a spoke.
 
Just watched TGUK 1201.

OMG.

TGA is suddenly like supermarket American beer in comparison. Looks like beer, smells like beer. Weak as piss.

Watching TGA you forget how good TGUK is. I very nearly wet my pants during the Lambo film. I've laughed once during the entire series of TGA. And that was when Wazza backed one out.

TGA is clearly what Wazza left on the ground.
 
TGA is clearly what Wazza left on the ground.

That's harsh VoVo! I agree that TGUK 12/1 shows they Brits are in another league. It was f***ing great. But don't forget there are a bunch of guys and girls behind the scenes at TGA who are trying hard to make up for the earlier damage. Like the editors, the cameramen, the production managers, etc.

If they sort the hosts out (PLEASE!), get some decent writing and storylines (PLEASE!!) ... and a few other things (!!!) ... then the show could take a turn for the better. Hell, it might even be really great one day!

It's pretty mean just slamming everybody with the same big stick. Just start by hitting Charlie, the script writer and the executive producer - who obviously thought TG was just pointless yarns about a bunch of guys doing donuts.

;)
 
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It's pretty mean just slamming everybody with the same big stick. Just start by hitting Charlie, the script writer...

Truer words were never spoken.
 
You guys will get Stiggie all twisted saying things like that !

Icedvovo, where did you see the current UK series? Foxtel or online somewhere, or both ? Please pass on any info if you can thanks.
 
Just start by hitting Charlie, the script writer and the Executive Producer who ever thought TG was just a bunch of guys doing donuts who couldn't tell a good yarn.

;)
Yep. The blame sits there.

TGUK starts each series by brainstorming ideas and stories on a whiteboard in a production office. These are the foundation stones of the program. These are the gold. Scribblings on a whiteboard.

TGA obviously all but skip this process. And ironically it's the least expensive part of the whole production. Good ideas and bad ideas cost the same.

From there on is like building on sand. No amount of camerawork, editing and presentation can save them with shit ideas.

TGA has crap stories, and stories are the core of TopGear's appeal.

After now seeing TGA and TGUK back to back.

Fail.
 
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Logifuse, Thanks for the links but all that stuff means nothing to me, but I guess its all about downloading it from someone.
I just thought it might have been available on Cable or PayTV somewhere.
Now I'll start learning how to download...
 
Logifuse, Thanks for the links but all that stuff means nothing to me, but I guess its all about downloading it from someone.
I just thought it might have been available on Cable or PayTV somewhere.
Now I'll start learning how to download...

Really? Are you kidding or something? :lol:
 
Interesting rant but I think in this day and age you are wrong.

The 9-and-3 position is all about control and safety. Modern steering wheels all have spokes at about 9 and 3 o'clock. With your hand/fingers in contact with a spoke, you will always have a better idea as to where your wheels are pointing without having to take your eyes off the road to glance at the wheel. Also, with your hands at 9-and-3, you can operate the indicator stalk without moving your hands to a new position on the wheel ... in fancy cars, it also means you can operate the wheel mounted audio controls etc. with your thumbs (again without letting go of the wheel). Lastly, if you drive with your hands at 10-to-2 and your airbag deploys, you will suffer greater injury. They have looked at this in America .... the hand closest to the A-pillar is thrown up and out into the pillar (this causes additional injury to the driver). They also found that the airbag applies greater force to the forearms as it deploys if the hands are at 10-to-2 compared to 9-and-3.

I doubt that Steve advocates a true shuffle technique ... it is much more likely to be a hand over hand (as you describe in your last paragraph) .. always grasping the wheel at its junction with a spoke.

Also keep in mind, police in most of america are trained to shuffle using the bottom of the steering wheel. when that damn snowbird pulled out infront of me my hands were on the bottom of the wheel and my seat was in the correct position, bucketed, and not only did i NOT have any contact with the airbag, but, i didnt even know it went off. i never moved from the position i was in. broadsided a full sized car in my Benz at 55 and never even had a scratch.

OH, no, im not a cop. just a driving enthusiest (or however you spell that, lol)
 
The 1/10 is mine. It's the first time I've got bored watching top gear.


The Road trip just keep going and going and going. It must have been about 30 minutes of just rolling along a straight highway. I could sit on the side of any roadway watching the traffic and get just as much entertainment.

There wasn't enough info on the 4WDs. How much power do they have? Locking Diffs? Range? Spare wheel? (don't be confused - some 4WDs don't have a spare wheel), I don't know how they could have missed out telling us how fast do they go. Instead we're subjected to finding out if the presenters know where the all airbags are located...zzzzzz.

The off road section was poor (but slightly less boring than the highway part)as they didn't push the cars at all. Rolling along at walking speed over river stones and through some puddles? I want the cars to be pushed to the LIMIT. At the end Warren even said a normal Falcon could've driven most of the way. He also said the drive was a "test of wheel articulation" yet in the filming I could clearly see the Audi had basically no articulation at all yet they didn't mention it.
So which of those cars is actually the most capable for off road driving? I just spent nearly a hour watching 'experts' talking about them and they didn't tell me.


The rant about the parking officers went on for ages and it didn't make sense. We know they're for raising revenue (and they even said that) so why are they classed as "what were they thinking" criteria?


There's still quite a few cars that don't come with standard ABS (eg Ford Fiesta or Toyota Hilux) so I don't know why the Barina copped some much flack. It's 2 star crash rating is more of a issue and they didn't even mention it! That piece seemed plain dumb.


The Mercedes review was the least worst part. Why were they amazed at the folding roof? That was first seen in the SLK over a DECADE ago. Nowdays they even come in Ford or Holden Convertables. I don't think the acceleration times or the top speed were mentioned at all and only driving around the centre of Sydney to review a sports car doesn't give us much insight to its capabilities.

In the conclusion, is it worth buying for 400K? They didn't say. Is it the best in it's class? They didn't say. I believe he also said it was the top of the range model which isn't true - there are two turbo V12 models above that one. All I got was it makes a great noise and it has the same style rolding roof as a 30K Holden Tigra.


I'm amazed how many people thought it was great. I watched it straight after UK Top Gear which perhaps made me feel a bit harsh towards the Oz one but it was really a shocker.
 
The 1/10 is mine. It's the first time I've got bored watching top gear.
I'm amazed how many people thought it was great. I watched it straight after UK Top Gear which perhaps made me feel a bit harsh towards the Oz one but it was really a shocker.

Harsh but true.

TGA looks like a highschool media studies project compared to the latest TGUK.
 
The 1/10 is mine. It's the first time I've got bored watching top gear.




I'm amazed how many people thought it was great. I watched it straight after UK Top Gear which perhaps made me feel a bit harsh towards the Oz one but it was really a shocker.

There are a lot of TGAUS fanboys here. We are not picking on the show (like some of you believe) but rather giving our honest opinions hoping someone will read them.

I'm sure it will be the same deal with TGUSA but we will see :p
 
It was a bit better than the last 5 (i was really wondering if i should watch it since TGUK is back)

It's still very poor, Charlie is still a huge moron in the studio it's insane, the WWTT is .... it's just pure shit every week i dont understand how that thing is still there it seems so forced!

I didnt mind the 4x4 part, but everybody knew that the range would win that it was lacking info OR fun tought

The SL63 well, Charlie is a moron outside the studio too so cant really say much for that lack of info

I wont speak about the lap because the camera work makes me cringe (how can it still be so bad ? :x dont they see it in the editing room that it's awful ?) so i dont watch it

Oh well after reading myself it's not much of a positive review :D but i didnt get so bored that i wanted the world to end like with the 2/3/4
 
Not that bad episode actually.
 
Now I'll start learning how to download...

I have never watched a episode of TGA, my loyalties lie with TG (I can't bring myself to add the UK bit at the end there is only one TG). Want to watch this episode however and I don't use torrants and such to slow for my likeing, I get my TV viewing from newsgroups. Cant find this so a google with the episode I want with rapidshare after it worked wonders, downloading atm.
 
WWTT seems to be running out of steam .... Steve didn't even touch on the problem with the Lotus Elan II (that is ... front-wheel-drive).
I will be expanding further on the number one problem with the Elan II in the "What Were They Thinking?" thread.

I thought tonight's hung together really well...let's face it, it's a tough crowd in here, but I do sense that games are being lifted at TGAU HQ...I bet everybody there wants this to work, and it's a tough ask to come in with a brand new team and a fraction of the budget to play catchup with the beeb version...
Have their ever been any truthful reports on what one show costs to make versus the other? I'd be interested to see how TGAus stacks up cash-wise against, say, series two of TG. The first series was done properly on the cheap - especially if the ?300 Bond car and leaving Richard Burns out in the cold for laughs were anything to go by.

Not seen it yet as mininova is down for maintenance.
I thought that was Virgin Media getting their final revenge when it gave me a 403 the other day.

The Stig announcements I tune right out, too long, too lame/whatever (see the in-jokes), should just be a quick one liner nonsense, not some try hard attempt at .. ??
They are *definitely* trying too hard with Charlie's version of Jezza's "Some say..." announcements. TG never used to do that in the old days; if he was testing a German car, for instance, he was referred to as "Baron von Stighausen" or similar. Couldn't TGAus stick with something like that?

rant: (9-3 driving etc...)
Ye gods, you're going to hate my driving position. Which I call "twenty to one". I have my reasons which I won't bore you all with.

I'm sure it will be the same deal with TGUSA but we will see :p
It'll be a lot worse. For every one forum member who had already decided TGAus was going to crash before it had even been announced, there will be ten for TGUSA. Even if they get it right straight out of the box, I am dreading the shitstorm that's going to kick off regardless.
 
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Oh boy where do I start with this. I went into this episode having never watched a show it was as if I was watching s01e01, well not quite. What did I think?

I will start by saying I have no interest in TGA but when I heard this episode was 4x4's in the outback it got my attention and when 1 of the 3 was going to be a Range Rover I was drawen in enough to want to find, start and watch a download. Some members on this forum have rated this as a 1 out of 10 1?, 1? dude 1 is watching a test card for 60 mins, it can't be that bad, can it?. I have seen sippits of TGA on YT (example X6, 135i and GT oh and Holden Astra Bowels (which was god awful)) but never a full espisode so I was not 100% sure what to expect. The presenters as individuals I don't think came off to bad, if I am honest with myself I have seen worse presenting on 5th gear, the 63 review was good enjoyed it surpising as it sounds the best part of the program even though that was not what I wanted to see. There is something though about when they interact together the whole thing just falls apart and it shows badly.

I really don't want to mention TG here because it is a different show and I shouldn't but it is hard not to when in theory at least it is a carbon copy right down to some say. The news now we all know that TG is scripted but they pull it off with a sence of improvisation, while TGA it is not only sounds like it is from a script but more like they took the pages and began reading it to camera without and kind of rehersal, the jokes where as funny as loosing a tenner and finding a penny. News isn't the worst part I am not kidding here but What Where They Thinking an original idea that I liked the sound of was the most cringe worthy piece of television I have watched and I mean like I really can't think of anything worse, no matter how hard I try.

The 4x4's was great, camera work good, cars great (with the execption of the Lexus) and the scenery made me wabt ti go book a flight to Oz if I could afford it and contimued to be great right up to the point they interacted with each other and toyed with a rubber snake and ran over fluffy toys, then it fell apart and the whole outback thing was dead to me.

I will try to be delicate here not to upset fans of the show, the test track fooking sucks. I tried to be delicate but I can'r sorry it sucks and so does the camera work.

Overall it is not a 1, I am going to go with a 4 the bits I enjoyed, I enjoyed and would have pushed to a 5 if it was not for the presenters antics in the abomination thats known as "What Where They Thinking".

Sorry for the spelling I would put it though a checker but it seems like to much effort.
 
I give it an 8. Compared with last episode, the phrase "Now THAT'S more like it!" kept popping into mind.

Watching the 4WD adventure segments, it occurred to me that this was very much the equivalent of TGUK's Paris Supercar adventure. Honestly, TGUK is better at supercars than it is at off-roaders, mainly because off-road culture isn't as big over in Europe. This is the type of thing that TGAUS has a real shot at outperforming TGUK.

I will agree with most people that WWTT is starting to become a pup. They're really stretching with the rants about parking police.

The scene with Warren filling the cathole with an oblivious Steve in the foreground was actually a very good use of firevapour as an obscurer. It'll be interesting to see if TGUK tries that one.
 
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