[08x05] November 7th, 2005

[astondg]

The Max Power cars: That Norris Evo was not a show car, it is made for going not for who, they could have shown some of it on the track though. The other two I wasn't interested in but that is just my taste and if they go to all the trouble of moving the seat to the middle why can't they get a decent seat, that one had minimal lateral support.

NSX: That was a little boring, telling me stuff I already new, but I guess it was for the people who underate it that might not know as much about it. I would rather have seen it on the track too, they did keep saying that is what is was meant for but then they never took it there. I wanted some lap times and to see some of Tiff's car control or even Vicky or Jason's.

200 MPH:

The guy who did 206mph in the Sierra with one hand on the steering wheel and no safety equipment made the 5th gear guys looked like idiots who didn't know what they were doing.

They said that car took 6 years to develop and GBP 43,000. The FG car took 1 year and about GBP 32,000, a big difference and Tiff seemed reasonably confident that it could have made it to 200mph and he should know he has been in quite a few 200mph cars and raced some too. Also they are not idiots for wanting to be safe, just because the guy in the other Sierra isn't concerned about his life or health doesn't mean that is the best way to do it. At 200mph on a wet track I would want all the protection I could get. Holding a car in a straight line might not sound difficult but at 200mph things are a lot different and if the engine blows and dumps oil on the tyres or something things could get a lot more difficult.

where as the other cars are lighter and making more power and it barely hit 200mph.

Weight makes no difference to top speed and actually the Esprit is not that heavy anyway, probably not much more than the Sierra. Also those cars didn't have the aerodynamics of the Esprit so they needed more power.

DB9: I was a bit dissapointed with Jason Plato and surprised with Tom. It seems they changed places or something and for once I would rather Tom did the review. I like Aston Martin because of their racing heriatge not because their image so if the handling is a bit dodgy I want to know. I guess Plato has a point though, I'm not the type of person who would buy this car (even if I had enough money) because being a big heavy convertable puts me off it straight away and the type of people that will buy this car probably don't care about the handling anyway.

Not my favourite FG but I still enjoyed it. I am a bit dissapointed because I think it could have been a lot better but that's ok because the next one (or sometime soon anyway) has Tiff in an E30 M3 and that will make it all better .

 

[exocrine]

Weight makes no difference to top speed...

On a very long stretch of road, that's true. But in this case they only had ~1.5 miles to accelerate on. A better power to wieght ratio helps get the car up to speed sooner, leaving more track for the final few mph.

Being able to reach 200 mph on a 3 mile stretch of road doesn't mean much on a 2 mile runway.

 

[0ctan3]

That's the best giveaway ever

anyone know if the British government taxes winnings such as this?
An '04 NSX was given away in the US to the winner of a RC car tournament awhile back, but the winner couldn't afford the taxes on it and had to sell. Ouch!

 

[hokiethang]

That's the best giveaway ever

anyone know if the British government taxes winnings such as this?
An '04 NSX was given away in the US to the winner of a RC car tournament awhile back, but the winner couldn't afford the taxes on it and had to sell. Ouch!

I think it was said elsewhere, that as a result of it being a game of skill (i.e. asking the question) that the company could pay the taxes, instead of forcing the winner to. I'm not sure as to how that works (or if that's how it works) since i'm from the states.

 

[EBMCS03]

Hey didnt they air this Lotus 200mph part before? I remeber seeing it... I guess they never got it above 200...

Why didnt they just bring out the new E60 M5... it can do 200mph and its less than 100 pounds...

Can the M5 not do 200mph in less than 2 miles is that why?

 

[hokiethang]

Hey didnt they air this Lotus 200mph part before? I remeber seeing it... I guess they never got it above 200...

Why didnt they just bring out the new E60 M5... it can do 200mph and its less than 100 pounds...

Can the M5 not do 200mph in less than 2 miles is that why?

The lotus 200mph thing was something that has been going for a long time. The goal of the project was to build a 200mph car for as cheap as they could, and a new M5 would have been WELL outside their budget. According to tiff, they were pushing the producer's limits at 34,000 pounds, an E60 is more in the 75,000 - 100,000 pound (i'm not familiar with car prices in the UK?) range.

 

[peagiddy]

Well, the last half of that episode kept my attention anyway. The Lotus project definitely seemed like if they didn't approach things in such a shortsighted way, they might've achieved their goal. Instead of hiring a guy who's done 200 mph before in a modded car to advise them, they simply bolted stuff on. I wonder why they didn't take the mirrors and rear wing off much earlier in the whole process but I don't know if it would've mattered anyway. It sounds like at the end of the episode Tiff leaves it like the car may pop up again and have another run in the show on a longer track before they put it up for sale.

 

[speed dodici]

I thought this ep was terrible. There's "on a budget" and then theres "half assing". The lotus was definitely the latter. which is sad since the espirit is one of my all time favorite cars. And the 'spygames' segment needs to be appologized for. I want more segments like they had on the ZondaF. Practically gave me a boner that did, and I watch that segment weekly. So much of Fifth gear seems to be filler. I'm not impressed

 

[SL65]

Fifth Gears lost its sting in my IMO. It wasnt a bad episode by any means and I will continue to watch it (obviously) but it aint what it used to be..

The NSX segment was great, the DB9 segment was a copy of TopGear - DB9 dodging 'bullets' to test its agility and Jason mentioning how some people will complain about the stiffness lost by loosing the roof (Hammond). The shootout was ok and the Lotus segment was ok aswell, just a shame it didnt top 200.

But it just lacks something...I dunno

Also, I thought that there was meant to be a segment on "the worlds most expensive cars" this week :?

 

[Jimi Hendrix]

Jason mentioning how some people will complain about the stiffness lost by loosing the roof (Hammond)

Hammond and every single mag in the world.

 

[SL65]

Jason mentioning how some people will complain about the stiffness lost by loosing the roof (Hammond)

Hammond and every single mag in the world.

True but the way in which Jason described it really got me thinking about Hammonds review.

Remember, he had a little whiteboard and he did some rough calculations as too the body stiffness lost in newton meters...

Oh and what was with Tom in this episode. It was as if he was having his periods cos he was full moody n' shit. Weird huh.

 

[Hans75]

Also, I thought that there was meant to be a segment on "the worlds most expensive cars" this week :?

Shouldn't that be "the Britains most expensive modded cars"?

(BTW: weighing the H2 down another 1,3 tons, and still call it a car - they must be joking! I'd rather mount some wheels on my house - it would be much more comfy inside and have similar handling...)

 

[SL65]

I quote the pre-episode thread for this ep:

the most expensive cars in the world as featured in the popular auto magazine Max Power

Anyway, maybe they meant most expensive modded car in tha UK..

 

[logo]

another non-entertaining episode :/

 

[Shawn]

This was a fucking horrible episode. Don't tell me to stop watching because a) I often don't mind it and b) I have no life.

The concept of the NSX part intrigued me since I like the car, but it didn't provide anything interesting. Poor Ayrton Senna...

The DB9 was fucking horrible. Playdough should really just get shipped in a crate back to Monte Carlo, on a really slow horse. Where those guys shooting at him for real or were they just making mouth noises? I was like "wait, what the fuck is going on right now?" The gay ricer cars were such a waste of time, if you spend a hundred thousand pounds on a fucking Hummer and not a Ferrari or Aston, you deserve to get raped up the ass real hard, by your dad.

Didn't we tell them that Tom Ford was the only good one? Why didn't he have a part? Why don't these douchechills send someone like the BBC to read what people say on here...

P.S. Find a new song, that Queens of the Stone Age song is getting soooo old. It's not even that great.

 

[magnaman]

ho hum top gear next week

EVEN when TOP gear FAILS something, they always go back and do something stupid

Actualy if Fifth gear stopped giving Expensive cars away, they could afford more quality shows


HINT HINT HINT!!

WHo here has benifited from a car they gave away?

 

[Shawn]

Maybe they meant "biggest fucking faggots in the UK" because those guys certainly looked queer to me. Douchebags...

I quote the pre-episode thread for this ep:

the most expensive cars in the world as featured in the popular auto magazine Max Power

Anyway, maybe they meant most expensive modded car in tha UK..

 

[Lusitano]

Violence! That is what the show needs! VIOLENCE!!!
I sense Tom getting fed up with pretty-boy Plato, British gentleman Needel starting to curse more often, etc... I say they should go at it in one episode! If they are so concerned about ratings, violence should do it. That way seems to work around here. :lol:

The Lotus segment was a bit disappointing, for the fact that it did not reach the 200 mark. I loved it when that guy showed up wih an old Sierra, and very casually, without an helmet, got up there! Too funny!

I liked that Alfa, but I agreed with the guys. Alfa, even though the draw up beautiful shapes, they seem to come up short in the performance department.

Convertibles are for gays. I do not think the DB9 Volante looks that great.

I love the French and their designs!

 

[Shawn]

Plato is more like ugly-boy... that nose just kills me. I could hang my clothes on it at night.

 

[Overheat]

Call me stupid but surely covering the intake vents with a piece of acrylic will have had quite an adverse effect on the engine temperature of the Lotus non?

:?