[12x02] September 10th, 2007

[Viper007Bond]

You know what to do.

 

[s0172236]

show was ok, i really wish though they would finally drop that celebrity-bit, and spend the time on cars...
the SLR-Roadster was fantastic and sounds just wonderful

 

[kekekeke]

its was okay, nothing special.

 

[Viper007Bond]

I quite enjoyed this episode, especially the R8 vs. 911 segment. To be honest, I think I prefer Fifth Gear if I actually need to know which car is better on the track. You just can't beat Tiff and Plato.

Still though, nothing beats Top Gear in terms of entertainment and the best hour of television.

 

[mcag]

The 205 Gti / 207 GTi segment was rubish. A complete rubish...

Should have been better with tiff driving them on the track like the've done with the clio williams and the clio 197.

On the other hand, the R8 vs 911 was very enjoyable to watch.

 

[crashmaxx]

Let's see:

The 205/207 segment was ok, but really quite useless. I agree that Tiff doing laps in them would have been much better.

The SLR was good, nice and entertaining. It is a nice change to see a young guy driving these nice cars and not just getting stuck driving crap. Very original perspective.

The SUV comparison was crap. Just a waste of time.

But the 911/R8 shootout was great. Perhaps only because the cars are so ungodly sick. I think I'd save up my pennies and go for the rumored V10 R8, a 911 Turbo, or a 911 GT3, though. But the versions they had are still just awesome cars. And it is so much fun to watch them having fun with them. Really, the only bad thing is it was just way too short. Get rid of the crap and have more of this!

Speaking of crap, why do they think anyone wants to watch anyone (famous or not) take their fricking bike test?! So stupid, I'm just skipping these now. No reason for these silly segments.

And while the cafe bits are a lot less annoying then the last few seasons (thank goodness for that), someone get the cameraman a tripod already. Getting motion sickness watching the shaky cam here.

I did really like the crash test too. And I think its really important to dispel this stupid idea that bigger cars are 'safer', this shows once again, that safer cars are safer regardless. Not big SUV's or other old boats and death traps.

Overall, very good really. Though I can't tell you how long I've been waiting to see Jezza in an R8, this was a good hold over.

 

[TJP]

Another excellent episode.

First the 205 Gti vs. 207 GTi segment was fine. It was just a quick review to find if the new car was better than the old one (as the manufacturer claimed). Of course it wasn't....

The SLR segment was very good. What a car...nice supercharged V8 soundtrack which Jonny displayed at every opportunity.

What makes this show is the Jason vs Tiff segments. The two best drivers on TV going for it on a track makes for great viewing. The Audi R8 vs. Porsche 911 4S was fantastic. Nothing more needs to be said.

"New but is it any good" is another quick review segment; I found it OK but I'm not into soft 4WD so I'm hardly the target audience.

One disppointment was the celebrity segment. I love my bikes but they don't belong on a car show.

Crash segment was OK only becuase Tom is a great presenter. Please Top & Fifth Gear(s) - we've seen enough car crash segments now.

Now all I have to do is figure out how to enter the car comp from outside the UK......

 

[Mark355]

Good ep.

Johnny was awesome in the SLR. I like his "I can't believe I'm sitting here" style of reviewing, though I wish the segment was longer. They could of made time for that by trashing the bike test which I skipped because I couldn't care less. Tiff and Plato were excellent as usual, and Tom's old vs. new crash test was interesting. Vicki, stop wearing those jackets for the love of god. I agree about the stupid earthquake camera in the cafe.

 

[ViperVX]

Nithing special, but still good. Great SLR review (sounded like it was written by Clarkson), good 911 vs R8. although useless, those are very different cars.

Peugeot segment, celebrity on a bike, car lottery = out.

All the information is still there, but missing smth. I wonder how much did FG improve rating-wise, from ep. 1 to 2.

 

[Tommo]

I found it to be quite an enjoyable episode, just get rid of the stupid celebrity segments which are a complete waste of time (I just skipped that segment). I'm never sure about these crash tests either because they don't have equal comparisons, surely if your testing a small car vs a large car/tank you'd use cars from the same year and perhaps the same manufacturer? A 3 year old Renault (a company which is taking safety very seriously) against an old Volvo tank that doesn't even have air bags isn't very even.

 

[awdrifter]

Good ep. The 207 review is pretty good, as cars get bigger, safer and heavier, we'll never get a car that's as fun as the original (excluding supercars). The SLR Roadster review is pretty good, but IMO they should've let Jonny review the 207 and let Vicky review the SLR so she can give some proper driving impressions. Best part of the show is the R8 vs the 911, I would pick the R8 just based on it's looks, it just looks stunning. With the rumor of the V10 version, I think it'll steal quite a few customers from Porsche. The crash was alright, it was dragged on a bit too long, but ask Vicky and Tom said, I expected the Volvo to do better too.

 

[wrc_maniac]

Great episode again!!! Even better than the first one. The R8 vs 911 4S bit is an epitome of how cars of such magnitude should be reviewed. SLR convertible... man I didn't even know such thing existed and 5th Gear are already testing it! GREAT !!! The only thing that I didn't like is that 5th Gear seams to be to getting on the Clarkson wagon trying to "Britanize" the car.This is a bit off topic, but Clarkson's habit of making every good car British really annoys me, its amazing how every great car he tests "was originally designed by a Brit," and now 5th Gear seem to be following his example. The only reason Mercedes use MCLaren is for marketing purposes, since its associated with F1, rather than because they can't make it in Germany. Other than this, great first two episodes. Next seems to be a bit more boring, but there are only that many supercars that come out in a few months time.

 

[Dsemaj]

Enjoyed the SLR review the most, and the crash was interesting. 911 4S vs. R8 review was enjoyable also, but the rest was pretty forgettable.

 

[GT - R]

R8 vs 911 was the best part, the SLR was also nice but the GTI was crap

Off Topic- The Car they are giving away has the bodykit with a diferent collour to the car??? It looks like that

 

[otispunkmeyer]

Great episode again!!! Even better than the first one. The R8 vs 911 4S bit is an epitome of how cars of such magnitude should be reviewed. SLR convertible... man I didn't even know such thing existed and 5th Gear are already testing it! GREAT !!! The only thing that I didn't like is that 5th Gear seams to be to getting on the Clarkson wagon trying to "Britanize" the car.This is a bit off topic, but Clarkson's habit of making every good car British really annoys me, its amazing how every great car he tests "was originally designed by a Brit," and now 5th Gear seem to be following his example. The only reason Mercedes use MCLaren is for marketing purposes, since its associated with F1, rather than because they can't make it in Germany. Other than this, great first two episodes. Next seems to be a bit more boring, but there are only that many supercars that come out in a few months time.

oh im sure mercedes do just that, after all who'd pick mclaren for their design and engineering expertise? not me no way! pah they only know how to build championship winning F1 cars and pioneered the use of carbon fibre in the sport (i think, dont quote me on that i may be wrong).... unworthy achievements if you ask me. yes... definately marketing all the way.

the car was designed and built in the woking factory, for me its a mclaren with a mercedes engine.

theyre using their ties really, Mercedes today wouldnt be able to hold a candle to mclaren, its better for them to just let mclaren work their magic rather than have themselves a crack at it because it would almost certainly be no where near as good or it would take them a lot longer. wit this car being made almost completely from CF, it makes sense to have mclaren on the case.

could they build it in germany, yeah they could, would people still buy it? yeah they would. would it be anywhere near as good? no.

i know what you mean by making everything seem british, but for the SLR at least there is a good reason for it. desgined and built in woking .....the only way to make it more british would be to have a british badge on the front.

we dont have a car industry anymore, so we have to make these things known

 

[mcag]

R8 vs 911 was the best part, the SLR was also nice but the GTI was crap

Off Topic- The Car they are giving away has the bodykit with a diferent collour to the car??? It looks like that

It?s hard to beleave what she was saying aboung the 205/207 gti driving like that and on street roads... she was like going to the church on a sunday.

Best regards

 

[Narcolepsy]

Show has really improved. Not as good as 12x01, Celeb was boring the SUV thing was too brief to be meaningful, nice to see Johnny in a fast car.

 

[phenergn]

I'm never sure about these crash tests either because they don't have equal comparisons, surely if your testing a small car vs a large car/tank you'd use cars from the same year and perhaps the same manufacturer? A 3 year old Renault (a company which is taking safety very seriously) against an old Volvo tank that doesn't even have air bags isn't very even.

I think that is the whole point; that you would normally use cars from the same year / manufacturer. So lots of people have, and the test data already exists. They wanted to do a test that ISN'T obvious, and hasn't been done before. After all, in the real world cars don't always crash into other cars from the same year or manufacturer. And when choosing how much to spend on their next family car people don't always choose cars from the same year or manufacturer.

Fifth gear themselves have already covered the former point when they showed stock crash footage of a brand new Smart driving into a brand new big Merc.

 

[jack_christie]

Good episode. Liked the 911 v R8, SLR and the crash test.

The crash test was really good, as most people don't realise how crap car safety is on pre '97 models and to some extent pre '07 models. Shows you that those stars mean something in the real world. Shows real progress in car safety design and how crap car safety law is...

 

[skr]

Tiff and Jason's part was just great, 2 boys playing with there toys....and Jason's evil laughter *hrhrhr*. I think everybody can tell that they really had fun shooting it, and I enjoyed watching it
Good episode (except for the stupid bike thingy...that was annoying)