[12x04] November 23rd, 2008

[12x04] November 23rd, 2008

  • Total voters
    564
9/10 - Very good episode - thoroughly enjoyed it, all the ingredients that make Top Gear brilliant. Very satisfying to see the existing-only-for-the-big-numbers Veyron beaten by the Zonda. It says something about the show that they were able to make an economy race so enjoyable.
 
Mineworksfine said:
Are you also remembering the difference between the Imperial and US gallons?

Imperial Gallon = 4.55 litres
US Gallon = 3.79 litres

To compare you need to add 16.79% to your mileage or deduct 14.4% from theirs.
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Ahhhhh. I forgot about that, so I feel a little bit better about my milage, but I still think I am being screwed by the US gov.

I have my eye on a M5, but the milage is only 24 mpg. Now I could keep my Honda and drive the M5 in my spare time, but I really don't have any spare time, so that is no good. I do go in and test the salesman ocassionally to see if he knows as much about it as I do. (they never do) And take the latest model for a spin. We have a really curvy back road and I love the feel of that car on that road. If they could only give me more mpg, it would be mine.
 
Solid episode, Capt. Slow did a great job on the review.

Skylock: You also have to remember your driving a Honda. Now if you had something like what I had, an Audi A4 Quattro, which is ment to run on a higher grade of fuel you might notice a larger difference when switching from 87 octane to 91 or even 89. When drove the A4 with higher grades, I got approximately 15-40 more miles per fill up and better performance. You must also think about where you fill up, some stations "water down" their fuels more than others.

I was told that certain cars like the Toyota Corollas (he probably ment Hondas and etc...) are ment to run on lower grades of gas. Ok, seems reasonable but this next part seems incorrect to my knowledge; then again this isn't my specialty. He said he asked the Toyota dealership's mechanic if he should use premium but was told that better gasoline should not be used and may even create problems. I would like to hear what the technical experts of the forum say about that before I end my conclusion.
 
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Spectre said:
I can't say I'm surprised - remember, they discovered the Veyron's stability problems *very* late in development and instead of providing a proper fix in the form of a longer wheelbase, they simply altered the electronic stability controls to deny the car the ability to get anywhere close to the point where it spins. If you listen carefully, the Veyron pulls some of the throttle off on the followthrough and on the exit from Chicago. That's not Stig doing it, that sounds like the computer doing it.

Oh, and to all you people who thought the Veyron was going to be a lot faster and that I was wrong - HAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHHA

The only reason the Veyron was as fast as it was was because it made up time in the straights... but it doesn't handle, so basically VW has made a really expensive classic American muscle car!
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One of the other reasons for the Veyron not turning properly are the wheels:
245 at the front, 365mm at the back, there is no way you're going to get any sort of turn in with that combination.. Just understeering disappointment. Also, I think the car had the tc/stability control on. We've seen a Veyron doing a 0-100 run, and it does noticably smoke the tires, didn't sound like it was pushed in the corners either..
 
skylock said:
Ahhhhh. I forgot about that, so I feel a little bit better about my milage, but I still think I am being screwed by the US gov.

I have my eye on a M5, but the milage is only 24 mpg. Now I could keep my Honda and drive the M5 in my spare time, but I really don't have any spare time, so that is no good. I do go in and test the salesman ocassionally to see if he knows as much about it as I do. (they never do) And take the latest model for a spin. We have a really curvy back road and I love the feel of that car on that road. If they could only give me more mpg, it would be mine.
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if you want epic performance coupled with great mileage, there's no other choice than a largeish diesel engine,preferably in a smallish car.

Staying within the BM range, a 535d is pretty awesome (albeit not quite as fast as a 545i, as shown by Jezza a couple of years ago). But the extra performance in the petrol car, you won't notice it as much. You will notice the higher fuel bills, etc.

you get 0-60 in 6 seconds but also 30 - 35 mpg...
 
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To the people voting 9's, no way as good as the american ZR1 episode, come on.

Was a solid episode, enjoyed it, nothing about it really made me think 'wow' like some top gear episodes do.

I'm not surprised at all the veyron wasn't faster, i was actually surprised it was as fast as it was considering how slow the lap looked, it didn't burst out of corners with the thrust i expected given its power. Looked genuinely slow through the follow through.
 
8/10 for me. Not bad but didn't keep me captivated.

James' first supercar review on the TG test track was good but, like what Jeremy did with the Porsche GT2, it was more of a put-down of the new Zonda where the bottom line was something like "the Zonda's good but the Veyron is better". Considering only Richard really likes it I guess I should'nt be too surprised :p

News was ok. Not great though. The new Lambo looked brilliant!

SIARPC...well...I could take it or leave it in this episode.

The economy race was great! The Stig flicking the switch at the end was hilarious.

The Veyron lap didn't seem all that fast. It looked like The Stig did take a few corners with some caution..from about the hammerhead onwards. IF TG were told to take it easy then I would've preferred they didn't put it around the track. We've been waiting 2 years. I could've waited longer for a truely no-holds-barred Veyron lap. The Zonda lap was super clean. I wasn't too surprised it beat the Veyron.
 
Good overall episode, but the race was a bit disappointing. They jetted off to a really interesting place for that? We didn't even get to see any interesting scenery because it was still dark when they left Switzerland. I much preferred Clarkson's A8 economy run in Season 4, because he actually cared and talked about how much effort it takes to drive ridiculously carefully like that. The one part that was really funny was James and Hammond slowwwwly overtaking each other, but then they just cut again to Jeremy being pissed. But that Jag, what an amazing result!

The rest was fine, the news was forced and awkward as it has been for a long time now. James' power test was OK if a bit short. Gave it a 7.
 
On the whole "taking it slow with the Veyron"-talk:
They deliberately made the footage of the Zonda look faster than that of the Veyron to emphazise the .something seconds difference which would be completely invisible when watching the car in real life. (Edit: As any responsible TV camera crew they know what they want to show beforehand... that's not scripting, that's how film works... one lap to get the time, then another to get the footage that illustrates the time...)
How fast or slow the car looks around the track to us viewers has much more to do with camera angles and lenses than the car itself. If you compare the shots of the cars going through the tire wall, you'll notice that the camera is positioned lower and the shot if framed to show more of the tire wall when the Zonda passes, letting it pass the camera almost straight in the camera axis, thus making it look much faster:
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If one would do a shot-by-shot comparasition he would find something like this in many shots... They had to give the Veyron quite a beating to make it still look something close to fast ;)

About the scriptedness of the economy race: Didn't look too scripted to me... as stated before the choice of cars and the route each one takes is carefully selected to make the race a close call - no more scripting necessary, i guess ;)
 
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You would never go from London to Blackpool via the M1/M62. Still, that's Captain Not-Quite-As-Slow-As-he-Used-To-Be sense of direction for you.
 
DarkReaper said:
What could have caused that very sharp edged very deep dent though that didn't just rip off the body work?
Would have had to spin out of control and hit something that's only as high as that dent sideways and then buckled after impact.
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run way lights... bout the same height, and have a nice rim around them
 
It really irks me how the lap they show isn't the actual lap that achieved that time. What is the point?
 
Does it matter what they show as long as they (hopefully) are legit?

We have had top gear australia for the last few weeks which, was ok but not brilliant... and everyone was banging on how the original was better... then the original comes back and we still get people complaining about scripting, showing the original footage... just enjoy it :D

This episode was awesome.. best of the season so far :D
 
im suprised that none of the internet investigators here have managed to find who's veyron that was. the number plate was 69 KP or something right? but i just checked on RegTransfer.co.uk and 69 KP is apparently not owned by anyone and is for sale at ?13995
 
mitchtj said:
It really irks me how the lap they show isn't the actual lap that achieved that time. What is the point?
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To give us the best footage they got and focus attention on how fast or slow a car is going round the track.

Sometimes you don't see the whole lap anyway but you wouldn't question the point of that, right ;)
 
Good episode!

But what i find weird is all the people here talking about the veyron being too heavy to go around corners and stuff. It is a heavy car!!!!! And no matter what you think, 1.18.3 is still a damn fast lap! The carrera GT did it in 1.19.8, and that is a more hands on. The veyron is just as much a GT car as a supercar. You have to respect that time!
 
Ive been severely dissapointed with Top Gear these past 2 weeks. James has been great, the only good segments these past 2 episodes. The Fuel economy race was stupid, Jeremy did it years ago, and with an even bigger vehicle, and he also was ALOT more technical and informative...it was an interesting segment...this was just...Dull.
Richard and Jeremy need to step it up, james is doing all the work! =P
 
That was a great episode! The race was fun and James first super car review on the track! I didn't expect the Veyron to be the fastest car as it's too heavy and the tyres are way to wide for any cornering at speed.
 
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