[09x04] February 18th, 2007

[indianajohn]

Good episode at last maybe... but still not like the good old Top Gear. A 6 minute test of a 911 Turbo and then a tuned car? Where are the CARS???? I can't believe they're doing one of these off-topic segments each and every week now, there used to be one or two in a whole series. They take up way too much car time in my opinion. Great seeing the Cool Wall back though, and the shuttle was impressive, but that should've been the one big experiment for the whole series, not just another weekly one. I'm not looking forward to the tractors at all next week, I want to see cars.

Top Gear seems to be dropping all the fans who have been there right from the start in favour of getting more women to watch. Sad.

[Paul]

but i still think Top Gear is good. I happen to like it when they are cocking about. It's funny. To be honest. If Jezza just review the car, and not make fun of it. It would be just another boring car show.

[vikiradTG2007]

Originally Posted by pmosiun

but i still think Top Gear is good. I happen to like it when they are cocking about. It's funny. To be honest. If Jezza just review the car, and not make fun of it. It would be just another boring car show.

Exactly. The fact that this show is as much about cars as it is about "cocking about" makes it brilliant. It's a balancing act, but "cocking about" is what makes Top Gear such a lovable show.

[indianajohn]

yeah I agree... but I'd prefer it if they were cocking about with cars rather than roadworks. I miss the stuff like the beach tests and the Isle of Man... that was still actually about the cars with some cocking about in between.

[Donington]

Anyone see those chavs behind Jezza at the start of the news...GET A ROOM!

[raudi]

I watch Top Gear most for the chemistry between the presenters. If I want serious car info, I'll look online or buy Evo. I loved Jezza's 911 segment, I loved the news and I loved the rocket film. It was all good to me. I even liked the star/car part. Excellent show. The boys are back and it's brilliant.

[Porsche-Superiority]

I can't believe that JC bought himself a Lambo Spyder

I guess his Ford GT wasn't too C.O.O.L. for the JC

[ahpadt]

Just rewatched the episode and spotted a pretty obviously cut in the film..

Watch Hammond's stack of pictures

Before:


A few seconds after:


Sad that they cut some of the best parts of the show..

[Henk]

Originally Posted by Law

Some are, some are not. But that is no reason to sat "1000 torques". Not very informative. Either go "a lot of torque" or if he is going to say a number, he should say the unit too otherwise it's useless.

I agree with you, because it makes much much clearer. But they always do stuff like this. They always say that they don't understand something, which I for example do. And I am sure they do. Just to have people identify with J, J & R, they have them say: "I have no idea what torque is, but this has lots of it!" and stuff like this aswell. It annoys me, because I'm sure not all of the people watching are that thick.

[indianajohn]

Originally Posted by raudi

I watch Top Gear most for the chemistry between the presenters. If I want serious car info, I'll look online or buy Evo. I loved Jezza's 911 segment, I loved the news and I loved the rocket film. It was all good to me. I even liked the star/car part. Excellent show. The boys are back and it's brilliant.

Yeah absolutely! The presenters make the show, especially when together. I just wish there were more CARS involved! There are so many new cars out there that I'd love to see in the hands of the Top Gear presenters but sadly it seems we're halfway through a new series and they've hardly driven a thing.

If there is going to be one of these features with lots of cocking about and no cars taking up half the show every week I'm going to be suicidal soon. Just add some cars, it's simple. I miss the arguments in the pub about the cars they've just been driving. But it's gotta have some damn cars surely.

[marcos_eirik]

I think this was a great episode. The 997 Turbo is a phenomenal car, it has recieved nothing but praize, so yes I expected it to be good. I also think Jeremy secretly loves it, remember he did put the 996 Turbo on #2 in his Top 100. Shame they didn't get one to test on the track. This is probably not the optimal time of year to do a hot (cold) lap of the track with a car. The Brabus part was partly predictable, somehwere there has to be a limit to how much power that can compensate for lacking dynamics. It did look like it was all over the place in the corner wobbling from side to side and struggeling.

Shame about the Robin-shuttle though. After all the work they put into it I actually think it would have worked if the explosive bolts had worked and the tank had separated as well as the solid fuel booster engines did.

I think the reason why Jeremy just says "'s got a thousand torques" and "produces just 300 carbondioxides" is just to simplify things, as giving the exact figures wouldn't tell most of the Top Gear audience a damn thing. Thanks god they don't just read out the manufactuers press release like some other useless car programmes does...

[Marc]

997 is even better sitting on my drive way.

[3Colin]

About the "1000 torques" thing, I do feel a definite anti-intellectual vibe from Top Gear at times. It's that they really don't care for details... I think that if anyone bothered to point out that JC said SL 65 instead of the correct SL 600, they'd be shouted down. Their catch-all word is "boring", and that gets irritating.

[NHeer-Design]

Originally Posted by 3Colin

I think that if anyone bothered to point out that JC said SL 65 instead of the correct SL 600, they'd be shouted down.

It just WAS an SL 65... look at the rims.


I liked the episode, but I'd like to see more back-to-basics episodes. I'd like to see that 911 Turbo get around the track. I would REALLY like to see the race video with the Brera, to be honest.

[Onden]

Originally Posted by Ginger Dan

Further question, to the (no doubt thousands!) of space scientist chappies - are the rockets for the space shuttles ESSENTIALLY the same thing as the 'mini' rockets we saw taking the Reliant up, and all the space mad stuff is actually in the shuttle?

Well ALL rockets are essentially the same in that they basically just a sustained explosion directed in one, er, direction.

In the real space shuttle the side boosters are filled with a solid propellant. The Robin shuttle appeared to use solid fuel in the side boosters as well, but they were very short burn, you'll notice their out just a couple seconds after liftoff. The total thrust of the Robin was 8.5 tonnes; the thurst of each real shuttle booster is roughly 1200+ (metric) tonnes! The real shuttle boosters also have complex thrust vectoring mechanisms to adjust the direction of thrust in flight to keep the shuttle stable, the Robin shuttle did not.

The fuel tank on the real shuttle is just a fuel tank that holds liquid rocket propellant, this fuels the 3 main engines on the shuttle itself. The Robin "fuel tank" had what appeared to be 4-6 liquid fuel rockets in it. The liquid propellant used was likely was different than what is used for the real shuttle. The Robin shuttle itself had a couple of smaller solid rockets in it that were not ignited.

It takes an extraordinary amount of thrust to break the earth's gravity, going up a several hundred feet like the Robin is comparatively a peice of cake. The Robin shuttle was very cool, but in basic terms it's not even close to the real shuttle. The Robin produced 8.5 tonnes of thrust, all combined the real shuttle produces around 3000 tonnes of thrust.

[Vandal]

The whole feel of the show is starting to feel more . . . commercial. It has always had the "scripted" feel to it, but it now comes across as, dare I say, polished, at times.

TG is still my favourite, can't miss show. It's just different now. I'm a auto / racing nut but the reason I watch TG is for the British slanted humour. JC's throw away lines (1000 torques) and his ability to anger people is part of the appeal.

Instead of traveling to the American deep south, next series the TG gang should take a blast through the Canadian Rockies. They can do a roadster test. JC in a S2000, Hammond in MX-5, May in crappy Chev / Pontiac / Vauxhall, and I'll drive the Elise!

Vandal

[NHeer-Design]

Originally Posted by Vandal

Instead of traveling to the American deep south, next series the TG gang should take a blast through the Canadian Rockies. They can do a roadster test. JC in a S2000, Hammond in MX-5, May in crappy Chev / Pontiac / Vauxhall, and I'll drive the Elise!

Vandal

Ooooo ya.

I live right around there. I'll pop by and watch the filming. They could even check out some of the car culture here (ZR Auto, et al)

[Fleetfoot]

meh.. Reliant.. why didn't they use a Toyota Pickup

Great show, never thought they'd get the rocket to go up like that, must have been some maths going in to making sure it went as straight as it did!

Cool wall isn't my favorite, but to each his own, it's like Porsches, great cars but in the end they all look the same; O--O lets see a porsche with square headlights and less round bits for a change

When do we get to see May doing a lap on top gear track? Hammond can wait a year if you ask me..

[Shani]

I'm so mean, I actually wanted the rocket to explode like that. I'm not a pyromaniac I swear...
And you can see right from the off how Clarkson was going to react when Hammond held up that picture of the bike...
And class comment on David Attenborough... twisted logic at its finest. And I'm with him on the 'scaffolding' comment on the 911, it doesnt look finished.

[SVTWANNABE]

I just realized something: Notice on the first episode, they all "promised" to not mention the crash ever again. Meanwhile, there were two indirect references:

1. Melling Hellcat - regarding testing the top speed of 270 mph: "Can you please not ask me to be the one to find out?"
2. BBC Health & Safety Questionnaire #1 from JC: "You have a blowout on the motorway...one for you here, Hammmond"