[11x05] July 20th, 2008

[corradoboy]

Just watched it on iPlayer, and I found it OK, funny in places, but lacking in so many others. GTR review and Stig lap was par for the course, an impressive machine given a fair appraisal. The news was funny as always, and a valuable element of the show allowing the chemistry between the three to flow. The old cars article was dull and predictable IMHO, nicking elements from many previous 'challenges'. SIARPC was surprisingly entertaining, considering the tiredness of this part of the show. The guests can make or break it, and todays were a little above average, surprisingly. The fox hunting was very silly, occasionally amusing but mostly just a waste of time. The dubbed V8 soundtrack was crap. I stand by what I said last week regarding the format, we need 3-way group tests of real-world cars on most weeks, a bit of exotica, some dicking about and some fresh ideas to replace SIARPC, TGSM and the Cool Wall. 6/10, but still the best thing on telly, at least for 6 measly weeks.

[jpmfan]

great episode.

Good to see some more of the GT-R (such an incredible car), and a stunning lap of the TG Track.

Really liked the news this week, glad they had quite abit of actual car talk in it this week.

luxury car bit was entertaining, really liked the Merc, can see that no-one would want to mess with you while driving that around.

SIARPC was a nice surprise this week, reading that it was people from dragon's den i thought they'd be cr@p but thought they were great guests, possibly the best of the series.

I really enjoyed the fox hunt at the end, thought the Terios looked quite good (quite abit like a Rav4 though). was really hoping it would win as i wasnt expecting it to be that good offroad. Really hope that the engine note wasnt dubbed as it sounded incredible.

Solid episode this week. 8/10

[upyourego]

Originally Posted by corradoboy

we need 3-way group tests of real-world cars on most weeks

God that would be so DULL and would put me off watching to be honest - when I go back and watch old eps those are the bits I skip.

For me you had it the wrong way round - it should be the occasional test and lots of cocking about.

This episode was nearly perfect. The only thing missing was a challenge featuring all three - the fox hunting thing could have benefited from the comedy value of having May as navigator or something.

[SwissWhiskey]

Gave it a 9/10 because well... 8/10 just wouldn't be right.

Loved the whole episode. All the none-sense effects/angles-editing is gone from the first 2 episodes.

[TopGear_Fan_NY]

Very good episode!!! Sadly just one more to go...

[corradoboy]

Originally Posted by upyourego

God that would be so DULL.....For me you had it the wrong way round - it should be the occasional test and lots of cocking about.

Different strokes...... I love the old episodes where the three of them have realistic cars, like on the IOM with the S2000, Z4 and Boxster; or the M6, Merc and Jag. The cocking is getting tired TBH, repetitive and predictable. After 8 years of the shows current format I feel they are straying too far from the shows point and my interest is waning. I have all this season on my PVR but if I want to watch TG I find many of the older ones on Dave more entertaining. I re-watched the Alfa review just for the beauty of the car and the camera-work, but stopped it for the train race. Similarly, I re-watched the Scooby vs Evo fight, then wandered off for the rest of that show. Either I'm getting old, or the show needs work !

[warren]

very, very good filming on the fox hunting segment.

[wiltzei]

The GT-R section was as good as I expected it to be. News was great. I didn´t know the stars, but they talked too much about money. I found the engine sound effects on Terios Hound disturbing. Was it the sound of V8 Merc?

[Viper007Bond]

Good episode. Dunno how to vote yet though. I think I'll let it sink in a bit. I'm thinking an 8 at this point.

[Prost264]

^ Really? Even I thought this ep was great, I figured surely you would be giving it a 10

[Viper007Bond]

Originally Posted by Prost264

^ Really? Even I thought this ep was great, I figured surely you would be giving it a 10

Use the button. What if someone replied before you?

Anyway, I dunno, maybe a 9. As I said, gotta let it sink in. It was quite good, but not epic.

[epp_b]

9/10 for me. I can't give it a 10 because I don't think it would go in my "best of" list and partly because of the dubbed engine noises, but still a very good episode, nonetheless.

My favorite bit: Jeremy blowing the big Merc's horn. Holy crap, I didn't think it would be that loud! I rewound the video twice to re-watch (re-hear!) that!

[Ironlord]

Originally Posted by Speedtouch

And the foxhunt, well what more can be said apart from it was so funny. When Clarkson pushed Hammond over the horse, to when it started rolling when he was closing the gate. Excellent stuff.

The funniest bit was seeing Hamster in his poncy riding gear.

Originally Posted by Mineworksfine

When I come to power I am going to make it law that anyone with more than £2m has to buy and do a bare metal restoration of a quality classic car and keep it that way for future generations or I'll send some large, grumpy men with tattoos round to put soft bits of their anatomy in a vice.

Does anyone know of some old Lancias that need restoring? When I make my millions I'll put together an ideal ten-or-more car garage with complete restorations. While I was thinking of a Beta coupé similar to what Jezza trashed in Botswana, part of me would prefer a Gamma coupé instead, mainly because the display of Prince Rainier's lifetime car collection doesn't have one, and does have a Beta. Bah... maybe I'll do both. A mid-eighties Alfa GTV6 would be a great addition as well. And a fleet of seventies Citroëns (GS, CX, SM all side by side... and with the original mad dashboards, not the later toned down versions). Even the Germans could get a look in... anyone fancy an Audi 100S coupé? Finally, something odd in a "why the hell would he want to restore that?" way, like a Peugeot 604 (or, worse still, a Talbot Tagora) and a piece of communist junk that calls itself Zaporozhets.

Originally Posted by teeb

The concept cars! \o/

My immediate reaction on seeing the 308 RCZ was "hang on, I've seen that before somewhere..." It seems the designers at Peugeot suddenly remembered the RC Diamonds/Spades concepts from six years ago, and thought they'd make an update. Those two really, really should have gone into production...

Originally Posted by TopGear_Fan_NY

Very good episode!!! Sadly just one more to go...

...and we all know Sabine Schmitz will be in it.

[Ottobon]

I liked it alot!

Only oddity was that the foxy car thing sounded disturbingly like a AMV8, or some other V8 . Maybe they pulled a "C'était un rendez-vous" on us, but its not like i could care. If they overlapped a R8s exhaust with a corvettes exhaust i'd be pissed, or even a Miatas/GTI etc exhaust with something else i would be pissed, but with such a small little 84hp car that nobody really ever thinks about it was acceptable i quess.

Good show, the parking was a bit drawn out, but who cares. I don't, I'm drunk.

[Prost264]

Originally Posted by Viper007Bond

Use the button. What if someone replied before you?

True, I forgot people post in here every 3 seconds.

[YicklePigeon]

I must confess, I skipped the SIARPC section - I've gotten pretty bored of it as of late.

Apart from that, with the rest of the episode I was going to give it an 8, but given that the hunting section actually was entertaining and that surprised me (although the usual riders looked the usual high-born inbreds...I'll stop myself there before I rant about that) so I've given this episode a 9.

Which is the highest score I've given a TG episode this season - so yes, it's even pleased me.

With regards,

Yickle!

[klankymen]

Clearly the best episode this season... James May is the funniest, it's nice to see him do some stuff again...

GTR was awesome, and the Pullman was insanely cool - I want one of those.

Even the SIARPC was real good, for the first time this season. Funny, the 2 guests that got the most hate on here ahead of time were the best.

[Viper007Bond]

Originally Posted by Prost264

True, I forgot people post in here every 3 seconds.

Plus it's not hard. Just tick the "Quote message in reply?" box when you quick reply. It only takes 1/2 a second.

[DarkReaper]

Ooooh, 850 CSI at 33 minutes in. There must only be like 10 of those or so in britain.

[warren]

Originally Posted by epp_b

My favorite bit: Jeremy blowing the big Merc's horn. Holy crap, I didn't think it would be that loud! I rewound the video twice to re-watch (re-hear!) that!

epp_b, you're an Arsian, aren't you?