[11x05] July 20th, 2008

[Richmondgal]

Very good episode. I loved the GTR review (pity Clarkson wrecked his neck), the news was very long but still good, I loved the challenge between the Rolls and Merc, very funny (f*cking w*nker lol ), the SIARPCs were actually quite good even though they might two rich dickheads with Maybachs. The Fox Hunt was awesome, I never thought of that.

9/10 from me.

[Red_Bull]

9/10 for this episode. Maybe I was a bit generous, but I gave the rating straight after I watched it whereas now I'm writing this a day or so later, and I feel better able to weigh it up. I'm not going to bore you all with 'zomg, fake!' comments because unlike most people here, I can actually watch an episode and enjoy it for what it is without getting out my tweed cap and sleuthing magnifying glass. Its a little thing called quality control which Mr Wilman was kind enough to elaborate a little on in his blog from a couple of weeks ago. Particularly in the fox hunting segment, I dont want to watch ugly, fat cameramen charging around, I want to watch ugly fat Clarkson do what Clarkson does best, which is criticise hippies and beaurocrats while tearing up a bit of environment in an evil petrol swilling four wheeled monster. On that basis, it delivered.

The GTR really does appear to be a terrific car, and I dont think Clarkson had any negative things to say about it, which is rare, so he too must've been pretty impressed. I love the look of it, though I suspect when it comes time to add it to the cool wall, it may suffer somewhat.

[_HighVoltage_]

I gave it a 10. Probably the best episode of the series.
But I as well got frustrated at the fake Daihatsu sound. When I was watching it for a second time, I minimized the video and I actually thought Clarkson was driving a V8 muscle car.

[renq]

Gave this ep 10 mainly/only 'cause it made me the GT-R

[Ironlord]

Originally Posted by speedometer

but in my country Daihatsu is not sold since 1993..

Ever get the idea you're not missing anything?

Originally Posted by Spectre

Daihatsu bailed out of the US market in 1992, as I recall. Mostly because whoever decided on the English names of the product was an idiot - the Daihatsu Charade ("playing at being a car") and the Daihatsu Rocky ("not worthy of the Rocky name" - think movie) - so none sold.

Let's not forget the Charmant ("which never charmed the British motorist" - Parker's Car Price Guide review) and the Applause (hear that? It's the sound of no hands clapping)

Anyone remember the Honda HR-V "Joy Machine" adverts? It turns out that "Joy Machine" was part of the name used for the HR-V in Japan... which was six or seven words long.

And then there's Nissan: Violet, Sunny, Cherry, Silvia, Bluebird... what were they thinking? At least we didn't get the Gloria and Cedric outside of Japan...

File under "those crazy Japanese".

Originally Posted by Red_Bull

The GTR really does appear to be a terrific car, and I dont think Clarkson had any negative things to say about it, which is rare, so he too must've been pretty impressed.

Were you waiting for that immortal line: "But there are one or two problems..." - followed by a list of things wrong with the car.

Then, finally, if it's an Italian supercar: "But just look at it!" and then it's brilliant again.

[airmenair]

9/10 Best ranking from me this series. Best episode I've seen yet. Loved James' and Jeremy's segment.

[efoolution]

This one left me rather dissapointed, I´m afraid. Didn´t like the guests, didn´t like the news ... the Gt-R film was not bad ... but Clarkson didn´t win me over to like the Gt-R (and I was hoping for more of a critical comment on the whole car). The oldtimers ... I´m a big fan of classic cars, especially mercedes ... and the whole segment felt a bit blasphemic to me. It´s of course a personal thing, but these two cars fascinate me ... handling tests, braking tests, parking test in London ... absolutley pointless and unworthy of these cars. Felt like entering 77 year old Sean Connery into a surf-contest ... and then commenting on him not beeing able to keep up ...
The fox hunt ... that saved it for me a bit. Not really brilliant but the usual Top Gear quality ... coundn´t have cared less for the car though ...

6/10

[Enoch Powell]

Originally Posted by warren

For what it's worth, Clarkson's wife bought the Merc for him as a Christmas present.

What a good idea!
I think Ill suggest this to my Mrs.

[Blindi]

Great episode, get's a 9/10 from me. Would be worth 10, but I didn't even know who the guests were (dickheads? ) so couldn't really care less about the SIARPC.

Otherwise it was fantastic! It was nice learn more about the incredible GT-R, the fox hunt was surprisingly exciting, and I just loved the rolls vs. merc, great cars.

[Spectre]

Originally Posted by Ironlord

Let's not forget the Charmant ("which never charmed the British motorist" - Parker's Car Price Guide review) and the Applause (hear that? It's the sound of no hands clapping)

Anyone remember the Honda HR-V "Joy Machine" adverts? It turns out that "Joy Machine" was part of the name used for the HR-V in Japan... which was six or seven words long.

And then there's Nissan: Violet, Sunny, Cherry, Silvia, Bluebird... what were they thinking? At least we didn't get the Gloria and Cedric outside of Japan...

File under "those crazy Japanese".

We in the US, fortunately, didn't get the Charmant or the Applause. Or the HR-V.

Fortunately, Nissan USA's marketers often have more of a clue than the ones in Europe (see Mr. K's refusal to call the 240Z the Fairlady and ripping the Fairlady badges off as they arrived) - and they will often rename a model for the US market. Thus the Sunny is the Sentra in the US; likewise, the Violet/Stanza, the Cherry/Pulsar or F10, the Silvia/240SX, Bluebird/510 or Maxima.

We did get a variant of the Y34 Cedric/Gloria, with the platform designation of Y35. It was sold here as the original Infiniti M45. It wasn't a bad car, actually: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nissan_Cedric#Y35

Were you waiting for that immortal line: "But there are one or two problems..." - followed by a list of things wrong with the car.

Then, finally, if it's an Italian supercar: "But just look at it!" and then it's brilliant again.

Actually, the last review of a Ferrari that I recall Top Gear doing, the 599, didn't end that way. Clarkson said he'd rather have a 275.

[Ironlord]

Originally Posted by Spectre

We in the US, fortunately, didn't get the Charmant or the Applause. Or the HR-V.

That's odd. I'd have thought the HR-V would have sold well in the US. Or, in California at least.

Fortunately, Nissan USA's marketers often have more of a clue than the ones in Europe (see Mr. K's refusal to call the 240Z the Fairlady and ripping the Fairlady badges off as they arrived) - and they will often rename a model for the US market. Thus the Sunny is the Sentra in the US; likewise, the Violet/Stanza, the Cherry/Pulsar or F10, the Silvia/240SX, Bluebird/510 or Maxima.

If only the UK importers had been so thorough. Some late-model Sunnys slid through the net as Pulsars here, though they may have been grey imports. There was a Stanza here in the 80s, though whether that succeeded the Violet (which was a rebadged 120J/140J) I can't say off the top of my head. The Silvia was definitely replaced by the 200SX, which carried on with the Silvia name in Japan, and the Bluebird... was a Bluebird. Nobody ever gave a toss about the Maxima, even after they renamed it the QX - the complete opposite to what I saw in New York in January, where there were four Maximas all parked on the same street... here you'd be lucky to see four in a year.

We did get a variant of the Y34 Cedric/Gloria, with the platform designation of Y35. It was sold here as the original Infiniti M45. It wasn't a bad car, actually: [url]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nissan_Cedric#Y35

So many times it was said that Nissan might be able to sell their huge barges here - even the Maxima - if they launched the Infiniti badge. A far worse example of missing the same trick comes from Toyota - they knew the Camry was a dreadful seller in the UK, and all they had to do to shift a few more was badge it as a Lexus instead. Which they did, calling it the Lexus ES series... just not here. Madness!

[Red_Bull]

Originally Posted by Ironlord

Were you waiting for that immortal line: "But there are one or two problems..." - followed by a list of things wrong with the car.

Then, finally, if it's an Italian supercar: "But just look at it!" and then it's brilliant again.

I was, actually. I was expecting something along the lines of how clinical and perhaps even emotionless it was. It's a true feat of engineering, but does it invoke the same passion as a Ferrari, an Alfa or a <insert stereotypically Italian passion wagon here>? Perhaps, but I think the car will be let down by the nature of the people who will buy it. Particularly here in Aus anyway, a Nissan Skyline driver isn't looked upon with much favour. Some might remember the dramatic scenes of Bathurst 1992 when Jimmy Richards and Mark Skaife won in a Skyline GT-R. Holden and Ford fans united in their abuse of them and their car.

[Momentum57]

I just had a think! Is the boat moving no its my massive mind turning the ocean even more turbulent than the perfect storm. Here it is -- Did Jeremy and James buy their classic luxury cars and feature them on the show as a tax write off? I mean did they say "hey we can buy these and write them off as a business expense" Have to say if they did, I salute them.

[Censport]

I thought it was great, classic Top Gear. The sound of the GT-R going past the camera was outSTANDing! James and Jezza comparing their personal cars was fun. Unlike most posters so far, I actually liked James' Rolls, but then I liked his Bentley T2 as well. If I could figure out how to make an old Roller reliable, I would have one just for fun. But comparing it to the Despot's Limo of Choice is hardly fair.

And that horn had me laughing for minutes.

Now I can't wait to see James and his report on Japan.

[OldSkoolGP]

To be honest, and not meaning to sound unfair - if you don't like it - don't watch it.

The show and the news is made for people IN THE UK - and is paid for by people in the UK and I thought it was the funniest news segment in a LONG TIME.

If you really don't like Top Gear that much just stop wasting bandwidth and downloading it - go download fifth gear or TG USA when it starts.

I guess that's the kind of response I should have expected. I disliked one episode, so I should stop watching the show altogether. Yeah, that makes sense. And besides, I criticize when I feel criticism is deserved. If you don't like it, stop reading the Finalgear forum.

Top Gear is made for a UK audience and that very large UK audience all seem to love it - in fact I'd say the majority (not those on here) prefer the cocking about, entertainment and funny episodes.

I've said it before and I know many on here disagree with me (but mates in the pub agree) that TG is an entertainment show about motoring not the other way around.

Hey, I completely agree with that. But there's cocking about, and then there's just filling time to make an hour show. What made me fall in love with TG is that it is a car show that also shows you amazing places all across Europe, with just enough comedy thrown in to make it a complete package. They went to Japan to test the GT-R. I learned more about Japan in that film than the last few years of schooling I had. But think about how many films in the past two series have been made in London. It's getting boring as hell. Go somewhere else and review a car! They've done it before and it's brilliant.

As far as the news: Funniest ever? Please!!! Hardly any audience laughter, I know I didn't laugh. You know you didn't laugh that much either.

I didn't like the old big car review because of how they did it. I thought reviewing the old cars was great. But putting them through pointless tests and driving them in a place they can't be driven is stupid. I didn't think it was funny, I thought it was obvious and easy and thrown together at the last minute.

And I stand behind what I said about the fox hunt. If it caught the ire of Mr. Wilman, good! I've made a couple short car films in my time. If in the edit I found the chase car engine was that obvious on my final cut, I would edit it out. What they did was either lazy editing or deniable intention. And I still don't see the point of it. Nor having Hammond in it. It was badly edited, and full of BS. It was just another time filler film. Somebody really wanted to make it and thought it would be a good idea. Probably the same guy who thought Top Gear Stuntman was a good idea.

[Censport]

Originally Posted by OldSkoolGP

As far as the news: Funniest ever? Please!!! Hardly any audience laughter, I know I didn't laugh. You know you didn't laugh that much either.

My favorite news was the 6th episode from last season. James' idea for putting the deer in the town, the vibrating seat cushion, the bull semen jokes, it was almost too much.

I didn't like the old big car review because of how they did it. I thought reviewing the old cars was great. But putting them through pointless tests and driving them in a place they can't be driven is stupid. I didn't think it was funny, I thought it was obvious and easy and thrown together at the last minute.

I thought it was missing a few things, such as a rough road test (no eggs this time, laps with plastic buckets of water would suffice) and other tests appropriate for luxury cars. Not every film is going to be an epic, and this wasn't a scripted challenge assigned to them by the producers. These were their personal cars, and they are rather expensive. What where you expecting Jeremy and James to do, trash them for our laughs?

[pitdog]

Another great episode, and another one that seems to me a bit short. Just few seconds of natural interaction between Jezza and James is not much. Perhaps in this season the whole "production value" of the show went a bit over the top.

[NooDle]

9/10 from me

- The GTR is amazing, as we demonstrated, and now we know that it turns so quick it breaks your neck too
Could have had a bit more engine noise but what the hey
- News was good as always
- The Rolls/Merc challenge was OK, shows how hard it is to park cars like that in modern cities. They werent particularly brutal with the cars though, because they really own them. and I :jamesmay:
- Fox hunt : brilliant. Shows that an "epic race" needn't be hours long to be good. It was funny too!

[Dygear]

The fox hunting thing was epic! Really well done, not laughed like that in a long time, glad to see the guys still got it!

(I was starting to think they had Jumped the Shark, thrilled to see I was wrong! [THANK GOD])

[controlspecimen]

I thought Jeremy and James' old cars had more potential than asinine "challenges" on the test track. They should have just driven to John o' Groats, arguing along the way, or something. See James' refurbished XJS review, or even Clarkson's review of the current XJ. That said, James saying "I'm going to get raped or something" was gold.