[12x03] November 16th, 2008

[eMKay]

Oh, I gave it a 5, The Finn part was good, Toyota wheelchair was lame, Marky Mark is an asshole and always will be (Respect him as an actor though), Avantime was great and seemed realistic to me, none of them knows how to build a proper race car.

[Blindi]

It's 10/10 from me, absolutely brilliant episode!

The wheelchair was a bit boring, but it wasn't bad. In most of the episodes I simply skip the SIARPC segment because I've never heard of the guest(s), but this time I had and I liked that too. The challenge was very good as well, and the blender really got me laughing!

But the best part of the episode and indeed in a while, was the part about Finland! And not just because I'm Finnish, but also because it was properly good and it was made by James, who is slowly becoming my favorite presenter I'm glad to see that others liked that part too!

[Sony]

I also agree with lots of guys about the Avantime segment. It couldve been so much better. They only did all the stupid things for the entertainment purposes. They couldve also been funny if they tuned the car with a bit more sense. It couldve been the best TG challenge ever. And why repeat the stupid dyno flywheel/ATW thing again (gt500). It was lame and a mockery of the viewers as if we are all retarded and dont know anything about cars.

The rest of the show was nice, though the last segment just piss*d me off.
And as I am not from Finland I did not find that segment all that good honestly. Thought I have to admit that James (and Mika) was funny.

Originally Posted by eMKay

Avantime was great and seemed realistic to me, none of them knows how to build a proper race car.

Jeremy is an engineering and a car freak and knows pretty much everything about cars. And on the special about him you could see he reads like crazy about anything mechanical. And Im sure so do Richard and James. They have a load of experience and Richard is also a car nut and has hosted car shows before. They only act stupid cause the shows scripted. And more importantly, it was not about builiding a proper racing car. It was about knowing the basics about what makes a car faster around a track. Any kid knows that.

[TopGearNorthAmerica]

1. The wheelchair: shame they didn't mention the Peel P50. I think that was definitely a holdover from last season.

2. News: looks like Hammond's the one who had to wear a bad "jacket on a bet." I expect the next "news uncut" will confirm it.

3. SIARPC: so-so, you can tell Wahlberg's not all that familiar with the format.

4. Tuning the Renault: not bad, but a bit dull compared with last week's ep. Which pretty much sums up my feelings about this episode. 7.5.

[junas125]

Originally Posted by Posmo

Just to clear things up about the Finnish drivers licence test.

Basically there were quite a bit of incorrect things.

First of all, you only need to spend 1 lesson, which equates to about 50 minutes, on a skidpan, and its there only because we actually sometimes have a winter. Also, only 1 driving lesson is in the dark, and that can be done in a simulator (Did it last thursday). Also, its 2 years until you get the final licence, not 3, unless you're a lazy sob. In general, Its not really that strict. Atleast not as strict as they made it out to be. I got my license last week on friday, if im caught speeding twice in the next year, or three times in the next 2 years, I'll have to redo the licence test. Other than that, I basically have a full license already.

And you call this not such a difficult driving test?

[apoljon]

personaly, best episode so far, in fact, whole season so far was more than great...

like I said before, May is finally equal to the other two (he's doing his first power test soon )...

and mika is such a great guy, has great sense of humor...

hope other 5 episodes will be as great as the first three...

(sorry for typing mistakes if there are any, my english is pretty poor...)

[anthrax]

10/10....

Brilliant episode and one to be placed among the classic ones... Mika/James segment was superb... it was quite nice to see Mika alternating serious/fun mood...

Sandero with Brazilian license plate.... tsc, tsc, tsc, I'm quite ashamed of that.... down here it's made by Renault and it's called Stepway.... could be Step-away, though....

[JScullin]

Any chance of a direct download? Comcast has been killing me (literally killing the connection) trying to download lately.

[Bomber]

Originally Posted by Shadowness

A very average ep.

They had over £9000 to spend tuning a car, and they did the brakes and suspension!!!! Where were the 1000hp turbos etc!!
Not very top gear! But then top gear isnt very top gear anymore

If this was their chance to play real life Gran Turismo they should have fitted SOME engine mod like a supercharger. Jeremy was too deferential to James on this project.

[skylock]

streaming for those having diff seeng it the other way.

http://www.megavideo.com/?v=690A80EP

[BlaRo]

Originally Posted by Posmo

Just to clear things up about the Finnish drivers licence test.

Basically there were quite a bit of incorrect things.

First of all, you only need to spend 1 lesson, which equates to about 50 minutes, on a skidpan, and its there only because we actually sometimes have a winter. Also, only 1 driving lesson is in the dark, and that can be done in a simulator (Did it last thursday). Also, its 2 years until you get the final licence, not 3, unless you're a lazy sob. In general, Its not really that strict. Atleast not as strict as they made it out to be. I got my license last week on friday, if im caught speeding twice in the next year, or three times in the next 2 years, I'll have to redo the licence test. Other than that, I basically have a full license already.

Two years? We do it with 6 months, no formal training, a lard-assed cop too preoccupied with disassembling his pen to care, and $25.

I know teenagers all across the world will hate this (and I sure did as a kid), but I really want to see the American road test system improved. It's frightening that in a country of 300 million people we still think it's ok to saunter around with minimal training and accident avoidance, not paying attention to pedestrians, m'cyclists, and other people. We're quick to legislate the fuck out of punishing teenagers and taking their licenses away, but how productive is that? Why not educate them properly, in the first place alongside this? It might even save their lives.

Hell, as a motorcyclist I think everybody should be forced to take scooters on the freeway so they can see driving from another perspective. Trust me on this.

[Vette Boss]

Over here in bumfuck Arkansas, all you have to do to pass is drive down a road at 40mph, without crashing. I think a toddler could do that, if only they had longer legs.

Needless to say, I think the driving test should be more involving. At least some time behind the wheel with an instructor. The problem with making the test harder, we have a lot of Hispanic immigrant workers who probably wouldn't pass and it would appear as discrimination.

[qaz0101]

I like the silly jackets "...for a bet" this season.

[Seasonone]

8/10.

News was good, Finland was great (I love when James does stuff out of his usual slowness), the car was "ambitious but rubbish" entertaining even if they were beyond horrible at modding, Marky Mark was good-ish. The only part that knocked it from a high score was the V8 blender for me, seemed too "man show"ish. Hope it doesn't come back next week.

Originally Posted by Mineworksfine

[I]PS Massive rep for life to anyone who can get me the address and phone number of the cute girl who confessed to having a Brazilian!. WANT![/i[

Having been the one who took the screen cap of uhh "Hersworksfine" I will have to vote for the misses over the Brazilian girl.


I woke up yesterday morning to find out the free internet I was using apparently lost funding and is no longer there! Spent all day trying various passwords on encrypted networks so I could get Top Gear... had to drive all the way to Bumfuck Battle Ground to use my moms internet, couldn't wait for comcast to install mine.

[Mr. Nice]

Originally Posted by Mineworksfine

From reading your posts it might be something to do with the fact they think you are a cock. Probably.

And while you consider that possibility why not Google "apostrophes" and learn how to use them? Actually a crash course in punctuation as a whole wouldn't be a bad thing.

Hey! I could use one of those (in punctuation, my friends already call me "crash")

[bartboy9891]

Originally Posted by Sony

I also agree with lots of guys about the Avantime segment. It couldve been so much better. They only did all the stupid things for the entertainment purposes. They couldve also been funny if they tuned the car with a bit more sense. It couldve been the best TG challenge ever. And why repeat the stupid dyno flywheel/ATW thing again (gt500). It was lame and a mockery of the viewers as if we are all retarded and dont know anything about cars.

The rest of the show was nice, though the last segment just piss*d me off.
And as I am not from Finland I did not find that segment all that good honestly. Thought I have to admit that James (and Mika) was funny.


Jeremy is an engineering and a car freak and knows pretty much everything about cars. And on the special about him you could see he reads like crazy about anything mechanical. And Im sure so do Richard and James. They have a load of experience and Richard is also a car nut and has hosted car shows before. They only act stupid cause the shows scripted. And more importantly, it was not about builiding a proper racing car. It was about knowing the basics about what makes a car faster around a track. Any kid knows that.

They probably could have did it with an already light RWD car, but honestly that's been done to death. I was impressed that they got such a quick time in one of the most unsporty cars sold within the past 10 years. Lightening+brakes+suspension+increase power seems like the standard procedure for making a car go quicker around a track. OK the spoiler and splitter were never going to work, but at that point they didn't have the money left anyway. Managing a ~1:35 in an Avantime is impressive to me.

[PlaneDriver]

Overall a good episode I thought. It was missing a real car review, but I can deal with it. I actually watched SIARPC this week. I thought it was good.

I give it a 9/10.

This episode seemed to be less slapstick humor. I thought it was more mild. After episode 1, this was needed.

[viro]

I think that the blender thing says something about JC, he choose an American engine, is he a secret American as well?

[Vette Boss]

I was surprised by how fast they got the Renault to go, seeing that big Frenchy cheese-eating surrender monkey corner flat and level was very impressive. Proof that with a bit of nous, you can get even the most boring car to go quicker.

[JCTK]

Originally Posted by viro

I think that the blender thing says something about JC, he choose an American engine, is he a secret American as well?

I think it was because:
a). it's cheaper
b). it's easier to get their hands on one
than those Germans/Astons V8~?

but boy I do love the sound of that "blender"~