[12x04] November 23rd, 2008

[Vltros]

I'm giving it a 9 because I found the economy race to blackpool quite boring.

It was a good idea for a challenge, but it's fuel saving nature made it slow and dull.

But I have to say I LOVED James May's review of the Pagani Zonda F Roadster. He was pretty good at it and it was really interesting to see. Specially with the superb filming of the cars and a great choice of songs.

And about the Veyron lap... well I think I'm not the only one who thought it wasn't going to be the quickest in the track. The Veyron it's a GT, so it's natural environment it's on the roads not the racetracks. Weight is a killer and the Veyron is not an exception.

Overall, a pretty good episode.

[Heathrow]

Car Review: Zonda F Roadster by James.

This was great and had some funny moments, a very nice change to have Cap’n Slow doing a review and making a reasonable job of it.
Drag race - Zonda gets mullered by the “VW”, that Bugatti is impressively fast.
Lap times - the Zonda’s was quite good at 4th and I was neither disappointed nor surprised at the Veyron only making (now) 5th overall.

Challenge: Basle to Blackpool on one tank of gas.

Good to see a race, although maybe not a classic but good nonetheless. An interesting way to show fuel economy tests with a bit of fun. Pleased to see all three of them racing against each other and not in a cheap car challenge.
Stig on the Ghost Train and falling asleep on the roller coaster was funny.

SIARPC: Harry Enfield

Explained why he had a crap time before but gave it the beans this time and got a sub 1.50 – impressive. Interview raised by “Clarkson Island” clip, so overall good.

News: Watched the uncut clip on the website before, wasn’t great though.

Miscellaneous segment: none

Very enjoyable, an 8/10

[settler]

Originally Posted by Dr_Grip

Most likely not having the lights on during daytime. Especially on weekends they got special posts behind the border cashing in on germans like me on a quick cigarette run cross the border

No, it was something else then light. You have to obey driving rules of the other coutry, when you drive there (speed limits, lights on all the time, etc.). Only exception is car equipment (and it's only in EU) and I'm guessing, maybe in Germany you don't need fire extinguisher. For me it's stupid rule here, because you can't do nothing with that tiny extinguisher and in older cars (4-5 years) they are to old and nobody is buying a new one.

And it would be great, if someone knows where I can check is that true you don't have to have all equipment in foreign EU country.

Back to the show. So many people likes it, then I hope now James will test more fast cars on the track. Maybe he'll powerslide too, we saw in the earlier episode that he can.

[sbruaro]

Overall a pretty decent episode. Gave it 8/10.
I actually enjoyed the one tank challenge (and am a bit surprised that they made it all the way - maybe I should get a diesel as my next car).

Great to finally see James in a 'proper car'.

Interesting that they show a new clip that they already shown on the net (mistake in editing? or where there no better news?)

[Dr_Grip]

Originally Posted by settler

I'm guessing, maybe in Germany you don't need fire extinguisher.

You need a fire extinguisher in your car in Poland? They could have fucked me quite good every time i went to poland...

About the car equipment rule: According to german automotive club ADAC an exception like this is planned but right now you have to obey the rules for every country... high visibility jacket, first aid kit, a bunch of warning triangles, a fire extinguisher, some onions... one should calculate how much fuel all this extra weight costs!

[aaurora]

After reading mixed reviews on here, I watched this episode not expecting anything great. But - there was absolutely nothing wrong with it. I enjoyed the 'boring' economy drive (except I would have liked to have heard James' view on the braking before he got faded out...) and I found it exciting to watch, although I knew the outcome from all the spoilers that were around at the time

James in the Zonda was a marvel to see. I adore the fact he is not as 'talented' behind the wheel as Jeremy, but he doesn't have nearly enough experience in doing power slides and what have you, so he did a fantastic job. James certainly gives a different review and I find his opinions honest and trustworthy.

Great episode - I'm saddened to see the series is half finished already

[go4gr8]

Another entertaining show indeed!

James did a wonderful Zonda-F review. And the race between that and the Veyron was sublime! I also liked how the Stig tried to pretend he was James!

Harry Enfield cracks me up.

The 'Pool race was quite funny but quite pointless also. The car with the larger tank I would have thought would win it. Had the Polo been on the highway, I'm sure Hammond would have beat JC even more! Anyway...

And the Veyron I knew would be too big and heavy to be the quickest, though it still set an impressive time despite its size and weight.

All in all though, very tasty fill of Top Gear this week!

[Aston Martin]

Originally Posted by otispunkmeyer

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

I had these on my hard drive, two all white Vey's one with UK plates.

I'm assuming same car?

[SpikeGT]

Why in Fuel Economy run none of them had used the Audi A8 as it did once Jeremy Clarkson? In Audi he did 775 miles in one tank of fuel. A8 is in the same class with that Jaguar, isn't it?

[Spectre]

Yeah, but the Jaguar turns out to have greater range, even though Jeremy was counting on it to have less.

[Mineworksfine]

Originally Posted by Aston Martin

I had these on my hard drive, two all white Vey's one with UK plates.

I'm assuming same car?

]

So much for there only being one all white Veyron in existence.......or have I had too much ????

[Twerp128]

They should take their own tip from 5x05 and have a race to see who can use the most fuel.

[junas125]

My favourite moment, the stig's afternoon nap.

[Bundesautobahn]

Originally Posted by robybobey

News uncut from last week..

Thanks for that because it was boggling my mind the whole time. I knew that i heard the Peugeot talk earlier!

I enjoyed the episode, the best one in a long time and the Stig playing a major part again makes this a classic. The power nap the Stig had was great!

[Rumer]

Originally Posted by Mineworksfine

So much for there only being one all white Veyron in existence.......or have I had too much ????

No kidding. Looks like Bill Thomas needs to check his facts.

[Plissken]

Originally Posted by efoolution

... you have to inform yourself about the laws of other countries before you go there. That´s basic common sense. Can´t go to Great Britan and drive on the right side of the road at 150mph and go "oh sorry, didn´t know, that´s different where I´m from" ... same with stuff like that.

I'm British mate, that is precisely what we do. All that history and stuff we find just a cheap Ryanair flight away, thats for us to lean up against and vomit back the 30 pints of lager we just consumed.

Polish curry. It has cabbage on it. That's just rubbish Ivan!

We won a World Cup you know!

[Reboot]

Originally Posted by efoolution

I would say ... this would be one of the cases where the EU could make a usefull law about what saftey stuff is mandatory in every EU-country, so you don´t mess it up. That´s one EU-regulation not many people would object to.

Wanna bet?

Originally Posted by Daily Fail (example)

BARMY Eurocrats are going to FORCE you to pay £XXXX on car equipment you'll never need. Back in the war we got around in the dark, and we don't see why...

[otispunkmeyer]

Aston Martin.....could well be....

they do look nice in white.... and dayum i wish i could be rich enough to own one. heh one can dream...but if theres any motivation, that thing is it.

i wonder why they are allowed to omit the front number plate. generally here in the UK all cars need front and rear plates (to the detriment of a number of italian cars (among others) like Alfa's who get their pretty front ends spoiled by them)

[S60R]

That Pagani has the sickest exhaust note, I love it. The Veyron is way to mute.

[Labcoatguy]

Originally Posted by S60R

That Pagani has the sickest exhaust note, I love it. The Veyron is way to mute.

That's what the Veyron gets for having those four extra mufflers, or turbos as they're more commonly known. For the ridiculously fast cross-country runs it's made for, they're perfect. Not so much for screaming YAAAAWWWWOOOOOO ear-tickling runs around a track or in mountains, but each car has its niche.