Series 18 Info/Spoilers from TG Magazine

Hammond in a Nextel Cup stock car?!


They should have put Jezza in it. Honest to god, he'd be FAAAR funnier when given the reigns of a 900HP V8 that revs to 10,000 RPM, a four speed manual gearbox, and zero computers whatsoever. Can we all say melted goodyears?


Still, this is shaping up to be an epic season, one that will excuse the indian special.
 
Needs more Golf/Scirocco R test. I know it's a few years old in Europe now but we just got it over here.. maybe they'll put it on TGUSA at the very least. :(

I think they need to do a hot hatch comparison once a year, really. Certainly there would be a few cars to pit the new R against, and they've done the past two R32s.
 
Just saw the first trailer on BBC2. Not yet on youtube. The Hammond NASCAR thing looks like it has promise. The pained expression on Ray Winstone's face as Hammond is talking to him suggests more cringeworthy bollocks in the Sweeney piece. It also looks as if they are nicking a piece from TG At the Movies as a filler for the series.

EDIT: Also on the TG site now.... http://transmission.blogs.topgear.com/2012/01/16/trailer-top-gear-tv-series-18is-back/
 
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Just saw the first trailer on BBC2. Not yet on youtube. The Hammond NASCAR thing looks like it has promise. The pained expression on Ray Winstone's face as Hammond is talking to him suggests more cringeworthy bollocks in the Sweeney piece. It also looks as if they are nicking a piece from TG At the Movies as a filler for the series.

EDIT: Also on the TG site now.... http://transmission.blogs.topgear.com/2012/01/16/trailer-top-gear-tv-series-18is-back/

:hmm: I wonder what went wrong or fell through and they had to replace it?

I have to agree about the sweeney piece. It's just got that feel of a feature that, in theory had promise and could have been brilliant (who amongst us hasn't watched a movie and thought 'that's not realistic' or 'they should have done this instead), but they went too childish with it and it ended up as a falling-over-fest.
 
:hmm: I wonder what went wrong or fell through and they had to replace it?

I have to agree about the sweeney piece. It's just got that feel of a feature that, in theory had promise and could have been brilliant (who amongst us hasn't watched a movie and thought 'that's not realistic' or 'they should have done this instead), but they went too childish with it and it ended up as a falling-over-fest.

Not sure. It may be there as a filler option, to make the trailer look more interesting in the absence of completed films or they may have considered it good enough to be included in a normal run (it wasn't, IMHO).

Getting the feeling this series could turn out to be a rush job, especially since they have an extra show in the run, and we know what happens to the quality when that happens. :(
 
Dunno. The trailer isn't a high enough resolution to pause and check out the plate number on the car. If it were I could find out what it is.

I doubt it though. Far cheaper to mock up a standard older Focus and trash that.

Unless of course they used one of the ones the film company had already bought and trashed in filming that was beyond repair as happens in movie making. In that case it's a simple matter of a nitrogen cannon and some pyro effects.
 
My goodness... The India special left a wound deeper than I thought... I'm not feeling very excited even after watching the trailer... :cry:


I do hope series 18 is good enough to erase that "special" though >.<
 
Same here. Felt very underwhelmed watching that. Also, what's Top Gear's sudden obsession with NASCAR? It's getting boring. Save it for TG America or whatever they call it these days.

Seems like they never listen. Top Gear is becoming more like Driving Wars combined with Total Wipeout. :rolleyes:
 
Dunno. The trailer isn't a high enough resolution to pause and check out the plate number on the car. If it were I could find out what it is.

I doubt it though. Far cheaper to mock up a standard older Focus and trash that.
I am reading the plate as EU61CKN, which happens to be Black Ford with 1.6l engine according to the DVLA.
 
The car in question is in fact the new Focus ST.

As for the "in the movies" segment, remember that the Marauder segment was in the trailer for Series 16 and it wasn't shown in the actual run. Even though it was eventually put in the run of Series 17, it just goes to show that a trailer doesn't necessarily have the final say on how the show will look.
 
I am reading the plate as EU61CKN, which happens to be Black Ford with 1.6l engine according to the DVLA.

Looks at fingernails humbly and polishes them on lapel.


:D
 
Same here. Felt very underwhelmed watching that. Also, what's Top Gear's sudden obsession with NASCAR? It's getting boring. Save it for TG America or whatever they call it these days.

Seems like they never listen. Top Gear is becoming more like Driving Wars combined with Total Wipeout. :rolleyes:

It's because they're getting a LOT more American viewers and they seem to think NASCAR is what we all like. And while a lot of Americans do like NASCAR, the Americans that watch Top Gear don't give a shit about it.
 
It's because they're getting a LOT more American viewers and they seem to think NASCAR is what we all like. And while a lot of Americans do like NASCAR, the Americans that watch Top Gear don't give a shit about it.
Sure, there are plenty of US citizens who couldn't care less about NASCAR, like myself. I didn't watch NASCAR before I started watching TopGear, either.

Richard in the stock car isn't really much different from James driving the WRC Mini Countryman, or James being in the race in Finland, or all three of them being in that 24-hour race, or the three being in the big road rally with the cars they bought at auction, or...you get the idea, right?
 
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I find it funny Hammond and May "We don't watch or know about motorsport" end up then filming most the motorsport related features.

Hammond whenever the touring car guys are involved, Hammond with the Renault F1 car, Hammond with the touring car tribute film, Hammond in the NASCAR, Hammond in the dakar rally car etc.
 
Getting the feeling this series could turn out to be a rush job, especially since they have an extra show in the run, and we know what happens to the quality when that happens. :(
My favourite series was 10, and that happens to be the longest!
 
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