[15x07] December 21st, 2010 [Special]

[15x07] December 21st, 2010 [Special]

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I'm gonna go against the apparent grain here, I found it rather boring. Jabs at the Stig we're really quite amusing though. The first America road trip was really great and the Romania ep used as the reason, well that was just spectacular. This one seemed like "whatever, let's just do it". I had a distinct impression they were hanging around with TGUS for a bit and figured, "hey why don't we shoot an episode while we're here". 'Twas a sad 3 for me.
 
Looks like there are some really good things coming up!

LOL -> emergency stig - tiff needell
 
Overall it was a decent road trip I've done part of the Blue Ridge Parkway and yeah it is 35-45 but the section I was on had no cops and I was going a bit faster and had a blast. I enjoyed the drive by bit (wished they would of done a faster drive by though) but Clarkson's lack of gun safety made me shudder. The race through NYC was fun and the news was horribly scripted but funny. Overall I gave it a solid 7.

I'm also getting a kick out of the trolls who needlessly compare a show that is barely half way done with its first season to one that has a MUCH bigger budget and is on its 15th series.
 
8/10.

First, a bit of a reprimand. There is no point -- absolutely none -- in comparing this with TGUSA. One, the boys have had 7 years at this, while the Americans have had mere months. Two, when you consider things like the 24-hour-repair-a-road, the art-collection, the farming-tractor, and the afternoon-traffic-radio program, you will know that the TGUK boys can do worse -- much worse -- than the Yanks.

Second, missed opportunities. Perhaps doing the NASCAR Hall of Fame would have been too touristy, but I have trouble believing that the BBC wasn't able to get ahold of an actual NASCAR Car of Tomorrow for the boys to put through its paces. However, seeing the three cars selected go through the paces was pretty entertaining.

I'd actually have to say that Carolina and the New York City traffic race were definitely highlights.

Future America trips? Well, they really haven't done the Pacific Coast Highway thing, and I wouldn't recommend New England unless they used motorcycles (Clarkson on a DN-01, Hammond on a Triumph Bonneville, May on a Royal Enfield Bullet Classic). Seattle and Alaska are definite possibilities, though. And don't forget Canada and the John Cabot Trail.
 
Mally Dangerous said:
I was like "Did he almost hit those pedestrians?"(around the 1 hour mark).
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I thought he came close to collecting them.The back end of his Merc stepped out when he put the foot down going around the corner.

I see in the preview that they're running a segment from Top Gear Australia in an upcoming episode.It's where they have an upside car on top of another car and the UK and Aussie hosts race each other,a bit like they did with the Germans a few years ago [but not upside down].
 
why didn't they take a single good road in America?? I honestly believe that we have much better roads here than the Transf?g?r??an. I guess it was for the same reason that they raced to 55mph on the highway - our lawyers are not as nice as the ones in the UK :(
 
Jupix said:
I don't really get the TGUS hate. Frankly the 5 eps so far have been better than the last 5 seasons of TGUK.
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bahahaha_Jerry_Lewis.jpg
 
So when they get to Manhattan, they start the semi drag race in front of the building I work in... at 53rd street and they were going North. Jezza eventually turns off after they hit traffic, and the map shows him turning left onto 39th... south of where they were driving north from.

I found it amusing. Why lie about their location?
 
9/10, I laughed all the way through. Spent 10 summers in Boone, NC, so the stuff with the locals was especially funny. "Tail of the Dragon" would have been choice, but then they would not have been able to take the mick out of the yanks, cuz that is a some serious driving (or riding if you do it on a bike, sweet!!!). Roll on Boxing day!
 
Well, the whole idea that it was a race and timeline of events was probably a lie.

I read some posts on here before seeig the actual show and I'm glad the dancing mayor didn't turn out to be Bloomberg like I thought. I don't think I could handle that.
 
02122 said:
Well, the whole idea that it was a race and timeline of events was probably a lie.
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I watched it again and it most definitely was all fabricated. The streets and video don't match up a good portion of the time. Several times they were further north than the map would lead you to believe, and several times they were driving west only to be driving east a couple seconds later.
 
Had a quick look through the thread so I'm not sure if this has already been posted.

Watching hammond's crash I instantly recognised the corner and the style of spin from somewhere. Had a quick look on youtube and rediscovered a vid of an R8 crashing in exactly the same way at VIR. I'm sure there are plenty of these around but it was such a remarkably identical crash :p

If you watch hammond's near crash he talks about keeping the power on. Pretty notorious corner for maintaining the perfect balance i reckon.

[video=youtube;gQLM-K9TwWM]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gQLM-K9TwWM[/video]
 
Speaking of fabricated/not matching up, much of the VIR footage isn't sync'd either. At one point Clarkson is talking & going into T4 w/in-car video, then the shot goes to him sliding through T3 as if it was the same moment. I noticed many examples of this... oh well.
 
AshDav said:
Watching hammond's crash I instantly recognised the corner and the style of spin from somewhere.
If you watch hammond's near crash he talks about keeping the power on. Pretty notorious corner for maintaining the perfect balance i reckon.
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Someone else mentioned earlier, that's the "climbing esses" i.e. a notoriously high-speed and complicated section of VIR. It's what they were looking at when they walked out onto the balcony in the morning at the "hotel" which is actually one of the privately owned villas on premises ($350/night.) It could be done at probably 120mph in a well driven GT3RS (although I assure you, none of those three were going that fast.) It's one of the most dangerous areas of the track as a result. Definitely a place to absolutely get your timing right, and don't ever ever ever lift off the gas (esp in a car with that much weight in the back)... the usual school line is coast up it, then build up to using maintenance throttle. Racers are usually flat-out the whole way up and hammering all the curbs. The usual noob mistake is to go in too fast and lift or hit the brakes, either of which will put you in a tirewall if you do it at the wrong time.
 
Not sure if it was mentioned... don't want to read every single post, but is there external video footage of Hammond's spin off the track? He got really close to those tires! I'd be pissing myself if that happened to me. I've spun off track too but luckily I spun, then was going backwards and held it straight... going into the dirt, no tires or wall to make me have a trouser accident.
 
TopGearNorthAmerica said:
Well, they really haven't done the Pacific Coast Highway thing, and I wouldn't recommend New England unless they used motorcycles (Clarkson on a DN-01, Hammond on a Triumph Bonneville, May on a Royal Enfield Bullet Classic). Seattle and Alaska are definite possibilities, though. And don't forget Canada and the John Cabot Trail.
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The thing is, they've already done the motorcycle thing with the Vietnam special and Hammond on the Vincent. Only so much humor can be wrung from the giant Clarkson on a bike. Although I've never personally gone in search of driving roads in New England, it is fabulously pretty here. I could go for a cheap-car challenge from, say, Rhode Island to the very northeastern bit of Maine, where they're not allowed to use I-95. Should be interesting with Captain Sense-of-Direction. I'd also like to see how they get on with Boston.
 
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RichM said:
So when they get to Manhattan, they start the semi drag race in front of the building I work in... at 53rd street and they were going North. Jezza eventually turns off after they hit traffic, and the map shows him turning left onto 39th... south of where they were driving north from.

I found it amusing. Why lie about their location?
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Although there have been examples of such things in previous episodes, in this episode it really didn't work. In other episodes it was harder to notice, in this episode it was pretty clear. It will work for those who didn't know any better and who weren't looking.
 
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