A Kit car as the new reasonably priced car?

NooDle said:
^well I dunno

Lada
Lincoln
Lexus
Lotus
Lambo

Lada seems the only one thats reasonably priced
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So far only the model name has begun with an L, not the manufacturer's. ;)

Another reason why a kit car wouldn't work is weather. I don't think stars would bother to do a lap in a car without roof or windshield when raining.
 
Subaru Legacy?
 
Seasonone said:
That would be stupid, you would have maybe 4 people who could even get a full lap at on OK throttle, maaaaybe with enough laps JK or cod piece could put a real time down but that's doubtful. So every week would just be "watch stars spin out in an expensive car most people can't afford" Base model may only be like $35,000USD/?25,000 GBP which is cheap for what it does (remember the one on top gear wasn't the base) but that's still over 2x the current car. Same with the Caterham cheap for what they can do but far from cheap or reasonably priced.

That also makes the available "stars" much smaller, do you really think you're going to get somebody like Kristen Scott Thomas or Fiona Bruce to drive something like that?

The "fastest" car I would like to see would be Abarth 500, anything other than that and you might as well change the name.
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The cheapest new Caterham is ?12995, that's only a bit more than the Lacetti, which is not "far from reasonably priced". The only problem with the Caterham is that it would break the field a lot, most people would still clock high 1:40's, which the people who really can drive would be Much quicker. With the current car, the best celeb time is not that much slower than what the F1 drviers managed in the Liana, with the Caterham, we would have people doing 1:55's and 1:35's..
 
No. thats stupid, the whole fun of the segment is that they're in...a reasonably priced car. I'll bet loads of potential guests would probably refuse to go around the track in a fucking Caterham or Ariel Atom anyways and the lap times would be so varied youd just have them split into 3 or four distinctive fast faster fastest sections; you could probably just tell where someone would end up on the board just by looking at them.
 
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You do know you have to erase the board all over again, so all the guests you guys hated, will be given a new chance. (third time Jimmy Carr, 2nd time Helen Mirren,..)
 
It really wouldn't be fun. No jokes about how good or bad the car is, no one will be able to just chat around a lap, everyone would have to wear a proper helmet and suit it would just look like crappy racing drivers going around at track slowly in a Caterham. Not saying a word.
 
Sorry for bringing up such a silly idea. But I thought SIARPC segment could do with a little more spicing up u know.....
thankfully i didnt write down my ingenious idea in full. otherwise i would have been slated even more.
what i had in mind was if they get the pieces of a caterham, get jeremy, richard and james to build it like last time and use it as the home made RPC. :p
dont have a go at me now. i never said it out loud :D
 
Another vote for the Dacia Sandero :lol:
 
Personally I think the Atom would make a great car, it is fun and easy to drive. But I do agree it is not reasonbly priced what so ever. And the major down side to the Caterham is the width is tiny, It woudl exclude alot of people just for size. I would vote for the Honda Jazz the 1.2L Starts right at $9,990. It would give them a fun car to drive that would be very reliable.
 
dragonboy3000 said:
I think it might be another year, before they replace the Lacetti.
The orginal Liana was used for the first 7 seasons and then replaced by the Lacetti in Season 8.
So it might be a couple more seasons, essentially this year, before they probably will consider replacing it.
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See, that was my train of thought. It's still a bit soon to replace the Lacetti. After S14, then yes, retire it, and get a new RPC.

ApexOversteer said:
I seem to remember Clarkson commenting somewhere last year that the Lacetti broke far more often than the Liana did and it's replacement was coming "soon"...
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Hrm... Of course, the Lacetti is more powerful than the Liana (and lord knows the Liana(s) took a virtual beating).

MadCat360 said:
The next RPC should be a hot hatch of some kind. By all means keep it cheap, just choose something not boring. There are plenty of non-boring cars that are quite reasonably priced.
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A hot hatch might work.

Frederic said:
You do know you have to erase the board all over again, so all the guests you guys hated, will be given a new chance. (third time Jimmy Carr, 2nd time Helen Mirren,..)
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Not necessarily. There were/are still a plethora of stars who set a time in the Liana who've never been in the Lacetti; and I'm willing to wager there will be some who've been in the Lacetti who will never set a time in (insert whatever will be the new RPC here).

katwalk said:
Another vote for the Dacia Sandero :lol:
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WirelessMonkey said:
It just has to be. GREAT NEWS! THE DACIA SANDERO IS OUR NEW SIARPC :D
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:lol: But is the Dacia Sandero reasonably priced? That's the important question.
 
MadCat360 said:
The next RPC should be more sporting than what they have. The Lacetti is utterly boring in every way except for the fact that they turned it into a touring car.

The next RPC should be a hot hatch of some kind. By all means keep it cheap, just choose something not boring. There are plenty of non-boring cars that are quite reasonably priced.
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They need to have 2 cars but, with roll bars etc, insured, with cheap parts.

Its not that easy, hot hatches would cost a fortune to service etc.
 
The problem with the Dacia Sandero is that it isn't being launched in the UK AFAIK. This would mean them importing probably three at their own cost, as opposed to getting UK spec cars from the manufacturer either free or at a huge discount. While the BBC is not supposed to do advertising or endorse products, someone at my local Suzuki dealer who were a customer of mine at the time told me that according to Suzuki UK sales of the Liana improved dramatically once it was adopted as the RPC and I am sure the same would go for the Lacetti.

I think one of the reasons they could be retiring the Lacetti after a shorter time than the Liana might be down to GM's financial woes.

As for the replacement, if they stuck with the theme of something ugly and cheap from the Pacific Rim for about ?10k they might struggle. Both the relevant Hyundai and Kia offerings are actually quite smart and European looking as well as being well respected by TG mag. Daihatsus are all too small, SSangyongs are all too big and bulky, the remaining Japanese stuff is far too good and pricey which only leaves the Proton Impian. Outside that brief Lada is no longer sold in the UK, and Skodas are far too well respected to employ as a figure of fun these days.

At least with the Proton they can bang on about how Lotus does Proton's chassis work.
 
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