[07x05] December 11th, 2005

I liked the episode. An interesting supercar and those races across Europe are always entertaining.

If James was allowed to fly at night, they would have won though. Or if they had used a faster plane with a longer distance. I like driving, but flying is very cool too. There is virtually no traffic and you are not limited by the sea, bridges etc. Often you can just set your heading straight to your destination without being limited by roads.

Scud said:
A bloke was drinking a beer behind him.
At first the glass was almost empty and he was drinking the last bit up.
Then the next time it was full.

I didn't notice, but he must have gone for a refill ;-)

But one thing was annoying me with that segment. They had those clips of seats full of screaming people in the arena. But when they filmed the 911s almost all the seats were empty.
 
Why didn't May say his "Permision to say cock..." line?

Alright episode, disappointing for a race though.
 
They wouldn't have filmed on the same day as the rally I reckon. The rally would take the whole day. Most likely the day before or after, so all the track is still in place. The few people that were in the stand were probably either bums or die-hard TG supporters.
 
Z0RR0 said:
BerserkerCatSplat said:
bartboy9891 said:
^ the saleen isnt really all that great. it looks kinda generic IMO. in Twin Turbo form it is pretty quick, but at redline it "only" hits 225mph. its surprisingly light, but wide as hell and handling isnt phenomenal or anything. and for the price, you could by a Koenigsegg or a Zonda...

I disagree, I think it's a phenomenal car. Let me put it this way:

The saleen has half the cylinders and half the turbochargers of the Veyron, yet it develops three quarters of the horsepower at a mere 5.5 psi. The S7 does 0-60 only 0.3 seconds slower than the Veyron, and it's 2WD! The S7 also develops all this power and speed, yet is OBD-II compliant and has four catalytic converters for low emissions. Set up the gearbox a bit different, turn up the boost a bit, and I think it could surpass the Veyron's top speed.

And yet, on top of all that power, and technology, and incredible speed, Saleen still makes money on the S7. Bugatti loses ~4 million per unit (not including development costs), while Saleen actually makes a profit.

Compare it to a Zonda, which produces less power, is lighter, but whose 0-60 time is almost a full second slower than the S7, at 3.6 seconds. The Zonda F is only 0.1 second faster than that. It's just slower.

But I'm not going to disuss what supercar is better than what. My point is that the Veyron is not the end-all of hypercars. There are a brace of manufacturers out there that are poised and ready to produce Veyron-like performance numbers, and without breaking the bank to do so. VW did it first becuase they had the money to throw around, but the competition is not far behind. We haven't reached the crest of the performance hill, we're merely on the upslope.

You must have missed my reply. The S7 is not in the same category as the Veyron, Enzo, SLR or Zonda. It is a street legal track car. Plain and simple. It's rough, not necesserily reliable (the S7 barely made it out of LA in the Player's Run or Bullrun, can't remember which), the steering is too direct and undampered, the clutch is heavy, harsh and a super short friction point, access on board is ungainly. Obviously, when you're on the track, it goes like very few others can ... the issue is, supercars have evolved. It's not 1985 anymore, supercar customers want to drive 200mph, go across the country and still be handle to go through stop-and-go traffic. The S7 can't do all that, it just lacks the practicality that made the McLaren #1 in its time, followed by the Murcielago, then Enzo, SLR ... etc etc.

The S7 is an old school supercar, and in that aspect it just isn't as exceptional as the others. Getting 700hp out of TT 7L V8 is "easy", building a 700hp car to behave like a lamb is a whole other story. Figures only tell a bit of the story.

BTW, if you actually believe it will do 0-60 in less than 3 seconds on street tires ... well ... I dunno :lol:
Saleen claims that they can do it in "normal" street tires, though i doubt it. I think it would just end up in a cloud of smoke. And even though the saleen is supposed to be a track car, its handling isnt anything special.
 
bartboy9891 said:
Saleen claims that they can do it in "normal" street tires, though i doubt it. I think it would just end up in a cloud of smoke. And even though the saleen is supposed to be a track car, its handling isnt anything special.

Handling not anything special? It pulls more g's on the skidpad than a Ferrari Enzo. I'd say that's pretty special, when you consider the Enzo is as much a track day car as the S7.

As well, the S7 is quite a liveable car. I had the opportunity to speak with the owner of a brand new S7TT the other day, and he said it was a pleasure to drive. The interior is also quite nice, though not as much a piece of art as the Zonda's.
 
BerserkerCatSplat said:
bartboy9891 said:
Saleen claims that they can do it in "normal" street tires, though i doubt it. I think it would just end up in a cloud of smoke. And even though the saleen is supposed to be a track car, its handling isnt anything special.

Handling not anything special? It pulls more g's on the skidpad than a Ferrari Enzo. I'd say that's pretty special, when you consider the Enzo is as much a track day car as the S7.

As well, the S7 is quite a liveable car. I had the opportunity to speak with the owner of a brand new S7TT the other day, and he said it was a pleasure to drive. The interior is also quite nice, though not as much a piece of art as the Zonda's.

skidpad = grip
grip doesnt always = handling
the S7 isnt a bad car, its just that in that price range, there is WAY better choices.
 
jib jib said:
i did a little math: the veyron has a 100 liter tank, which runs out after 12 minutes when you are going 250 mph. in that 12 minutes you travel 3000 miles, burn 2.2 gallons per minute, and get about 1.89 mpg.

oh, that is awesome. i was so hoping somebody would say that. good for you buddy, no hard feelings. :thumbsup: :mrgreen:
 
That was really cool segment, I love that Bugatti, it made my hair stand up when seeing it and also hearing the engine.
 
///M said:
Why didn't May say his "Permision to say cock..." line?

Alright episode, disappointing for a race though.
Haha yeh he's said that like every challange I think!
 
bartboy9891 said:
the S7 isnt a bad car, its just that in that price range, there is WAY better choices.

Yeah, I agree, it's definitly not a bad car at all. Screw the Sagaris, the S7 looks like it was styled by and axe murderer, what with its 80+ gills.

I'm afraid to say though, it would fall quite far down on the cool wall, what with "Fiddy cent" having it in his videos and all.

SL65AMG~V12~604BHP!!!!!!! said:
///M said:
Why didn't May say his "Permision to say cock..." line?

Alright episode, disappointing for a race though.
Haha yeh he's said that like every challange I think!

He says it so much, I find myself saying it.
 
No Boss said:
bartboy9891 said:
the S7 isnt a bad car, its just that in that price range, there is WAY better choices.

Yeah, I agree, it's definitly not a bad car at all. Screw the Sagaris, the S7 looks like it was styled by and axe murderer, what with its 80+ gills.

I'm afraid to say though, it would fall quite far down on the cool wall, what with "Fiddy cent" having it in his videos and all.

it's just not a cool car, it looks soooooo ridiculous. and i don't mean crazy, like the zonda, i mean ridiculous.
 
Just finished watching the episode... I've had stuff that I really needed to do, so I've forced myself to not watch it. It was a good episode, but still a bit of a letdown I think. I like the bit on the Marcos, and the comparison of the two 911's was interesting. The Bugatti was awesome, but I really wanted to see it on the track... or even just going around corners, like they did with the M3 CSL on the Isle of Man.

Anyway, I really want to see this car on the track. Hope they show it sometime.
 
Again, sorry if this has been said before... but did anyone look at the episode summary on TG's site?
a car so good even Jeremy couldn't find fault with it. It's so good, the Stig cried after driving it.

And, I almost just blew a funny fuse after reading whats under "Next week" on the page.

There is no Top Gear next week, because some men are playing with each others balls or something. It's a sport thing apparently.


http://www.bbc.co.uk/topgear/thisweek/
 
Dins said:
oliB said:
Dins said:
[
the zonda weighs 1228kg, while the veyron weighs about 2100kg.
The Veyron weighs 1950kg. That's not exactly ?ber light, still 150kg lighter than what you said though. ;)

it said 4200pounds somewhere.
Well, 4200 pounds would translate to exactly 1905 kg. ;)
 
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