[08x02] May 14th, 2006

alexisthemovie said:
gldude said:
Law said:
i'll take it that you own or have driven one?
Have driven (in the 'states), but don't own.

Shifter's crap.

Engine's a thing of beauty. Pure acoustic and visceral bliss.

Suffers some bump steer in heavy cornering on less than ideal pavement.

Otherwise, though, it's quite reasonably mild mannered on the street.

Not a half bad accomplishment, really, at 1/3 the price of cars it can compete with or even beat on the track.

using your argument, why not just go for the supercharged ariel atom? beats just about everything on top gear's track. not a half bad accomplishment, really, at 1/3 the price of a z06

Most of the time, "You get what you pay for". Unfortunately, the extra 100grand only gets you a Ferrari badge and a leather dash board.

Do they get the Cadillac XLR in Europe? I'm kind of surprised TG and FG haven't tested that yet, what with the XLR-V coming out. The XLR is built on the Corvette platform. So you can get a luxury Corvette with a folding hard-top in the form of the XLR, or a base model Corvette C6, or a track purpose Z06. It all depends on what your priorities are.
 
jayhawk said:
The new Z06 is the result of data and experience culled from win after WIN after WIN of the C5R and the C6R at Lemans, and in ALMS races. Hate the Corvette? Good. That means it has your attention, and Corvettes are now a part of the world sports cars, on an equal level.

DEAL WITH IT. :tease:
Not taking anything away from the wins, but in the interview with the corvette drivers, they themselves said that the DBR9s had much quicker race pace than the vettes and that they were struggling to keep up. The AMs however had lots of mechanical trouble. The thing about endurance races is that you can't judge the speed of the car just by the wins. It's all about reliability of the car, driver concentration and strategy. A shorter race would a better indication of the cars' performance.
 
TomCat said:
alexisthemovie said:
gldude said:
Law said:
i'll take it that you own or have driven one?
Have driven (in the 'states), but don't own.

Shifter's crap.

Engine's a thing of beauty. Pure acoustic and visceral bliss.

Suffers some bump steer in heavy cornering on less than ideal pavement.

Otherwise, though, it's quite reasonably mild mannered on the street.

Not a half bad accomplishment, really, at 1/3 the price of cars it can compete with or even beat on the track.

using your argument, why not just go for the supercharged ariel atom? beats just about everything on top gear's track. not a half bad accomplishment, really, at 1/3 the price of a z06

Most of the time, "You get what you pay for". Unfortunately, the extra 100grand only gets you a Ferrari badge and a leather dash board.

Do they get the Cadillac XLR in Europe? I'm kind of surprised TG and FG haven't tested that yet, what with the XLR-V coming out. The XLR is built on the Corvette platform. So you can get a luxury Corvette with a folding hard-top in the form of the XLR, or a base model Corvette C6, or a track purpose Z06. It all depends on what your priorities are.

obviously you don't see the purpose in buying a ferrari, and the value for money is an impossible argument to win on my part because value for me comes first as well. its the same scenario with shoes. why buy $80 nike shoes when a $10 pair from walmart will do just the same thing?
 
DEAL WITH IT. :tease:[/quote]
Not taking anything away from the wins, but in the interview with the corvette drivers, they themselves said that the DBR9s had much quicker race pace than the vettes and that they were struggling to keep up. The AMs however had lots of mechanical trouble. The thing about endurance races is that you can't judge the speed of the car just by the wins. It's all about reliability of the car, driver concentration and strategy. A shorter race would a better indication of the cars' performance.[/quote]


Fast unreliable cars are the biggest "what ifs," especially in endurance racing. The DB9R are awesome cars, but they've got some catching up to do with the C6R. I saw them in person last weekend at the American LeMans race and let me say the C6R has one of the most ridiculously loud and sweet exhaust notes I've ever heard.
 
alexisthemovie said:
TomCat said:
Most of the time, "You get what you pay for". Unfortunately, the extra 100grand only gets you a Ferrari badge and a leather dash board.

Do they get the Cadillac XLR in Europe? I'm kind of surprised TG and FG haven't tested that yet, what with the XLR-V coming out. The XLR is built on the Corvette platform. So you can get a luxury Corvette with a folding hard-top in the form of the XLR, or a base model Corvette C6, or a track purpose Z06. It all depends on what your priorities are.

obviously you don't see the purpose in buying a ferrari, and the value for money is an impossible argument to win on my part because value for me comes first as well. its the same scenario with shoes. why buy $80 nike shoes when a $10 pair from walmart will do just the same thing?
I know exactly the purpose of buying a Ferrari. It's an exotic status symbol. Like a Rolex watch. It's not that you have an expensive solid gold watch, no, it's about it being a Rolex. If it doesn't say Rolex, what's the point? Same thing with a Ferrari. You buy the name, the status, the image. That's what the owners want, attention. Proof that they're successful and everyone will know it.

I just find it funny that Ferrari owners and fans talk about racing heritage and history, because most of the people who buy Ferrari's aren't interested in performance at all.
 
Another great episode. Their cinematography just keeps getting better and better...especially the Jag segment. And I loved all the fire in the Z06 review. Cool stuff :thumbsup:
http://img160.imageshack.**/img160/8752/reflect6gj.jpg
I didnt notice that the first couple times I watched it
 
Most of the time, "You get what you pay for". Unfortunately, the extra 100grand only gets you a Ferrari badge and a leather dash board.

Do they get the Cadillac XLR in Europe? I'm kind of surprised TG and FG haven't tested that yet, what with the XLR-V coming out. The XLR is built on the Corvette platform. So you can get a luxury Corvette with a folding hard-top in the form of the XLR, or a base model Corvette C6, or a track purpose Z06. It all depends on what your priorities are.

They did test the XLR. They said it was crap. Basically they said anyone who buys one over the mercedes SL has a screw loose in theyre head.

As for luxury the build quality is shoddy, the interior isnt all that good, and the 2 tonne mercs are faster.
 
Ditto what was just said above. That helicopter aerial cinematography is rapidly approaching Hollywood film levels. But what a car to bestow it upon!! Beautiful Jag, spitfire ZO6 review, another top-notch TG episode. Please come out with DVDs soon!!!!
 
Just watched the episode. Excellent once again. I really like the new feel of the show. A new dog, a new reasonably priced car, new studio etc.

Who was saying that they didn't like the testing of the Vette because it's such a fuel-consuming car? Did you know that the EPA on it is 26mpg-hwy? It actually escapes gas-guzzler taxes in the US. I'm sure that Stiggy wasn't getting 26 though...heh.

As a Canadian I can be pretty diplomatic about my opinions on automobiles, because we have NO homegrown manufacturers. I will honestly say that American cars are pretty-much complete crap. Their low-grade plastic materials and poor finishing workmanship are so obvious it's painful to me. Even Chrysler, which is the only US company turning a profit right now thanks to their affiliates, promotional partners, and sister-companies (Daimlar, Mitsubishi, Hyundai) makes crappy (but very cool) cars. I'll never buy one unless I can afford a Z06, Shelby GT-500, or a Ford GT.

I must say however, that the Z06 Vette is an undeniable winner. It still has the crap interior finish and just won't feel as special as an Italian exotic, but it will be faster, and a hell of a lot cheaper. I was really glad to see it lap the test-track faster than the F430. I think that was a big question for a lot of people.

Oh, and I have to say one thing. Does anyone else get bothered by clarkson pushing on that back panel on the Vette? Those panels are flmsy because of GM's intentional choice of fiberglass bodywork rather than sheet-metal to conserve weight. Of course sheet metal doesn't flex the same way.
 
Oh yeah . . . and that super-slow motion adds a really classy touch. They really need to start applying this approach to a similarly well-made car show in the States. We have the technology . . . what's the hold-up???
 
gldude said:
alexisthemovie said:
using your argument, why not just go for the supercharged ariel atom? beats just about everything on top gear's track. not a half bad accomplishment, really, at 1/3 the price of a z06
Umm... because it lacks minor features such as: doors? A roof? Because you get wet driving it when it rains? Because you can't drive it to the store for 3 weeks of groceries as you can the Vette?

It's got its place, but it's hardly the same kind of vehicle. I'd argue the Z06 *is* the same kind of vehicle as the 360. Not as refined, perhaps, but just as fast, and you still get the roof and doors and radio and space for your groceries on the way home from errands.

How about this. I will bet you that a M3 CSL would beat the Z06 around the 'ring if it was delimited, and BMW rented out the track for the day (so theres no traffic to slow them down, like GM did) and let a super driver take it round and round adjusting suspension setup as required.
 
How about this. I will bet you that a M3 CSL would beat the Z06 around the 'ring if it was delimited, and BMW rented out the track for the day (so theres no traffic to slow them down, like GM did) and let a super driver take it round and round adjusting suspension setup as required.

We're talking the Euro version right? US version was pretty much an M3 with new rims and a few minor tweaks. I can't even rememer if it's even called the CSL in the US. I don't know a lot about the Euro-CSL but it'd be interesting. I'd still put money on the Z06.
 
For all the whingers out there, put a sock in it or watch 5th Gear and whinge about that!

Production Value of Top Gear is beyond a doubt, the best TV show I have seen on TV or the Internet :p

I wanted to see more of the Kayak as it is one seriously cool engineering project, and considering that this guy is a serious kayaker, doubt whether he was tired, nor that it would sink, he wasnt exactly moving at the end of the race was he .... The Tomkat/bowler wildcat, we've seen it b4, but cool watching it crash into the ice without major damage, try that in a rally car...

ZO6 .... 7 litres of pure muscle can make a car go very fast, take the Aus spec GTP Monaros of yestur-year ... Faster than Prodrive's 550s and would be just as fast as a C6R if they did race each other ...

Face it, Americans dont do euro interiors, their customers dont ask of it, so why bother, but come to think of it neither do Australias car makers, we're a lot closer than the yanks, but still need to improve in many areas. For all those out there compare a Caddy CTS with a VE commodore .... oh you cant yet, sorry maybe in a little while ...

Grand Tourer vs Sports Car .... not exactly a great comparo anyway ...

XK, cant wait for the XKR, which will have a front spoiler and undertray, maybe even a rear undertray, reducing the lift on the front. 130mph, who the hell drives regularily at those speeds in their countries? For my money, XK is far better value than the AMV8, but thats not the point of the AM is it.

Radio show, they're welcome to do any radio show down here in Aus, the crap people put up with now is far worse than the comedy of errors the boys put on over there in Boringland.

Every episode of Top Gear makes me rue the fact that no-one here is broadcasting it up to date, and that its not available on DVD.

Keep up the rapid ripping and support peoples.

'TG-Crack' Whore
 
MPalmz said:
How about this. I will bet you that a M3 CSL would beat the Z06 around the 'ring if it was delimited, and BMW rented out the track for the day (so theres no traffic to slow them down, like GM did) and let a super driver take it round and round adjusting suspension setup as required.

We're talking the Euro version right? US version was pretty much an M3 with new rims and a few minor tweaks. I can't even rememer if it's even called the CSL in the US. I don't know a lot about the Euro-CSL but it'd be interesting. I'd still put money on the Z06.

Z06 lapped the 'ring in 7.43secs. M3 CSL which americans didnt get lapped it in 7.50secs.

The Z06 had a empty track to itself and the car wasnt entirely stock as engineers swapped tryes and suspension setups. The driver that they used was also one of the most highly regarded in the world.

The M3 CSL is limited to 155mph and did it on a busy track. The driver is good, but not as talented as the Z06 driver.

Here are the M3 csl stats http://www.rsportscars.com/eng/cars/bmw_m3csl.asp


I didnt rate this episode too highly. The XK review bored me, they didnt get indepth enough with the Z06 and we all already knew that the caddy was a saab. I prefered the 1st episode of the series. Cant wait for the next one though :D
 
NuclearSymphony said:
Ditto what was just said above. That helicopter aerial cinematography is rapidly approaching Hollywood film levels. But what a car to bestow it upon!! Beautiful Jag, spitfire ZO6 review, another top-notch TG episode. Please come out with DVDs soon!!!!
BBC has more experience in those type of shots because of all the documentaries they do.
 
Grand Tourer vs Sports Car .... not exactly a great comparo anyway ...

I agree, they should have lined it up with the F430. That's the real impressive thing to me. 550 looked more like it though, I'm sure that had a thing or two to do with it.
 
Good heavens, and that talk show was painful, I was cringing in my chair . . . I actually felt sorry for them! And STILL . . . I would choose them in a heartbeat over ANY talk show in the States!!
 
Face it, Americans dont do euro interiors, their customers dont ask of it, so why bother, but come to think of it neither do Australias car makers, we're a lot closer than the yanks, but still need to improve in many areas.

Why don't they learn from their mistakes? Don't they understand that if they keep doing what they're doing they'll keep getting what they're getting? I think the rising generation DOES demand it. Which is why GM and Ford have serious financial issues. Even their luxury brands fall short of the mark...way short. They both brought out a lot of new models recently, but have done very little to improve quality. Sad because I love America.
 
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