Saleen S7 (/Twin Turbo) Why not?

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Let's think. Saleens aren't sold in the UK, and as far as I know there are none here.

That means for TG to get one to put on the track they need to ask Saleen to ship one over to the UK.

Saleen (the company) I suspect have 1. never heard of Top Gear and 2. don't really want to ship a half-million-dollar car to the UK just so some foreigners can kick it a bit.

So, basically, lack of Saleen saying 'have a car' and lack of Saleens in the UK to borrow. Alternatively we really don't care.
 
Let's think. Saleens aren't sold in the UK, and as far as I know there are none here.

That means for TG to get one to put on the track they need to ask Saleen to ship one over to the UK.

Saleen (the company) I suspect have 1. never heard of Top Gear and 2. don't really want to ship a half-million-dollar car to the UK just so some foreigners can kick it a bit.

So, basically, lack of Saleen saying 'have a car' and lack of Saleens in the UK to borrow. Alternatively we really don't care.
This argument is negated by the fact that, as stated above, a german car mag did test the S7TT. The car is not available in Germany either, and I highly doubt that some german mag is more famous than Top Gear. For that reason, I think Top Gear would easily get a S7TT of they wanted one.
 
8)
Because nobody gives a shit. They're small name cars by small name manufacturers. If they featured cars like the SSC, Ultima GTR and S7 they'd have to test every other car hacked together in sheds across the world and only sold on the other side of the planet.

Things like the Caparo, Atom, Noble etc. will at least be seen by people on the roads here. You'll never ever see an SSC, Ultima or S7 on the road, so why should Top Gear waste peoples time with it?

Yup, that's pretty much a spot on answer, TG and the British audience (for the most part) don't give a shit.
 
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Saleen isn't as small as some people would think. In my area I see atleast 5-10 per day (Not S7's) and I live in Missouri :p.
I am pretty sure that someone in Britain has an S7 imported from the US, Top Gear could ask them for it like they did with the Enzo.
 
8)

Yup, that's pretty much a spot on answer, TG and the British audience (for the most part) don't give a shit.


Its kind of a shame that such an amazing car is shunned just because its made in america. I mean who cares where its sold, TG isnt about helpful consumer advice, its car porn. :lol:

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I just think some of the UK audience might not want the (false) idea of american cars being plastic land barges to die.


EDIT: PS, The "Its a UK show" argument isnt going to fly for much longer, when BBCA starts showing new episodes we will be every bit as much paying customers of the beeb as you are, just through advertising and not a fee.
 
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Because nobody gives a shit. They're small name cars by small name manufacturers. If they featured cars like the SSC, Ultima GTR and S7 they'd have to test every other car hacked together in sheds across the world and only sold on the other side of the planet.

Things like the Caparo, Atom, Noble etc. will at least be seen by people on the roads here. You'll never ever see an SSC, Ultima or S7 on the road, so why should Top Gear waste peoples time with it?

Uh, yeah, because cars like the Weismann, Marcos, and Carver are totally everyday sights over there, right? Top Gear tests small manufacturers' cars all the time.
 
This argument is negated by the fact that, as stated above, a german car mag did test the S7TT. The car is not available in Germany either, and I highly doubt that some german mag is more famous than Top Gear. For that reason, I think Top Gear would easily get a S7TT of they wanted one.

If the German car mag tested the car in Germany, then I will eat my words. Bake them onto a cake, and photoblog myself eating them.

But I'll bet aforementioned word-cake-eating that the German car mag flew a journo (and possibly a photographer) to the States to test the S7TT. And whilst, yes, Top Gear could do that (they did for the GT40 once, but then had it on again in the UK), it's expensive and wouldn't give us what we really want here - to see it try a lap of the TG track.
 
The Weismann cars are becoming very popular actually, I saw 2 or 3 of them over the summer back home.
 
8)

Yup, that's pretty much a spot on answer, TG and the British audience (for the most part) don't give a shit.
So you're saying the British audience is boring as hell? Gotcha.


There are quite a few cars tested on TopGear that many of us forum members can't buy in our own countries, but we're still very much interested in them. And what with TopGear having to test and retest the same cars over and over, because of a lack of new models in the market, I think they would be doing a smart thing by expanding their horizons. They do race S7R's in Europe, so there should be some interest. Hell, they even test cars like that Golf GTi W12, that will never see production, and feature cars like the Lambo Reventon, that you'll never see on the road. It would be nice to see something fresh and new from TopGear.
 
If the German car mag tested the car in Germany, then I will eat my words. Bake them onto a cake, and photoblog myself eating them.

But I'll bet aforementioned word-cake-eating that the German car mag flew a journo (and possibly a photographer) to the States to test the S7TT.
Nice try! :mrgreen:

They did a "how fast from 0-300 km/h"-comparison between a ...

McLaren Mercedes SLR
Lamborghini Murcielago LP640
Ruf Rt12
Saleen S7 Twin Turbo

... on the German Luftwaffe air base "Lagerlechfeld" in Bavaria. I just found a PDF of that very review on the Ruf website: http://www.ruf-automobile.de/ibase/...dienarchiv/dateien/pdf/downloads/AutoBild.pdf
 
It would have been better if the alternator wasn't broken.
 
Actually, I was wrong (sort of) there were two, both were converted into racecars and destroyed in the same race. Shame.
 
Was it a major problem throughout the test? I figured it just died at some point.
As I understand it, it was broken all the time (kind of blocking the engine and therefore eating horsepower), but they only noticed it during testing. And it got worse so they had to take it out after some runs. The problem with the car scrubbing over the ground above 286 km/h (179 mph) due to the high downforce remains though, which is why there is no "300 km/h" figure.
 
Clarkson did say in his recent video that he dose't like reviewing cars from small manufacturers. Maybe that, plus the fact that it's an american car, plus the fact that it's a car with not much of a reputation in the european market are the reasons why it wasn't tested. In my country at least, i've never seen in the past years even a small mentioning of the car in any magazine, while for example the golf w12 was in every single one. Which one do you think is better known?
 
The Ariel Atom was practically unheard of before Top Gear featured it. And now it's everyone's favorite track toy.

So I don't think it's ONLY because Saleen is a small-time company. If Jeremy says he doesn't like reviewing small companies then he is either lying or his Alzheimer's is setting in.
 
The Answer is a rather simple one. There are how many Cars on this planet? There are how many new or revived Car Manufacturers each Year? How many new Models of already existing Manufacturers? How many Top Gear Episodes are there every Year? Ask yourself ... how many Cars could they test each Series ... and how many do they get to test.

They can not only chose what they test, they have to. If the TG-Crew thinks a Saleen is less likley interesting for it?s viewers than a Ferrari, you?ll see the Ferrari. If they think a Car that is not a Race or Supercar should be tested, we?ll see less Supercars (and I would be happy about that). Don?t make such a fuss about it. You might want to see a Saleen and it?s your right to do so ... but I?d rather find out how the new A4 is or how the AMG C-class does ... but even those we?ll probably not get to see. There is just too much new and exciting Stuff out there to cover it all ...

Some of you seem to expect completeness in a sense that they have to test any Car. That is not possible. Some seem to think the Laptime-board and the Supercars on it are the most important things about TopGear ... and you are wrong about that. Very wrong.

And the Caparo will not go on that board ... Speed-bump ... :p
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