[03x06] September 25th, 2012

[That American Girl]

This was a great episode! But when Adam was driving the Mustang up that rocky slope and it was bouncing up and doen like that..I was dying. That poor car!

I was totally astonished that any of them made it that far though.

 

[Ko1]

I now realize why I have been told never to buy a used rental car - they get more air time than a skateboard at a skate park...

True enough. A detailer friend of mine told me a trick to discover if a car is an ex-rental or not. If you can, quickly mist the back bumper with Windex and wipe it with a coarse rag. If there was a rental agency sticker there, the outline may still show up.

A few years ago, the GM dealership I work for had a lady come in off of the highway with a rented GMC Acadia, every warning light on the dash lit up, and a bad engine knock. Long story short, it had done 37,600 km on the factory fill oil as evidenced by the factory oil filter still in place. (The one with the red "Replace with PF48" sticker.)

 

[toni_cro]

best tg usa episode imo
some really funny moments, and how all the cars went through shitload of murdering and made it, is beyond me

"...tanner hit puberty..." LOL

 

[satcomvato]

Okay, well, a weird sort of combination of the Botswana and India specials.

The miracle is, we're now talking about "who won" as opposed to "this crew sucks." They've definitely found their footing here.

I'm now debating as to who would win in the "dumb ideas" category: Adam, or the Hamster. And I will admit to a perverse sort of enjoyment of the Mustang's final fate, and its execution (that it hit the castle was definitely something I don't think the crew could have predicted).

Maybe I'm in the minority here but I still think the crew sucks. I watch about 2 episodes per season just to see if the guys are getting funnier but I still don't like them. I know it's still finding itself but they really need to do some car reviews for it to be Top Gear. The antics only work if you like the cast, which is the obstacle for me.

 

[chris45215]

This was probably my favorite episode thus far, and I have been critical of almost all the others. I think Tanner and Adam have good characters developing; the "boy racer" (who doesn't need to admit he's a grown-up yet) Tanner has a bit of the Hammond thing going on, but not enough for it to feel forced. I love Adam's New Jersey personality, and I always remember him from some cheap luxury car episode where he brags that the car's clock says Cartier.
However, Rutledge still doesnt have a good character - it's almost like he could be, but part of his character is that he's chronically a bit off and his personality doesnt chime. His character isn't internally consistent,

I have a mustang and always knew that it can survive moderate off-roading, with a little sensible preparation. If it were me, I would try to raise all the cars a bit. It's unsatisfying to see a car struggle because it has no ground clearance.

I loved the flying Mustang, and nearly died laughing. I wish it could have gotten more speed before takeoff, but that would have been too unrealistic.



I think it's time for the show to kick the script writing and production values up a notch, maybe try to get some of the British crew during the long break of UK Top Gear. To succeed, they need to get the music and audio up to the UK's quality levels. The music will add the depth that this US version lacks - just watch the review of the Ferrari F430 if you dont believe me. Also, I would like to see some informative/comedy bits, like the UK crew did for Communist Cars, Lancia's history, and the test of Chinese cars.

 

[The Spie]

I think it's time for the show to kick the script writing and production values up a notch, maybe try to get some of the British crew during the long break of UK Top Gear. To succeed, they need to get the music and audio up to the UK's quality levels. The music will add the depth that this US version lacks - just watch the review of the Ferrari F430 if you dont believe me.

As has been explained many times, the only reason the UK version is able to get the great music is that the BBC is able to cut favorable deals with music licensers due to their status as one of the world's largest broadcasters. History can't afford licensing on this scale.

 

[Lynxfx]

As has been explained many times, the only reason the UK version is able to get the great music is that the BBC is able to cut favorable deals with music licensers due to their status as one of the world's largest broadcasters. History can't afford licensing on this scale.

Plus all they seem to do for the most part is license movie soundtracks. That always bothered me when I first got into Top Gear.

 

[AudiEnthusiast]

Gave it a 9. It's not a big Adventure like the Christmas Specials of James, Jeremy and Hammond BUT for a normal episode, it is awesome. I really think the chemistry between the three is growing, and, much more importantly, they are developing ideas which are different from the original show. The Mustang bit is one of my favourite things from ALL of Top Gear, included UK, and the overall episode really summed up TG USA for me. Yes, they had a pretty poor start (except Alaska and Moonshine in the first series), but there is something going on, it's developing. It's great to have a real race driver as a presenter, I love Adams silly ideas, and i, contrary to others, also think that Rutledges "deep-south-naive" thing is getting somewhere, this guy has self-irony.

What to say about the series? Well, the thing with the tractors wasn't that great, small cars and police cars also weren't a diamond, but the other three episodes were pretty good, the last was brilliant. All over all, and i never thought i would say this one time: There have been series of Top Gear UK which the guys have outdone with this one. Thank you for rescuing me from a summer without Top Gear!

 

[truebluegt2002]

I think it would have been way funnier if they used real rental cars instead of buying "rental" cars. They returned the remains of their rentals to Outlaw Jeep Tours in Moab. The car wash was right next door lol. Google the business and check out street view. This season was pretty good but I'd like to see them do some more car testing. I really enjoy the show but I don't see it lasting

 

[homerbeer]

Maybe I'm in the minority here but I still think the crew sucks. I watch about 2 episodes per season just to see if the guys are getting funnier but I still don't like them. I know it's still finding itself but they really need to do some car reviews for it to be Top Gear. The antics only work if you like the cast, which is the obstacle for me.

I'd say you are certainly in the minority. I love the guys and this episode was the best this season. Very entertaining!

 

[equiraptor]

This was probably my favorite episode thus far, and I have been critical of almost all the others. I think Tanner and Adam have good characters developing; the "boy racer" (who doesn't need to admit he's a grown-up yet) Tanner has a bit of the Hammond thing going on, but not enough for it to feel forced. I love Adam's New Jersey personality, and I always remember him from some cheap luxury car episode where he brags that the car's clock says Cartier.
However, Rutledge still doesnt have a good character - it's almost like he could be, but part of his character is that he's chronically a bit off and his personality doesnt chime. His character isn't internally consistent,

The "short" crap with Tanner feels forced. He's the same basic height as Adam, and at 5'10, he's not short. He's not tall, either, but... Hamster is 5'7, which is on the short side for men, and Clarkson's significant height exaggerates this, so the short jokes work. Thankfully, the US show seems to be moving away from the short jokes. The boy racer image, though, works, between the drift background, his younger look, and his high-pitched (and pitch-changing) voice.

And I find Adam annoying and Rut endearing. Tanner, I want to slap and yell, "Stop being 13". Adam I want to leave by the side of the road. Rut... Rut I'd tow out of the mud. Tanner'd probably get a tow, too, but he'd have to work for it.

 

[jay35]

I'm not too keen on them basically 'borrowing' the challenges and skits from the British Top Gear, but they do a pretty decent job with most of them and it's much more entertaining than when they tried to do the SIARPC on the first two seasons which was boring and rarely interesting. I'm glad they dropped that segment.

 

[Lynxfx]

I'm not too keen on them basically 'borrowing' the challenges and skits from the British Top Gear, but they do a pretty decent job with most of them and it's much more entertaining than when they tried to do the SIARPC on the first two seasons which was boring and rarely interesting. I'm glad they dropped that segment.

Big Star, Small Car is most likely back for the second half of the season.

 

[DKJRavn]

So I think Adam had all of his"good" moments in this episode, but none of them were actually good. I really wish they would dump him. The show was pretty fun over all but Adam just makes me cringe. Rut is awesome and Tanner is a strong ingredient in his show because of who he is and what he can do. Not because of how he acts.