[07x05] December 11th, 2005

Hmm, quit mocking everybody... It was among my best 10 eps ever and that is an achivement. Not the Top 3 or 5 maybe, but close...

I loved it, when they cut out May whenever he was blabbering about Flying things...
The Flying at night thing was probably ok, since it would have taken them ages to land somewhere (probably not Heathrow, since its commercial only???) and then get to the center of London with Public Transport... Don't think there is much in it...

I found it weird, that Jezza is moving to Defcon 4 with the Speed setting (which is bogus anyway since it disabels itself once you brake or turn more than 15?...), since Defcon 1 is the most alert state, if I remember my Submarine movies correctly...

Buba
 
Despite all of the propaganda, this was not the best Top Gear!
It was a good episode, but, overall, it was not tops!
Do not get me wrong though. I stiil liked it very much, but hearing and seeing a car fly by thrity thousand times can become boring. On the other hand, it just means that one does not have to press the rewind button a few times like usual! :D
The problem woth this episode was the common problem of modern marketing: you build things up so much that, once it is time for it, it does not meet expectations. There were too many of the same shots.
Regardless, what a machine!!! Ten radiators, two turbos, sixteen cylinders, 400kph, 1001 bhp!!!! And that sound!!!!!!!!!! :thumbsup:
The race piece was compromised by the "forced" landing in Lille. Come on, you knew he could not fly at night, so why not leave a bit earlier? :?
It was funny to see Richard's expressions when James went on and on about the "flying basics".

The Marcos seems like a good car; I do not know anything about it. Great exterior and interior styling!

The Nigel piece was very nice! One more proof that the drivers of before are much better than today's. Modern drivers depend too much on "driver aids"!

The Porsche piece was ok. I mean, I was not too interested.

On a final note, James is becoming the funnier guy in the show. We know he is Captain Slow, that he is conservative, etcc, but that is what makes him so great. It is because of that that he is funny; his jokes are unexpected, which adds to the level of humour!

P.S. I am trying hard to ignore the teeth jokes...
 
it's amazing that not 24 hours aftere the torret was released, there are 9 pages of comments from people. Just goes to show how expected this episode was.

I havent even read through the 9 pages, but for the sake of any arguement I loved the episode. But, it sucks that it will be 2 weeks before another new episode.
 
Awesome. I love these silly races. They should take them elsewhere, like Africa, Asia and even the US! A race up PCH from San Diego to Canada would be awesome! Race some snazzy new supercar against highly tuned Wangan racers in Japan, take a trip across China, or the australian outback. They could even join in on the gumball or a similar type rally, that would be awesome!
 
Scud said:
What clarkson said was that it went fast in a straight line.

Nothing about cornering and handle.
The hole segment was pointless.
Not funny and fully scrippted.


Did anyone else notice when May was at the arena and talking about the 911 stuff.
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.
Uh, did you just miss the whole thing about it handling like an Elise and the aero helping in the bends?

it's called editing and having another beer, not that odd.
 
I'll put in my two cents.

I laughed hysterically when Jeremy was doing the segment about the thing to remind you which fuel to put in your car.

The rest of the episode was just "OK". I waited a long time for this one and was pretty idssapointed. It could have been made into a fantastic episode, but it just wasn't. Oh well...
 
zenkidori said:
Awesome. I love these silly races. They should take them elsewhere, like Africa, Asia and even the US! A race up PCH from San Diego to Canada would be awesome! Race some snazzy new supercar against highly tuned Wangan racers in Japan, take a trip across China, or the australian outback. They could even join in on the gumball or a similar type rally, that would be awesome!

You hit it RIGHT on the head! :thumbsup:

The best race so far, and everyone can agree, was with the SLR. This was pretty exciting, and I was on the edge of my seat at the end, but they were SO vauge about the car itself!

And what about lap times? We need lap times!! :lol:
 
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. doesn't matter. that is still a lot of mass to move from side to side, soncidering the elise ways a ton less, it just won't be as agile, or nippy :roll: , even though lateral g is high.
i just can't imagine it being terribly fast on the track. i know it goes like, well, it goes, but i simply believe it to be too ponderous, too heavy to really let the stig use all that power. as we have read, it isn't impulse power, but rather a surge, which makes it difficult to use on the short straights of the tg track. in any case, we'll see (i hope).
(go zonda :mrgreen: )
 
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:
 
so, anybody know when they will actually have a "review" of the Veyron? The SLR race was good, but they at least had a review of the car a few times if i can remember correctly...
How exactly do people find out what is happening in the episodes that havent even been released? Does BBC release this info? Perhaps someone can fast forward to when the veyron is actucally tested indepth...
peace
-mark :thumbsup:
 
I think the problem with the race was pacing. The thing that struck me was that clarkson got all the 'this is fast blah blah' stuff out of the way in the first shots, then the rest was either him repeating or giving other stats. A better idea would have been for him to start from the start so it felt more coheasive; have him talk about the companies struggle to make it, then the stats, then as he gets to a good road a bit into the race, hammer and do the 'this goes like a bastard' stuff as if it was the first time he'd driven it hard. It makes the viewer feel more like they're on the journey with him which is what made the first 2 races so good. You felt like you were along for the ride and finding out about the car as he was. Not like someone had driven a car and spent a thousand miles telling you about it.

Also, the races are more atmospheric if they start when its dark and end when it's dark. More of an epic feel, it's just the psychology of it. It was something i didn't like about the SLR race, too.

I liked the music though, that gave the impression he was driving the end of the world on 4 wheels.
 
If you are talking about the orange S7 that did the Player's Run, then I talked to the driver at the Denver stop and asked him about it, he said it was pleasure to drive.
 
unclejemima said:
so, anybody know when they will actually have a "review" of the Veyron? The SLR race was good, but they at least had a review of the car a few times if i can remember correctly...
How exactly do people find out what is happening in the episodes that havent even been released? Does BBC release this info? Perhaps someone can fast forward to when the veyron is actucally tested indepth...
peace
-mark :thumbsup:

they probably won't have a track test. The SLR was different, they first did a little teaser in south africa, then had a real test and then had the race. however, the db9 and 612 both had races first and only, which is probably what will happen with the veyron. and jc said that he's sad because he will never get to drive it again, so that can be taken as a hint as well.
 
Let's bet ??
Veyron's time on track??

Veyron : 1.17.9

1st Pagani Zonda F - 1.18.4
2nd Maserati MC12 - 1.18.9
3rd Ferrari F60 Enzo - 1.19.0
 
Dins said:
they probably won't have a track test. The SLR was different, they first did a little teaser in south africa, then had a real test and then had the race. however, the db9 and 612 both had races first and only, which is probably what will happen with the veyron. and jc said that he's sad because he will never get to drive it again, so that can be taken as a hint as well.

that sucks! :cry:
Didnt someone say that the Stig cried after driving it? When would he have driven it? Mabey they taped another show? (insert hope here :thumbsup:)
-mark
 
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.
 
so if you are going 250 miles per hour, after 12 minutes you've gone 3000 miles? :bangin:

You've actually gone 50 miles. 250/60(12)=50

breakdown of my logic:
250mph / 60 = 4.16...mpm
4.16...mpm * 12 minutes = 50 miles
 
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