[09x05] February 25th, 2007

I noticed this immediately as well. On a show where we used to hear rev limiters as often as dialog from anyone but Jeremy, I can't figure out why he would baby the thing like that. :rolleyes:

at the request of lambo maybe? seen as its not TG's car to just trash and break

i know they've been done in the past for damaging expensive cars through driving them hard. but if a manufacturer is giving you a car to test, free of charge, the least you can do is have a little courtesy and return it in the condition you got it.

also, given most cars dont make their max power at the redline, wouldnt you want to be changing about then anyway so as to keep the car at its max?
 
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im not sure what the bird was all about, was it a peraquin falcon? (or whatever? not a bird man obviously)

i had thought, or heard somewhere that they were staging a race between the bird and the car, because the type of bird they used there is a seriously quick winged wonder. my only guess is that it didnt pan out how they wanted.

Peregrine Falcons aren't the fastest animal when flying flat though, only when they are diving they reach 320 kph (200mph) plus.
There are probably faster birds that fly flat and straight.
 
James raced a racing pidgeon a while back, in a Ford SportKa, I think. The pidgeons do a fair speed I understand.
 
That was a really good episode, really enjoyed it.. Good work Top Gear team
 
Good episode, I enjoyed it. Train crash had me in stitches! :lol:
 
I almost forgot to see the episode I tuned in when the remains of the Espace were being removed. I really laughed when I saw Clarkson towing a 747 behind him. Quaility. Better than the previous episode.
 
And damn, that track looked partialy wet while the lp640 was doing its lap, I bet it would've been maybe 1-2 seconds quicker on a drier sunny day:).
No, the track looked pretty much bone dry to me. There were only a very few partially wet spots, and the Stig didn't really hit any of them, except from the curbs. If so, there is no way he would have got as much as a whole second or two more out of it, a tenth or two perhaps if everything clicks, but no more than that. Remember that a second or two is quite a lot on such a short track.

Regarding the top speed, you can't rely on just a speedometer reading as those gets progressively more and more unprecise as the speed increases, showing more than the actual speed, so it was probably less than that. When cars are measured officially for world records and such, they do it with a GPS to get a 100% accurate speed.

With the CCX he wasn't really trying, and I don't think it would have such a problem getting the power down either, as it runs on road legal softcompound sportstires, like the GT3. Also once up in high speeds the ground effects aerodynamics would come into play and help it get more traction. So if he tries the CCX will be a lot faster than the LP640.
 
I knew something like that would come from you. Why whould they fake it? or why would Lamborghini? and then I think CCX couldn't put all that power down but lambo is 4 wheel drive.

The ccx was on a dry track, and the 4 wheel drive will steel more power from the engine.. And the ccx was faster around the track, with all it's low speed corners and hard acceleration...
 
I loved the episode. The Lambo looked good. The news was hilarious, don't think I've ever laughed so much during the news. Traincrash was pretty impressive. I really liked the way James and Richard made fun of Jeremy during the interview, including the sign. I thought the farmer film was really funny aswell. When Richard drove over the bridge you could see he was really scared and it was great to see all the previous challenge cars all at once. Excellent episode!
 
Anyone remember the Lambo LP640 spinout news article mention some time after hammond's crash? It could have been that the Lambo segment was shot shortly after the crash and maybe Clarkson was having his head in Richard's condition.... perhaps that's why the review looked very diluted.
 
No, the track looked pretty much bone dry to me. There were only a very few partially wet spots, and the Stig didn't really hit any of them, except from the curbs. If so, there is no way he would have got as much as a whole second or two more out of it, a tenth or two perhaps if everything clicks, but no more than that. Remember that a second or two is quite a lot on such a short track.

Regarding the top speed, you can't rely on just a speedometer reading as those gets progressively more and more unprecise as the speed increases, showing more than the actual speed, so it was probably less than that. When cars are measured officially for world records and such, they do it with a GPS to get a 100% accurate speed.

With the CCX he wasn't really trying, and I don't think it would have such a problem getting the power down either, as it runs on road legal softcompound sportstires, like the GT3. Also once up in high speeds the ground effects aerodynamics would come into play and help it get more traction. So if he tries the CCX will be a lot faster than the LP640.

not so, but either way they should be using GPS for accurate results

at least i dont think. couple of my mates have Audis and their speedos are offset about 5-6mph all the way round. checked with GPS.

my focus does the same. 55 on the dial = 50 , 85 on the dial = 80.

i would think most new cars are the same.

also, watch the bit where they are arguing about the ploughmans sammich.... look at jeremy's gut! he looks like a pregnant lady
 
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One gripe though. Does anyone else think, for the acceleration and top-speed segments, they should keep one little inset focussed on the gauges like Best Motoring? That would really put the performance into tangibility.
That would be pretty cool. I also remember in one of the old episodes they had all sort of meters during stigs lap like you see on F1. g meters, accel and brake, diagram of the track with current position, wind direction and speed, etc. They should bring it back.
 
Classic TG episode :D Really enjoyed all the segments with the bantering and jibes between them all really coming through like they are just having a laugh doing the show. Do I care that the Lambo is slower, no, it should be... More power doesnt mean its going to go faster, neither does more wheels being driven at the same time ... Sounds nice though, and the photography with the falcon and music, really, really really nice production.

Its a pity its ending so soon, just when I was getting used to having new TG in my life again :(

Ahh well, they'll be back bigger, better, stronger, faster next time :D
 
Didn't Jeremy experience some shaking in the CCX at 190+mph? That's probably the reason why he didn't want to push it.

Yeah, that is the most probable reason. Thought so as well. Still, if I may: ;-) I can just say that the Sport Auto guys got the CCR up to 311km/h and the LP640 to 293. Done on the Doettinger Hoehe on the Nordschleife. And that is a bumpy mothafucka!
Plus 207mph is like 97% of the LP640s top speed, and I doubt that they can do that on their rather short runway. The speedo must be off by miles!!

Anyway, I guess, I'll better let that one rest. No need to reply to this, I won't read it. I stay clear off most specific eps discussions anyway ;-)
 
The 'public service announcement' bit was funny but nothing to write home about. I already know about the hazards of railway lines and I've already seen things getting smashed by a train. I liked the way that Jeremy put a bit of focus on the dangers of driving when you're too damn old. I think he was mainly doing it for laughs rather than to make a serious point but I for one would have liked to hear a bit more about it.

That new Maserati is disgusting with two exclamation points!! It looks like a car that's been styled purely from a marketing perspective. It looks like they want to "give the car a more aggressive look" and "shift more units in North America". "Oooh give it pointy lights so it looks aggressive. grrrrr, arrg" I hate it. The Alfo Romeo 8C Competizione on the other hand is gorgeous! It was on the cover of EVO magazine this month so i've been ogling it for weeks now.

The tractor thing was just a spectacle. It was just big shiny things and loud noises with no substance or merit or worth or point. These lengthy segments of mucking about are really wearing thin for me. The best bit was the blue Range Rover and the old Porsche's in the background. (I think they were replicas but never the less.)
I did have a good gut-laugh when the Stig fell out of the drivers seat but maybe it was because it was unexpected and genuine instead of a scripted, hackneyed cliche... hmm.

I never realised before now but Kristin Scott-Thomas is so hot! The way she carries herself, the way she sits, her poise, her speech. The way she's sitting when Jeremy says "Fiat Puntos are rubbish"... madonn'. She's lovely. I tell you, if I were twenty years older...

The Lamborghini segment was OK but Clarkson tested a (very similer) Mercielago way back in 2002. Back then it was an exciting car; Now it isn't and as a result I thought that review was just a tad dull. I mean, he basically just drove back and forth and there was a bird for a while. I don't mean to sound so down on this segment - it just lacked a certain something.
And i'm glad i'm not the only one who knew that the the race between it and the Golf was just a carbon copy of the race between a Skyline and a Mclaren F1.

Not a very good episode but it had it's moments.
 
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Last week's episode was far better, way more "car" stuff going on. Maybe it's because the LP640's been out for quite some time, but the segment just didn't blow me away the way the Lambo Gallardo spyder did in a previous episode. It all just seemed to familiar. Or maybe it's just impossible to find anything better than the 911 Turbo...could be.
 
The Murcielago has been around a fair while now, and I prefer the origianal style one anyway. Lambo have a way of designing a beautiful car, then adding making it slowly uglier.
 
That episode was gold. Hadn't laughed like that in a while. Especially the tractor challenges. Brilliant.:lol:

Kristin Scott Thomas looks OK, but when she smiles she resembles a baseball glove.
 
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