[12x04] November 23rd, 2008

[12x04] November 23rd, 2008


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It wasn't horrible, but it wasn't great either.

I felt like the challenge was far too forced and long to really work ... for me, it was the most boring challenge they've ever had.

However, I really liked James' segment on the track; the news were alright (didn't like the fact that it contained a piece of news uncut from the past show), and the ending was very nice with the two lap times. I really like the Zonda -- maybe even to the point where it has surpassed the F40 as my all time favorite dream car.

7/10 overall from me.
 
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I rarely post, just read the forums.

Anyways I am kinda surprise by Bugatti Veyron. I thought the speed on the straight and follow through will make up for the time lost in the corner...

Second surprise was the twin-turbo Jaguar... I honestly thought James May would win... totally underestimate the Jaguar and VW.

Good show tho... 8/10
 
First of all, hats off to the torrent guys. This was one of the fastest downloads I've ever had on my computer.

About the episode, nothing spectacular but an hour of good viewing. May's Zonda review was good but there is nothing new about this car from the older roadster apart from a little bit more power.

The ecodrive race should have been shorter. The TG guys should have squeezed one more car review as there was only a single proper one in this episode (still better than the naught in the last ep.).

Slightly disappointed by the Veyron track time as I was rooting for it. The Zonda on the other hand makes some sweet noise. The distinct noise from the F1 cars comes from their 18,000 rpm engines, I wonder what rpm does the Zonda go up to.
 
Well, I am not sure. 7/10

On one hand I loved many elements.

Would have loved to see more of James in that Zonda. Sexie, Sexie, car. (Eddie Izzard spelling of sexy)

Would have loved to see MORE of that Veyron. Sex on wheels. My favorite all time car. I have decided I will have mine in white please.

No surprise of the lap time it posted. To be honest, it could have placed dead last and I wouldn't have cared. There is a lot more to a car than how fast it can do certain things.

Liked the guest and I think he had a good reason to return. Let's face it he has been basically the laughing stock of the board for a long time. It may not have bothered him a whole lot before, but now his kids are old enough, I can surely see him wanting to show them he could have done better. And he really looked happy he did it.

The blackpool thing. In one way I liked it. I liked all the chatter about fuel saving driving stratigies, but in another way, it just pissed me off. Why do European cars get such better gas miliage than ours do. (US) I bought the best I could buy because I put about 40,000 a year on mine. I have a Honda Civic, power nothing, I drive like a grandma and I get 41 mpg. Which btw is 6 mpg more than the sticker suggested when I bought it. Why is the US public being ripped off? Is there something I can do to it to improve my mpg?

I have reg tune ups, no excess weight, good tires and I do get far better milage than anyone else I know, but still. I even switched to premium gas when I noticed a while back that the British octane was higher than what I was using and it may be giving me 1 more mpg so basically a waste.

If anyone can explain this to me in simple terms, I would appreciate it. skylock_2000 at yahoo dot com.
 
The only reason the Veyron was as fast as it was was because it made up time in the straights... but it doesn't handle, so basically VW has made a really expensive classic American muscle car!

With the difference that the Veyron is technologically ahead of its time, while American muscle cars have always been technologically behind :p

Besides, I didn't see an American muscle car do a 1:18,4 on the Top Gear test track so far...

And about the Veyron being unstable... Well, how do you call the Koenigsegg then?

I still think they were holding back with the Veyron.
 
Awesome episode. It just shows you that you should never pay attention to your computer and fuel guage. I knew the Veyron wouldn't be the fastest on board, but at least it's bloody faster than anything else but four supercars. The SIARPC was good for a change. "The best car..................in the world". That Estoque looks f**king brilliant. News was so so and James should keep doing power tests.

8/10 for me.
 
i'm with hammond, i prefer the zonda over the veyron...

but great episode. seeing james in the zonda was awesome!

and loved the challenge. i really liked that jag

i give it a 9
 
Good episode, but I'm disappointed that Jeremy conveniently forgot about his 800 mile trip in the A8, which had an even bigger engine.
 
10/10. What an improvement over last week!

James doing the review of my favourite car was really very good to watch, I wish he did more power tests. ( Was it the clubsport version BTW?)
Veyron lap was exciting, considering how much quicker it was in a straight line it did a surprisingly slow lap.
Eco-run was quality entertainment for me. Tense, exciting, factual, and funny- especially with Jeremy listening to the French music.
SIARPC was actually good for once, Harry Enfield was more relaxed than most and funnier because of it.
Also, the boys talking about the Estoque felt very oldschool.
 
Overall I enjoyed the episode. In order:

May's power test. He was awesome. I loved the powerslide joke with the Stig, great idea that one. Watching the Veyron monster the Zonda in the drag was quite something, and set up a surprise.

The race. I enjoyed it, mainly down to Jeremy's Jag. Him chucking everything on, wanting to conk out at home and still making it. Amazing. I was sure May was going to be close, but that last detour and his speed obviously cost him. And I think that was the most stressed I've seen Hammond in a race for a while. However I think the race didn't have quite the suspense that JC got when he drove that big Audi up to Scotland and back. Still good nontheless.

Harry Enfield was alright, I liked how determined he was after last time. I noticed one girl behind him though seemed quite disinterested though, and I got a bit distracted.

The Veyron lap was a surprise. It just didn't look like it was zippy around the track, even though it was only a few tenths off the Zonda. Especially after the drag earlier, I didn't think it would lost as much time as it did through the corners. Goes to show what weight does though.

Overall, I enjoyed it. Probably an 8-9 this week. :)
 
Great ep. for me too. Loved James' review "the helmet stopped hair getting in my eyes"... hehe

The economy run was actually quite exciting - I always figured the Jag would make it, but suprised how much range it had left when it was done.

Veyron - I'm with a few other people here; I think it *is* too heavy to blitz everything else, but it also does have masses of grip and downforce so i'd expect it to be a bit quicker. Listening to it, the RPMs never sounded that high, so the "taking it easy" rumour may well be true. The Zonda lap was much more manic.

And the yellow vest thing - we hired a car in Switzerland and there was a little sign at the desk saying the same; they were flogging vests for like ?12 or something. We thought 'sod it' and then found one in the glovebox anyway :D
 
Does anyone know who makes (or where to get) the tire pump that Hammond uses before the race?
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9/10 easily. This is what I want : a bonkers car review, a great challenge (thats not just cocking about), Clarkson being an idiot, and I didn't even mind the SIARPC

very surprised at the Veyron's time, i thought it would just be quicker than the Gumpert... seeing the lap again it looks the Stig was taking it very slow on some corners, weird.

James HAS to do more reviews like this : "Some say, that he has a stripey shirt just like mine :lol: "

With regards to the challenge : I like an ecorun like this, I did something similar in my car (just to see how far it would/could really go) and it is quite simply the most stressful thing you can do. And I've done endurance kart races ... which are easy compared to this...

Especially when you're in the "zone" when you KNOW it's empty, and every readout you have is screaming at you to go get some more fuel, you get nervous. Every little sound you hear, you think : is that the fuelpump sipping the last drop? Was that a misfire in the engine? 80MPG is pretty epic, even for an Ecobox Polo.

Conclusion : don't buy a Prius if you want to save money, buy an economical diesel car like the Polo.

reaaaaally surprised that Jeremy's car didn't die. Oh and I also remembered the Audi A8 that did 800+ miles with one tank, but yeah whatever.

Skylock : the reason you guys don't get cars like these is because of exhaust regulations with diesel cars. Most of these engines simply aren't legal in the US.
With regards to your mileage, that's not that bad really, but if you really want to eek out the last couple of mpg you're going to have to get drastic. It's stupid things like slightly overinflating the tyres that can win you a couple MPG. Most of it though, is down to driving style. Pulse and glide. If possible, slipstream bigger cars or trucks, so your car doesn't have to fight the wind. Oh, and never ever ever ever EVER brake.
Another tip : most car's guages lie to you. If it says it's emptier than empty, there's still a gallon or so in the fueltank. I did over 100 kms with every fuel guage flashing at me, and found there were still 3liters in the car. So I could have done another 50 kms easily.
 
Skylock : the reason you guys don't get cars like these is because of exhaust regulations with diesel cars. Most of these engines simply aren't legal in the US.
With regards to your mileage, that's not that bad really, but if you really want to eek out the last couple of mpg you're going to have to get drastic. It's stupid things like slightly overinflating the tyres that can win you a couple MPG. Most of it though, is down to driving style. Pulse and glide. If possible, slipstream bigger cars or trucks, so your car doesn't have to fight the wind. Oh, and never ever ever ever EVER brake.
Another tip : most car's guages lie to you. If it says it's emptier than empty, there's still a gallon or so in the fueltank. I did over 100 kms with every fuel guage flashing at me, and found there were still 3liters in the car. So I could have done another 50 kms easily.

Thanks for the suggestions. Can't really do the slipstream thing as there are usually no other cars around but that makes the never braking easy, def going to give the others a try.

My Honda seems pretty accurate on fuel measurements. I have a 12 gallon tank. If I stop to get fuel right after the light goes on, I usually end up putting around 11 gal in, so I think if it ever actually got to E, I would be pretty empty at that point.
 
Thanks for the suggestions. Can't really do the slipstream thing as there are usually no other cars around but that makes the never braking easy, def going to give the others a try.

My Honda seems pretty accurate on fuel measurements. I have a 12 gallon tank. If I stop to get fuel right after the light goes on, I usually end up putting around 11 gal in, so I think if it ever actually got to E, I would be pretty empty at that point.

Are you also remembering the difference between the Imperial and US gallons?

Imperial Gallon = 4.55 litres
US Gallon = 3.79 litres

To compare you need to add 16.79% to your mileage or deduct 14.4% from theirs.
 
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