[15x05] July 25th, 2010

[15x05] July 25th, 2010

  • 10

    Votes: 556 66.8%
  • 9

    Votes: 165 19.8%
  • 8

    Votes: 60 7.2%
  • 7

    Votes: 24 2.9%
  • 6

    Votes: 5 0.6%
  • 5

    Votes: 10 1.2%
  • 4

    Votes: 4 0.5%
  • 3

    Votes: 6 0.7%
  • 2

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • 1

    Votes: 2 0.2%

  • Total voters
    832
Riding the shark like a bitch then taking it home and eating it deep fried in beer batter with a side of chips.

...which Richard Hammond would then refuse to eat.
 
Senna tribute is the best part of the show for me, I remember watching his race back then in his McLaren while I was still a kid.
 
To those of you who don't know who Ayrton Senna is...what are you doing on a car forum? Even if you don't like or follow F1 or any kind of racing, you must have at least heard of him. He is the greatest driver of all time (in terms of skill and talent rather than statistics) and his death was a monumental tragedy. TG's film about him was a moving tribute to a motoring hero, not just 'something to fill out the hour'.

Exactly. To quote Dave Hughes: Got the Internet? Fuckin' look it up -> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ayrton_Senna
 
It's been quite a while since I posted on one of these threads, and of course I'm doing so on this one to say:

Epic episode was epic.
 
I don't think it was staged, either.
There are a couple of good points people have mentioned before, but to sum up
- They're both quite young and fit
- They're both light weights
- They have great experience in driving, both of them must own very fast cars and know how to handle them (like Cameron showed)
- They've been given professional training in some movies they've been in
And come on, the previous lap record was held by some guy who has had his license for a short time, and drives around in an icecream van :D

Also if you look at their lines, I think you can see where that 1 second difference is. Here's at least half of it:
sce784.jpg


Unfortunately no, it's pretty certain that Bernie charged them through the roof for the footage and they aren't allowed to show it any longer after yesterday's repeat.

Yeah I forgot about The Emperor Bernie and his understanding of the Dark Side of being an Asshole-force.
 
i am a fan of "running gags" on TG and i havnt read back in here to see if this is mentioned so, is anyone else thinking the stig intro's in this series about Barrachello is getting old fast? i want witty or even edgy humoer on stig intro's. one time was funny, but every time gets old. IMO
 
At the same time, allow me to point you towards the late Stefan Bellof, who, hadn't he died in a crash in Spa in '95, probably would have been a great rival for Senna. Unfortunately, he never had the opportunity to really show his talent. Only in the famous '94 grand prix of Monaco, soaking with rain, his skills shone through. With many drivers having stuck their cars into the barriers and the rain effectively rendering the turbo power useless, Bellof closed in on the race leader Prost as well as Senna on 2nd place before the race was red-flagged. Being able to do this in a hopelessly inferior Tyrell showed true skill. I really don't want to take away anything of Ayrton Senna's shine, he truly was awesome. But with Bellof missing, we were robbed of what could have been the biggest duel in F1 ever to see the light of day.

Bellof was killed in 1985 and the Monaco race was 1984 when Bellof was racing one of the most controversial cars in history. The ball bearing "cheater" Tyrrell 012.

Still one of my favorite F1 cars.

A question to F1 fans from the late 80s and early 90s.

As I was watching the Senna film, the cars seemed to be bottoming out on the ground a hell of a lot and sending sparks every which way. The screen shot I grabbed from the film below is one such example:

vlcsnap-2010-07-26-20h59m48s191.png


I'm vaguely remembering something about barge boards and minimum ride heights, but can't really link the two together. Also I see that two pieces of (what I think is) metal are attached below both cars' front wings and causing the sparks.

Did the F1 regulations at the time have something to do with this?

Refueling was banned in F1 between the 1984 and 1993 seasons. This meant the cars started the race full of fuel and were very heavy. This loaded up the suspension much worse than the cars of the 2010+ season. During those times, there was no minimum ride height. The principle that air moves faster through a smaller medium is well known. The F1 aero boys took advantage of this by making the smallest gap possible between the car and ground. This created more suction and obviously downforce. The cars were so close to the ground that at speed or on ruff circuits they would bottom out. Check pics of the compression at Spa's Eau-Rouge corner from those days. The teams didn't want the ground scraping away at the engine or carbon bits so they placed skid bars under certain points on the cars. These made the sparks. In 1994,the FIA introduced a wooden legality plank that was placed under the car and had to measure a certain amount after the race in order for the car to pass Parc Ferme. The plank is still with us.
 
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This one goes to...

spinaltap-11.jpg


Actually I voted 10/10 - I reckon this is about as good as Top Gear gets without trying to traverse a third world country in a crappy car. Certainly, I have a fizzy sensation and the base of my penis (or somewhere around there... but not in my prostrate... oh god, I hope James doesn't get prostrate cancer... the ribbing from Jeremy would be both hilarious and inappropriate).

Twah-reg wasn't necessarily ground breaking in terms of a TG film but it was beautifully shot, exciting to watch and there was a snow mobile doing a reverse flip at the end. Granted we get little snow down here and don't see much snow mobile action, but even if you did, that'd be something to watch with a respectable awe.

News had me in stitches. For some reason James cracking up at his own joke before he got it out, then admitting he'd fucked it up had me ROFLing.

Veyron SS (lol) bit was awesome... yes, for those of us who remember each and every TG episode down to what shirt James was wearing would have had a significant hit of deja vu, but they've got to do the show so that people like my Nan who've never seen an episode before can follow what's going on. Anyway, watching the digital readout as the Veyron accelerated from 300kmh to 400kmh faster than what most cars do 50kmh to 100kmh was freakin' awesome. TG Track run was pretty crazy too, especially that 4-wheel smokin' start. Obviously the VW boys were happy for Stig to give it some stick this time around. My only real complaint about the entire thing has absolutely nothing to do with TG's efforts at all, but VW's... how the hell can a 1200hp ?1.6M super-dooper-car sound like a vacuum cleaner? The world's fastest production car should sound like a pegged 747 combined with an enraged bear being cut in half by a chainsaw - not a Dyson.

SIARPC car was surprisingly successful. Given a choice I would have preferred Jezza to not play the star-strucked presenter and lay in with some cheap jibes but in their own little worlds these people are royalty and probably aren't used to having the piss taken out of them. Diaz turned out to be quite the little swear-bear and was good value; Cruise unsurprisingly was a bit superfluous during the interview but certainly made up for it on the lap. If you slo-mo the last corner there is at least a couple of frames where the car is on just one wheel. Could have easily ended up doing a Carlsson so kudos there.

Of course, this was all made a bit also ran in comparison to the Senna film. It's been a long time since I've given two craps about F1 but when I was but a wee small boy in the late 80s and early 90s I dearly loved the sport, and Senna was the guy I rooted for. A screaming 1.5L V6 with twin turbos making over 1000HP on toluene-based fuels, manual gearbox, minimal downforce and electronics... just thinking about it gives me a semi. I remember watching the GP that day in 1994 when crashed and died... I think Formula 1 kinda died that day too.

It's been said a million already, but Jezza did arguably his best work yet on that piece. It was obviously a big effort production-wise, but what had me holding back the tears was the genuineness and utter respect he showed when talking. Very telling was the bit at the end, where he admitted to not being a Senna fan before starting the project, but through the process of making the film, had been turned. Powerful stuff.

Anyway, I think those here who were crying that Top Gear had gone off the rails this series are now quietly enjoying their slices of humble pie right now ;-)

Nice work boys.
 
i am a fan of "running gags" on TG and i havnt read back in here to see if this is mentioned so, is anyone else thinking the stig intro's in this series about Barrachello is getting old fast? i want witty or even edgy humoer on stig intro's. one time was funny, but every time gets old. IMO

Great news! I went on the Internet this week and found this video of Rubens Barrichello exclaiming "how hard can it be? as you would imagine, I've done this properly!" .... but in the background you could see the Stig undoing things on Bariichello's car. I think you can probably see where this is going.... as he came round Gambon corner, his car launched into the air and he exlcaimed, "oh cock! back to the studio!" Some say this was the most stupid video....... in the world.
 
Bellof was killed in 1985 and the Monaco race was 1984 when Bellof was racing one of the most controversial cars in history. The ball bearing "cheater" Tyrrell 012.

Still one of my favorite F1 cars.
Yes, that, corrected the years, thank you!

And yes, the Tyrrell was disqualified when it was discovered that they had been cheating throughout the season by shedding weight they secretly reloaded at the final pitstop in the form of led balls. Still, this and the Minardi were the only car without a turbo and thus hopelessly outclassed by the competition, and Bellof still scored some impressive positions with it.
 
....

"I need to be made to feel like I'm ten in a supercar. If don't feel like I'm sitting here in short trousers with my mouth open going WOOOOW then it's..failed"

"You can't rationalise supercars like this, you buy them with your heart because you love them. And who can explain love ? All I know is, I love this big Ford more than I love the othes

Brian Eno's "Ending" on the backround, those words, that scenery with the three cars and all three guys smiling, happy....you can see that they do enjoy the moment, they are doing what they love. And that is why I love cars, that is what I feel when I see a Lamborghini driving down a road. I don't think" Yeees, that's a good engine, but slightly unreliable". No, in my own head I feel like a child again. Seeing cars like that, old trains, planes or other things like that make me feel just....happy.

That is what yesterday's TG was. It was the first time in I think since Clarkson's CLK 63 Black-segment and the V12 Vantage since I have actually felt the love of cars. This was a real back to basics approachm they had left all the falling over bits and instead it was all about cars and what makes them awesome. With the Tourage it was that childish joy of toying around, with the Veyron the sheer mindblowing specs and numbers and the Senna-piece really does not need any explanation.

Just like when they went to Millau Bridge, this showed genuine and real feel and emotion towards everything that is automotive. And that is what makes Top Gear great. I know that's only my humble opinion, but as a car nut that is what matters to me the most. Not the falling over, not the written comedy, but the love of cars.


Couldn't have put it better myself. :)
 
Okay, I'll bite.

For me the single greatest episode of all time was and still is - evena fter yesterday - 07x03. The episode when the trio took three supercars to the Millau Bridge. That single episode, for me, is perfection. It had on of the best car reviews they have done, the Ford Focus ST. Not some fancyass million dollar supercar, but an ordinary hot hatchback but the review was made great with Jeremy's enthusiastic commentary, simple yet great camerawork and good music. It was an entertaining car review, something that has gone missing since. The news were hilarious, had actualy automotive news content and the Emmy-award, which gave more lighthearted touch. The guest was wonderful, Belsebub himeself, the transport minister Mr. Ladyman.

All those make uo for a very good, solid Top Gear but the main segment is what really hit it home. The roadtrip with three supercars defines what Top Gear is in my mind- it is three ordinary blokes, talking about cars, bickering and debating, driving fast and most importantly genuinely enjoying it and having fun.

"I need to be made to feel like I'm ten in a supercar. If don't feel like I'm sitting here in short trousers with my mouth open going WOOOOW then it's..failed"

"You can't rationalise supercars like this, you buy them with your heart because you love them. And who can explain love ? All I know is, I love this big Ford more than I love the othes

Brian Eno's "Ending" on the backround, those words, that scenery with the three cars and all three guys smiling, happy....you can see that they do enjoy the moment, they are doing what they love. And that is why I love cars, that is what I feel when I see a Lamborghini driving down a road. I don't think" Yeees, that's a good engine, but slightly unreliable". No, in my own head I feel like a child again. Seeing cars like that, old trains, planes or other things like that make me feel just....happy.

That is what yesterday's TG was. It was the first time in I think since Clarkson's CLK 63 Black-segment and the V12 Vantage since I have actually felt the love of cars. This was a real back to basics approachm they had left all the falling over bits and instead it was all about cars and what makes them awesome. With the Tourage it was that childish joy of toying around, with the Veyron the sheer mindblowing specs and numbers and the Senna-piece really does not need any explanation.

Just like when they went to Millau Bridge, this showed genuine and real feel and emotion towards everything that is automotive. And that is what makes Top Gear great. I know that's only my humble opinion, but as a car nut that is what matters to me the most. Not the falling over, not the written comedy, but the love of cars.

Agreed
 
WoW whoever was that person, he likes to be in minority or at least he just enjoys seeing himself at the center of attention.
 
Actually I found the whole soundtrack to Senna's film was well done. It was a combination of Soundtrack music and Indie Rock. The one song that got me hooked was this:


I had goosebumps when they played that. I also noticed 'There There' in the same film, and I'm sure there was another Radiohead song too!
 
I think the guy who rated it a 1 posted his opinion of it a couple of pages ago... the tone of that matches with the given mark. Thinking that half of the episode was a VW commercial.
 
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America FUCK YEAH! Tom Cruise and Cameron Diaz prove that being not a fat shit, and trained to drive might give you an edge over chefs, 18 year olds etc. I think the Cee'd is faster than they think and Jay Kay will come in and beat Tom's record if he has to cut off body parts.

Veyron SS was cool, but I hate that they never had teh Ultimate Aero SSC on the show, from all I've heard it is a pretty nice car.

Toureg was aight, staged but enjoyable.

Seriously though good ep, Senna was before my time watching F1 but I love watching old races on TV. Very enjoyable.
 
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