[15x06] August 1st, 2010

[15x06] August 1st, 2010

  • 10

    Votes: 54 14.1%
  • 9

    Votes: 113 29.5%
  • 8

    Votes: 117 30.5%
  • 7

    Votes: 55 14.4%
  • 6

    Votes: 24 6.3%
  • 5

    Votes: 9 2.3%
  • 4

    Votes: 5 1.3%
  • 3

    Votes: 1 0.3%
  • 2

    Votes: 2 0.5%
  • 1

    Votes: 3 0.8%

  • Total voters
    383
Instead, long drawn out whining about the British Motor Industry. The only people that care, are the ones that actually lost their job at one point. I'm not joking, the last 5 minutes or so, I was zoning out.

My thoughts exactly. They did the "why don't we have a motor-industry anymore?"-whine a few times already and it got old and repetitive rather quickly this time. One visit to an old factory would've been enough ... one or two bits about them "cheating" on the tests would've been enough. That would've kept the piece shorter and would've allowed to review the SLS (perhaps as a double-feature with the 458?).

I love the cheap-car-challenges and IMO the ones of the past have been some of the best TG ever (cheap Porsches, Italian supercars, coup?s that aren't Porsches, etc.). This one was the weakest so far. They didn't stick to their own rules of the challenge and simply turned it into an overly nostalgic piece, complete with some (undeserved) chest-thumping for three not very exciting cars - I'd take JM's golden Jag, RH's yellow "Ferrari" or his Dolomite Sprint over any one of yesterday's cars in a heartbeat.

I wish they'd have skipped the entire cheap-car-challenge (what's the point of it if they don't do it "properly"?) and instead used the SLS or 458 in an epic race.

All in all the episode wasn't bad though. Not as good as last week's show, but a decent closure for the series.

Here's an idea for 16x01: Detroit, the city that once was. Ooooohhh, exciting.

JC already did that (sort of) way back when he first drove the Ford GT.

 
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Great episode again, obviously not as good as the previous one, but the British Sports Cars segment was a combination of cocking about and serious stuff, we didn't even expect and just shows you how sad it is to see a derelict factory that once built new exciting Sport Cars for the public and the world to drive, only now to have body molds sitting in the yard. I found that depressing. The Ferrari review was quite different to any review, as there was a genuine excitement for the 458.
9/10 for me. And I also find Jeff Goulburn somehow quite creepy.

In retrospective of the whole series, it's a massive improvement from last year and I hope it can only get better. This whole series showed what Top Gear is about, what it was about and where they are now, what they are capable of and how they put all of it together to make a good episode. Of course, there was a lethal dose of cringeworthy cocking about (a la Motorhome challenge), but also this contrasts with the serious melancholy pieces such as the Ayrton Senna tribute.

And I'm glad that they are taking a longer break than usual, so that they can be a lot more stress free, not to mention to come up with concepts that can be worked on in a longer period rather than being rushed and ends up being a really bad episode. And as the series progressed, there is a certainty that it can be awesome. Indeed, Top Gear is great. But I just wish it was awesome.

They have it, but they just need to find it.

(And by the way, I wrote up a review like this minutes ago and that looked better than this one, but unfortunately I got an error and then had to start again <_< )
 
And I also find Jeff Goulburn somehow quite creepy.

Me too. Perhaps that is why I love The Fly .. and really don't like Independence Day.

As for the episode, i really enjoyed it. I wasn't looking forward to the Ferrari test (another irrelevant f'ing supercar) but they found a few new camera angles that looked great on HD and the comparison with James' car was an interesting little twist.

The British sportscar segment though was the highlight. Had a good laugh as they panned out to Jeremy's numberplate (after his discussion of anagrams). Liked the fact that they didn't willfully damage each others cars and found the end particularly poignant.

I don't find the "why don't we have a car industry any more" rant at all wearing and as most of you get older, you will become more tolerant of this type of reminiscence. In this particular case, you should all feel a touch of sadness that so many car makers no longer exist. With the exception of eggs (anyone who has purchased these from a supermarket should know what I mean), life is made better by variety. As we dig ourselves into the 21st century, the number of car makers is falling and those who survive are often sharing "platforms" with their competitors. Variety is slowly disappearing from the motoring marketplace. This saddens me, particularly when the makers who have gone have usually made interesting and innovative cars.
 
What was that TVR was starring at when Richard and James were inside the factory? It looked like some kind of prototype Sagaris.
 
Interesting episode. I think the saddest part to me was an airfield of perfectly serviceable cars about to be crushed as part of some Cash for Clunkers malarky. Hammond made the point about the waste of resources. Apparently we're about to get it here soon. Bloody ludicrous.

The British Sports Car film was quite nice once we actually visited the factories and the pathos was allowed to take over. The challenge element seemed so superfluous after that. I don't know why they didn't go the retrospective route from the beginning. There was also a human story there that they never told. Why not meet some of the factory workers? There was an Oscar nominated doco last year called Last Truck: Closing of a GM Plant that really hit the nail on the head. It was genuinely moving. And that was regular SUVs as the subject matter. Imagine what it would've been like talking to some of the Jensen and TVR workers.

Anyway, I think it was a merit worthy film but maybe an opportunity missed. Still rather watched TG than just anything else though.
 
10 out of 10! Brilliant episode.
Great lap for staying in third the whole time :)
Great SIARPC segment, one of the better of Jezza's interviews.
"Don't ever say that to me again."
"Lots of anagrams going on here." Surprised that they got away with that one!
The Astra explosion I liked, but it was all too... something. A bit.
458 review was great, and Jezza's screaming made me laugh out loud a few times.
Favorite part was when Richard was fixing his window (at yet another picnic) and pointing the camera toward the trees.... hahahaha

Great way to end the series, although I'm upset that it was this short! I guess that's what you get, though, for it being so great.
 
Great episode, all things considered. Clarkson came off almost too gushing about the 458, but after watching his past reviews of Ferraris its expected.

The clunkers that filled the airfield really sickens me. I bet you could find absolute gems in there but you couldn't buy any of it. The horror!

The Brit cars film for me is what bumped this ep from 8 to 9 (almost 10). The determination of the trio to not let the producer 'win', the humor that's not too obvious and the sad ending of the derelict factories. Classic.
 
458 review was just as good as I expect from Jezza.

News was a bit bleh..
SIARPC was aweful, kinda reminded me why I dont like any movies with that person in it.

I really enjoyed the british sportscar challenge bit.
This is what I have been talking about time after time, Hammond works so much better when doing a segment with the 2 others than on his own. He was really good in this one!

So on that basis, I'll score it 7/10, points taken away for News and SIARPC.
 
I liked this episode. Absolutely brilliant 458 review and the british classic sport cars bit was quite good too. Didn't like the SIARPC though, Goldblum isn't really a car guy. I would give it an 8 and wait for the next season :)

BTW would someone explain me the anagram in Jeremy's Jensen? (if it can be explained) I'm not from the UK...
 
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Pretty funny giving out all those wrong conversions :D "if you are watching this abroad"
I think they should have ended it on a more serious note, UK's lack of industry is quite a problem imo.
 
Wow. TG does it again.

458. holy shit. NEVER seen jeremy that excited about a car before. acting or not, it left a hell of an impression.

Jef Goldblum is creepy. but it was still a good segment

Old british sports car challenge. Fantastic. the last bit was quite emotional for me.

10/10

Series 15 will go down in my mind as one of the greatest returns to form from a tv show ever. Series 14 was, for Top Gear, shit. But man oh man did they redeem themselves.

Series 15. 10/10 Right on up there with 7 and 10
 
The loss of manufacturing is sad in general.

I gave it an 8. I liked the old car segment, but I wish they had actually had a 205 gti go around the track.
 
In this particular case, you should all feel a touch of sadness that so many car makers no longer exist.

Generally speaking, I'm right with you. But in this particular case, there's a very good reason why many of them don't exist anymore: Most of their cars were utter rubbish.
 
The 458 review was good, but not as good as the old F430 one. That was one of my favorite reviews ever.
The British sports car challenge was good. The cocking about bits were a bit too silly for me (though the anagrams made me laugh), but the information bits were great.
Goldblum was surprisingly boring.
8/10
I like were Top Gear is heading.
 
Yes James does own F430
n my defence, I think I might have bought the most tasteful Ferrari ever produced. It's finished in Grigio Titanio, which I thought was either a wine or a character from The Merchant of Venice, but turns out to be a very subtle silvery grey colour. The interior is Grigio Scuro, another grey, but with a hint of blue. The dash top and carpets are black.

The rev counter is yellow but the brake calipers are not. They're silver. And, unusually, it doesn't have the yellow Scuderia badges on the wings, either. The seats are the plain and manually adjusted sports type and the brake discs are, for some reason, carbon-ceramic, and hence grey of sorts. But the key fob is red. You're not allowed to get away with no red at all. Even so, it really is very discreet.
 
Two reasons why I loved the episode. And why it gets a 10 out of me.

1. I'm Malaysian.
2. When Richard was ranting on about how the Elan wasn't as good as the MX-5 was better than the MX-5... I looked out my room window at the MX-5 sitting in my porch.
 
Good solid episode, thought about giving it an 8 for that but there was just something missing, so it's only a 7. Mainly because I don't line the over-long cheap-car segments any more (despite this one was better the the last ones). Shorten them would be an improvement and would give them time for a third Film only two different things in a whole episode is just not enough.
 
Rewatched the episode and I have a couple of issues with Ferrari review - it does have a digital speedo on the left next to digital fuel "gauge" as we can clearly see it when Clarkson ends the drag race vs 430. And I have to say 458 on idle revs sounds like a diesel :eek:
 
Giving it an 8/10.

458 review- I loved the review even though I completely disagree with him about the car (driving one on a public road is a bit of a joke...)
Goldblum- He is just weird. Not the kind of cool weird but the "turn off your lights and pretend you're not here when he shows up" weird. Love his movies but in person... not so much. Still a great SIARPC segment.
News- Forgettable, but it has been for a while.
British Sports Cars- I was quite interested in this segment seeing as how I have the best British sports car ever made (MX-5) and am a big fan of the old cars. While I generally liked it the heavy sarcasm may have been a bit much, and took something away from the segment. However I agree with Clarkson about the lack of British motor industry being a bit of a downer, since their sports cars were great albeit flawed.
 
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