[16x01] January 23rd, 2011

[16x01] January 23rd, 2011

  • Total voters
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Absolutely love the Atom V8 part. Absolutely amazing driving by Tiff, but I was staggered even more by the high speed power wheelie of the S1000RR....2 amazing machines!!!!
 
Very disappointing episode :-( James May driving the Ariel was a bit dull - simply couldn't get me excited. Then the news weren't great either - what about a usual Clarkson rant? There was also quite a lot more potential for proper car news...
The Yeti test was quite nice but what was the 911 vs beetle bit all about? That was not only pointless but simply a complete waste of time (why drive the 911 turbo again?). Oh, and the SIARPC wasn't brilliant as well, but that is hardly the fault of Top Gear.
Hopefully the next episodes will be more like the Christmas specials...
 
Convertible 911s, speak volumes about their owners, moreso than just about any other car I reckon?..

The Yeti doesn?t come with a spare wheel (optional extra for a space-saver), so that instantly makes it a laughing stock ?round these parts (Australia, even in the metro areas).

I want to know more about the Atom V8?s, V8 engine. ?2x motorcycle engines stuck together?? No wonder it still has that magnificent wail, instead of the pig iron, low revving, refurbished ?60s throwbacks most performance V8s seems to be.

Bike v?s car races like these -where the bike is close proximity to the car - can be a little bit cring-worthy. Cars always seem to be far more wayward at speed into/out of corners, and the bike seems to look like its having to find what space is left over to race in. Although close, in the real world the bike will always win, as fast bikes like the BMW RR1000 are far more tangible to own/ride/experience than something like the Atom V8 which is effectively out of pretty much everyone?s reach. In the end its always better to experience something for yourself than read/see someone elses.

That shiny Jag was a joke & it?s not the first time Jag have spat out a shiney static car. I don?t know how these stunts make them money? Maybe manufacturing cars is too difficult for them so they tie up their resources on dead-end concepts to show the world they?re on the cutting edge of technology, instead of that being taken as read from the products they currently make.

The episode? Well for me, it was refreshing to be back in the old digs. And yep, all three definitely look older this time around, greying here & there & a lot of ingrained tiredness that a short holiday never releaves.
 
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Love the fact that TGUK is back and funny as always!! The episode was great, usual TG stuff, I must say though, the 911 feature was... disappointing. When I saw the lineup of 911 I hoped for a "what's the best Porsche of all times", instead the racewith the beetle just seemed childish. I mean, nothing against childlish jokes (laughed to tears with the penis on the nav) but a whole feature based on it?

I give it a 7/10

BTW: I now want a Yeti, thanks Clarkson!
 
7/10 for me.

It's no doubt already been mentioned but is anyone else suspicious of John Bishop's time? I'm not suggesting it was fabricated but it pretty strange for someone with no track experience to come along and smash the record by 2 seconds, not to mention beating Cruise's time who knows what he is doing on track. Maybe something different with the car?

As it is I thought Bishop was a terrible guest and it was a poor interview, I don't like his comedy though admittedly.
 
MarxOutThere said:
I want to know more about the Atom V8?s, V8 engine. ?2x motorcycle engines stuck together?? No wonder it still has that magnificent wail, instead of the pig iron, low revving, refurbished ?60s throwbacks most performance V8s seems to be.
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Surprisingly Clarkson talks a bit about it on his latest DVD; it's apparently two modified Hayabusa engine heads mounted on a bespoke bottom end of the block.
 
Loved the Yeti test drive, the helicopter bit had me grinning (the technical expertise of just flying a helicopter without crashing into a ball of flames, let alone landing on a moving target, is worthy of ultimate respect). And the bit with James in the atom looking like an ecstatic spaniel was fun. But otherwise it was, well, a bit dull. Honestly I watched it, then forgot what they had even done outside of those two parts, and went to watch some of the older series (the US special from series 9, to be specific). I am, however, just really excited to see the rest of the series as it airs :D
 
So since they are obviously continuing on the path they have chosen, I herewith officially give up my hopes for Top Gear. They seem to see the need to ridicule every review at some point, and I can't be bothered to watch this anymore. I'm not necessarily saying that it's a bad show, it's just not the show I once fell in love with anymore. I will of course still attend the FinalGear forums though.
 
8/10

After that horrid season 14, maybe I'm just desensitized WRT Top Gear sillyness, but I thought this show was a pretty good start for s16.

Atom: Looney track-cars are as much part of Top Gear as the Stig. Tiff for teh win! BTW: Have they ever done a proper film on the X-Bow? I remember seeing it in the studio at some point, but not on the track.
News: Actually car-related and funny. Loved the "dingleberry/dagger"-discussion... :p
Skoda Yeti: Even though I generally don't like Skodas (usually they're cheaper but dreary versions of what VW already offer in their own range), I found the review quite entertaining. If you wade through the trademarks-TG-sillyness, there are actually some useful conclusions in that film. Still: I would've preferred a comparison-review with some other cars of its class (BMW X1/VW Tiguan/Honda CR-V/Nissan Kumquat) or at least a comparison as part of the Yeti-review. The new Mini Countryman would also have made an excellent candidate for comparison.
SIARPC: Skipped through it to the hotlap.
Porsche: Always good to see a 911-story on TG, but this one was a disappointment. I was hoping for a proper riposte to Clarkson's never-ending claims of the 911 being a glorified Beetle. Instead, they "just" dropped a Beetle from a helicopter - yawn! Since the 911 is the much more interesting car, they should've cut a few minutes from the overly long Yeti-film (16+ mins - WTF?) and used them to expand the 911-bit. Where was the GT2 RS? Why no hotlap in one of the new 911s?

And since it came up in this thread: I also thought JC has aged dramatically over the past few years. I rewatched his "Diesel-Jaguar on the Nordschleife"-clip from season 5 the other day and the direct comparison is rather shocking. Maybe it's just HD-TV showing more wrinkles, but I seriuosly doubt it.. ;)

Plus: Am I the only one being mildly disappointed that they didn't bother "remodelling" the Stig? Last time they fired .. err.. killed a Stig, at least they came up with a new color for his successor.
 
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Sascha77 said:
Still: I would've preferred a comparison-review with some other cars of its class (BMW X1/VW Tiguan/Honda CR-V/Nissan Kumquat) or at least a comparison as part of the Yeti-review. The new Mini Countryman would also have made an excellent candidate for comparison.
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If jeremy would comapred Yeti with one of these. It wont be no longer top gear but some serious "cars review show". Everebody knows that its pointless comparing Yeti with Maybach or Ferrari or RR. But this is Top Gear, everything they are doing is for fun. Sometimes good sometimes worse.
 
Cap'nCrunch said:
Half the episode doing stupid things in and around the Yeti. A car in which I and I imagine alot of others have zero interest in. 5/10.
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A lot of others on here maybe, but we're insignificant compared to the number of people who watch this show. It actually quite nice to have an ordinary car on review every so often. Super cars are great but for the vast majority watching thats about as close as they will ever get to such machines. Bringing reality back by reviewing genuinely good, normal priced cars is, I think, a must for a show like this in Britain. Especially now as people are having make cut backs in their standards of living.

Too many different types of people watch the show now. It is literally the definition of impossible to please everyone.
 
If jeremy would comapred Yeti with one of these. It wont be no longer top gear but some serious "cars review show". Everebody knows that its pointless comparing Yeti with Maybach or Ferrari or RR. But this is Top Gear, everything they are doing is for fun. Sometimes good sometimes worse.
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Well, yeah ... obviously. But still: We're getting to the point where their "unpredictableness" gets, well, predictable. Just like their picking the three least remarkable clips of the show and using them as teasers ("a flipcharts falls over", etc.) If you do that every once in a while, it's funny. If you do it on every show, it becomes routine.

IMO, if they bother to review real-life-cars (which they should IMO), there's no harm in doing it a bit more serious WRT the cars themselves. The fun/sillyness could come from other things in those clips, like the three arguing/throwing each other's targa-roofs into a gorge/etc. And besides: With things like those big foreign-specials, cheap-car-challenges or construction-challenges, it's not like there's not enough sillyness on the show.

Let me quote another example from the past: The "Mothers-do-a-car-review"-film. That was perfectly acceptable as a piece of consumer-advice, but far from "normal" or boring.
Just doing silly and outrageous comparisons/stunts for 16 minutes (and for at least 4 seasons in a row) gets kinda predictable and old after a while. I think part of the problem is that their budget has gotten too big. With a smaller budget, they'd be forced to be more creative instead of just throwing tons of cash at an idea to make it look like a summer-blockbuster.
 
8 out of 10. A highly enjoyable episode, thought every feature was funny and interesting. Normally not a huge fan of the OTT car reviews by Jeremy, but this one was brilliant. Even enjoyed Hamster's Porsche bit. Would have voted 9 if it had a better SIARPC, John Bishop seemed a bit awkward.
 
I am a bit bored with the 911 video's now as most of you are. I really enjoyed the yeti review. the atom v8 and James may are perfect for each other just look at the veyron, veyron ss as references. tg has decided to give the fastest car in the world to the slowest man in the world (though now I suspect he is a better driver than the other two thanks to Jackie Stewart(sp) in season 8)
 
GhiaSteve said:
I am a bit bored with the 911 video's now as most of you are. I really enjoyed the yeti review. the atom v8 and James may are perfect for each other just look at the veyron, veyron ss as references. tg has decided to give the fastest car in the world to the slowest man in the world (though now I suspect he is a better driver than the other two thanks to Jackie Stewart(sp) in season 8)
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He is way better than they make out that is for sure.
 
Excellent episode. Less cocking about and more focusing on cars.

9/10, but very much closing on the ten for classic Top Gear.
 
Ariel Atom: AWESOME!!!

News: Funny as hell

Skoda Yeti: ?_? WTF is this crap? It's like Jeremy tried to do the Ford Fiesta review again and failed miserably.

SIARPC: Skipped.

Porsche: Ok Hammond, we get it. You like the 911. Please stop, it's annoying.
 
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