[16x04] February 13th, 2011

[16x04] February 13th, 2011


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A very solid episode with no real weak parts. That alone makes it a 9/10 in my book.

It was a bit silly to use three "identical" cars for the cheap car challenge. IMO the whole point of these challenges has always been to have the guys buy three interesting cars from the past for a pittance and see what it would be like buying/owning one today. Too bad they "wasted" a good cheap-car-setup since there *are* other interesting 4-seater-convertibles from that era (Audi Cabriolet, Saab, Mercedes W124 convertible, Golf Cabriolet, etc). That said ... the BMW *is* the most interesting one by far ...

The way they did it was funny and original nonetheless, not too long and they made a very good point about running away when you're offered an old modified car (especially a lowered one :D).

News-segment was funny and interesting as well and I do love it when they end it by showing an actual car/prototype standing in the studio and discussing it. While it was cool to see the McLaren "in the flesh", I tend to agree with Hammond that it doesn't really look special enough. Reminded me of an oversized Lotus Evora.

Zonda-film was brilliant. I always loved that space-age-sculpture of a car and I completely understand why they chose it for the very first episode of new Top Gear.

SIARPC: No need to fast-forward here today (unsurprisingly). Pegg/Frost are two of the funniest guys working in show-biz today. Didn't really get me interested in their new film though. And is it just me, or is new Stig far too good a teacher? Would be nice to see some spectacular failures on the track again for a change.. :D


All in all, I'm rather pleased with the current series so far - they definetly seem to be back on track. Still hoping they've got a good epic race coming up and I can't wait to see the Porsche 959 from the season-16-preview on the track. Anyone got an idea in what context they'll show that car?
 
"less Bourton on the Water, more St. Pauls in Bristol" had me laughing..

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I realy like this episode.
The Zonda?s part was very nice.
I laughed a lot with the gas in the cars, Jeremy?s voice was very funny.

For now was the best of this season.
 
On the up side:
- Zonda R! What a machine!
- SIARPC with Simon Pegg. Since he played Scotty he has my respect :)
- Cheap Car Challenge is allways a good thing
- First look at MP4

On the down side:
- Zonda Tricolore not driven by the Stig
- What's all that talking about a bird in the news? I didn't get it, but I'm not from the UK, though...
- Stunt Driving Team was a bit "predictable"
- Not enough driving on real roads... Give me some B roads. Pleeeeaaaaase!

A solid 8 for me.
Which is kind of sad, because there was enough potential in this episode to make it a 10
 
Laughed hard with the bit after the forensic results and after the helium, but the cheap car challenges in the past were way better. Zondas bit was brilliant and it was great seeing that stunning MP4 (i only saw it before on pictures). News had an excess of that magpie thing...

Nice episode but not brilliant, though, and a little step behind 16x03. 7/10 for me

PS: Ending the interview JC calls Nick "FF", what does that stands for? F*** fat? :lol:
 
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lame challenge, but epic part with zonda and especially the lap! :woot::woot:
all in all 8/10.. just because zonda
 
Probably my favorite of the season so far, with Episode 1. Only real weak point was the ending. 8/10
 
7/10 for me. The cheap car challenge was the weak point of the episode. I liked parts of it; I just wish they'd put a bit more effort into it. They're forgetting the "ambitious" part of their "ambitious but rubbish" motto.
 
PS: Ending the interview JC calls Nick "FF", what does that stands for? F*** fat? :lol:
Other way around but yeah, I think that's what he was alluding to :p.

I do like the Zonda, but I think Pagani should really move on... Jezza's tribute would have been so much more fitting if the R was actually the last one they were going to make.
 
I loved watching the Zonda(s), the cheap BMW challenge was funny in parts, and I still fast foward through the Star in the Car segment. News was lame, but I gave it an 8 for the Zonda.
 
9, very good well rounded episode to me. Laughed quite a bit and someone needs to buy me a Zonda, I don't care which one of the thousand types.
 
8/10

Loved Zonda R (typical top-notch TG cinematography as well as the tribute they gave to Zonda) , loved the first part of the cheap car challenge, loved SIARPC (not literally obviously, and I love Shaun/HotFuzz, however I still haven't got to see their latest collaboration), The News felt kinda ok and kinda dull. All in all - great episode.
 
Well, what to say. Pretty forgettable ep.

With all the epic stuff they've been doing this season, I'm not surprised they needed a bottle show.

In all honesty, the 3 beemers concept is interesting, but only JM has the patience left to do stuff like that properly. Because of that the idea was lost and the result is a boring film about poo and pubic hair ending in some abruptly destroyed nice youngtimers.

Any JC fan has already seen the Zonda on his DVD so that pretty much became filler as well. The history part of it was interesting though, and more so than the same thing about the 911. Pagani not giving up on the Zonda was also sort of interesting, but as usual JC made his point about that and then prolonged the whole thing for minutes. (If the timeline really works out to how he put it, then I do give him that it's entirely Pagani's fault that the epic ending of that film lost its epicness to there being more and more Zondas after all.)

Skipped the SIARPC and most of the news.
 
Killed myself laughing with the helium bits. Car challenge didn't look too scripted when it came down to them having the same car so that was fine by me. Would've wanted Richard to do the Zonda but can't have everything. :( Simon Pegg and Nick Frost... you're my heroes!!!

9/10 out of me though I would've given it somewhat lower than that. On the basis that I thoroughly enjoyed the SIARPC and helium.

*cough* This for ?1995 and the Challenge wasn't a total set up?

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They could hardly have done the Display Team thing if the cars weren't on the face of it identical. Not saying I didn't enjoy some aspects of the challenge but they really need to stop insulting our intelligence.
 
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I didn't like the Zonda review because it was just Jeremy driving around and going straight most of the time. Nothing dramatic. No racing, no demonstrations, no interesting facts. Everything he gave me I got from the Zonda R review in TG mag a while back - so there was really no reason to watch it. Cinematography was great, of course, but apart from that it was dull.

The BMW segment was dull because they stayed on the track. They should have taken them out in the countryside. I didn't like any of that segment except for the Helium bit.

News was okay, and I loved seeing the MP4-12C, but the Magpie bit went on for way too long. At least, he should have given some explanation.

SIARPC wasn't very good either - I never liked having two people on because it feels cheapened and like you can't get any decent conversations out of either. Also, plugging movies is lame. These two actors aren't big-time enough that it should have been necessary. JC didn't even ask them about their car history!

I still gave it a 7/10, because even a bad TG episode is good to watch, but it could have been so much better.
 
Hmm, I read some complaints about the supercar tests being all the same these days, I have to agree with that even though that doesn't mean I mind it. However, this episode's Zonda review had something completely different on it, not sure what it is but it was there. Lots of new stuff from Jezza and I adored how they gave a quick glimpse of Zonda's evolution for I always wonder what models Pagani has made and when. Still, they seem pretty stubborn in letting the Zonda go... Showing doubts about the Huaaarahraa?

The Tri-Beemer challenge as I've decided to call it just now was pretty hilarious at times. Helium was a brilliant idea. Hearing Jeremy saying "Right" NOT in his usual virile and manly voice had me laughing my backside off.

All in all, a good effort. Pretty pleased with it! 9/10
 
7/10. Quite a few laugh out loud moments, nice bit on the Zonda. A nice touch to wish Booby K all the best. Finale of the cheap car challenge was a massive let down though.
 
I'm giving it 8/10 just because of the writing on the Zonda segment. Clarkson seemed like he was honestly sorry to see the car go. Of course, there will be 8,324,382 versions coming before it finally leaves! :lol:

OTOH, like others here I was so disappointed with the end of the Cheap Car Challenge. I usually love these, but it felt, with all the buildup to the fair segment, that they simply cut it off in the middle. The best I can figure is that they filmed the entire sequence and it simply didn't work. Hey, it happens in TV...things don't always work out. That was really too bad, as I enjoyed the concept of the boys all driving the same (allegedly) car.

But overall, nice. Just a bunch of blokes having fun with cars. It's what Top Gear is.
 
News was okay, and I loved seeing the MP4-12C, but the Magpie bit went on for way too long. At least, he should have given some explanation.
.

British show, British cultural references. I don't expect TGUSA to explain every American aside. Go with the flow and look it up afterwards.
 
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