Clarkson: The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly discussion thread

The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly discussion thread

  • Best Clarkson DVD ever!

    Votes: 76 30.4%
  • Better than most of his DVD's except [insert DVD name]

    Votes: 61 24.4%
  • Most of his other DVD's are better

    Votes: 71 28.4%
  • Worst Clarkson DVD ever!

    Votes: 42 16.8%

  • Total voters
    250
You americans can't argue that American cars have a lower build quality than Eoru, and especially Jap cars though. I was at this Auto show, and even the Viper had huuge panelgaps etc... The GMC SUV was utterly horrible...
 
actually, for the most part, clarkson gave valid enough reasons for not liking some of the cars he tested. And he did really really like the Roush overall, the ZO6 on the track, the C6 overall, the Ford GT and GTX1, and the SRT-10 Coupe's insanity. This vid actually had the most American car praising from him that ive ever heard
 
Erm...I'm pretty sure it said "GT" on the back, which makes it a V8.

The mustang he races against the horse he says has the 4.6 L V8 and DOES NOT say GT on it anywhere, not on the back or on the sides.
 
Last edited:
I voted "Better than most of his DVD's"

I actually enjoyed the DVD very much. I was just disappointed with large number of factual errors and obviously staged races. There is plenty to make fun of in America and American cars, but I was hoping for more substance.

I was glad to see the Dodge Ram show up, as that is a car Clarkson has never tested on TopGear, which means fresh material. No such luck. His only comment about the truck was it's ladder frame, which is a good thing. Everything else about it was just his usual incest jokes, etc. He didn't really test anything that hasn't already been tested on TopGear. It really makes me wonder why he even bothered coming to America. He should have tried testing cars they don't get in the UK to mix it up and give something fresh to his audience. Test the Saleen S7, test the Mosler, test a Pontiac Solstice, Cobalt SS, Cadillac STS-V, Dodge Charger SRT8, etc. Test the cars you can only get in America.
 
American cars aren't bad, they're just for a different market. You don't want a sophisticated truck -- you want something that won't break or you won't mind getting dirty after tromping around in a dirty field.
 
I also found it funny that he drove a new Jaguar XK and talked about how brilliant it is and wondered why Americans won't buy it. The truth is, we'll probably buy more Jaguar XK's then any other country on earth.
 
I also found it funny that he drove a new Jaguar XK and talked about how brilliant it is and wondered why Americans won't buy it. The truth is, we'll probably buy more Jaguar XK's then any other country on earth.
i think this was more of an indirect comparison with the XLR-V.

i'm actually surprised about the XLR-V, sure ive read some roadtests saying that it was pretty disappointing but i guess i didnt realize what i could be getting for a $100K.
 
I think its the intellectual dishonesty people are so opposed to. I wouldn't mind seeing an American icon like a Mustang against a British icon, a Rover. What I do mind is when he tests a Mustang on a track against an Exige, because as he says later in the show, the result was a foregone conclusion. You may as well run the Mustang against a Ferrari F430 so that in the end you can say, "This is what happens when the Italians decide to use a V8."

And this type of comparison was seen all over the place. Range Rover against an Escalade and H2. Please. While I don't doubt that the Rover will climb the hill better than the other two, I am still not clear on what happened to the H2... and the driver of the Escalade was clearly inept. Build quality tests by filling cars with water? Getting car parts through an airplane window hole? What is he getting at? I am so lost?

And then it all came to a head for me when he walked across the street complaining that Americans drive rubbish cars too slowly. Is he griping that we use our stop signs with a general sense of fairness to other drivers? If so, how does this jibe with his article complaining that American drivers are prone to road rage and excessive speeds? And how are we supposed to accept his premise that we drive rubbish cars when in that scene, I saw a Porsche Turbo, what I think is an M3 and a Boxter?

"God, I'm glad I don't live here," he says. Why? Because there aren't a bunch of Italians flailing their arms?

Overall, I liked the film. Primarily because I watched it paying only half attention, criticizing nothing, using none of my brain to analyze what was said. But the more I think about it, the more I find to dislike, and the more I discover to be senseless. And those films never last for the long run in my book.

Perhaps Jeremy made this movie to be just like American cars. Disposable.
 
I liked it. The races/comparissons were downright unfair though. how can you insult the viper for running a slower time then an Ariel Atom? Why would you pit some luxury crysler against a high performing M5? Also, why would you choose an Exige S against some heavy mustang on a small, tight looping road course, even if the mustang is tuned? Aside from all the Euro bias, it was fun to watch. I do admit the whole america bashing gets old after a while though.
 
I quite liked it, although I felt there was something missing. You know, like he didn't go for all the conventional cars and all that stuff. And somehow, I feel like he held back with the American bashing. Some of you guys might disagree, but I somehow felt like there would be a whole lot more.

Still, it was pretty good. The visuals seemed to be done a whole lot better, but some shots like, showing details of a car for 5 seconds and then quickly going back to the car in action just felt tacky. There wasn't as much music (as far as I could tell) but at least most of it wasn't incredibly annoying and crappy as it has been.

You American guys probably don't like being labeled as fat, ignorant idiots, so I can understand why you didn't like this. Maybe next time Jeremy can go somewhere were he hasn't yet focused on... let's say... Australia? :p
 
Last edited:
You American guys probably don't like being labeled as fat, ignorant idiots, so I can understand why you didn't like this. Maybe next time Jeremy can go somewhere were he hasn't yet focused on... let's say... Australia? :p

Well, we are fat, ignorant idiots.. for the most part. Jay Leno proves this every week when he does Jaywalking. I never once had a problem with Clarkson's American jokes on TopGear, but here he manipulated everything so unfairly to get his jokes across.. it seemed very un-Clarkson like, but then again this is the first Clarkson DVD I have seen.

I could just as easily go to England and test build quality of old Rovers by filling them with water, but who the hell would care?
 
Well, we are fat, ignorant idiots.. for the most part. Jay Leno proves this every week when he does Jaywalking. I never once had a problem with Clarkson's American jokes on TopGear, but here he manipulated everything so unfairly to get his jokes across.. it seemed very un-Clarkson like, but then again this is the first Clarkson DVD I have seen.

I could just as easily go to England and test build quality of old Rovers by filling them with water, but who the hell would care?

I think you have it correct, Prost. No one is complaining really about jokes about Americans. We can take a joke. Indeed, I don't know of anyone for whom I have shown Top Gear, that was disgusted with the jabs at Americans.

What people are complaining about in this case is the dishonesty of it all, in the aggregate. The comparisons were all too often senseless and irrelevant. And Clarkson knows this, but he nevertheless relies upon them to shore up his initial premise, that America doesn't make good cars.
 
Well, we are fat, ignorant idiots.. for the most part. Jay Leno proves this every week when he does Jaywalking.
I'm actually very curious how many people are asked these questions to get a whole segment of humorous idiots who know nothing.

Do you really think 100% of Americans cannot name a single European country? :sleep:
 
I'm actually very curious how many people are asked these questions to get a whole segment of humorous idiots who know nothing.

Do you really think 100% of Americans cannot name a single European country? :sleep:

No doubt he probably has to ask a million people, but then you get the 3rd grade teacher that thinks Neil Armstrong won the Tour De France 7 times or the graduate student that couldn't tell you who was president before Bill Clinton.
 
I wanted to get my two cents in on this. First of all - Thanks for that, I'm in withdrawal and it was nice to have some Clarkson material. As an American though - a couple of things about it bothered me. Many have already been commented on and I understand its all in good fun.
I am pretty self-critical as an American - I love Clarkson's American bashing, and he has our number on a lot of issues. That man on the street business is sad but true and a bitter-sweet laugh. There is a Paris themed casino RIGHT THERE - come on; Venetian? Bellagio? Monte Carlo?. Factual issues aside:

As noted, these comparos were pretty stacked.
M5 v SRT8 - Bringing a knife to a gun fight - as he conceded, huge price difference, the SRT8 has no pretenses of going head on with an M5

Mustang v Exige - Again - a mass market cheap sports car vs a more expensive, purpose built, creature comfort free, track car? why not an SLK350 or even a Boxster?

Viper v Atom - I mean come on - I have infinite respect for the Atom, I do, but seriously the viper is a fully enclosed car, same as the exige problem. I think a Viper vs an M6 would be a much more dignified and pertinent comparison

Offroad Challenge - H2 - fair point - but the Escalade is no off-roader. What about the H1, or any manner of Jeep? Give us a fighting chance.

The Corvette, Viper, and Rousch Mustang are solid, the Cadillac Sixteen was incredible (and I lament that we didn't build it) and some of the SS models are solid. Fords and Daimler Chrysler cars, particularly (while certainly having European contributions) are fine.

There are things we can do, and things we can't do
We can't do: (This isn't news to anyone)
- Luxury
- Comfort
- Economy
- Corners
- Refinement
(I know thats a LOT)

But we CAN do:
- Cheap
- Fun
- Great sounds
- Straight-line fast
(for some reason we have refined the absolute hell out of pushrod v-8s and live axels)
- Offroaders
- Blue-collar exotics

Were not European, but we deserve a little credit. Still - hilarious vid and all in good fun. This was a great watch - the cinematography was beautiful. I especially love that scene it goes out on - fantastic.

Meh - whatever - I respect and enjoy his editorial opinion
 
Last edited:
This is my favourite Clarkson DVD, top of the lot. I couldn't believe that Clarkson could thrash the Americans even more so but this proves he will never tire of insulting other countries. This is much more entertaining than his past specials because he avoided the cliched testing of supercars that he can do better in Top Gear.

It's understandable that Americans get fired up over Clarkson's constant bashing of their cars but I'm never been bothered by it because it's not supposed to be taken seriously. I couldn't help but grin throughout the entire DVD, and that's the point of Jeremy's tests: to entertain.

Jeremy examined the Escalade, Hummer, Corvette, Viper, 300C, Ford GT, and Dodge Ram because they represent the premier automobiles of America. These cars may have been tested previously but Jeremy's mission was to scrutinize the most popular American cars in America. The Cobalt is too insignificant to include in such a comparison, and who has ever heard of Mosler?

Admittedly, some of the comparisons made you scratch your head in disbelief. Comparing an Ariel Atom to a Dodge Viper? That's like comparing an F1 car to a Le Mans car; of course the former will demolish the latter.

By the way, Americans are Europeans who lived in another continent for 200 out of 2000 years.
 
Last edited:
as for price, the Roush Mustang Stage 3 is atleast $22K USD on top of the V8 Mustang. So that would bring the price to right above $50K. Considering the Exige S is going to be sold here (checked local Auto Europe a few miles from here) in the mid-50K range, the price difference isnt ridiculous

the class on the other hand kind of is, but Clarkson was choosing what he thinks is the best American sportscar for the price and best British sportscar for that price.
i think i would actually choose the Roush in this comparo, you can get the elise for mid 40's and i cant see myself complaining about not having a quick enough track car if i already had an elise
 
The price difference between a Hummer H2 and a Range Rover is about the same as the price difference between a Range Rover and a Hummer H1 Alpha. hmmm... :twisted:
 
I liked it. I'm a Canadian and i have no problem with him bashing the cars we have because 90% of them are garbage.
Um...we make cars? :D

(I'm not saying we don't manufacture them, but I can't think of a single auto-maker that originated in Canada)

Most the stuff on there isnt 100% correct...
The only thing that bothers me is when something is blatantly wrong (eg.: "Supercharger wacking the fuel in").

Cobalt SS, Cadillac STS-V, Dodge Charger SRT8
Ack! I think we all know what he'd have to say about the Cobalt (rubbish interior build quality, torque-steer, understeer, etc.). He's already tested the STS-V on Top Gear. Dodge Charger = Chrysler 300C with different body (and maybe different suspension, but that's it).

Comparing an Ariel Atom to a Dodge Viper?
Er, I think you mean Dodge Ram. And, perhaps you ignored the pretext to the race: he said that some Americans would actually call the Ram "fast". He was comparing what Americans consider "fast" to what Europeans consider "fast".

Build quality tests by filling cars with water?
So, you like air seeping into your car making it cold and noisy?
 
Last edited:
Top