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
That's better. Thanks!

I've always hated the Prius...every time I see one whiz past me in teh carpool lane with only one person..."If you cared about the environment, you buy the Prius and sit in traffic, using your battery, rather than cruising at 60 where you get NO environmental or cost benifit since at that point you are just driving a small-engined car, and a really heavy battery pack and electrical component to lug around."
 
The Livejournal blog was short description of a linked 450+ page article comparing the "dust-to-dust" costs of vehicles, research that was done by professionals over the space of full year.

Edit: Take note, this is what happens when you get caught up reading the damned article instead fo posting about it - you get beat by about 4 people.
 
I voted that most of his other DVDs are better because his style of presenting seemed more funny a couple years ago when it was still new to me whereas now, it's getting on in age and JC doesn't seem to be changing much.

It was a tad boring seeing the same track over and over again and the comparisons were far fetched.

All in all - it was okay but by his standards, I prefer the older DVDs he's released.
 
Or that the Mustang 390 is better in every way than anything Europe made in 1968, except for a few Ferraris. Certainly better than everything England made.
Rubbish
AC 427
ac_cobra.jpg

E-Type
87004-1.jpg

DB6
SV200357.JPG

DBS Vantage
A.jpg

Tuscan
tusc1.jpg

Elan
ted_lotus.jpg

Europa
lotus68.jpg

And is actually British for all you might say (it was built and designed by Ford Advanced Vehicles Ltd, a British company)
gt40_4.jpg



Way to choose the Golden Era of British sports cars.
 
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Nice dvd despite the GT/V6 mustang mix-up I realy liked it. The test werent all fair but the SUV test was bang-on overhere a hummer is just as bling as a landrover. and the ariel vs ram was just to show the massive difference. And you yanks might be right he is bashing the us to much, but face it, on the whole, a EU car handels better than a US car (as you can see in the Viper vs Z4 m Test). Dont get me worng, there not bad cars, for a big bit of highway there perfect, but from the views of a european there not that good.

Ps.
There's just one think I do not get, why doesnt he say anything about the Saleen S7?
 
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By the way, when using this forum...what language do you use?
I write English, which is derived from the isle north of France, also known as "England" or Britain.
 
Rubbish
AC 427
E-Type
DB6
DBS Vantage
Tuscan
Elan
Europa
And is actually British for all you might say (it was built and designed by Ford Advanced Vehicles Ltd, a British company)


Way to choose the Golden Era of British sports cars.
The AC Roadster was British, but it had about 130hp. It wasn't until Shelby put a V8 in it that it was an awesome car. I'd agree with the others as being good, but face it: the Mustang 390 (or GT500 or Corvette Stingray etc) cornered and braked just as well. Have you actually driven an E-Type or Europa? They're not very good, and on top of that would overheat just about everytime you stopped at a red light. The Chassis' were flimsy and not rust proofed. The engines couldnt hold a tune and were extremely sensitive to everything, hit a bump and you'd lose power until the carbs caught back up. And I doubt you can find one running that wasn't kept in a garage for its entire life. I drove a 1964 Mustang past 400k miles, now my cousin drives it and it's still going strong.

Not to mention most of those cars you listed had American designed engines.
 
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Sure, the chassis was a highly modified AC Ace, but that car is far, far from being British.
Ok the 427 isn't entirely British. I should really have said the AC 313 which was the last of the AC's that you could say was pretty much British.
 
- Z06 review that kicks off the DVD is virtually identical to the Top Gear review. Jerermy couldn't even be bothered to change any punctuation marks in the script.
- Still complained the Z06 doesn't work on the street. Having driven a Z06 and the Ford GT he worships back to back, he is completely insane. The GT is completely impractial on the street -- way too tight steering, way too stiffly sprung, wandering rear end, German pillbox visibility. I'm starting to think Jeremy had his opinions fed to him and can't put an ounce of critical thought into what he's saying.
- Racing a Land Rover against a Cadillac Escalade and Hummer H2 in an offroading test? WTF? Jeremy, you don't take a bling-mobile on 22s for its offroad capability. Let's make it fair and throw a Wrangler Rubicon and Grand Cherokee against that Land Rover next time. I love to see fake SUVs get exposed like he did with the X3, but to pretend those three are equivalent is nonsense.
- I think Jeremy nailed it on the head about America's disposable culture and how that shows up in the poor car design. He's right, they're designed to be replaced. Planned obsolescence. But it's part of how America works -- creative destruction, destroying the old to make way for the new. Take New York city and its landscape and architecture, the city constantly reinvents itself and very few artifacts remain of prior iterations (Brooklyn Bridge, brownstone apartments, etc). A very interesting observation I want to explore further. Also, FWIW, he notes America's lack of sense of time compared to Europe, which I agree with; however, using Vegas as a starting point (est 1971) isn't quite the same as the older cities on the East Coast that are at least hundreds of years old.
- Lotus vs. Mustang? WTF.
- Ariel Atom vs anything else? WTF. Against a Dodge RAM? Double WTF.
- I understand he loves the Ford GT. I drove one. I love the car for being built but it's a bad car. Especially annoying is that it's mostly for the reasons he complains about the Z06.
 
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Ok the 427 isn't entirely British. I should really have said the AC 313 which was the last of the AC's that you could say was pretty much British.
Was that the one that did 0-60 in 13 seconds or 9?
 
The AC Roadster was British, but it had about 130hp. It wasn't until Shelby put a V8 in it that it was an awesome car. I'd agree with the others as being good, but face it: the Mustang 390 (or GT500 or Corvette Stingray etc) cornered and braked just as well. Have you actually driven an E-Type or Europa? They're not very good, and on top of that would overheat just about everytime you stopped at a red light. The Chassis' were flimsy and not rust proofed. The engines couldnt hold a tune and were extremely sensitive to everything, hit a bump and you'd lose power until the carbs caught back up. And I doubt you can find one running that wasn't kept in a garage for its entire life. I drove a 1964 Mustang past 400k miles, now my cousin drives it and it's still going strong.

Not to mention most of those cars you listed had American designed engines.
I'm not saying that they are all better than the Mustang but you said that the Mustang beat all British Cars in every way which just isn't true. The DBS V8 reaches 60mph 1.4 seconds before the Mustang and tops out a massive 47 mph higher than the Mustang so speed certainly isn't something you can claim the Mustang as beating the Brits at.
As for cornering I'm pretty damnm sure a Lotus Cortina would easily out corner a Mustang and the Elan most definantly would.
Reliability wise I'll definantly concede that most of the ones I said were poor to say the least.
Theres no point going into looks as thats just opinion.
I would personally prefer a Mustang over most of the ones I've mentioned save the Astons, the Jag and the Lotus Cortina but I was just pointing out saying that the Mustang 390 was better in every respect than all British cars was stupid.
 
I'm not saying that they are all better than the Mustang but you said that the Mustang beat all British Cars in every way which just isn't true. The DBS V8 reaches 60mph 1.4 seconds before the Mustang and tops out a massive 47 mph higher than the Mustang so speed certainly isn't something you can claim the Mustang as beating the Brits at.
As for cornering I'm pretty damnm sure a Lotus Cortina would easily out corner a Mustang and the Elan most definantly would.
Reliability wise I'll definantly concede that most of the ones I said were poor to say the least.
Theres no point going into looks as thats just opinion.
I would personally prefer a Mustang over most of the ones I've mentioned save the Astons, the Jag and the Lotus Cortina but I was just pointing out saying that the Mustang 390 was better in every respect than all British cars was stupid.
I should have said that most American sports cars at that time were better than the rest of the world's, not specifically the 390.

For instance, the Corvette had 360hp until 1963, then it had 365hp til 1965 when it got 375hp. The Stingray could be bought with an advertised 430hp but was alleged to put down more than 550hp.

All these motors were fuel injected, light years ahead of the Brits. And a curb weight of 2700lbs. 4-wheels disc brakes on the Vette standard. Air conditioning, AM-FM radio, telescopic steering wheel, fully independant suspension, etc.


Then look at the Mustang and Camaro which destroyed everything in Trans-Am racing.


Then the Daytona Coupe and Shelby Cobra that dominated Le Mans. The GT40's chassis was designed in England (it lifted at high speed and was scary through the corners as well), but the power plant was all American, and it still remains one of the great engines.


Then there's the Thunderbird, classic American sports car available from the beginning with a 5.1L V8 and a curb weight of 2525lbs.




Sure the Brits had no shortage of sports cars, but none of them could match a Corvette in terms of performance.
 
All these motors were fuel injected, light years ahead of the Brits. And a curb weight of 2700lbs. 4-wheels disc brakes on the Vette standard. Air conditioning, AM-FM radio, telescopic steering wheel, fully independant suspension, etc.


Then look at the Mustang and Camaro which destroyed everything in Trans-Am racing.
The DBS V8's had 4 wheel discs as standard, air-conditioning, casette player (not 100% sure but it definantly had an AM/FM radio) , electric windows, power steering, fuel injection. And as for performance the C3 'Vette could manage around 125mph, 35mph slower than the DBS V8. The C3 took 6.8 to 60mph, the DBS V8 takes 5.9. So for the 'Vette out performing all the Brits you should check your facts.
Yes the Stingray will edge out the DBS V8 to 60mph by 0.4 seconds but still falls short of the top speed by 19mph.

As for the Trans-Am racing thats just a pointless comment. Its Trans-AMERICAN racing so you would expect American cars to win. I might as well say "Oh look at the British Touring Cars, the Jags and Austins were kicking everones asses."
And as for the mighty Camaros, they competed in the ETCC in the late 60's and early 70's and came 10th out of the manufacturers in 1970 and managed third in their division (the lowest) in 1969. Mighty I think not.
 
I should have said that most American sports cars at that time were better than the rest of the world's, not specifically the 390.

For instance, the Corvette had 360hp until 1963, then it had 365hp til 1965 when it got 375hp. The Stingray could be bought with an advertised 430hp but was alleged to put down more than 550hp.

All these motors were fuel injected, light years ahead of the Brits. And a curb weight of 2700lbs. 4-wheels disc brakes on the Vette standard. Air conditioning, AM-FM radio, telescopic steering wheel, fully independant suspension, etc.


Then look at the Mustang and Camaro which destroyed everything in Trans-Am racing.


Then the Daytona Coupe and Shelby Cobra that dominated Le Mans. The GT40's chassis was designed in England (it lifted at high speed and was scary through the corners as well), but the power plant was all American, and it still remains one of the great engines.


Then there's the Thunderbird, classic American sports car available from the beginning with a 5.1L V8 and a curb weight of 2525lbs.




Sure the Brits had no shortage of sports cars, but none of them could match a Corvette in terms of performance.


Agreed.
 
The DBS V8's had 4 wheel discs as standard, air-conditioning, casette player (not 100% sure but it definantly had an AM/FM radio) , electric windows, power steering, fuel injection. And as for performance the C3 'Vette could manage around 125mph, 35mph slower than the DBS V8. The C3 took 6.8 to 60mph, the DBS V8 takes 5.9. So for the 'Vette out performing all the Brits you should check your facts.
Yes the Stingray will edge out the DBS V8 to 60mph by 0.4 seconds but still falls short of the top speed by 19mph.

As for the Trans-Am racing thats just a pointless comment. Its Trans-AMERICAN racing so you would expect American cars to win. I might as well say "Oh look at the British Touring Cars, the Jags and Austins were kicking everones asses."
And as for the mighty Camaros, they competed in the ETCC in the late 60's and early 70's and came 10th out of the manufacturers in 1970 and managed third in their division (the lowest) in 1969. Mighty I think not.
The DBS V8 was released in 1969. The Vettes I was talking about were built from 1955 to 1965.

The 1969 Corvette could be had with the 454 and did 0-60 in 5.6 seconds. The top speed of the early cars was limited by the transmission, but a factory optioned rear end brought the top speed closer to 170mph.
 
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