Top Gear is back - Sunday 27th January

afatbollix · 12-02-2013 10:06pm

lway wrote: »

Except for the fact that James May admitted last season on the show that the endings were fixed. Can you really believe that they have cameras set up all along the route to capture those drive by moments as they happen or that Clarkson is going at flat out speed with the camera Range Rover ahead ?

I'd love to be proven otherwise but the cynic in me says it's pretty much all staged.

Clarkson will drive to where ever the race is going with a range rover filming It is done on real time but they do pick tight routes and then the crew will drive it back to get the fancy shots.

It took them 5 days to get back to the UK when doing the Varon race they did. It was on that top gear blog.

Autosport · 12-02-2013 11:17pm

Thats the one race i love to watch over and over again, Adore that Buggatti

SniperSight · 13-02-2013 3:31am

For anybody worried about the "lack of 4x4 action" (Personallu I've seen loads on TG),
One of the challenges in the current series will be to find the source of the R. Nile in 4x4s, thats according to a season preview in TG Magazine.

ofcork · 13-02-2013 8:04pm

Watched fifth gear on monday night and found it much better,new audi s8 savage.

Autosport · 17-02-2013 9:10pm

Who's watching??? Prefer the Astra myself in the 3 of them Hatchs

BillJ · 17-02-2013 10:00pm

Must say I love car rugby!

Gosub · 17-02-2013 10:05pm

BillJ wrote: »

Must say I love car rugby!

I fricken hate the way they do that sh¡t! Why damage perfectly good cars? I guess I'm just an old school petrol head, with a lot of mechanical sympathy. :mad:

dgt · 17-02-2013 10:08pm

Taxmans trousers :pac:

Mycroft H · 17-02-2013 10:08pm

Gosub wrote: »

I fricken hate the way they do that sh¡t! Why damage perfectly good cars? I guess I'm just an old school petrol head, with a lot of mechanical sympathy. :mad:

Cos it makes for decent viewing. And who wouldnt love to be at the wheel playing car rugby? Be great craic.

P_1 · 17-02-2013 10:11pm

Car Rugby looks like great craic, not too sure the groundskeepers at Twickers would have been with it though

Dartz · 17-02-2013 10:13pm

Because they're Kias...

It's like throwing Christians in the Colluseum. Great entertainment for the BMW-owning Romans.

colm_mcm · 17-02-2013 10:16pm

I'm sure KIA don't mind the publicity

AugustusMinimus · 17-02-2013 10:18pm

Gosub wrote: »

I fricken hate the way they do that sh¡t! Why damage perfectly good cars? I guess I'm just an old school petrol head, with a lot of mechanical sympathy. :mad:

Because the cost of damaging those cars and the cost of flood lights give Kia a hell of a lot more advertising than what the cost of an ad would cost.

It's not as if a fleet of Ferrari GTO's were being mangled.

P_1 · 17-02-2013 10:19pm

Nice bit of free publicity for Discover Ireland there too

Autosport · 17-02-2013 10:20pm

Would love to play car rugby

colm_mcm · 17-02-2013 10:20pm

They make one every 5 seconds

(As Daihatsu told younger Jeremy Clarkson when he damaged one of their cars on a test drive in japan)

Stallingrad · 17-02-2013 10:24pm

Well that was boring.

AugustusMinimus · 17-02-2013 10:25pm

I see the Vauxhall Vectra made a welcome return to our screens.

I remember on the older series of Top Gear, Clarkson walked up to it and just started to look at it. After 30 seconds of looking at it, he gets a call on his mobile.

"Ah, I'm supposed to drive it. Wasn't sure looking at it".

EDIT: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e0RU9Ax8MSs

A bit different to how I remembered it.

Cungi · 17-02-2013 10:26pm

Good ep. Enjoyed car rugby. Those Kias are surprisingly tough. Expected to see more bumpers strewn around. Pitch looked fucked afterwards.

Also regarding the Vauxhall/Ford/Renault comparisons, i would have gone with the Astra too. And i'm usually a Ford fan. I don't like Fords new "trout pout" styling

corkgsxr · 17-02-2013 10:28pm

Are sportages really only front wheel drive? Thats useless for a jeep

Ilik Urgee · 17-02-2013 10:30pm

I fell asleep half-way through the rugby. Some time posted by Hamilton though!

Cungi · 17-02-2013 10:31pm

corkgsxr wrote: »

Are sportages really only front wheel drive? Thats useless for a jeep

Think they come in 4wd and fwd.

coolisin · 17-02-2013 10:37pm

Match was obviously played last may, so grounds guys were probably ripping up the pitch anyway!
The took a few hits well I must say.
Seemed to be a slightly more down to earth episode.
Kinda boring.

recyclebin · 17-02-2013 11:15pm

It was as if they'd already blown the budget on expensive supercars and they had to make an episode on 5th gears budget - astra, kia and some new mexican car and Hamilton from a lap he did months ago.

They will have to give Vettel another go at it.

colm_mcm · 17-02-2013 11:17pm

So delighted there wasn't another new Aston Martin or Porsche on it.

Dord · 17-02-2013 11:19pm

I quite liked that mexican car. Not a bad episode tbh.

dr.fuzzenstein · 17-02-2013 11:25pm

recyclebin wrote: »

It was as if they'd already blown the budget on expensive supercars and they had to make an episode on 5th gears budget - astra, kia and some new mexican car and Hamilton from a lap he did months ago.

They will have to give Vettel another go at it.

Agree somewhat on the budget thing, but I can imaging that wrecking two rugby teams of Kias couldn't have been cheap.
Or who else here thinks that Kia gladly paid for the damage, because it would be a massive ad for their car and well worth the scuffed bodypanels?

dr.fuzzenstein · 17-02-2013 11:26pm

Dord wrote: »

I quite liked that mexican car. Not a bad episode tbh.

Looked like a Smart roadster IMO. Doesn't do it for me.

alan partridge aha · 17-02-2013 11:51pm

These boys I think are a little old to be tearing around Twickers, looks a bit sad, the stories on the use of handbrakes and ex gfriends just downright pathetic and embarrassing.

Lewis Hamilton's time excellent although why does the audience laugh at what he says while going round the track. It's not just him but all stars whilst in the car.

bazz26 · 17-02-2013 11:53pm

This week's episode was sponsored by Kia.

mickdw · 17-02-2013 11:57pm

Much as I see the kias as 'white goods', I still find it sickening to be needlessly destroying them.
I find all these car football matches to be quite boring.
Re hamiltons lap time, I dont buy it. There is no way that any 2 f1 drivers would be so far apart in time if given identical car and track.
The celebrity times seem to be gone crazy too since tom cruise went top. I figure they gave him and cameron diaz the top times and then started adjusting times of those who came after by the same amount they adjysted for cruise.

PWEI · 18-02-2013 12:28am

mickdw wrote: »

Much as I see the kias as 'white goods', I still find it sickening to be needlessly destroying them.
I find all these car football matches to be quite boring.
Re hamiltons lap time, I dont buy it. There is no way that any 2 f1 drivers would be so far apart in time if given identical car and track.
The celebrity times seem to be gone crazy too since tom cruise went top. I figure they gave him and cameron diaz the top times and then started adjusting times of those who came after by the same amount they adjysted for cruise.

I don't buy Hamiltons time either. Not a chance he'd be so far ahead of another F1 driver & all the while playing the drums, singing & waving at the camera man. I reckon they just wanted a Brit on top instead of a German, especially Clarkson. That must have been killing him, Clarkson's a racist right-wing bigot.

darragh o meara · 18-02-2013 12:43am

dr.fuzzenstein wrote: »

Looked like a Smart roadster IMO. Doesn't do it for me.

Thought the same myself. They definitely robbed the front design cues from them.

kirving · 18-02-2013 1:36am

I would think so too. If Hamilton really did beat Vettel by 0.1s, it could be put down to a timing error, so best off giving him a time noone can beat to put a Brit on top for good.

Chris_Heilong · 18-02-2013 3:17am

Felt like a one hour advert for KIA, even with the celebrities other than that I thought it was entertaining enough.

MikeD22 · 18-02-2013 4:02am

As much as i hate to say it but whatever made Top gear unmissable has gone.

I find Fifth gear much more enjoyable watch now and i've been watching top gears since it came back to tv.

Its a shame to see it go down hill but it was inevitable really, they're not getting any younger and they really just look tired on it now.

It's a shame.

Tea 1000 · 18-02-2013 11:16am

PWEI wrote: »

I don't buy Hamiltons time either. Not a chance he'd be so far ahead of another F1 driver & all the while playing the drums, singing & waving at the camera man. I reckon they just wanted a Brit on top instead of a German, especially Clarkson. That must have been killing him, Clarkson's a racist right-wing bigot.

It's hard to know alright. There's no doubt Hamilton is quick, but Vettel is also one of the most consistent single lap drivers in qualifying over the last 3 years, so it's not as if he'd be slow.
I think differences in air temperature and prevailing wind conditions and even track temperature though could make a difference in that car. Vettel came on a very windy day, that'd definitely affect straight line speed of the car. Hamilton is the type also to stay in the car all day lapping until he got the measure of it, see the practice lap? That's how hard he was pushing. All that balls about drumming and singing is all show, the car is so slow compared to what they're used to and some straights are so long that you have time to mess before thinking about the next corner. Also the tyres and fuel level would probably make a difference too, and you can be sure they'd have been set in Hamilton's favour.
I wonder what time Loeb would do in it?

hoodwinked · 18-02-2013 11:22am

im glad im not the only one who thought it was fixed for Hamilton to be on top, the way he went on about Vettel having a faster car and that the only reason he wins, just irked me, they wanted a british driver on top simple as.

they were very obviously setting it up for Hamilton to take the lead and before Clarkson said his time Hamilton admitted it, he said that he knew it, you could see it the way he was grinning he knew he had top spot, i wouldn't be surprised if he had the lap times and kept going around the track until he knew he had it won.

pippip · 18-02-2013 11:38am

Whatever about the question of last night being fixed for hamilton you gotta remember he nearly matched vettels time when it was wet!!!

I think he was just more determined and the track suited his driving style over the others. The lap looked the most aggressive i've ever seen a car go round, visually you could just tell Hamilton was on the edge as he went round.

Tea 1000 · 18-02-2013 12:11pm

pippip wrote: »

Whatever about the question of last night being fixed for hamilton you gotta remember he nearly matched vettels time when it was wet!!!

I think he was just more determined and the track suited his driving style over the others. The lap looked the most aggressive i've ever seen a car go round, visually you could just tell Hamilton was on the edge as he went round.

Jenson matched Hamilton's wet time too, so wouldn't read too much into that, what's a wet track anyway? A wet road varies so much in grip that there's almost no point in rating it. The only real way would be to have them all on the same day, but that's not realistic, and even then, whoever got to go first would have the benefit of brakes that hadn't faded with heat and wear.

pippip · 18-02-2013 12:30pm

Tea 1000 wrote: »

Jenson matched Hamilton's wet time too, so wouldn't read too much into that, what's a wet track anyway? A wet road varies so much in grip that there's almost no point in rating it. The only real way would be to have them all on the same day, but that's not realistic, and even then, whoever got to go first would have the benefit of brakes that hadn't faded with heat and wear.

thats my point, if hamilton can post a quick time in the wet then he obviously for some reason can handle that track better. thats why i wasn't too surprised to see such a quick dry time from him.

Tea 1000 · 18-02-2013 12:33pm

pippip wrote: »

thats my point, if hamilton can post a quick time in the wet then he obviously for some reason can handle that track better. thats why i wasn't too surprised to see such a quick dry time from him.

But I think you missed my point. Jenson posted the same time in the wet as Hamilton, which was faster than Jenson's own dry lap time from a couple of years previously.

darragh o meara · 18-02-2013 12:40pm

Tea 1000 wrote: »

I wonder what time Loeb would do in it?

That is something I'd love to see. Wonder will it ever happen? There is a lot of badgering Jeremy Clarkson on twitter to get him on. Someday who knows.

It why not do a rally driver special and round up a few of the top names for a day, I'm sure they could get a whole episode out of that one.

pippip · 18-02-2013 12:54pm

Tea 1000 wrote: »

But I think you missed my point. Jenson posted the same time in the wet as Hamilton, which was faster than Jenson's own dry lap time from a couple of years previously.

Jenson's was a dry lap? no W beside his name?

dastardly00 · 18-02-2013 1:09pm

PWEI wrote: »

I don't buy Hamiltons time either. Not a chance he'd be so far ahead of another F1 driver & all the while playing the drums, singing & waving at the camera man. I reckon they just wanted a Brit on top instead of a German, especially Clarkson. That must have been killing him, Clarkson's a racist right-wing bigot.

^^^
The bit in bold .....
sorry, does not compute.

Great-deals-on-musical-instruments..jpeg

166man · 18-02-2013 1:14pm

Where can this be watched online? Missed last nights episodes unfortunately. Cheers

iDave · 18-02-2013 1:18pm

Fair play to the RFU for cooperating. Looked like a lot of fun. Plenty of people moaning that it was boring etc. Dont know what more they're looking for to be honest. Top Gear is still the best show out there

Ardent · 18-02-2013 1:33pm

MikeD22 wrote: »

I find Fifth gear much more enjoyable watch now...

Same as. It's a really good show.

I much prefer cars I have a realistic chance of owning one day being reviewed. Also like the segments they do on various topics that impact my daily routine, e.g., petrol brand comparisons. Also, better presenters and banter IMO.

vader65 · 18-02-2013 1:38pm

It was a big long KIA ADVERT, though this episode has got to be the worst one this season.

Alpha Dog 1 · 18-02-2013 2:14pm

Really entertaining show I thought. Must say those new kia cars look fantastic. Kia has really emerged as leading car company in terms of build quality and reliability.

Would definitely consider one on the next purchase despite the attached stigma.

Top Gear is back - Sunday 27th January

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