Fifth Gear is better?

fonecrusher1

Ive been watching fifth gear on dave more & more & even though they're only a half hour long it seems to me the program serves car enthusiasts better than top gear.
Now im not going to start yapping on about how bad TG has become, its discussed enough. All i will say is the show is still occasionally brilliant with some amazing reviews but the amount of bullsh!t waffle that goes on between the 3 lads & the usually rubbish celeb interview completely wrecks my head.

Fifth gear is all about the cars. May not have the huge budget of topgear but its honest.

I still like TG but for proper car tests, 5th gear is better IMO.

h3000

I enjoy both for different reasons.

Top Gear = For an entertainment show that happens to feature cars
Fifth Gear = For car reviews (and racing between Tiff and Plato)

si_guru

I like 5th Gear... Tiff is an asshole but VBH more than makes up for it!

homer90

si_guru wrote: »

I like 5th Gear... Tiff is an asshole but VBH more than makes up for it!

She needs to be tamed

Watch both shows .... TG has lost it of late but last nights show was not too bad ...

Owen

5th gear is trying to become TG with wheelying cars, etc. Their format is fine, but the presenters need a re-jig. The MTV wannabe is just out of place, Plato's cockiness doesn't work with his being a presenter. VBH needs to stop squealing with her smoker's cough laugh, it's pretty annoying and revolting, and Tiff needs to talk more about cars and not how great his driving in.

Tom Forde's not doing a bad job, but he should ease off the TG style car comparissons - this car is like celery, you'd eat it, but not enjoy it - style of comment.

robtri

tiff wrecks my head... god i hated him on top gear years ago....

now VBH..... i love the squeals out of her when she is pushing it hard man them squeals can do a lot for a guy...

bladespin

Top gear, it's always been a bit of a fantasy show more than a car show, that said fifth gear is just awful, Plato can't review a car to save himself and the others are all ex TG.

djimi

I always like Tiff back in the real Top Gear days. Havent seen him in 5th Gear.

fonecrusher1

LIGHTNING wrote: »

I derailed a thread in the motorsports forum when I stated I like Tiff, it seems that alot of people dont like him. The chap is a complete legend.

Regardless of the way he talks he's a class driver.

He'd make a fool out of any of the TG lads on a race track & he knows a hell of a lot more about cars than clarkson.

Cuddlesworth

Any car review show where they have a world champion touring car driver is capable of reviewing performance cars on a track/road. Top gear is 100% pure entertainment now with a car slant, nothing more. Enjoy it for what it is and take what they say for granted.

fonecrusher1

Cuddlesworth wrote: »

Any car review show where they have a world champion touring car driver is capable of reviewing performance cars on a track/road. Top gear is 100% pure entertainment now with a car slant, nothing more. Enjoy it for what it is and take what they say for granted.

I stopped taking TG seriously years ago.

Its a 50/50 show for me. Half utterly scripted waffle. Half automotive bliss.

JHet

Top Gear - is an entertainment show nowadays.......if you take it on its merits I think its one of the best programmes on TV.

Fifth Gear - can for me be a bit boring and predictable. There is definitely an inferiority complex going on that underscores everything they do. Plato is some pratt, i hate that w*nker. I'm surprised the cheeky little pr*ck didn't get a slap from his days on thunder races when he used to chastise the contestants.

si_guru

LIGHTNING wrote: »

Exactly they have.. F1 driver... Proper drivers on the show.

C'mon, he did 1 race!

Cuddlesworth

Cuddlesworth wrote: »

Any car review show where they have a world champion touring car driver is capable of reviewing performance cars on a track/road. Top gear is 100% pure entertainment now with a car slant, nothing more. Enjoy it for what it is and take what they say for granted.

For granted? Man that's a typo and a half.

Take what they say with a large pinch of salt.


ahh, thats better.

magicbastarder

fonecrusher1 wrote: »

He'd make a fool out of any of the TG lads on a race track & he knows a hell of a lot more about cars than clarkson.

i don't watch top gear based on how good the drivers are. i watch it cos it's funny. you're setting up a straw man argument there.

yuloni

This post has been deleted.

Tinker13

As a car enthusiast I gave up on TG ages ago - when all of the non-car people started to talk about it.;)

New kid in town for me now has to be Wheeler Dealers.

si_guru

Tinker13 wrote: »

As a car enthusiast I gave up on TG ages ago - when all of the non-car people started to talk about it.;)

New kid in town for me now has to be Wheeler Dealers.

That show is brill.

SV

Prefer Top Gear for the entertainment value but to be honest if you´re looking for decent reviews then Fifth gear is better but who looks at TV for reviews of cars?

Corkladddd!!

si_guru wrote: »

That show is brill.

+1

Eoin

Done recently enough here by the way:
Top Gear v 5th Gear

fonecrusher1

SV wrote: »

who looks at TV for reviews of cars?

Probably 100's of thousands of people between ireland & the uk. Who knows how many in the rest of the world?
Topgear is one of the biggest shows ever produced by bbc & although its a bit of a pantomime these days its a show about cars reviews.

Myself i obviously wouldn't trust any of the conclusions that the topgear crowd reach when they review a car. Clarkson & co are very wealthy men & so what they consider a good car is all but unattainable for the average person on the street.
At least Fifth Gear has some sort of grounded opinion on motors.

magicbastarder i never said people should watch TG based on how good the drivers are & im not arguing. I like topgear, i just prefer 5th gear when it comes to watching a show for the cars & not the presenters.
As has been said countless times before, TG is about the 3 presenters & their carefully planned & scripted adventures, more than about cars. Yet i still think its a good laugh.:)

squod

Clarkson called this ugly last Sunday, WTF?

fonecrusher1

eoin wrote: »

Done recently enough here by the way:
Top Gear v 5th Gear

And you took the time to point this out because?.....:D

This thread has 3 options in the poll so its not the same & judging from the number of hits the 3rd option has got i would say its an improvement on the thread you eventually found.

Yakult

We had this topic already

Top Gear - 3 middle aged lads having a laugh with cars telling you the odd "fact" about them. I wouldnt heed their advice mot of the time.

5th Gear - Actual Car Show.

SV

squod wrote: »

Clarkson called this ugly last Sunday, WTF?

It is kinda..

squod

Grrrrrrrrrr ^

-Corkie-

Clarkson can be an ejet sometimes saying the wrong thing but i still enjoy the show.

I dont think its fair comparing them as top gear is more of a lads programme when fifth gear is a test a car programme. Its kinda like comparing Hollyoaks and glenroe....

r3nu4l

Glad fifth gear was reprieved. I have to say that I think both TG and FG could do with adding some more 'regular' car reviews and test drives to their websites. It would add a fresh dimension to both shows.

Not suggesting for a second that they test drive the latest Nissan Micra on the show but why not have a short 3 min video on the websites? Wouldn't even have to be the presenters but other people?

SV

fonecrusher1 wrote: »

Probably 100's of thousands of people between ireland & the uk. Who knows how many in the rest of the world?
Topgear is one of the biggest shows ever produced by bbc & although its a bit of a pantomime these days its a show about cars reviews.

Why on earth would you look at a TV show for a decent review of a car?
they´re always going to have to make it somewhat ´entertaining´so why not just get a magazine that lays out the facts and then you´ll get a true review.

Tinker13

"Old" Top Gear (and I'm going back a few years now) used to give good reviews on the latest Fiesta etc - not how fast it would go around a track.

Also, if I'm not mistaken they initiated the original JD Power survey which is a good survey for the motoring consumer.

magher

Tinker13 wrote: »

As a car enthusiast I gave up on TG ages ago - when all of the non-car people started to talk about it.;)

New kid in town for me now has to be Wheeler Dealers.

Brilliant show, Ed China is a genius.

Also is "The garage" any good and where can I see it for free, don't have discovery.

si_guru

magher wrote: »

Brilliant show, Ed China is a genius.

Also is "The garage" any good and where can I see it for free, don't have discovery.

+1, Ed China is great... don't like the garage.

I like Chop Shop... but only because it is a pantomime!

Max Power1

fonecrusher1 wrote: »

Fifth gear is all about the cars. May not have the huge budget of topgear but its honest.

I still like TG but for proper car tests, 5th gear is better IMO.

thats the crux of it.

TG is about the show, whereas 5th gear is more about the car reviews.

I like the show aspect of top gear and the challenges, runnning jokes etc.

-Corkie-

I think Vicky is a fine thing. I dont know why but i do...

Max Power1

Tinker13 wrote: »

New kid in town for me now has to be Wheeler Dealers.

+1

Im hooked on this now. Theres the odd night on one of the discovery stations when they show 3 or 4 in a row. They do everything from a BMW 8 series to a fiat 500 to a Merc SL. if you are looking for an interesting CAR program - wheeler dealers is where its at imo.

gpjordanf1

Tiff the tit and plato the potato, no thank's. Fifth gear cant lick the boot's of top gear. And vicky is a hound, dont even go there. At least it's not that show that rte ran with the guy with the slit throat, muck on a shovel!

GoodGuinness

There's been plenty of comments about how people can't stand Tiff or Jason, but if you want arrogance, then look no further than Clarkson.. If there's an Aston Martin been reviewed against another car, forget about it... and as for his hatred of all things Porsche.... At least Tiff and Jason give unbiased opinions..

Max Power1

GoodGuinness wrote: »

There's been plenty of comments about how people can't stand Tiff or Jason, but if you want arrogance, then look no further than Clarkson.. If there's an Aston Martin been reviewed against another car, forget about it... and as for his hatred of all things Porsche.... At least Tiff and Jason give unbiased opinions..

tbf what more can be said about the 911? Its been the same car for the last god knows how long :P

magicbastarder

GoodGuinness wrote: »

if you want arrogance, then look no further than Clarkson..

he's a cock, but he knows he's a cock and frequently admits to it.

dr.fuzzenstein

GoodGuinness wrote: »

There's been plenty of comments about how people can't stand Tiff or Jason, but if you want arrogance, then look no further than Clarkson.. If there's an Aston Martin been reviewed against another car, forget about it... and as for his hatred of all things Porsche.... At least Tiff and Jason give unbiased opinions..

Love TG, even despite Clarkson's hatred of all things German.
If he finds a flaw in a German car he will inflate it hugely and if he can't he just calls it dull or perfectionist and soulless.
He seems to prefer cars where bits will fall off, the engine will blow up and the resale value will be a fiver, but he's just so funny you can't be mad at him.
You couldn't take his advice serious, otherwise we'd all drive Ferraris.
His comment on the Maserati Quattroporte that it's like a two year old child, it's annoying but you'd kill anyone who tries to take it away from you was brill, had me on the floor.

GoodGuinness

Max Power1 wrote: »

tbf what more can be said about the 911? Its been the same car for the last god knows how long :P

Jeremy, Is that you??:D

si_guru

gpjordanf1 wrote: »

...And vicky is a hound, dont even go there...

Wat?

Mc Love

Not sure if this will be closed for being a zombie thread but the new series of Fifth Gear starts tonight on Discovery, I always thought it was a better program than the most recent series of Top Gear but will be looking forward to it tonight

Ardent

Mc Love wrote: »

Not sure if this will be closed for being a zombie thread but the new series of Fifth Gear starts tonight on Discovery, I always thought it was a better program than the most recent series of Top Gear but will be looking forward to it tonight

Nice one! Look forward to that.

I like to see good, informing reviews of non-super cars. Call me weird.

Cleveland Hot Pocket

Mc Love wrote: »

Not sure if this will be closed for being a zombie thread but the new series of Fifth Gear starts tonight on Discovery, I always thought it was a better program than the most recent series of Top Gear but will be looking forward to it tonight

Excellent - will set the series link, ta!

H3llR4iser

Mc Love wrote: »

Not sure if this will be closed for being a zombie thread but the new series of Fifth Gear starts tonight on Discovery, I always thought it was a better program than the most recent series of Top Gear but will be looking forward to it tonight

Will catch that at some point; I'm curious to see how the show has evolved.

I do agree that Top Gear went quite a bit off the mark in recent years; Still enjoyable, but sometimes it definitely loses the focus, like the recent pointless feature about military vehicles. Next time, I'd like a double comparison between the F-15 Strike Eagle and the MiG-29 Fulcrum, you never know what you might be driving next...

However, I still prefer it over Fifth Gear for a couple of things:

- First of all the TG presenters are biased, and it is clear from the get go: when they review a car, it's all about what they like and don't (e.g. Richard's love of 911s as opposed as Jeremy's hatred), rather than what is actually good or not. From what I remember about Fifth Gear, they are just as biased but pretend to be objective, which is quite annoying;

- I find that Top Gear manages to convey something that is almost always overlooked about cars: how it makes you feel when driving it. They capture how a car can be more than just "how fast it accelerates" and "how much will you resell it for";

HandsomeDan

Chris Harris is all the car reviewer you need.

Honorable shout out to our own Bob Flavin also.

Dravokivich

Mc Love wrote: »

Not sure if this will be closed for being a zombie thread but the new series of Fifth Gear starts tonight on Discovery, I always thought it was a better program than the most recent series of Top Gear but will be looking forward to it tonight

I thought it started last week?

blastman

Dravokivich wrote: »

I thought it started last week?

Yep, there was a new episode on last Monday. I got the impression looking at various "sites" that it was a resumption of season 23 after a break of a few weeks rather than a new series.

Mc Love

Yeah I wasnt sure if it started last week as all the ads I seen for it are for tonights showing!

Bob Flavin is a gas man when he does the reviews!