Top Gear S22 Episode 5 (22nd February)

colm_mcm

Top Gear has a love-hate relationship with Peugeots. They love the 1980s 205 GTi but hate everything else. Jeremy Clarkson once argued that “to prevent accidents, you simply ban all Peugeots from the road. They are invariably driven by people who don't know what they're doing.” James May described their current model range as “a sea of awfulness”. But for this programme, the Pug-hating presenters reassess the history of the marque and its unlikely involvement in making munitions, coffee-grinders and corsets.

Meanwhile, James takes the LaFerrari hypercar (pricetag: £1 million) for a spin in Italy and Richard Hammond pits a Porsche against a Corvette.

ABOUT THIS PROGRAMME
5/10. Jeremy Clarkson and James May encounter artillery shells, corsets and classic hot hatchbacks as they take a nostalgic look at French company Peugeot, while Richard Hammond is at the test track to compare the Porsche Cayman GTS with the latest Chevrolet Corvette. James also takes the 950bhp LaFerrari hybrid hypercar out for a spin in Italy, and singer Olly Murs is the Star in the Reasonably Priced Car.


Radio Times

*Kol*

I missed it. Is it on again later in the week?

dublinman1990

*Kol* wrote: »

I missed it. Is it on again later in the week?

It will be on BBC Two from 7pm tomorrow evening or if you miss that it will be on BBC Three on Saturday at 7pm.

Red Kev

Thought it was very good, glad May did the LaFerrari review, he actually understands how a car as complex as it works and he's prepared to explain it. McLaren & Ferrari are being very childish about testing the cars against each other, I'm glad Clarkson showed them up.

Liked the first part of the Peugeot segment, second bit started funny but they just dragged it out for too long.

Olly Murs has a sense of humour but its still a segment that could be dropped.

Overall top marks.

HigginsJ

Red Kev wrote: »

McLaren & Ferrari are being very childish about testing the cars against each other, I'm glad Clarkson showed them up.

It is laughable, hope they are shamed into it now, would be great to see.

micar

Thought the whole Peugeot thing was a big pointless piece of crap

RobAMerc

the Peugeot bit is an exact example of whats gone wrong with this program.
it started off reasonably interesting to anyone with an interest in cars, it ended up being just terrible car based entertainment tosh.

Tea 1000

Fair play to Porsche, they were the only ones prepared to let them at it.
I also read in Autocar that usually with these companies and these sort of cars they get sent a bunch of engineers all with equipment and parametres that they want the cars set to, and they test them after every lap and make sure everything is as it should be, and if anything is wrong, they tweak it before letting them out again. With the 918, Porsche just sent one engineer. After a few laps, he strolled over, kicked the tyres and had a quick look, and said "yep, they're OK for a few more laps" and let them have at it again! Seems they're the kind of company that once they have a car at production level, they know it's already tested by their best, and it's just ready.

Loved the Peugeot bit too, it's true, they have had epic cars, and then changed to pure dung for the last 10 years or so. Looks like they're coming back though, the 508 is respectable enough, the 308 is really good, and the RCZ-R is supposedly fantastic.

The Black Oil

The Ferrari certainly put a smile on May's face. It looked amazing. The track thing is getting a bit silly.

I did laugh a lot during the Peugeot segment - the dodgy electrics, the media and so on.

This show's VFX budget is probably bigger than some fictional shows.

alchemist33

Santa brought a remote control Ferrari last Xmas, and it turns out to be a La Ferrari. Santa is cleverer than he thought he was.

thelad95

It was all going so well until the Peugeot segment. That was like something you'd see on a children's TV show. They need more segments like Hammonds bridge climb and far less scripted tosh like that rubbish tonight.

Schwiiing

I wish they would drop the unfunny scripted nonsense for a few episode. They could have done a proper test of a 205 gti and used it to show the decline of Peugeot cars but they just did the usual crap. Id love to see them do 1 of their 3 car road trips with a 205 gti Golf gti and an XR2i to see which is best but that wouldn't appeal to the masses.

demanufactured

micar wrote: »

Thought the whole Peugeot thing was a big pointless piece of crap

Like most Peugeot's

bnt

demanufactured wrote: »

Like most Peugeot's

Including the 40-year-old 504s still rumbling across Africa?

(I spent most of my childhood in South Africa, and at one point we had one of those 504 "Familiale" models, the estate with 7 seats. My dad managed to drive it in to a ditch, cracking the chassis, otherwise it would probably still be going today.)

positron

May and Jeremy's Peugeot bashing wasn't the highlight of the show, but their French impersonations / board meeting was really funny.

jelutong

What point were they trying to make in the Peugeot segment? I doubt if either
of them ever owned one. The show is past its sell by date methinks.

Tea 1000

jelutong wrote: »

What point were they trying to make in the Peugeot segment? I doubt if either
of them ever owned one. The show is past its sell by date methinks.

You don't have to own one to see what's going on.
They used to make excellent cars, then from around 2001-ish onwards made either barely average or terrible cars. The 307 was shíte, 407 below average, 307 CC muck, 3008 terrible, 607 terrible.
The point was clear to be fair.
Also, the BBC aren't like RTE. If a show is past it's sell by date (as in no longer sells) they'll axe it. It still makes money.

fryup

its peu'geot not per'geot

there's no r in the name is it a brit thing??

anyway i think they were a bit harsh on peugeot, is it because they closed down their plant in Coventry??

Anjobe

fryup wrote: »

its peu'geot not per'geot

there's no r in the name is it a brit thing??

More likely a French thing!

Tzar Chasm

Is there an age distinction like renault?

anything with a number is pronounced like f-ault
Anything with a name is renO

lertsnim

That Peugeot segment is probably the worst segment I have ever seen on Top Gear. It was utterly pointless.

Anjobe wrote: »

More likely a French thing!

It's not a French thing. They pronounce it the same way as we would.

knucklehead6

Ferrari segment good.
'Vette vs Porsche segment Good

SIARPAC, back to earth with a resounding thump after last weeks excellent segment.

Peugeot bit. Raised one or two chuckles, but all in all took away from the good work done earlier on in the episode.

thejaguar

The Peugeot segment was terrible.

I've felt Top Gear have been on the borderline of funny for a while now - often crossing over to the patently unfunny. This segment was the epitome of unfunny, overdone nonsense.
And I'm getting a bit sick of Clarkson making references to Argentina and number plates as if anyone gives a sh*t about it.

I used to look forward to the new episodes of Top Gear. Now, sadly, I think I'll be looking for other options.

Anjobe

lertsnim wrote: »

That Peugeot segment is probably the worst segment I have ever seen on Top Gear. It was utterly pointless.



It's not a French thing. They pronounce it the same way as we would.

Pew-geot? Unlikely, one would have thought.

demanufactured

Irish people pronounce it pew Joe..
Its meant to be more peh geo

_Kaiser_

I dunno lads... I thought there was some very funny stuff in the Peugeot segment even if it did go on a bit long! The SIARPC segment really stops the show dead in most cases and should go.

TG hasn't been about "real" cars or "real" car reviews in years.. stuff like the La Ferrari bit are great but not what the show is about anymore.

I was entertained anyway FG on the other hand bores me to tears with some terrible presenters (IMO) and mundane features that I can just google/Youtube rather than watching an hour long show.

Dempsey

I got a good laugh out of the Peugeot segment because it was on the money.


Ferrari & McLaren showing why they are miles off the pace in F1 with their attitude. Fair play to Porsche

youtheman

I'm not the biggest fan of Top Gear. But I must admit the Peugeot segment took the biscuit. A programme showing two people driving a car like a complete ar*ehole is not 'entertainment' in my book. Deliberately driving the car into a ditch..... what does that prove !!!.

Red Kev

Schwiiing wrote: »

I wish they would drop the unfunny scripted nonsense for a few episode. They could have done a proper test of a 205 gti and used it to show the decline of Peugeot cars but they just did the usual crap. Id love to see them do 1 of their 3 car road trips with a 205 gti Golf gti and an XR2i to see which is best but that wouldn't appeal to the masses.

jelutong wrote: »

What point were they trying to make in the Peugeot segment? I doubt if either
of them ever owned one. The show is past its sell by date methinks.

A few years ago they did an excellent tribute to SAAB. Peugeot have a big enough history, including a sports one to make a good 10 minute slot on them. Instead we got a boring cliche overdone to the max.

A couple of parts of it were funny but they did it to death in the end. They don't seem to know when to stop.

Dravokivich

Red Kev wrote: »

A few years ago they did an excellent tribute to SAAB. Peugeot have a big enough history, including a sports one to make a good 10 minute slot on them. Instead we got a boring cliche overdone to the max.

A couple of parts of it were funny but they did it to death in the end. They don't seem to know when to stop.

That'll explain why they constantly overrun their slot! :pac:

Roosterreid

This show has totally lost the plot.... it is no longer an informative car show; yes, the segment on La Ferrari was cool and glad 'Captain Slow' did it, but the whole Peugeot segment was an utter waste of time. Also Ollie Murs as the "star"... give me a break!

Fifth Gear is probably the best pound for pound car show out there... with Tiff Needel and Jason Plato - two guys who can actually drive!

hmmm

I really enjoyed the Peugeot segment - their bigger cars have a reputation for being driven by dithering eejits, and I found it pretty funny. I much prefer those segments over the teen-boy segments with supercars, which are watchable but only while reading a good book at the same time, but each to their own. Probably everything Hammond does bores me senseless, no class, no taste, heavily scripted.

inforfun

hmmm wrote: »

I really enjoyed the Peugeot segment - their bigger cars have a reputation for being driven by dithering eejits, and I found it pretty funny. I much prefer those segments over the teen-boy segments with supercars, which are watchable but only while reading a good book at the same time, but each to their own. Probably everything Hammond does bores me senseless, no class, no taste, heavily scripted.

That was what i thought what is was all about.
And the not so great quality of their newer models

Fred Swanson

This post has been deleted.

LeeJM

Really enjoyed that episode. I didnt watch Olly Murs so that helped. La Ferrari segment was well done, as was the Corvette review.

The Peugeot segment was a bit long but I found it funny. Yea they could have been super serial and talked about great Peugeots of the 80's but its an entertainment show. They take the p*ss out of most things and whether a few car die hards like it or not that aspect of the show isnt gonna go away. Save yourselves the bother and just watch FG.

EB_2013

I thought the Peugeot piece was good, loved seeing all the classics and then got a laugh of scenes with Jeremy and James. Loved the face James was pulling when he was hunched behind the wheel.

Apart from Olly Murs it was a good episode.

parttime

I normally dont like Ferraris at all,but holy god that thing is beautiful. Love the formula one styling on the nose.

fryup

fryup wrote: »

its peu'geot not per'geot

there's no r in the name is it a brit thing??

anyway i think they were a bit harsh on peugeot, is it because they closed down their plant in Coventry??

Anjobe wrote: »

More likely a French thing!

lertsnim wrote: »

It's not a French thing. They pronounce it the same way as we would.

well i was talking to a french person today

and they said its pronounced po'geot

not pew'geot or per'geot but...po'geot

colm_mcm

They don't say Pew-joe though.

inforfun

Anyone who pronounces "un peu" (a little) properly, is able to pronounce Peugeot properly...

colm_mcm

There's a radio ad for Peugeot at the moment in limerick. They say something like blah blah blah style, blah blah dynamic blah blah Pew-joe, then straight away at the end there's this sort of generic french bird saying peugeot properly.

Gru

Didn't Hammond drive the 407 years ago and use it as a pace car as part of the review. They loved the car back then, all talk of clever double wishbone suspension. They were also very positive of the 1007 a few years ago. It seems as if they needed to bash Peugeot and threw every car in for the hell of it. Terrible segment.

philstar

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

its because peugeot closed down their coventry plant, i reckon

muckwarrior

Myself and my girlfriend laughed our asses off at the peugeot section. Though I think it was mainly because her sister drives a peugeot and conforms quite closely to their stereotype.

Stechkin

nice one