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The One With Ken Block (Episode 3)

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  • 12-06-2016 8:57pm
    #1
    TitianGerm
    Registered Users Posts: 27,835 ✭✭✭✭


    What are people's opinions on tonights episode?

    By far the best episode of the current season for me.

    Sabine was very good, liked the bit about the RS and Block is a phenomenal driver.


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    #2
    5T3PH3N
    Registered Users Posts: 542 ✭✭✭5T3PH3N


    The best so far for me too, i like the extra pieces by the other two lads, hopefully they have a slot each week.


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    #3
    TitianGerm
    Registered Users Posts: 27,835 ✭✭✭✭TitianGerm


    5T3PH3N wrote: »
    The best so far for me too, i like the extra pieces by the other two lads, hopefully they have a slot each week.

    They were very good. No horsing around just good segments.

    The control Block has over the car is mind boggling.


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    #4
    hmmm
    Registered Users Posts: 11,205 ✭✭✭✭hmmm


    Much better, mostly because they got rid of the false bonhomie between the presenters.


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    #5
    Tzar Chasm
    Registered Users Posts: 2,069 ✭✭✭Tzar Chasm


    Chriss and Rory reminded me of Old,Old Top Gear when it was at its finest, genuinely interesting and informative car reviews.

    The cinematography was also spot on, overall i thinkthe show is really finding its groove


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    #6
    HighLine
    Closed Accounts Posts: 3,378 ✭✭✭HighLine


    Really enjoyed it the whole show. The segment on the TDF was epic... the car... Harris... cinematography... all great.


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    #7
    bnt
    Registered Users Posts: 12,961 ✭✭✭✭bnt


    The Ken Block segment was missing a bit: they caused quite a bit of offence by turning doughnuts around the Cenotaph on Whitehall. You'd think someone would have said something about that beforehand. The Chancellor of the Exchequer was a bit miffed too:

    https://twitter.com/George_Osborne/status/708990684909473792

    From out there on the moon, international politics look so petty. You want to grab a politician by the scruff of the neck and drag him a quarter of a million miles out and say, ‘Look at that, you son of a bitch’.

    — Edgar Mitchell, Apollo 14 Astronaut



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    #8
    cdeb
    Moderators, Sports Moderators Posts: 7,156 Mod ✭✭✭✭cdeb


    I don't know. That was all a bit - meh.

    Probably it was just the similarity of it. Evans/Schmidt test the same new Audi which was tested in the last series. Two laps of Laguna Seca (great track), one on autopilot and one not on it - except they both looked the exact same, with Schmitz wrestling with the wheel both times. I can imagine it's bloody hard to not hold the wheel on autopilot on a flying lap - but unfortunately, that's the job the presenters have here. James May pulled it off a lot better last series.

    Then Harris tested the new Ferrari. And then Reid tested three hot hatches. Any of the three car tests could have fitten well in the old Top Gear (well, the Audi would have been improved, but anyway) - but all three just made the episode very samey.

    Definite downsides - The STIG introduction was particularly cringy. The rallycross segment was dull as usual, but took up something like one-third of the show. It still feels like there's too many cooks. And the Ken Block section felt like it didn't really go anywhere.

    So - is it becoming more Fifth Gear-y? More about the cars than the people? The brief preview of next week suggests it might well be. Will be interesting to see how that works given regular comments during the previous incarnation to make it more about the cars, even as the ratings continued to show that its success wasn't about the cars.


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    #9
    ScumLord
    Registered Users Posts: 28,789 ✭✭✭✭ScumLord


    It was a much better episode. That little American as a guest helped a lot with having an entertaining interview.

    That Rory fella is a good presenter, he has no fear of the camera, seems very comfortable, and he seems very relevant, he's young and likes hot hatches. The only thing I don't like about him has nothing to do with him really. It's the English presenter thing, they're very professional but you get the feeling when the cameras are turned off so are the presenters and then they're stored away until the next show. To be fair Rory has plenty of personality and its probably more to do with his youthfulness that rubs me the wrong way more than anything else. Young people just annoy me the older I get.


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    #10
    Ruu
    Closed Accounts Posts: 9,622 ✭✭✭Ruu


    Sabine does nothing for me, sorry. :(


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    #11
    RobAMerc
    Registered Users Posts: 5,862 ✭✭✭RobAMerc


    cdeb wrote: »
    one on autopilot and one not on it - except they both looked the exact same, with Schmitz wrestling with the wheel both times. I can imagine it's bloody hard to not hold the wheel on autopilot on a flying lap - but unfortunately, that's the job the presenters have here.

    On autopilot ? Wasn't it just she had all the driving aids turned off ? There is a fairly huge difference ( and I dont know of any car that has an auto pilot btw )

    And btw who is Ken Block ? Has he achieved anything of note in the motoring world ?


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    #12
    cdeb
    Moderators, Sports Moderators Posts: 7,156 Mod ✭✭✭✭cdeb


    RobAMerc wrote: »
    On autopilot ? Wasn't it just she had all the driving aids turned off ? There is a fairly huge difference ( and I dont know of any car that has an auto pilot btw )
    Hm. You could be right actually - although there is an autopilot Audi which I'm fairly sure was on Top Gear previously. But it's an A7 prototype, not an R8.

    Ken Block has competed in the WRC, with limited success. I think now he's just Ken Block. He was on the "old" Top Gear as well.


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    #13
    TitianGerm
    Registered Users Posts: 27,835 ✭✭✭✭TitianGerm


    RobAMerc wrote: »
    On autopilot ? Wasn't it just she had all the driving aids turned off ? There is a fairly huge difference ( and I dont know of any car that has an auto pilot btw )

    And btw who is Ken Block ? Has he achieved anything of note in the motoring world ?

    Ken Block is a rally driver from the US. He was on top gear a few years ago and brought May for a spin in an abandoned airfield.


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    #14
    ScumLord
    Registered Users Posts: 28,789 ✭✭✭✭ScumLord


    emmetkenny wrote: »
    Ken Block is a rally driver from the US.
    He's tried rallying, I don't know that he got on too well. He's mostly a Gymkhana driver which is basically show drifting for style points. He does some rallycross as well.

    He's most known for publicity stunts where he drifts around cities or airfields.


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    #15
    foggy_lad
    Closed Accounts Posts: 20,373 ✭✭✭✭foggy_lad


    bnt wrote: »
    The Ken Block segment was missing a bit: they caused quite a bit of offence by turning doughnuts around the Cenotaph on Whitehall. You'd think someone would have said something about that beforehand. The Chancellor of the Exchequer was a bit miffed too:

    https://twitter.com/George_Osborne/status/708990684909473792

    they weren't near the cenotaph thing though? also the chancellor of the exchequer is only interested in boosting bbc's license fee takings so will happily play along with the Evans twit-ter machine.

    The rallycross feature is pathetic at this stage because of the sit down chat-show Evans has before it. What a plonker, he should just shut up and let them drive!


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    #16
    cdeb
    Moderators, Sports Moderators Posts: 7,156 Mod ✭✭✭✭cdeb


    foggy_lad wrote: »
    they weren't near the cenotaph thing though?
    They were; it got cut from the final film.


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    #17
    foggy_lad
    Closed Accounts Posts: 20,373 ✭✭✭✭foggy_lad


    cdeb wrote: »
    They were; it got cut from the final film.
    I thought those shots were taken by some paparatzi and the cenotaph was about half a mile away in the distance?


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    #18
    cdeb
    Moderators, Sports Moderators Posts: 7,156 Mod ✭✭✭✭cdeb


    Looks like they're right by it in this video.

    Also think it's a bit of a storm in a tea-cup issue; people looking to get offended again.


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    #19
    Dempsey
    Registered Users Posts: 20,553 ✭✭✭✭Dempsey


    Some very nice cars on show in that episode. Overall, they are improving in the studio and with their segments. The UK vs US stuff is tired and boring at this stage.

    All the cars should have gotten a stig lap in


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    #20
    OldmanMondeo
    Registered Users Posts: 3,009 ✭✭✭OldmanMondeo


    Though it was better, shows is improving as the weeks go on. In fact it seems to get better the less Chris Evans is on screen, on that bomb shell.....


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    #21
    muckwarrior
    Registered Users Posts: 4,051 ✭✭✭muckwarrior


    OldmanMondeo wrote: »
    Though it was better, shows is improving as the weeks go on. In fact it seems to get better the less Chris Evans is on screen, on that bomb shell.....
    Didn't see episode 3 yet, but I thought there was noticeably less of Evans last night, and it definitely wasn't a bad thing.


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