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New series of Top Gear started today

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Demo24 said:
You guys should watch this video of May using launch control in the GTR

http://tothefloor.com/james-may-rips-off-the-line-with-the-gt-rs-launch-control/
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I wonder if I can sell my organs like the kid in China to buy one of those cars. :hmm: Maybe Castiel can tell us how awesome it is too. 😉

Monster_Munch said:
I kind of agree with you. It was funny in parts, but it took up too much time and it was only faintly car related.
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You guys must have missed this explanation (pre-airing of the episode) from Any Wilman and Jeremy Clarkson:

http://transmission.blogs.topgear.com/2011/07/15/jeremy-and-andy-wilman-discuss-sundays-new-show/
 
Monster_Munch said:
I kind of agree with you. It was funny in parts, but it took up too much time and it was only faintly car related.
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I thought it was just hilarious. It was admittedly a little different from some of what they've done before in that it was more or less pure comedy without any pretense of being a real competition, but I thought it was very very well executed and funny.
 
Don Vito Corleone said:
I thought it was just hilarious. It was admittedly a little different from some of what they've done before in that it was more or less pure comedy without any pretense of being a real competition, but I thought it was very very well executed and funny.
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One of the funniest Top Gear episodes ever.
 
Monster_Munch said:
I must be one of the internet car nerds they were talking about at the start then 😀
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I actually enjoy both types, but I must admit that while I like cars, I love a good laugh. Top Gear has given me some great laughs with some of their challenges such as the car-boat (take 2 especially) and limousine challenge.

But sometimes the challenges give you room to think, "what if?" Like last night, I wondered if they should have gone with a vehicle truly designed for towing rather than a car. Also, would the sound levels have been far better if they just used some sound dampening foam? I mean, they were over 100db and a jet engine (if I recall) is only 120db (although 10db = twice as loud).

EDIT:

It should also be noted that while their main segment wasn't terribly car-related, they did have the great segment on the Jaguar/Nissan earlier. While their hot hatchback challenge and the what-can-you-buy-instead-of-the-crappy-Nissan challenge were more car-related, they weren't necessarily full-blown car-centric challenges (especially the hatchback).

Although, about the Nissan one. I was rather surprised to see how much fancier of a car that you can get for ~10k... especially when I saw the Mercedes and all its gizmos. Could this be attributed to the fact that the United States honestly doesn't have that much in the way of super fancy autos? We certainly do have Mercedes and Jaguar over here, but I'd argue to say that they simply aren't as common.
 
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Aikouka said:
Although, about the Nissan one. I was rather surprised to see how much fancier of a car that you can get for ~10k... especially when I saw the Mercedes and all its gizmos. Could this be attributed to the fact that the United States honestly doesn't have that much in the way of super fancy autos? We certainly do have Mercedes and Jaguar over here, but I'd argue to say that they simply aren't as common.
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Just looked on Autotrader US and I found this CL600 for $10k

http://www.autotrader.com/fyc/vdp.j...=25&seller_type=b&cardist=1589&standard=false
 
I tried watching a few episodes last night of American Top Gear and I almost committed suicide. Not sure who is producing that show but they need to be fired and asked to give all of their salary back.

Those three presenters have obviously never did any presenting or hosting in their past.
 
ScottFern said:
I tried watching a few episodes last night of American Top Gear and I almost committed suicide. Not sure who is producing that show but they need to be fired and asked to give all of their salary back.

Those three presenters have obviously never did any presenting or hosting in their past.
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A new season is going to start in a few hours.
 
Nobody was looking for a real replacement for a truck, that's not the point. I thought it was fairly funny last night, some of the stuff they were doing on public roads (even though it looked in some shots like they had a police escort on bike far behind) was very iffy.
 
Doppel said:
Nobody was looking for a real replacement for a truck, that's not the point. I thought it was fairly funny last night, some of the stuff they were doing on public roads (even though it looked in some shots like they had a police escort on bike far behind) was very iffy.
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It definitely looked like there was a policeman in the back on a motorcycle. Originally, I thought they might get pulled over as that would be sort of amusing to have on the show, but then I realized it was probably an escort given their shitty situation :sneaky:.

I think their chemistry is a bit better now, but there's still something off about it. Maybe it's the somewhat deadpan delivery of the comedic lines or the awkward situations like Rutledge trying out chew... for the first time? 😕
 
ScottFern said:
I tried watching a few episodes last night of American Top Gear and I almost committed suicide. Not sure who is producing that show but they need to be fired and asked to give all of their salary back.

Those three presenters have obviously never did any presenting or hosting in their past.
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I agree. I was flipping back and forth between it and the baseball game on ESPN. It was not funny, witty, entertaining and barely watchable. How is it possible to watch past episodes of the original Top Gear two or three times and still get a lot of enjoyment, while one time of Top Gear America isn't doable?
 
KentState said:
I agree. I was flipping back and forth between it and the baseball game on ESPN. It was not funny, witty, entertaining and barely watchable. How is it possible to watch past episodes of the original Top Gear two or three times and still get a lot of enjoyment, while one time of Top Gear America isn't doable?
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Because Top Gear UK has had 8+ years to develop itself and the hosts' chemistry and doesn't have advertisements.
 
They should have actually hired people who were used to reviewing cars for the US version. Instead of a racing driver, a comedian and a nascar presenter. I guess they'll get better with time, but it's gonna take a while.
 
punjabiplaya said:
Because Top Gear UK has had 8+ years to develop itself and the hosts' chemistry and doesn't have advertisements.
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Well, it's good to add too that Jeremy and James both had prior experience with the original Top Gear ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Top_Gear_(1977_TV_series) ) where Jeremy was a presenter for 12 years and James for 1 year. While Jason Dawes was the original third presenter for Top Gear season 1, if I recall, James was actually asked to do the show, but refused thinking it wouldn't work.

I think what may have also helped is that the show didn't seem to have a lot of situations where they would get into spats with each other until maybe about season 4 or 5 when they started doing the crazier challenges and such. It is possible that the US presenters can get a bit more comfortable with themselves, but in a way they're already trying to be a clone of the UK show, but are missing some of the elements. It's really just opening yourself up to criticism.

I thought the episode was kinda fun, but in some ways... I wish they actually would have tried to choose a car that they could could be a good pick-up. It seems Adam and Rutledge at least gave reasons on the show. 😛 I believe in a similar situation, the UK blokes would have tried to justify their car and/or design choices.
 
Aikouka said:
It definitely looked like there was a policeman in the back on a motorcycle. Originally, I thought they might get pulled over as that would be sort of amusing to have on the show, but then I realized it was probably an escort given their shitty situation :sneaky:.

I think their chemistry is a bit better now, but there's still something off about it. Maybe it's the somewhat deadpan delivery of the comedic lines or the awkward situations like Rutledge trying out chew... for the first time? 😕
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I thought their interactions with the cowboy at the fire were quite funny.
 
Doppel said:
I thought their interactions with the cowboy at the fire were quite funny.
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You mean how Ferra kept trying to leave to go to a hotel? 😛

I guess when I see that scene, I'm reminded of the UK's US Rent-a-Car Challenge where they had to camp and eat road kill. 😀
 
I am watching the new TG USA and my God is this show lame. Each of the hosts is completely witless and the whole show is just a patently weak ripoff of the original. Without question the Car Show is the best, er, car show in the US at this point.
 
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