Top Gear on BBC America

Jim C

Jim C

Stockpiling....
Has anybody been watching the new season? There are a few with the Australian Hosts. When the show starts, one of the quick clips shows
a wrecking ball going thru the windshield of an orange X1/9. I don't think the episode has aired yet....
 
old episode

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wYgmUBoMWT8"]Top Gear Australia - Beach Buggy Challenge - YouTube[/ame]

Beach buggy challenge.
 
Watching the show just now refreshed my memory as to why I don't watch TV. In the 70's I used to run Renault powered dune buggies. Some years later when I got my first Fiat I often wondered how a fiat would do. I never tested it but I still think they would do quite well. The guys in the clip would have done a lot better if they had some decent sand tires. It is a wonder they got anywhere with those squared off grave diggers. Also low air pressure helps. What I could see of the beach they were on reminded me of Pismo in California.
 
So the X was certainly the best one, performed well, still had doors/glass/roof blah blah blah, but it gets a V8 dropped on it? I like Top Gear UK but this and the American one pretty much stink.
 
Shame, shame, shame...

Watching that makes me ashamed to be Australian.

I was once part of their studio audience. Not with those bozo's though. Once was enough - never again.
 
I think the show is more about entertainment value than actual car testing. If they really wanted to make a good dune buggy X, all they would have to do is half of the lightening they did on the BMW. They didn't even take off the bumpers or any trim. He basically just put big tires in the back. Its a dune buggy, take off the bumpers, engine cover, trunk cover, interior, side and rear glass, cut the fenders for taller wheels. Just to name a few things, probably a million other things you could do to lighten the car. He might as well have left the roof on and turned on the AC to cruise the beach. I also don't believe the Fiat beat either of those two other cars in a drag race.
 
"New Coke" aint the same as old coke no matter how it gets marketed

US and Aussie top gear ain't the same as BBC top gear either

it's missing a certain intrinsic quality and humor, either through the direct talents of the hosts or just due to the fact that I feel they are copying ideas from the UK version, it just doesn't do it for me.

BBC top gear has been kicking it over the fence for the past 2/3 years. Their prime was around 5 years ago when they were still doing more shows per year and pushing the limits... they have totally let off the gas and now having aussie's do their shows for them... lame.. it cheapens their product.

I have my TIVO set to record "new" top gear episodes and all it grabs are these re-hashed "best of" or hightlights of season 14 type episodes which are just clips of things I've seen.
 
Top Gear UK is one of the best TV shows in history (IMHO).
It's Jeremy, Richard and James that make that show. The seemingly budgetless extravagance helps too. I can't wait for the new season, 10 days out I believe.
 
"New Coke ain't the same as old Coke..."

Yur talkin' about soft drinks here, right?

Remember you are addressing Los Angeles as well as the rest of the world with your comments...

HA!
 
I used to enjoy BBC's Top Gear. Getting tired of the "best of" episodes. The US version and this Aussie version are hosted by a bunch of dimwitted wankers.

Talk about a lame end to a challenge - dropping the engine into the X1/9 was just stupid.
 
The original UK Top Gear is/was great. Its dropped off a little because the humor is not as fresh as it once was to me. I still like the car reviews and some of the remote site locations.

The US Top Gear was TERRIBLE at first. They seemed to try to cookie-cutter the same type of Brit humor formula that just doesn't translate. Then, they seemed to change the dialogue a little and it improved, marginally. I still liked seeing old, quirky, forgotten cars on the show.

I'm not sure how long they've been running the Aussie Top Gear but it also cannot match the UK version.

Then, there are all the other "reality series car shows" on TV these days. I never thought I would say it but maybe there are too many ?
 
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