Top Gear

**stormy** · 27 Feb 2005, 06:35 PM

What would you do if you had almost unlimited access to new cars, and got to make a show about it? Probably a lot like what these guys do.

This show is great, not just as a car show, but as a show in general. It's an English show on the BBC, maybe some of you have seen it on BBC America or something. My exposure to it came through car forums where people would post the 5-10 minute clips about certain cars. A couple weeks ago i found this site with full episode DLs in bit torrent and i havent stopped watching them since. I think i'm just going to make bullet points about what makes this show so good.

-It's funny. The hosts come accross as regular guys who love cars, and love making a show about cars. The gamefan of car show world if you will. They'll mercilessly trash bad cars and make fun of them with an honest opinion. Not to say it's not biased, America and France are the butt of many jokes, and no matter how bad the Astin Martin's get spanked on the track they always pick them anyway, but that's part of the show's charm. The hosts have some great banter between themselves as well.
-They thrash the hell out of these cars. They have thier own test track and drive everything like they stole it, from super minis to Pink Floyd's drummer's Ferrari Enzo.
-Production values are AMAZING. Seriously, they shoot car segments better than Hollywood car chases; multiple camera angles, in car, trackside, slo-mo close-ups, all with excellent lenses and deep color. And EVERYTHING is mic'd. You get to hear the full engine noise, tire screeching, beeped out curses from the driver when he screws up. It really gives you a sense of the car they're using. I've never wanted a Ferrari more in my life. Even the background music they use is perfect.

Here are some examples of the types of segments they do other than standard car reviews.
- They raced from London to a ski resort in Geneva Switzerland, one host took a Ferrari, the other two took a jet and public transportation.
- They raced a Evo rally car down a mountain against a bob sled.
- They wanted to see if an Evo MR could beat a lambourghini Murcealago on thier track, so they raced them. The Evo MR out drove the lambourghini, so then they raced it in a drag race against a supermini with <100hp, and it lost. (30mph rolling start in top gear to demonstrate the turbo lag)
- They attempted to jump an icecream truck over 4 giant inflatable bouncy castles.
- They got 4 professional race drivers to start thier own "people movers" racing league in old beat up minivans and crashed them all when thier race turned into a demolition derby.
- They got together 27 small cars from the Pacific rim (kias, hyundais, and wierd Malasian brands) to see if any of them were any good. They just called them all crap and laughed at them.
- 2 hosts lived in a Smart hatchback for 24 hours straight.
- One host had to eat an omlette made of his own hair after losing a bet he'd made.
- They used a brand new Viper SRT-10 to write it's own name in rubber with the back tires.

So go DL a few eps already.

**stormy** · 28 Feb 2005, 11:41 PM

There is a 2 page thread on Pimp My Ride in this forum, but this gets nothing.

I'm ashamed of you people.

**007bond** · 01 Mar 2005, 03:28 PM

I've only seen maybe 2 or 3 episodes of Top Gear so far but as a car enthusiast I've enjoyed them. I have to agree on the terrific production values as the camera work blew me away the first time I saw the show. I also enjoyed how they go right ahead and trash the crappy cars. I'm trying to download more episodes so I see more of what they've covered on the show.

**Mman** · 01 Mar 2005, 04:55 PM

This sounds interesting. I will check it out.

**perkyskirt** · 01 Mar 2005, 05:19 PM

Thank you. This show sounds badass.

**voltz** · 01 Mar 2005, 05:50 PM

Was this the same show that tried to kill a pickup with everything they could throw at it and it kept running?

**Takumi** · 01 Mar 2005, 06:08 PM

Top Gear is alot better than Fifth Gear.

**Wildkat** · 01 Mar 2005, 08:07 PM

Been watching it...thanks for the torrent links. Can catch top gear on BBC-Canada now and then.

5th gear is on speed channel now and then too, and it just seems like a second-rate imitation.

They do have a British-brand bias, and a little bit of smugness about the whole thing, which I find funny as Jaguar is about as British as a Cheeseburger these days since Ford took them over. But its part of the shows charm.

I just watched the episode with the Viper in it and for once, I have seen someone review that car and GET IT. The S-Type Diesel on the 'ring was a great piece of TV as well..