Back on BBC1 tonight
Usual mix of ridiculous super cars and childish nonsense.
I'm absolutely loving it!🤣
Me too. Proper laugh out loud here.
Caught a little while I had my tea but seemed pretty good I’ll watch it tomorrow as I’m at work.
Really enjoyed it, perfect Sunday TV.
That was rather fun.
Not keen on that ferrari looks a bit Honda. Not that I’m in the market. What’s the funny man done to his hair?
Who hosts it now?
Who hosts it now?
One person who can drive and knows about cars and two witless buffoons who should go back to advertising online bingo and payday loans.
I was honestly laughing out loud. When they opened the tins in the cars and Chris looked like he was heaving up 😆
Great fun. Just finished watching it now and I was crying laughing at the Swedish Surstromming bit at the end! 😂
Harris genuinely looked ill. Did I miss something or did they say the Beemer got 1.02.13 on the car park hill climb? Hence beating the Tesla’s 1.05? But then they said it won.
That SF90 lap didn’t look real. Visibly rapid car.. 0-100 in 4.5 seconds.. wild.
Anyway, cracking episode and looking forward to next week already.
Am quite surprised. I think it's unwatchable now.
I quite like the Chris chap but the other two should go back to what they know. It's embarrassing.
Odd one out here as thought it was lacking any new content or 'real' humour. Nights in cars done before, clambering over new cars and creditable crashing, hmmmm. Racing round carparks.... new idea for chavs . Ferrari looked like a lambo at the front and rear was different from anything made in Maranello before. I like all three characters and know this is a difficult time to film , such as the outside studio/ field , but I hope it gets better............
Paddy's head like a glitter ball.
Ferrari bin crashed into a sharks arse.
It's not for me, always interested in tests of interesting cars but the driving round Bolton stuff - forget it. Gave it 15 minutes before hitting fast forward to the SF90 test - that was fine, the rest was pigswill.
I thought it was pretty good, several laughs here.
Did I miss something or did they say the Beemer got 1.02.13 on the car park hill climb? Hence beating the Tesla’s 1.05? But then they said it won.
Wasn't the Tesla 1 minute 0.5 seconds? (1:00.5 not 1:05). And Chris showboating all the way up wasting time...I bet they couldn't bring themselves to let the BMW win through driver skill when its clearly the slower car so just wasted time going sideways.
Gave it 15 minutes before hitting fast forward to the SF90 test – that was fine
You are not the target audience...I thought that bit was boring. Supercar. Racetrack. OK if you want to dream about owning a Ferrari I suppose!
Best bit of lockdown TV so far.
Although the whole 24hr car test thing and gags has been done before.
Plus the fact the Volvo was an old car immediately made me think they were planning on something happening to it
Decent entertainment but quite a few bits were cringey rather than funny
OK if you want to dream about owning a Ferrari I suppose!
Genuine question I don't know the answer to - are there many 'interesting' normal money car releases any more? Cars a normal person could aspire to buy that do things differently. I'm thinking of when the mk1 Audi TT came out, or the Toyota GT86 or the mk1 MX5. I guess the new car-for-the-almost-masses worth discussing now are going to be leccy.
Didn't even notice it was coming back until I saw it in the Sky planner at 7.55.
Quite good with some genuine laugh out loud moments, although Freddie still looks like a bully to me.
Got a few naughty words in and I'm sure Paddy mentioned 'just like the nineties' when coke and piss were mentioned 😉
It’s become the show containing cars that you go to if you don’t mind not really learning much about the cars, with a car review thrown in.
Embarrassing, a nice guy selling out his dignity and two proper ***** doing a second rate job. Had to switch over unfortunately, Project Binky it is not.
Plus the fact the Volvo was an old car
Private plate rather than an old car?
Well, that's brought the Haterz out anyway!
The car that got sprayed with Surstromming when the can opened is probably a write-off. 🙂
It’s become the show containing cars that you go to if you don’t mind not really learning much about the cars, with a car review thrown in.
It has been like that for years and it seems to entertain a lot of people based just on this thread which is fine, Strictly come dancing entertains lots of people too as does Get me out of here. I just choose not to watch them.
For actual cars stuff YouTube has been a much better source than shows like Top Gear for at least 10 years and it is getting better all the time as production quality has increased over those years.
I enjoyed it for the most part.
I think the current line up has jelled well, although I miss Matt LeBlanc, but not Rory.
Personally the Company Car thing didn't really set my world on fire, and it made up the bulk of the episode. I was surprisingly moved by seeing Paddy in his old Street.
Best TG in years...and that was even allowing for the fact that it was pretty content thin in this first episode. Looking forward to the rest of the series, although given the timing of filming it will be interesting to see how they deal with it.
Also seriously considering a Tesla for the first time ever!
Also seriously considering a Tesla for the first time ever!
Is it just me that doesn't like the styling of the Tesla? It looks like a jelly mould. I like the interior of it though, but that isn't enough to sway me to get one.
supercar segment was a bit dull. It's pretty much copy and paste now.
24hrs in a car thing wasn't really that funny. pretty low brow.
pretty low brow.
I'm obviously more their target market then 🤷♂️
I've got a can of Surströmming in the fridge, it's starting to bulge a bit, best before end of Feb 21 apparently.
Video of you opening it in a confined space would liven up a dull autumn day.
I thought last series was pretty good. I thought last night was piss poor. Looking forward to the one where they bin the Diablo.
I’m obviously more their target market then
Yep, as are millions of others. I can watch some low brow stuff but for me Top Gear is low brow while also not particularly funny or worth watching but then you would probably think that of the low brow stuff I watch (i.e. I spent a few hours watching The Boys just this weekend)
If the car aspect was removed and the show was the same three people doing the same sort of shit I wouldn't watch that either as I don't really like any of them and don't find them amusing at all.
I made it as far as a joke about needing the loo when in a car for 24h and switched over. Don't think I found poo jokes funny when I was a pre-teen, don't now either.
I like it but if i didn’t I would just turn over. Pretty simple. It’s a formula I successfully apply to loads of telly.
I don't expect to enjoy everything or like everyone on tele. That is why we have multiple channels
Is it just me that doesn’t like the styling of the Tesla? It looks like a jelly mould. I like the interior of it though, but that isn’t enough to sway me to get one.
They seem to photograph / video very badly, even Teslas own material makes them look like a entry level Astra from about 5 years ago.
That's not to say they're wild in real life, but the design looks so much better in person.
I recently saw my very first Tesla and it reminded me of an early ford sierra, the panel gaps were bloody awful looking
Top Gear - it was OK. The company car bit went on too long, and the only other bit was the Ferrari. I think it needs a few 'articles' per episode, especially when the company car bit wasn't exactly enthralling. I liked the car park race - I take it they spent a while looking for a nice wide modern car park, because most car parks I go to would be way too tight to drive a car around them like that. I was waiting for someone to whack a pillar. I assume they do a few practice goes as well, because car parks are disorienting at the best of times, let alone when trying to hoof it all the way up as fast as possible.
My pick of the company cars would have been the Volvo I think.
What Tesla are doing is pretty amazing and there is very little argument for not being able to accept a car that can do such a long way on batteries...but....they have some way to go in terms of build quality from what I have seen, the massive touch screen just looks awful from an ergonomics point of view & the styling on all models is bland/grim. If the model 3 had a Kia badge on it, I reckon the poor styling would be made a bigger thing of. It is probably very aero, but it just looks awful.
Is it just me that doesn’t like the styling of the Tesla?
Not just you but they do look a bit better in the flesh and look the worst in white IMO (at least in terms of accentuating the jelly mould styling). In the blue or grey it looks less quirky (but unfortunately they're £1k options)
I've been a bit of a part time watcher for a number of years - more of a watch it on iplayer when bored/procrastinating from going to bed kind of viewer.
But on the basis of that either I've moved on or it has moved on and I think I might be done.
I think it was Harris who mentioned somewhere that they were severely limited on what they could film in the timescales they had so each show is a bit lighter on different segments this series. Guessing they had to do longer edits of the company car stuff hence the same jokes reappearing a bit.
Considering the times we live in I'd say that was a good attempt at a near-normal show. Will be interesting to see how the open air format evolves.
Not just you but they do look a bit better in the flesh and look the worst in white
Yeah I have seen plenty in the flesh (I live in Harrogate where every other car is a Tesla or a Range Rover) 🙂
I recently saw my very first Tesla and it reminded me of an early ford sierra, the panel gaps were bloody awful looking
Yeah I thought that was a myth until I looked up close at one a few months ago, it was like a 1980s Rover.
The thing I dont like about the Model 3 is the windows seem too big for the car, gives it an airy cabin though I suppose. I'd have the Volvo though, lovely thing.
Last night was alright, Bit meh for me TBH. The 24hr thing didnt work for me and the Ferrari is just another complicated hypercar to me, looked ****in' quick though!
Like the drive in format too, It'll pick up I'm sure
I've been a reasonable fan of TG over the years, but I have to say that Tesla/BMW/Volvo piece was probably the worst clip they've even done. Possibly to the level of Clarkson et al driving round for 20 monutes 'pretending' to be Peugeot drivers. Could guess the 'but it doesn't feel like a Ferrari' punchline after about 20 seconds. Fastforwarded most of it in case there was anything else but it was poor to be honest.
If its so affect by covid then it makes you wonder why they've not waited. Whatever was filmed for that episode was clearly pre-covid so either go with a shorter format, or pack in a few more features. Noticeable how much filler the celebrity guests part actually fills, suppose nobody is flogging their new film/book/album at moment.
Shame, thought they were just getting into their stride in the past series. Feels like (to coin a terrible pun) they need park it for now until they can either get back to normal or get a bit more creative.
the Ferrari looked intersesting, cant say the same for Bolton.
Drive a model 3, you won't give a monkeys about panel gaps (which are fine unless you're a motoring journalist being paid by the word).
The lad and I enjoyed it, I'll watch most things where the presenters seem to genuinely get on and enjoy what they're doing.
Easy watch escapism all you need. Thumbs up from me 👍🏻
Drive a model 3, you won’t give a monkeys about panel gaps
wouldn't want to drive a car that looks as crap as that, one drove past me today and i actually thought it looked worse than on the tv. and for the same cost as a v8 mustang, i know where my money would go.
I’ve got a Model 3.. in white.. I’m the first to admit it is a curious looking thing especially looking dead on at the front of the car, a bit frog eyed and sad almost.
However, I’d echo the above that they are much easier on the eye in the flesh and as soon as you look away from dead centre at the front they look great IMO. The side profile is fantastic and you can really see the slippery aero body shape. I think the main reason it looks odd is the very low scuttle height and HUGE windscreen that makes the split of body to glass at the front disproportionate. But as above, what it does make for is the best view out of a car I’ve ever known.
Not sure where Paddy was getting his numbers from mind as the LR version certainly hasn’t got 500bhp.. more like 360bhp. Our performance model has 475bhp I think after an over the air update.
But the Tesla is so much more than the way it looks. I’m a total convert. It’s so smooth and easy to drive and 1 pedal driving really is excellent, you only need to bother the brakes if the batteries are very cold and regen is limited. The big touch screen takes a bit of getting used to as pretty much everything is on it but it’s fine. It really is a special car to drive, I had a Model S loaner and it was awful.. 2017 MY and felt decades behind our Model 3.
The M3P will do 0-60 in 3.2 seconds and with the right tariff it’s about 1.5p per mile in fuel. There is nothing else that even comes close to the performance at this price point. I’m extremely fortunate though as I lease mine through work and with BIK @ 0% it is great value for money.
There’s no vroom vroom noises though.. but as much as I loved the sound of my old inline 6 M135, the Tesla is a much much better car and I haven’t looked back since getting it.. even despite a few dodgy panel gaps!
Drive a model 3, you won’t give a monkeys about panel gaps (which are fine unless you’re a motoring journalist being paid by the word)
I’m not w motoring journalist so I’d be buying the car not testing it. So at the price of model 3 I’d want it to be built well.
Think I managed about 10mins before I had to switch it off, bill and ben were less wooden
Nobody wants to watch car reviews. Modern day cars are dull as ditchwater and are mostly the same just re-badged. It’s not entertainment. That is why the clarkson eta shows morphed into adventures and challenges in various assorted vehicles which to me was far better and more interesting if not a little staged. And if you want to see a car hooming around a track it obviously has to be something a bit tasty. Something like an mx5 is brilliant to drive, but are slow and don’t look good on tv so who wants to watch a slow car being hooned around a track? I’d much rather see a Ferrari or something setting tyres alight.
But not a fan of this TG. Harris is great but can’t stick the other two. I’ll watch it but fast forward to the tyre smoking Ferrari.
Nobody wants to watch car reviews. Modern day cars are dull as ditchwater and are mostly the same just re-badged. It’s not entertainment.
Try Harry’s Garage some very good reviews, including this beautiful car
Thanks FuncyDunk, already on it. Also love Harry's Farm. He's done some epic adventures himself.
Nobody wants to watch car reviews.
I think the success of various YouTube channels would suggest otherwise...
and for the same cost as a v8 mustang, i know where my money would go.
I think if you are comparing a Model 3 to a Tesla then you are not really getting the point of a Tesla!
I think the success of various YouTube channels would suggest otherwise…
Indeed but that’s where they’ll stay, thankfully, as it’s not exactly prime time entertainment.
Caught up this am with TG more of the same stuff but easy to watch. That Ferrari was beautiful a car I will never likely afford but was nice to see being driven well.
but was nice to see being driven well.
Are you talking about the Stig's lap or the populist Harris smoking the tyres nonsense? Because that's not driving well. Skillful yes, well no. Not fast, and not as intended (though of course with that car it sort of is as intended as it has a button to do it for you!). I'd rather watch a road going supercar being driven on a lovely road in a beautiful bit of the world or a track car being driven as fast as it can be around a track, ideally against other cars at the same time. I find the smoking wheels shizzle pretty dull and repetitive - a dish best served to teenage boys.
I’d rather watch a road going supercar being driven on a lovely road in a beautiful bit of the world or a track car being driven as fast as it can be around a track, ideally against other cars at the same time.
Wouldn’t that be the old Top Gear then? Or even bits of TGT?
I have to confess I can’t watch the new TG and wand Paddy and Fred to be forced to snog Trump with tongues right now. Not broadcast though...
I’d rather watch a road going supercar being driven on a lovely road in a beautiful bit of the world or a track car being driven as fast as it can be around a track
But the track driving at silly speeds (and pointless tyre smoking) makes better tv. It would be very difficult to fully appreciate the performance and handling of a supercar being driven briskly on a nice road. It would be a bit like watching cross-country MTB riding on the telly - really rather dull.
Are you talking about the Stig’s lap or the populist Harris smoking the tyres nonsense? Because that’s not driving well. Skillful yes, well no.
Yes and no, the well part is when he switched everything thing off and tried to control that beast, he managed to do that. It was race track they wanted to test the super cars performance and capabilities not pop out for a picnic. They always do a scenic road drive in the series that’ll be coming, you can sit sipping your horlicks and wearing your favourite slippers then.
It was race track they wanted to test the super cars performance and capabilities not pop out for a picnic
Still don't get it. He turned everything off to see if he could still drift it. As you say it was a race track - clue is in the title - why not see if he could tame it to go quickly with the controls off rather than see if he could still make it go (relatively) slowly and sideways? They make drifting cars specifically to drift which they do very much better than a super car ever will if that's what floats your boat. Why feel compelled to test drive super and hyper cars as drift cars rather than what they have actually been designed to do?
why not see if he could tame it to go quickly with the controls off rather than see if he could still make it go (relatively) slowly and sideways?
'Cos he was styling it innit.
Why feel compelled to test drive super and hyper cars as drift cars rather than what they have actually been designed to do?
They do that with the fast lap. Besides if I think getting the back end out is a valid test. He actually said it was nigh on impossible to control with the traction off. Lots of people buy sports cars and like to turn the computers off. Made me think that I would have no chance of controlling that car on the limit if he couldn’t get the back end out in a controlled manner. To me it was a valid test.
Lots of people buy sports cars and like to turn the computers off.
There's lots of videos of those on YouTube too.
Quite, quite short videos.
Lots of people buy sports cars and like to turn the computers off.
Hah! Yes! I did that once several years ago in a brand new standard Audi TT (ie, the lowest powered engine) and very nearly lost it when overtaking having told the car to stop nannying me. I almost dropped my load and still feel embarrassed about it now 🙁 It is no wonder there are so many stories of people in their new supercars (or car technicians driving customers' supercars) binning them very soon after first getting in them.
Yeah I turn them off on various vehicles I’ve drove or owned. It’s fun but I end putting them back on and let the computer worry about it all.
Still don’t get it.
Here you go then.
Ohh, tyre adhesion LOL!
convert
Still don’t get it.
Part of the slidey, skiddy, drifty bit was showing how clever the car was though - in the setting beneath 'all bets are off' mode he said that he basically had his foot planted to the floor and the car was maintaining the drift so I guess it was looking at yaw, slip angles etc. & modulating the power, probably braking to individual wheels etc. to keep it drifting.
He said at one point something like "it's very clever, but I'm not sure it's fun".
But, I imagine for your elderly millionaire who wants to show off his pure skillz, being able to let the car do awesome skidz while reducing the chances of smashing it into an armco is perhaps quite appealing.
Part of the slidey, skiddy, drifty bit was showing how clever the car was though – in the setting beneath ‘all bets are off’ mode he said that he basically had his foot planted to the floor and the car was maintaining the drift so I guess it was looking at yaw, slip angles etc. & modulating the power, probably braking to individual wheels etc. to keep it drifting.
He said at one point something like “it’s very clever, but I’m not sure it’s fun”.But, I imagine for your elderly millionaire who wants to show off his pure skillz, being able to let the car do awesome skidz while reducing the chances of smashing it into an armco is perhaps quite appealing.
I grudgingly admit that for that specific car because of that mode there is a little bit of merit. But that's not getting away from the fact that EVERY car test feature is just a copy and paste of some screeching and some smoking.
The push bike equivalent would be a feature on a cool new road bike and most of the edit being footage of it being wheelied.
Didnt enjoy it unfortunately. Like the Ferrari segment but the company car but was dire. Not funny, done before and entirely predictable. Also who gets a£50k company car budget? I’m surprised some of the brands lend them cars. Volvo must be a little annoyed
Volvo must be a little annoyed
Their car featured on one of the world’s most popular car shows? I doubt they’re bothered about a dented door.
I’d be more worried about the can of Surstromming that got opened than the knackered door!
The push bike equivalent would be a feature on a cool new road bike and most of the edit being footage of it being wheelied.
Well no - supercars are designed to go very fast. Bikes aren't designed to wheelie.
Well no – supercars are designed to go very fast. Bikes aren’t designed to wheelie.
Thank you for making my point for me! Exactly - supercars are designed to go very fast; they are not designed to go comparatively slowly making lots of smoke and tyre squeal. Your average hot hot hatch would beat the ferrari around a lap if Harris was at the wheel of the Ferrari in trash a set of tyres mode. Driven like the stig (i.e. as it is designed to be - very fast as you pointed out) and the hatch would be lapped in a handful of laps.
I actually do wish it would start evolving back at least some distance towards the old format. I'm sick of the arsing about lads having fun aspect now. It doesn't have to regress all the way back to Angela Rippon, but it isn't half tired.
I'd have the Volvo btw. And I skipped the Ferrari bit, although I like Chris more than the other two.
as per usual a well filmed and interesting as well as humour filled stuff about boring cars, if only the cars had a bit of personality like the presenters/drivers.
Out of the 3 of them, Harris is the only one who should be driving these types of cars, the other 2 just don’t have the skill, paddy should be made to pay for the Diablo out of his own pocket!
The wall of death stunt! 🙈
