[03x10] February 19th, 2013

[03x10] February 19th, 2013


  • Total voters
    49

Viper007Bond

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I give this one an 8, much better than the last 3 episodes. At least there was no demolition derbies, bumping each other, and the hosts actually seemed appreciate the cars more. This episode had some fun, especially during the Veyron 16.4 review. I liked how Rut decided it wasn't wise to park it too far from the curve and the valet parking with the Ferris Bueller reference. The VIP guest I was expecting a celebrity, but I guess I knew Rut wouldn't have the guts to take that Veyron top speed.

A gripe I have is that why they don't have the Stig didn't take that car around their test track. As for the test track does anyone know if they even do anything at El Toro anymore? Although that segment was filmed in Tampa, but I am sure they could've at least transported that car out to California and have the Stig lap it?
 
I'm pretty sure that the opening scene with the Regal, Mazda3 and Camaro was done on the test track.

Top Gear US keeps getting better as the season goes on. Don't lose the momentum!

Tanner gets to drive all the awesome cars! I really wanted to see Rutledge push the Veyron up to 200mph, but the opening sequence showed a cut of Tanner in the Veyron which completely ruined it for me, especially since his tweeting led me to believe that he was actually going to drive it that fast.
 
I voted 8 and I'm really starting to like the direction they're taking. It's just a really good show. They're spending low amounts of money creatively and all look like they're having fun, as opposed to Top Gear UK where they're spending trillions of dollars and look bored out of their minds.
 
Giving the boys a 9 this episode. Really made me laugh and loved the selection of cars used in the challenges too. The show has become much better, keep it up!
 
Gave it an 8. Entertaining episode all around.

One thing I didn't like - not just this episode, there are others - is that only Tanner gets to drive the fast cars fast. If the "prize" is to drive a car in a race around a course or attempt to reach its top speed, then it's pretty obvious that Tanner will be the winner. I know they tried to mix it up a bit by having Rut "deliver" the car, but as soon as he said "VIP", I immediately thought "and it's going to be Tanner." I would have loved to have seen Rut do the speed run.

It spoils the episode right out of the gate and it's starting to get annoying, if I'm honest. :glare:


...apart from that, it was a good episode. For once, nothing exploded or was smashed to bits (yes, that stuff can be entertaining, but there's a limit).
 
Top Gear US just keeps getting better and better.
 
One thing I didn't like - not just this episode, there are others - is that only Tanner gets to drive the fast cars fast. If the "prize" is to drive a car in a race around a course or attempt to reach its top speed, then it's pretty obvious that Tanner will be the winner. I know they tried to mix it up a bit by having Rut "deliver" the car, but as soon as he said "VIP", I immediately thought "and it's going to be Tanner." I would have loved to have seen Rut do the speed run.

It spoils the episode right out of the gate and it's starting to get annoying, if I'm honest. :glare:

Fine. Then I'm sure that you're willing to pay the difference the insurance company will charge for having a comic actor or race commentator driving a two-and-a-half million dollar car rather than a professional racing driver.
 
I understand why they do it, it's just annoying how they try to keep it a secret by making it be the prize for the main challenge when it's pretty obvious Tanner will be driving it which means Tanner is the winner. It just spoils it for me.

I wouldn't mind if they just admit at the start that Tanner will be the one driving the car ("We try to find the best 150MPH car for the least amount of cash and Tanner tries to take the Bugatti Veyron to its top speed!").
 
Fine. Then I'm sure that you're willing to pay the difference the insurance company will charge for having a comic actor or race commentator driving a two-and-a-half million dollar car rather than a professional racing driver.

By your logic James May must be a professional racing driver then
 
A very solid 9 from me. Much better than the first two episodes of 2013.



No matter how many times I see the Veyron my brain cannot process the acceleration. Did you see how quickly the family in the Jeep disappeared? Insane.
 
Could have happily done without another bloody Veyron review, but still a solid 8.
 
I think it turned out alright, probably if I'm not mistaken they're most original idea to date the only Top Gear episode I can really think of that comes near this is the bit on the salt flats where they were all trying to get a certain speed.
Usually I'm not to big on the 3 challenge followed by a segment format but I guess it worked here, I accurately guessed the VIP to be Tanner but admittedly I never even started thinking about it until the commercial break.
On a different note, it was nice to see them do a cheap car challenge were they didn't end up destroying the cars at the end of the film for some reason.
 
By your logic James May must be a professional racing driver then
The car is quite easy to drive, the Test Track in Ehra-Lessien is not really demanding for a driver (you just need to know the corner entering speed and both hands on the steering plz). In the Veyron top speed test, James May was wearing a Helmet and that classified him as a Race driver :p
 
By your logic James May must be a professional racing driver then

I have a feeling that the two shows have a *slight* difference in budget. Not to mention James May does have a racing license.

EDIT: Oh, and May's run was done on VW's official testing track, not a publicly-driven road.
 
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9/10

Great episode! Could have done without the rats, but that's about it. Very nice selection of challenge cars.
 
Very nice idea for the challenge, and, as others stated, it was good to see the cars really get tested instead of just destroying them...


Also, Tanner having to win because he's the one to drive the Veyron isn't necessary the case... Rut won the drive in the drive with that offroad racing truck, but then was a passenger with Backwoods Stig.
 
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