Anyone watch Top Gear?

jordanvraptor

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Oregon City, OR

Oct 13, 2007

#1

• Oct 13, 2007

• #1

Those limeys really seem to rag on American cars... They put a GT500 on a dyno and said that it wasnt making 500 hp without taking into consideration the driveline loss to equate to engine HP...
Wouldn't mind having their airfield to play around on....
There was also a cool vid of a jet car rolling at over 250 mph when the right front tire blew out...

 

ShadowFist

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Dec 1, 2005

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Old Miltia

Oct 13, 2007

#2

• Oct 13, 2007

• #2

I caught the end of that one... Scary stuff crashing at 288 MPH... I'm suprised the guy didnt die from that. At least he can say his head is strong enough to stop jet engines

 

DNA DOA

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Apr 3, 2005

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Scappoose

Oct 13, 2007

#3

• Oct 13, 2007

• #3

Watch that show whenever I can. They have very humorous opinions and sketches but when they beat up the GT500 sort of put a thorn in my side. A little snobby but still fun to watch. I have not seen an American T.V. show throw a GT500 around like that. Some of the cars they have on there I never knew even existed. Informative if anything.

 

hungrymonkey

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Oct 14, 2007

#4

• Oct 14, 2007

• #4

I saw the GT500 episode. I thought it was funny they indicated that the number part of the car name was supposed to be the horsepower rating.

Also, I thought that the european horsepower measurement was different.

 

cobradvm

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Sep 2, 2003

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Oct 14, 2007

#5

• Oct 14, 2007

• #5

I thought their description of a "wallowing hippo" was pretty funny though.

 

h8my408

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Aug 27, 2007

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Houston, Tx

Oct 14, 2007

#6

• Oct 14, 2007

• #6

you guys do realize that they are used to testing range from £1,000 to £1,000,000

although the mustang may be badass in our eyes, how many of us have had a chance with an ariel atom, or a ferrari fxx???

they are unbiased from what i've seen, and i've watched a LOT of top gear!

with a curb weight of 3920lbs, you wouldnt be able to create a "track capable machine" that had the civil manners of a street car.

i imagine throwing a MM Maximum grip package, would completely change their minds, however, the civil manners are taken away. at the same time, if the car weighed 1,000 to 1,500 less, it would be a different machine. stock.

sidenote:
anyone watch the 2 part series of when they tried to destroy the toyota hilux?

 

LordMustangGT

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Oct 14, 2007

#7

• Oct 14, 2007

• #7

On demand baby!!! love that show

 

Rootus

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Oct 14, 2007

#8

• Oct 14, 2007

• #8

Every chance I get.

I agree the horsepower comment on the GT500 was disingenuous, but other than that they were right to blast it. With a price tag of $41K (assuming you could buy it for that) it seems lacking.

 

R

Rookie71

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Jul 25, 2006

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Oct 15, 2007

#9

• Oct 15, 2007

• #9

Having watched a lot of shows, they have made many comments in reference to "brake horsepower" and rwhp. They know the difference. So to act like the GT500's claim of 500hp as compared to any other manufacturer's claim was just ridiculous

 

grover

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Dec 15, 2004

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Edmonds

Oct 15, 2007

#10

• Oct 15, 2007

• #10

LordMustangGT said:

On demand baby!!! love that show

Click to expand...

I couldn't even tell you what day and time that show is on but why do I care with on Demand. If you are watching it to get good unbiased performance numbers, you are watching the wrong show. I feel it is for pure entertainment value. Their contest to build the best amphibius vehicle had me laughing , and to see them take a Z06 and start from a dead stop in fifth gear and run it all the way up to 185mph without shifting is something you will see no where else. They also said that the Z06 was one of the best cars they have had on the track but then followed that up by saying no way they would take that car to drive on the road.

 

dohcfox

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Sep 28, 2004

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Oct 18, 2007

#11

• Oct 18, 2007

• #11

If you pay close attention to the episode where they compare the Roush to the 'Shelby' convertible you will notice that they say that the Shelby has a 4.6 liter supercharged motor.

"What Shelby do is fit the standard 4.6 liter V8 with a super charger, only it's bigger than Roush's. You get 475 brake horsepower."

This statement was taken straight from the comparison video, conjugation errors and all.

I wonder why Top Gear really feels the need to egg US automotive manufacturers on? Hmm.

 

Rootus

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Oct 20, 2007

#12

• Oct 20, 2007

• #12

dohcfox said:

I wonder why Top Gear really feels the need to egg US automotive manufacturers on? Hmm.

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Ya think they're really being all that unfair? As I remember, in that GT500 video they made comments on the Roush and had nothing but good things to say about it.

A really good Top Gear episode is the one where they test the supercharged Ariel Atom. What a ridiculously cool toy.

 

cobradvm

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Sep 2, 2003

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Oct 20, 2007

#13

• Oct 20, 2007

• #13

If your that easily offended by the GT500 segment, better not watch the episode where they went to the US to see if it was cheaper to buy a car than rent one - hilarious.

FYI - you can download all the TG episodes here....

http://www.finalgear.com/shows/topgear/

 

74courier

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Jun 18, 2005

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Oct 21, 2007

#14

• Oct 21, 2007

• #14

h8my408 said:

sidenote:
anyone watch the 2 part series of when they tried to destroy the toyota hilux?

Click to expand...

i was just going to ask that same thing they beat the piss out of that poor truck and it still kept going even after the dip in the ocean

 

h8my408

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Houston, Tx

Oct 23, 2007

#15

• Oct 23, 2007

• #15

"nothing but petrol and spanners"

 

ZeroCool

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Oct 13, 2003

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Oct 24, 2007

#16

• Oct 24, 2007

• #16

I just watched the one where they drove through the south... funny episode!

 

hungrymonkey

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Oct 25, 2007

#17

• Oct 25, 2007

• #17

ZeroCool said:

I just watched the one where they drove through the south... funny episode!

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If you drove through the UK with signs painted on your car saying "football is for pansies" or "Go F the queen"

You would probably be beaten to death before you made 2 miles.
They fail to mention that during the episode though.

 

stang dreamer

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May 24, 2005

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Manchester, UK

Oct 25, 2007

#18

• Oct 25, 2007

• #18

hungrymonkey said:

If you drove through the UK with signs painted on your car saying "football is for pansies" or "Go F the queen"

You would probably be beaten to death before you made 2 miles.
They fail to mention that during the episode though.

Click to expand...

most people here would just think its funny to see such writing on the side of a motor, especially round manchester where people from the universities do that sorta crap anyway...

 

hungrymonkey

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Oct 25, 2007

#19

• Oct 25, 2007

• #19

I would imagine it would be different at 11:30 at night when the pubs closed down. (do they still close at 11?)