Top Gear 15.1

A new, more sensible and grown up Top Gear premiered a few weeks ago. Because I don’t have the Internet at my place yet, I cannot get the episodes as they come steaming off the airwaves like a fresh pile of…. well, not crap, because they are better than that, but something that steams and forms piles… you can figure it out for yourself. Anywho, the first episode of the new series featured a Bentley, a new reasonably priced car and a car that loves to just roll over. The Bentley Continental Supersports is the latest of the Conti breed. It features a gigantic W12 engine making a fairly hairy-chested 621 horsepower and 590 ft lbs of torque. This may not seem like a whole lot to power a car that weighs as much as a bus or three, but, in fact, it does go from 0-60 in only 3.7 seconds! And, it will go on to a top speed of 200 and some miles per hour. It also features carbon ceramic brakes and an improved all wheel drive system that features a 40:60 power split. What this means is that this is one Bentley that doesn’t handle like a boat. It actually steers around corners as well as it wafts down the country lane. This is no simple feat, and I really like the car, but it costs waay too much and there are better cars out there that can do the same thing, and look better doing it (read Aston Martin). Then The Stig took it out for a lap and it actually performed fairly well for how big it is. It was about as fast as an original Koenigsegg, which is probably down to the ridiculous speed and ability that The Stig has more than the actual vehicle.

The next segment saw the boys welcome some new guests to try out their new reasonably priced car. If you didn’t know, the old Chevy Lacetti was killed off (by crushing it under a huge tower that was being toppled) and so they went out and chose a new reasonably priced car. I have to say that the choice of getting a Kia Cee’d is an inspired one. I actually don’t mind how it looks, and it is a departure from the normal 4 door car they have had in the past, because its a 5 door. So not only is it reasonably priced, but it will also haul all of your stuff and look ok doing it. Of course Clarkson hung out with the hot chick who showed up, while Hammond was forced to fend off a flamer who was probably about to set the ground he walked over on fire.

Then, James undertook a task wherein he drove to an active volcano in Iceland. This was before one of those same volcanoes shut down all of European air travel, but it was still something very cool. Using a modified Toyota from their trip to the North Pole, James took up the task of driving up to a live volcano and trying to scoop up some of the lava before being killed to death somehow. The task of actually getting to the mouth of the volcano looked like an adventure in itself and was probably more dangerous than actually being there. Of course, that’s before Jame’s tires started on fire… In the end, he got his new piece of earth before being incinerated.

Then, this new series of helpful and more stoic and classy Top Gear got down to business and let the viewers in on some useful car information. For instance, that the Reliant Robin is probably one of the most terrifying and dangerous cars on the road. This is because it was built with a few flaws. The first one was that it was built with three wheels. It was constructed this way because it could be classified as a motorcycle, and the original buyers didn’t have to get a full car license to drive it. This wouldn’t be such a problem if the wheel was in the back, but the genius designers decided that the wheel should be in the front of the car. This produced the horrific consequence of the car tipping over on its side whenever you took a turn at speed. And at speed means anything above about 15 miles per hour or so. In essence, it would be faster to bike somewhere than have to constantly think about where to crash your car next. The other flaw as that the engine was in the back, as were you, as was the rest of the weight. When you floored the throttle on the 850cc engine, the car could, and usually would, do a huge wheelie that couldn’t be controlled. You could be staring up at the wild blue yonder one minute, only to come crashing down, try to turn the car and flip it over the next. Thank goodness Clarkson had on his crash helmet and four-point racing harness, otherwise he could have been hurt. More Top Gear will come along in the following weeks, and I can only assume that they will be very quick weeks, as the series usually only last for seven episodes. But I will cover them all as I get them.

Prodrive Still Out of F1

Prodrive boss David Richards has ruled out another entry bid into Formula One for his Prodrive outfit. Citing involvement with other manufacturers and sports car series and the desire to get back into World Rally in 2011, the head of the company said that entering Formula One right now wouldn’t be viable, either economically or competitively. Those are the two things that will determine when, or if, Prodrive ever does decide to dip their toes into the steamy pool that is F1 and right now, those criteria cannot be met. Read more here.

Top Gear 14.1

Top Gear is most assuredly back! In the 14^th series opener, the boys went on a journey to Romania to try and find the best road in the world, there was a test between a Mercedes S63 AMG and a BMW 760LI and the actor Eric Bana dropped in.

 

I think the surprise of the night came when I found out that Eric Bana is Australian! I had no idea that he wasn’t an American actor. Well, I suppose that just goes to show how good he is. Also, he is a giant fan of motorsport and races GT cars regularly. It even came out that he has not taken a movie project because he would rather go racing. His prowess on the track really came through when it came to his lap in the reasonably priced Suzuki Liana. Even though it was extremely wet and even though he missed a gear change, he still managed to put in the fastest wet lap of all time, which is damn impressive. All of his lines were spot on and you could tell from the video that he was going to be fast. All in all, a very good lap from a surprisingly Australian person.

 

The test round the track that took place involved James, for once, testing out some hot super sedans. The Mercedes S63 AMG and the BMW 760LI both feature huge engines, a 6.2 liter V8 in the Merc and a 6.0 liter, twin-turbo V12 in the BMW. Both make generous amounts of power and torque, but the BMW is faster in both a straight line and around a track. This surprised me because I would have thought that the BMW would have been the softer of the two, given that the AMG is usually thought to be a brutish sort of car, and the BMW 7 series generally isn’t thought to be all that sporty. But the Bimmer was better able to put the power to the ground without completely lighting up the back tires around every corner like the AMG. And though the BMW won the battle, it was still decided that both cars were wastes of time and money because they are overpriced and overpowered and don’t know what they really are. They are supposed to be luxury limos, but also try to be sports cars, and that just dilutes them from being truly one or the other. And I have to say, I agree with their verdict on this one. If I want a sports car, I’ll go buy a Porsche or something and if I want a big luxury saloon, I’ll get a Jag, but I don’t need them to be put together and then pay more than I would for both of them combined with the one car.

 

On to the main event now. In what can only be described as a hair-brained scheme to find a road they could have simply gone to right off the bat, the boys traveled through the country or Romania in search of the Transfagarasan Highway. This is the highest, and most dramatic paved road in the country and looks very similar to the Stelvio Pass that they visited a few series ago. Of course, it wasn’t just about the road though. The cars that they brought were supposed to be the best grand touring roadsters in the world, and so Clarkson brought an Aston Martin Volante, Hammond showed up in a Ferrari California and James brought a Lamborghini LP560-4 Spyder. They then bickered and did what they do best by driving around, getting lost and competing in challenges that don’t really settle anything at all. Of course, since they were in Romania, it was only natural that they should see a ton of Dacia Sanderos. For those who don’t know, James is obsessed with this car. He feels it is a cheap car with no frills that is actually pretty good. So, Clarkson bought him one. And, as happens with all their gifts, you just knew that it had to get ruined somehow. This time, a large semi-truck backed into it and completely destroyed it after James had parked it “conveniently.” I know it was set up, but it was still great to see, because I think that James actually did like that car. After that, the boys followed May and, of course, got lost out in the Romanian countryside where James had a fender bender with his Lambo. But, after all of that nonsense and tomfoolery, they finally reached the road, and it turned out to be an epic thing. Clarkson even commented that the road was a combination of all the best corners of all the best race tracks in the world, and there is no greater compliment than that.

 

Overall, the episode was a good one for the start of the series and it can, hopefully, only go up from here. I wish I knew what was coming up on the show next Sunday, but they did not tell the audience. I’m assuming that it will be a big surprise. I will say that the one car I am hoping to see on this series is the new Noble M600. I want to see what it can do around the track, because it is supposed to be devastatingly fast.