***** This thread is now closed, please CLICK HERE to go to Volume 12 *****
Top Gear chat.
Volume 10 is HERE:-
Last edited by: VxFan on Mon 28 Jan 13 at 13:07
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"Nah, different Billy Joe McAllister. Seemed like nothin never come to no good up on Choktaw Ridge. You could hardly blame the poor fellow. Some of the McAllisters have a fragile, depressive side. Perhaps they should join this forum. "
Billy Joe used to run a fly tipping operation off the bridge until he got clocked by that preacher guy. Never was the same after that.
Last edited by: VxFan on Mon 6 Feb 12 at 19:55
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And he was not an exemplary character, given to putting frogs down the necks of blameless maidens in small-town cinemas in collusion with other youths.
Of course he may well have survived jumping off the bridge. Many do. But could be the gators got him, or indirectly the snapping turtles. It sure was hard swimming across that thing with both hands on his dingaling-ling...
It don't seem right, somehow.
Last edited by: VxFan on Mon 6 Feb 12 at 19:55
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Quite enjoying this new series so far. Only bit that has been carp so far was Chinese stig - joke was funny for the first 5 seconds, but then let it drop boys!
Some interesting points made about the Chinese - they key one being look how far they have come along in the last 5 years. It looked to me that they had done in 5 years what the Koreans took 30 years to do
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>>they key one being look how far they have come along in the last 5 years. It looked to me that they had done in 5 years what the Koreans took 30 years to do<<
That thing JC was driving looked more than a little like a Kia Magentis, I doubt thats a coincidence, esp since the chinese seem to like big saloons.
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It took my dad a lot of convincing to buy the Hyundai as he has always thought of them as being terrorist Ladas. I had to explain it is a South Korean company not a North Korean one and that they are one of the biggest car firms in the world.
That said when he saw the price he bought it without even testing driving it!
It is quite strange to think in five years time the Koreans will be up there with Ford, The Jap stuff will be up there with the BMWs and the Chinese will be where Kia was in 1995.
However the Japs and Koreans have behaved properly buying licences to kick start their car industry where as the Chinese just seem to illegally copy. Until they stop this practice I will never buy a Curry car on principle.
I do love Chinese take aways but that is because they are original and not copies of an Italian or German design.
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At last! Hammond has got his hair one colour, shortish and with a parting and seems to have lost his girlie necklace! All we need is to get May a bit tidier.
Last edited by: Webmaster on Sun 12 Feb 12 at 22:08
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Got off to a promising start but went down-hill - that Sweeney bit was overplayed and lengthy. On a separate note, I was interested in seeing what the re-make was all about so I looked at Wiki - seems that it's due for release. Seems that Clarkson has a bit part in it. At one point it was funded by Fox (Murdoch) - but the current funding is unclear.
Cynical self promotion from JC - or am I being cynical ?
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The Sweeney film has been a work in progress for about 4 years. Initially I was excited about it (being a huge sweeny fan) but time and some of the things I have heard about it have cooled my ardour somewhat.
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>> (being a huge sweeny fan)
Get your trousers on.
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The two second scene of Ray Winstone in the driver's seat rocking back and forth with all of Hammond's prescribed ridiculous expressions on his face made me laugh like anything. I had to play it over again twice. Good on him for being such a sport.
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Every time I've seen Ray Winstone in interviews or other TV appearances outside of an acting role, he seems like a genuinely good bloke. Last night was no exception.
I know it was scripted, but when Hammond blew up the wrong caravan...... couldn't help creasing up.
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It was ok up until the Sweeney bit - I watched the 5 minutes, turned off the sound until it was over, then when they came back for the final bit of it later on, I changed channels - first time ive ever done that. Boring beyond belief.
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Presumably the Jag and Focus had previous faults which made them not fit for sale to the public, which is why they were happy to trash them?
Re: The Corsa VXR Nurburgring. I see TG are still prejudiced against Vauxhall brand. Had it been a Ford then things might have been different.
Last edited by: VxFan on Mon 13 Feb 12 at 10:37
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Having owned a stiffly sprung hot hatch, id say May was bang on the money. Its wearing. The Corsa SRi is a nice compromise.
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At one time, Vauxhall wouldn't allow any of their cars to be tested by Clarkson, given his scathing treatment of various models of Vectra. I wonder if this is still the case, given that a car like this would normally be booted around the track by him and not Captain Slow?
It is a valid remark about "sporting" models on huge rims with rubber band tyres being poor on the public road, but this is by no means exclusive to Vauxhall. The ability to design a hot hatch with a genuinely supple ride seems to have died out with Peugeot in the late 90's.
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>> At one time, Vauxhall wouldn't allow any of their cars to be tested by Clarkson,
>> given his scathing treatment of various models of Vectra.
How would they stop him?
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Built into the loan agreement, I believe.
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>> Re: The Corsa VXR Nurburgring.
I have one one test at present. Not the 'ring one, but still 141 killerwots of oomph.
Had it off the clock yesterday a few times, and slurped a quarter tank of juice in a very short time, driven by our personal stig.
Yeah - impressive, VERY impressive.
And the TG episode didn't do it justice - it is usable as a school-run car.
Just keep an eggshell under the right foot, is all.
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Mobility Scooter special tonight. Prepare to be appalled/entertained/bored...! Not on until 10.00pm on BBC2 Wales - as they are broadcasting their own crap...thank goodness for the satellite box
Last edited by: R.P. on Sun 19 Feb 12 at 20:03
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May's a Tosser ! I rather like him now !
Last edited by: R.P. on Sun 19 Feb 12 at 20:39
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>> Mobility Scooter special tonight.
I wish they'd do more of these challenges. Much better than star in a car, etc.
>> May
That cardigan looked awful on him tonight.
Last edited by: VxFan on Mon 20 Feb 12 at 01:06
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they do seem to spend a disproportionate amount of time on star in car.
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I can spend a disproportionate amount of time looking at Brian Johnson anyday:)
Pat
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The common factor thing is that they have movies/books/recipes/hair gels to promote. The only interesting thing about the guy yesterday was that he is a biker (and a Tosser to-boot) - no interest in cars...
Last edited by: R.P. on Mon 20 Feb 12 at 07:49
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>> - no interest in cars...
Didnt look that way to me, he drove the course pretty well.
But generally, SiaRPC has had its day and should be gone.
Last edited by: Zero on Mon 20 Feb 12 at 08:12
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yes kill off sia RPC with the stig doing doing the last lap.
i enjoyed yesterdays topgear but it needs a small revamp now the formula is 10 yrs old
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>>I wish they'd do more of these challenges. Much better than star in a car, etc
I still think a good challenge would be getting them to load a car transporter from scratch with a variety of sized vehicles.
GB inspired me on that one!
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First for me last night. I actually fell asleep during TG!
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I like the fact that they have mentioned the India Special a few times (in a negative way) Shows that they can take a bit of criticism.
So far this series has been OK - I was worried that it would be carp
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I wonder how many puzzled people there were, Re: Fenton.
IIRC, it was one of the few times that neither Jezza or Hampster crashed into May during one of these challenges.
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i was waiting for the contrived collisions but maybe they listen to some criticism.
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I think the India incident may have knocked them a little. It appears that they may have listened to some of the feedback
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>..thank goodness for the satellite box
Mrs K is allergic to JC so I'm not allowed to watch TG if she's around. Last Sunday I set my one week old 1TB box to record TG so I could watch it later. Lo and behold, as soon as it began to record the hard drive failed.
Won't send a new box, it has to be an "Engineer" visit and earliest available slot was for today.
Now fixed.
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just out of interest - what was the box?
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Zero, it's a Sky HD box.
Not a bad piece of kit really and the guy who replaced it today says it's the first one that he's heard of failing. Only cost me £60 so a bit of a bargain too.
One interesting point is that it's running Open Source like the Tivo.
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Which make of Sky box was it that failed - just curious because our 500Mb "Amstrad" Sky+ HD box is coming up to two years old soon.
I put "Amstrad" in quotes because Sky now own them. I am assuming most/all Sky+ HD boxes are Amstrad these days because they bought them?
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The current series seems a lot more restrained I think it is better than the last few. They seemed to have calmed down a bit and some interesting cars such as the Fisker have been featured.
I love SIAR bit as it means I can check my facebook/emails etc when that is on.
The mobility scooter but was rather silly and pointless but some how enjoyable and easy to watch.
Just one complaint, I saw a Morris Marina on the roads the other day, it was an 72? L reg so clearly they still have some more piano dropping to do!
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>> I love SIAR bit as it means I can check my facebook/emails etc when that is on.
Couldn't you just pause it? I'd watch it time shifted and fast forward that bit. Time they got rid of it.
The whole program is really pointless - but mostly enjoyable. So the scooter thing was a bit of fun.
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My PVR Is not that great, its perfectly reliable for recordings but it is not great at pausing live TV, I often find the sound and video go slightly out of sync if I pause live TV. Its interestingly not a certified freeview+ box. I will replace it with an HD PVR when it breaks.
I watch a lot of my TV online too.
As for the scooter thing do you know where in Wales it was filmed? At first I thought it was Bangor but I soon realised it wasn't, and the town looked slightly bigger. I suspect it may have been South Wales.
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>> As for the scooter thing do you know where in Wales it was filmed?
Someone mentioned it back in January ;o)
www.car4play.com/forum/post/index.htm?v=e&t=8202&m=207585
tinyurl.com/7kfwkh5 - links to www.southwalesargus.co.uk
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>> tinyurl.com/7kfwkh5 - links to www.southwalesargus.co.uk
>> Driving customised scooters that included a six wheel scooter
Didn't it have eight wheels?
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>> Didn't it have eight wheels?
Clarkson's did, but May's only had six.
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>>Driving customised scooters that included a six wheel scooter
Yes May's wheel chair had six wheels. It was not a scooter. Hammond's half track was not a scooter either. JC's was two scooters combined.
The extra wheel's on May's wheelchair were useless too.
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>The mobility scooter but was rather silly and pointless
I watched the mobility scooter thing on iPlayer and think that some of you are missing the point.
It illustrated that the devices available at the moment are pretty carp and also reminded a few million viewers of the injuries suffered by our squaddies.
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Abergavenny in Monmouthshire....South East Wales.
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>Which make of Sky box was it that failed -
>just curious because our 500Mb "Amstrad" Sky+ HD box is coming up to two years old soon.
Don't worry. Our old Amstrad box never had a problem. I think the duff drive was probably due to damage in transit so you should be OK.
>I am assuming most/all Sky+ HD boxes are Amstrad these days because they bought them?
You're right. BSkyB bought Amstrad and all new boxes are branded "Sky".
PS.
It's MB not Mb ;-)
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>> It's MB not Mb ;-)
How do you know how small the hard drive in my Sky box is? I could have replaced it.
Reminds me I'll have a go at copying off a lot of the free to air content tomorrow to get a quality backup of programmes I want to keep... tried recording to DVDs but that takes too long.
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Isn't it actually GB? A 500MB PVR would be as much use as a chocolate teapot.
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See I'm doing two or three things at the same time and typing the wrong thing. Of course I meant GB.
Chocolate tea pots are fine. You can eat those.
Last edited by: rtj70 on Mon 20 Feb 12 at 22:24
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Re SIARPC
Does this not add to the huge marketing / PR that drives Top Gear's success?
I had never heard of the guy who was on this week, but it looked like he was reasonably famous.
So, say he has a twitter account, and has 100k followers, hanging onto this every word.
"Guys, watch me in Top Gear tonight doing my thing"
chi-ching, another several thousand added to the viewing figures
repeat every episode, every year, will surely drive the viewing figures up?
add in the occasional Tom Cruise etc and global figures go sky high!
Time and time again TG gets criticism on here for being boring, not being a real motoring show etc. It is an entertainment program loosely based around cars, it is a global success and brings in huge sums of money.
Agree they occasionally get things wrong like India but overall, it is a roaring success of a program.
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I recognized the town as Abergavenny - its about half way when we drive up to see the out-laws - handy stop off to stretch the legs.
I also think that I recognized the off road bits. I went to a quad biking center in Merther a couple of years back and it looked very similar. Center is probably overselling it a bit - it was a working farm and the guy had bought a few quads and charged £25 to let you tear around the farm for an hour guided by him
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Good fun low key challenge that one. Shows they can get some enjoyable viewing without going to the moon in a Veyron.
A challenge that might be quite fun would be if they had to retake their driving tests, complete with theory. Wonder if they'd pass...
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>> Time and time again TG gets criticism on here for being boring, not being a
>> real motoring show etc. It is an entertainment program loosely based around cars, it is
>> a global success and brings in huge sums of money.
>>
>> Agree they occasionally get things wrong like India but overall, it is a roaring success
>> of a program.
Absolutely 100% agree. Clarkson has publicly stated on many occasions that it is an entertainment show with a motoring theme, and basically consists of 'three blokes cocking about.'
Which it is, and it does.
There are plenty of clips of the old, "factual" Top Gear on YouTube and other video sharing sites. My goodness, it was dull....
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I don't care how much they slated that Morgan, it made a lovely noise and handled far better than anyone expected it too.
If I had the money, it would be in my fun car collection.
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I agree, for some odd reason I really like that Morgan, it is truly madly bonkers. If I had £30k I don't think I would buy a BMW M3, I think I would buy that Morgan and keep the Panda as my every day car!
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I'd have that german thing. Anything that backfires as often, noisily and smokily as that is worthy of garage space.
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That German thing looked a right shed.
The Bentley looked much better.
Some info about that Bentley for the anoraks among us - tinyurl.com/c7fmbdg - The Telegraph
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>> Some info about that Bentley for the anoraks among us - tinyurl.com/c7fmbdg - The Telegraph
Thanks - only started watching halfway through the Bentley/German thing bit so missed where they came from.
From the link (talking about the Bentley):
The very word “transmission” does scant justice to a system combining a four-speed Allison automatic with a Petersen-built, 3:1 step-up box designed to speed up the lazy power delivery to the Phantom II rear axle. Lazy, incidentally, means about 80mph per 1,000rpm.
!
Last edited by: Focus on Mon 5 Mar 12 at 10:39
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Perhaps they could re-schedule Top Gear for Children's Hour.
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I have to say that although I approve of TG in principle, up to a point anyway, I haven't wanted to look at it for quite a long time although there are many repeats on the channels some of which I may not have seen. But I have sort of lost interest apart from wondering how effective I would be these days at trying to make a slow modern jalopy go fast.
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Television is a pointless medium these days. If it wasn't for Coronation Street I would not watch TV at all.
As for the X Factor I don't just hate it, I despise it and everything it stands for.
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I guess you don't watch Deal or No Deal Rattle? That is really thru the bottom the barrel! I can watch almost anything that involves some skill or ability but Noel Edmonds in charge of social misfits opening boxes and then hugging and kissing each other is just dross! I am an occasional guest in a house where it is required viewing so I use earplugs and bury myself in a newspaper.
Last edited by: Meldrew on Wed 9 May 12 at 15:46
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A lot of garbage is written about Deal or No Deal, and not all by its supporters. (I was off work with flu when it came out, so I saw the first few programmes.) While the egregious Edmonds spouts as if the contestants can somehow control the contents of the boxes, or implies that the box numbers somehow matter, the critics who say there's no skill in the game are also mistaken.
The skill, of course, lies in deciding whether to stick or twist, whether the offer from the bank is a fair reflection of the potential value still in the boxes. Poker players have to do it all the time, assessing the value of a given situation and the most probable outcomes. The difference with contestants in this is that they only get one go, which makes it look like they're guessing; of course, most of them probably are.
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>> The skill, of course, lies in deciding whether to stick or twist, whether the offer
>> from the bank is a fair reflection of the potential value still in the boxes.
>> Poker players have to do it all the time, assessing the value of a given
>> situation and the most probable outcomes.
I am also fascinated by the physiology and maths behind the bankers offer, it was fascinating viewing when it first came out. It dated quite quickly tho.
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>> It dated quite quickly tho.
Surely any current programme presented by Noel Edmonds is dated by definition? :)
Contrast that with Pointless presented by Alexander Armstrong, before the 6pm BBC1 News. There was a question the other day where the contestant* had to name 3 books by Virginia Woolf, at least one of which 100 members of the general public wouldn't have thought of (ie. a 'pointless' answer). I couldn't have named one, but he came up with 3, and what I thought was even more impressive was that the general public had also named them (so he didn't win). Or perhaps I'm just thick...
EDIT: at least I'm not the only one
www.theanswerbank.co.uk/Media-and-TV/Question1129035.html
* actually it was a celebrity edition (playing for charity), and the contestant was Paul Ross (Jonathan's brother)
Last edited by: Focus on Wed 9 May 12 at 18:59
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I think it's a shame there'll be no TG this winter. It had pretty much reached its limit though, I reckon the next series should go back to how it was in William Woolard's day.
>> Television is a pointless medium these days
It keeps my teenagers quiet, and it keeps them where I can see what they're doing.
I watch no more than an hour or two of TV a week myself, a bit more if the Formula 1's on :)
Last edited by: Dave_TDCi on Wed 9 May 12 at 16:34
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>> I think it's a shame there'll be no TG this winter. It had pretty much
>> reached its limit though, I reckon the next series should go back to how it
>> was in William Woolard's day.
>>
>> >> Television is a pointless medium these days
>>
>> It keeps my teenagers quiet, and it keeps them where I can see what they're
>> doing.
>>
>> I watch no more than an hour or two of TV a week myself, a
>> bit more if the Formula 1's on :)
I would have said it was flacid, but it is a cracker in comparison to the rest of the dross on the box.
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>> I would have said it was flacid, but it is a cracker in comparison to
>> the rest of the dross on the box.
>>
agreed. A bit of a curate's egg sometimes, but still some entertaining stuff.
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>> A bit of a curate's egg sometimes,
Very true.
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Well, we'll miss it. One of the few programmes we sit down as a family to watch and usually enjoy. Sure it's often puerile but so is an awful lot of TV.
Strictly-talentless-ice-brother's-factor-voices really don't do much for me.
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>> Sure it's often puerile but so
am I. :)
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>> it's often puerile
Despite/because of this it's won 'a major international award':
www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-18024852
Hit BBC show Top Gear has been awarded an honorary prize for its global appeal, on the final night of the Rose d'Or festival in Lucerne, Switzerland.
"Approximately seven million cars had to be destroyed to win this award," joked host Jeremy Clarkson, as he collected the award.
"This is the best job in the world and I hope I can do it forever," he added.
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>> Hit BBC show Top Gear has been awarded an honorary prize for its global appeal,
>> on the final night of the Rose d'Or festival in Lucerne, Switzerland.
To add to earlier comments, one aspect I do like about TG is the humour. So many people seem terrified to say anything in case they offend someone. And it looks like Johnny Foreigner agrees!
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>> And it looks like Johnny Foreigner agrees!
In my last job I spent a lot of time at one of our offices near Amsterdam, and just as many of my Dutch colleagues were fans of the show as the British in the office I was based in. They loved it, despite the Dutch being on the receiving end of Clarkson's jokes on a number of occasions (usually relating to sex and drugs).
Top Gear is a global hit. One of the most successful shows in the world, in terms of audience figures. 350 million viewers in 170 countries.
I seriously doubt whether it offends that many people. What it does undoubtedly do is regularly wind up the kind of people who have taken it upon themselves to be offended on the behalf of other people.
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>> What it does undoubtedly do is
>> regularly wind up the kind of people who have taken it upon themselves to be
>> offended on the behalf of other people.
>>
There's plenty of them about.
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>> I seriously doubt whether it offends that many people. What it does undoubtedly do is
>> regularly wind up the kind of people who have taken it upon themselves to be
>> offended on the behalf of other people.
I've met one or two of those self righteous types.
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Never found it offensive, but some of the humour is stereotypical with respect to race, politics and religion, in a boring ignorant way.
No two ways about it, its lost some spark, become predictable, a break may do them some good to get some fresh ideas
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>> Never found it offensive, but some of the humour is stereotypical with respect to race,
>> politics and religion, in a boring ignorant way.
I would argue that it parodies stereotypes, and plays off of them. The Mexican episode was a joke based on the stereotypical view of Mexicans pushed to an absurd extreme. Clarkson knows that he often uses stereotypes, combined with hyperbole and he knows we know he knows. I hope that has clarified it for you. :)
>> No two ways about it, its lost some spark, become predictable, a break may do
>> them some good to get some fresh ideas
You have a point. But even a wart, when on the face of Simon Cowell, is imbued with beauty by virtue of the awful surroundings.
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>> Television is a pointless medium these days. If it wasn't for Coronation Street I would
>> not watch TV at all.
So Coronation street isn't pointless?????
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>>So Coronation street isn't pointless?????
Have you never listened to Harry Nilsson's The Point?
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Pointless, aptly named would much rather watch The Chase on ITV.
This is an excellent quiz show. No flannel or tedioius structure to it and compered by the rather unexpectedly good, Bradley Walsh.
Maybe having rather less or TG may result in a better quality programme if that's not a contradiction in terms.
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>> Pointless, aptly named would much rather watch The Chase on ITV.
>>
This time last year I was sat in a very hot, sweaty cramped pub quiz opposite Anne Hegarty, who was clad in lycra - as sight I'm still trying to expunge from my mind
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www.telegraph.co.uk/motoring/picturegalleries/9730055/Top-Gears-top-cars-of-2012.html
Toyota GT86 wins the top award, Golf gets 'all the car you'll ever need', and some nice supercars in between.
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GT86 ? The advert they ran captured my imagination enough to consider one as the next car...
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Yeah why not, you haven't bought a car for at least 4 months.
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Fiat Panda 4x4 has returned?
I wish it well but last time the fat MINI was not in existance.
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Having sat in the back of the fat MINI 4x4 effort the Panda will need to be pretty gash not to be the preferred vehicle of anyone who will actually use a 4x4 towncar.
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5th Feb - CGNorwich
