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A good freind of our family his brother drives a V12 Vanquish.... absolutely stunning car! very fast if you want it to go as well...

I loved when Jeremy Clarkson drove the DB9 from London to Monaco and beat the TGV train :)
 
garybUK said:
I loved when Jeremy Clarkson drove the DB9 from London to Monaco and beat the TGV train :)
That was classic, the DB9 needed a hell of a good wash though, sooooo many dead bugs all over that beautiful car :eek:
 
edesignuk said:
Glad to see they just gave the Mini the thumbs up (again!).

Mini ... Pah!! ... Mercilessly overrated pile of gubbins if you ask me .. (which nobody did .. but I said it anyway;))

I gave up on 5th gear when they .. er... started heaping gargantually sycophantic praise on the new Mini

On a lighter note, I too found the 'sucking moisture off a rock' remark made me laugh out lound, and I look forward to using it in a totally inappropriate way at work today. :)
 
The only trouble with Top Gear is that it's full of inaccuracies, and the road test are full of JC's bull*****... :eek: :p

5th Gear kinda pi$$ed me off totally last night as well... because Aston, Jag, Bentley, and MINI are NOT British car makers anymore, and it's wrong to call them that :rolleyes: it's like proclaiming NISSAN as a British car maker, because they knock stuff out up in Sunderland! :rolleyes:

And the Bentley looks more like an MG Rover Tiff... :eek: silly boy :p
 
a hammer, and a roll of black electrical tape.....now THEY fix everything :)


edesignuk, i'll have to check that out on BBCA, i always liked Clarkson for some reason, maybe because he's just so random.

no one has it on their computer do they? there must be someone out there that can get it into their mac and qt it....
 
edesignuk said:
:eek: :eek: Don't look at my .Mac gallery then!

Objectively, as a visual feast, the Mini does look the part ... I'm happy to admit that. But it's a case of form ahead of function and I think BMW could have had a lot more to show from their R&D expenditure. It's just my very humble opinion, so bear it no consequence.

As for Top Gear, I wish they'd lose the 'sleb spot ... I couldn't give a monkeys how fast Gladys Grimthorpe from Coronation Street drives a car in a circle ... which I consider less 'opinion' and more 'valid point'.

;)
 
edesignukthe engineering is pathetic said:
BMW:
507 HP (373 kW) @ 7750 rpm
520 Nm (383 ft.-lb) torque @ 6100 rpm
Viper:
500 horsepower at 5,600 RPM
525 ft.-lb. of torque at 4,200 RPM

How in the world can you give someone a 5.2 liter V-10 and only get 383 ft.-lbs. of torque from it, at 73% of redline?! :p
edit: one more thing: then they want £80k for it, you must be ******** me, I can think of MUCH better ways to spend £80k on a car.
How about better ways to spend $85k? Looks like Daimler Chrysler is doing the same thing as Apple with you guys ;)
 
evoluzione said:
no ****??? do you know where/how??? i miss top gear and i've yet to find it on telly over here. maybe i should do a tivo search, never thought it would ever be on! top gear and match of the day, if i could get both of those i'd be the happiest guy alive, at least for a minute anyway.

all i'd need then is murray walker on the grand prix shows here.....

have you thought of looking on bit torrent? i've seen some small british shows on there so it might be worth a look.
 
iGAV said:
The new Disco is cool as... more so in the flesh. It's HUGE as well and looks like it's carved out of granite, and far more impressive looking than the Range Rover. Shame it weighs 2.7 tonnes. :eek: Totally over engineered, but nothing short of a military Hummer would see which way it went off road though! :D

What is the fascination with Land Rover? Am I the only one who thinks they're terribly overpriced and poorly built? I've known three people who have bought a Land Rover and all three regret it so much that they bring it up unprovoked in conversation just to complain about it.

I mean, I can understand lusting after ridiculously expensive cars that do far more than anyone needs. After all, most of the cool cars ever made fit that description! But Land Rover....come on!
 
Savage Henry said:
But it's a case of form ahead of function and I think BMW could have had a lot more to show from their R&D expenditure. It's just my very humble opinion, so bear it no consequence.

That's exactly how I've always felt about the new MINI (same goes for the new Beetle as well).

The original MINI was incredibly innovative for it's time, and this seems to have been completely lost on BMW, who have taken the aesthetic of the original, given it a straight forward f***over and proclaimed it the new MINI... completely missing eveything that made the original one of the most important cars ever built.

Personally I've always believed the Audi A2 to be a true spiritual sucessor to the original MINI, from it's innovative construction and engineering layout, to it's overall aesthetic, I can well imagine Issigonis giving it the thumbs up because it takes the spirit of the original MINI and places it within 21st century lifestyles, instead of being merely retro/modern pastiche of the originals.

And Tiff... it ain't a British car... MINI has never been British, it's always been German :rolleyes:
 
iGAV said:
That's exactly how I've always felt about the new MINI (same goes for the new Beetle as well).

The original MINI was incredibly innovative for it's time, and this seems to have been completely lost on BMW, who have taken the aesthetic of the original, given it a straight forward f***over and proclaimed it the new MINI... completely missing eveything that made the original one of the most important cars ever built.

Personally I've always believed the Audi A2 to be a true spiritual sucessor to the original MINI, from it's innovative construction and engineering layout, to it's overall aesthetic, I can well imagine Issigonis giving it the thumbs up because it takes the spirit of the original MINI and places it within 21st century lifestyles, instead of being merely retro/modern pastiche of the originals.

And Tiff... it ain't a British car... MINI has never been British, it's always been German :rolleyes:

Hate to go Flanders-style Spookily Dookily on you here, but in my original text I was gonna mention (a) the monsterification of the Beetle as a comparison and (b) the fact that my wheels are an A2 ... and I love it to bits. But I recall that them folks at Top Gear (2 seasons ago) put the A2 in the 'uncool' section of their giant Fuzzy Felt board :eek: .... Philistines! :mad:
 
Counterfit said:
How in the world can you give someone a 5.2 liter V-10 and only get 383 ft.-lbs. of torque from it, at 73% of redline?!

also knocks out 331lb ft of torque at 3500rpm though ;)

either way... there's no excuse for the lazy arse engineering behind the engine in the Viper.... :p



Savage Henry said:
the fact that my wheels are an A2 ... and I love it to bits.

you kept that one quiet Savage... :) I was thinking about buying one for use in the City, but keep thinking better of it and using the tube.

what engine?? I was thinking either the 1.6 FSI (converted if poss to run on LPG so it's exempt from the Congestion Charge) or maybe the 1.4 TDi (90PS) because of it's 230 NM of torque thwack!! :)

what's you general thoughts on it?? :)
 
iGAV said:
also knocks out 331lb ft of torque at 3500rpm though ;)

either way... there's no excuse for the lazy arse engineering behind the engine in the Viper.... :p
*cough* And where's the laziness? Using pushrods instead of overhead cams makes sense in a front engined car with an engine this long :)D), and I'm sure the crankshaft is pretty damn well designed, as handling all that torque over that length puts über-stress on it. Of course, they could have taken the M-B route and just slapped a pair of turbos on it :rolleyes:
 
iGAV said:
what engine???
The first gen petrol 1.4 nearly 3 years old and it is the sweetest thing that has ever graced the sole of my shoe.

iGAV said:
I was thinking either the 1.6 FSI (converted if poss to run on LPG so it's exempt from the Congestion Charge)
CC exemption would be a big yay in my books and wouldn't think twice about driving the burbs of London with that model. In fact I'd say my next purchase would be a non-converted one (being country folk 'n all;))

iGAV said:
or maybe the 1.4 TDi (90PS) because of it's 230 NM of torque thwack!! :)

what's you general thoughts on it?? :)

But the TDi was a super tasty machine when I purchased, yet I still chose petrol over derv: it felt a smoother drive, hugged the road as though it fell in love with the tarmac and yet had more punch that it's larger engined petrol rivals (opinion, obviously.)

Test them both, see what you think. But my next won't be anything else. :D
 
the only Top Gear stuff i've seen is the enzo thing last week, and the Ford GT stuff from a while back, when he ran out of gas on the track. For those of you in the states lookin for a top gear fix,

www.sleepy-fish.com has a bunch of videos, although it seems to be down at this moment.

As far as the whole specific argument goes. I agree that the viper engine isn't all that impressive. But to me, you've gotta look at the benefits from using a smaller engine. I don't think you should compare hp/litre of displacement. You should compare hp/mpg or hp/cost or hp/cost of maintenance. STuff like that.
Doesn't a higher revving engine wear out quicker?
 
I have a question for you all....

What car do you want to win the restoration thingy? I think that Chrysler on the last show should be restored but it'll be good to see whatever one is picked.
 
jeffy.dee-lux said:
For those of you in the states lookin for a top gear fix,

www.sleepy-fish.com has a bunch of videos, although it seems to be down at this moment.

well that's funny, the day i post this seems to also be the day that sleepy fish takes down all their top gear videos.... too bad, there were a couple things i wanted to watch/ show friends.
 
Counterfit said:
And where's the laziness?

from an engineering point of view, only getting 500bhp from over 8 litres is lazy engineering, one could assume that someone like BMW would get near or indeed exceed 800bhp from such a displacement.

that in itself I guess could be forgiven if it didn't look like the worst handling car on the planet and didn't set fire to bits of its interior :eek: :p
 
MacDawg said:
My tastes are just too old fashioned, the muscle cars of the 60's, etc.

Z28
Super Sport
GTO
Roadrunner
Boss 302

I come from a different generation :(

what about a '68 Camaro though... :D after playing Driv3r, I'd love one of those bad boys.. :D
 
EGT said:
I have a question for you all....

What car do you want to win the restoration thingy? I think that Chrysler on the last show should be restored but it'll be good to see whatever one is picked.

Ah good point...I was all up for James Dean's Lotus until they rolled out Keith Moon's Chrysler this week! Its a toughy thats for sure! Would be nice to see them all saved really, as seems all 3 so far have a pretty unique place in our motoring and wider cultural heritage.

My general observations from this series so far:

The Enzo feature was fantastic - but the 90s V 00's Supercar feature that followed it wasn't...proof if ever it were needed that Clarkson is more than happy to bend the truth a little when in need of a good soundbite.

The Disco feature, whilst impressive was a little OTT in my opinion - I can't help thinking there were other ways of proving the car's ability without needlessly ripping up a peat bog (a protected habitat no-less) just so JC could reel out a few (admitedly very funny) Ray Mears/survival one-liners.

Their hatred of Chris Bangle is getting a little out of hand - OK, so the new BMWs aren't to everyone's liking, but its just getting a little silly that they seem to have to mention he's "ruined" them everytime a new BMW is shown. He's actually made BMW's interesting ferchrissakes! (Nothing to do with the fact that I'm biassed cos he penned my car over a decade ago when the thought of flame-modeling a BMW 7-series was but a distant dream in his mind!)
 
edesignuk said:
The front of the Rolls-Royce Phantom would smart a bit too! :eek: It's gotta be the biggest, flatest, front of a car I have ever seen :cool:



...but then, there's probably not much chance of running in to a £250,000 car everyday...

Unless, like me, you work across the road from a RR mechanic and have to dodge them on the zebra crossings round Chelsea. RR drivers don't appear to believe that normal road rules apply to them
 
Swinny said:
Their hatred of Chris Bangle is getting a little out of hand - OK, so the new BMWs aren't to everyone's liking, but its just getting a little silly that they seem to have to mention he's "ruined" them everytime a new BMW is shown. He's actually made BMW's interesting ferchrissakes! (Nothing to do with the fact that I'm biassed cos he penned my car over a decade ago when the thought of flame-modeling a BMW 7-series was but a distant dream in his mind!)

and the really funny thing is that Bangle doesn't actually design BMW's... the 7 can be laid at the feet of Adrian van Hooydonk, Bangle just instigated the flame-surfacing aesthetic. ;)
 
yeessss! i saw an episode!!! i am missing the old Top Gear theme though ( good ol' iTMS! ) just isn't quite the same without it....not sure about some of the crappy camera movements either.

so the episode i saw was "Drunk vs Tired". how old is that one for you lot back home???? was strange to see my crap hometown too, they stayed in the Moathouse Hotel (i think that's what it's called) in Bedford, good base for Millbrook I guess. ahhhh brings back memories of chasing a sapphire cossie in my corolla, hitting 70 and launching off the bridge just before the hotel.....nearly landed on a cop too! :eek:
 
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