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The Top Gear MEGATHREAD!!!!
- Thread starter edesignuk
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They do. 'Top Gear of the Pops' Clarkson said, for comic relief.
Agreed! I dont watch Top Gear for everyday carsIf you wanna watch Everyday cars reviewed start watching Fifth Gear!
Tiz true, I do still agree they have been lacking on the reviews generally though, not just the supercars.
The mustang bit was copied from the newest Clarkson DVD!
It was, pretty much exactly the same, but then thats not the first time thats happened. I guess it shows who has a lot of ideas and who is vital to the show.
I can't believe how much quicker it was over the 500 with less bhp but with independent rear suspension.
I think the Mustang is such a great looking car, one of the few truly desirable american cars, but Ford f**ked up big and proper by listening to the fat, old hot rodders and muscle car brigade.
I can't believe how much quicker it was over the 500 with less bhp but with independent rear suspension.
I think the Mustang is such a great looking car, one of the few truly desirable american cars, but Ford f**ked up big and proper by listening to the fat, old hot rodders and muscle car brigade.
I could believe it, quite easily. I've seen horse draw carts with better suspension setup.
I myself don't much like anything to ever have come out of America (Car wise), nothing at all that I can lay my finger on anyway. Designed with a ruler. I could spend £40,000 on sooooo much more.
I can't believe how much quicker it was over the 500 with less bhp but with independent rear suspension.
I think the Mustang is such a great looking car, one of the few truly desirable american cars, but Ford f**ked up big and proper by listening to the fat, old hot rodders and muscle car brigade.
I've liked all Ford's retro remakes they've done over the last few years!
I wish this had made it further though:
Attachments
It's a big gap though considering it's not an especially demanding track, with a good surface, both should mask the limitations of that particular suspension layout.
I'm ready for more segments that involve a lot more driving. The limo bit was good but a little meh - I'm seeing some repeat stuff here i.e. Clarkson getting exctited about cutting tools, domestic furnishings inside cars (the big merc they did a while back with a drawing room) etc. etc.
Do more "we got x amount of money to buy x type of car and will now participate in a series of realistic challenges" types of segments.
I would also like to see them do more comparisons between current performance cars and older models: for example, Mistu Evo v.s. Escort Cosworth. Or M6 v.s 80's M6. Or E55 AMG v.s. Lotus Carlton.
I'd also like to see them do segments with race cars, current or classic. Have the Stig do a lap.
The Mustang test was bit unfair - if they dyno'd every car they tested they'd find a lot of little white lies...
...But I agree that the 'Stang's live axle is an embarassment - I can't wait for the old fart hot-rodders that are responsible for that to die off. Give us a modern suspension, Ford!
Do more "we got x amount of money to buy x type of car and will now participate in a series of realistic challenges" types of segments.
I would also like to see them do more comparisons between current performance cars and older models: for example, Mistu Evo v.s. Escort Cosworth. Or M6 v.s 80's M6. Or E55 AMG v.s. Lotus Carlton.
I'd also like to see them do segments with race cars, current or classic. Have the Stig do a lap.
The Mustang test was bit unfair - if they dyno'd every car they tested they'd find a lot of little white lies...
...But I agree that the 'Stang's live axle is an embarassment - I can't wait for the old fart hot-rodders that are responsible for that to die off. Give us a modern suspension, Ford!
Ooooh, I'd like that, I was more than a little peeved when they didn't unleash the F40 round the track.
I thought car manufacturers gave the BHP figures at the crank, as opposed to at the actual wheels?
I think a simple drag race between similar cars every week would be interesting. I like to know what I can and cant blow away at the lights if some **** cuts me up or basically asks for an ass whupping.
That way if I dont have a chance I can make out I dont care
I think a simple drag race between similar cars every week would be interesting. I like to know what I can and cant blow away at the lights if some **** cuts me up or basically asks for an ass whupping.
That way if I dont have a chance I can make out I dont care
What car does the Boobies have?
I'm pretty sure you're right, but that means the GT500 they tested lost 50bhp somewhere between the crank and wheels...a little suspicious ay what?
It reminds me of the Nissan Sentra SE-R here in the 'States. When they launched the car they rated the engine at 180bhp. Sport Compact Car magazine dyno'd one and got something like 140bhp at the wheels. Nissan subsequently reduced the claimed output to 175bhp, like that made a difference
. You just don't lose 40bhp through a manual transmission.I wonder how many other cars "lose" a lot of horsepower from the claimed numbers (at the crank) when you put them on a dyno.
It makes me a little nervous about my Nisaan Altima...they claim it produces 150bhp. I can verify the factory quoted 0-60 time as being slightly conservative, but I wonder how many of those horsies make it to the road...
I've been doing a little digging, and it seems that anywhere between 5-15% is lost from the engine to the wheels through the drivetrain etc. So the Mustang figure is about bang on then.
Typical Top Gear not to not bother with 'facts' of all things.
There's only one reasonably demanding corner on the whole track, and that looks to be Hammerhead. The rest is just conventional corners in a figure of eight layout.
Why I'm surprised by the performance difference is that because the Top Gear track is based on an airfield, it'll be completely devoid of undulations, with neutral camber corners, that arguably should lesson the disadvantage of such a suspension layout, I can only suspect that the margin would be massively greater on a proper race track.
I've been doing a little digging, and it seems that anywhere between 5-15% is lost from the engine to the wheels through the drivetrain etc. So the Mustang figure is about bang on then.
That's more than I thought for a manual...which means I'll be lucky if my Altima puts 135bhp down on the road...
Typical Top Gear not to not bother with 'facts' of all things.
I'm a little irritated that they subjected the GT500 to special scrutiny - sure, it has a crap rear suspension, but why do we have to put the power figures under a microscope? Anyway it ran with the Monaro as far as lap times go, so it's not like it was especially slow. Whenever it comes to American cars it seems like they build up a strawman just so they can talk about how disappointed they were after driving it. Even when the new Z06 posted a very fast lap time they complained about how it was rough to drive day-to-day, which could be said about a lot of the cars on their lap time board.
It's not just the gearbox though, alternators, differentials or any other ancillaries that may be powered by, or affect the efficiency of the power before it reaches the wheels can have a negative effect on HP at the wheels.
I don't know why they did that either, they wouldn't dream of doing it to something with a 'M' on the boot lid that's for sure.
It should do though... it's 102BHP more powerful than the Monaro.
But personally I'd still take the Mustang, I'd just pay for a proper springs and stuff to be fitted first. Weheh.It's funny you should mention that mate, I was playing pool the other Sunday morning, and they had 'Jeremy Clarksons Motor World' on, back from the mid '90's and it was an episode on the U.S automotive industry (particularly Detroit), and he was singing a different tune back then, it's just at the moment... and for whatever reason (and one that I personally don't agree with) there's a certain fashionability in some quarters for cynically knocking anything American, regardless of whether it's justified or not.
I would disagree with that - american cars have been slated for quite a long time - because it appears that in the 70's 80's and 90's they gave up designing and just started producing heaps of junk!
Its not just some anti american thing
True...a friend of mine replaced his underdrive pulley and removed the AC on his Nissan 240SX for a couple extra horsepower. I know that some automatic transmissions can leech pretty significant amounts of power, but now that you mention it 50bhp isn't much proportionately when you start with 500.
iGav said:
Belive me, I've been seeing a lot of it. I've been looking on the 'net for old episodes of Top Gear, from back when Clarkson had more hair, just to see what it was like. I have one episode from about 1990 (without Clarkson) and it's pretty boring. It was like a TV version of Conumer Reports.
I think it is at least partially ad hominem anti-Americanism...you are right that the American car industry is a shadow of what it was a few generations ago, but the Mustang GT500 happens to be a very good (if flawed) car. And the Top Gear "test" set it up unfairly. I expect them to knock US cars a bit, and agree with a lot of what they say, but Clarkson (a loud, fat man with somewhat conservative views) spends a little too much time ripping on loud, fat, conservative Americans and their cars methinks.
Anyway, enough political BS. I wonder what they'll do for the special.
Old top gears were so dull looking back. What with the greasy used car sales man going - 'mmm rust under the bonnet', tiff niddell who is just boring and vbh who loved herself!
Oh..its just like 5th gear is now!
What? disagree that Clarkson was waxing rhapsodic about american cars a decade ago? because that's exactly what he did.
Not all of them course, but certainly with significantly less vitriol than he does today.
Considering they only had enough content to fill one episode, I'd say that's a remarkable achievement in itself.
Six I think, but still hardly a "series." We want 24 episodes!
Mind you, we should probably be thankful it's back at all and with all cast members in-tact.
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