Loved the 1st episode!

Unfortunately, personally, I can’t answer your question Mr Wilman as I pretty much follow the Hammond theory of Motor Sport…. F-what?

That aside, budget or no… I’m looking forward to a hell of a Top Gear ride that’s better than any race involving cars that look like they should be put to better use as a door chock!

I’ll be honest i thought it was a poor episode there was to much possible staged stuff for it to be enjoyable it’s like a friend who lies so much you just assume everything that he say’s is a lie and disconnect from him so even if something magical does truly happen which is what top gear’s about you miss it and the world is a poorer place for it bring back the old top gear it’s just to STAGED PLEASE!!!!

Wonderful wonderful wonderful 1st show! You’ve remembered it’s about cars again : ) Great guest, great roadtrip and enough cocking about to keep the plebs happy.

Thank you thank you thank you, you’re back to your best!!

P.S Alonso, Glock’s stand in (can’t spell his name!) for that drive Brazil, and Hamilton.

Brilliant start to the series. I noticed it was aimed more for us petrolheads than for the 8 year old kids this time around. Having just come home from the MPH/Top Gear Live show just in time for Top Gear, that was a real treat.

I also loved how the three presenters treated the Dacia as a sort of ‘the Stig’ of cars. Did you know, some say that it only has a 1.6L engine, and yet it’ll do 277mph? All we know is, it’s called the Sandero.

Hope it gets up though as it always does.

I like Button, Hamilton and then some other bloke.
Button and Hamilton do it for me

To post 5; yes some of it was staged, but I think we can forgive them that as the rest was about cars! Very clever having James tell the facts for the Merc and BMW whilst Stig did his thing – kept both camps (non car fans and car bores) happy I think.

Keep them coming like this please, I’m so pleased the 1st show has given hope to the return of the car programme.

Oh, and Vetel, Sutil (yes really!) and Button

Just watched Episode One, and I gotta say it was a piece of TV perfection. I know you wanted to talk about F1, and didn’t want people saying Top Gear is brilliant. Well, Top Gear is brilliant. (ensuing silence due to no mention of F1)

I will admit that, after the last series, I was afraid that Top Gear was going a bit Fat Elvis, being slowly suffocated by it’s own ridiculousness. (That show with the Scirocco ad was the concert where Elvis forgot the words to ‘Are You Lonesome Tonight’). Tonight, however, we were shot straight back to 1956. Top job.

Kamui Kobayashi, A major contender for next year, Rubens Barrichello, Outstanding in every way. And lastly, Jenson Button. His time finally came.
Oh, the show was great, only thing was, I’ve got a history test tomorrow and i’m currently supposed to be studying.

I’m all talked out on F1 and simply want to say welcome back, in every sense.

Oh, alright then. Hamilton, Button, Kobayashi.

Button, best driver, and Brawn the best constructors.
Barrichello too.
Brilliant episode. You guys just get better and better. Sunday wouldnt be the same with out you. =D

Button, Massa, Raikonne (who dragged that dog of a car way higher than it ever deserved to go (x2)

One of the best episodes ever! Button, Raikkonen, Rosberg

I loved James’s single German sentence – even if his pronunciation was a bit off, hehe – but wat was that word that the men were so baffled about? (Too bad they didn’t even really try, I would’ve loved hearing Richard stumble over that!)

My top 3 fave F1 drivers to root for — Vettel, Hamilton & Kobayashi!!! Even though he was only in two races, I gotta love a guy that just wants to pass the car in front of him no matter who the eff is driving it!!!

Great show. Hamilton ,Button and Vettel were the best this year – I am so glad Jenson Button has finally done it! The penultimate race was awesome and I was shouting at the screen and even got tearful. (my family all think I am mad cos I’m female and car mad)
PS topgear live was excellent on friday in birmingham

Awesome one guys! Great job.

Well Button won the most races and got the most points. This makes him the best. Hamilton is also up there. And of course Badoer for letting everyone else feel so much more skillful.

Love the first show I’m not the biggest fan of siarpc but tonights was great, rwould love to of driven on that road it looked amazing, I know we haven’t seen the xmas special yet as its only novemmber but if you put it out on dvd can we please have a directors extended cut with crew comemtery as I really enjoyed listening to the Nam one.
Keep up the good work.

hamilton, vettel and massa

Pretty good first ep. Hopefully the rest of the series carries on in the same way. I did think at the end of the last series that Topgear was running out of ideas a little bit, which to be fair is not surprising after thirteen very entertaining series’. Not that I would ever stop watching. The South America special sounds epic!

As for F1 drivers I think I’d go for Hamilton – immensely talented in any car, Vettel – super consistent, Rosberg – underrated, needs a good car next year.

i absolutely loved tonights episode! sooo funny couldnt stop laughing ad also i would like a lamborghini gallordo spyder for xmas if anyone was wondering!

My three drivers would be Button, Mand Barrichello

Should be studying for a physics exam soon but that doesn’t matter right now…

Can’t wait to watch this…

Sorry that should of said Button, Massa and Barrichello

Great first show guys, although some of it was staged but moving on, it was back to what TG should be like. Petrolhead heaven!

Great first episode!

Hamilton, Raikonnen, and Button just scrapes through for the first third of the race in Brazil. Sounds harsh but Barichello gets the award for ‘I would have bothered in the first six races if i’d realised that I was sitting in a car that could win the championship’.

Class show, living in a student house with no fags, no money and just pasta, this has made a perfect end to a shit week.

Loved the comments about the gypsies – whoever thought of that is a genius. And proper oaf !

Top three drivers of the season – Raikkonen, Trulli, Button.

loved the first show and i`ll be there this wednesday as i`ve got tickets,so make it a good one please guys lol

no order
f.alonso
vettel
webber

Overall I enjoyed the first show, but to be honest I think this episode is only about average compared to the previous shows. I like the guest part and James comparing the Merc and BMW. But the road trip is a bit too long and lack of excitement(except the last 3 minutes).

Didn’t watch the last F1 season enough to properly pick out the top three drivers, so i’ll just give my opinion of tonights show.

I think it was very good, it always works well when you get the boys in an very foreign country in some exotic cars. ALWAYS. Yes, some of the things that happened were very obviously staged (Sandero drive-by towards the start), but Top Gear needs that. The world isn’t interesting enough for funny things like that to happen coincidentally. It is for Top Gear to make that humour.

A very good episode overall Stretch that BBC budget to keep travelling abroad XD

1. Raikkonen
2. Button
3. Vettel

To be honest, Im a Button fan, and I like Lewis as well but ill admit that Raikkonen was unreal getting that Ferrari to 6th overall in the championship. Fisi was well used to that car, as was Luca Badoer. They were just outclassed comprehensively by Raikkonen. Id like to see hammy vs kimi next year!

Great 1st show by the way lads

great start to the show, cant wait to see the belfast one, and in a roundabout way i helped make the sewers,although a motorcycle or two would be good to watch, imagine clarkson on a r1 or gixser thou…..

Cant wait for the first episode! none of the torrents have it yet….sorry top gear but i am in the US and thats the only we i have to watch it on this side of the pond…BBC America is still airing 10th season…

To answer your question, i’d go with Raikkonen…ive been a fan of him ever since i started religiously watching F1 which was, coincidentally, his first year in F1 as well…he was always a fighter, though i agree with critics when his motivation was questioned…he had to go all out to get that car in a respectable position and i wouldnt be surprised if he went on a diet to lose weight and shave a few seconds off the times…but vettel was simply superb and i would go as far as saying i wouldnt even pick hamilton as a nominee…

loved it tonight was awsome loved jeremys falling through the cardbox loo and cant wait till next week been waiting for ages for this to start:PTOG GEAR IS AWSOME

unfortunately have yet to see the show due to family watching x-tactor stuff and recording i am a celeb in a tree, sky need to invent a sky++++ box to record more stuff at the same time – toshiba have invented a new TV that will record 8 channels at the same time – so i need i of them.

please somebody upload to torent site so i can get to see it and or get it up on top gear website what night its repeated – F1 – happy that button got championship but hamilton, webber and sutil for me(and that japanese guy that filled in for glock) you have to mention luca badoer for how bad he was.

Excellent start to the series. Many thanks Mr Wilman. As for F1 – it has to be Hamilton, Vettel and Kobayashi for me. I hope someone gives Kobayashi a drive next year. Two races this year and he gave it his all.

So, is it 7 episodes including the special, or 7 plus the special?

#1 – Kimi Räikkönen. Guy who in real life is the most like me, but who still managed to win with a car that hadn’t been developed for umm.. A bit. And that was shit when it came out in the first place.

#2 – Vettel. I like Red Bull, I’m a skater kid and we have same sunglasses.

umm… 3rd best? Look How Bad You Are? Proved that the car is shit and that Räikkönen is a very advanced driver.

Absolutly brilliant show!
1.Vettel
2.Hamilton
3.Sutil

Webber- cos he finally pulled his finger out. And 2 other blokes, preferably not English…

Top 3.
1. Hamilton
2. Sutil
3. Button

brilliant start to the series, cant wait for the rest either.
vettel, barchello, hamilton

Awesome! Thats it! And in HD too!

1-Button
2-Massa
3-Montezemolo

So glad you’ve come back guys , stuff coming ahead looks great too !

Mr. Willman,
it was a brilliant comeback of Top Gear.
After a bit dissapointig 13th season (maybe it was the number 13?) it was a great start, and hoping to see more of that in the next episodes.
the moment with sandero and the truck was epic, I really felt sorry for James.
So keep up the good work, TG is still the best.

P.S. and for the question
1. Vettel
2. Raikkonen
3. Kubica

Webber
Sutil
Vettel

In that order

I would have to say that I too would Nominate Raikkonen, the F60 was not a competitive car, not for a podium finish at least,
second, Hamilton, He showed his true spirit, and when the chips were down, he surprised us with brilliant driving, and even better attitude towards his team.
And lastly, Kobayashi, He drove the crap out of that Toyota, and proved that he may be a rookie, but a rookie that knew what he had to do to win.

i particularly enjoyed watching button (of course), vettel and barichello really got in it this season too. on another note, i cant wait to watch episode 1 of season 14 – its downloading as we speak (i know thats kinda bad but in the us we get shit for tg…)

Great show! Great Road! Great Cars! Top Gear is back! Can’t wait ’til next week.

P.S. F1 drivers this season:
1. Button
For the 6 wins at the beggining of the season and staying in the points.

2. Hamilton
For hanging on with a dreadful car and then shining with a brilliant one.

3. Vettel
For just being brilliant and consistant when at the front (Espiecially being only 22.

Was the chopper pilot by any chance the complete nutter who does one of the european GP’s? He should be the only guy they let pilot the camera ‘copters for next years F1 season, he gets some great shots and gets himself in the ground camera shots during the race too somehow.

Hamilton (fought hard)
Button (he did win)
Vettel (very consistent year)

hi andy. i have two questions that i can’t find any answers.

firstly. series or season 2. there was a piece that hammond did which wasn’t aired? Is there any way we can see that video? and secondly what happened to the mini that was selected in project restoration?

lovely show btw and lovely tg live as well.

If you are out of money for January, why not set up a PayPal site for donations? I know that there are at least 250,000 viewers not in the UK that may want to donate to the cause…

I would donate at least $20(US) funds if I could somehow download this show legally. Provide some official receipt upon completion, I’d be down for that, especially if it goes to making the January show something to watch.

250,000 people donating that amount turns out to be a very large sum.

Thank God that the opening show had in it what Top Gear SHOULD be about.

not explosions, not three men falling over, but great cars, great roads, and driving the ruddy things.

Although “Show three, is, gasp, for people who like cars”, this worried me that it needed to be said.

anywho, top 3: Hamilton (proved to all the nay-sayers he can develop a car), Kobayashi (watching him spank the limiter coming out the pits at Abu Dhabi was immense, reminded me of montoya) anddddd……..Alonso (makes a pig of a car a potential winner)

Just saw the episode. i’m a romanian, and all i can comment is, i totally agree with everyone who says the episode was just too staged.

At one part, when they walk in the “gipsy village” and the people talking is actually a recording playing over and over. U can hear all the time one guy saying “ce faceti” which means “how are u?” and..one gipsy is writing “i love cena” ? come on… they didn’t even look like having cable let alone knowing who Cena is.

of course the gipsy thing is over exagerated and i’m not just saying that. And, when going to Transfagarasan (Ceausescu’s road), u would have to detour a lot to get on those roads(it’s practically impossible.

except these things they didn’t really bend the truth by much.
Anyway…awesome episode…

My top three F1 drivers of this season: Vettel, Hamilton, and Button. If you put Raikonnen up there, then you would have to include Alonso as well.

Great show tonight, enjoyed Eric, cool guy!

The romania film was great but i wanted to see more of the amazing road!

And as i don’t do F1 here’s 3 touring car legends:-

Giovanardi
Menu
Plato

I think the now episode was brilliant but this season i hope you will stage less stuff it’s just to noticeable it does not need to be that funny that you are starting to fake stuff. but wherry good

Hamilton
Barrichello
button

Well done guys that was a proper episode of Top Gear!! I want to go to Romania now…
Glad you’re talking about F1 too, my top three have got to be Raikkonen, Hamilton and Vettel, it’s obvious really!
Oh! and what about Jenson in the Reasonably Priced Car again??please!!

only seven or so episodes COME on BBC all the COUNTRIES THAT YOU Sell top gear too GIVE TOP GEAR A BIGGER BUDGET WE SHOULD HAVE AT LEAST 12 EPISODES 2 TIMES A YEAR AT LEAST LOOK AT ALL THE MERCHANDISE !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  !!!!!!!!!

MAKE MORE EPISODES WITH ALL THE STIG MERCHANDISE MONEY

Raikkonen, been a long time fan, and consider him one of the fastest in the field, maybe the fastest, when he bothers to do so
Vettel for being young and upcoming and down to earth.
And Kobayashi for showing real balls in the last couple of races

Haven’t seen the first show yet, but I am looking forward to it. The new series sounds great, and the South America show might just end up being one of the greats. Would it be extended like the Vietnam show?

Fantastic job, all of you, hope you keep it up for years to come.

Ooh, favourite three F1 drivers this year. I’m not goingg to say Button, because everyone’s going to say him.

First I will say Raikonnen, no matter how god awful the Ferrari was he was always out there giving it a good fight. And I can remember during the mid-to-late few races of the season, even though nobody seemed to mention it, Raikonnen always seemed to be up there in the points. He also snatched a couple of podiums.

Second I think has to be Vettel. I think (given a year or two) he could be right up there with the Schumacher’s and Hakkinen’s as one of the greatest drivers of the past 10 years.

And thirdly: in his short stint in the Toyota, Kobayashi really seemed to give it everything. Everybody seemed to complain about him squirming all over the place, but I think every sport needs a psycho… I hope (even with Toyota pulling out) that Kobayashi gets a drive next year, I would love to be able too see him race again. That fight with Button at Abu Dhabi really showed that he does have what it takes.

I’ve seen some people write Badoer??? Actually I couldn’t agree more, it takes a ’special’ talent to do that badly… I liked it during the race when it would show abbreviated versions of their names down the side (“Ham” and “Ros” for example) and Badoer’s just said “Bad”… why didn’t Ferrari let Hammond have a go. He only spun the Renault F1 about 20 times, I’m sure he could have done better than Badoer

vettle and hamilton joint first watch them race next year, and button third, brawn did well at start they deserve manufacturers just for scamming the rest at the start. good on ya lads come on british racers pppooooowwwwwwwweeeerrr

1) Button – Jenson was absolutely magical early in the season, and grasped the opportunity to drive a good car by the horns by solidly outperforming his teammate. Later in the year, the car’s performance trailed off and some would say that he worried too much about making mistakes rather than continuing to attack for the title, but in the end he did exactly what he needed to realize his childhood ambition and become World Champion.

2) Hamilton – Overall, Lewis drove very well, especially during the second half of the season. Unfortunately, he also made mistakes throughout the year like his crash at Monza and the debacle in Australia. In his frustration, he was also apt to blame the team for the performance of the car, and while the assessment was justified, one wonders whether publicizing it was appropriate for a world champion.

3) Barichello – This was close with Vettel, but unlike the race for 2nd in the championship, Rubinho wins my vote by a nose. At 37, he’s the oldest driver in the paddock and it must have taken a huge amount of patience to watch what was likely his last opportunity for a world championship once again slip away and into the arms of a teammate. And yet, apart from a single hot-headed remark after the Spanish Grand Prix, Rubens conducted himself with respect and dignity, even loaning Jenson his private plane as congratulations at the end of the season. Moreover, his two wins late in the season, his belief that he could still win the championship even as he entered the last few races, and his Williams contract for 2010 all prove that he never gave up on his ambition, despite once again being thoroughly out performed by another driver.

Just Downloading The show Now… CANT WAIT!
I am looking foward to the season of top gear!
Love your work!

Im just like hammond, i don’t watch F1… i watch top gear on repeat!

“POWWWEEEEERRRRRRRRRRRR!”

Love your bugetless shows as well because their truly funny! and clever.

Keep up the good work!

Someone should let JEREMY CLARKSON know that TOP GEAR does AIR in America.

We have BBC America, and BBC UK over here, and they air on both channels.

f1 drivers of the year 09: vettel, button and m. schumacher
great show, did’t like the dacia crash, too obvious. and since in my opinion the best episode ever was “the best driving road”-one, i really missed shots of the guys on that phenomenal romanian road! there must be loads of perfect material on the edition room floor, which would go perfect to kasabian’s “fast fuse”… but i liked this show very much, still no.1 tv show!

is there bbc2 in Serbia?

Can i get a job in top gear show? Please!
Photographer

First off, congratulations on a solid series opener, Mr. Wilman. A few iffy bits (anything involving someone deliberately destroying someone else’s things, e.g. James’s Dacia “gift”, probably seems much funnier in theory than it actually does in practice, where it comes across as both contrived and mean-spirited), and the finale was cut a bit too short given the splendor of the drive itself, but on the whole a job well done. It also bears mentioning that this was the first news segment in at least three series that felt as it once did: amusing AND interesting in equal measure.

To answer your question, I think the three strongest performances of the season were Button, Hamilton and Vettel, in that order. Hamilton’s second half was certainly the best of the lot, but there is something to be said for the fact that Button did, after all, win the title. As you noted, though, Raikkonen acquitted himself very well considering the shit hand he was dealt.

If I may, though, I would like to respond with a question of my own. Namely, why are there so few road tests of cars in the program these days? I’m not referring to the lack of actual car content, since we all know that it’s kind of a lost cause at this point (a fact you more or less concede in the write-up for episode three). I mean, why do see so few cars actually *on the road* in tests? The track has long been the home of supercars on TG, since it’s clearly the only place to really demonstrate the capabilities that are the cars entire reason for being. But once upon a time, most everything else was given a shakedown on public roads, in what would likely be their natural habitat. James’ Merc/BMW comparo is a classic case in point. Once upon a time, he would have begun the comparison by way of saying, “…to find out, we’ve come to (insert somewhere geographically relevant to the particular cars)”. Surrey, for example, or Swindon, or Budleigh Salterton or wherever. If nothing else, it also gives the film a much more interesting colour palette than the frankly rather dismal greys of the test track. So what gives? I had just assumed you were laying low after being taken to task for encouraging, uh, spirited driving, and figured that you could dodge hostile questions about it by sticking to the confines of the track. But it’s been going on long enough now that I really am curious: are the days of visually-interesting road tests behind us for good?

Thanks again, and I hope this episode is a sign of things to come for this series.

@xDBS I presume mister Clarkson DOES know that Top Gear is aired in the US. It is his sense of humor. Maybe you should wikipedia the word ‘humor’.

Tonight’s show was oke. Average compared to the old seasons, but far better then last season.

merry me hamond

To the ones wondering what “Doppelkupplungsgetriebe” means – it’s a double-clutch gear box.

Will you ever show the ZR1 vs. R8 film?

The first episode was truly wonderful and I am very much looking forward to the rest of the series.

As for F1, I am not a huge fan but I think, for me, Jenson’s win was long overdue and well deserved. Mr Brawn seems to be a mechanical genius, his brains need bottling!

Re F1 – Webber, Button, & Hamilton although not necessarily in that order.

Oh, I fancy Sabine too!

Great episode guys.

In no particular order:

Johnnie Parsons
Bill Vukovich
Andy Linden

Great show, great start of the season!

When I go back to watch let’s say series 9 or anything before that I get the feeling that TG stopped right there and had a lobotomy.It’s Top Gear not Top Ways of Doing Stuff That Appeal to 8 year old’s.I’m sorry maybe I’m wrong but when I wanted to watch a car program I watched TG and when I wanted to see stuff that you guys are doing now presumably for the ratings I watched the TeleTubbies or Wacky Races.

Raikkonen, Vettel, and Kobayashi.

Kimi, because he made that disaster of a Ferrari punch wayyyy above it’s weight pretty much all year long, and for his heroic drives in Spa and Monza.

Vettel, because of the raw pace he showed, and the fact that if Red Bull had started the season with a double-diff and a halfway reliable engine, then Ginger wouldn’t be champ today.

Kobayashi, because in a season that promised much and delivered little in the way of overtaking, here comes a rookie with NO testing under his belt going wheel to wheel with the World Champion elect and WINNING. And then he did it again in that decadent snoozefest, Abu Dhabi.

WHAT ABOUT ZR1 VS R8 V10

F what? I watch the show to laugh at the guys being….guy’s.

@ Sharkey… interesting choice of seasons to highlight as to where the “lobotomy” occured…

@ ANDY WILMAN – “I just started cutting it together and the opening sequence alone, which we estimated would be three minutes or so, makes 20 minutes of telly.”

Can I offer a suggestion that perhaps you might like to put together an ‘uber-film’ I’m sure if you can fill two hours of footage that people would be interested… even if it was just on DVD

id also go for raikonnen… he really drove the balls outta that ferrari…

…and of course. GREAT start to the Season!!!! im alive again!

and mark webber and button provided some superb entertainment in the last 2 laps of the otherwise UBER BORING Abu Dhabi GP….

A heartfelt welcome back from the USA. Not the greatest episode of all time, but still a strong showing. Look forward to the rest of the series. Who gives a toss if there was some staged stuff? its still funny.
Would like to see you guys test an SSC Ultimate Aero (fastest production car in the world) at some point. It seems like a car that would make good TV material, like the Koeniggsegg (sp?), only with 200 more “horsepowers”. 270 mph monster.

P.S. I still fancy Sabine.

Andy,

I don’t know F1 drivers, sorry, but please do not hold back on the Bolivian trip. Less is not always better.

Steal whatever the crap show has if it has anything if needed. An hour long “news” show would not be too bad.

A good 8.5/10-show. Not too obviously staged,nice cars,fair amount of cocking about,nice sets, nice camera.Welcome back!

to F-1: Kobayashi, for showing a stunning amount of determination,as a new driver. The whole Brawn team,for what they pulled off this year. And credit where credits due also to Vettel (even if i don’t like him much, he was very fast).

What a wonderful way to start series 14! Turns out there’s a road that’s even better than the Stelvio pass! Didn’t really miss the montage Mr. Wilman, at least it will keep us guessing on what will be on next weeks’ shows (aside from the information you gave here). I’m glad to notice that the airport racing vehicles segment will be shown in this series.

To answer your question Mr. Wilman, my top 3 F1 drivers this year would be (in no particular order) Button, Hamilton, and Raikonnen. Would have loved to see Schmacher (aka the Stig?) back in action, but I guess it wasn’t meant to be.

One more thing…long live the brotherhood of nerds that make Top Gear possible!

This season looks promising, and I look forward to seeing it from start to finish.

Now, about my favourite F1 drivers:

1. Hamilton, firstly because he’s British, and secondly because he can keep his cool under any situation. I’ve seen him driving around the Top Gear test track (cue YouTube) and I must say that, even after two years, I’m still very impressed with that drive. Compared to Damon Hill, Hamilton didn’t break into sweat when Clarkson grilled him either.

2. Barrichello, simply because of his experience in F1. I also heard his eagerness during the F1 race in Singapore about catching up to Button, which I find strangely hilarious.

3. Raikkonen. At Ferrari’s worst moments in F1, he saves the day for them. He’s also pretty calm, although a bit TOO calm in my books.

Webber, Kobayashi and Webber

i will work for free for top gear

Great first show! Romania was an unexpected choice for a location, but the ending sequence was glorious. Some lovely filming in the lead up to it as well. Glad you guys have gone HD!

F1 drivers: Webber, because he could not walk for half the season! Barrichello, because he is 148 years old. Raikonnen, because that car was awful yet somehow he finished so far up!
Honourable mentions to future superstar Vettel (great season, with a couple of costly mistakes), Button’s first half of the season and Hamilton’s second half of the season.

Looking forward to show 2. Keep up the great work. Eric Bana is a legend and a top bloke … even though he loves Ford more than Holden (boo).

Loved episode 1, just can’t decide between the Lambo, Aston or Fezza!

Sometimes I wonder why Andy and the Boys keep knocking themselves about the Vietnam show… it’s one of my favorites to watch.

a good show

top gear is awesome.. hahaha.. can’t wait for the new episodes to show on tv. As for my favorite f1 driver it would have to be Hamilton..

i haven’t watch it .. when will the 14th season on air on indonesia?

Sory Mr. Wilman but I’m neither an F1 fan. However the show was sublime! Nice to have some cars back…!

I havent seen the 1st show yet. has it been in ausie yet or is it just in the uk. as for my favourite f1 driver it would be Mark Webber:):):):):):):):):):  ):):):):):):):):):):):):  ):):):):):):):):):)

1)felipe massa because he is my favourite f1 driver full stop 2)jeson button for wining for britain 3)and lewis hamilton for coming back from 15th place

good first show! the roadtrip isnt top in my book compared to other roadtrips the boys have been on. i like the stelvio-trip better, cos there they are really searching for the best road, trying others and stuff. in romania they just cocked about and found themselves on the road at the end. loved the tunnel segment though:) and james looked really pissed when that lorry backed in to the dacia. i think i loves that car:D the drifting limos was awesome!

right F1: gotta like button, remembering his flare for that first win when he was on topgear som years back! good bloke!
and then rosberg. proper talent there! and to round up vettel.

so good f1 season, good start to the new top gear season, looking forward to sundays on a whole new level!

The 1st show was great, but I’m still waiting for the CORVETTE ZR-1 vs. AUDI R8 V10 film…?!

that for me was one of the best episodes of Top Gear ever, you just can’t get much better than an amazin road, an aston, ferrari and a lambo

Nico Rosburg, Adrian Sutil and Kumi Kobyashi. Nico for his consistency in that beautiful williams (best looking car on the grid!); Sutil for his dogged determination to get a point for Force India and sticking with them once he did (unlike Fischella bleh); and Kobyashi, for refusing to give an inch to the big names and harassing them all the way despite being a newcomer in a slower car.

havent heard of any zr1 vs. R8 action? whats that about? but from what i have seen of the R8 V10 in the clarkson duel dvd i would love to see it:) R8 drifting is something else!:D want one badly, and hopefully before the world run out of petrol! how about sean lock the comedian in siarpc! he have said that even he likes top gear, and he hates it! would be epic i think!

to all downloaders: get in to some torrent community! top gear eps is out 15-20 mins after the show ends on bbc! sorry to the boys, but its the only way for us unbritish!

Stuck here on west coast of Canada, havnt seen the show in HD yet cause HD takes forever to download…Great to see Top Gear going HD! Why is BBC so much better than Canadian programming??? I’m in with a bunch of the other fans who have commented, great to see more about cars and less stuff than seems staged (although it would be great to see things a little less staged still..) Great shots and editing as usual. Can’t wait to see the rest of the season.

With my complete lack of F1 knowledge, I’d say Vettel, Webber, and Hamilton.

For the F1 question:

1. Webber (who finally got a good enough car to show what he could do)
2. Kamui Kobyashi, for being totally insane, and
3. Vettel, who probably could have won the championship without the diffuser thing at the beginning of the season…

Hamilton, Button, Barrrichello

no questions needed.

To start I would have to say Hamilton, Barichello/ raikonnen. I love TG and even though I am over in the states I have watched every single episode. At the end of last season I was a bit worried that TG had become too big budget, pandering to those who need constant stimulus and refuse to accept that at its base, TG is a car show. I am excited that there will be an electric car bit, one of the reasons I see no end in site for TG is that the auto industry itself is undergoing so many changes that the landscape for automotive journalism will necessarily change as well…more fodder for the sarcasm cannon that is Jeremy Clarkson!!!

About to watch the first ep of season 14. cannot wait!
also just curious if any of the top gear crew/fans know anything of a possible BMW supercar? I was just thinking about this before. Now that Mercedes has the SLS, Audi have a super R8 with that V10 now, BMW is sort of a chapter behind. I love BMWs and their M cars, but i wouldn’t mind seeing that more insane body along with a monstrous engine like the 7 serie’s new powerplant V12 bi-turbo.
Anyway i know they were talking about an M1, and that dropped off the radar.. then they’ve made this hybrid M1 car… which is good.. but as a bare knuckled crazy ass supercar, i would love to see what BMW have in store (that’s if it’s a plan for the near future

Loved the first episode, bad luck James, you’re catching up with Hammond on the crashing front…!

BUT, PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE WILL YOU PUT THE ASTON, FEZZA AND LAMBO ROUND THE TRACK?! We want power board times!

Now going to book my holiday to Romania…

Hamilton: for holing on with a shocking car and winning when it became brilliant
Sutil: Rosberg for his alround consistency in an average machine
Kobasomthingorother: because he’s a bit mental!

To answer the question, in no particular order:

Vettel – For keeping a good pace albeit the couple of knock backs.
Webber – Passion was shown and persistence finally paid off.
Kobayashi – Breathing some life into the sport, a true underdog.

First of all I just have to say that last night’s episode was probably the worst episode of Top Gear I have ever seen, and that’s even including the episodes that were made before it became The Three Stooges.

The whole ‘drive in Romania’ thing worked at the end in the last 5 minutes because the last 5 minutes were what you were there for. The rest of it was completely irrelevant. I’m sure the intention was to do the same as you did with the Stelvio episode but it just died on its arse by the time you parked under the dam. I chuckled a few times at the inclusion of the Dacia Sandero but if it’s going to be a running gag in this series then you should probably try hiring a new script writer — old joke. When you actually “found” the road, though, it suddenly became very, very good.

The BMW vs Mercedes segment was ‘ok’ but you didn’t actually talk about the cars or mention any of the nuanced detail behind them. It was just a case of shoving The Stig in the driving seat and asking him to drive fast around a track whilst occasionally mentioning television screens. If you’re going to review road cars (as opposed to garage cars like the Ferrari) why not actually shove them on a road in real-world conditions? People maintain that Top Gear is a programme all about the pleasure of driving — well, it’s not, it’s just a programme about 4 people enjoying their jobs by doing things none of us in the real world outside television can ever do. The pleasure of driving exists but it exists out there in the real world rather than on a track on some television programme.

The news – this was the worst part. McLaren make a new car that is entirely British using technology that they invented (because it didn’t exist) and you spend about 5 minutes longer talking about prams and a new Porsche Boxster with an umbrella on he roof? Clarkson forever goes on about how the British motor industry is dead and yet when people make a real concerted effort to get it back on its feet with the advent of something as great as the new McLaren, it is barely mentioned.

Eric Bana as a guest – a car enthusiast in any sense of the term but neglected totally. Don’t want to hear about the joshing between Aussies and Brits, don’t want to hear about sports victories and losses, I want to hear about this guy’s knowledge of cars and the cars he drives now. I’d also like to hear his opinions on the Bathurst rivalry because that’s something I don’t think a lot of average Top Gear viewers are overly familar with and need to be told about. I didn’t get any of this last night. It was quite possibly the worst interview ever, right up there with those two crushing bores from Spooks.

Too much time was dedicated to irrelevant things. Please don’t carry on doing this with the other episodes otherwise… well, look what happened to Fifth Gear.

As for Top 3 F1 drivers this season:

1. Sebastian Vettel – future champion, no doubt about it. Right from pre-season testing he was the man to watch. Nothing more to add because the 2009 speaks for itself. Roll on 2010!

2. Lewis Hamilton – for the same reason as noted; because he fought his arse off all season in crap car. If you shoved him in the Brawn or Red Bull, he’d have been champion for the second year.

3. Kamui Kobayashi – leftfield choice, I know, but I’m picking this guy because of what I think he’ll bring to the tracks next season (almost probably with Toyota). If he doesn’t go to Toyota then he might end up at Lotus, and if Lotus produce something like Brawn did this year then he’ll be on the podiums permanently if given half the chance. Watch out for this guy in 2010.

Other inclusions being Jenson Button, Nico Rosberg, Barrichello, Kimi Raikkonen and Mark Webber; all of whom made the season great on the track.

@The1theyCallBob: me to would like to se a more focused car from bmw. the m’s are good, but still like every day cars. i love that though, car by day, racer by evening (of course on a closed track:P)
but would love to see them bringing back the concept cs they where playing with, maybe with the engine from the 760?

Can anyone tell me where this fantastic road in Romania (seen on TG last night) is situated?

Good show, i missed the start though which sucks a little but i blame UPC for that.
Nice to see that Bana is nothing like Crowe when it comes to Aussies.

Also to answer the question: Hamilton for the same reason, Vettel for being quick as hell and Barrichello because the man deserves more luck than he gets. It’s a shame because he’s good enough, just not lucky enough.

I was wondering if you could do an episode on the different prices of cars around the world. So you could see the enormous differences in prices of cars and then create a race by giving each country an amount of money and seeing what car they come up with.

Just a thought. I think it will be interesting.

Answer to your question:

-Rosberg
-Barichello
-Webber

Here is an article on wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/w iki/Transf%C4%83g%C4%83r% C4%83%C5%9Fan

To Teun, just a guess but i would say:
http://maps.google.co.uk/  ?ie=UTF8&ll=45.607553,24 .629974&spn=0.1626,0.3086 47&t=h&z=12

hamilton, webber and vettle imo

ps we still really really hate the celeb in a car here please can it be either more interesting like a open track day film in one show for them like when the new car was brought or jsut killed alltogether and give us more news & cool wall

Button, Vettel, hamilton, and i have high hopes for kobayashi, if that’s how its spelt

and fantastic 1st show, loved it!!

oh and 10/10 for the romanian film loved it

Hamilton, Vettel and Button, I think.

Lewis had to come to terms with the fact that things weren’t going his way for the first part of the season and, at times, he looked as though he was throwing the toys out the pram. But I suspect he learnt far more this year than the two previous years – in and out of the car – and in the process is a much better person for it. With a more competitive car, he will surely be the one they will all have to chase next year.

Vettel has the ability; he just needs to calm down somewhat and mature.

Button’s drive in the Brazilian GP was my favourite moment of all. From a disastrous qualifying session, he showed the strength of character and determination to take matters into his own hands and win the championship, rather than hoping his rivals would lose it. Also, his attempts at passing Webber in the last race of the year were, for me, the highlights of that particular race. The sight of his car within inches of Webber’s rear was a heart-stopping moment. And Webber’s equally-determined efforts to keep him at bay played their part in enlivening the final laps. Personally, I hope Jensen stays with Brawn – Hamilton will surely be Top Dog at McLaren.

Oh yes, nearly forgot, I did enjoy the show last night! The roar of those cars in the tunnels was phenomenal. When I watch it again, I must remember to wear some headphones in order to hear it better!

@Evilfarmerbob,

Yes that’s Transfagarasan.

Forgot to mention: I don’t always enjoy the “celebrity interview” (it’s subjective, isn’t it, you either like the interviewee or you don’t, and that colours your opinion of the interview) but I did enjoy last night’s. Goodness gracious me, he almost made me like Australia and Australians!

Some people are not happy when the sun isn’t shining…

Some people are not happy unless they have dinner waiting on the table…

I’m not happy until Top Gear is on EVERY sunday!!!

Love the show!! One day you will have to give me a job as Assistant Chief Test Driver (i.e. ‘the stigs younger and wiser nephew’) as the show lacks the teeny tiny bit of edge i could give it!! I’ve got wit as quick as a fat mans heartbeat, and have a primal urge to stare at cars!! Email me (paul.molloy@huntsdc.gov. uk) if you dare…

Would love to talk F1, but it bores me to tears… Yay, another season with 4 whole overtaking maneuvers made in the pit lane!!

Probably a six out of ten for the first episode.

Stand-out moments included getting Eric Bana in for an interview and driving under the people’s palace, but again there were too many staged moments (truck hitting Sandero, Gallardo hitting car, clarkson leaning on Aston’s horn etc) within which the obvious lack of spontaneity detracted from the Romania challenge.

Doppelkupplungsgetriebe

Went to the pub last night, sorry. However, later today i have an exam and am rowing 6.5k on an ergo, under Uni rowing test conditions, and what is going to get me through this? TG on iPlayer for when i get back! thanks guys.

I would Say Raikonnen, Raikonnen and Raikonnen

I enjoyed the first show very much, I loved the BMW film when the Stig was driving with James. Can’t wait for the rest of the show.

I’m not a huge F1 fan, but my favourites are Hamilton, Massa and that’s it. I said I didn’t know much about it.

räikkönen, shit car, great driver
roseberg
massa

i wouldn’t even nominate hamilton

btw i loved this episode !

@evilfarmerbob – technically Crowe is a Kiwi… he’s only an Aussie by means of a bit of paper

Eric… now he’s a Dinkum Aussie! (even if he is a Victorian )

1. Jarno Trulli (still the most underrated driver)
2. Sebastian Vettel (if it wasn’t for those few problems…)
3. Jenson Button (flawless first part of the season, in the end he got the most points)

Only one word.. Magnificent.. i think it’s one of the best start top gear had for a new series. I am romanian, and sincerelly i didn’t expected this episode to go like this.. it was incredible.
About Transfagarasan (the awsome romanian road), i’ve also drove there.. it’s an incredible experience, but you have to be lucky and catch a day without clouds or fog. The road has 91 km and is also known as “The road from the clouds” because it’s built at an altitude over 2000 m. A sad fact, is that Transfagarasan is closed beetwen November and June every year, because of the weather. If you really want to experience the best this road can offer you, i recommend to start from Sibiu to Pitesti because you don’t have to climb all the mountain, like our top gear mates did, and you can enjoy the whole view in front of the wheel. I think you should really try Romania, because it’s a beautiful country, and it has a lot of things to offer.

First of all, my top three drivers
1. Button
2. Hamilton
3. Nakajima

That was a good first episode! I can’t wait for what’s coming up

I’m pretty suprised why they didn’t include the new Noble M600! It’s just been released and if they could get the Lexus in, why not this? Hey, they could pit it against the Merc SLS and have a Britan vs Germany shootout

- I’m not one for Sabine, I’m a VBH fan…
- I think crashing the Sandero wasn’t funny, be it staged or not. I don’t really get the ‘giving of presents’ thingy anyway.
- Vettel, Buemi, Kobayashi. I like new talent that surprises.

Robert Kubica, Kimi Raikkonen, Lewis Hamilton.

Great show.

And i agree with ur driver choice but in this order:

Vettel
Hammo
Raikko

Nothing wrong with Victorian’s!

Eric is great, love the beast was good too; waiting to see it in a shop to buy and it’ll be mine for keeps.

An ok first episode of the season; as always sometimes can be a little slow to get back in the hang of things but all up very good (helped of course by the excellent guest!)

F1, sorry can’t answer as I don’t really follow it.

I like the first episode.
May´s Limousine Test was lots of Fun.
All together it was a quiet show but funny.
The Question is, how much is real. Don´t fool to much around. Let it be real.

But Thank you all for your hard work. It my favorite Show and i am Happy you all are back.

PLEASE BRING BUTTON BACK ON AS A GUEST…. SINCE THE LAST TIME YOU SPOKE TO HIM HE AS NOW WON A RACE….. AND A CHAMPIONSHIP !! MORE RELIVANT THAT SOME AMERICAN ACTOR NOBODY CARES FOR.

Doppelkupplungsgetriebe, yeah. (Double clutch sort of thing – ähem – gear box, right) And my favourite F1 driver is Michael Schumacher, of course. Sadly he’s not driving anymore so I have to like the other. In fact I like them all as long as they keep on racing instead of mocking about everything… We’ll see what 2010 championship will bring us. And what the hell did James say about a Wasserfall? I didn’t get it although I’m German what I proudly admit!

Naming three is pointless – theres only one….Button! Not because he’s champion, but because he can switch it on whenever he wants – and not just in F1…in the middle of the season he did the London Triathlon and came agegroup second – top tier in two demanding sports simultaneously. Now that is seriously hardcore!!

I personally loved this kick off to the new TG season, I thought the backdrop of Romania was fantastic, and the “quest” to find the road seemes well thought out and genuine. Of course there was some great cocking about from the lads, but I loved that TG 14 kicked off by doing what it does best – being a car programme.

Well done to all involved, and look forward to next sunday!

Oh, and about the three F1 drivers? I’d agree with your choice, but put in the same order as Nish put:

Vettel
Hamilton
Raikkoenen

Great eppisode. RIP Dacia Sandero. Was a bit painfull watching £500k odd of supercar bouncing along a dirt road though.
Too many staged moments, im sure its for the “entertainment” factor for a wider audience but TG is amazing as is!
Excited about the LFA test

luvd the 1st episode! dacia sandero was staged tho lol

Finally, got over the excitement. DACIA SANDERO!!!!!!! Forget the three matchbox cars they were driving in romania, They had SANDERO’S! I mean, c’mon that road was great to look at but what about a real test drive of the best looking car that that had in the film, where’s the lap? Did Clarkson fit in it?

c’mon you can’t leave it there!

Hello Andy,

Loved S14 Ep1, and it made me realise something. I’m assuming the amount of preplanning needed to produce this series in HD goes back to way before Series 13 aired, so this might explain why S13 seemed to have something missing. This is just a theory, but maybe you were keeping some of the kitty back for Series 14, so that the first HD series of TG was going to make full use of the WOW factor you get with HD. Cant wait to see the Bolivia trip.

Good you have you back, and back on top form.

Andy

Thirst of all, i am romanian. What Top Gear showed last night wasn’t Romania, it was the worst of Romania, almost exclusively the worst. First thing, there are gypsies in Roamania, but Romania is not “gypsie land”. Also, is almost imposible to get lost in a gypsie village, or under a dam, especially that dam wich is in top five of the largest in Europe, and believe me there are plenty of road signs to get there easily. The lake is called Vidraru by the way. Also the challenge was to “find” the Transfagarasan, and they showed the best part of it, the north side i mean, for just about 1 minute. Instead, you’ve seen a gypsie village for at least five. i understand that Topgear is a show, but i don’t understand why they came to Romania to find a driving thrill, and they eneded up in a gypsie village, why they ended up in Mamaia, wich in summer is full of what they would like ta call “cocks”. Also, near lake Vidraru and Transfagarasan, is impossible not to find a good hotel or something and believe me they didn’t slept in their cars.
In the end, i’d like to mention that i realy like top gear, i am glad they were in Romania, but i am a bit upset on how Roamia looked like on the show, and that not all that Romania has to offer.

Did you need to destroy the Sandero??? Why… Otherwise great show.

The staged stuff is getting painful. Stop it! The truck reversing into the car was plain embarrassing. Were we supposed to laugh at that point believing it was simply James’ misfortune? And the trouble is, when James had what looked to be a genuine prang I didn’t believe it, even though it looked real. You guys are funny naturally but you blow it when you try too hard. The humor on the show has descended to the level of one of those cheeky winks and thumbs ups that Paul McCartney thinks is oh so funny… but isn’t. Still, it’s been obvious for quite some time that the only thing you’re really interested in is rating (because that’s how you all get rich, right…) so who am I to argue? You certainly know how to play that one.

Oh, and no Ferrari 458 this series? If proof were needed that the cars are incidental in your light entertainment series then the fact that you haven’t gone to the trouble of securing the most anticipated new drive of the year is it.

Button, Vettel and (for suprising everyone and fighting like a madman on the track) Kobayashi

Oh, the F1 question – well, your 3, for your 3 reasons, cant add to that at all.

So how about the 3 drivers that surprised the most?

- Kobayashi, my god, now that Toyota have pulled out, someone give this guy a drive next year. I want to see if he can continue his Banzai style (without developing a Grosjean like attraction to the barriers).

- Buemi, just because hes driven a full season and so I’ve seen a much rounder view of his talents, just sneaks Rookie of the Year from Kobayashi. In the same car, made Bourdais – a Champ Car.. er… Champ – look like he’s ready to semi retire to BTCC

- and finally, Fisichella for outperforming the Force India, even with that cars improvements (for instance, see what Sutil and Liuzzi did with it afterwards)… and then the most surprising of all, throwing away a damn good chance to have one last Win under his belt, just so he can tell his grandkids he was a Scuderia driver (and omit that he spent his entire time in the Red Car propping up the back of the field).

Andy

ah man!! wish u SHOWED MORE OF THOSE BEAUTIFUL DRIVING ROADS!!!!! noo!!! thats just not fair!… i think the sandero review was a total waste… could have used that time to show more of the road…

you were a bit to mean on Romania .. they`re not all gypsies .. only the country side has mules and cows and stuff .. i`m Romanian .. it was a fun show to watch .. but i thought .. i bit mean

Sorry I do not watch F1? And I have not yet seen episode 1 :S, but it is downloading as we speak, so it won’t be long now.

Great show, feels good to have you all back. Great filming and great performance. Thanks for bringing the noise back.
F1 drivers, I thought Vettel, Webber and Hamilton for making it interesting.

@pocrob. I wouldn’t worry about it too much… the boys have a rep of making what is good for a TV show which is what they are… the Americans weren’t well pleased with the Amercian tour, I’m sure someone in Botswana wasn’t that cheerful about that journey and the same could be said for Vietnam.

Parody and exaggeration just comes with the territory… even if you look at the car reviews they do inevitably they either start with whats wrong and then get to the good stuff, or vice versa. Bits of what they showed certainly piqued my interest in visiting Romania so here’s one more potential tourist.

Considering Jeremy and Erics banter about the mickey taking between Aussies and Poms, god only knows what they would be like if they came out here!

Great 1st show…I was there on the day for recording, really enjoyed it and glad to here its goin to be a full fun packed series.

Also nice to see its back like the old top gear, more about cars as well as larking about.

TOP SHOW

Very predictable episode. Can’t see TG lasting any more than a couple of years at this rate.

Also, I am not a fan of Gordon Brown at all, and the wrong spelling of the soliders name has been done to death last week, but JC’s further swipe with the Stig intro, was, well, not funny and irrelevant.

Jeremy on the cardboard poo pot…..quality stuff!!!! Roll on episode 2….and that xmas special! TG is the best.

Nu suntem ciori
Nu stam in corturi
Facem eforturi
Sa ne elevam
Si nu cantam
Pe strazi in Viena la acordeon
Noi nu cersim cu handicapu’ la vedere
Sa facem avere
Si nu ghicim viitoru’u in palma
In ghene mizere

Noi nu purtam fuste inflorate
Si nu furam din buzunare
Nu emigram in Suedia cu 7 copii sa ne dati ajutoare
Dati vina pe noi din Berlin in Pamplona
De’mi sare voma
Mancamia’ti pula n’o sa gasiti un roman in rulote la Roma

Noi inghetam in sali clase de la 6-7 ani
6-7 ore pa zi fara caldura, mancare si bani
Avem parinti saraci acasa
Si un lucru e sigur
Ni se cultiva dorinta de a reusi in viata
De unu’ singur

Ne confruntam cu legi noi
Date de boi
Danseaza cu noi
Vlasu’ pulii mele e un pas inainte doi inapoi

Ma pis pe gay si nui normal ca copiii mei sa vada
Homosexuali care se ling in gura ostentativ pe strada
E la moda sa fim toleranti da nu reinviem sodoma
Nu putem trimite bulangii in pachet la Barcelona,
Suntem ruda saraca deci nu putem fi frati
Mesaj pentru europa :
CRED CA NE CONFUNDATI!!

Andy wilman why don’t you feature a race in this series similar to the oslo race and the one in japan.

@garrydb7: Indeed.

I can’t help but imagine that this will be the last series. Last night’s episode proved that the top brass behind Top Gear are capable of making absolute drivel. If they don’t get their act together and start making interesting television again (think series 3 up to series then they’ll just end up like Fifth Gear.

I’m a huge fan of Top Gear but looking at Wikipedia for the episodes lists, I’m trying to remember that last time they showed something truly brilliant… probably series 7 episode 5.

Anybody notice the correlation between the decline of Top Gear’s quality and the change of the Reasonably Priced Car?

series 3 up to series 8*

Probably on a number of lists here…. jenson because he had a brilliant start a poor mid season and an alright ending but his champ he deserved it!

Hamilton for never giving up (and his british) knew he wouldn’t defending his title but got on with the job and never gave in!

vettel because he also drive like a god this season and got redbull up there with the best of them!

why was stig rude when they were doing top trumps by the time he put the table upside down and i cant believe in romania,buchatrest when the bridge thingy was like that,they just like parked their cars at the side when they were sleeping the night in their cars.

i couldnt believe it man.

i enjoyed the whole show and it looks like topgear is comedy yeah.

they keep saying some funny things everyday when i laugh yeah.

it was so sick man.

P.s i love top gear

I was hoping for a breath of fresh air with the new series but no – same old same old…

Great show but do the research better, (cyrilic alphabet, speaking Hungarian , sendero “accident, i mean common, plus how they portrait Romanians as gypsies, when they get”lost” in those villages, a little bit of respect does not hurt , don’t you think ??
And Under Capricorn , please don’t even compare jokes about Aussies or yanks with what they did, shame on you, this ep. could be done easy without all those “gypsies” stuff, still a fan

the new series sounds fantastic, i’m probably the biggest TG addict in the world with dave my channel of choice whenever i have any free time! top 3 F1 drivers would be:

Hamilton (really struggled at the start but found new strength of character and pushed him on to those 2 wins, even in a dog of a car)
Button (the way he handled the pressure when it seemed everything was against him and the spectacular showing in brazil)
Vettel (champion of the future)

I CANT ANSWER THE F1 THING BECAUSE I HATE F1 WHEN THE F1 TEAMS DITCH THE HITECH SYSTEM THEN I WILL ANSWER

You can’t please all of the people eh?… I thought last night’s episode was excellent, and a true return to Top Gear top form… looking forward to the rest of the series!

As for F1, in no particular order:

Barrichello (a true legend)
Button (a worthy champ)
Kobayashi (one to watch in 2010)

indeed, this is top gear… not the three stoodgies. Stop it with all the pre planned clowning around. it’s not funny. You are better than that.

I .<

The “gripe word” for Series 13 was “scripted”. This series seems to be “staged.” I shudder to think what the S-word for Series 15 might be. It will probably have to be asterisked.

Can you spell ‘cancelled’ with a silent S, Kernow?

Sad times.

New show? These 3 guys are getting a bit old for all the clowning and gurning – needs some young(er) blood on the show. As it is, like watching drunk uncles at a wedding – wears thin after a while. And the scripting is getting more and more obvious – i.e. less subtle. And the ’some say..’ stuff is well past its best-by-date, as is everything connected to the Stig, in fact. 3 guys all looking too smug and self-satisfied nowadays. Three or four years ago TG was excellent, but has been going downhill since (although there’s always the occasional great episode – last night’s wasn’t one of those…)

All Right! I would say Vettel and Mr. Button are cool F1! And I also like the “militeristic” tone of this blog article, in a round-about way, ordering “intellectual rigor” in the commentary response! Way to go! Thumbs Up from me! If we don’t make an intellectual comment….”Drop and give us 20!” Cool!

And who was that Eric-the-guest guy? First episode should’ve had someone better-known..

Great first episode for the new series and as for f1:

1. Hamilton
2. Raikkonen
3. Vettel

episode was great. gotta say, I seriously can’t wait for the sls and lfa review. I just know its gonna be amazing!

Hmmm…the part with romania was so strange ..what do you think about it?

I’d just like to say thank you for recording this season in HD. Clearly it involves more expense and more hassle for you and it leaves even less money for the buffet, but believe me, watching that 760iL smoke its rear tyres in HD was so worth it. I almost cried (that’ll be the smoke getting in my eyes … er, honest).

As for F1 drivers – Hamilton, Koybayashi, Button – all for doing crazy overtakes when the only thing at stake was pride.

PS: Raikonnen always just seemed to appear in the points at the end – it seemed to me that was good strategy and bad qualifying rather than outstanding driving ability. I’m looking forward to see Hamilton and Button in identical machinery (although I’m sure Button will claim otherwise…)

3. Webber – at last had a good car and shown what a fierce competitor he is.
2. Alonso – for the pure cheek of saying he knew nothing of crashgate

and No1,
Barrichello – really nice bloke, and if he cant win F1 championship, he can win my vote.

Ferrari back on form nxt season, Alonso for world champ!!!

Hamilton,Vettel and Button

1.raikonnen
2.vettel
3.kobayashi

Reading through the blog article again I can’t help but admire Wilman’s honesty to a certain degree — if he says it’s shit, it’s shit, kind of thing — but if he really thinks last night’s episode was “strong” then it makes me wonder what episode two (“a belter”) will be like, and what the whole series will be like come to think of it.

Also, the Vietnam special was wank. From the perspective of a DVD salesman it might seem like a good way to rob fans of the show of a few quid at Christmas when it comes to filling stockings, but from the point of view of somebody who loves cars and engineering, it was pish.

The Boliva Special will be pish too. It’ll be 3 Stooges trudging through the jungles of South America looking for the Yungas Road, it’ll feature “Stig’s Cocaine Addicted Revolutionary South American Cousin” (or whatever) doing something tedious, and then finally it’ll end on some terribly contrived evocative image of sunset on a beach somewhere with the licence paying viewers wondering what the hell the point of it all was.

Homemade electric car? Don’t care. Tell us more on the development of hybdrid technology and the progress of hydrogen powered engines — perhaps make an effort to take a stand and do something beneficial like, oh I don’t know, pressuring the government to invest into the technology you have stated time and time again is the future.

Clarkson in Belfast’s sewers? Ok then… *looks confused*

Airship film? What are you racing it against? A Lambo? HAHA… oh… wait… you are.

Mercedes SLS and Lexus LF-A? That’s Top Gear summed up to the tee, really, isn’t it? Just a couple of overly fast and overly expensive roadcars that nobody will ever be able to afford, that are both going to be driven on the Top Gear test track despite the fact that outside of Surrey there is nearly 300,000 miles of driving road for average people (who pre-dominately watch this programme) to use.

Re: The Monk (No. 193).

Believe it or not, I enjoy Top Gear as it is, never having watched any series prior to Nos 11 and 12. My comment was meant to be a “dig” at all the gripers!

The show can’t be all things to all people. And if longer-term viewers do think the programme is becoming stale, then why not email Mr Wilman with some intelligent suggestions for feasible stunts in the future? It can’t be that easy coming up with ideas after all these years.

My only adverse comment regarding last night’s programme is about the “swipe” at Gordon Brown. In the main, I agree with the comments Jeremy is on record as saying about the man, but in this instance, I honestly think the PM is genuine in his letters to the bereaved. Until all this blew up in the Sun, no-one knew that he personally penned letters (rather than getting his secretary to print out a bog-standard template with just the names changed.) Unlike his dreadful predecessor, who would have made sure that news of his actions would have leaked to the tabloids, he had kept it quiet. I don’t intend to get into a “troops in or troops out” argument – this is not the forum for it – but give credit where credit is due.

The man is an absolute disaster as PM, but I don’t for one moment believe that he is ungenuine or two-faced. And I don’t intend to send in a letter of complaint to Ofcom or the higher echelons of the Beeb – I believe in free speech, even if I don’t agree with what is being said.

Oh, and can someone explain to me the appeal of the Cool Wall? Sadly, I just don’t get it – what’s it all about?

I fancy Sabine

Sadly BBC iPlayer is only available in the UK and not in Germany.
Hopefully there will be a solution for those who do not have bbc2.

regards

the monk your wrong topgear rules ut your right he says its shit then its shit so top gear goin down hill who knows

awesome show TG

1.Hamilton(just because he is the best)
2.Button(surprised me)
3.Mark Webber(excelled my expectations)

ayanes prefers the weaker yet more testicular atrophed lewis

Kernow: As a long-time viewer of the programme (in both old and new formats), I can strongly assure you that between series 3 and series 8, Top Gear was at the height of its creative genius. The moment they got the Lacetti, it went downhill. It became an entertainment programme.

Now, the occasional episode of “entertainment” is all fine and great but when EVERY episode is The Three Stooges plus very special guest The Stig, it becomes tiresome.

Sending ideas to any of the Top Gear producers is also a concept that would prove to be ultimately fruitless as well – there’s a reason why they are in the BBC and we aren’t; they’re creative professionals. They generally rely on opinions of people and, as Andy Wilman quite rightly pointed out, it is a case of people either saying “Top Gear is Great” or “Top Gear is Shit”, and then describing why it is either of these two. It’s been like that since day one and applies to any programme.

It is up to the producers and writers of Top Gear to be able to generate the ideas since that is their job, that’s why they work for the BBC — all we can do as viewers is supply them with the opinions that will aid them in being able to find the balance between what makes a programme good and what makes a programme shit. What works for one might not work for another, and that is always the fundamental concern of every product that has ever been marketed to the general public right since year zero.

The people who turn on for the entertainment will turn off when they see that it’s just talking about cars (majority of series 1 and 2), whereas people who want to hear about cars will turn off when they see that it’s nothing but The Three Stooges (series 8 onwards). Occasionally in the last few series’ there has been glimpses of hope and genuine brilliance (Honda FCX film) but it has been overshadowed by the mediocrity of competitive Sunday night entertainment.

Between series 3 and series 8, however, Top Gear was amazing. It met both the demands of the people who wanted entertainment and people who wanted to know about cars (McLaren SLR vs Boat – Bugatti Veyron vs Plane, for exmaple). Now, that’s not me saying that “what we need are more challenges”, that’s me saying that these challenges should be balanced out with genuine consumer advice or actual road tests that don’t involve a race track.

Top Gear’s great and Top Gear’s crap and I fancy Sabine
=)

hi there…, first of all, it was a pretty decent episode! although i was expecting much more about the transfagarasan road(they filmed there for 2 long days and had the road closed just for them…., the final result was actually dispp. !, after the editing and the montage from 2 days of shooting, they only aired 2 min regarding the actual road)…; having said that…the film wasn’t far-off reality…, is true(sad but true)..in romania there u cand come acros a lot of gypsies…but we, the roumaniens…, we r not gypsies and our country is not “borat land” !!, the criminal activities that some gypsies r puting in countrys like italy or germany or eaven in the uk….they also conducting them in romania !; that’s why the rumour is that, in our country, gypsies r discredited/persecuted and that we, roumanians, r some sort of racist !(absolutely not true!!), we’r just so sick of them robbing, killing, stealing and so on and so on !, we respect hard-working and honest gypsies…to bad they r so few in number, compared with the whole population; partially i’m glad that the boys present roumania in such a way…because..if they would talked/filmed only the good things…, every persone who would/had see/seen the show…and after that..would come in roumania as a tourist…, probably would die of shock !!, we have such magnificent places for tourist to visit…and, on the other hand, “people who would steal ur car and left u bare naked on the side of the street” !!:D:P – we, roumanians have “a word” regarding this situation : “roumania it’s a beautiful country…, to bad is’t inhabited !” – so, one big advice…if u come to visit roumania, stay away from gypsies…!!(it’s for ur own good)

now back to the transfagarasn road..; it’s an awesome road(and there r many others just as beautiful(and mostly unknown) as this one in the roumanian mountains)….; if u think about making a road-trip to see it(u won’t regret it, o promise)…then i strongly sudgest to that in the middle of the week..eaven better, i recommend NOT to do that in the summer holydays(july or august) because it’s gone be crowded out there !, u might wana plan the trip in late june or the end of august and/or september – and if u gone do that, make sure to visit also the medieval cities in transilvania – they r absolutely beautiful -

that being said…, all the best guys, salut !

p.s. sry for the long post.

Hamilton definitely the best driver. He had an amazing 2nd half with a good car, and even picked up the odd point here and there in the first half. Definitely Vettel Number 2. He was very unlucky in australia with the Kubica crash, and Renault have given him a really crap engine (can’t believe that red bull have decided to stick with renault tbh!!!). And third, oh it’s GOT to be Kobayashi hasn’t it!? He only had 2 races, but he was awesome in both of them! He’s a complete maniac, a nutter, but is a bloody good driver!!!

Button really didn’t deserve to win the championship. Yes, he won the first 6/7 races (apart from china), but only because he had the best car by a mile!!! Yes, barrichello should have probably done better in the first half when the car was good, but when the car was not as good, he stopped moaning (unlike jenson), and just got on with it and had a great end to the season! Jenson is the most average driver on the grid; he’s not flamboyant and fast, but he’s not absolutely rubbish either! Just average!

Well now…I disagree with some of these “book-written” commmentaries about how bad TG has become…what do you mean? It’s a funny, non-”politically correct”, nerdy auto show for everybody! So what if Jeremy takes a swipe at Gordon Brown…go ahead and take a swipe at our US president too….we all do! Current events tie in with the hilarity of the show…we need to laugh at the insanity of this world coz It Is Insane! TG diverts our mind away from it for a moment, true? And, oh well, yes it is supposed to be a serious car show but I don’t take it that way…I drive to get from point A to point B, I can change the oil, oil filter and air filter in a vehicle but that’s about the extent of it! S–T! It’s entertainment…Duh!

Re: The Monk (No. 212)

Thanks for your comments. I am not a car owner/driver, so obviously find the “stunts” more to my liking. Having said that, I am beginning to develop in interest in cars but, as the non-car owner/driver situation will never change, I do tend to prefer the supercar end of the market: the average family car will never have the same appeal where I am concerned. Each to their own, of course, and it is clearly a very fine tightrope the producers of such a show as Top Gear have to walk in order to please the greatest number of people. I shall take your word for it that the much earlier shows were superior in content.

But whatever they do, even the odd “shit show” is, to me, preferable to watching wannabes and never-weres warbling away on ITV, and “celebrities” I’ve never heard of trying to resurrect careers, which should be left dead and buried, by trying to appear good eggs in the jungle. (If I want to watch people eating wichity grubs – or however you spell it – I would rather watch Ray Mears any day.)

Amazing show there, can’t wait to see the series! Christmas special sounds a good idea, every other bloody show does it bout time Top gear did, going to be a great episode. As for the last show, why not just wreck some caravans? Or marinas? Plenty of them around to smash up for free.

To answer your question, has to be Button for some amazing drives this season, and of course his championship, Kobayashi for sheer entertainment, and Hamilton for some great drives in a woefully bad car.

Re: St001DreamPoliceGirl

I have always railed against the absurdities of the PC Brigade. The sole reason why I remarked on Jeremy’s comments about Gordon Brown (a man I believe should not have been given the job of PM in the first place) was that, in this instance, I didn’t think he, Jeremy, was being fair. In this particular case, we are dealing with the death of a soldier in Afghanistan, and the grief of a family over that loss. I’m sorry, but I don’t find that at all funny and your “current events tie in with the hilarity of the show” comment I’m afraid I find inappropriate on this occasion.

Having said that, as I said earlier, I believe in free speech – something which is being smothered on this side of The Pond – and we all have a right to our own opinions. No doubt, mine are governed somewhat by my age. As a pensioner (although not a very old one) I will not see things in the same light as someone of a younger generation, just as I often disagreed with the generation that went before me.

Anyway, here’s to the next show!

He he can’t wait, I wonder what injury jeremy will have, what really long race they’ll have, how many fire there will be!

He he good first episode can’t wait for more

Button for disproving the “professional playboy” bullshit, Webber, for showing us what I always knew he could do, Kobayashi for having testes the size of a Shinto temple bell.

Oh, and congrats on a great first ep, have you had the 1st complaints about James’ lack of seatbelt yet???

need something really fast around track. bored of gumpert. and r8 v10. s class vs 7 series was a bit boring really

PS Andy, I wish you had time to write to us more often, your blogs always make me laugh. Many of us FG members are huge fans of you too you know!

Of course…I didn’t actually see this show yet and no, I was not alluding to the deaths of any soldiers in Afghanistan as being funny in the least! I’m a vet of the 1st Gulf war and no, none of these wars are funny…I was refering to our governments, our leaders,…their indecisiveness and “waffling” around should be made fun of because PC, if we don’t get rid of it, is a killer of freedom, don’t you agree? Anyway…..TG, you get my vote….come over here and run for president in 2012, would you?

I thought the first ep was MUCH better than the first ep of S13. For a start, the spark between the trio was much more prominent than S13’s first ep (which I feel personally was cold and blunt), and just seeing Jezza crush the cardboard toilet made my evening (seriously, I hadn’t laughed as hard as that since the 17-year-old challenge when they tampered with James’ stereo, and I was in hysterics when I saw that) along with the Romania film, which was just fantastic

one of the great episodes!!
love the ferrari but that aston is somthing else
pissed myself laughing when james got his dream car smashed, then he vrashed the lambo. classic.

Kamui Kobayashi(the most agressive driver i have ever seen) hamilton for sticking it out and button for being one of the few to try and overtake

1st Button he won the championship.

2nd Massa for surviving the crash and he’s good.

3rd vettal for beating Baracello for second on the championship table.

All i can say is thank you for including a Dacia Sandero in the first episode!!! That made my day and I was in stitches for the whole show!! Cannot wait for the rest of the episodes!!

I’d have to say Raikkonen first, because the Iceman is simply incredible, then Vettel because he fought like a champ for the title, then the Japanese rookie for Toyota (Kobayashi or something): incredible performance in a completley new car.

Other heros: Fisichella for pole and second place at Spa, Button for finally winning a championship with the best car on the field by miles.

Just seconds agol….on the television channel from the multi-media trust that owns the licence for Top Gear(the magazine) in roumania….i saw some sequences/footage with the guys on the transfagarasan….footage that was NOT presented in the film last night..!!(more footage with the guys on the road, the footage with them powerslide-ing in to the hairpins…., rapidly accelerating beneath the helicopter from who a camera crew was filming towards the guys in their cars(the helicopter being at max 2 meters(5-6 foot) from the asphalt)…and most importantly…jeremy having a big smile and laughing and saying..” forget about stelvio…, this is better !!!”(or smth similar..:P)

my question is….why not this footage has not being shown is the movie last night ??, why..?

if clarkson and co read this, i’d like to challenge u in the reasonably priced car. with a few practice laps i reckon i could match ure lap times. what u think boys?

to answer your question Andy –
Button – he was the world champion, won a lot of races, showed what he can do (he had some bad races, but doesnt everyone in their championship winning year(apart from schumacher)).
Hamilton did do well to win 2 races
kobayashi did too well in brazil and abu dhabi -hope to see him in 2010! they are my top 3. Just missing out – Vettel.

Hamilton, Button, Webber

I loved the first show and I’m really looking forward to the next couple. The special sounds great, I can’t wait to see what they get up to!

Now to the F1 drivers:
1. Hamilton, he fought so hard all the way till the end and even won 2 races. I think when it comes to pure skills then he is the best on the grid.
2. Button, it really pains me to say this, cause i’m not a fan, but i really do think that he deserves a place in my top 3. He was brilliant at the start (mabey due to the car), and still fought hard in the end. A worthy champion!!
3.Vettel/Massa, I think both drivers deserve this spot. Vettel showed pure class and really determination this season and was fighting until the end. Massa for me is also worthy of my top 3, i think if he hadn’t had this nasty accident he would have had a great season. He was really fast at the start (even though the car was crap) and showed really determination to recover quickly, almost fast enough for the last race.

St001DreamPoliceGirl: You state that you’re from the US so I don’t think you’ll be aware of what happened with Jonathan Ross/Russell Brand but – essentially, both of them made comments on a radio programme that attracted a handful of complaints. The newspapers got a hold of it, the news channels got a hold of it and various television programmes got a hold of it as well, and about a week later about 40,000 people complained retrospectively (most of them didn’t even know about it or know what they were complaining about).

I think the point Kernow was making was that a person like Jeremy Clarkson, an influential television personality – the very minor comments he made last night only really serve exascerbate a problem that shouldn’t really exist in the first place.

It’s nothing to complain about (you know, it’s not a “all truck drivers are rapists” comment), but it wasn’t really necessary. All it did, really, was expose the depth of Clarkson’s ignorance towards an event that has an otherwise plausible and entirely understanable explanation.

Kernow: I think it’s true to say that Top Gear is substantially better than all of the other nonsense that is on television at the moment, but I think my beef with the programme and its producers lies in the fact that – as a long-suffering Top Gear viewer and lifetime fan, I feel as if the programme should be much better. It’s not a case of me hating it; it’s a case of me loving something so much that I hate to see it wrecked.

There will never be such a thing as a “perfect programme” but I do think there should be something called a “consistent programme”. Top Gear’s past formula was, essentially, talk about cars, educate the masses on the joys of motoring and entertain them at the same time. These days, they do very little of the first two and too much of the third. They changed the formula and therein lies the problem.

oh and on last night show – wicked!

I forgot about the Dacia Sandero until last night! (best car ever!). Is England ever going to get it? Shame that stupid lorry shashed into it. (although something tells me it was staged, maybe common sense). However, with the other crash – JAMES YOU OAF!!!, crashing a LAMBORGHINI!!!

hehehe stig in a suit.

ACTUALLY…

I will praise Top Gear on one thing last night.

The show was shit but I’ll congratulate them on taking steps to cut out the unneccesary usage of the word ‘literally’ from their script.

no more staging please!!!!!!! go back to unscripted stuff please!!!! Top Gear is still awesome though..

Great show, but I can’t believe that an Aussie didn’t pull Jeremy up on his mis-pronunciation of Bathurst!

only 28 cans! spiders drink more than that, in there sleep. cant blame the ausies for stashing them.loved first episode
vettel
hamilton
and of course JENSON th rest of ex-brawn(barachelo and set up team both worked brilliantly)

y 9 not 8 like it was last series.i watch something else on sunday at 9 so i hav 2 record top gear.

1. Hamilton
2. Button
3. Vettel

Great 1st show!!! I had a bit of a ‘Top Gear weekend’, first of all I saw Top Gear Live at the NEC then I saw the first episode of season 14!!! Great stuff, just keep it going…

Favourite 3 drivers… thats a tough one!

obviously most people are going to say Button rightly so!

but my fav brit driver still is hamilton! worst car ever and still drove like amazingly!

Barrichello! getting on a bit but still has the pace!

Webber! very consistant drive

Vettel also did a great job. People forget how young the guy is! fantastic drives from him, esppecially in the wet.

I really like this first show,but somehow,a bit of that Top Gear lunacy is missing. Don’t realy know what but something was missing there.
Anyway,can’t wait for the next show!! Oh god…it’s so long till sunday!!

i like this show this show likes me, everybody does wee wee

Great show lads! loved every minute of it and thoroughly enjoyed it…btw lovin the 3 gt cars omg they were gorgeous! especially that aston anyway can’t wait for next show so keep it up

Shame that people seem to think most of the 1st show was staged (besides the obvious Sandero crash and dam moment) as other than those cringe-worthy pieces it seemed genuine and back to the Good ol’ Days of TG- i.e being funny whilst talking about cars, rather than just attempting to be funny.

So from me a tentative thumbs up, I think you just about got the balance right between cars and entertainment, although why they have to be polar opposites now is beyond me as they sat quite happily side by side up to season 9 ish.

What I just don’t get is the pointless crashing of another car. Yes it wasn’t worth very much, and yes it’s just a lump of metal and plastic, but it gives out a kind of arrogance that because you can afford £100K plus cars all the rest of them aren’t worthless save for crash testing.

Think back to what your first, second and probably third cars were. Many of us are in that position now, and much as I love supercars, I don’t want to feel like my car is shit because it’s only worth £6k. It isn’t shit, it’s a riot : )

wat does anyone tink of my manhoodpipe??

Great first episode, absolutely fab.
Theres only one thing i hate about top gear and its the fact that its only once a week,come on TG we need you every day not just on Sunday, infact it should be on twice a week.

hamilton vettel and sutil

You cant say Button didnt do a good job keeping Barrichello at bay, considering he was the man that gave Schumacher something to worry about while in the same car. Was he the best though? Rosberg certainly impressed, as did Sutil.

But I have to say the driver that made the most impact on me was Kobayashi, and considering he only did two races that’s quite an achievement. Some people have said he’s dangerous, but that just reminds me of a certain Top Gun scene I know Jeremy is a fan of.

My top three F1 drivers will have to be:

1-Button
2-Massa
3-Montezemolo

I watched the brand new first episode of the Top Gear show yesterday and I thought it was an absolute brillient show. It was combined with laughs and motoring.
I am a very big fan of Top Gear. I have even been to see the live show at Earls Court in London on the 5th November.

I can’t wait for next weeks show

iiiii l
i l ooo v v eeeeeee
i l o o v v e
i l o o v v e
i l o o v v eeeeeee
i l o o v v e
i l o o v v e
i l o o v v e
i l ooo v eeeeeee
iiiii llllll

ttttttttttt ooo pppppppppppp
t o o p p
t o o p p
t o o p p
t o o pppppppppppp
t o o p
t o o p
t o o p
t o o p
t ooooooo p

ggggggggggg eeeeeeeeee aaaaaaaaaa rrrrrrrrr
g e a a r r
g e a a r r
g eeeeeeeeee a a r r
g gggggg e a a rrrrrrrrr
g g e a a rr
g g e a a r r
ggggggggggg eeeeeeeeee aaaaaaaaaa r r
a r r
a r r

Re: St001DreamPoliceGirl

It hadn’t occurred to me that you hadn’t seen the programme yet, so wouldn’t understand what it was that I was feeling uncomfortable about.

Yes I agree that PC is stifling natural debate and is killing freedom of thought and speech, something I feel strongly about. Waffling and dithering presidents and PMs are almost as bad as the ones that shoot first and ask questions later. Decisive action, after the minimum of fuss, is what we ask for. If ever we become a republic, my vote for President would be James May – I think life in May’s Britain would be a lot more enjoyable and bearable!

Re: The Monk

I agree with your view on Jeremy’s comment last night. It wasn’t really worthy of him. Not that it will stop me reading his column in the Sunday Times – whether or not I agree with him, it certainly wakes me up and gives me food for thought, which is no bad thing. You obviously have the advantage over me regarding Top Gear’s perceived slippage. There is always a danger, over time, that programme makers can become complacent, often without realising that it has happened. I suspect that you are probably correct in your assumption that they should try to return to the original formula, or something approximating it. I would still be watching and would welcome the opportunity to improve my somewhat meagre knowledge of cars and motoring. It would still leave room for the fun and games. Programmes have to move on and develop, but there is no harm in looking back now and again, assessing what worked well in the past, and seeing if it can be adapted to suit modern tastes. Educate, inform and entertain.

Sorry, Mr Wilman, I seem to have gone off at a tangent; none of this has anything to do with F1, does it. A bit like a game of Consequences, perhaps?

PURE CLASS welcome back guys,how long before the saddoes moan about jezza going on about the gypsies in his best borat accent ? the chopper pilot you had was a tad mad i think yet brilliant…roll on next week….hercule

I have to say I was rooting for Barrichello, next would be Button and third is props to Kobayashi who impressed me in his appearances.

Loved 1st episode… and I’m glad that they filmed both the good (like Mamaia, Constanta, Bucharest -People’s House-, Transfagarasean or all the great cars we have here.. including Dacia Sandero ) and the bad (gypsy, bad roads or some small vilage) from Romania. I really hope that from now on more peoples will came and visit my country or even just to drive on Transfagarasean (which is mind-blowing.. trust me.. )

I think the only one who’s worth mentioning is Hamilton. The thing is, he’s the only one who actually fights and, even if he had a pretty bad car this year, he had never given up.
I think all the other pilots nowadays are entirely dependent on the reliability and performance of their cars.

Not a bad episode, the Sandero was far too staged, it’s just not funny and far too predictable. Although it wasn’t clear if James was in on it. When moaning about income and wage cuts those who earn the most, not the poor sod’s at the bottom. You also failed to mention that you are recycling unused series 13 stuff in series 14, airport equipment racing.

Love the beast:
http://videos.streetfire. net/video/Love-the-beast_ 698319.htm

Hey, some of you should get educated first
about the country and its people before making
disparaging comments! Romania is not only about
that road that nobody uses, the whole country
of Romania is amazing, naturally excuisite and
nice, hospitable people! Not..gypsies! For the uneducated, gypsies are not..romanians, they’re a tribe from..India and they exist in EVERY country in the world since 16th. century! You should research why 3 million foreigners live in Romania, why most of them become citizens, why a lot of brits are moving for good in areas close to the TF road!(strangely enough!). Romania has nothing to do with cars or road tests(since a lot of roads are not that great-poor country), Romania has a lot more to offer, althoguh, I have to admit, what those guys did was great publicity for Romania! Skip the idiotic, irrelevant, uninformed ‘gypsy’ comments next time, and try to have a little more common-sense approach toward a romanian-made car that only cost what you spend on gas for a year and is a very sturdy car! Try to find out which car sells the most in Europe in the past 2 years! I will tell you, Logan,romanian-made by Dacia!! Some of you should go and visit Romania(especially in the summer if you dont ski) and you never see a more beautiful, green, fresh air country in your life!! Driving or not!! Just google Romania, key words;resorts,
moumtains, Brasov, Sibiu,(thats where the TF road is), Sinaia, Bran(dracula’s castle), Beach resorts, The delta, Transilvania, etc….I will
bet you will go back every year , like most europeans who went once! And if you are tired of that bland, awfull british food, go and have some of the best food on earth and that ‘plum brandy’ they were drinking, makes wiskey seem like ..bathwatter!!! happy trails in Romania, no car necessary!!

to post 236…
The crash was bullshit…it was no real… )

I agree with the complaints about stuff being staged. I.e. the sandero in the carpark was the same as the one that passed presenters on the highway. This one detail made me thinking about what’s staged and what’s not during the whole romania film.

pt..Danny….ma idiotule, asta e forum in engleza, astia nu stiu romaneste, ce p..a ma..ti
scrii aiurea, cine intelge? idiotule!

fantastic i loved the romania film!!!

Great first show, a lot better than the 1st episode from the last series. Really looking forward to the Xmas Special, it always makes my Christmas.

Top F1 Drivers:

1.Hamilton
2.Button
3.Vettel

Complacency is probably the correct word, Kernow.

Any sane person who has been watching Top Gear for years would notice that in recent series’ the quality has declined drastically. Producers of Top Gear, I think, have forgotten what made it such a great show in the first place.

Some idiots would sit back and say ‘change nothing’ and yet if producers listen to what the idiots say and what the idiots demand, the programme is dumbed down to an almost unrecognisable level. It becomes like 99% of the rest of television.

Unfortunately, I don’t think the producers of the show will actually take the time to have an intelligent and open forum dedicated solely to constructive input. I imagine it’s difficult for producers to see the pleas from the genuine fans amidst the 200 or 300 other messages – both valid and invalid in equal measure – that ask them to address their concerns.

no sneek peek at beging of serise still great episode

Can i point out that Top Gear has become 3 spoilt tv presenters, spending our licence fee to fund their mid-life crisis… oh dear.

1. Vettel, he’s going to turn schumi very soon.. just watch this year’s Race of Champions
2. Webber (I’m not a red bull fan, really) and Rubens, the old men really did shine, just makes me sad Coulthard didnt last year..
3. (ok maybe 4, but he really deserves it) Fisichella, he just kicked bottom big time in the spa race, never had as much fun as watching him get pole and finish second, too bad he didn’t show more of himself in the ferrari.

To tell you the truth, Mr. Wilman, I was a bit disappointed with the first show. I got hyped up about it for months after news came out about Season 14 (I was one of those people who thought Top Gear was over after Jeremy’s “AM V12 Vantage” video), and I was expecting more cocking about. I know more is to come, but just for next season, make the first episode a bit more entertaining. Add jokes, cocking about, remind us again why we love Top Gear so much. Then, the second episode, do what ever you want because you know you have our loyalty.

As for your question, I don’t watch F1, so I couldn’t really tell you, but I will say McRae, Burns, and Block…you’re a smart man. You can figure it out.

..the missing footage from the transfagarasan road !!

http://www.youtube.com/wa tch?v=0U_a-EdkfI0&feature =player_embedded

it starts at the moment they wake up at the base of vidraru dam; the missing footage from the last night show starts at min 5(+/- a couple of seconds);

enjoy..!!, it rly does make a diff. in terms of how they perceived the transfagarasan road..!!

all the best, salut !

Brilliant first episode! Keep the good job! Really looking forward to even better and better next series. To me – 10th season was best best, and all of the seasons were best in the World. Living legends. But better still I hope 14th season will be even better than any other and get some more financing from ads etc. so you will be able to make even better 15th one. Good luck. Love what you are doing.

Loved the first show…just keep it up lads!

Still love this Andy,always watched it and its still brilliant! You have fun,talk about cars,what more could i want?! Obviously the Dacia getting squashed was a staged stunt,so what? it was funny! i know some people knock you but judging by the huge crowds at TG Live you’re pleasing a hell of a lot more people than you’re annoying.Keep it funny!
oh,and your question…. 1.Button,2.Massa,3.Hamilt on

My top 3 would be Button, Hamilton, Rosberg. Spectacular first episode by the way. Keep ‘em coming!

I fancy Sabine.

Great first show Andy and can’t wait for the special. For me Vettel, Raikonnen and Button. Sorry, Hamilton gets on my nerves.
Can’t wait for the Xmas special…..would love to see James or Hamster do an interview one week just to mix it up a bit…..

I’d like to see a Top Gear UK verse Top Gear Australia Challenge. You know…for bragging rights.

I would like to assure The Monk that TG continues to educate viewers. As a direct result of watching the show, I have attended MPH for the last three years. My first stop this year was the Start Up Zone and I sat enthralled by the skill of the Swift Stunt Driving Team during Top Gear Live.
Did we learn more about the technical specifications of the Veyron in the race to the Natwest Tower or the Maclaren SLR in the race to Oslo in those good old days than we do now?
Is e1 of series 8 a sensible review of or through purchaser guide for the Renault Espace?
For whatever reasons we watch, Top Gear provides an hour of pure escapism, I don’t know about you but for me that is a very welcome respite from reality.

@ The_monk… yes, we get it already you don’t like the show, you haven’t liked the show for many years, you think it’s all a bit twee… please – like that ploo last night… your soapbox will only support weight for so long, get down before you end up right in it!

@ Swanky… Not much of a film goer are you?

@ Dax… Your comments have just proved the point Jeremy was making during the interview with Eric Bana, thank you!

If you are so incensed with how much you dislike where the show has gone – don’t watch it next week! Remember what Albert Einstein said… “Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results”

For a hour a week we can set aside the assorted crud that is our real lives and just spend the time vicariously having a bit of silly fun… I’m just so surprised people just can’t accept that…

cant wait for the tunnel race episode or south america

I’ve written an article on why Top gear has been so successful, and also answering the question of whether it is a true car programme anymore.

Please feel free to check it out! http://mossonmotoring.wor dpress.com

To certain individuals, Arkham Asylum has called… it’s past your curfew

“which car company made the greatest number of great cars”

I see this question as a continuation of what Bana and Clarkson talked about in the first episode. A ‘great car’ is one that transcends itself to become more than just nuts, bolts, and sheet metal.

VW gets my vote. They’re cars that are attainable to average people. Old beatles, GTIs, Jettas, Sciraccos are just cool (ask May). They evoke loyalty from their owners. No frills, just great cars that are fun to drive.

Brilliant first show – made even better by watching it in absolutely stunning HD High Definition!!! It really did come alive. Looking forward to the rest of the series now, and this ‘car art’ exhibition sounds interesting. My AS-Level artwork largely revolved around cars

I really have to say…as a female who prefers motorbikes to cars…I am hooked…seriously..I never miss an episode and though I know the program is geared towards cars and their performance..(which I admit has taught me alot)..it’s the hilarity between the guys that I love…and wondering what crazyiness they will come up with…it’s a good hour of fun and one I don’t consider ‘wasted’

I would so buy all the seasons episodes from beginning to present if I could land my hands on them……

From Montreal,Canada

Vettel, Button, and Webber were the best drivers, but I just want to punch Button in his smug face.

Keep up the good work chaps.

Inorder – Vettel, Raikkonen & Kobayashi.

If button didnt have the string of victories in the first half of the season – i think barichello or vettel would have emerged victorious. If Kobayashi should land a seat next season, I’d say he’d be the one to watch out for.

The_Monk

have to say, i am in agreement with yoo to be honest, i’ve said many things like you’re saying on here before, only to be drowned out amidst all the ‘top gear is ace cos hammond is cute lol’ and ‘xplosoins r fun’ comments. It seems, in particular the last series (which was utterly dreadful), Top Gear is nowadays catering solely for the audience who had been drawn to top gear in the past year or 2 years or so, because, you know, its an entertainment programme that “allows us to escape from reality on a sunday night”.

To that i say PAH, gtfo.

Saying that though, I thought sundays episode was by far easily better than anything churned out last series, and i kinda accepted they were BLATANTLY taking the michael with the whole sandero thing, the Top Auto being photoshopped onto the TV screen for example, but in the middle of all the tongue-in-cheek moments, there was enough genuine charm and wit, traits that made Top Gear the phenomonom it is now, that struck a good balance between pleasing the car fan and satisfiying those who care more about how much like james may richard hammond is turning, than the ultimate “thrill of driving”, to quote clarkson.

Personally, for me, Top Gear needs more films about taking amazing superars and actually driving the sodding things on the road and going somewhere incredible, like we saw on sunday, than all the irrelevant track work that we currently see. Ironically, May commented on why that merc had a lap timer, yet they were testing it on a track…

@RJ post 287, ypou can get some of them now at shopbbccanada.com, well worth it!

Absolutely fantastic start to the 14th series! I still can’t decide was was best:

May getting tossed around in the back while Stiggy raced the Merc

May’s Dacia eventually getting run into by the semi (we all knew it had to happen lol)

The fact that were able to race 3 supercars in an underground tunnel, the sound from those engines was beautiful! I had to crank the volume up!!!

Keep up the excellent work guys!

BTW, JC, I read your article about your summer trip in Canada and the whole fiasco about the hospital system in Quebec, let me assure you that is not the norm here. Next time bring the whole crew, we are dying for a Top Gear Live show here!

Kevin in Ottawa

Hi. Loving the show here in Australia. Don’t know if you read these all but I would like to make one suggestion, can we have more car culture/history episodes mixed in with all the other great stuff.

Whilst I love the challenges and watching the guys cock about, I would also like to see them do more on car history/culture/progressi on etc that where present in the early seasons( 4-9). Things like looking at the Miura/M1/british racing green etc.

I enjoyed learning something whilst being entertained and I find it just as engaging as the rest of the show. Plus its probably as lot cheaper than all the crazy things that are the norm

I must echo the sentiments of many on here who dislike the fact that it becomes so obvious that certain things are staged, it really breaks my heart when I realize that kinda stuff, it doesn’t help if you apologize for it, I just wish it never happened, it’s just not a good feeling…

It was a wonderful episode! James driving above the helicopter was just magical! It’s really the best tv show!

Hello from Brazil =]

Marcelo

Imogen, re: “Did we learn more about the technical specifications of the Veyron in the race to the Natwest Tower or the Maclaren SLR in the race to Oslo in those good old days than we do now?”

Uh…yes, actually. Yes, we did. Off the top of my head, I can recall Clarkson informing us of the McMerc’s engine specifications, factoids about its development, and the varied and sundry ways that it excels as a GT car on the road to Norway. This was a car they had tested twice this to this point already on the programme, and still they managed to find unique things to say about it. As far as the Veyron race to the Nat West tower is concerned…Jesus, do you really want me to list them all? The engine’s development. The gearbox’s development. The number of radiators the damned thing has, and the specific function of each of them. The car’s high speed road holding characteristics. The unit cost for each example relative to its cost. Etc., etc., etc. And more to the point, the purpose of each of those films was to gape in awe at the *cars* themselves. Not the situation comedy horseshit. The *cars*. There were funny bits, yes. Very funny, in fact. But they were born out of the genuine personilities of the lads, rather than the contrived situations they had to stumble through. In those days, certainly, the mantra was, “The Car Is The Star”. When was the last time that was true, do you suppose?

These days, if even a single fact is imparted over the course of one of their tests, it raises a Spock-ian eyebrow. Luckily for those who value it as little more than some Simon Cowell idiocy with cars somewhere in the background, it doesn’t happen all that often these days. Look, where The Monk and I come down on the matter can simply be boiled down: “What the f*£$ happened to our show?” Understand that it isn’t as though we want to it to morph from what it is, into what we want it to be. It’s that we, as the diehards who gave the show its footing from day one, have seen how good the show once was, and how far removed it has become from its own mission statement. It has always been funny, yes. But it never used to be the centre stage attraction. And like battered wives, long time faithful like The Monk and myself are saddened at the sight of what was once the best car programme in the world by light years turn into a painful reality sitcom, and yet like fools we keep coming back to it, in the hopes that it manages to once again reward our faith in it.

Great First show! Loved the GT bit along with the epic road.

My favorite F1 drivers this year are:

1. Vettel
2. Kobayashi
3. Barichello

top three drivers in f1 this year:
1.Ross Brawn!he may not have driven the car but what a hell of a job he did in winning both titles in his debut year.i’m just sad brawn gp’s gone ‘coz i really liked their paint job a lot..
2.Kimi Raikkonen for really showing how good he is by putting a pile of red rubbish at the business end of the field where it shouldn’t have been.
3.Sebastian Vettel for filling in Schumi’s empty spot in a way.hmm,fancy him joining the new Mercedes GP.what a cracker that would be!Vettel and Rosberg!
but i guess sebastian loeb should get a mention.he’s untouchable on the dirty stuff,so in a way i’m hoping that french bugger moves off to f1.which makes me realise why so many people used to dislike schumacher as well,what with him always winning.

when is season 14 coming to Singapore? We only have season 10…

Top three F1 steerers? Kubica (talk about dragging a dead horse backwards through cold treacle), Hamo and Button. Don’t care if people think he soft-cocked it in at the end; Button won the championship with some stunning drives in a sometimes-edgy car. Kobayashi might be all right if he doesn;t kill someone first, and Rosberg better pull his finger out.

I love your show, this three car competitions are always good.

For my part
1. Hamilton
2. Button
3. Barrichelo

Regards from Guatemala, how you will show a film in Tikal some day… A Indiana Jones adventures style thing, will be fun, “James lost in Tikal”

There’s hardly as many gypsies in Romania as shown in the TG show (you know… percentage wise)
Otherwise, the show was great (as usual) except for the increasing by each season more and more totally obvious staged parts. Try to make things more natural. Clarkson’s Duel wasn’t that natural either.. That could bring them to an end…
For their sake, I hope they refresh their style, become as natural(aka childish) as they were when they started the show.

As for the F1:
1. Button – for showing that any future GP champ could end his driving career in oblivion.
2. Hamilton – for always fighting. (He’s still the champion in my head)
3. Kobayashi.. – a future f1 champ (of course, with a proper team.. how ELSE ?

-Vettel, Barrichelo, Luca Badoer, ok maybe not Luca…

But to the point, when you’re throwing together the January show, air the damn ZR-1 v. V10 R8. You have the film, you got some of our hopes up, and you don’t show the clip? The ZR-1 is clarkson’s car of the year and it will set a monster time and you don’t bother to air the tape you already have? Come on, I rarely question genius, but get with it, at least put it on the website if nothing else.

What a great show! Pity about james new Sandero, I honestly though Jezza had did something nice in his life for once. Loved the People’s Castle and underground tunnels. My fav was the California, and to answer Andy’s question, sorry. Don’t watch all that much of it. But b/c im aussie, Weber would be my number one pick

Who on earth did James’ hair? What were they thinking?? Leave him alone!

Did anyone else notice the way the Fezza dug in when they were on the motorway… when Richard planted his foot you could see the down force at the back before it took off… very nice.

Loved the 1st show..can’t wait 4 what’s coming next.

F1:

Hamilton is always first as far as I’m conserned. Vettel is next just amazing talent, you know. Then, an unlikely name in Kobayashi. That dude can drive, you know. Loved his pass on JB in Abu Dhabi..great stuff.

topgear is doing the same stuff over and over again. i mean it is exciting for anyone watching topgear for the first time but cmon the 1st episode of this season was just like the 1st episode of the 10th season, the boys heading out to find the best driving road in the world.

1st episode – honestly, i like it, but it’s not gone well, i think, becouse you could pay more attention to the cars. Too much not finished lines. too much f***ing sandero and not natural crash of that one. And it’s silly present. I want more plausibility! More soul… In Romania you could do many small road test or somethig like it! Ok.

Clarkson as usual RULEZ! I love you, Jeremy!!!

And F1:
Sebastian Vettel
Mark Webber
Jenson Button

Corvette ZR1 Vs. Audi R8 V10

Come on producer Alan….I agree with RBond’s comment above.

Saw the clip in last series’ montage but you didn’t include then…so why not now?!

Mine top three F1 drivers would be this year: Hamilton – he showed, with the help of the McLaren team of course, that it is possible to regain performance within season even when testing was not allowed and to race for the highest place of podium once again.
Vettel – really great driver, just a bit out of luck this year, but he might have the greatest potential to be world champ more than once or even twice.
Kobayashi – I guess he is the best rookie this year. Maybe the next japanese F1 superstar if he gets a seat in a proper title contending team.

Great start, great show, great cars.. and I must admit rather fair, in regards to Romania: super cars in the city center and poor villages further inland. One thing really bothered me, although, from a British point of view maybe the joke is there: why the add in Russian? or “what he said in Hungarian” comment? We speak Romanian, we haven’t been taught compulsory Russian in schools since the 60’s. That wasn’t very nice.. nor funny for us, Romanians who are very touchy on the subject of Russians.
Also, I have to agree with someone else around here: it’s becoming too scripted, if it goes on like this, despite the talent and the best efforts, I think, it’ll end-up like some other “see one see them all” american “reality” shows. Be childish, be yourselfs, that’s why we love you, guys.

More information about Transfagarasan Road: http://www.romanianmonast eries.org/romania/fagaras -mountains

***WARNING: LONG RANT***

Podge 90: Oh I know what you mean. I think it’s difficult to express a real concern for something you have been a fan of for such a long time when it’s hidden amongst all of the nonsense of inane statements.

So what can they change? What SHOULD they change? Well…

1. Road tests – this is a recurring concern from many, many different people. Instead of endlessly shoving supercars on a race track, it might be wise to send the cars out into a real world environment so that the reviewer can analyse the car’s advantages and disadvantages, like they used to.

2. More real world cars – it’s fine and great getting into a Ferrari and throwing it into the corners of a racetrack but to do it every week is just tiresome. Look at series 11, for example – the most affordable new cars to have been shown in that entire series were the Mitsubishi Evo X and the Subaru Impreza WRX STi.

The justification typically used by Clarkson on the show for not showing more affordable cars is that Top Gear is there to show the pleasure of driving and the joy of motoring – wrong! It’s to show the pleasure of Jeremy Clarkson driving a Ferrari. We stand to gain nothing from this, as ordinary members of the public, since most of us cannot afford Ferraris and those who can are typically on the couch opposite Clarkson being interviewed, and even they will venture out of Surrey or Cheshire on to the motorways and A and B roads of Britain occasionally.

If cars that don’t go around corners adequately at 100mph are boring then who do you expect to appeal to when the people who drive those cars are the core audience?

3. Balanced programming – what made Top Gear so great in the past was the fine balance that the producers had as they walked along the tightrope between fact-based programming and sheer entertainment. The formula for a great Top Gear series is as follows (in no priority):

a) Cheap/used car challenges
b) Road testing real world cars relative to certain demographics
c) Races using supercars
d) Cool wall
e) The news (car related)
f) Star in a Reasonably Priced Car (actual celebrities)
g) Power laps
h) Relevant articles and segments that address the concerns of the general public

Everything else is irrelevant, especially football matches between Aygos, stunts involving vans or lorries, and expensive holidays where the presenters just get in a car for an hour to film what they need to and then piss off to a hotel.

4. More spontaneity – less scripting and less staging of events for comedic effect. The presenters are not actors so every time they even try acting, most of the intelligent viewers can spot it coming from a several miles away. Suspension of disbelief is one thing but to insult the intelligence of the audience with a haphazard attempt at trying to be funny is just tedious.

Funniest Top Gear moment? Top Gear Presenter’s Mums.

5. Less Stig – now, this may seem slightly controversial but rather than attempting to turn him into a brand (Stiggy Bank, Stig Shower Gel, Stig Birthday Cakes, etc), why not just put emphasis on him as nothing more than a race driver? The Stig is there to throw Ferrari’s and Porsche’s around a track in the fastest time possible, nothing more. Any jokes or major films involving him now are boring and unnecessary.

6. More James May – Hammond doesn’t really have much to say about anything and I usually forget any review he does. He’s just a guy who has a job where it’s a necessity to love cars but lacks the enthusiasm of a real driver. If you got rid of him, I think most of us could cope.

Clarkson is just a wall of fairly ignorant and inconsistent opinions but is nonetheless very good at what he does when it comes to how he writes, the way he writes things and the way he speaks about his passion for engineering.

James May, on the other hand, is arguably the most interesting person on television at the minute, and his interest in cars, in engineering and just in how things work in general is something that… well, you’ve not even scratched the surface of his value to the programme. Instead, you hide him behind all the stupid stunts and other crap that has no value to anybody outside of a writer’s office.

The FCX Clarity film was, in my opinion, the finest film Top Gear have ever made, which is ironic considering it’s from a series that I despised (anybody for a Renault Avantime? No… thought not – what a shit film that was). The best decision you have ever made in the history of Top Gear was giving that one to James May.

Those 6 are probably the ones that are most important – 3 probably being the most important.

I agree; the scripts of Top Gear are getting more obvious every show. Especially the jokes. Maybe you just have to trust your own funny-ness.. From a Dutch point of view; (I am from Holland) we are a travvelers people. That’s why I like the show so much; you explore all of the earth by doing all sorts of challenges. But maybe you can adjust even more to local customs, or to be more specific: more local methods of transport.

thanks for finding the time to write the blog Andy, keep up the good work!

The first ep of the series was epic, beautifully filmed, awesome locations. And it was in HD!

As for F1 drivers I guess I have to agree on Hamilton, Vettel and then I’ll go for Barrichelo.

On the no-money-left episode: you could do a group test of Asian/Korean/Chinese cars to pick a new reasonably priced car, that could be fun.

” Romania, thank you for having this ( Transfagarasan road ). Can we stay? For ever? ” – Jeremy Clarckson , 14th series, ep.1.

Amazing shooting session through Carpatians mountains, sexy cars and proper comments.

And YES, you can stay. For ever. Together with all that great cars

” Romania, thank you for having this (Transfagarasan road). Can we stay? For ever? ” – Jeremy Clarkson, 14th Series, ep. 1

Amazing shooting session, sexy cars and proper comments.

And YES, you can stay here. But please bring the cars with you

1st show was great, looked risky driving thoses cars down the local town track, kept your dustcaps. But , cant wait the the rest of the shows really even if your out of money on the last one the witty banter will keep things flowing..Good times.

F what?
Oh the racing car thingy.
Weeeelll…
Button (west country boy, just like Hubby)
Hamilton (no quitter there!)and Raikonnen (‘cos I fancy him!)
And please no staged stuff, we don’t believe the real stuff any more!!!
Clarkson was more shocked when he noticed that puppy, than when that truck hit the car…

you have the best car every can you buy a c63 amg for me =] lovr you

Wohoo! Top gear is back.

Well I enjoyed the new episode. It looked like great fun in Romania, but I reckon I’d enjoy the show just as much if it was just the lads arsing about in the car park.
As for the F1 question… can’t decide on this year, mainly because I’m thinking of next year already. Top 3 tips then!
1) Rosberg. Can’t wait to see him a decent car, so assuming the Mercedes is up to the job then I hope to see him finally getting some decent podiums and maybe wins.
2) Heidfeld. Assuming he does join the Merc team too then I hope to see some him get some recognition. I’ve heard of Rosberg being called the No 1 in Merc already, but sure Nick can do just as well as the youngster.
3) Webber. He really kept a lot closer to Vettel than I’m sure many people though, and that was with all his injuries. Come the new year his confidence will be much higher so I hope to see him just that little bit closer to Seb.

Loved the first episode – the Romania film specially.

Well, it might just be a coincidence, but I suggested south america as an idea a number of months ago on a comment wall for some topic…and you’ve done it. Obviously, you were probably going to go there at some point anyway.

But I’ll see if I get lucky again: In a forth coming series, what about a Cuba special, where they each have to buy a pre 1960 car with god knows what under the bonnet, and have some proposterously feindish tasks to do.

You could have the Stig’s Cuban cousin, doing a quick bit of flamenco with some senorita with a rose poking through his ajar visor, before testing their creations. Later find him chilling smoking a bloody great cigar in the background.

Just thinking aloud.

By the way, vettel, Hamilton..and Barrichello. The old dog still has a few tricks up his sleeves. Just cursed with retched luck.

1/ Alonso
2/ Button
3/ Webber

Great first episode keep it up.

Now back to F1 I’d give some credit to Robert Kubica since he’s the only F1 driver from Poland EVER. He made it and he’s doing pretty good.

Haven’t topgear been doing the same stuff over and over again. I mean they went out before to find the best driving road in the world for a start. When james was given the dacia sandero it was very imminent that the car would be vandalized the next second.

What i am saying is that the show has become so obvious, anyone who has been a fan for the 8 years or so can easily guess the outcome of a particular instance in the episode.

The show needs some serious restyling and new ideas.

Hey Guys…concerning the Doppelkupplungsgestriebe:
It’s the same as DSG
Doble Clutch Gearbox would do it in english i think

enough wisdom for today, there are tires to be burnt

and by the way.. F1 Sucks!

I must say the guys at TG really went out of their way with all that gypsy showcasing. I mean come on Top Gear, there were so many great things to show other than those freakin’ gypsis. And by the way, you really can’t get lost, trying to get on the Transfagarasan road, and end up in a gypsy village, unless you do it on purpose(which is what the producers obviously did).
Also, the spleeping in the cars was really lame, given that there are many hotels/pensions in the area.

And the thing that really bothers me is that the driving on the Transfagaras Road got almost the same amount of airtime as that effin’ Bluetooth junk,when the driving on the winding mountain roads should have been so much longer than what they showed. SHAME ON YOU TOP GEAR!

And what was also mean was that they didn’t mention on the show that there are only about 10 km of damaged road on Transfagaras along The Vidraru Dam, the rest of the road all the way to the top of the mountains(Balea Lake) being in top condition,most of it being brand new asphalt concrete that had been laid before the show was filmed.

I should know all of this, because i am from Romania, and i drove on the Trasfagarasan Road a few days after the road had been closed down to allow filming on Top Gear.

To sum up, slightly good first episode but it could have been a whole lot better.

Like others said, the episode about Romania was a bit unfair and stupid from the point of view of the people who live or went there as well, with many things “directed”. I like to believe that Jeremy, Richard and James are cleverer and more informed than that and it was all exaggerated. They focused too much on gypsies or people not speaking any english (not even romanian sometimes!?!). Hats off though for the justice done to a beautiful TF road. 40 people died making it….

The part where they slept under Vidraru is pretty funny because it was written in the media that they slept at some pension and there were also photos of the cars in the yard of the pension. The part when they got to the pub was pretty strange as the lady on the tv screen was speaking russian(I think). The boys slept at Marriot Grand Hotel in Bucharest which is 1 min away from the Peoples House and also 5 min away from my place and I was lucky enough to get their autographs.

@Under Capricorn …obviously you miss the point, anyway…not living in eastern europe it makes it impossible for you guys to understand it.
Was really no need to show Romanians as gypsies, i bet that the ratings were still high

And please, pub part, watching a “Romanian” car show and you put on a screen a Russian one does not justify either their budget or their carelessness.

Oh Dudes seriously! Can everyone please look up the word SATIRE in their respective dictionaries!

Setting aside the location of any holiday inns or the like in Romania, YES the sleep in car was a set up – for the love of all that is good – they were reverse parked into a dead end at the bottom of a frickin dam and managed to get there in the dead of night! That’s not the DAM point, did no one else look at the footage and go F-Me when they did the pan shot on that sucker… THAT was the point!

The POINT of the “Gypsy Village” is to highlight the diverse dichotomy of the country, they had been in the more affluent areas and they showed a side of a country that does have its intensely rural areas…

For every ‘bad’ thing people have put up here, there seem to be precious few knockers who have mentioned the complimentary things the boys had to say about it too… They were in awe of a hell of a lot in Romania – even when they were talking about it’s less than savory past leaders.

People have been knocking the road trips (big and small) ever since the first American one, screaming bloody murder that they are offensive to the locals… but in every instance without fail there is a link of seriousness in them that is the ACTUAL point…

America – lam blasted for the ‘rednecks’… but where was the focus? That moment they drove into New Orleans… The destruction and devestation… yes the car trip was fun, but it was the sobering point.

Botswana – Highlighting one of the most amazing landscapes on the planet.

Vietnam – People complained about the inappropriateness of the springsteen bike, but their whole point was the country is so much more than just the name of a battle field.

Look beyond the obvious to the ideas behind the journeys… it’s about three chums together, enjoying each others company (and lets face it, no matter what they say… as someone said, none of them are THAT good actors, to suggest otherwise) being a bit daft (orchestrated or no) and having fun…

We can all bitch and moan from our cubicles and computer desks… but the simple facts are, we would give our eye teeth to have HALF the chance to do what they do every week… and we know it…

@332 That panshot of the DAM was dam impressive.
Staging is only to be expected. For years they’ve done it exactly right, playing off the cuff. So naturally they want to do that again, by trying to do the same thing in a bigger way. That means staging things. There’s no way around it. Chopin’s Impromptu was no true improvisation either, but it’s still a masterpiece.
What was that thing about the carmaker with the most memorable cars made? I’m not sure. Either Alfa Romeo or Citroën, in my opinion. Feel free to disagree.

@Dax – I do get the point. True I have never lived in that part of the world, but don’t get bent out of shape over the little stuff.

I can only guess what Clarkson et al would be like if they did a show in Australia. Humpy’s, swagmen, bush craft (eating witchetty grubs) mortal peril from every creature under the sun, sharks with ‘frickin lazers’ no doubt.

When Survivor Australia came around most of the bloody country was pissing itself laughing and what was ’supposed’ to be “Australia”. We didn’t get offended. I guess we have just had so many ‘characterizations’ of our country over the years we have a better sense of humour over similar things in other places.

Believe me, Steve Irwin and Crocodile Dundee are NOT the norm in Australia, but ask most newbie traveller and more than a few have heard tales that our kids ride to school in the pouch of Kangeroo (hell, even the portrayal of Australians in the Simpsons played on that fact)

You know the truth about your country, just smile and call the guys a bunch of dozy gits and then if anyone is dumb enough to believe everything they have seen on TV to be true, correct them with something REAL and amazing about your homeland. That’s all any of us can do.

What’s F1? Is that like NASCAR? Just kidding, but WRC is much more interesting.
Can a big fat badly dressed American who downloads your show have a job at the TG offices? I’ll be there Monday.
Cheers,
Timmy

Execellent first show. the new seris sounds like it’s going to be a cracker, as for the F1 drivers I woulnd say Button great driver about time he got what he deserves, Barrichello also second fiddle until this year when he gave it his all, and finally webber as he was driving at his best this season but just had to much trouble

P.S Timo stand in was Kobayashi

Mine would definatly be Kimi Raikonnen 1st, then Vetel, and finally Kobiashi (sorry, I can’t spell French jokes!) because he was the best newcomer, and drove brilliantly unlike badoer who was a collosal failure.

Brilliant Top Gear episode by the way. I’ve noticed further up all of the comments some guy saying, “worst ever”. He is abviously from a poor, 3rd world country, where they are struggling to develop past the cave man era. America let’s say?

kobayshi,sutil and vettel
the funniest tg eva was when jezza put da porsche pipe in backwardz i was lol 4 ages

Loved the 1st show! Great road in Romania, who would have thought. . .

As for F1 drivers:
Vettel – The first time I heard his name was when I was at the last US GP in 2007. He filled in for Kubica and finished 6th overall. Much like Kobayashi, he raced his arse off on his very first attempt. Then he came home a winner at Monza the next year with a Torro Rossa! He’s my pick for champion next year.
Raikkonen – An ice cold racing machine. I think the closest thing to a real Stig anyone could ever become.
Button – Even though I’m not British, I’ve been a fan for a long time, and I’m glad to see him finally make it! I just wish that he’d drive more aggressively and less like he’s running a marathon. He paces himself too often when he should be putting down fastest laps. . . but he still has the championship to show for it.

Isn’t the airport car race just an old film that was supposed to be shown in the last season, except I bet Topgear have ran out of dough and so are stealing crap films that have been left on the cutting toom floor?

Comments please

1. Vettel
2. Rosberg
3. Button

i know that nobody will bother to read this and if they do i will be called a communist but im gonna say what i want to say anyway
the first episode was rubbish (sorry to be blunt but thats what i think)
firstly how many times are you going to do the greastest road in the world?
secondly when are you going to drop the whole lets buy a stupid present gag (thats not funny anymore)
plus whats going on with the whole really staged road tests, its not funny well it might be if your 6.
personally i wish you got down to some more serious stuff such as real road tests and some factual information such as whats going on in the car industry. not how to make a cardboard loo
if you are reading this and i doubt you are your probably thinking that i’m some fat middle aged ma called grant! well im not im 16 and most of my friends feel the same way as me!!!

sorry top gear poor start to a series sort it out!

DEFINATLY :

1.hamilton
2.button
3.vettel

luv ya top gear !!!!

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxx
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxx
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxx

Loving the new Top Gear. Might sound a bit stupid, but has anyone else noticed the picture quality is a lot better. I’m watching it on a HD TV but only through Freeview. There were parts of the show that looked almost Blu-Ray like.

My first year of F1. It’s great to see the British boys doing us proud. Kobyashi is definitley one to watch

Hamilton, Vettel and Koboyashi are the drivers to watch for next year. Button just capitalized on a poor Mercedes car design.

The first episode of the season was a bit mild, yet the rest of the season sounds nuts. I’m glad to hear the ZR1 will finally make it’s way around the track. There are still a couple other cars that need to make their laps. Saleen Twin Turbo S7 anyone?

I think that the Romanian Road episode was good…poor James, he had a tough time there, but he enjoyed it in the end. I don’t mean to criticise, but couldn’t have Top Gear tested some concept cars as a challenge, in the scenario of a russian billionaire asking to ruin a bankrupt manufacturer/manufacturer s by creating a gigantic banana-shaped 8-wheeled 12-throttled car? I would think that testing concept cars would be quite unique, if the three ever run out of ideas .

Top Gear is still great, however .

Absolutely love Top Gear and you guys didn’t let me down for Series 14 .

To those people wailing about Top Gear being rubbish:
It’s very well and good to say ‘Top Gear’s crap, blah blah blah’. Allow me to say: WHAT A WASTE OF TIME. I respect the fact everyone has their own opinions and I can see where you’re coming from, but just putting Top Gear down isn’t helping anyone. Maybe, and some did this, other than saying Top Gear needs to change, try making a couple of suggestions- write to them or whatever. Just don’t waste everyone’s time with pointless, non-constructive critism. Also, it must be quite difficult to come up with fresh, new stuff constantly.

Okay, rant over.

Thank you Top Gear. You made my Sunday night .

Ok let’s see best best formula drivers this season I would go for… 1.Hirvonen, 2.Loeb 3.Sol… wait a second FORMULA? you mean those canoes with four wheels and an engine? Then i would say umm… well… is Hakkinen still in?

Just watched it on iplayer. quite good overall, but can you please get your video editor to tone it down several orders of magnitude?

The final scene in Romania was nearly unwatchable due to excessive special effects added (slightly rotating camera, flicking wildly between different shots and back and so on) though it was saved a little by the camera on the helicopter.

1. Button … because he did it ! (not like others who lost their nerves…)
2. Nico Rosberg… Serious candidate for 2010
3. Seb Bourdais … a top driver in the wrong team, in a bad team.

Hamilton (Best All-round driver for the season)
Button (World Champ nuff said)
Kobyashi (if thats how you spell it any way best race of the season in Brazil was mainly down to him great debut race)

Welcome back TG! hope you have more episodes for us in this series.

Re F1 Divers,

Hamilton, Button and Kobayashi (mainly because he has an awesome sounding surname)

My three drivers: 1.Hamilton 2.Raikkonen 3.Vettel

And btw guys great first show of this new series (i’m from Romania and i’m verry happy that u came here > we expect u to come again!)

Button, Vettel and Hamilton.

Series looks good.

1st barichello
2nd vettel
3rd hamilton. as much as I don’t like him.

-The Monk, The Guvna

You’ve got everything so spot on that I can’t think of a whole lot more to add. It’s depressing battling the tide of ‘luv ya TG!’ rubbish that appears on here, and it almost feels worthless even writing this.

You get shouted down for pointing out the obvious really, the humour on Top Gear has gone from what was once capable of being dry, witty and tongue-in-cheek to what now has essentially become lads-mag grade shite.

The show drastically needs more real world reviews to ground it again. I loved the epic cross continent races, but they worked so well because they were up alongside normal car reviews and occasionally sensible but interesting programming.

You’d have brilliantly filmed car review segments, like the stuff on Pendine sands, where the cars would always be the focus, and yet it was still capable of creating an emotionally charged compelling package.

Now they try and falsely recreate that at the end of anything we are told is ‘epic’, by using the line ‘this would have been a normal journey, but with these cars and us three friends it turned into a proper adventure etc’

They’ve also pandered to the masses of idiots, with stuff so painfully badly scripted that I can’t believe people can even argue that it is legitimate.

The thing is, it’s not funny when you know something has been set up. It’s not funny to see the presenters faking hysterics about some latest prank ‘that’s gone wrong’. Not to me at least.

I’ll continue to watch in the vague hope it will improve, even though I know the old show is lost and gone forever.

well im like hammond and dont watch watch it my dad likes it though i only know hamiton exsits
but i love top gear. cant wait i will not betray top gear and miss the s*** januery one i will watch all of them and i have seen them all since i was about 6 witch is acctuly sine about 2002 and thats about all of them.

the best episode the thing i like the most was how sick was the ferrari californa and dbs volante

Agreed with Whyelle

First episode was great, can’t wait for next week and the winter special.

:]

to get this out of the way: Hamilton, Vettel, and Button.

I thought the first episode of season 14 was great! No better way to start the season with three proper supercars! I can’t wait to see this ZR1 vs. R8 V10 that everybody is talking about.

any one reading comments on this site.
i am looking for a special segment aired in season 2 which unfortunately i cant find in my top gear videso of season 2.

it was the “Greatest Car in the World” segment they had…one car per episode…review and phone votes…those segments were edited out…

02×01 – 2003-05-11 42:20 Vote For d Model T
VW Beetle
Mini
McLaren F1 Greatest car in the world Jeremy Clarkson
02×02 – 2003-05-18 14:12 Vote Jag uar E-Type Greatest car in the world Jeremy Clarkson
02×03 – 2003-05-25 20:23 Vote For d Mustang
Chevrolet PowerGlide
Ford Mustang GT500
Ford Mustang GT350H Greatest car in the world Jeremy Clarkson
02×04 – 2003-06-01 18:03 Vote Bla ck Cab Greatest car in the world Jeremy Clarkson
02×05 – 2003-06-08 25:00 Vote Lan d Rover
VW Beetle
Range Rover Greatest car in the world Richard Hammond
02×06 – 2003-06-15 35:51 Vote Fia t 500 Greatest car in the world Jeremy Clarkson
02×07 – 2003-06-22 35:19 Vote Rol ls Royce Silver Cloud Greatest car in the world Jeremy Clarkson
02×08 – 2003-07-06 35:14 Vote Cit roen DS Greatest car in the world James May
02×09 – 2003-07-13 24:09 Vote Aud i Quattro
Lancia Delta Integrale
Subaru Impreza Turbo
Mitsubishi Lancer Evo
Ford Escort Cosworth Greatest car in the world Jeremy Clarkson
02×09 – 2003-07-13 28:32 Vote McL aren F1
Ford Mustang
Black Cab
Rolls-Royce Silver Cloud
Jaguar E-Type
Land Rover
Fiat 500
Citroen DS Greatest car in the world – Reminder Jeremy Clarkson
Richard Hammond
James May
02×10 – 2003-07-20 53:46 Vote Aud i Quattro
McLaren F1
Land Rover Greatest car in the world Jeremy Clarkson
Richard Hammond
James May

if anyone has any info from where i cud download these videso pls email me at nadeem107@gmail.com

Also does any one know what happened to the mini in project restoration .

The NHS today issued a national alert warning people against the dangers of IRONY DEFICIENCY.

Symptoms include, self-righteous posturing, holier-than-thou attitudes, deterioration of the humorous, loss of perspective and ‘there is something unpleasant under my nose’ expressions.

Symptoms are treatable but requires a cephalanalectomy to achieve best results.

Here is a question which I would love an answer too; in the montage of series 13, there was a clip of a ZR1 an a R8 V10 which I never saw in the actual series. What happened to this clip?

Great start to the season.

Hope you get more funds for season15 and beyond!

My big question though is this: In the season 13 preview there were clips of the R8 battling the Corvette ZR1. I’ve been dying to see that film. Did it make it into season 14 I hope?

Great start to the new series, loved it.

F1 Q…. Mark Weber gets my vote…

P.S. The answer to the previous couple of comments is the ZR1 and V10 R8 will be shown on the next episode (Series 14, Episode 2).

Best show on tv!!!!! Great to have it back

My F1 pick has to be Button for a great comeback mid season on and grabbing the title……Vettel for the fight he gave Button…….and Adrian Sutil for some great races in just about the slowest car

Great first episode. Keep up the good work… Looking forward to sunday’s show… Thanks for giving us so much fun!

On the first episode, i noticed jeremy put Eric Bana below the well spoken man. Which is wrong, Eric Bana was .1 of a second faster.
Eagled Eyed viewer.

Blackcats101: Indeed.

Incidentally, you only have to look at this website to know the kind of viewers Top Gear attracts now. It’s a case of a programme being cynically dumbed down to appeal to an even greater mass market of cretins. 370 comments later.

Negative yet constructive opinions and criticisms are rendered almost completely useless now because of how deeply buried they are in inane nonsense and ‘LOLZ’ of people who’d probably benefit from sterilisation and/or mass execution.

Judging from the quality of what has been written in their messages on here, it would appear as if the intelligent people are those who have something constructive to say about Top Gear. I mean, do you really think anybody at Top Gear (the people we’re trying to get through to) have the patience to sift through 370 comments to read all of the constructive criticisms?

Of course they won’t.

They’ll look through about half the messages at the top, see that it’s pre-dominately “yh tup gar iz the shiz yh lolz luvd 1st epi mega yh” and then give up, and then if they DO see our messages, they’ll just turn on complacent mode and say “yeah well we work for Top Gear — if you had any better ideas than us you’d be working for us too. Since you’re not working for us, you have nothing of value to say”

Let’s face it, Top Gear is dying on its arse.

Lots of people have been complaining about TG taking different directions than an average car-show would, but that’s what makes TG the real TG. Plus we all loved it that to kick in the new series, the first episode was basically about the love for the car, that’s what got the loyal fans’ attention. Thanks TG, and in the South American special, I hope you guys didn’t take it too hard on us. And I can’t really comment on the F1 right now since I lost the joy of watching it when everything got too much businessy (if that’s a word), so to go back and grow the joy of watching it again is kind of dificult. But from what I’ve been reading, F1 is a competitive sport once again, big ups to them. Congratulations on the awesome new TG episode and good luck on the new season, thank you. Loyal Fan Vitu

Vitu: There is a difference between “taking different directions” and diminishing the integrity and quality of a programme to make it more palatable to an audience of idiots.

The first episode wasn’t about “the love of the car” at all, it was just an excuse for 3 grown men to arse about with 3 overly expensive cars that none of the users here will ever be able to afford on a road that that none of the users here in Britain will ever go to. It proved nothing, it said nothing, and when it TRIED to say something, it only spared about 2 minutes for it.

Taking an amalgamation of past Top Gear episodes, what would be the perfect Top Gear programme?

1. ROAD TEST (not a track test) of an average car – think the Alfa Romeo 166 review from series 4.
2. The news
3. Race between a supercar and something else – think either the SLR vs Boat episode or Veyron vs Plane episode
4. Star In A Reasonably Priced Car – think either a bonafide celebrity or a person who will only talk about cars, or combine the two like Jay Kay
5. Cool wall
6. ROAD TEST of an average car again
7. Continuation of the race

That’s a perfect Top Gear episode. There’s the foundation, build up around it. No stunts, no football matches between bloody Aygos, expensive holidays where the presenters just get in a car for an hour to film what they need to and then piss off to a hotel. Just stick to the bloody cars.

Why won’t they do this? Because it’s not a programme about the love of cars anymore; it’s a programme designed to entertain the idiots out there rather than tune them into the joys of motoring.

top gear vsucks

and is crap

Actually, come to think of it, I think it’s ironic how this thread is designed to discuss the 14th series and asks us about our opinions on Formula 1 and yet first episode back and they didn’t even mention Jenson Button’s amazing season. They didn’t even spare a second to talk about the brilliance of Ross Brawn and the whole Brawn GP team, and what they accomplished.

Says it all, doesn’t it?

Jzxbzxgv: …because that’s constructive.

Great show, but the anti-American jabs get old.

@ Gaffer in Vegas

You have hit the nail on the head, thanks for looking at it from a different angle rather than just “it’s all gone tits up” or “this is the best show eva!”

I agree with all you say – there is more to the stories if you are prepared to look behind them. Though some will discredit the producers for pandering to the base denominator, and yes the show is ‘boyish’ in its humor, but a smart person who has been taught to read between the lines will see it for so much more than just face value.

That’s why I like the show.

Hey Mr Monk,
I agree with you that James May is not used to his best potential on Top Gear. I think there has become a bit too much reliance on repeat gags (present giving) and destroying things like the Dacia. And I wish Jeremy would stop using the programme to attack Gordon Brown (yes, we know you’re a Conservative, now shut up). BUT, for its faults, it is still one of the smartest, funniest programmes out there at the moment and one of only two (the other being Mock the Week) that will make me laugh out loud. And I’m a 35-year-old middle class married woman for goodness’ sake.

And Mr Wilman – Button, Vettel and Sutil (because I feel sorry for him). Does this mean I can ask for more cheap car challenges?

Where is the intellect gone, where is the wit gone, where is the entertainment I found this first episode of the new series (as most of the episodes of the last series) booooring, stale and boring, oh so boring that I almost turned over. Three middle aged men again playing with the latest overpriced, impractical super cars which very few ordinary people can afford is samie and oh so very boring. The Romanian jaunt seemed ‘forced’ and ‘staged’ with next to no amusement value whatsoever. At least not for me.

If they want to continue to attempt entertain us with these ludicrously expensive vehicles that only top footballers and investment bankers can afford couldn’t they spice things up a little. Perhaps by revving their engines to the limit to see which one blows first, perhaps by banger bashing them to see which one is the strongest and the last to survive, or perhaps to see which one goes furthest backwards over a 100 foot cliff. Anything less after 13 previous series is dull and boring, utterly boring!

Sorry, not much of a racing fan can’t answer the question. Onward then. As a geek/nerd/petrol(gear)hea d I just love all things automotive. I love to drive them and work on them, and even if a particular design is crap, can usually see some merit in it (doesn’t mean I’d buy it though).
Love the show and totally agree with “over the whingers”; if all you see on Top Gear are grown men fooling about in automobiles then you are not looking deep enough.

Caduser12: well said. You should read some of the other people’s comments on here. You’re not alone.

Check this out. http://www.youtube.com/wa tch?v=6tY1jSyRgSY&feature =player_embedded. A Bugatti Veyron driving off of the road into 2 feet of salt water in LaMarque, TX. $ 1.25 million one of 15 in the U.S.

I don’t get why people complain about things being staged… do you ask for your money back when you go see a movie because it was too “scripted”? Bottom line this show is incredible entertainment, if they didn’t stage some hilarious events then it would be boring and off the air. I’ve actually heard people complain that the transformers movie was too “animated”… wtf?? really? what did you think you were watching? a documentary? /rant

I broke out into near vomitus laughter when Clarkson asked “did you shrink that man in the red car gypsy?” Unbelievable that this show continues to be great into 14 seasons. I have an external hard drive scrictly devoted to top gear with every single episode and special I could find!!

I’ve been reading the comments about and criticism of the current Top Gear with interest and feel that some of the criticism is possibly justified. However, as a non-driving, non-car owning female, who some folks on here would no doubt dismiss as not being a kosher car addict, I take exception to being dismissed as an idiot, merely for not wanting a return to what is perceived as “the old Top Gear”.

Just because some of us have come to Top Gear later rather than sooner and thus have no real idea of what the programme was like earlier this century, it is not logical to assume that we are below-average intelligence.

In addition, although the British viewers of the programme are TV licence payers, it does not follow that we “own” it and that what we demand is what we should be provided with. Top Gear has to be all things to all people and cannot be expected to pander to the wants of the few “elitists”.

I agree that many of the “blogs” on this forum are crass – and doubtless they are the ones who are not interested in reading the more intelligent offerings, but please, don’t dismiss us all as idiots just because we are, in the main, quite content with what we are watching.

Yes, content, rather than happy. Happiness is a transient emotion, contentment is a state of mind.

I think the 3 f1 drivers has to be Hamilton, Vettel and Webber (seeing as he broke his leg before the start of the season) Great shows by the way, Still class TV

to answer the question.. my favourite f1 driver of the season woyuld be the one who would wake up with 5 ladies and a hangover in the waldorf, have a them and a pint for breakfast, head off to the track in a black 250 gto, change, set the track record on the practice run and end up smashing up the car on the qualies but winning the race by say a minute or two regardless having started last from the grid while maintaining the gentlemanly charm and humility required to get away with it all… untill this guy shows up f1 will remain the sport of the beansplitter versus the will and talent of the trained chimpanzee !

As for the show.. the standard was set.. it began with the polar challenge and was repeated in the last sequence of the last series.. yes I shed tears so go on you we know you can do it.. do it again !

for just one episode can you show infiniti QX56?

the time when the pianos are falling from the sky is very funy,:D:D the one who throwed the piano on ,,marino” is genious

The series should have inluded the guys racing in the mountain. It’s like the trip to America, Jeremy was racing James for the first time and they cut it out.

Should be included on TV

i hate top gear and is crap i agre with jfgsdhvbsdyug because tg is rubbish and i hate it and should by band from tv

Kernow: I wouldn’t really say that our opinions come from being elitist, and I certainly wouldn’t go so far as to say that Top Gear “owe” us anything as license payers. That’s just silly.

Nobody is criticising anybody for being late to the party, or even calling them idiots, we’re just saying that a riposte to the genuine concerns and criticism people have typically consists of unintelligible shorthand and generic praise, which is beneficial to nobody.

It would be an unfair generalisation to deem every person who praises Top Gear as being an idiot, we’re just using the evidence supplied in this blog to prove an irrelevant and tangential point.

Car driver or not, if you like Top Gear then you like Top Gear. If you have an opinion and it is an opinion that is constructive to the flow of conversation, nobody holds that aginst you. Nobody is calling you an idiot for having an opinion, we’re just saying that old Top Gear was much better and we’re offering constructive criticism on how new Top Gear could be much better, which is more than what most people do when they say that Top Gear is already great.

My point with this message to you, however, is in saying that – as a relatively new viewer, it’s unlikely that your opinions regarding the apparent diminishing quality of the programme will stand up against people who have perhaps viewed it significantly longer and HAVE had the time to watch it happen. That’s not to say your opinions of current Top Gear are invalid, it’s just that you can’t make a valid measure on which to base your level of comparison.

TOP GEAR IS WICKED. FIRST EPISODE – GREAT KEEP IT UP

HAMILTON, BUTTON, VETTEL. (All the drivers are very good though, but there car lets them down which make them look crap)

I.e. Mclaren at the start (Lewis looked crap, but u know he aint)

BEST SHOW it should be not “besy show”

loll

button hamliton and Raikonnen

1. Raikkonen, got that Ferrari better positions than it deserved.
2. Ditto for Alonso and Renault
3. Vettel, for bits of sublime skill driving mixed with sheer speed

Great first episode, really looking forward to the rest of the series now. I loved the Romanian film, especially the underground drive. And it made a nice change to have James doing the test drive on the track this time. TG is still a great series – for as long as it removes you from the awful reality of going to work the next day, unlike most Sunday night programs, it will remain that way!

No. 41 hugob35,

Have you ever heard of iplayer?????????????????

Anyway, the show was entertaining but I agree with alot of the other comments that it was a bit too staged, the fact is they knew where the road was all along!

Finally, without a shadow of a doubt, it has to be Hamilton, Button and Vettel. Tho have to admit I have a bit of a soft spot for Mark Webber. The broken leg really disavantaged him in the first part of the year.

I’d say Vettel, Webber then Sutil.

I take back Sutil and put in koboyashi. He’s crazy.

I want to see a traditional Top Gear race again, Jeremy vs richard and james always epic

Mr Producer, The Monk is right.

As someone who like Kernow has come ‘late to the party so to speak’ (I only really started watching TG this year and have worked my way through my friends collection of 13 seasons in about 2 months) So I have had what could be called a ‘masterclass/crash course in TG’ i suppose.

My question is to those who are complaining about the ‘falling standards’ of the show…

Say they had continued on with things they way it was back in the mid seasons (6-9) same type of stunts, same type of reviews, same type of stories… how many of you HONESTLY would be here now commenting on the first Ep of season 14 bemoaning the fact it had become stayed and boring and can’t they do anything different or better?

Also something everyone seems to have overlooked. Back in the early days they were just three blokes on a car show… as their popularity has soared it is becoming increasingly difficult for them to do the random stuff that you go on about, because the story would be sprung long before it ever made it to the show…

Richard Hammond mentions this very fact in As You Do when he commented on running into a Brit in some speck of an airport in northern Canada as he prepared for the Polar Challenge. He comments that it had been drilled into him that he couldn’t let on anything because they wanted to keep the reason he was there a secret because if it got out the show would be ruined and invariably SOMEONE would complain about it.

Top Gear is the most downloaded show in the world and that gives them global notoriety – they turn up ANYWHERE and the video applications on phones all around kick up and within seconds are on You Tube. Yes, before someone says it, I know it goes with the territory… and I am more than certain the boys do to. I’ve read stories of all three being basically accosted driving home by someone wanting to ‘race’ them or, play silly buggers with them because – look it’s the bloke from TG! Also with the notoriety, you have even more and more vitriolic starfish tightened individuals who want to tall poppy syndrome it, just because it is successful!

In our global community it’s getting a hell of a lot harder for them to give the ‘purists’ what they want, because even if they did – someone would still bitch about it.

I also agree with Over the Whingers agreeing with Gaffer in Vegas. I know I would happily give my left wheel nut to do the things the boys do, and I hope they keep doing for a very long time more!

kimi, by FAR just the coolest guy around! AND he gave the Ferrari a serious beating!
vettel, super quick in a super quick car
japanese guy in the Toyota… quite unbelievable without any testing! or actually
Glock who was super fast in a crap car as well.

For the rest: TG is just THE TV Highlight of the week!

I appreciate that it must be difficult to come up with new ideas, but episode 1 was disappointing. I have to say that the format is now looking quite tired.

“Star in a Reasonably Priced Car” appears now to be just filler, and I’m not the only one who watches on iplayer in order to fast-forward through it.

Why dress-up the Romania trip as some sort of challenge? It was just a drive across a country to a mountain road. It looked good, but the artificial theatrics were just lame.

ps. James’ solo programmes are now much better.

Where’s the problem?

Doppelkupplungsgetriebe –
Double Clutch Gearbox.

Germans just don’t like unnecessary empty spaces between words.

Great Show once again.

342, skul

Says it all brilliantly:

i know that nobody will bother to read this and if they do i will be called a communist but im gonna say what i want to say anyway
the first episode was rubbish (sorry to be blunt but thats what i think)
firstly how many times are you going to do the greastest road in the world?
secondly when are you going to drop the whole lets buy a stupid present gag (thats not funny anymore)
plus whats going on with the whole really staged road tests, its not funny well it might be if your 6.
personally i wish you got down to some more serious stuff such as real road tests and some factual information such as whats going on in the car industry. not how to make a cardboard loo
if you are reading this and i doubt you are your probably thinking that i’m some fat middle aged ma called grant! well im not im 16 and most of my friends feel the same way as me!!!
sorry top gear poor start to a series sort it out!

I think it wasa good start to the series (mostly), but the above still stands.

As simple as this:

1. Button (he’s not the champion by coincidence)

2. Raikkonen (driving and winning in the awful f60 deserves an award )

3. Vettel (pure class and talent)

re: Whyelle

I don’t presume to speak for all of the disgruntled “lifers” among TG fans (those who’ve supported the show since its inception), but as there seems to be considerable common ground among those who regularly post here of late about the show’s perceived decline in quality over the years, I don’t think I’m overstepping my bounds in addressing a few specific points.

It’s safe to say that among the hardcore faithful, the general consensus is that the show was at its zenith between late 2003 and late 2005 (series 3-7, plus or minus one series on either end, depending on your personal preferences). And what you saw more than anything else over that span was remarkable consistency. After the initial teething problems and growing pains of the first two series, remarkably little changed between series 3 and 7. Everything from the structure of the episodes to the visual palette used in the films was consistent…which is to say, consistently outstanding. I don’t know who the hell you mean, exactly, when you suggest that us “whingers” would be complaining about it being “exactly the same”; if we couldn’t find anything to fault over five series of “exactly the same”, why the hell would we start now? The issue we have isn’t that the show doesn’t vary enough. It’s that the relative quality of it has seen a shocking decline in the last three years, attributable in no small part to that very thing: it HAS changed. And it hasn’t changed for the better.

The key to our difference of opinion, I think, is that we diehards still adhere to the early TG credo of the car (s) being the star of the show. And as long as there are always new cars to test, it would follow that we never feel that the format is in danger of becoming stagnant or repetitive. Or, rather, never *felt*. Past tense. For late comers, it has little if anything to do with cars at all—it is the Clarkson/Hammond/May show, occasionally interrupted by cars. Now, a good many of the people on this board (I dare say *most* of the people on this board, actually…) couldn’t give a toss about cars, and just want some lighthearted Sunday night entertainment. Fair enough. But our point is, why the disproportionate shift? Why has a show that once had an excellent balance of elements suddenly become *your* show, exclusively? If it’s going to have a disproportionate balance of elements, shouldn’t it probably tip in favour of, you know, cars? Since it was designed from day one to be exactly that, long before morphing into a loud, expensive sitcom? And yes, it is particularly galling to us that a show we supported long before it was self-sufficient enough to become its own cottage industry has not only shifted away from keeping us as entertained as (gasp! horror!) the fans who don’t even *own* cars, but is now actually openly contemptuous of those of us too silly to still give a shit about cars.

No, I don’t believe you will ever come across a day-one fan who would ever complain about a particular episode being “more of the same”, if it was more of what made it so damned special in the first place. The diehards don’t always agree on the specifics (The_Monk, for example, is more willing to jettison supercar tests altogether than I), but what we most certainly do agree on, almost to a one, is that the show has become a victim of its own success. They are stretching themselves awfully thin, and the repetition present these days is there because newcomers to the show (many of whom do not, in fact, give a shit about cars, as they’ve admitted) tend to fixate on the outlandish comedy challenges, leading the creators into a desperate game of oneupsmanship with their past films. Bigger, louder, stupider…lazier. It all stems from a repetition of certain elements…the *wrong* elements. What used to be the spice has become the main course, and the show is eating itself alive because of it.

You like what you like, and we like what we like. The difference is, sadly, that catering to your tastes is what has led to the fatigue and repetition so obvious to fans from *both* camps these days.

Easy.

In no order:

1. Button
2. Vettel
3. Kobayashi

Brilliant start to the new shows looking forward to the rest. Button, Hamilton, Webber!!!

@ The_Gunva

Are you making the assumption that because I have only just discovered the show that I don’t appreciate that the early seasons were amazing? and that ‘latecomers’ are only in it for the boys and not the cars? If you are, then you have the shoe on the wrong foot.

You talk about one-up-manship… isn’t that exactly what a car company does every single time they make a new model of a previously released car?

There are only so many things that can be done before even the most diehard of fans will question “Is this a new show or am I watching a re-run on Dave” Keeping a show, any show fresh is probably the most difficult thing on the planet. People will get bored and look for something new, why was original Top Gear canceled in the first place, because people found it boring and turned over the channel to something else. It was revitalised when Andy and Jeremy decided to take it in a new direction.

The point that I *WAS* making is, Controlling a Juggernaught like TG must be a nightmare – I’m surprised that Jeremy Clarkson seems only a little grayer rather than totally bald. The scrutiny that they must come under from every anti lobby under the sun is huge. One sniff that they are trying something (anything) is enough to get the rabid left, rabid right and all points between licking their lips in anticipation that the gang cock up somehow and blood can be smelled in the water. Sure it comes with the territory of the success…

Back in the mid seasons the show had the anonymity to do things that they simply CAN’T do now.

Have you stopped to consider the toll it has on the staff (and their families) involved. They could just say… stuff it, it’s all too hard and walk away, but they come back to do a show they love for the enjoyment of others.

And I tip my hat to them for that, and wish everyone from Andy and the Boys down to the youngest of researchers and show runners. Good show, bad show – the fact you get up there each week and do it deserves applause.

Wow… Gentlemen, start your Adenoids!

Whyelle: at risk of repeating myself, the basic point I think we’re making is that in recent years Top Gear’s quality has rapidly decreased from the balance between quality entertainment and motoring heaven for people who appreciate the aesthetics of cars and motoring in favour of rather bland stunts, tediously staged moments of comedy, “track tests” (as opposed to road tests) of cars that we mostly cannot and will not be able to afford, and films that have absolutely no value to anybody except fickle audience figures who couldn’t give a monkeys either way so long as they get their fix of something other people talked about the week before in the office.

Top Gear used to be a programme about the love of cars and yet nowadays (since Hammond’s crash) it’s designed for people who don’t. There’s no elitism there; we just dislike the fact that a programme we love is being dumbed down to appeal to a mass market of idiots who don’t care either way.

Clarkson complained about the Vauxhall Vectra years ago in saying that it was a car designed in a coffee break by people who couldn’t give a shit about cars, and yet I think he fails to see that Top Gear now is a programme designed by complacent producers to appeal to a mass market of people who couldn’t give a shit about cars as well.

#413 – you’ve never be able to get tix to a show have you? Aww never mind – it might happen one day.

Finally now after dancing around the subject we get to the point, people think that the show should have ended on 21/09/06. Noice one guys!

Hey, forum virgin here First, thanks for a great show guys, love it, it was fun!
Answer to question
Button
Webber (grrrrrll what an accent:P)
Hamilton
and, is sort of narkiness normal after the show, cause I don’t think I’ll be posting often if it is? I have little sisters.

Loved the first episode, looking forward to another great series before I have to go cold turkey untill the summer again – however Dave may slighty fill the gap by continually showing the same episodes.

As for the F1:
1-Vettel – Would have won the world championship if Brawn didnt have the double diffuser advantage at the start of the season
2-Hamilton – Should his pure class and skill to get the results he did in that car, particulary at the start of the season when the aerodynamics made it undrivable
3- Rosberg – Finish a point behind hamilton in a very average car without a great engine, great consistancy, could have done a lot better if he was slighty luckier on race days (will be a threat next season)

Ok, everyone is on this site for their love of Top Gear. In my opinion the best piece of proramming the BBC has made since Red Dwarf went off the air. Why are we bitching and moaning about this?
Top gear has evolved from days of just powersliding cars around the track, the guys have developed these personalities over the past few seasons and this is how the show works now and I think its fantastic. My entire family can sit and watch this and every one will be wetting themselves from start to finish.
Even if it is less road testing, we still get the same blast with the cars and a bloody good hour of comedy to go with it, keep up the good work!!!

@ McLaren reverse… Red Dwarf reminded me! Now THAT is someone I would love to see as SIARPC – Chris Barrie… he’s an old fashion revhead!:D

total aside here – who else saw the ‘game’ with the satnavs and thought… heh-heh-heh… that could be kinda fun!

in no particular order : Hamilton, Webber (for FINALLY GETTING THERE) and Button

why does everyone say kobayashi??? sure he got some points in Abu Dhabi but he was only there for two GP!

The Show was OK, but there was one thing though:
the Dacia Sandero ad (when the guys went in the pub, and saw it on the telly). the girl was actually speaking Russian, not Romanian?!

the best f1 drivers this year:
Button – cause he deserved to win and won
Barrichello – deserved to win but failed,.. again, which is sad.
Webber – he started season with a broken leg! and still showed very good results.
M. Schumacher – well, obviously, because he is the Stig

brucie kibbultz: I think people say Kobayashi because in a few years in the right car he’ll be carved out of solid granite. The guy is genuinely exciting to watch and has unbelievable potential that breathed fresh air into the last couple of races of the season.

@the monk and whyelle..

You’re both right.. and you’re both wrong.. Reading your comments is nothing short of a battle of rather well made arguments for and against old school tg vs the contemporary and you’re both right the show has changed. When it first hit the scene it was fresh, new, phenomenal, avantgarde.. a programme we’ve been well aquainted with, on a topic we knew rather well precieved and presented in a format we’ve never seen before.. A bit like a rock&roll band.. a bit like oasis.. It was brilliant, it had appeal.. more than anything else it had attitude and it quickly caught on and before we knew it they had conquered the planet.
Yes there is fame, marketing strategies, consumer policies, lobbyists and the superlative complexities intertwined viewer stats, supply and demand so that what we get today is a direct consequence of the thoughts and efforts of the people who make it all happen trying to find their presence in the ever changing marketplace. They do it well..14 seasons and counting and tg is still one of the most popular shows in the history of the bbc. Like on oasis’ new album there are still those elements that unavoidibly make top gear what it is. The Clarkson-willman duo do what they’ve done for the best part of the decade but as is with all things labelled product tg too has a shelf life.. The beatles took the music black america nad made it into hard day’s night, oasis took the music of the beatles and turned it into wonder wall. Clarkson and Willmanm had their wonder wall moment, they had their hard day’s night wether or not they’ll be able to match them again is what we’ll just have to wait and see… I love those old beatles albums just like I love the first oasis albums. The new one however is just not rock&roll like we’ve never heard it before.. it’s just rock and roll.. quite like the last couple of series of top gear.. it’s not top gear like we’ve never seen it before it’s just top gear and that for the most is okay because like sex and pizza, top gear, even when it’s bad is pretty good but there is a lingering sense of apologetic reminiscence and tyredness surrounding both the show and the characters involved.. Andy Willman said it well in his preface to the last series : it’s the same old shit I hope you’ll like it.. and when the band leader says that about his latest album you know that what you’ll be getting is the best of whatever the band could come up with and not necessarily THE BEST.

..just better than what else is out there..

oh and the whine and racketing of the motor industry soaked in recession doesn’t make it easier either.. At least htis year there’s the new sls and the rather new and curious supercar by toyota but besides these there isn’t anything worth making programmes about.. I’m a fanatic but howmany more stripped out fezzas, lambos,911s and bimmers must we endure before a properly new car hits the fans ???????

As the Monk has been at great pains to point out, the TG format has become tired. It has lost it’s original focus. It’s nice to see top end motors, but what the hell has happened to the old school reviews of motors? Unless I win the lottery, I will never be in the position to actually purchase the majority of the cars that TG now “test”. In the past, TG’s supremacy came from taking average motor’s and testing them in unaverage, imaginative ways. Maybe it’s time the BBC returned to it’s public broadcasting roots and actually made an entirely new programme about everyday cars. For most of us, our cars are after all our 2nd biggest purchase after our homes. I shall continue to watch TG as an entertainment show, but mourn the loss of the show which used to offer valuable advice on purchasing a decent motor.

@sonic boom… Very nice really – that was a great post… one small editing request though paragraph breaks would make it a little easier to read (I kept going round in circles reading the wrong line – D’oh)

Your observations are really keen and have hit the nail that has been alluding most of us on the head – plus you get style points for the music reference! (that being said, I am showing my age here, but I suddenly have the battle of the Bands from Xanadu running in my head <>)

Thanks!

Well….you asked for a “tsunami of intelligent rigor”….did you get what you wished for? C’mon you nerdy Top Gear nerds, come over here and run for presidential office….We Have No Choice Of Candidates For 2012! James May?!

@tiredgear.. did you buy your home based on advice you gained from say Location, location,location ? ..thought not..

whyelle…sorry bunny..got carried away

My own hunch is that all the main protagonists are getting older (Clarkson and Willman, Clarkson especially with all the writing he does, have made their money, May and Hammo have established themselves as presenters of other types of programmes in their respective fields) and they know the game’s up for tired old TG – no TV show can go on forever with the same presenters. So, they go for as much money as they can before bailing out, hence the show becomes more ‘entertaining’ in order to grab bigger ratings and there’s an explosion in TG ‘goods’ (everything from Stig dolls to T-shirts to kiddy annuals).

I still think the show is essential Sunday night viewing, better than anything else that’s on, but when I think back to the SLR-powerboat and Veyron-Cessna challenges of just a few years ago, it’s certainly now going for a different audience (I thought the Botswana and Deep South USA ‘episodes’ were annoying) and because everyone involved does seem to genuinely love cars the only reason they’d willingly move the show’s focus away from them is ‘money’…

..And the *acting* by the guys in the Romania road trip was carpet-chewingly-embarras sing (e.g. May’s fake anger-indignation when the Sandero was trashed by the lorry – sorry, just don’t, don’t, don’t – you’re not actors, DON’T..)

Get Jordan, Ant and Dec and that fit tart off Come Dancing to present thenext series. Guaranteed winner.

put episodes on Itunes, u can use the money to make more episodes and people in canada and the US can watch new HD episodes without taking a week to illegally download them.

don’t watch F1 any more no time!

I just wanted to say Well Done and I thought the pilot of the helicopter has the biggest pair B@**S for flying less than 10ft off the road and have James drive underneath…

ttfn

@swanky.. yup, spot on.

@f0cu5guy.. don’t even think it !

I can’t bear hammo’s side projects.. on his own he’s way out of depth so they’re simply boring ..and shallow.. and boring..

James has his moments but still a better read than a visual..

Clarkson does fantastic docs.. he should do more..as long as he’s passionate he’s a genious..not on top gear though.. not anymore…:(

I was lucky enough to be in the UK to watch the first show before flying back to Melbourne. Excellent show from start to finish. However 2 things annoy any time the 3 stooges talk about AU.
1, Stop referring to Holden as GM. Real Aussies would never buy a Holden if we were reminded all the time that American GM actually owns it. We need to maintain a constant delusional state that its still an locally owned company. Ford owner are all idiot’s anyway which explains why they by Ford in the first place.

2, FOR THE LOVE OF GOD stop pronouncing Bathhurst (BAR-HURST) or I’ll stick you lot on top of mountain wearing a I love Toyota shirt during the next Bathhurst 1000.

for me i am actually looking forward to the show without a bugdet, it will mean the the 3 lads will have to really shine with out the aide of explosions and romanian roads, sounds like it could be a real challenge and could turn out to be reaqlly amazing to strip back the show to raw bones

@ rustynailed – Yep right there with you cobba! Bloody Brits and their BAR-Thurst – bit surprised that Bana didn’t pick Clarkson on that one! Toyota T-shirt… I’m thinking Nissan Skyline

Also the Chrissie Cringle doesn’t sound the same does it…

“Dashing through the bush… in a rusty GM ute…”

Nah… got be Holden, cause lets face it… that’s what you spend most of your time doing… “Holden” it together ;D (and before you think I’m a Ford girl… you know what Ford stands for right? Fix Or Repair Daily

I guess something that has changed over the years that could effect the content of the show is the fact the ’seasons’ are getting smaller (is that as an effect of global warming I wonder?;)) Used to be that you would get 10 or 12 shows in a season, now we are lucky to get 7

keep on doing the good work… I am really amazed that you never repeat yourselves, even after 13 perfectly good seasons. and yeah… F-what ?

@sonic boom… I can’t see anything old in Top Gear. they have been evolving during the years and they are very up to date which amazes me… I mean they talk about the internet, they all have iPhones… this is a lot of work to constantly keep up with the time… which is not necessarily visible on the top. I can say only RESPECT!

Couldn’t agree with you more rustynailed and Ozzyol. Shame on you Bana for letting that through!

hi guyz……………watching the first episode of 14 season one thing came in my mind…….crazy idea but!……is the sandero the next ‘reasonably’ priced car?……..lol idea i know…..hahahhah stop laughing i know i know……..it isnt coming to UK…….so forget what i said…..damn that was foolish thing to say….lol me…..

Love the new series. I think audi makes great cars as they are fast and well built

Episode 2:

Electric car
-What was the point of the feature? It was hardly pushing the limits, it wasn’t funny and causing ‘hilarious’ traffic jams has been done to death.

The car was quite well-built though (not by Jeremy, I assume)

Corvette / R8
reasonably good

Why all the weak ‘nob’ gags?

Overall: Lame.

Very surprised when I saw my old TVR being stripped down to make the electric car. LOL
At least the number plates live on…

Mark Webber for starting off the season with his broken leg in a splint, and wrapping up the season near the top

How come the Stig managed to drive a car round the “track” without squealing or smoking his tyres. But when Clarkson got hold of the car thats all he could do saying what a brilliant car to drive.
Does he drive all his cars to work like that? or is he just showing off ‘cos he THINKS that makes him cool or just a blank fool

For Pete’s sake, come on Clarkson and gang. Every week of the last series and now again with this new series, in trepidation I have to battle with my strife for possession of the 42 incher to be able to watch TG in luxury on Sunday night. She wanted to watch sodding Xfactor or some similar utter tosh but she was yet again eventually repelled and relegated to the CRT in the bedroom.

But once again what a disappointment this second episode was and what a complete waste of my efforts. Within 40 minutes you successfully managed to propel me into sheer boredom. Let’s not beat about the bush with niceties, your format has curdled, your jokes are sour and frankly your charm, integrities and eccentricities are all spent out.

I know that I am getting on a bit, but am I going senile? If I am it is because you are no longer stimulating my brain. You are now and have been for some time just resting on your laurels, taking the (substantial) monies and running.

Can TG now make some collective effort please and can we now have something close to or within the realms of amusement and entertainment, or I am just not going to bother to watch anymore.

Haven’t seen any episodes yet but top gear has never failed me.. even with the so called shit episodes you talk of that come after Jan:D In terms of drivers,
Hamilton
Button
Raikonnen with Vettel as a close 4th.

Must admit as much as I have enjoyed the shows over the years, the first two shows have been a bit samey and not as much fun as they used to be, I will still watch them but I hope it improves

I recently watched both episodes 1 and 2 here in the US (they appeared on my screen “somehow”, like magic). They were decent, but slightly disappointing as well. Lately, I’ve noticed the increasing number of staged setups, which dilute the genuine humor when something “real” does happen. Each time I see a staged bit, my heart sinks a little because it takes the epicness of the show down a little each time.

So my suggestion to anyone who cares to listen is to make it a little more genuine. The slightest of genuine humor will outweigh staged humor ten fold each and every time.

Other than that one single flaw, the rest of the show is shaping up very nicely. I have (and always will be) a fan of TopGear. What you guys do is absolutely incredible, something that no one else can pull off. The effort that is put into the editing, music and cinematography is immense. Most of the segments are true works of cinematic art and perfection. Continue to do what you do, because all of you guys are good at it…….but I would personally like to see a little less scripting, and a little more actuality. Thanks for reading, and giving this American an obsession.

i want to make a comment conected with that show from romania :
when that fat guy said : in this country u cant see a car who cost 168 .000 £ on the streets ….!!
and now my comment : when our people has their own houses and mercedes s-class at the age of 18 , the british will have when i will see my own butt ))
another comment of that fat guy : this is the country of borat , of gypsies and i will wear this hat do not get attack of gypsies around here ))
and now my comment : that guy who play in Borat is british , then is a gypsy too …..gypsy in romania they have houses like buckingham palace and where u dont see in uk just one ))))
if u go in uk , u can see only renault from 80-90 who drive british …but if u come in romania u will see : bentley , mercedes , audi , hummer …just simple people ))
im so disguted of stupid comments in that show , its showing the real face of stupid people from uk , but when u comment abut romania …think at ur education , how u life , what u eat , respect for others ..and how uk was build in the past …if i was british for sure i was so ashame when i wanted to open my mouth . its not the clothes make u in this life , is what u do and say .

the viking, sorry but what a crying baby you are! he makes fun of every country and from his own country too! no need to cry because he called SOME romanians gypsies, he was right, majority of Romanians are in the gypsies, so no need to be so rude. what do you mean only renaults in uk? ever been there? you’d be staggered to see the cars in England so don’t talk shit please. and calling 90,000,000 of brits idiots you must be one mediocre idiot too?

I completely agree with an American. The scripted bits are so obvious. Other than that, it’s the best show in the world, hands down.

Loved the first ep! missed the second one so i’m recording it today!

It would be simply great if the cutbacks for F1 were so severe that the drivers would be:

Basil Brush
Homer Simpson
Steve the milkman
Dave the plumber
Lee Evans
and The Knitted Charecter

The Viking he sayeth that all gypsies have houses like Buckingham palace,yes we know why ‘cos they do children trafficing to get money from U.K. government to build houses like Palace

would the nationalistically challenged take their ideology, sentiment, culture and chauvinistic patriotisms and shove it some place not here ?

boom-boom…

have to say that top gear has gone down hill over the last few series its predictible and boring and deffiantly staged its so obvious its embarrassing they need to go back to the old way back in the early series more about reviewing cars rather than staging unfunny material who writes this rubbish hopefully not clarkson cos he the funniest out of the three anyway could go on lets hope they sort it out for next series otherwise ill have to watch fifth gear

Well I have to say Jenson Button as he won the F1 championship I know thats a predictable answer.As for the lastest series I think its just as good as its ever been even if it is staged in places.The last episode with the electric car was hilarious I have never laughed so much.It certainly brightens up the cold winter evening watching TopGear.Keep up the good work!!!!

There’s only one question that really matters : when are we going to see Jenson and Lewis in the RPC on the same programme ?????

“I have never laughed so much”

May I recommend that you seek out ‘comedy’?

My name is strange because I’m Portuguese,I don’t want do a comment, but I ont TOP GEAR experince the portuguese car os call VINCI GT.
PS:I have got 12 years old, is for dat my English have errosrs

Top Gear are well known for there mad challanges and the upcoming special is no exception. It features trecking across africa encountering deadly wildlife. You can read about this in more detail if u buy the top gear mag thats amazing!

Being in the USA, I haven’t seen the S14 episodes yet. So I’ve had to console myself with watching clips on YouTube and this site when the videos actually agree to cooperate and play smoothly for me. Nice tushes on Eric Bana, Richard Hammond, and The Stig, BTW.

But to answer your question, Andy, I can’t. I’m not the least bit interested in F-what?

Nascar, on the other hand, is my cuppa tea. I’d love to see the boys and Stig go up against four of Nascar’s greatest race car drivers for 100 laps at Daytona International Speedway. The Hamster vs The King would not be missed by me, guaranteed. I’d drive sleepless for three days from Colorado to Florida to see that one. As mentioned on the facebook site, it’d be a great birthday present(Dec. 19th), but I know you’ve already got stuff scheduled for that week.

Barring a faboo race such as that just partially described, I’d be happy being a guide for the boys to take another epic road trip to the American West. I know of a route that would put that Swiss Driving Heaven road to shame. In fact, I know of three of them.

Episode 3 was much better than the previous 2 efforts. (although did I skip through the airship bit with the Police bit -yawn and ‘the news’ by way of iPlayer).

The Lancia feature was good, although the Marina bit was a bit lame, so I also skipped through that.

Chris Evans the first decent ’star’ interviewee in a while, even if he was plugging a book and the R2 breakfast show.

All-in-all, a good HALF hour of TV. Let’s hope that next week’s maintains the better form.

ps. How quick was the kit car without “the Stig” deliberately throwing it into drifts and spins?

Always loved this show from the beginning but I am cringing.

Lots of parts outside of the studio are like watching a movie where you know what is about to happen next.

Electric car rolling down the hill and it crashes.Who could have guessed that?

Lorry reversing into James favorite car?

The best part of TG has always been the genuine banter between the guys and unrehearsed sequences.

Getting way to staged and predictable outside of the studio.

Come on Mr Producer..relax and just let the idea happen and evolve.

Ok so my opinion for the question is the following: 1stly Barrichello cause he is a pure skill driver (even if he was not supported 100% from Brawn GP cause the were like “ok button is lucky now lets help him to get the tittle” but anyways )2ndly Webber ..excellent performance in the whole season and hmmm 3rd i will go for Vettel he showed good performance even if he had some problems when he was pushed too much!
And i expect great come back from Massa!

And if Glock gets a proper car i believe he will be the “surprise” of next year!

The show was great but can any one tell me who was that chick standing behind Bana…insanely HOT

well miss if you are reading this ..you are awesome !

P.S.
the best car would be the Ferrari for me and for once i wanna drive on such a road

Ignoring “The News” and “Star in a cheap Car” again, the latest (6th Dec) episode wasn’t too bad.

I wasn’t keen on the wanton destruction of the Twingo and the Ross Kemp gag was over-done, but all-in-all, a lot better than the previous episodes in the series.

i’m the last comment yay

ps by the time someone reads this i will no longer be last and i will cry

if you read this you are a chicken

last…^^FAIL^^

BEST SERIES SO FAR!!