Top Gear is Overrated

So you're one of the 10 people still watching lost.

 

Top Gear beats the hell out of US car shows, when you consider there are no US car shows.

 

I thoroughly enjoy the show...........there hasn't been an episode that I have turned off yet.

 

I agree. It's all scripted. Sometimes **** happens but most of the time it's calculated.


And all JC knows to do is drift the car around that airport. It's fun but it is by no mean a source of factual information.

 

I think it rocks dude.

If you dont like dont watch.. and let the rest of the world be happy with it

I simply love thei show

 

I still enjoy Top Gear and have seen almost every episode, but it appears to me that they are running out of ideas. I really enjoyed the Vietnam scooter trek (on next week in the US), but it was so different than other challenges and ended kind of stupidly by making PWC out of them. More silly than entertaining.

It seems over the years they have taken parts of the show that are popular and done more of those (Clarkson yelling POWER, James being anal, race of skateboarder/bicycle versus hammond), but part of the appeal of those things was that they didn't happen every episode. The V8-powered blender might have been their jump the shark moment, we shall see.

The three compliment each other's styles so well it would be difficult to imagine another trio doing as well together. The show is still very good, but not as good as it used to be.

 

The blender was ridiculous, bordering on stupid.

The arctic special was phenomenal.

Overall I think it's a great show, probably the best thing on TV. The problem with all other attempted automotive shows in the past was they took themselves too seriously. I was watching the Corvette/Caddy/Charger episode last night and it gives probably about as much information as you'd need to go off and shop, if you were interested in one of those cars.

The Audi TT/Alfa Brera/Mazda RX8 show is an example of enough information to be helpful while still being fun to watch.

Frankly I can read Car & Driver and it's not any more useful. Ultimately if I'm interested in a car I have to see it and drive it anyway.

 

I LOVE Top Gear, it's sooooo funny and yeah it is scripted but it's not tightly scripted like if you watch the bits that wern't shown on the website then they're not using the same wordsand often they're not even talking about the same thing. I honestly wouldn't have it any other way. I

Infact i might actually stop living when it goes off the air for good, i like it THAT much.

 

I really enjoy Top Gear but I'll agree it is overrated. I've been watching through the previous seasons recently and there have been a few things that have really bugged me. I think the worst is the handful of times they take three cars to a beach and drive them around and compare them. There is no way you can get a good sense of how a car performs if you are driving it on sand! If that were the kind of comparison that everyone cared about then we'd only buy AWD cars.

Another thing that really insulted my intelligence was when Jeremy had some AMG Mercedes and said that when you stomp on the gas from a stop it just sits there and spins the tires. Then he demonstrated and it was obvious from the way the nose dipped right away that he was just holding the brakes to keep it in place.

Oh yeah, and they seem to equate how well a car can be drifted with how well it handles... Right.

Anyway, I do like their discussions and humor and I feel I learn more about the cars they drive by watching the show, but I always take their verdicts with several grains of salt.

 

I'd have to agree with you. Top gear is easily the best auto show on tv, but the in between stuff can get pretty dull. Star in a reasonably priced car is usually pretty good and obviously when the Stig is driving its always entertaining. But last time I was watching an episode I came to the same realization as you...the stuff in between is just filler.

As for the show being scripted, sometimes its pretty obvious, and other times not.

A few months ago there were several articles on Autoblog about a top gear controversy. When filming the episode with the Tesla Roadster, they showed on TV that the car had run out of battery life, and had to be pushed back to the garage, when in fact, there was still 20% battery life remaining. The articles also cover a few other seemingly "scripted problems" with the Tesla that didn't actually occur.

http://www.autoblog.com/2008/12/19/tesla-responds-to-top-gears-test-of-roadster/
http://www.autoblog.com/2008/12/22/bbc-responds-to-teslas-top-gear-complaints/
http://www.autoblog.com/2008/12/25/clarkson-fires-back-over-top-gear-tesla-controversy/

 

The last couple of seasons, it's been obvious that they're under pressure from the political correctness gestapo at the Beeb, so it's pretty much just for fun, now.

I don't expect to see many more rocket car speed runs.

They still slip in a good line from time to time.
(Such as when Clarkson mentioned that the russian SUV was a smooth enough ride that he could use the cigarette lighter -- which he would demonstrate, "except we don't live in a free country". )

I still love the way they handled the Hamster's crash: The "speed kills" line would have looked great to the biddies checking the script, but they way they presented it was perfect.


It's not what it used to be, but it's about the last series program that I bother watching.

 

Top Gear is the best car show on the planet IMHO. If you don't like it, your loss. I love it.

 

That's propaganda, not automotive journalism, nor has that formula made Top Gear what it is.

 

does this make it more obvious? It used to be a car show, it is not anymore, it is "infotainment" you know like the news, it is as much about the presentation as the content. There are a dozen car podcasts that try to be witty and infor, but do neither well at all. This was actually my signature here for a while.

One thing I heard from an automotive journalist, "Top Gear is a show for the premature ejaculators" ROFLMAO!

 

Hmmmm, wonder why I watch it then.


I just think it's an amusing and entertaining show. I mean where else are you going to see a guy driving a 612 get out and duct tape the windshield wipers down because they make noise? It's funny.

 

LMAO! +1

If I want to watch an actual review I'll watch Motorweek and 5th Gear. Top Gear is all about entertainment and that's why I like it. As much as I enjoy an actual review of a car, say on 5th Gear, it very mundane and dull after while.

With Top Gear I can see a Zonda doing donuts, speed off to 150 and slam on the brakes. That's fun to watch and I turn the volume up because they seem to emphasize the cars sounds moreso than other programs.

 

Top gear keeps you coming back for more. No matter how many shows you watch or how stupid you think they are you will be excited when you remember it is on. It is better than ANY auto show in the U.S. I have spent hours on youtube watching their reviews on cars I am looking at to buy. They push them to the edge and you can see what your future in driving will hold.

 

TOP Gear>5th Gear>Motorweek>ANYTHING on SPEED

I like drivers republic tho it's only on the the web...

 

I like it. It makes me laugh, but I feel like like they have forgotten the cars; its all about them.

Whats missing is that connection with the sound feel and fury of the cars that Alain De Cadenet manages to communicate in the VictoryByDesign series.

Bring me the comedy and the buddy buddy stuff, sure, but I came for the cars. Make those the focus. Having said that, all 3 are very insightful enthusiasts and they would be very capable of making the show I want to see. Maybe its like Ferrari with the California. The majority don't really want a show about cars, they want a blokey show centred around a blokey subject.

My pet peeve : music over the engines. Imagine if the soundtrack to the Daytona/Boat Film was the V12. If you haven't seen the VictoryByDesign series watch them and you will see how the engines can be used for the complete soundtrack in many cases.

 

I was a big fan for a few years. I got tired of Clarkson taking shots at Americans, he seems to truly be annoyed with them. I especially like when he refers to them as fat. Hey, I have homes in both countries U.S. and U.K. and I have to say the American women on average are much hotter than U.K. women but that's another thread. And as far as the cars? Range Rover vs Ford on reliability Ford hands down.

 

Greatest car TV show ever!!!!
I get sore from laughing so hard.

I laugh so much it works my abs, which is healthy. I guess you could say Top Gear is good for my health!

 

Ive never made it through an entire episode.