[Closed] New Top Gear just started,

Yep and because I'm a bit thick I'm enjoying it (although my attention does tend to wander during star in the car, hence posting this)!!

Just turned over, was Hammond in a Nova GTE? I loved my black GTE, pocket rocket 🙂

Really good value for us licence payers.

Doesn't it make a fortune for the BBC on the exports and re-runs?

I'm pretty tired of it now, same jokes repeated over and over.

SRi

SRi wasn't even the quick one. mind you the GTEs are rare as hens teeth these days (because they all got twoc'ed in 1992)

Getting more and more lame.

It used to have at least some entertaining bits

"let's wear fake moustaches"...hilarious, not.

Is this really what the average male finds funny?!

Nice shot of the moon there
About the highlight so far

Is this really what the average male finds funny?!

Started with potential, is now dire.

I couldn't afford a Nova SRi, I had to settle for the SR. It looked like the SRi though.....

McLaren on next week - I'm assuming that'll be the highlight of the series

Well that's an hour I won't get back.
Worst episode I've seen.

I laughed.

Sunday night tele before going back to the grind of Monday.

If you don't like it don't watch it.

I'm a massive fan of Top Gear but even I'm not going to try and defend this evenings abysmal, cheesy, played out rubbish.

First half not bad, second half window shopping on ebay. Sums up most TG shows.

You don't know how bad it's going to be until after you've watched it.
In the past, the first episode of a new series has had some good stuff in it. That upcoming Caterham looks good.

This evening's episode did kinda pass me by, didn't grab my attention - found myself thinking more about how and where they did the supermarket scenes than the programme itself... 😐

Its too predictable, and the star in the reasonably priced car idea is well passed its use-by date.

Well I chuckled, especially when the Nova went over the line on its side

Also what HtS said

I'm boycotting it 😉

Enjoyed the first half it then went downhill why the end bit in the arm base had to be like that I don't know.

I'll watch the rest of the series though.

Aah. The Nova SRI was the car I dreamed of having when hooning around in my 1.4 Merit+. Same colour, age and facelifted grill as the one in tonight's show.
Not a terrible show but predictable knob gags.

Had an xr2i! 😳

When they said old hot hatch I was hoping for
205
Clio 16v
5 gtt
Even the nova was the wrong one
Ax maybe

Was not fussed on tonight's show but will watch again next week

LardLover - Member
I couldn't afford a Nova SRi, I had to settle for the SR. It looked like the SRi though.....
POSTED 46 MINUTES AGO # REPORT-POST

Wasnt the best episode to kick off the series. The highlights real of the rest of the series was about the best bit for me.

I had an XR2 (binned on its roof) and an SR (stolen). I matched their 80s profiling perfectly 🙂

First half was quite funny.
Second half was too contrived. Agree about the star in a reasonably priced car being past its sell by date. Still, gave me a chance to put the kettle on!

Getting very lazy indeed now. Worst one I've seen for a while. Sad thing was, it wasn't that bad an idea for a main feature.

Erm, it started off quite good. But the hot hatch thing was pretty lame as it turned out. Why not just do some reviews of actual hot hatches, like they would do a supercar....? They could still make it fun.

Don't even think it was a Golf GTi. The GTi came with 4 headlamps, instead of 2. I did wonder if that is why they panned passed the 'GT' badge at one point....

Hope it improves.

Its too predictable, and the star in the reasonably priced car idea is well passed its use-by date.

PAST not passed. Aaaarrrggghhhhh!!!!!

I noticed the GT badge as well????
Didn't think the blowing up of the cars was at all entertaining, I can't remember the last five minutes as I fell asleep!

Not the best start but I'll give it another week or two. It can't get any worse surely.

Don't even think it was a Golf GTi. The GTi came with 4 headlamps, instead of 2. I did wonder if that is why they panned passed the 'GT' badge at one point.

16v 4 and 8v 2 but yes spotted the GT badge but it wasn't hard to as they zoomed in on it.

weird to keep banging on about 80's hot hatches,, and then turn up with a 1990 golf, 1992 nova and a 1993 xr2i

I'm thick and I like cars and that, but that was rubbish, first 5 minutes was promising and then it just went downhill

Hopefully the P1 review will redeem the series

cozz - Member
weird to keep banging on about 80's hot hatches,, and then turn up with a 1990 golf, 1992 nova and a 1993 xr2i
POSTED 9 MINUTES AGO # REPORT-POST

At 14min 30sec in to the program it shows the golfs engine which is clearly the 1.8v digifant electronic fuel injection version, dunno why the badge said GT though?.

I only caught the last 5 mins but that Golf was a mess, why couldn't they use an original one not a modded one ?

it's not a serious car program so i'm rather glad they didn't use a decent Mk2 Golf, it's an entertainment show and as such they're not doing it to inform - can you imagine the outrage if they bought a decent Mk2 16v GTI and proceeded to vinyl wrap and thrash it to the death? - i'd personally hunt Clarkson down and remove his bollocks with a blunt bread knife and sauté them on my camp stove then watch as i made him eat them.

We all know not many modern hot hatches can live up to decent Mk2 16v GTI …..now then…….where have i sat my rose tinted varifocals?….. 😉

that Golf was a mess, why couldn't they use an original one not a modded one ?

Have you seen the prices for 80s/90s hot hatches?...unmolested ones are also rather rare these days.

When i think back to what i had during my flirtation with hot hatches and how i wasted those beautiful cars i actually feel slightly nauseous.
I browsed Autotrader recently to see about buying something like that again for nostagias sake....i nearly passed out at the prices.

Crappy XR2s that my mates and i used to pick up for £500 and then write off or scrap a year later are now several thousand pounds....good luck finding a Renault 5 GT-turbo and if you do you'll need to remortgage (but bloody hell they were good!)....but my favourite was the 205 GTi, i had two (a 1.6 and a 1.9) and they both went to traders for peanuts....they were in good nick and unmodified too, what was i thinking?!....a nice 205 GTi from a good source like 'Just GTi's' in Horsham will now cost you £3000-£5000....we used to pick them up for less than 1k in mint condition!

I had:

a mk2 XR2
a 205 GTi 1.9
a 205 GTi 1.6
a 309 GTi 1.9
a mk2 Golf GTi 8v
a mk2 Golf GTi 16v
a Renault 5 GT-turbo
a 2.0 16v Astra GTE

At todays prices those little beauties would be able to pay my mortgage off, if only i'd had a barn to keep them all in!

Hi
Lairy
Arse

Then Hugh Furnley Whittingwhatsit on 4+1 in Scandinavia..

Per
Fik

😀

somafunk - Member
At 14min 30sec in to the program it shows the golfs engine which is clearly the 1.8v digifant electronic fuel injection version, dunno why the badge said GT though?.

POSTED 2 HOURS AGO # REPORT-POST
simmy - Member
I only caught the last 5 mins but that Golf was a mess, why couldn't they use an original one not a modded one ?

Well that's an hour I won't get back.
Worst episode I've seen.

Great fun material- can't believe they diluted it and eeked it out to an hour though. It got more and more bizarre.

I'm sick of the Star-bit now. I've no idea who that bloke is or care. I said out loud 'what have you got to do with cars'?

Only non-racing people like Jay Leno, Jay Kay, Chris Evans etc have interest in cars (real interest) and are interesting/linked/worthy to be in that section.

Not 'so what cars do you have'? Well my agent got me this slot.

That was the worst pile of rubbish they have ever done. I sense budget restrictions.

what have you got to do with cars?

Nothing.

It's a legacy from when the BBC took Jonathan Ross off the TV, and they had nowhere for the studios to punt films, so it ended up on Top Gear. It's obviously become a pretty hot PR bargaining chip, given the amount of time still allotted to it.

can you imagine the outrage if they bought a decent Mk2 16v GTI and proceeded to vinyl wrap and thrash it to the death?

The mrs had one of those, a new one. She loved. I hated it. It was an awful little thing. It was only any fun in reverse.

Must be a girl thing.

I was cringing at some bits it was that bad !!! I was watching some fifth gear a few weeks ago... Proper car tests and genuine banter 🙂

plus one- the reason why I like Fifth Gear is some moments are ab-lib. Tiff, Plato and VBH were test driving and during a parallel parking test Plato (on the spur of the moment) decided to try Handbraking a volvo into the space- it worked. His face was class! 😀

I'd rather watch this ...

http://www.planete-gt.com/2014/01/30/video-citroen-ax-diesel-nurburgring-9min-55/

... after 7yrs of trying a chap drives his Citroen AX 1.4 diesel round the Nurburgring in under 10 mins.

So much better than watching some gigglingly old blokes driving around a supermarket.

Yes Plato parking the volvo was class !!!! 🙂

I've had time to absorb it now and have a few thoughts:

Has to be mentioned, the supermarket bit was pants, funniest bit was the Nova coming back through the line on it's side, that was funny.
Who would have throught it, James goes slow, Jezza rams everything, Hamster makes a good effort at the start only to throw the towel in and revert to a small Jezza.

The SintheRPC is quite fun, small interlude caught in between the inevitable "roadtrip" or "smashacar" "epics", this is welcomed IMO and the chap last night properly drove that car, funny always seems to be the least expected does well..

Looking forward to the series, looks to be a few decent hours of Sunday TV in there.

Though on the whole I thought Hugh FurnleyWhittingmagigs programme on Stockholm far more interesting and a trip looks planned for the Bouy's.

I sense budget restrictions.

You think ?

The BBC's biggest cash cow and after 20 series of bringing in mega bucks from all over the world, all of a sudden they have a restricted budget.

Seems unlikely.

They've had a restricted budget for awhile they've even mentioned it that's why they do a shorted series now.

during a parallel parking test Plato (on the spur of the moment)

I bet it wasn't.

It was all a bit meh last night.

Started off well and then they dragged out the last 20 minutes with terrible, unfunny guff on the budget hatches.

They've had a restricted budget for awhile they've even mentioned it that's why they do a shorted series now.

Hasn't it been 6 or 7 episodes per series for the last 10 years or so ?

Has that changed ?

Speaking of Scandimania, is HFW attempting to transition to some form of proper journalism (with just a dash of cookery), or is this just a means of him getting a road trip in?

I missed Top Gear, but caught that.

Scandimania- I was looking forward to this. It seemed more Bill Bryson than Hugh.

Does anyone know where the ex military base section was filmed?

Caerwent, I believe.

Where was the STIG FFS?
(I missed the first and last 5 mins due to logistical F ups) Enjoyed the episode up to the welsh military installation, then it just became predictable and contrived, and to be honest boring.

Looking forward to the Mclaren P1 test though. Clarkson's comments seemed a little over-hyped about it though.

hot hatches, no one mentions the SAXO VTS !
loved that car, till the head gasket went just outside of warranty
part ex'd it for a real car
Toyota Supra 3.0 TT

now were talking speed

HFW adn his Scandamainia thingy, I thought it was a bit Journo for him too, yes it was, not that I mind much as I was looking forward to a rounded programme featuring just what HFW actually gave us.
Which was a refreshing change TBH, not just one subject matter but more of a culturural overview with a bit of food in it.
Only thing missing was the Dance scene, Art scene and it would have been pretty damn prefect.

😀

Only thing missing was the Dance scene, Art scene and it would have been pretty damn prefect.

Is there the obligatory kit off, sauna, beaten with birch twigs then jumping starkers into the lake scene?

Your answer will help me decide whether it's safe to watch.

Nope, not like when Jamie Oliver did something similar. A bit more politics than you would think too.

thats cause the VTS was about 10 years too late to the party back2basics.

@trail_rat - bout 97 i think - so not that late, lets say fashionably late 😉 🙂

whatever happened to the Escort Xr3i - it was like a mega obsession to have one of those, yet nothing heard about it today? are they all binned to the scrapheap after being stolen and crashed on Edge Lane in Liverpool?

"whatever happened to the Escort Xr3i - it was like a mega obsession to have one of those, yet nothing heard about it today? are they all binned to the scrapheap after being stolen and crashed on Edge Lane in Liverpool? "

like sherpa vans they mostly dissolved.

I found it odd too that TG picked some really bad GTI's..

The Mk1 or 2 XR2
Pug 1.6 GTI or the 1.9 GTI
The 16v Golf GTI
Nova GTE
Astra GTE
AlfaSud 1.5Ti
Rover Metro GTI or the Montego GTI

All these could/should have been in the show in some form or another. As for the Seat Leon thingy, thought that was horrible. Could have raced against a Clio 192 (or whatever it is these days)

I said out loud 'what have you got to do with cars'?

My grandmother talks to the tv, too.

They are very nice with her in the home, though.

It's a legacy from when the BBC took Jonathan Ross off the TV, and they had nowhere for the studios to punt films, so it ended up on Top Gear.

The guests have never been particularly relevant, they are just guests. They have never had anything to do with motoring really.

The only difference since Jonathan Ross left the BBC, is that Top Gear has picked up more of the higher profile Hollywood type guests. Can't see how that's a bad thing really.

Clarkson's comments seemed a little over-hyped about it though.

Dunno, the reviews I've read all say the same sort of thing, by all accounts it's utterly mental.

The 'police' chase for the last 15 minutes was utterly rubbish. I didn't think it was that awful in the round, it was just missing a feature, it was basically the 'hot hatches' and Hugh Bonneville. It needed at least another feature to fill an hour without it feeling a bit tortured. They'd normally review some exotica for 10-15 minutes, which would have then been fine.

[i]16v 4 and 8v 2 [/i]

Nope, my standard 8V GTI had 4 lights, as did my friend's also very standard 8V. Both small bumper models, the better look IMHO.

As for the show, I missed the first few minutes and won't be waiting for the endless repeats to see what I missed. Very meh.

Mk II 8v Golf GTI here, sure it only had 2 (weedy) headlights.
That was a B reg.

And just to add my other GTIs to the party -
Peugeot 1.6 205 GTI. had that a year, traded in for
Peugeot 1.9 205 GTI. stolen after 2 1/2 years. then got Golf GTI above (S/H)

Nope, my standard 8V GTI had 4 lights, as did my friend's also very standard 8V. Both small bumper models, the better look IMHO.

Yet.

http://www.gumtree.com/p/cars-vans-motorbikes/mk2-golf-gti/1046907044

My understanding (not from a particularly authoritative source) was that the double headlights on the GTi were an option, but pretty ubiquitous because pretty much everybody ticked that box on the order form (because everyone knows that was what the GTi was supposed to look like...)

Think that was it edlong but the 16v the option was included. very hazy as never owned one. Growing up with NE postcode in the 90s meant very expensive insurance.

I was putting curtain poles up during the intro and heard "review of the Golf Mk7" so hastily finished curtain poling and sat down to catch that review. I now presume he was talking about sometime in the series and wish I'd spent more time putting the curtain pole up straight them pre-empting every lame gag. Ha well.

Mk II 8v Golf GTI here, sure it only had 2 (weedy) headlights.
That was a B reg.

Edlong must have it, remember parents having a 1985, 1986, 1988, 1991 and 1992 mk2 GTIs, all of which (except the 1992 actually) were 8v and had 4 headlights. Still got a 1984 mk1 GTI cabriolet, which also has 4.

I'd always assumed any with 2 had been 'modded' to be as such.