[Closed] Top Gear

I imagine they had the 'race'...

Seriously?

No-one over 10 years of age actually believes these races are real do they?

+1.

Cant believe anyone thinks they are anything other than well-planned, completely contrived and scripted entertainment slots. I doubt with all the logistics theres any semblance of a 'race' in the timing of the 2 journeys.

I remember one of their aerial stunts where a contraption drifted into airport airspace and was chased off by a police helicopter hearing lots of indignant "how reckless!" comments, as if it wasnt meticulously planned for months and didn't involve the full co-operation of the various authorities.

I am reluctant to let daylight in upon magic but good grief...

I doubt they were paid cash for. You can get most Supercars on short term lease deals with specialist finance houses. That said it would probably still be about 2K per month, but i guess she can cover that.

this... I guarantee, number of cars she's had she'd never had kept any have kept any for very long.

From what I've heard about the GT86 / BRZ they are ok cars, but not particularly exciting to look at,

Hmm. Only in your opinion though. Other opinions are available! I'm no fan of Jap cars at all, but that looked pretty decent to me.

but mostly that they are missing a bit of power. 197bhp needs a little bump up to say 230bhp to make it feel more "alive".

Drivel. It only weight 1.24t, a bit less than a 1.6 Focus. That's more then enough power. Most fun car I've ever owned only had 50bhp. Could still slide it anywhere and everywhere I wanted to 🙂

Cant believe anyone thinks they are anything other than well-planned, completely contrived and scripted entertainment slots. I doubt with all the logistics theres any semblance of a 'race' in the timing of the 2 journeys.

I can't believe anyone thinks that anyone might think they're real races.

However, they are still a tired overused device. Oh look, Jezza blames France for losing. Ho ho.

Driven a GT86 - people keep harping on about those tyres, but it's not really an issue is it? Not sure, but from memory the Sierra Cosworth had norrower tyres fitted and that had a bit more oomph and perhaps a bit less mass. If you're from a rwd background you'll keep that car on the road easy enough. Guess people just want to moan because it's a Toyota?

As for Top Gear.... I may be wrong, but didn't anybody notice the "we're just coming into Paris" bit where there were snow capped mountains in the background?

PeterPoddy - Member

From what I've heard about the GT86 / BRZ they are ok cars, but not particularly exciting to look at,

Hmm. Only in your opinion though. Other opinions are available! I'm no fan of Jap cars at all, but that looked pretty decent to me.

but mostly that they are missing a bit of power. 197bhp needs a little bump up to say 230bhp to make it feel more "alive".

Drivel. It only weight 1.24t, a bit less than a 1.6 Focus. That's more then enough power. Most fun car I've ever owned only had 50bhp. Could still slide it anywhere and everywhere I wanted to

Darcy, at least 2 posts along the lines of them having the race then going back to shoot filling slots so grown adults think there is some genuine parallel journey race element to it (hence my use of a quote for the hard of attention).

I agree they've done the idea to death, last weeks ep1 was the last one I'll be watching this series.

I haven't driven one, so can't express a useful opinion.

Are you new to the forum?

No, but I'm fed up with people not reading things properly.

I agree they've done the idea to death, last weeks ep1 was the last one I'll be watching this series.

Aye, me too.

Thing is I end up watching the shite so I can join in the loverz vs haterz discussion here on a Sun/Mon. 😆

And a 🙄 at myself.

Saw a GT86 on the M56 this afternoon looked pretty good to me.

Obviously they make the 'races' look closer than they are and probably shoot more footage of the car on the drive back but why would they bother spinning it out over several days if they didn't have to? If it was a non-parallel thing shot over a week continuity errors would inevitably creep in. Isn't it just easier anyway to have an actual race rather than act one out?

I may be wrong, but didn't anybody notice the "we're just coming into Paris" bit where there were snow capped mountains in the background?

I'll have to watch it again for that bit! There was one moment when I wondered if the sun was in the wrong place if they were meant to be travelling north to south. Maybe it was all done with mirrors.

How do you think they film the external shots?

One of the cars is supposedly stuck in traffic.
So the cameraman must be stuck in traffic too.
How does he get in front of the car, film it going past then get back in it/catch up in a support vehicle?
All in real time.

How about an external shot of someone jumping on a train which then pulls out of a station?
How does the cameraman get to the destination to film them getting off?
Maybe they have cameramen everywhere, who knows.

And there are loads of continuity errors - just have a look next time you watch. 🙂
Position of the sun in the sky for a start, it's all over the place.
EDIT - just noticed the above post - not just me then.

Sorry, it's all a complete fabrication.
I'm gobsmacked that anyone could possibly think otherwise.

Isn't it just easier anyway to have an actual race rather than act one out?

The camera crew have the whole journey back to film the car stuck in traffic etc. Shots of trains pulling out of stations can be other trains. I'm sure of the hours of in-car footage they take of Clarkson they happily shuffle the order about to fit the storyline better without worrying about the position of the sun, but none of that means they don't just travel down there in one straight run. Why would they mess about using more camera crews and days than they need?

I can't believe there is so much effort here to state the bleedin' obvious. I'm pretty sure no one needs convincing...!

my understanding is..

The "race" is filmed realtime. each presenter has a crew with them. Clarksons stuff is generally done on the in car cameras
May/Hammond do their thing with the camera crews.
Pickup shots of trains passing/traffic are done later.
exteriors of the car Clarkson is driving are done after.
In the Bugatti Veyron film they raced to Barcleys tower realtime, then another crew with the stig (Ben Collins) driving returned the car and picked up what was needed.
With a bit of pre planning (they'll do a lot..) its not that hard to film a race realtime

I did see May on a ferry doing one of these things a few years back. Judging by his eager expression, and the sheer and utter boredom of the camera crew, at least he does the things in one go. I felt sorry for the camera guy sitting in the boot of the Rangie.

But if you want boredom just watch Ice Road Truckers. Mate had me watch a couple, but as far as I can tell nothing at all happens. It's just lorry drivers driving trucks to and fro in a bit of ice.

I can't believe there is so much effort here to state the bleedin' obvious. I'm pretty sure no one needs convincing...!

Amy Macdonald...utterly boring person to listen to...songs seem to be ok but I'd leave the room if she arrived to chat to people.

Clarkson did say that in the us the Ford was 35k so he didn't quite follow the rules as it doesn't cost that in the uk.

I'm watching it but only so I can understand the complaints on here...it's poor tv but does have moments of humour...

This didn't go quite according to script;

[url= http://www.guardian.co.uk/tv-and-radio/video/2013/feb/11/top-gear-helicopter-crash-video ]Link[/url]

Scripted.

A former colleague of mine is James May's sister. Apparently they do the races for real. However only the shots with the presenters in them are filmed at that time. The rest are filmed with a staffer driving the car on the return leg of the journey over 2 or 3 days depending.

Well, Gadget Show races definitely aren't for real - did some filming in Edinburgh for one a few years ago, and it was stop-start all the way.

With one of those CCTV vans with a camera on a telescopic pole as escort - every break in filming, the camera operator would extend his pole and nosey in people's windows 🙂

197bhp needs a little bump up to say 230bhp to make it feel more "alive".

Apparently they do the races for real.

Mmmmm.... And it just so happens they are nail-bitingly close. Every single time.

😯

Impressed at how this survived - the two crew walked away!
[img] [/img]

top gear has gone downhill, but i still watch it.

the 'news' section on the last episode was dire, i fast forward through 'star in a car' and the best bits are when the do a race together.

the specials are great though.