Episode 2 of Top Gear's 13th season aired last night in the UK, and the main event was a one-mile drag race between the McLaren F1 and the Bugatti Veyron. Notice that we didn't say a McLaren F1 and a Bugatti Veyron. These two supercars are so super (and rare) that any single example tends to represent the whole run of each, and since your chances of encountering two of either kind in the same place are practically nill, they might as well be the only ones in existence.
The Top Gear crew chose Abu Dhabi as the location for its supercar shootout. With an arid climate that sees practically no rain or freezing-and-thawing cycles, the roads in Abu Dhabi are long, straight and, most importantly, free of pot holes. Richard Hammond chooses to pilot the Bug and The Stig takes the centrally located wheel of the F1. We won't spoil the results except to say that this is the most real and nail-biting competition that we've seen on Top Gear in a long time. Video in the jump!
Source: AutoBlog
Manure dumped at Clarkson's home
Well, that's awfully shitty of those protesters. Zing!
Climate change protesters have dumped a pile of horse manure at the home of Top Gear presenter Jeremy Clarkson in a protest about vehicle emissions.
Six women stood by the dung in the drive of his home in Chipping Norton, Oxfordshire, with a sign that read: "This is what you're landing us in." The protesters from direct action group Climate Rush said they were being as "blasé as him" about emissions.
Clarkson made no comment and Thames Valley Police said no-one was arrested. Police were called to the presenter's home at about 1145 BST after reports that a group of women dressed as suffragettes, three camera crews and a few members of the press were in the grounds of his house.
A wheel barrow load of manure from a horse-drawn cart was dumped in Clarkson's driveway. Protester Deborah Grayson said: "Just as he's ever so blasé about his CO2 and how much he's contributing to climate change emissions, we're a little bit blasé about our horse manure."
Sgt Mark Smith, from Thames Valley Police, said the women, camera crews and press had left the property by the time the officers arrived. He said no complaints had been lodged against the protesters. It is not known if Clarkson was home at the time of the protest.
Source: BBC
BBC Books Coming Out With "Where's Stig"
Waldo ain't got nothing on The Stig!
Wasted time. All the wasted time we spent as children looking for that ridiculous, bespectacled, striped goon when we could have been seeking out the world's most enigmatic racing driver. As with so many other things, however, future generations need suffer no more thanks to illustrator Rod Hunt and the merchandising-obsessed limeys at the BBC, who have teamed up on this new project.
Where's Stig? features jam-packed, cartoonish recreations of famous scenes from the hit television show Top Gear, with the mysterious driver in white hidden somewhere on each page. Just like Where's Waldo?, only with more Top Gear-iness. The publication goes on sale from BBC Books as of September 17.
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Buy Top Gear Episodes on XBOX Marketplace
Bring the UK show to your videogame console.
You can now purchase Top Gear episodes from seasons 10, 11, and 12 directly from your Xbox 360. Each episode costs 160 points (US$2) and is about 570MB. They of course feature replaced music (they have to due to licensing terms), however season 12 has no content cut (each episode is 60 minutes long). Sadly seasons 10 and 11 have about 10 minutes cut per episode (usually the news and the SIARPC).
Source: FinalGear
Source: FinalGear
Top Gear USA Canned
Sad news for us gearheads who wanted our own flavor.
The Top Gear UK host Jeremy Clarkson always finds himself in very controversial situations. Not afraid to speak his mind, Scottish politicians have urged BBC to take Clarkson off air after he called prime minister Gordon Brown a “one-eyed Scottish idiot.”
During his visit to Australia, where Clarkson is going to host Top Gear Live, he accused Brown of repeatedly “telling us everything is fine” with the world in a financial crisis.
While none of this matters to us in the automotive industry, Clarkson however did mention that Top Gear USA has been banned because Americans “just don’t get it.” Bonus video in the jump!
Source: eGMCarTech
During his visit to Australia, where Clarkson is going to host Top Gear Live, he accused Brown of repeatedly “telling us everything is fine” with the world in a financial crisis.
While none of this matters to us in the automotive industry, Clarkson however did mention that Top Gear USA has been banned because Americans “just don’t get it.” Bonus video in the jump!
Source: eGMCarTech
Top Gear says the Stig is Graham Hill
Now we're confused.
Two days after British media reported that Ben Collins, a 33-year old former Formula Three, Le Mans, GT and NASCAR racer from Bristol, has revealed himself as The Stig - Top Gear has come out with their official word. According to a post on Top Gear’s blog, The Stig is none other than Graham Hill.
Who is Graham Hill you ask? Norman Graham Hill was a British racing driver and two-time Formula One World Champion and the only driver to win the Triple Crown of Motorsport (an unofficial motorsport achievement that includes winning the Indianapolis 500, the 24 Hours of Le Mans and the Formula One World Championship.) The only problem is that Graham Hill died in 1975. More in the jump!
The Top Gear blog reads: In an alleged plot believed to have cost the license payer millions of pounds, BBC bosses apparently helped Graham Hill fake his own death in a plane crash.
According to Mole sources, the BBC knew as far back as 1974 that one day they’d hire Jeremy Clarkson to front their motoring show which didn’t exist yet, and that Jeremy would probably go to a school where they called new boys “Stigs”, and that in 2002 he’d probably invent an anonymous racing driver and probably give him that same name.
So they approached Graham Hill, whose professional driving career was over at that point, and asked him to crash a plane and then hide in a bush until he got the call from the Top Gear team 20 odd years later,” said a BBC insider.
He added: “The BBC does make a mess of some things but they’re pretty good at forward planning.”
BBC is one amazing network. The identity of The Stig was supposedly revealed after some moustache wax was found in a Mercedes-Benz SLR the Stig had been driving.
Source: eGMCarTech
Who is Graham Hill you ask? Norman Graham Hill was a British racing driver and two-time Formula One World Champion and the only driver to win the Triple Crown of Motorsport (an unofficial motorsport achievement that includes winning the Indianapolis 500, the 24 Hours of Le Mans and the Formula One World Championship.) The only problem is that Graham Hill died in 1975. More in the jump!
The Top Gear blog reads: In an alleged plot believed to have cost the license payer millions of pounds, BBC bosses apparently helped Graham Hill fake his own death in a plane crash.
According to Mole sources, the BBC knew as far back as 1974 that one day they’d hire Jeremy Clarkson to front their motoring show which didn’t exist yet, and that Jeremy would probably go to a school where they called new boys “Stigs”, and that in 2002 he’d probably invent an anonymous racing driver and probably give him that same name.
So they approached Graham Hill, whose professional driving career was over at that point, and asked him to crash a plane and then hide in a bush until he got the call from the Top Gear team 20 odd years later,” said a BBC insider.
He added: “The BBC does make a mess of some things but they’re pretty good at forward planning.”
BBC is one amazing network. The identity of The Stig was supposedly revealed after some moustache wax was found in a Mercedes-Benz SLR the Stig had been driving.
Source: eGMCarTech
Who is the Stig? The answer
The masked man is finally revealed.
For years the identity of The Stig has been a closely guarded secret, but Collins – who has previously competed in Formula Three, Le Mans, GT and NASCAR – has apparently outed himself to staff at a Bristol gallery.
The 33-year-old let his secret slip when he asked them to help him produce a limited-edition print of The Stig in action.
Gallery owner Simon Whitehead, 27, said: "I was absolutely amazed when he said he was The Stig, it was quite a big thing in a weird way." More in the jump!
Builder Jason Goody, 21, also discovered The Stig's identity when he did some work at Collins' home and found the famous white suit and gloves on display in a cabinet.
Other fans of Top Gear, presented by Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May, have been closing in on Collins in recent months. One YouTube clip shows The Stig, in full disguise, talking with a Bristol accent to a foreign TV crew – and then cuts to Collins sounding very similar.
Collins, from Bristol, has always denied being The Stig and could face the sack if he admitted it. The first Stig, stunt driver Perry McCarthy, lost the job after outing himself in his book Flat Out, Flat Broke, published in 2002.
He was known as The Black Stig and always wore a black suit and helmet before he was "killed off" during the third series in 2003. Collins has since become The White Stig, and wears an all white helmet and suit.
Collins started his motorsport career in 1994, competing in Formula First and Formula Vauxhall Junior on his way to International Formula 3.
He has appeared on BBC's Top Gear as himself on various occasions to perform some dramatic stunts.
The Health & Safety Executive report into Hammond's accident in September 2006 recorded that Collins had "worked closely with Top Gear as a high performance driver and consultant" and had prepared a briefing for the presenter.
Collins also recently spent three months working as a precision driver on the latest James Bond movie The Quantum of Solace.
He was the double for Daniel Craig and drove the Aston Martin DBS in some of the most challenging driving sequences.
Collins said of the experience: "It was a bit like a dream come true to work on a Bond film. On the first day filming I had to pinch myself as I was sitting there in Bond's pin stripe suit with an Omega Watch. I felt totally at home in the Aston Martin DBS, which is just an awesome car and it was a lot of fun hammering it around the Alps.
"There were sheer drops of a thousand feet on some of the roads we using. I think a highlight was sliding the DBS up the mountain road between two giant rocks, then onto the pass with nothing but a hand rail to stop the car falling off a cliff."
The Stig's name derives from Clarkson's days at Repton School where, he said, new students were always called "Stig".
The identity of White Stig has not been officially revealed and is regarded as a carefully guarded secret by the BBC.
However, it has not stopped people from trying to identify him and names such as Julian Bailey, Damon Hill, Tim Schrick, and Russ Swift have all been suggested.
A Top Gear spokesman said: "We never comment on speculation as to who or what The Stig is."
Source: Telegraph
The 33-year-old let his secret slip when he asked them to help him produce a limited-edition print of The Stig in action.
Gallery owner Simon Whitehead, 27, said: "I was absolutely amazed when he said he was The Stig, it was quite a big thing in a weird way." More in the jump!
Builder Jason Goody, 21, also discovered The Stig's identity when he did some work at Collins' home and found the famous white suit and gloves on display in a cabinet.
Other fans of Top Gear, presented by Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May, have been closing in on Collins in recent months. One YouTube clip shows The Stig, in full disguise, talking with a Bristol accent to a foreign TV crew – and then cuts to Collins sounding very similar.
Collins, from Bristol, has always denied being The Stig and could face the sack if he admitted it. The first Stig, stunt driver Perry McCarthy, lost the job after outing himself in his book Flat Out, Flat Broke, published in 2002.
He was known as The Black Stig and always wore a black suit and helmet before he was "killed off" during the third series in 2003. Collins has since become The White Stig, and wears an all white helmet and suit.
Collins started his motorsport career in 1994, competing in Formula First and Formula Vauxhall Junior on his way to International Formula 3.
He has appeared on BBC's Top Gear as himself on various occasions to perform some dramatic stunts.
The Health & Safety Executive report into Hammond's accident in September 2006 recorded that Collins had "worked closely with Top Gear as a high performance driver and consultant" and had prepared a briefing for the presenter.
Collins also recently spent three months working as a precision driver on the latest James Bond movie The Quantum of Solace.
He was the double for Daniel Craig and drove the Aston Martin DBS in some of the most challenging driving sequences.
Collins said of the experience: "It was a bit like a dream come true to work on a Bond film. On the first day filming I had to pinch myself as I was sitting there in Bond's pin stripe suit with an Omega Watch. I felt totally at home in the Aston Martin DBS, which is just an awesome car and it was a lot of fun hammering it around the Alps.
"There were sheer drops of a thousand feet on some of the roads we using. I think a highlight was sliding the DBS up the mountain road between two giant rocks, then onto the pass with nothing but a hand rail to stop the car falling off a cliff."
The Stig's name derives from Clarkson's days at Repton School where, he said, new students were always called "Stig".
The identity of White Stig has not been officially revealed and is regarded as a carefully guarded secret by the BBC.
However, it has not stopped people from trying to identify him and names such as Julian Bailey, Damon Hill, Tim Schrick, and Russ Swift have all been suggested.
A Top Gear spokesman said: "We never comment on speculation as to who or what The Stig is."
Source: Telegraph
NBC passes on Top Gear USA
Look for it on cable...
We have a scoop on the much-anticipated U.S. version of "Top Gear": BBC has decided to take the show to cable, where presenters' funny mouths, from which often spill foul words, will be more at home. There are no hard feelings and NBC will be sharing custody of "Top Gear" dog. A number of cable networks were delighted with the news... so we'll keep an eye out.
Source: Top Gear
Source: Top Gear
Volkswagen Scirocco gets Top Gear Car of the Year
And it beat out a LOT of big competitors.
The Scirocco, you say? Yeah, you know, the VW the United States failed to get. Mmmhmm. It's awesome and we'll never know - at least for some time. Described as, "Like a dumb blonde, except not dumb. Gorgeous, sassy, and fun to be with", the guys at Top Gear were in love the second they sat in the driver's seat.
The judging panel was made up of members of the road test team and journalists from Top Gear magazine. Equipped with a powerful and efficient 2.0-litre TSI engine producing 200 PS, the new Scirocco is the most technically advanced production coupé that Volkswagen has produced. All models benefit from Adaptive Chassis Control (ACC) which operates via a set of four electrically adjustable dampers to alter the car’s suspension, steering and throttle response set-up, and allows the driver to choose the most appropriate setting for the journey.
This system particularly impressed the judges with them explaining, in the Awards issue of Top Gear magazine:
Source: Top Gear
The judging panel was made up of members of the road test team and journalists from Top Gear magazine. Equipped with a powerful and efficient 2.0-litre TSI engine producing 200 PS, the new Scirocco is the most technically advanced production coupé that Volkswagen has produced. All models benefit from Adaptive Chassis Control (ACC) which operates via a set of four electrically adjustable dampers to alter the car’s suspension, steering and throttle response set-up, and allows the driver to choose the most appropriate setting for the journey.
This system particularly impressed the judges with them explaining, in the Awards issue of Top Gear magazine:
The standard ACC system allows you to swap between soft and scythe at the touch of the button, giving you a spread of abilities far beyond what we’ve come to expect from the average car...
In summing up the Scirocco’s success, Top Gear magazine explained: ‘Amongst the mega-machinery that makes up a lot of the Top Gear Awards, we’re celebrating something truly unique: a common man’s exotic. The Scirocco is a car we can understand, appreciate and afford.
Prices for the Scirocco start at £18,790 (about $28,000) for the recently introduced 1.4-litre TSI with 160 PS. For the first time in the coupé, a diesel engine in the form of the advanced 2.0-litre TDI 140 PS common rail unit is also now available for ordering.
In summing up the Scirocco’s success, Top Gear magazine explained: ‘Amongst the mega-machinery that makes up a lot of the Top Gear Awards, we’re celebrating something truly unique: a common man’s exotic. The Scirocco is a car we can understand, appreciate and afford.
Source: Top Gear
Jeremy Clarkson drives Ford Fiesta into Sea
Off a military landing craft and into the water for Top Gear.
More than 30 Royal Marines were doing exercises carrying guns and landing helicopters on the beach at Instow, North Devon, as Clarkson road tested the lime green car. The filming was organised by Instow major John Lugg after marines from Poole came up with the idea and contacted Top Gear, who agreed to it.
A spokesman for the Marines said: "Instow was the best place to do it because the expertise is here, it has the right conditions and the space.
"There is a film crew of 12 here, including Jeremy Clarkson and this has been in preparation for a couple of months."
He said: "We are here just for the weekend and as we heard about it, we thought we would come along and take a look. We are both regular watchers of Top Gear, although we look at it more as a comedy not a car show. It is good the local Marines are involved. Jeremy is always known as a advocate of the armed forces."
Source: Telegraph
A spokesman for the Marines said: "Instow was the best place to do it because the expertise is here, it has the right conditions and the space.
"There is a film crew of 12 here, including Jeremy Clarkson and this has been in preparation for a couple of months."
He said: "We are here just for the weekend and as we heard about it, we thought we would come along and take a look. We are both regular watchers of Top Gear, although we look at it more as a comedy not a car show. It is good the local Marines are involved. Jeremy is always known as a advocate of the armed forces."
Source: Telegraph
Spoiler Warning: Top Gear America Episode Pilot
Find out what you'll be watching in the new series debuting on NBC.
This is your warning. If you do not want to know what happens in the very first episode of the series, skip this blog. Don't click the picture. Don't click the comments counter. Just scroll right passed it.
That being said: The very first episode looks very promising and entertaining and will be sure to grab in a lot of viewers.
You just had to know, didn't you?
Let's hope it views as good as it reads!
That being said: The very first episode looks very promising and entertaining and will be sure to grab in a lot of viewers.
You just had to know, didn't you?
They did the Star in a Reasonably Priced Car first, to accommodate the guest. The celebrity guest was actually The Hoff! David Hasselhoff himself. Actually a funny segment and a great way to loosen the crowd up once we saw the track was a respectable copy of the original. The first turn is called Talledega and the last big left turn is called the Al Gore.
They then reset for the show open, the three guys introduced themselves and they showed the opening titles which got everyone excited. The shots from that 20-30 seconds looked amazing. After the titles they introduced the fourth team member, The Stig. This was another film with an Ariel Atom dropped from a cargo plane by parachute and The Stig with a parachute pack chasing it. The car lands but you don't see The Stig open his chute, it cuts right to Stiggy driving the Atom through the desert. The photography is exactly what you would expect from Top Gear. I assume that's because its the same people making the show and they know how its done.
Next was the cheap car challenge. Each guy was given $2500 in Las Vegas and told to buy a classic 80's sports car. Adam had to buy an American car and the other two had to buy a foreign. Eric bought a Porsche (not sure what model I'm not a car buff), Tanner bought a Japanese car I can't remember and Adam bought a Pontiac Firebird. The first challenge was to drive to a track, with penalties for breakdowns. Once they were at the track, Stig set lap times with the fastest time winning. They then set up a corridor of junk and the guys had to drive the car through the corridor at 30 MPH with no hands on the wheel. This had some great 80's TV crash references with boxes flying everywhere. They were then given $100 to prepare their car for a trip to the bottom of Death Valley. After the guys wandered around a junk yard looking for ideas there was a commercial break.
Next was a Adam reviewing the new Audi R8, which was then joined by Tanner in the new Aston Martin. Both cars were in the $120K range for comparison. They then argued about the cars in the studio before showing the Stig taking both out for a lap. These were the first two cars on the leaderboard. Adam made fun of the Aston Martin for being the "third best Aston Martin on the market" and Tanner called the Audi boring and German.
And now, the news. There were a few reshoots of this segment so the guys could adlib new takes and I'm sure only a few will make the cut. Adam Corolla is very, very funny. Clarkson is the best at the in car review obviously, but I really enjoyed watching Adam in the studio. There was a planted bit where a girl in the audience was asked a question and I'm pretty sure she was an actress I have seen before on television. She stayed for the whole shoot as an audience member though, so I'll give her props for sticking it out with the rest of us.
After the news they finished off the cheap car challenge. All three guys had made ridiculous "cooling" modifications to their cars in true Top Gear fashion. In fact, I could easily see the same gag being used for their UK counterparts. They then drove to the bottom of Death Valley where they were given one final challenge. This was the highlight of the night. Each car was dropped off a bridge, connected to a massive bungee cord. There would be points deducted for each bit that fell off of the car.
After the film the guys went over the points for each challenge. This was reshot several times. Mostly because none of the guys could do math or remember how many points each challenge was or why they were assigned. There was plenty of opportunity for Adam to adlib some funny lines with each retake so it wasn't too boring. Everyone was dead tired by this point but they had to bring up a shot from the opening of the show (which was like 6 hours ago) and rearrange everyone into the same positions they were in the audience to do a 10 second pickup. Mercifully that was the last shot.
The show looks great, everyone had fun watching the filmed segments, the audience was filled with fans of the original show and I think everyone was impressed with how much they were able to live up to it.
They then reset for the show open, the three guys introduced themselves and they showed the opening titles which got everyone excited. The shots from that 20-30 seconds looked amazing. After the titles they introduced the fourth team member, The Stig. This was another film with an Ariel Atom dropped from a cargo plane by parachute and The Stig with a parachute pack chasing it. The car lands but you don't see The Stig open his chute, it cuts right to Stiggy driving the Atom through the desert. The photography is exactly what you would expect from Top Gear. I assume that's because its the same people making the show and they know how its done.
Next was the cheap car challenge. Each guy was given $2500 in Las Vegas and told to buy a classic 80's sports car. Adam had to buy an American car and the other two had to buy a foreign. Eric bought a Porsche (not sure what model I'm not a car buff), Tanner bought a Japanese car I can't remember and Adam bought a Pontiac Firebird. The first challenge was to drive to a track, with penalties for breakdowns. Once they were at the track, Stig set lap times with the fastest time winning. They then set up a corridor of junk and the guys had to drive the car through the corridor at 30 MPH with no hands on the wheel. This had some great 80's TV crash references with boxes flying everywhere. They were then given $100 to prepare their car for a trip to the bottom of Death Valley. After the guys wandered around a junk yard looking for ideas there was a commercial break.
Next was a Adam reviewing the new Audi R8, which was then joined by Tanner in the new Aston Martin. Both cars were in the $120K range for comparison. They then argued about the cars in the studio before showing the Stig taking both out for a lap. These were the first two cars on the leaderboard. Adam made fun of the Aston Martin for being the "third best Aston Martin on the market" and Tanner called the Audi boring and German.
And now, the news. There were a few reshoots of this segment so the guys could adlib new takes and I'm sure only a few will make the cut. Adam Corolla is very, very funny. Clarkson is the best at the in car review obviously, but I really enjoyed watching Adam in the studio. There was a planted bit where a girl in the audience was asked a question and I'm pretty sure she was an actress I have seen before on television. She stayed for the whole shoot as an audience member though, so I'll give her props for sticking it out with the rest of us.
After the news they finished off the cheap car challenge. All three guys had made ridiculous "cooling" modifications to their cars in true Top Gear fashion. In fact, I could easily see the same gag being used for their UK counterparts. They then drove to the bottom of Death Valley where they were given one final challenge. This was the highlight of the night. Each car was dropped off a bridge, connected to a massive bungee cord. There would be points deducted for each bit that fell off of the car.
After the film the guys went over the points for each challenge. This was reshot several times. Mostly because none of the guys could do math or remember how many points each challenge was or why they were assigned. There was plenty of opportunity for Adam to adlib some funny lines with each retake so it wasn't too boring. Everyone was dead tired by this point but they had to bring up a shot from the opening of the show (which was like 6 hours ago) and rearrange everyone into the same positions they were in the audience to do a 10 second pickup. Mercifully that was the last shot.
The show looks great, everyone had fun watching the filmed segments, the audience was filled with fans of the original show and I think everyone was impressed with how much they were able to live up to it.
Let's hope it views as good as it reads!
Top Gear throws the GT-R around the test track
The Stig drives it like he stole it and shows it is worth the hype.
The Nissan GT-R has officially run the Top Gear test track with Stig driving and the episode has been filmed to be aired this Sunday. Of course with a show like this it’s hard to keep a lid on the entire studio audience and of course the lap time has leaked. Clarkson also has a go with the GT-R, delimited, on a race track in Japan to give a proper review of Godzilla in all it’s glory.
To see how it ranks, hit up Wikipedia:
Top Gear Test Track
To see how it ranks, hit up Wikipedia:
Top Gear Test Track
Top Gear fans face 21 year waiting list
Don't expect to be an audience member for a longggggg time.
Fans of BBC 2’s hit show Top Gear will have to wait a staggering 21 years for a spot in the audience.
More than 336,000 people have applied to watch Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May film the weekly motoring show – which would create a queue stretching 127 miles.
Some keen motoring fans have even put their new-born children’s names down on the waiting list.
Source: AutoTrader
State-side NBC Top Gear episodes to be online
Your internet will be full throttle thanks to NBC.
It looks like the new "Top Gear" NBC series will be available for download every week once the show kicks off. As an added bonus, a special aftermarket segment worth tuning in for if you have the interweb pipes available. Hopefully the show is a hit; it has a lot to live up to when compared to the original BBC version.
Video: Audi R8 vs Porsche 911 GT3
Two supercars go head to head!
From Top Gear's host, Jeremy Clarkson’s Supercar Showdown DVD, we can enjoy this clilp comparing the Audi R8 to the Porsche 911 GT3. Sabine Schmitz, queen of the Nurburgring, drives the R8 and takes on the Stig in the Porsche. See how they stack up! And yes, I know this was filmed awhile ago.. 
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