# Top Gear America - Anyone going to watch it? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 9, 2010, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-gear-america-anyone-going-to-watch-it/560090 "2010-11-09T21:18:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2010, 6:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-gear-america-anyone-going-to-watch-it/560090/41 "2010-11-23T06:57:00Z")
> [@lieu](#): > > The chosen Ferrari, Lamborghini and Maserati we’re all dogs and in the end it went to the last horsepower-depleted clunker that could still roll. The guys were hilarious though and added immensely to the appeal of the show. If I remember correctly, Jeremy’s Maserati literally left a trail of parts on the road when it expired. > [@SirRay](#): > > Well, instead of a simple Stig banner they had some sort of projection display, so there’s that (and alas, no ‘Some Say…’ quips either). Some say he still bears a scar from the time a lug nut got cross-threaded on his penis. All we know is… ---
**Author:** ![3waygeek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/3/e95f7d/32.png) [@3waygeek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/3waygeek)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2010, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-gear-america-anyone-going-to-watch-it/560090/42 "2010-11-23T16:01:19Z")
> [@SirRay](#): > > Actually, are those arfields even abandoned? I think they are general aviation fields (or UK equivalent), and they seem to be in good shape (I’m talking about the one they do the time trials on, not the airfield in Georgia the helicopter race took off front). The US TopGear test track is on the grounds of the former [El Toro Marine Corps Air Station](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marine_Corps_Air_Station_El_Toro) in Orange County, CA. As I understand it, El Toro is no longer used for aviation, and is used for a variety of purposes, including racing. ---
**Author:** ![Mollie\_Magill](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mollie_magill/32/20882_2.png) [@Mollie\_Magill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mollie_Magill)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2010, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-gear-america-anyone-going-to-watch-it/560090/43 "2010-11-23T16:26:36Z")
> [@Kiber](#): > > Well - I want to like it. But for me, it’s too close to the UK original (which I love). Everything is copied - from the furniture on the set, to the Stig, to the track at an abandoned airfield, to the magnetic laptimes, etc. . . . . It just confuses my brain, to see so much that is familiar, but then have it mucked up with new hosts. I would have preferred that they try some more original elements, rather than merely copying everything. (I think copying the Stig was the point where I said enough is enough - try something original, please) These elements are what make it Top Gear, though. The laptimes for the various supercars is fun. (like that I don’t have to decipher Clarkson’s chicken-scratch.) I can’t think of any place better to have a test rack than an abandoned airfield. You’ve got miles and miles of black top ready to use. You’ve got to have a test driver for the featured cars. Anonymous is better for this sort of thing, because it wipes out perceived bias. You can’t say that since Driver X drives a Dodge on the tour, he favors that car, if you don’t know who the driver is. I would like it if they were to make The Stig more of a character ala the UK show. Also the the projection of him needs to go. It’s distracting. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2010, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-gear-america-anyone-going-to-watch-it/560090/44 "2010-11-23T16:47:57Z")
I watched it, but didn’t enjoy it as much as the original UK show. I’m not a car nut, so I watch the original show more for the entertainment aspects than anything. Clarkson is amusing as are the stunt stuff, like turning a Reliant Robin into a Space Shuttle or driving across the Kalahari Desert. And the other thing I like about the UK original is that it introduced me to a wide variety of car manufacturers that I’d never heard of in the US, like Koenigsegg or Pagani. (Again, I’m not a car nut, so perhaps these brands are familiar to those who are.) ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2010, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-gear-america-anyone-going-to-watch-it/560090/45 "2010-11-23T17:08:42Z")
After digesting it overnight, I think I liked the show even more than I did while watching it. While actually watching, I kept drawing comparisons to Top Gear UK, and of course it always comes up a little short. But if Top Gear UK had never existed and this show appeared, I would have loved it. Tanner’s hgh-speed 360 in that Viper was very cool. His commentary when he drove it was very entertaining - at Top Gear UK levels, I’d say. And towards the end of the show the hosts had loosened up a lot and were actually starting to click together. You can see some elements of friendly rivalry building that should be entertaining (Tanner telling the one guy he could go first because he had the largest head, the other two needling Tanner over coming in 3rd, etc). By the way, this is a very entertaining video on the new Stig, narrated by Clarkson: [The Stig Farm](http://www.streetfire.net/video/top-gear-the-new-stig_2083382.htm). It also explains how there can be an American Stig. They raise them like cattle. ---
**Author:** ![control-z](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eada6e/32.png) [@control-z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/control-z)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2010, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-gear-america-anyone-going-to-watch-it/560090/46 "2010-11-23T17:20:14Z")
I’ll watch it, I’ve never seen the UK version and have no expectations except for an interesting show about cars. ---
**Author:** ![Morbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morbo/32/389_2.png) [@Morbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morbo)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2010, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-gear-america-anyone-going-to-watch-it/560090/47 "2010-11-23T18:49:52Z")
It was about what I expected. Not great, but I will give it a chance. Still nervous that they won’t have the balls to really rip apart a new car w/o fear of repercussions from the sponsors. The fact that the episode was “brought to you by” Mercedes doesn’t bode well in that department. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2010, 7:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-gear-america-anyone-going-to-watch-it/560090/48 "2010-11-24T07:27:59Z")
I caught the rerun tonight. I question their track design. The UK version has each type of corner pretty isolated; each can be approached on its own and reveals a particular trait of the car. The U.S. version seems to run all the corners together; miss the first and you’re not set up correctly for the next, and the next. I can see that being a good test for skilled drivers (and observers who know what to look for), but it seems a bad design for testing cars and amateur drivers. And I didn’t see a fast corner to test the bravery of their guests. The Lamborghini segment was not good. It seemed like they each prattled on about their cars for five minutes, could have told us the relevant facts much more quickly and then had more comparisons. But maybe that’s a good thing, because the comparison they did sucked. They called it a standing mile, but you time that with a stopwatch. They just each drove and then came back and said what their top speed was. A lighter car might have better acceleration but a lower top end. There are standard benchmarks for this kind of thing, and they threw them out the window. And when the UK version does a drag race, they have the three of them driving at the same time. What’s this one-at-a-time thing? It has potential, but there’s a lot of room for improvement. ---
**Author:** ![Bakhesh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3da27b/32.png) [@Bakhesh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bakhesh)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2010, 11:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-gear-america-anyone-going-to-watch-it/560090/49 "2010-11-24T11:40:56Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > I caught the rerun tonight. > > I question their track design. The UK version has each type of corner pretty isolated; each can be approached on its own and reveals a particular trait of the car. The U.S. version seems to run all the corners together; miss the first and you’re not set up correctly for the next, and the next. I can see that being a good test for skilled drivers (and observers who know what to look for), but it seems a bad design for testing cars and amateur drivers. And I didn’t see a fast corner to test the bravery of their guests. I imagine most US viewers are confused by those strange “reversed left” corners 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2010, 12:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-gear-america-anyone-going-to-watch-it/560090/50 "2010-11-24T12:15:44Z")
I imagine that I’ll eventually catch an episode or two. I won’t make a point of looking for it. ---
**Author:** ![Princhester](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3e96dc/32.png) [@Princhester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Princhester)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2010, 12:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-gear-america-anyone-going-to-watch-it/560090/51 "2010-11-24T12:22:50Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > I’ve been watching old BBC episodes online, I think I’ve just seen them all. It shouldn’t work, but it does.Yeah, although I sometimes wish Clarkson wouldn’t be quite so much of a dick. Him being a dick works because it contrasts with the others. You could have three bland presenters, but then it would be like every other boring thing on TV and that famous “chemistry” wouldn’t be there. > [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > On _Top Gear_, he’s the one makeing sure all the tools get put away, or describing how negative camber affects a car’s contact patch as the screen fades to black. > > Don’t get me wrong, I totally appreciate the technical geekery. If I were in the American version, I’d be the James May equivalent. (Our relative charisma coefficients have never been calculated.) But everybody else in that studio, probably even Top Gear Dog, just wants to hurry up and destroy another camping trailer. Don’t you be so sure. Everyone I know thinks Hammond is likeable but ultimately shallow, Clarkson is a dick and May is superb but they also think they are alone in their opinion (or at least in the minority) and that most people love Clarkson and Hammond and think May is dull and geeky. Work that one out if you will. ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2010, 1:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-gear-america-anyone-going-to-watch-it/560090/52 "2010-11-24T13:20:16Z")
> [@Princhester](#): > > Don’t you be so sure. Everyone I know thinks Hammond is likeable but ultimately shallow, Clarkson is a dick and May is superb but they also think they are alone in their opinion (or at least in the minority) and that most people love Clarkson and Hammond and think May is dull and geeky. Work that one out if you will. Clarkson being a dick and Clarkson playing the role of the dick are two very different things. It helps if you view Top Gear as a comedy: Hammond and May are the straight men for Clarkson and May is the straight man for Hammond. Both have progressed to other things as well, May rather better than Hammond. But Clarkson isn’t a dick, as anyone reading his newspaper columns will attest, and IMHO people love Clarkson playing the dick. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2010, 8:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-gear-america-anyone-going-to-watch-it/560090/53 "2010-11-29T08:29:03Z")
Well, I guess we know what seeing eye dogs think of the new show. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2010, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-gear-america-anyone-going-to-watch-it/560090/54 "2010-11-29T15:01:03Z")
> [@control-z](#): > > I’ll watch it, I’ve never seen the UK version and have no expectations except for an interesting show about cars. [Here](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BSVfgQYnbaA) is an entirely typical car review, for the Ford Fiesta. I think you’ll find it very thorough. Very…very…thorough. ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2011, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-gear-america-anyone-going-to-watch-it/560090/55 "2011-09-14T02:13:42Z")
Giving the first season a shot. The sister to my MIL’s Buick Roadmonster won its challenge, which I coulda told them. Its detuned LT1 still has a hundred horses on my Crown Vic and I’m surprised the old dear doesn’t lay a patch at every light. It’s like a “summer replacement” show, mildly entertaining filler until the new season of the real show starts. And they destroy cars that I have driven and, possibly, contributed to the destruction of. Eighties Vauxhalls and Citroens? Never drove 'em, though their reputation of being pre-destroyed preceded them. ---
**Author:** ![Cyberhwk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7993a0/32.png) [@Cyberhwk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cyberhwk)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2011, 2:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-gear-america-anyone-going-to-watch-it/560090/56 "2011-09-14T02:35:24Z")
It’s alright, Clarkson, Hammond and May they ain’t though. Although I have to admit Adam jumping the Coupe deVille was pretty funny. ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2011, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-gear-america-anyone-going-to-watch-it/560090/57 "2011-09-14T03:01:31Z")
I must admit that the first episode’s race between a Dodge Viper vs a Cobra helicopter over an inhabited city was even more (ETA) GROTESQUELY irresponsible than anything I’ve seen Clarkson, Hammond and May do. It was pretty cool. ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2011, 4:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-gear-america-anyone-going-to-watch-it/560090/58 "2011-09-14T04:03:22Z")
Alaskan pickup challenge: “Oh my god!” “What is it? Is it a bee-ah (bear)?” “No, it’s a Dodge.” These kids have potential. It’s one thing to have Clarkson describe what rubbish our vehicles are. It’s another thing to have it done by someone who has driven them. Preferably for a living. There was this 2WD '75 F150 that could only get past the ice in our lot and to the welding shop in the winter if I loaded the bed to EXACTLY 3000#. More or less it just spun its wheels. Otherwise, I liked that truck. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2011, 7:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-gear-america-anyone-going-to-watch-it/560090/59 "2011-09-14T07:35:42Z")
> [@dropzone](#): > > I must admit that the first episode’s race between a Dodge Viper vs a Cobra helicopter over an inhabited city was even more (ETA) GROTESQUELY irresponsible than anything I’ve seen Clarkson, Hammond and May do. If the original is to be taken at face value, James May suspended a camping trailer (caravan) under a balloon and drifted over a major airport. You don’t get much more irresponsible than that. ETA: although crossing the English Channel in a pickup truck is close. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-gear-america-anyone-going-to-watch-it/560090.md?page=2)