[VGR00]

Did anyone else here watch the first Top Gear Australia on SBS last night?

I thought it was a bit weak but then again I also have a huge hate for 4WD, soft roaders or anything that resembles a truck (BMW badge included).

The Maybach review was .... hmmm let me think of a word ........... GAY! The only thing I got out of that was for $1M you get an overated S class with a set of headphones.

My guess on the STIG - John Bowe. His posture looked familiar and I immediatly thought it was John Bowe witout having to think about it.

Hope the next episode is better.

[sevey]

+1 - it's not a patch on the UK version. The reviews were pretty poor and the presenters were trying to crack too many poor jokes.

[Chris.G]

VERY average 1st show and yes they tried too hard in all sections of the show but i think after a few more shows they will be more relaxed. They seemed a bit nervous especially the younger fellow with the beard, he was really trying too hard but as i said, i think after a few more shows we will see what they are going to be like for the rest of the season.

[BMW //MPOWER]

I've already had my whinge about the hack of a Stig over and e46fanatics, driving the 998 Porsche 911 Carrera S with PDK around the track with stability & traction control fully turned on! Poor form! To top it off it got beaten around the track by an Elise! Not an Exige, but an Elise, yes a $60k car! For that to happen the track must be little more than an extended slalom course!

[WOPALX]

Who was the short little bearded guy? What a tosser...

And their track seriously sucked, nothing more than side roads at a small airport & when you consider how many half decent ones we have around the place they could have used.

In all honesty I think I'll watch it once more, if it's the same dribble then I'll watch something else.

[docbeemer]

It's not enough to copy the format and appearance of the show, but the presenters are clearly trying to emulate the personalities of Clarkson and co. and are badly failing in this attempt. The UK guys took around 5 years to perfect the formula using their own personalities- how the hell do the aussies think they can be convincing when hey are so obviously "acting"????

[amberzombie]

i'm glad everyone's agreeing that it was a poor effort. and i'm really sorry for the UK team now because it just MIGHT blow up in their faces if this continues. they're already treating that cartoonist as "captain slow" and that charlie cox guy rants about flappy paddle gearbox and chooses the "most powerful car" like he's JC.

and i'm sorry the Maybach and Porsche sections weren't "reviews". at least the UK guys are giving opinions - however subjective they are. All Cox did was gave us a brief description on how a dual-clutch transmission works. AS IF WE DONT ALREADY KNOW.

and i reckon the test track is really poor. first of all they didn't even show is what the track looks like as a whole so you dont even know which sections test a car in what manner. all we saw was a car going through a slalom like what BMW //MPOWER said above.

the ony glimmer of hope was when they announced the Lambo. i thought a great review was to follow but was disappointed yet again.

and dont even get me started on the chemistry.

Top Gear Australia? More like Fifth Gear to me!

[VGR00]

Maybe Clarkson and co will give them some hands on training when they are in Australia in February to do the Top Gear Live show in Sydney. See below...


http://premier.ticketek.com.au/shows...x?sh=TOPGEAR09

[OZBB]

I also thought they were trying too hard to be like the UK team, which grated on me a bit. There were some genuine fun moments, but overall it did seem like they were trying to force the "we're good mates" banter when it was obvious they really didnt know each other that well.....well at least not yet!!! I think in time they will develop their own characters and the show will improve because of it...but for now they are just not very good clones of the originals.... so far I like Warren the best, he seemed more natural and at ease, the other two were "acting". I also hate the track where they do the lap..... hopefully they'll find another which has more challenging corners.... I noticed they called one of the corners "Clarkson corner" c'mon ..... they can do better than that!!!

but I'll stick with it for now and see how they develop.....

OZBB aka Glenn

[amberzombie]

Originally Posted by OZBB

I noticed they called one of the corners "Clarkson corner" c'mon ..... they can do better than that!!

my thoughts exactly. the reason why the UK version had a Gambon corner was because Michael Gambon nearly flipped the car at that corner (always a very tricky corner).

this Aussie track had more curves and bends than corners. picking up from where i left off, i actually have come to think that the track resembles the new Fifth Gear track than the Top Gear UK one

[BMW //MPOWER]

Originally Posted by amberzombie

my thoughts exactly. the reason why the UK version had a Gambon corner was because Michael Gambon nearly flipped the car at that corner (always a very tricky corner).

this Aussie track had more curves and bends than corners. picking up from where i left off, i actually have come to think that the track resembles the new Fifth Gear track than the Top Gear UK one

I agree the track sucks big time.
Given the performances thus far, with the Elise beating the 911 Carrera S, i can guarantee that the Exige will decimate all of the high end supercars by over a second and the top 2 cars for the track will be (if ever tested) the Ariel Atom & KTM X-Bow. I also wouldn't be surprised to see the Misubishi Lancer Evo's claim some big scalps on the track as well, given it appears to be more suited to the lighter, nimble cars that are more apt at cornering.
(I hope that i am wrong)

[paw55h]

It Sucked

Aussie Top Gear i don't think so more like Actors trying to be UK Top Gear

How can you give someone a Porsche to drive around those fantastic roads in tassie and then they do 60 may as well have given them a barina. I know it's the law I know speed kills I know all that and before anyone gets at me if you didn't put your foot down sometimes you would all drive smart cars


Softroaders who cares

Mayback you would have to be nuts to buy one hence why no one has

It Sucked

[GeriFix]

Originally Posted by paw55h

<snip>
How can you give someone a Porsche to drive around those fantastic roads in tassie and then they do 60 may as well have given them a barina. I know it's the law I know speed kills I know all that and before anyone gets at me if you didn't put your foot down sometimes you would all drive smart cars
<snip>

I think they were wise to not be obviously speeding in the Porsche. This is Australia after all and it's full of humourless left-wing whingers. That segment has already been criticised in one of the newspapers for the car impinging on (but not crossing) double white lines on one of the corners.

As for the rest of the show, I think it shows a little promise. It was the first episode and hopefully the presenters can settle down and the editors can pick up there game in the subsequent weeks.

[VGR00]

Originally Posted by paw55h

How can you give someone a Porsche to drive around those fantastic roads in tassie and then they do 60 may as well have given them a barina. I know it's the law I know speed kills I know all that and before anyone gets at me if you didn't put your foot down sometimes you would all drive smart cars

I think that just comes down to laws. Noticed how car adverts on TV all show the cars going slow on public roads. Fords latest FPV commercial is shot in the middle of nowhere so they can get away with cars (perceived)traveling at speed.

And one more negative comment from me - dont know the name of the presenter but it was one of the older of the two who's dress sence and looks could be described as comming out of an 80's porn flick.

Top Gear Australia sould be just that - "Australia". God bless the Pom's but lets put on a show that picks up on the Top Gear theme but make it uniquly identifiable as Australian.

[amberzombie]

i get how you keep to the road rules when testing the Porsche, but the appeal of the UK version is that they had a proper test track to test all the "desirable" cars - and that's where i think they should have tested the Porsche. rather than on the streets of Tassie. those roads are better suited for a test of say - the new BMW 330d?

[jbttum3]

Sorry to get off topic here with you guys but I'm moving to Australia in December and have been snooping around your forums lately. But I have heard from a few people that its almost impossible to speed over there.........so what is the point of having a fast car if you can't even drive like it was meant to be? Just curious as to how bad it really is. And I really hope the Aussie Top Gear improves as well.......that was the only non-american show I watched while I lived in London. Look forward to getting some tickets to the show in February

[Chris.G]

Originally Posted by jbttum3

Sorry to get off topic here with you guys but I'm moving to Australia in December and have been snooping around your forums lately. But I have heard from a few people that its almost impossible to speed over there.........so what is the point of having a fast car if you can't even drive like it was meant to be? Just curious as to how bad it really is. And I really hope the Aussie Top Gear improves as well.......that was the only non-american show I watched while I lived in London. Look forward to getting some tickets to the show in February

Its not too bad but you really need to learn our roads very well, where our speed cameras are placed etc. You also would need to spot our unmarked police vehicles, thats quite easy after a while. Your best bet of a low risk fangs is at 11pm onwards on a nice stretch of road with no traffic.

[BMW //MPOWER]

Originally Posted by Chris.G

Its not too bad but you really need to learn our roads very well, where our speed cameras are placed etc. You also would need to spot our unmarked police vehicles, thats quite easy after a while. Your best bet of a low risk fangs is at 11pm onwards on a nice stretch of road with no traffic.

They're getting sneakier with the unmarked ones, i saw them using 2 new holden utes the other week, of all things!
Thankfully we don't have the sneaky speed cameras all over the place like the poor folk in melbourne, now that really used to grind my gears.

[1q2w3e4r]

Originally Posted by jbttum3

Sorry to get off topic here with you guys but I'm moving to Australia in December and have been snooping around your forums lately. But I have heard from a few people that its almost impossible to speed over there.........so what is the point of having a fast car if you can't even drive like it was meant to be? Just curious as to how bad it really is. And I really hope the Aussie Top Gear improves as well.......that was the only non-american show I watched while I lived in London. Look forward to getting some tickets to the show in February

We have race tracks and drag strips. So, no problem.

[amberzombie]

Originally Posted by 1q2w3e4r

We have race tracks and drag strips. So, no problem.

i second that. if i had anything remotely close to a "fast car" i'd have track days too

[GeriFix]

Originally Posted by BMW //MPOWER

They're getting sneakier with the unmarked ones, i saw them using 2 new holden utes the other week, of all things!
Thankfully we don't have the sneaky speed cameras all over the place like the poor folk in melbourne, now that really used to grind my gears.

Yeah, Sydney is a doddle compared to Melbourne. Having said that the NSW cops do seem to be using a wider range of vehicles than the usual commodores/falcons/magnas ... I saw a couple of marked Mitsubishi Lancers the other day.

[AndDee]

Originally Posted by GeriFix

I saw a couple of marked Mitsubishi Lancers the other day.

Geez that's pretty poor for a cop car, they wouldn't want to try to chase anyone in one of those!