Top Gear Race

[jimmy]

For those who know and watch Top Gear, they sometimes embark on a race.

They did on in the latest series across London. It is a 4 way race and a good watch.

It is about 10-15 minutes long, and I have uploaded 2 versions of it to my site, a low res and a medium res version.

Low Resolution - About 22Mb
Medium Resolution - About 90Mb

James[/url]

[weiyun]

Thanks. They are very entertaining. If CF is bling for bikes, then they are on super bling 90% of the time.

[T-Bone]

Can't beat top gear, i've just finished downloading season 9. Couldn't be bothered waiting for it to get to SBS.

[jimmy]

you're only up to season 9? Season 10 is on now in the UK, I have been getting them a day or two after they screen.

Gotta love the Internet for that...

James

[fenn_paddler]

you're only up to season 9? Season 10 is on now in the UK, I have been getting them a day or two after they screen.

Gotta love the Internet for that...

James

Shame on you fellas for promoting such a politically incorrect show!

Might be ok if watched by your average informed cyclist, but TG surely contributes to some of the behaviour we see on australian roads - quite often on a sunday ride, I see a frustrated stig somewhere giving his commodore a bit of stick.

This type of driver has seen the fancy driving on the show (in genuine high performance cars driven by racing drivers on closed race tracks), and now he (having passed a driving test in a FWD hyundai with a cardigan wearing instructor around the back blocks of rosebery) is going to imitate that on a congested aussie road!

Cheers,
Alan

[jimmy]

Is the show Politically Incorrect, yes, it is unashamedly rev head, and they are also climate change sceptics.

Even so, the show is good entertainment, and that is what I enjoy about it. The reason I put this particular race up, is because there is a bike involved (first time I think), and the result is what we would all hope for.

While you can argue that shows like this contribute to rev head behaviour, I think that there are also plenty of other sources that contribute as well.

At the end of the day for me it is Entertainment, but I have also found that it gave me a lot of information about cars in general. While I am not in the market for a car, I do feel that I would be in a better position to decide on what I would buy based on watching their shows.

James

[weiyun]

Talk about bad examples. Try this group...

http://digave.com/videos/

I note that some of their productions are scheduled for the bicycle film festival later this week.

[Toff]

Top Gear is great. Sure they are unashamedly pro car, but so am I when it's an Aston Martin DB9, or a Bugatti Veyron.

I watched this video and was keen for the bike to do well. I won't give away the result, but here are some observations:

- Captain Slow clearly stated that 4wds had no place in cities.
- The ironic comments at the end, were in my mind a concession that cars are not the solution to urban transport.
- Top gear is more about un-attainable toys than pro car lobbying. In fact, they seem to rubbish many more cars than they praise...

[fenn_paddler]

Talk about bad examples. Try this group...

http://digave.com/videos/

I note that some of their productions are scheduled for the bicycle film festival later this week.

The guns and roses courier race is a cracker: http://digave.com/videos/red-web.mpg, and risks setting a bad example to fellow couriers, who will only hurt themselves if they attempt the stunts.

Cheers,
Alan

[jimmy]

who will only hurt themselves if they attempt the stunts.

I know that I often use this excuse when I am running red lights, dodging traffic etc, but I think that it is a bit narrow minded.

You can run a red light, and clean up a pedestrian who you didn't see. While getting hit by a cyclist may not hurt as much as getting hit by a car, I don't think I would like to compare the two.

Further, if you run a red light, and a car stops suddenly, or swerves to avoid you (even if they didn't have to), they can easily hit (or be hit by) another motorist, pedestrian, or cyclist.

A direct collision between a cyclist and a motorist typically only hurts the cyclist, but the motorist may still end up pretty stressed about it.

I know that we always say that we are only putting ourselves at risk, but how you would react is different to how a motorist would react.

James

[fenn_paddler]

<snip> but I have also found that it gave me a lot of information about cars in general. While I am not in the market for a car, I do feel that I would be in a better position to decide on what I would buy based on watching their shows.

James

I reckon taking car buying advice from Clarkson is akin to deciding which bike to buy after reading one of the $12.00 mags here where they review a bunch of $12k bicycles and like one over another because of the (subjective) way it accelerates out of corner and over the bumps on the sunday morning coffee shop ride! Entertaining sure, but not necessarily a reference point when about to hand over that sort of cash for a bike.

Cheers,
Alan

[mikesbytes]

Come on that's a bit stiff, if it wasn't for them I could of made the mistake of buying an MG soft top sport car and then found out later that they don't handle properly over 208kph, only a touch above the NT speed limit.

[T-Bone]

The guns and roses courier race is a cracker: http://digave.com/videos/red-web.mpg, and risks setting a bad example to fellow couriers, who will only hurt themselves if they attempt the stunts.

Cheers,
Alan

I remember being prevented from finishing an assignment in a reasonable amount of time when i found this site once.

Top Gear is all about entertainment. Where else can you watch people playing soccer using cars.... and the Stig wouldn't be seen driving a Commodore!!!!

[Toff]

The Stig, (and indeed all the Top Gear crew) are raving fans of the Vauxhall Monaro, which is just a 2 door Commodore. They drove and rated it last year.