Top gear tonight

[S2central.net]

Anyone else find it funny / interesting / ironic that the car they all raved about on TG tonight had a multivalve 5-pot turbo and 4 wheel drive with 100bhp per corner ?

Volvo's concept team have done a really nice job of taking the concept that audi created in 1980 and brought it bang up to date - so much better than what audi have tried to do recently. The TTRS is the nearest thing but it is too refined and rammed full of gizmos - versus the stripped out raw rampant nature of that Volvo. Fair play to them - shame it will never be built though.

It sounded rather nice too but then it would.

LOL at the apparent lag on the 'coswaru'.

[Nace20]

volvo looks nice and is realy fast

[UrS4boy]

Anyone else find it funny / interesting / ironic that the car they all raved about on TG tonight had a multivalve 5-pot turbo and 4 wheel drive with 100bhp per corner ? .

Is there no way to get a well "sorted" but stock appearing S2 or RS2 on Top Gear in comparison with some of the newer cars? Anybody with connections to BBC? Remember Clarkson once reviewed the S2 (back in the day) and thought it was a great "car", er, I mean "motor". But then again, Clarkson is kind of a big "peach".

[Dan]

^^ lol @ the hair.

The Volvo looked fantastic. It was also interesting how much the two 4wd cars left the Focus off the line.

It would be interesting to get a properly tuned S2 round the Top Gear test track. I don't think it'd embarass itself.

Remember the Focus vs Escort?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YgxieVaT5G4

[S2central.net]

wrt the Focus leaving the line... I think you forget just how utterly useless 2WD is for such antics in the wet.

I was giving someone a lift just last week in the old S2 and pulled away from a wet junction into a gap in the traffic - the guy was audibly wincing that there wasn't enough of a gap - then he went quiet and asked two questions :

1. How quick is this old thing ? and
2. How do you stop the wheels from spinning when you do that ?

[willg54]

I was watching an old episode in Dave when hammond reviewed a 1994 vr6 corrado, he said it was the only mid 90s coupe that you wouldn't mind being seen in...the cheek of it! Must have forgotten about the s2!

[DamianURS4]

I chuckled when JC reeled off the list of everything that Cossie changed on the Scooby - it was just like listening to everything that i have changed on the S4!!! ;-)

[Benjinkan]

I was watching an old episode in Dave when hammond reviewed a 1994 vr6 corrado, he said it was the only mid 90s coupe that you wouldn't mind being seen in...the cheek of it! Must have forgotten about the s2!

To be fair not many people are even aware of the S2, but I did have the same reaction.

Also winced when he started in on the Calibra, as I used to have one

Back on topic though, loved the Volvo... Shame they'll never make it.

[ciaranthemurph]

I was watching an old episode in Dave when hammond reviewed a 1994 vr6 corrado, he said it was the only mid 90s coupe that you wouldn't mind being seen in...the cheek of it! Must have forgotten about the s2!

Don't forget that Clarkson and Hammond don't really know anything about cars though.

[Robatron]

Don't forget that Clarkson and Hammond don't really know anything about cars though.

They do.

It's just how their characters have evolved as they now like to be seen as your average Joe who doesn't know much about cars but loves to hoon around in them. It must be working for them as the viewing figures for Top Gear are outstanding.

Clarkson has been an Auto Journalist for over 25 years and he was very serious & factual when he first started out unlike today. There's no way someone would last this long and do this well in the industry if they knew nothing about cars.

This isn't a rant by the way.

Oh and that X30 PCP needs to be made. It's fantastic!

[ciaranthemurph]

They do.

I disagree, but I'm far to hungover to put together a sensible and formed reason.

[DamianURS4]

I disagree, but I'm far to hungover to put together a sensible and formed reason.


Respect.

[Dan]

I... semi-agree.

Clarkson has a lot of experience as a car journalist, but he and Top Gear have far more to do with entertainment than serious reporting. I love watching Top Gear, but I wouldn't trust its evaluation of a car.

They definitely have a prejudice for/against certain manufacturers. They also seem to believe that a mid-rear supercar is the solution to everything.

I'd agree that a lot of this is catering to their target market: 20 - 45 year old, working-middle class males. I think the show has moved even more towards entertainment-car-porn in recent times.

The general opinions conveyed on the show also lean towards the Daily Mail crowd, which is unusual for BBC programming, but again has to do with target audience and the stace of that demographic (not many of us liberal petrolheads ).

Clarkson did actually say in an interview that what he says on TV and writes in his columns are products of his "public character", which makes me wonder what he's like in person, off air.

Personally I'd trust someone like Tiff Needell more for an evaluation of a car... and he's certainly a better driver. I also think the old Top Gear was more balanced overall.

My $0.02.

[madpugger]

Whilst in Iceland I spoke to the guy who was preparing them for the North Pole trip, he said he has met them many times and that despite looking like a bunch of unknowledgeable 'cars' on Top Gear, they do in fact know quite a bit about them, and the mechanics of them...

The Volvo sounded awesome But WTF wont ford make a 4WD focus, i mean it is bad enough the RS is FWD, but the RS500? Come on!

[Big Lee M]

Best this is as well the Volvo uses the same under pin as the focus an the Volvo is 4wd, so why didn't for do it????