Just finished watching Top Gear America

[Yamazaki]

My take-

It's okay. Definitely better than the first Top Gear Australia or regular Top Gear first episode.
But it needs time to grow and develop it's own "personality". It took 3 seasons for regular Top Gear, Top Gear Australia is still searching, so we'll see how long it takes for Top Gear America to do better.

Again, this is my take.




Oh, and they could lose Adam Ferrara and not miss anything.

[Grafton]

just finished watching it as well, much better than the first episode of tg:uk, i like it and its already got a spot on my tivo :D

[Reason]

I need to get on this, I like the original TG. When is this one on?

[2000gtb]

I thought the only "natural" host that doesnt seem to try so hard is Tanner..

[02_Legacy]

I think it started out slow, the Big Star Small Car segment totally floped, but it made up for it in the Lambo segment. I will definatly keep watching it though.

[Navi271]

I need to get on this, I like the original TG. When is this one on?

sundays 9pm central... so for you that would be... 10ish? I think?

[TGX4776]

meh seen much better.

[rougeben83]

I'll give it a season, all shows need to find their groove during that time. Though TG UK has become very formuliac and predictable in its own right as of the past few seasons so it's not like theyre doing the franchise a serious dishonor (yet). The peak of that series was season 4 and 5; with all the specials deserving to stand alone of course.

[redlegacygt]

compared to some of the other car shows out there, it could have been alot worse. I like how they took some things from the original top gear, but not everything. I think some of the next few episodes will be good based on what all they showed.

[xoSubieLegacyxo]

I've been a fan of the UK top gear, and this one is ok. I mean now I can watch a show that will test american cars instead of bmw's and Aston martins. Maybe if they brought in better hosts I would appeal to it more.

[98outbackpdx]

i thought it was really in poor taste to be "racing" through the cemetery. really boring i thought.

[aekOne]

top gear australia sucks. badly. doubt it's going to get any better either. hopefully yours is more entertaining than ours..

[Yamazaki]

top gear australia sucks. badly. doubt it's going to get any better either. hopefully yours is more entertaining than ours..
It's getting better.....slowly. I don't think Steve Pizzati is that bad. And Shane Jacobson seems to be alright. The other guy has so little personality, I can't even remember his name right now. I'm just glad they finally got rid of Warren. I hated that guy... :smt012

[aekOne]

yeah i guess that's true. kenny was definitely a step in the right direction! i've pretty much stopped watching it now

[StatGSR]

I thought the only "natural" host that doesnt seem to try so hard is Tanner..

lol really? i would say the opposite, i thought he did the worst job of the bunch. Adam did fantastic i think (minus the interview). And i wouldn't say Rutledge was crap either.

[chuckthefuk]

Sweet I know what I am doing after work today.

Streaming Links -> http://www.fastpasstv.com/tv/top-gear-u ... episode-1/ (http://www.fastpasstv.com/tv/top-gear-us-/season-1/episode-1/)

-Chuck

[StatGSR]

^ or you can always go to www.finalgear.com (http://www.finalgear.com) for all your top gear related needs.

[Reason]

^ Or you can go here http://shop.mobileweb.ebay.com/searchre ... r&x=8&y=17 (http://shop.mobileweb.ebay.com/searchresults?cmd=SKW&kw=top+gear&x=8&y=17) for all your top gear porn.

[TGX4776]

this is my favorite. it might come up that this is a reported attar site which it isn't. I watch stuff on here every day and not one virus. a few popups though when you first start the site. just let them load before you click out of them. nice ad free experience for the vids though


http://tvshack.cc/tv/Top_Gear__US_/

[jey]

I like it - I think the "challenges" have a lot of potential!

[xoSubieLegacyxo]

I like it - I think the "challenges" have a lot of potential!
I think they need to do the same challenges as in the UK!

[02_Legacy]

I think they need to do the same challenges as in the UK!
nah they can't do that, that would just be lame and show no origionality, they need to come up with some cool ones on their own.

[Airgne]

Tanner is just a dbag and should die!!

[slaytalera]

eh, it feels forced and rushed, ill give them a season or 2 to find their groove though

[02_Legacy]

I just watched the second episode and my official review:
The first part was sweet to watch but the commentary was a little off, it would have been much better if they used the STI of course :smt023
I will give the Aston Martin segment an OK rating, nothing special there though
The big star in a small car flopped... again
And I have to say the drifting competition was legit, and by far the best part of the show

The think is I am still looking for the part where I can't stop laughing, which happens to me at least once every Top Gear UK episode. The drifting segment was definitely a step towards that though.

[redlegacygt]

i definetly think this episode was more "top gear" then the last. You have to remember this is their first year, budget prob. wasnt anywhere close to what they'd need to do to compare to the UK version... i think if they can keep the formula they used in the drift segment, and bolster the small car segment, they'll catch views quickly.

[Ravenwoodranch]

thought it was pretty awsome

[Huffer]

I watched last nights episode with the Evo through the snowfields (bloody amazing, actually) and the Aston segment and the Blindman drift bit.
Overall, not bad - not as good as the UK version simply because the personalities are too "boxed in" which is normal considering each episode has to cost a fortune and they're all worried about having paychecks. Except Tanner Foust, who seems to be the test driving wunderkid for the USA. Adam Ferrara lent nothing much, except for a few portions and the fact that he couldn't do a burnout in a 370Z is worrisome!
Rutledge was pretty funny, his Aston commentary was legit.

THere was way too much "poser" footage though and not enough co-host banter about the car's high and low-points.

Hopefully the show is around a long time, but they need to feature more US cars on US roads, not salt flats and abandoned airfields.

How about a TSD through downtown Manhattan or a base to summit race through North Carolina in minivans?

[TGX4776]

I watched last nights episode with the Evo through the snowfields (bloody amazing, actually) and the Aston segment and the Blindman drift bit.
Overall, not bad - not as good as the UK version simply because the personalities are too "boxed in" which is normal considering each episode has to cost a fortune and they're all worried about having paychecks. Except Tanner Foust, who seems to be the test driving wunderkid for the USA. Adam Ferrara lent nothing much, except for a few portions and the fact that he couldn't do a burnout in a 370Z is worrisome!
Rutledge was pretty funny, his Aston commentary was legit.

THere was way too much "poser" footage though and not enough co-host banter about the car's high and low-points.

Hopefully the show is around a long time, but they need to feature more US cars on US roads, not salt flats and abandoned airfields.

How about a TSD through downtown Manhattan or a base to summit race through North Carolina in minivans?

this

[ouch1011]

My only complaints so far are that the hosts are boring and have no chemistry, and that Top Gear US doesn't have remotely the same production power as Top Gear UK. Case in point, the ski resort and the roads leading up to it would have been closed down with no traffic on the UK version, whereas it was obviously open to the public in the US version. And that only 1 of the hosts can drive.

[redlegacygt]

I watched last nights episode with the Evo through the snowfields (bloody amazing, actually) and the Aston segment and the Blindman drift bit.
Overall, not bad - not as good as the UK version simply because the personalities are too "boxed in" which is normal considering each episode has to cost a fortune and they're all worried about having paychecks. Except Tanner Foust, who seems to be the test driving wunderkid for the USA. Adam Ferrara lent nothing much, except for a few portions and the fact that he couldn't do a burnout in a 370Z is worrisome!
Rutledge was pretty funny, his Aston commentary was legit.

THere was way too much "poser" footage though and not enough co-host banter about the car's high and low-points.

Hopefully the show is around a long time, but they need to feature more US cars on US roads, not salt flats and abandoned airfields.

How about a TSD through downtown Manhattan or a base to summit race through North Carolina in minivans?

this


my only guess is that its season one and the budget isnt their for that yet. once they get some more backing from history channel if the show does well, im sure we'll see more of that stuff. I'd imagine they're working on a pretty low production budget (since most would go towards cars/insurance) and with the track record of some other car shows in the US, id imagine history was playing the wait and see card. hell their test track is on an abonded runway lol.

[Yamazaki]

hell their test track is on an abonded runway lol.
So is TG:UK's.

[rougeben83]

I have to admit though, the US track is a lot more technical than the UK track.

[TGX4776]

it might seem a lot more complicated but the uk track was specifically designed by lotus to test all of the car from power to chassis.

they didn't mention who designed the US track. just said it was complicated.

[StatGSR]

Case in point, the ski resort and the roads leading up to it would have been closed down with no traffic on the UK version, whereas it was obviously open to the public in the US version.

You really think that road wasn't shut down? I'm almost 100% positive the road was shut down while tanner was drifing around most of those blind corners (using both lanes), just because they showed other cars at times to slow him down (to make if look like it wasn't shut down and was a "real" race) doesn't mean that they didn't shut down the road to get most of those shots. I can't imagine any station in the US promoting being that reckless in live traffic, I don't even think tanner would consider it.. Just like in TGUK, those "races" are ridiculously set up, shot/reshot.


As far as i was concerned, the last one was pretty much up to snuff your standard TGUK episode. Which means it blew pretty much every TGAU episode out of the water.

All they need to do is work on Tanners analogies..... they are horrible.

[TGX4776]

All they need to do is work on Tanners analogies..... they are horrible.


This and more friendly bantering between hosts.

[Huffer]

All they need to do is work on Tanners analogies..... they are horrible.


This and more friendly bantering between hosts.

which will happen over time. Clarkson and Hammond didn't have that love-hate thing going on right from the start either.

I think Ferrara will go, but Foust and Rutledge will stay with TGUS. They could replace Rutledge with one of the hot-rod/muscle car fabricator types from Speed channel and then they could build in a nice "DIY" type segment - the US is a major DIY hotspot, because it's part of the culture. The UK not so much because the weather is crap and land is so expensive.

[TGX4776]

I think there shouls also be some competition between us and uk. try to outdo each other. might be more feasible in the future

[Huffer]

^^ nice idea - diesel hybrid vs. electric hybrid. Give the EPA a kick in the pants!

[02_Legacy]

electric hybrid
What is an electric hybrid?? :smt017 lol
I'm looking foward to the next episode tonight, I hope it is a good one.

[Huffer]

What is an electric hybrid?? :smt017 lol
I'm looking foward to the next episode tonight, I hope it is a good one.

Seriously? Electric hybrid = electric + gasoline
Diesel hybrid = electric + diesel

[02_Legacy]

wouldn't that be a gas hybrid then... all hybrids are electric.
and if it is called an electric hybrid, that is the gayest thing I have ever heard.

[jey]

"Hybrid" is just a bunch of marketing nonsense anyway - GM dropped it from the name altogether in the 2012 LaCrosse - it will have "eAssist".

[02_Legacy]

I just wanted to bump this up to say that tonights Top Gear was the best one so far. I was laughing several times through it, it has definatly come a long way since the first episode. The only problem is there is only one left in this season :cry:
O well the real top gear starts again next week. :smile:

[Bookem]

After watching the last episode the USDM Stig has to be Paul Tracy (I suppose that would be CDM then? lol) body type and driving technique are identical. Given history of Paul and Tanner working together with plenty of rivalry you can tell in Tanner's voice when he is talking about the the stig there is a bit of that same rivalry in his subconscious.

[rougeben83]

last ep was hilarious, the pace at which TGUS is getting better is leaps and bounds ahead of TGUK when they first started the new formula (they really hit their stride in the 4th-5th season IMO).

[xoSubieLegacyxo]

electric hybrid
What is an electric hybrid?? :smt017 lol
I'm looking foward to the next episode tonight, I hope it is a good one.[/quote][/quote]

ok so I just learned this in my Hybrid class in school. There are two types of electric cars. One that only runs on batteries and the "hybird" like the Prius that mainly uses a gas powered engine to move the car, and an electric motor for small distances. The hybrid cars are just a gap between the traditional combustion engine and an all electric powered motor or a fuel cell. So were just weening on hybrids until we go 100% electric. NOT COOL! lol

So back to Top Gear. I just watched the episode (9 I think) where the guys test to see which american truck is best. Finally, a real test that I can watch and actually believe. I mean whose going to have friends who all own Lamborghinis and test them on a flat road going 200+ mph. I would rather see three guys testing the three powerhouse motor companies and answering which truck is more dependable, more efficient, and more bang for your buck!

[02_Legacy]

Finally, a real test that I can watch and actually believe. I mean whose going to have friends who all own Lamborghinis and test them on a flat road going 200+ mph. I would rather see three guys testing the three powerhouse motor companies and answering which truck is more dependable, more efficient, and more bang for your buck!

Apparently you never watched the real top gear cause there is way more over-the-top cars on there then TGUS has had so far. The show is not really to review cars as much to provide entertainment IMO. But despite that the last episode was pure win as far as I'm concerned.

[mike-tracy]

Agreed - but then again challenges are my favorite parts of -real- top gear as well.

[xoSubieLegacyxo]

Apparently you never watched the real top gear cause there is way more over-the-top cars on there then TGUS has had so far. The show is not really to review cars as much to provide entertainment IMO. But despite that the last episode was pure win as far as I'm concerned.
No I love the UK version ,prolly for the accents, but they test European and sometimes Japanese cars. I thought the US top gear would be about the american motor companies losing business and finding cars that are still made in america but have the best power for the cheapest price. I loved the episode with them bringing back a GM car and the newest one with the best american trucks! I just wish the wouldn't try so hard to be funny!