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Old 02-05-2017, 12:43 PM   #141
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If you want strictly car reviews you might be better suited to sticking to Fifth Gear or Car & Driver.

Top Gear/Grand Tour was always going to be an eclectic mix of car reviews and their brand of travel and comedy.
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Old 02-05-2017, 12:56 PM   #142
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You know.... this New New Top Gear could actually be good if they focus on GT's major weakness of not talking about cars enough....

http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-en...-a7563561.html

Harris is awesome. LeBlanc is passable, if wooden. Rory has a ton of passion for cars.

Limited Sabine though. Boo.
That trailer was better than their entire last season. There may be hope for them yet.
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Old 02-05-2017, 02:43 PM   #143
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I've watched the first 8 episodes and now I'm wondering if I misremembered how good the old Top Gear was, or if this new incarnations is really ####. The contrived drama is totally unbelievable and awful. In my opinion, The Grand Tour is almost as bad as the new Top Gear, except TG still has the star in the reasonably priced car
I had never actually seen Top Gear, but figured I'd go all in on Grand Tour. I also got Netflix shortly after it started and saw that lots of old Top Gear was on there. So I've been watching them and they are new to me, so I think I can provide a good assessment. Watching both back to back, Top Gear is much better, on average. I'm not a big fan of star in a reasonably priced car, but the rest of it is really good. So I have to assume Grand Tour didn't take many of the producers from Top Gear, because that seems to be the difference.

The guys are mostly the same, but the situations they are in were just more entertaining in Top Gear. I just watched the Caravan episode last night, and it was just fantastic. Couldn't stop laughing. I wonder if it is a bit of a cultural thing, as I assume the producers are American for Grand Tour. Brits are just a bit zanier, and I think that allows them to come up with some better ideas.

Maybe the next season will be better. We have to assume they are all shot at once, and they don't have 100% idea of how they will turn out until they are finalized. Hopefully they do some navel gazing and fix a few things. The last episode left out one of my biggest complaints, The American. Though he was still in the credits. Really hope they drop him though. The last episode didn't really have a soul, it was just segments that would have been mediocre on Top Gear. It's almost like they were left overs from the rest of the season. Here is hoping next season is better, because the guys still have it. The producers need to figure it out.
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Old 02-05-2017, 05:41 PM   #144
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I had never actually seen Top Gear, but figured I'd go all in on Grand Tour. I also got Netflix shortly after it started and saw that lots of old Top Gear was on there. So I've been watching them and they are new to me, so I think I can provide a good assessment. Watching both back to back, Top Gear is much better, on average. I'm not a big fan of star in a reasonably priced car, but the rest of it is really good. So I have to assume Grand Tour didn't take many of the producers from Top Gear, because that seems to be the difference.

The guys are mostly the same, but the situations they are in were just more entertaining in Top Gear. I just watched the Caravan episode last night, and it was just fantastic. Couldn't stop laughing. I wonder if it is a bit of a cultural thing, as I assume the producers are American for Grand Tour. Brits are just a bit zanier, and I think that allows them to come up with some better ideas.

Maybe the next season will be better. We have to assume they are all shot at once, and they don't have 100% idea of how they will turn out until they are finalized. Hopefully they do some navel gazing and fix a few things. The last episode left out one of my biggest complaints, The American. Though he was still in the credits. Really hope they drop him though. The last episode didn't really have a soul, it was just segments that would have been mediocre on Top Gear. It's almost like they were left overs from the rest of the season. Here is hoping next season is better, because the guys still have it. The producers need to figure it out.
As well, they dont have the same leashes as they had before from the BBC and, while I generally feel that this is a good thing, sometimes not having constraints makes people less creative about how to get around them, which sometimes are the funniest parts.

But again, at its core its a very similar show.

They've dropped the 'Star in a Reasonably Priced Car' thankfully.

But they still have a car running lap times on a track which I'm not sure too many people care about.

Its still their wacky mix of 'Buddy Comedy/Travel Show/Exotic Cars/Ridiculous challenges/etc.'

I think if people are looking to consult these three on genuine consumer advice they might be barking up the wrong tree.
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Old 02-05-2017, 05:48 PM   #145
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The track could have been better, though the Top Gear one wasn't all that great either. I don't really liked the fixed camera angle shots, I'd prefer if they could do more dynamic, longer shots, perhaps with a drone so you could see the car progressing around the track.
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Old 02-06-2017, 12:49 PM   #146
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The track could have been better, though the Top Gear one wasn't all that great either. I don't really liked the fixed camera angle shots, I'd prefer if they could do more dynamic, longer shots, perhaps with a drone so you could see the car progressing around the track.
People in this thread are lamenting their lack of hard-hitting consumer advice.

Who cares how fast any car goes around some random track?

Is a vehicle's lap-time around an old lady's house going to severely alter your purchasing decision?
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Old 02-06-2017, 01:05 PM   #147
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Who cares how fast any car goes around some random track?
Maybe, just possibly the people who watch an automotive show? I know the version of Top Gear that most people think of isn't exactly a trove of practical consumer advice, but it was still about cars at its core.
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Old 02-06-2017, 01:16 PM   #148
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People in this thread are lamenting their lack of hard-hitting consumer advice.

Who cares how fast any car goes around some random track?

Is a vehicle's lap-time around an old lady's house going to severely alter your purchasing decision?
I don't care much about the consumer advice part, mostly because I couldn't afford any car they review, but having a track is fun. Competition is fun. I know they are mostly meaningless, but it makes for decent entertainment when their is competition.
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Old 02-06-2017, 01:20 PM   #149
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Yeah, I mean, who wants to know how fast a hyper car is compared to another hyper car. I'd rather see which one is more comfortable for a fat old brit to get in and out of. That's where the entertainment is.
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Old 02-06-2017, 01:20 PM   #150
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I don't care much about the consumer advice part, mostly because I couldn't afford any car they review, but having a track is fun. Competition is fun. I know they are mostly meaningless, but it makes for decent entertainment when their is competition.
I hate you and know why and I think you did it on purpose.

I dont disagree, I understand that its nice to be able to compare various vehicles on the same track so there is a baseline, but those vehicles werent designed for some random track in the middle of a field somewhere.

I get that there is a lot of interest in Track Days recently, but most tracks arent that small and a lot of the interest involves competition with other cars at the same time.
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Old 02-08-2017, 03:10 AM   #151
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Maybe that's because of your pathological hatred for Clarkson?
As someone owns several of his books and read his newspaper column every Sunday in the 2000s, I'm not sure where you are getting that idea...

But I am slowly developing a pathological hatred for this show. It's all focused on lowest-brow entertainment and it isn't allowing the journalistic/documentary side of these hosts to come through. These guys are amazing writers and journalists in their own rights (books, radio, newspapers, magazines, documentaries, and tons of other shows and series they do on the side). Grand Tour is like Amazon threw a ton of cash at Andy Wilman and he's turned into George Lucas without the oversight of the BBC to keep the show on track.

From the segments where Clarkson jokes that they are getting dangerously close to giving out consumer advice - I wonder if there's some legal reason they can't do that.

Grand Tour competitions are about which host is best by being the biggest ***hole to the other hosts. Top Gear competitions still had that but they did focus on the actual details of the cars themselves and how they were a core focus of the competitions. It's the difference between a show of rich spoiled brats playing with toys and a show of journalists having a good time while also presenting something that consumers and viewers can relate to.

Example of old Top Gear segment that was actually a competition between cars and their features/abilities not some perceived slight exaggerated for entertainment values ("Hammond's car looks like giant dong" type thing).

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Old 02-08-2017, 08:03 AM   #152
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From the segments where Clarkson jokes that they are getting dangerously close to giving out consumer advice - I wonder if there's some legal reason they can't do that.
You may be onto something here. Top Gear was considered a "factual" show whereas GT is definitely more of an "entertainment" show - to it's detriment.

Hopefully the non-compete expires in 1 year only....
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Old 02-08-2017, 09:36 AM   #153
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I think by the end of the series the show had sort of righted itself. I enjoyed all the episodes but once they started the Africa trip (even with all the staging) some of the old started to come out. The genuine spontaneous disagreement and fun started to come through a bit more. It felt like a typical debut season for a show...starting off with huge promises and being over the top to finally starting to settle in to what it could become.

I also wonder if a lot of what was missing is because the car companies themselves were dealing with an unknown quantity and weren't as liberal with what they allowed the show to do and say about the cars. They ran into that every now and again on Top Gear. Perhaps with the Top Gear vs Grand Tour thing the manufacturers had there initial money on the tried and true Top Gear. Given the spectacular failure that was doe that shift the competition moving forward? Because no matter how you think Grand Tour could be better and it could I don't think it was near the disaster of the new Top Gear which I found unwatchable. And in fact didn't watch beyond the first two episodes.

I'm excited to see where season 2 goes to be honest.

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Old 02-08-2017, 10:00 AM   #154
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I find this show to be on par with the last few seasons of Top Gear with Clarkson and co. Very enjoyable but not at the level that Top Gear was in series 8-15ish.

The trailer for the new season of Top Gear makes it look like it'll be Chris Harris, Matt Leblanc and Rory Reid. Could be good.
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Old 02-11-2017, 09:48 AM   #155
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I do have to say, I have been re-watching the Top Gear specials with my daughter and the Grand Tour....it just doesnt have the same feel to it. Like its missing...something.

I cant put my finger on it, but it just may well be that the guys got old.

I dont know.

Take for instance the India special near the end, where the three of them are camping and sitting by the campfire complaining about Top Gear Specials....you just dont get that anymore.
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Old 02-11-2017, 02:16 PM   #156
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I think by the end of the series the show had sort of righted itself. I enjoyed all the episodes but once they started the Africa trip (even with all the staging) some of the old started to come out. The genuine spontaneous disagreement and fun started to come through a bit more. It felt like a typical debut season for a show...starting off with huge promises and being over the top to finally starting to settle in to what it could become.

I also wonder if a lot of what was missing is because the car companies themselves were dealing with an unknown quantity and weren't as liberal with what they allowed the show to do and say about the cars. They ran into that every now and again on Top Gear. Perhaps with the Top Gear vs Grand Tour thing the manufacturers had there initial money on the tried and true Top Gear. Given the spectacular failure that was doe that shift the competition moving forward? Because no matter how you think Grand Tour could be better and it could I don't think it was near the disaster of the new Top Gear which I found unwatchable. And in fact didn't watch beyond the first two episodes.

I'm excited to see where season 2 goes to be honest.
I saw things the same way. The farther along the season got the better the shows. In some ways it is better than old Top Gear. I think a lot of it is they had to start from scratch and had to find themselves again. I think it will keep getting better and more relaxed as they get more confortable not being Top Gear. I loved it!
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Old 02-26-2017, 12:19 PM   #157
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New Top Gear trailer was released a few days ago:

http://www.topgear.com/car-news/top-...er-top-gear-tv

I'm rather optimistic that this could be good. Those three guys were the best parts of new Top Gear. Let them all show their unique personalities and love for cars and all will be well. Do not force them into the molds that Clarkson, Hammond, and May where like all TG spinoffs tried to do (and failed)
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Old 06-10-2017, 04:19 PM   #158
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Old 06-10-2017, 10:57 PM   #159
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That guy has had a hard time keeping his wheels on the ground, especially this year!
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Old 06-11-2017, 09:47 AM   #160
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All things considered, looks like Hammond wasn't banged up too badly.

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