Top Gear UK - ACR versus Vette

[roadrunner]

The Top Gear US episode went pretty well for the ACR... Now it looks like the ACR will get UK coverage from the new team... should be good.

http://www.topgear.com/car-news/top-gear-tv/top-gear-tv-episode-1-all-details-here

[cpinfdp]

Yeah, with it being featured so prominently in the previews/teasers I'm sure it will hold up to their testing. Let's hope these guys aren't blatantly biased towards anything that isn't British or a BMW.

[FLATOUT]

That car came right off the showroom floor at ViperExchange.

[TrackAire]

That car came right off the showroom floor at ViperExchange.

Please tell me the alignment settings were double checked and the rear castor is spot on, lol. God knows there is a good chance the Vette will be an old wrecked unit from the Ring with alignment settings set for "death at apex"........

SRT has already been there once during the MotorTrend test.....we don't need that again.

[Fatboy 18]

Ey? Whats this about an ACR on the Top Gear track? Dunsfold is only 1/2hrs drive from my home.

Any more details if I could get to see hat's happening down there? Not seeing any trailers featuring the new series here?

[sonicbloo]

Ey? Whats this about an ACR on the Top Gear track? Dunsfold is only 1/2hrs drive from my home.

Any more details if I could get to see hat's happening down there? Not seeing any trailers featuring the new series here?

I read that the Viper was tested in Nevada, this was at least 3 months ago

There was a 16 page supplement in one of the UK papers last week, various 'fast' cars have been tested for the series, and their performance figures were quoted as being 205mph for the C7 Z06 corvette, 177mph for the ACR..........doesn't ring true to me!

trailer here


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rur6a9QKmi4

[Fatboy 18]

Update, Update......
So lucky Baz somehow managed to get himself a show ticket for Yesterday and Happened to find the Viper Exchange ACR on set!
According to Baz, Evans was all over the car praising it, it was also put around the Track and the conditions were perfect Dry and Sunny.

Show is going out this Sunday in the UK. Baz also managed to get himself behind the car while they talk about the track time! So watch out for a Viper exchange T shirt!

[TA Two Oh]

Damn! That's fantastic news about the ACR test and I'm really happy for your friend that got a ticket! In the past, Top Gear tended to "not exactly follow convention" so hopefully you're correct, and they heap much deserved praise on the car, instead of saying that it rides rough and the AC doesn't work like so many other journalists have done. From what I recall, Clarkson really liked the Gen IV ACR.

I'm really looking forward to seeing the show. They've hired a boatload of talent; it looks like the BBC have pulled out all the stops in trying to make it interesting, informative, and most importantly, funny. And I'm sure The Stig will stay, but I can't help but wonder if they still need him considering the driving talents of some of the presenters. I'd love to see hot laps from all of them... same day...same car... same track. See if he's any faster than Sabine or Chris Harris. And see how big the gap is between The Stig and, say, Chris Evans, Matt LeBlanc and Rory Reid. Could make for a good episode.

Anyway, kudos to Viper Exchange for providing the car. Having an ACR featured in the opening show is a major coup if you ask me. And given the show's popularity, this could really boost the Viper's profile worldwide. Hopefully they'll mention all the track records...beating the 918 and P1 etc. Spanking the Vette in their comparison test would be a nice bonus. It might even give sales a bit of a boost. And if there's any chance of continuing production, either through a redesign, regulatory relaxation or even some sort of "deus ex machina" this show might help a lot! Fingers crossed...

[Jabba954]

My biggest concern is it says Chris Evans (decent amateur driver) is in the ACR, and Sabine Schmitz (badass pro driver) is in the Z06... While the ACR is a really amazing machine, the Z06 is no POS, and the sheer level of skill difference here is immense...

[V1P3R]

Update, Update......
So lucky Baz somehow managed to get himself a show ticket for Yesterday and Happened to find the Viper Exchange ACR on set!
According to Baz, Evans was all over the car praising it, it was also put around the Track and the conditions were perfect Dry and Sunny.

Show is going out this Sunday in the UK. Baz also managed to get himself behind the car while they talk about the track time! So watch out for a Viper exchange T shirt!

Why, that lucky s.o.b.!!! I will be watching!

Looking forward to the both new shows. It's been to long since new episodes.

[Fatboy 18]

It will be interesting to see if European orders start rolling in as a result of the program, hopefully Viper Exchange and Woodhouse will let us know if they see a boost on orders?

[gcrain]

Extremely disappointed that it's not Chris Harris giving the ACR "The full potatoes!"

[str5010]

Is there a law against getting Harris in an ACR-E?! If you watch his other reviews it seems as though he would love the car.

[Fatboy 18]

Ive not seen the new Top Gear yet, but someone takes the car round the Top Gear track UK and spanks it, the time will be shown on Sunday! (they set up all the suspension and everything else needed) ;)

[ACR]

On direct TV what channel and time can I view?

[redrichard]

BBCAH Monday 9Pm eastern time

[ViperSmith]

Is there a law against getting Harris in an ACR-E?! If you watch his other reviews it seems as though he would love the car.

If he didn't drive it, confirms he is nothing more than a poser.

It is literally everything he bitches the GT3 isn't.

If it had a Porsche badge on it he would have fought hand over fist to get behind the wheel of it.

[ACR]

I personally think he's become somewhat of a spokesman/endorser for certain brands and as such will not touch anything proven better else he knows he'll get banned. Lost a lot of credibility in my book

[str5010]

Exactly, whenever I see one of his reviews and hear his criticisms I think - it sounds like your perfectly suited for an ACR.

[gcrain]

I think there is some truth to those criticisms, but as far as the Top Gear show goes I doubt he had any say over who was going to drive the Viper. It sounds like he is very much a bit player at this point unfortunately, I think they did themselves a disservice by handing Chis Evens the top spot but time will tell.

It's been long enough that you think he would have driven one by now, one way or another. He hasn't spent much time in the US recently as far as I can tell, so how hard is it to get your hands on an ACR in Europe?

I do think there is some truth to him playing favorites with certain brands as of late. He is probably at the point in his career where he is feeling some pressure to make hay while he can. Now that he is on Top Gear I am sure that pressure has only increased.

Maybe if Dodge will hurry up and get the ACR to the Ring there will be a little more pressure on the European shows to acknowledge the car.

[nuviper]

Acr did 1:15.1 on their track as the 3rd fastest. The same as the Ariel atom. The 1st is the Huyara's 1:13.8 and the 2nd is the bac mono's 1:14.3.

[Fatboy 18]

Have to say I thought the program was rubbish :( Same old format and stupid set up I wish it had been a decent car review.
Kids will like it but I was looking for something a bit more serious.

[MADMAX]

Very disappointed with that show - I couldn't watch it all.
I was so hoping it would be a serious review of the car and a springboard to stimulate interest but no, the same old rubbish, childish entertainment.
The BBC got it wrong - AGAIN!

[lochnessmonster]

I have been an avid Top Gear fan for years. The chemistry between Jeremy, Richard, and James was something that comes along once in a blue moon. The combination of British wit, adventure in foreign lands, and serious car reviews, was gold. I'll be able to watch the "Hover Van" episode in 10 years from now and still laugh my ass off. The battle between Jeremy and Richard over American cars and Porsches was always entertaining. I haven't bothered to watch the new one. I just wish the three stooges would hurry up, figure out what to call their new show, and get it out there so I can see if they've still got it. For now, I'm stuck with YouTube..... :(

[Fatboy 18]

Heres my thoughts from the UK forum:
Well that was crap!

Wish they would have done a proper car review, not one suited for 5 year olds :mad:

Sticking bloody plastic guns an the roof of a car FFS! What a load of bks. No nice pan all round shots or talking of the interior upgrades from previous models. If that had been a Ferrari or Lambo they would have been doing all the above apart from sticking bloody guns on it.
They could of shown some of the history of the viper from the early gen 1 models to where it is now noting the achievements of the brand and its racing heritage, but no we get toy guns and missiles stuck on the bloody car :mad:

Not much of a mention on the cars in a similar class it had beat. Just a Crap program. Can't believe after all the hype they are trying to keep the same format of the program.

Lets see em stick crap like that on one of those bloody La Ferraris..Or a Mclaren, Exactly, it would not happen! :mad:

[Fatboy 18]

That car came right off the showroom floor at ViperExchange.Sorry Andy but I hope you had words with the BBC over sticking such crap on the car, I would like to think they would have shown a world beating track car in a much better light! Very disappointing show from the BBC in my book :( Car deserved so much more.

[Policy Limits]

I just tracked at Thompson speedway next to both a Z06 and an ACR-E. The snake made the vette seem invisible i person next to each other and that was before they had their ignitions turned on.

Top gear is entertaining. The first time a Gen V was on the show clarkson called the car "subtle." It was a shadow blue pearl snake which is anything but subtle. So I'd watch the show with a grain of salt. Still very cool to see an ACR-E on there

[SharpMan]

Just watched it. I was disappointed as well. Though Top Gear is purely entertainment they have, on occasion, over the years celebrated truly cool cars. The Viper vs Vette segment was flat. Motor Trend's Viper vs Vette compare was at once balanced, entertaining and informative. I came away from it with a better understanding of which car was right for what I was looking for.

That said, adding the rally-x to the celebrity car track is awesome!

[str5010]

Could have been worse. Wish I could have seen the original trio try to explain how an American car managed to set a lap time so much lower than the majority of their precious European exotics. Funny to hear Sabine reference the Vette's handling that way.

Seemed to be even less of a car review than the old TG. No mention of price, options, features, etc. As outrageous as Clarkson was he would still a touch on that stuff often.

[Dfunk]

New top gear? I haven't watched tv in so long I didn't know it was still on the air.

[mblgjr]

Ditch moron Evans; Sub in Chris Harris instead and you might have a show.

Sabine/Harris/Leblanc

[mblgjr]

And the Viper segment was retarded. "The gearbox angle is weird and sometimes I hit 5th when going for 3rd" or whatever his shifting comment was...I almost stopped watching there.

[gcrain]

Ditch moron Evans; Sub in Chris Harris instead and you might have a show.

Sabine/Harris/Leblanc

My thoughts exactly

[ACR]

What does a British show care about an American branded vehicle, one that's being discontinued no less. I didn't expect them to gawk or get into the car much. Though I do agree it was disappointing

[PAVenomRT/10]

Rather disappointed in the show as well. It seemed as though they were denigrating the cars referring to them as "muscle cars" rather than true sports cars. The lone bright spot was the lap time for the Viper beat all other "sports cars" with the exception of the Pagani.
PAVenomRT/10

[7TH_SIGN]

Hammond, Clarkson, and May will never be replaced and the show will never be the same without them.

Clarkson actually has always loved the Viper for its simplicity and rawness. I'm confident had the original hosts got their hands on this Viper the results would be much more positive.

Great job by VE.

[Snakebit10]

I'm surprised it did not beat the lap record of the Huyura (or however you spell it lol). Haven't seen the show and from the sounds of it I don't want to either. I thought it would have been more 5th Gear-ish.

[The Former PFR]

I'm surprised it did not beat the lap record of the Huyura (or however you spell it lol). Haven't seen the show and from the sounds of it I don't want to either. I thought it would have been more 5th Gear-ish.

There is a lot of speculation that the Huayra was running full race slicks for that lap. Pagani claims they were standard Trofeo Rs...I'm not sure I buy in given the stick that car had (I have no doubt that Mr. Pagani could get a set of cheater tires from his buddies at Pirelli). One thing to consider, though, is that from a standing start the Viper is at a significant disadvantage vs. some of the other cars. For instance, I bet the Huracan made up more than a half second just from the start.

[serpent]

I think they could have squeezed out a faster laptime.

Also I turned it off half way through, I cannot get used to that high pitched voice the British guy had. Was never a fan of Matt leblanc, but he's cool. Show needs a different British host. Maybe bring back tiff needell?

[Stealth]

Tiff Needem (sp?) is awesome! I have not watched this yet, but from what little I know, I am not a big fan of Evans.

Chris Harris is great and LeBlanc is fine.

[WestminsterSlim]

The best part of the show far and away was LeBlanc's review of the Nomad. He is clearly much more comfortable out of the studio. While the whole 'paparazzi' bit was a sad rehash, he proved to be quite competent at reviewing and driving. Have high hopes for him growing in to that role.

As far as Evan's goes... Dude was like a chipmunk on cocaine. Yelling, running around in circles, etc. Blech. Really hoping dude doesn't make it past this season.

[Stealth]

Anyone have a link to the first episode?

[Ggrrady]

I doubt they would have posted it, even if it would have. As a TV show, they need to mantain the Hyper Car hype. It scored very well though.

[Nemesis]

Chris Evans called the acre a rusty f¥cling crow bar. Jesus Christ this guy is a schmuck

[gcrain]

More concerning is it appears Chris harris has stopped doing his own videos completely after the legendary 918 vs P1 vs LeFerrari show 6 months ago.

[Arizona Vipers]

Chris Evans called the acre a rusty f¥cling crow bar. Jesus Christ this guy is a schmuck


A crowbar that beats million dollar cars around a track.

[AZTVR]

Chris Evans called the acre a rusty f¥cling crow bar. Jesus Christ this guy is a schmuck

I wonder if he writes his own lines. I read a good article on Jalopnik by one of the writers for the previous version of Top Gear. It sounded like Clarkson was certainly a major input for the scripts.

[Dman]

Just watched it on demand, what a shame. One of the only shows I used to like to catch. The new 'cast' is so flat, Chris just yells at the camera the whole time, poor "Joey" delivers every line like he's reading it for the first time while translating it from another language. So ... awkward and blech.

As for the viper segment, I agree it could be worse. You can't replace Clarkson calling it an Axe Murder while flying around a track. The vette is better looking, the shifter is bad ... talk about making up something negative to say, but fine, what do we expect people. At least they didn't invent a way to make it lose.

Shame about the show though, it came across like the pathetic US version, which embarrassed me as a yank, just some guys trying to be cooler than they are and falling so short. There are far better youtube channels than this show. Only thing redeeming was Sabine, I loved it when she was calling the vette a piece of sh!t and cursing it's handling, etc., she's the only real personality, and talent, on the show, not for the vette bashing (I like the vette actually) but because she can drive and she's got a helluva personality and is free with it.

[Stealth]

Just saw the portion of the episode yesterday relating to the Viper and the Sparrows or whatever those were. It was not as bad as I thought after reading this thread.

The use of the USA Top Gun facility and pilots was a nice touch. I actually did not know that Top Gun was in NV!

However, for car "experts" the Top Gear guys (particularly Evans) were really a bit misinformed. Just because the Viper has a manual transmission and a N/A motor does not mean it is an engine based on 20-year old tech, etc. Further, the interiors of the GTS Laguna cars are beautiful. The Viper motor offers weight, packaging, durability and power advantages over other SC or TT options, and has had input from Lambo, Mercedes and Ferrari. It short, while cave men (and women) like us may purchase and drive Vipers, it does not make the Viper an auto from the Stone Age. It also looked like the Stig left significant time on the track due to lack of familiarity with the Viper. Perhaps these right-hand drive peeps are not used to shifting from the left seat?

I did not understand the three-wheel USA/UK segment--like watching cement dry with a loud, orange-haired toucan yelling. How is Mr. Evans so popular in the UK? Of course, the UK sense of humor (our humour) is different from ours (see, e.g., Benny Hill TV show from the past in the UK).

Very little technical, expert information was provided. Maybe they can let the Stig talk?

The Z06 got even shorter shrift than the Viper--no lap times, etc. Wonder how Ferrari fans feel about Sabine calling the Z suspension a POS "like Ferrari"?

So far, this TG show is actually below the US TG, which is saying something (Tanner Foust is good, but the others... .).

[WestminsterSlim]

It also looked like the Stig left significant time on the track due to lack of familiarity with the Viper. Perhaps these right-hand drive peeps are not used to shifting from the left seat?

I thought this as well. It put up a great time, but it really didn't look like it was being pushed. Couldn't tell if it was actually because he was being gentle or just camera tricks.

[Fatboy 18]

Just realised who Evans reminds me of :smilielol:

17713

[VIPER BAZ UK]

LOL.... Good one Mark...

Have to say I was a little disappointed as well... I was Lucky enough to get a Ticket to the filming .... Chris Evans said it was a great built to do a job Go Fast and Have Fun...

He even bowed down with his hands together saying THANK YOU THANK YOU after the Lap Board time....

Highly edited!!!!!!!

Baz

PS I was the one in the Green Viper Exchange T-Shirt by the rear wing for the Lap board time...

Great car and great time....

As for the rusty crow bar comment ... I think he was just trying to get across that its and old Technology car .. IE no double clutch , Paddles ect ect...

[MalingatorGTS]

Just realised who Evans reminds me of :smilielol:

17713

^^^ THIS^^^^ I tried, really I did! I really tried to watch with an open mind and give it a chance. Evans is like a hyper child on who knows what. Prancing around like a fool in the studio. He can't really be like that so please drop the act for the show and be, something...

I understand the silly part of the guns etc on the cars. Is TG after all. At least they didn't hit giant soccer (footballs) with the cars. That said, the fact Evens out drove Sabine in the ACR shows how it handles for sure. If she couldn't catch him, it's totally the car she was in! Her cursing the Z06 was funny in a way! Keep her 100% but the others,revamp. LeBlanc...Joey...really. he seemed as stiff and fake in studio as a plastic..um..edit..."toy."

[gcrain]

LeBlanc is going to be forced into the straight guy role as long as Evens is leading the show. I think LeBlanc, Harris and Cory could develop excellent chemistry and are a lot funnier than people realize. I like Sabine because talent but I am not sure where a female Stig fits in when you already have a Stig.

[Stealth]

Again, why is Evans so popular/likeable, etc. such that he is the head of the show? PLEASE explain!

Chris Harris is great, and the stocky chick is fine. Joey could even be fine as the non-funny guy. Evans is like a stone in your shoe...

[TrackAire]

Looks like Top Gear host Chris Evans leaves the show......UK members, what's the backstory on this??
http://www.msn.com/en-us/tv/news/chris-evans-leaves-top-gear-after-five-episodes/ar-AAi50uZ?li=BBnb7Kz

[ViperSmith]

Looks like Top Gear host Chris Evans leaves the show......UK members, what's the backstory on this??
http://www.msn.com/en-us/tv/news/chris-evans-leaves-top-gear-after-five-episodes/ar-AAi50uZ?li=BBnb7Kz

No one likes that wanker is the back story

[Fatboy 18]

No one likes that wanker is the back storyYep, he is also due to be interviewed by Police over alleged Sexual allegations from someone who worked with him in the past years!

[gcrain]

I hope Top Gear realizes they don't actually need to hire anybody, just use who they already have.

[Demonic]

Rumors are that Leblanc threatened to quit if Evans didn't leave. Show might have a chance now with Leblanc and Harris.