The Top Gear Thread - Vol 19

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Sun 4 Dec 2005 21:49
The Top Gear Thread - Vol 19 - David Horn

***** This thread is now closed, please CLICK HERE to go to Volume 20 *****

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Top Gear episode - 4th Dec

Wow - 10/10 for this one. It was all fantastic, especially James May racing the guy on the downhill bike, and Ellen Macarther.

Also liked the whole Italian supercar thing, though think it was a tad irresponsible for Clarkson to drive knowing he had no brakes.
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Sun 4 Dec 2005 21:58
Top Gear - 4th Dec - Stuartli
>>Also liked the whole Italian supercar thing>>

Loved JC's gag about thinking he was going to be involved with another type of hedge...:-)

Ellen Macarther was majestic - why does she put herself through what she does time and time again?
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What\'s for you won\'t pass you by
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Sun 4 Dec 2005 22:15
Top Gear - 4th Dec - mare
Also liked the whole Italian supercar thing, though think it was
a tad irresponsible for Clarkson to drive knowing he had no
brakes.


At least they didn't go along the M4.

Doesn't bear thinking about actually
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Sun 4 Dec 2005 22:27
Top Gear - 4th Dec - Roberson
Also liked the whole Italian supercar thing, though

>>

I thought this episode was great too. I love these mini marathon in cheap-cum-unreliable cars they do. Brilliant.

That engine letting go was the highlight of the episode for me. I don't think that bearing end cap was from his car though, but boy did it let go. From this we learnt that the oil pressure gauge probably was right after all and that it was probably more than just tappet clatter....
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Sun 4 Dec 2005 22:35
Top Gear - 4th Dec - cheddar
I nearly bought a 308 GT4 in the early 80's, I was early 20's though could have had a 74/75 one for under £5k, I researched it well, service costs, belt changes etc, found a lovely metallic blue one, beige leather. I bottled out! It would have sold for around £35k in the late 80's boom triggerd by the 288 GTO / F40 etc.
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Sun 4 Dec 2005 22:37
Top Gear - 4th Dec - Altea Ego
I said to young RF early on that it was big end, and would throw a rod, and it did. He (young RF) was well impressed with my diagnosis.

--
RF - Da DAA. < changes in phone box > Its TOURVAN man
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Sun 4 Dec 2005 22:39
Top Gear - 4th Dec - doug_r1
Did Clarkson drive without brakes? I thought he said he would have no brakes if the engine stopped, was this model a tie-up between Citroen and Maserati? I thought it was a great programme this week, especially the cheap supercars and the rolling road, 80 horsepower in Clarkson's car, I wonder what the 10K engine rebuild really went on.
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Sun 4 Dec 2005 23:26
Top Gear - 4th Dec - BobbyG
Also thought it was very good having the tribute to Richard Burns. Ok, it was maybe only a couple of minutes but that is much greater coverage than anyone else has given to this tragic death.
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Mon 5 Dec 2005 08:04
Top Gear - 4th Dec - Round The Bend
Another excellent programme but suspect that the producers deliberately purchased semi-duff "supercars". After all, it would n't have been so much fun if they had all completed their tasks OK.

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Mon 5 Dec 2005 10:32
Top Gear - 4th Dec - Stuartli
>>but that is much greater coverage than anyone else has given to this tragic death.>>

That's not actually true.

On the day that Richard's death was revealed there was extensive coverage and video runs of his rally driving skills on all the main TV and rolling news channels.
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What\'s for you won\'t pass you by
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Mon 5 Dec 2005 08:56
Top Gear - 4th Dec - Garethj
Did Clarkson drive without brakes? I thought he said he would have no brakes if the engine stopped, was this model
a tie-up between Citroen and Maserati?

Yes, you're right. It's the same as the Citroen SM - if the engine stops so does the pump which controls the steering and brakes. That's why Clarkson glided to a halt and couldn't stop or steer!
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Mon 5 Dec 2005 09:01
Top Gear - 4th Dec - daveyjp
Excellent show, but how do the BBC get around driving on the public highway with vehicles that are unroadworthy? The Maserati had headlights which didn't work (well the bulbs did but the pop up mechanism didn't!)- surely an offence was committed - or were they sorted before the run?
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Mon 5 Dec 2005 10:17
Top Gear - 4th Dec - AngryJonny
Looked to me like the lights on James' Lamborghini didn't work either, at the start, but by the time he was driving in the dark they were. So I guess they had mechanics on hand to deal with that sort of thing.

I can't help thinking they'd have all made it had they not done the racetrack thing and had the fuel restriction.

Staggered that Jeremy's Maserati had only 80bhp though. That's the same as the Suzuki Liana.
----
Life is complex; it has real and imaginary parts.
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Mon 5 Dec 2005 11:50
Top Gear - 4th Dec - Garethj
Staggered that Jeremy's Maserati had only 80bhp though.

Around the track it wouldn't rev more than 4000 would it? Probably wouldn't expect it to make much power at those revs anyway, plus whatever fault (like carb fault etc) which was causing it!

I don't know if they were correcting for rolling road power and engine dyno power either. Due to transmission losses that's around 15% less before you start.

My 10 year old (160,000 miles) car went on a rolling road last year, they made an approximation for transmission losses and the results were:
Advertised power in 1993 - 220bhp
Rolling road power in 2004 - 221bhp

Any power loss is more likely to be caused by faulty components rather than just age. Looks like their 3 cars had plenty of faulty components!
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Mon 5 Dec 2005 10:20
Top Gear - 4th Dec - Dynamic Dave
Excellent show, but how do the BBC get around driving on
the public highway with vehicles that are unroadworthy?


Due to the unique way in which the BBC is funded, they can get away with pretty much anything they want to.
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Mon 5 Dec 2005 11:28
Top Gear - 4th Dec - David Horn
I thought the funniest bit of the programme was the reverse parking when Clarkson moved the other car back 12 inches. James May is never going to live down the fact that he reversed straight into that Peugoet!

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Mon 5 Dec 2005 12:04
Top Gear - 4th Dec - AR-CoolC
James May is never going to live down the fact that he reversed straight into that Peugoet!

Nissan Pimera wasn't it?

Still very funny though, Especially breaking down outside the school at lunch time.
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Mon 5 Dec 2005 23:12
Top Gear - 4th Dec - nickKK
I wonder what it would cost to make all of the supercars roadworthy ?

Don't forget James arrived on the AA truck !!

and broke down a further 4 times all electrical.
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Tue 6 Dec 2005 00:56
Top Gear - 4th Dec - Dynamic Dave
I wonder what it would cost to make all of the supercars roadworthy ?


Well Jezzer's Maserati was alleged to have had £10,000 spent on the engine prior to him buying it for £7,000.

Judging by the way the engine detonated itself all over the road though, it wasn't £10,000 well spent.
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Tue 6 Dec 2005 20:21
Top Gear - 4th Dec - nickKK
maybe it was only £10 that was spent on the Maserati !!
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Sun 11 Dec 2005 20:18
Teeth Whitening - Dynamic Dave

Memo to Top Gear.

Please drop the ever so frequent quip about Hammond having his teeth whitened. It's getting more boring than the Mondeo TDCi comments that used to be posted.
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Mon 12 Dec 2005 17:53
Teeth Whitening - Group B
He ought to buy Clarkson some hair straighteners and tell him to get rid of the stupid perm. :o)
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Sun 11 Dec 2005 21:06
Bugatti - BobbyG
I want a Bugatti. Even just for those rear lights.
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Sun 11 Dec 2005 21:13
Bugatti - cub leader
I want a Bugatti. Even just for those rear lights.

And what a bargain price, a fraction of what it costs to make it
--
Temporarily not a student, where did the time go???
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Mon 12 Dec 2005 00:07
Bugatti - Citroënian {P}
Bobby, are you sure you wouldn't prefer a Mondeo TDCi? (sorry DD, couldn't resist)...

On a more serious point 1'44" ....Mansell still is on another level, really impressive
--Lee .. sorry, the card says Moops.
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Mon 12 Dec 2005 01:01
Bugatti - Dynamic Dave
(sorry DD, couldn't resist)...


::slap::
On a more serious point 1'44" ....Mansell still is on another level, really impressive


And for once the Liana held together for a whole lap. Quite unusual really, as Mansell was renowned for breaking cars during his F1 days.
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Mon 12 Dec 2005 10:04
Bugatti - daveyjp
There was a continuity error on the Mansell Lap - the car changed reg half way round. He started in the '52' reg car, but on one corner it was the '03' reg car!

Loved the Bugatti - emptying a 100 litre tank in 12 minutes sounds just plain wrong as does top gear not being available until 215 mph!!!
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Mon 12 Dec 2005 10:35
Bugatti - Armitage Shanks {p}
Staggered to read that the sump has 40 litres of oil in it - helps with the massive cooling problem I suppose!
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Mon 12 Dec 2005 16:37
Bugatti - Chicken Madras
Spot on daveyjp - I've just watched it again and you're right.

I'm surprised that all the Lianas don't have a "Top Gear" registration so that the eagle-eyed can't spot that they're trying to pull the wool over our eyes. Still, they'd have to respray the 52 reg car's nearside back door first...
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Mon 12 Dec 2005 10:10
Bugatti - No FM2R
>>1'44" ....Mansell still is on another level, really impressive

Impressive ? I dunno about that. Only 2 Seconds faster than a girlie sailor who says she's never driven a car fast before. I don't find that very impressive.

But then I've never been that struck on Mansell as a person, never mind as a driver.

Top Gear, on the other hand, I really enjoy. Its all a little silly, but its about the best light entertainment on the BBC these days.
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Mon 12 Dec 2005 10:20
Bugatti - Group B
Thought Clarkson was a bit irritating how he kept going on about the Veyron being faster than an F1 car. I bet they could easily make an F1 car faster if they changed the spoilers and the gear ratios. Don't US Indy cars do 250mph, and they're still going round corners?

Theres a small article in the latest Evo magazine entitled "Saleen S7 Takes On Veyron" about an optional "performance upgrade" for the Saleen S7. The standard model costs £320000 and has 750bhp, with a top speed of 240mph. For an extra £46500, the power can be boosted to 1000bhp, and is rumoured to have topped 260mph in testing.
So it costs less than half what the Veyron costs, but could be faster.
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Mon 12 Dec 2005 10:44
Bugatti - mss1tw
Only 2 Seconds faster than
a girlie sailor who says she's never driven a car fast
before.


I'd have thought 2 seconds is quite a lead driving a heap like that...?
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Mon 12 Dec 2005 10:54
Bugatti - No FM2R
>>I'd have thought 2 seconds is quite a lead driving a heap like that...?

Between a sailor and a pink fluffy dice professional racing driver ? Doesn't sound like much to me.
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Mon 12 Dec 2005 10:56
Bugatti - Round The Bend
>>I'd have thought 2 seconds is quite a lead driving a
heap like that...? >> Between a sailor and a ...... professional racing driver ? Doesn't sound like much to me.

More to the point, Ellen was only .3 secs slower than Damon Hill!!
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Mon 12 Dec 2005 12:49
Bugatti - helicopter
Calling Ellen McArthur a girlie sailor is a bit like calling Freddie Flintoff a nancy boy rounders player.

Lets have a bit of respect for her achievements.

I'd rather have that 'girlie sailor' beside me than almost anyone else I can think of in any situation requiring courage and sheer blinking minded determination.
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Mon 12 Dec 2005 13:01
Bugatti - cheddar
Agreed 100% Helicopter, well said.
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Mon 12 Dec 2005 13:07
Bugatti - cheddar
The Veyron is just amazing, a great example of doing it for no other reason than it can be done, also I see nothing wrong in half a dozen or so Veyrons emptying their 100 ltr tanks in 12 mins once a week or so because in doing so they will be have such a tiny effect on global Co2, it is mass market automobiles that need to be regulated in environmental terms, not limited production exotica.
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Thu 15 Dec 2005 23:07
Bugatti - J Bonington Jagworth
"emptying their 100 ltr tanks in 12 mins"

Someone should have mentioned that in that time it could have gone 50 miles...

Does anyone agree with Clarkson that it might be the last real supercar? I don't, but I can see why he said it.
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Mon 12 Dec 2005 14:45
Bugatti - quizman
I thought that Mansell was a very good driver, motor racing was much more exciting when he was racing. It shows how poor Damon was, his dad was much quicker, and more charasmatic.

I can't understand how Top Gear film the Bugatti trip, they keep showing him flying past, and if Jeremy has time for a coffee you would think he has time for a "comfort break".

When I was last in France they were getting quite keen on speeding, so when Jeremy puts the spoiler down to get top speed of 250 mph, does this mean that les flics just do not see him.

It was nice of Jeremy to mention Algy and Ginger, I used to love Biggles books, real escapism, a bit like Top Gear!
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Mon 12 Dec 2005 14:51
Bugatti - David Horn
I like the way it takes the length of 3 football pitches to stop from full speed.
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Mon 12 Dec 2005 16:52
Bugatti - cheddar
I like the way it takes the length of 3 football
pitches to stop from full speed.



I thought they said five pitches, still not bad from 250mph.
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Mon 12 Dec 2005 19:01
Bugatti - Dynamic Dave

auto.howstuffworks.com/bugatti.htm
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Mon 12 Dec 2005 18:41
Bugatti - Big Bad Dave
"Only 2 Seconds faster than a girlie sailor"

I don?t get Beeb 2, are we talking about star in a reasonably priced car here? Because I saw the Ian Right one yesterday on satellite, he had no style, no skill, no idea at all what he was doing in fact yet he blitzed everyone on the board by just keeping the throttle buried and taking every corner on two wheels. None of this "hitting the apex" and "carrying speed through" malarkey. Well entertaining.
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Mon 12 Dec 2005 10:13
TG - 911 - Round The Bend
Good show again, but am hoping we'll get through the next one without a 911 in sight!

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Thu 15 Dec 2005 19:36
New Stig? - BobbyG
When did The Stig change from Perry to Ben? Does it coincide with the recent run of very fast times?
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Thu 15 Dec 2005 19:44
New Stig? - Dynamic Dave
When did The Stig change from Perry to Ben?


Wasn't it when the first Stig lauched himself off the flight deck of a ship in the white Jag and they pretended he'd died?
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Fri 16 Dec 2005 08:44
New Stig? - Altea Ego
There have been three stigs........
------------------------------
TourVanMan TM < Ex RF >
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Fri 16 Dec 2005 10:15
New Stig? - Dynamic Dave
There have been three stigs........


There has? Who de third one den.
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Thu 15 Dec 2005 22:01
Big C in trouble - Altea Ego
Jeremy Clarkson in ?n***? jibe row

German groups have hit out at Top Gear?s Jeremy Clarkson after giving a n*** salute on the programme a few weeks ago. A business forum set up to promote Anglo-German business relations has made a formal complaint to the BBC about this and other jibes made by the presenter.

Clarkson gave the salute on the programme in reference to the fact that the Oxford-built Mini was in fact owned by Germany's BMW, while suggesting that the "quintessentially German car" would have indicators that worked like a Hitler salute, a satellite navigation system that "only went to Poland", and a fan-belt that lasted 1,000 years, like the thwarted dreams of the Third Reich.

Source MSN news and features.
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TourVanMan TM < Ex RF >
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Thu 15 Dec 2005 22:08
Big C in trouble - barchettaman
Whilst the salute is unfunny under any circumstances, I´m pretty sure that my German friends would find the rest of that funny.
Not all Germans are humourless automotons, the new generation are a right laugh. I´ve still got the hangover from Tuesday to prove it.
I *think* it´s a criminal offence to make the salute in Germany now. There was a guy a couple of years ago out here who got fined for training his black labrador to raise its paw on the command Heil Hitler.

Not very motorish this contribution, sorry Hugo.
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Thu 15 Dec 2005 22:17
Big C in trouble - Altea Ego
There was a guy a couple of years ago out here who got fined for training his black labrador to raise its paw on the command Heil Hitler.


Now that IS funny!!!!!

time to get the clicker out to train Fifi i think
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TourVanMan TM < Ex RF >
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Thu 15 Dec 2005 22:17
Big C in trouble - David Horn
'Twas in my parent's Daily Mail today too. I found it pretty funny to be honest, but there are a lot of people who's business it is to get offended at things.

Even the BBC's giant head was pulled from TV.
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Thu 15 Dec 2005 22:50
Big C in trouble - barchettaman
Full stary, with pictures of the unfortunate canine.

news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/3194360.stm

Give my love to Fifi.
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Tue 27 Dec 2005 19:58
Top Gear on tonight - Pugugly {P}
8.00pm BBC 2. Dunno if it is a repeat difficult to say from the the Digibox blurb.
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Tue 27 Dec 2005 20:01
Top Gear on tonight - mss1tw
Cheers for that, just in time too.
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Wed 28 Dec 2005 01:24
Top Gear on tonight - Dynamic Dave
8.00pm BBC 2. Dunno if it is a repeat....


It wasn't. Last in the series until the spring. The only entertaining bit I can remember was the TG awards.

Repeated Sunday night (new yrs day) @ 7pm.
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Wed 28 Dec 2005 09:30
Top Gear on tonight - teabelly
I found the bit with the hill climb very entertaining. Mainly because the berk with the peugeot had spent so much money making the car looking like a real performance car he could have bought a proper one for the money he ended up spending. And it got thrashed up the hill by an ancient healey :-) The badge on the engine said 3.2 v6 but he was only claiming 200 bhp. I bet it was only a 1.4.....

The playstation/track comparison was also the exact opposite of when fifth gear did it. They did use golfs and an easy track so the chaps giving it ago got near their times.


teabelly
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Wed 28 Dec 2005 10:18
Top Gear on tonight - daveyjp
And the review of the 1 series was exactly what I thought of it when I considered one, a two seater with four doors (very novel) and very little boot space! Who would pay £31K+ for the 130 shown last night?
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Wed 28 Dec 2005 10:36
Top Gear on tonight - oldgit
And the review of the 1 series was exactly what I
thought of it when I considered one, a two seater with
four doors (very novel) and very little boot space! Who
would pay £31K+ for the 130 shown last night?



Yes, I'm afraid to say that the BMW Series 1 is awful! It is an overpriced, cramped, badly designed two-seater being sold as a hatchback car. There is practically no room around the clutch, brake and accelerator pedals for people with normal sized feet.

Thank goodness I gave up chasing this BMW-badged car when considering my last new car purchase and bought, instead, a new Golf MKV - a far superior car in almost all respects as TG demonstrated last night, although admittedly only higher range models were featured and in TG's usual flippant way i.e. out and out speed and performance
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Wed 28 Dec 2005 11:06
Top Gear on tonight - doug_r1
130bhp from a frogeye sprite? A very tuned one I'd have thought, didn't they come with the original mini engine? or was it a Morris minor? I think it was a 'horses for courses' test, the Pug was too powerful in the wet and didn't get the traction, but the sprite would have been humiliated at the top gear track, with it's gearing set for 95mph.
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Wed 28 Dec 2005 11:06
Top Gear on tonight - sierraman
It will have been weighed down with the sound system,speakers,playstation etc..Sitting in a car playing a PS game of driving a car,the mind boggles.
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Wed 28 Dec 2005 12:13
Top Gear on tonight - Altea Ego
That frogeye made a strange sound. It whined - a lot. It was either a straight cut box or some form of turbo or supercharger.
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TourVanMan TM < Ex RF >
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Wed 28 Dec 2005 15:12
Top Gear on tonight - oldgit
That frogeye made a strange sound. It whined - a lot.
It was either a straight cut box or some form of
turbo or supercharger.
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TourVanMan TM < Ex RF >


Certainly supercharged I would imagine.

Brought back many memories as I owned one frog-eyed Sprite and three other variants during the period 1959-1974 - Oh happy days (or were they?)
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Wed 28 Dec 2005 15:23
Top Gear on tonight - bell boy
where would the jimmy fit though?i reckon it was an "a" series with 40"s and a straight cut box.
Could be wrong mind: (
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