Channel 4's car programme 'Driven' is back in air tonignt at 8.30 with the usual crew of Mike Brewer, Penny Mallory and Jason Plato. This is just in case you were glued to The Backroom and forgot about it.
HJ
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Well, if it's a poorly done top Gear rip off as I thought it was before then I'm not gonna really bother with it. Can't remember exactly so I'll give it a look.
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If I remember rightly they (Driven) have a serious prejudice against Ford and VAG cannot do any wrong. The Driven 100 hardly seems fair either. Deals on Wheels is the way to go but why only four episodes???
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I'm afraid u r wrong Tim, very, very wrong.
Driven is excellent and it has been Top Gear of recent times that has attempted and failed miserably to copy the Driven format.
Watch it and U will be hooked.
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Guy's right. The BPC tried to buy Mike Brewer and couldn't afford him - mainly because he out-negotiated them, which is exactly what you would expect a sharp South London boy to do.
HJ
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Okay, the show's just about over as I write. Lets have some discussion. Was it okay to see Jason drifting the M3 round DERA at Chobham? Was the Beetle v/s A2 v/s MINI One test what you wanted to see? How did you rate it? Driven, or Drivel? ('Drivel' is the joke name James May used to use for it.) Hey, the MINI One got the highest score ever in the Driven 100.
HJ
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Do you have an 'Interest' HJ, in the production of Driven?
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Whoaaaaaa there DRIVEN - what's with the Top Gearesque sideways oversteer shots? Stick to what ur good at and leave the sideways cr*p to Top Gear - oh, sorry, they're no longer here.....
Don't think it fair to pit the Beetle vs A3 & Mini as the Beetle, altho a novelty car, is not built on a mini-chassis. Surely the Lupo/Polo/Arosa were fair game?
I'm gonna enter the compo 4 Video Journo - c u at the Award Ceremony!!!!
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Is it me, or do they seem to fix the scores? Ive heard them say 'marveous, superb, very pratical, what shall we give it?'
'19'
'yep, sounds about fair, 19 it is'
O come on, the A2 in my opinion wiped the floor with the other two, yet it came second, me thinks bit of fiddling.
I too agree with the guy who said they are bias against Ford, can anyone remember when the were doing the puma, and whenever anyone said 'yeah, i like this car', they replied, 'but dont forget its based on the humble/ageing/supermini Fiesta' which coincidentally, was what the were testing coupés based on superminis.
Hmmm, great program though.
Kev
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Kev,
I thought they did really say the A2 a better all round car but the sheer fun/spirit of the Mini won the day. They did at least look at the cars from more everyday aspects than the Top Gear team. No sign of the practical aspect of strapping a baby into the back seat though, now that would have got the A2 on top.
Overall a fair effort.
David
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Interesting the TV spectators preferred the looks of the mini to the others.
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Hmmm, once again DW im going to have to agree with you, on 1 point at least; they did say that, but didn't the mini win by about 5 points? Bit more than a bit of character, and sorry, wheres the character in a brand new bmw anyway?
All 3 cars were german, they have no character, thats the point, people buy Japaneese cars beacuse they are reliable, French because they are querky, and like talking to the AA, Italian cars because they look nice, and also enjoy talking to the AA and german cars because they are bullitproof, not character.
Maybe you should write to Driven and suggest it about putting a baby seat in one.
One could also wonder about the fixing of the crowds........... Its all a conspiracy. Having said all that, i still think Drivens fab.
Kev
P.S another reason the audi should have won, is that it had by far the coolest window wiper ive seen.
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Yes - the windscreen wiper on the A2 did look good! Even better than the wiper setup on late Mercedes models. A work of art!
I would like to drive one before commiting myself, mind.
The action on a RHD car could irritate me. LHD might be completely different.
Rgds
David
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I thoroughly enjoyed Driven tonight. From the matter-of-fact stolencar & keys feature to seeing the awesome B*W M3 being driven sideways had me hooked for 30 mins - boy can that bloke drive! I think the A2 (NOT the A3 as you state, Guy) should have won the contest hands down - I, for one, am not a fan of the MINI.
David
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Yep the BMW M3 power slide was definately a piece of master driving especially with all the woodwork down either side of the track. But don't try it at home folks!
As long as they don't go down the Top Gear road of trying to doughnut everything they test the programme shows promise.
Andrew
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As instructed by this column watched this programme.
Will not buy an M3 as it does not travel in a straight line. Futile shots of a car going sideways. Proved nothing . JC/Tiff Nerdell clone?
Content better than Top Gear as it seemed aimed at other than the elite market
(the majority of motorists). Whilst the motors on show were pristine not so the presenters. What a motely dressed crew. Wardrobe courtesy of Oxfam? Dressed like scruffs and driving relatively new expensive cars a sure pull for Plod and you don't want that do you?
Overall the programme has promise so will try and watch next week.
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The choice of cars for the multi test was a little strange from my point of view. My girlfriend has bought one of them (different spec though) and didn't even consider the other two. Perhaps they need to set out what kind of buyer they are evaluating the car for - i.e. for us (Dinkys) rear seats aren't much concern and don't have any babies - and use that for scoring the tests. If you remember the test of a Caterham - trying to fit rugby players in and turning a jet washer on it and then saying it was small and leaked a bit - you can see the lastest test was an improvement. I don't really see the point of the comparison tests unless they are approached from a certain buyers POV and it is made clear what that is. What I would like to see are tests of different spec versions of one car or at least looking into the options and the effects they have.
The A2 does look great, but in silver only. I've seen a black one and blue one and they looked very odd.
Piers
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