Have I been driving round for the last 25+ years in the mistaken belief that the hatched area in the middle of the road is there to keep the traffic to it's side of the road? When JC was demonstrating just how quickly the Bently could overtake a caravan, he crossed a hatched area. Should he have?
Chris M
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Broken-line border to hatched area - yes if it is safe to do so.
Solid border to hatched area - Do not pass go, collect 3 points and £60 fine.
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You live and learn.
Chris M
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What cars were on TG tonight?
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"Have I been driving round for the last 25+ years in the mistaken belief that the hatched area in the middle of the road is there to keep the traffic to it's side of the road?"
Oh no, you're aren't one of those who when following at 60mph starts to signal right and slows down to 20mph before violently swerving over at oncoming traffic just before the junction before stopping on the arrow, because they think you must not drive on the hatches of the protected right turn at any price?
They are to separate the flows of traffic in each direction so that right turners aren't so likely to be hit from behind, unfortunatly far too many people seem to want to be!
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I couldn't get my head around the string theory on Ch4, so I watched TG tonight.
What a 99% mindless, childish load of garbage it's turned into!
It really needs to be on at tea-time during the week - it would fit in with the kids programmes perfectly.
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In answer to your question - no.
The hatched area as seen on TG was little wider than a solid double white line - it wasn't protecting anyone turning right!
The A303 is a diabolical road in places where it is a single carriageway and I assume the hatching is there for a good reason.
Chris M
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A Bentley, an F-reg Vauxhall Carlton, a Sharan, a Saab 9-5, a jump-jet Harrier, some Jag concept cars and...errr that was it I think?
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A few weeks back there were loads of articles in the press about JC taking the Bentley onto a beach and getting it stuck and then throwing a strop with the camera crew.
That bit never featured tonight??
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Must admit that I found it entertaining tonight. (Please ignore my last week's post about never watching it again!) There was a bit of variety and I thought that Rob Comedian was good. But (while topping up the wine glass) missed some of the stuff on 2 million cars being recalled - can't have been Japanese can they? Surely they must be French? And if so does it include mine and my wife's cars????!!
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missed some of the stuff on 2 million cars being recalled - can't have been Japanese can they?
Nissans - loads of them. Also previously mentioned here:-
www.honestjohn.co.uk/forum/post/index.htm?t=17248
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Thanks DD - Must be because Nissan is now owned by Renault!!!
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I think that's the issue that everybody is getting hung up over with the new Top Gear - the entertainment factor. TG used to be a practical motoring show, and now it's an entertaining hour of silliness based around cars. If you take it for what it is rather than lamenting the loss of what it was, it's a lot of fun :)
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I honestly cannot bring myself to watch the new Top Gear - I'm worried in case William Woollard and Chris Goffey turn up at my house and put my windows through or something ;-)
Maybe they should have called it something different....
Cheers
Rob
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Maybe they should have called it something different....
Like "Top Gear 2".... Oh, this thread got there first.
As with all good sequels it would have to have a tag line.
"TG2 - this time it's entertaining".
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It was entertaining except at the end where I turned the box off. I guess it is mental popcorn with no pretention to any serious commentary. Mind you, I wouldn't have watched it if the first episode of the relativity series on the other channel last week had been any good.
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The relativity series wound me up. Talk about Ladybird science for numpties, with the same three points repeated over and over and OVER again.
TV doesn\'t really do science any more at all; how I pine for old Horizons of the seventies that made you think.
I preferred \"How\" and \"Magpie\" but then I was under the age of 10 in the 70\'s. Now back to motoring....... ND
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Rob
there is no danger of William and Chris turning up at your place
Woollards Allegro broke down, and Goffeys Solara has failed the MOT.
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BobbyG
No there was no mention of getting the car stuck. However the last scene of the Bentley article was JC sitting on the bonnet, the car up to its door sils in shingle and stones, two very deep ruts where it had been driven on, and JC with a wry smile.
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Am I in a minority when i say that this new bentley is one of the most hideous looking cars around?
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Yes
want to borrow my labrador to get around? supply your own white stick
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Once again it seems to have got slated for no real reason by a few people other than thats what they are used to now.
Personally still really enjoy it. First time i've seen the Bentley moving - looks fantastic. Saw one at the motorshow last year and it is truly gorgeous.
On a side note William Woollard came to look round my parents house in Lymington when it was for sale. This was in 1990 i think. He didnt buy it. But he drove a 1979 Mercedes 450 SEL. Bronze/Gold colour. tatty and old looking. Oh how i chuckled....
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Interesting... I remember a motor trader client saying he'd sold an old Merc to Chris Goffey. I wonder what that says about old Merc's ?
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From my own experience most mercs pre-2000 (or so) were rock solid and reliable.
Judging by the TG results and the press about the Merc E - Class in germany it does seem that they have lost their ability to be reliable....
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I enjoyed it too. Will get to the taped "Theory of Everything" later.
Since I pulled the rug out from under my future IT employment prospects I have been assisting the local lifesaving club of a Friday evening. One of the topics I have taught from a book (having no direct experience) is how to escape from a submerged car. The RLSS (Royal Life Saving Society) insist that you should wait until the car settles on the bottom of the river bed, harbour, canal or wherever, wait for the pressure to equalise by opening a window, exit through the window or open door and then calmly swim to the surface. Hmmmm. Not according to what I saw last night. One would have to be absolutely sure that the water wouldn't wreck the central locking and that the window electrics would still work before committing to that course of action. Now, whatever the book says, I'm all for bailing out as soon as possible.
Anyone out there taken their car for a swim?
Hawkeye
-----------------------------
Stranger in a strange land
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TG was very misleading on this. They seemed to say either wait for the car to bottom out or get out as soon as possible.
You never EVER wait for the car to settle on the bottom. You have no idea if it will settle on its bottom, it may settle on the side and you will never open the doors.
Get those doors open as soon as you can, as soon as it hits the water if possible.
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What was misleading? They firstly tried to open the door on the way down, and they couldnt until the pressure had equalised. Then they tried before it had fully entered the water and it opened.
I think they were saying either a) open when able, or b)wait till it had settled at the bottom if able - if you cant do A) and B) doesnt arrive, then C)= dead.
They proved it would be nigh on impossible to open the door whilst it was sinking.
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This is really annoying - taped it all, and watched it but the recording missed the end bit about why Saabs keep a smug grin on their owners faces - can anyone tell me what the theory was?!
Cheers,
--
Lee
MINI adventure in progress
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The rapid acceleration from 40-70 in ??second?? gear, apparently.
I'd rather have a big diesel that could do the same thing, personally, although the camera showing the speedo needle's movement did make pretty impressive viewing
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Does anyone own a car that can do 70 in second gear without screaming its final revs? What do you drive?
I have a Civic Type-R which will only go to 80 in 3rd, though it does have a 6th gear.
Mattster
Boycott shoddy build and reliability.
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My Golf VR6 did 70 in second, funny ratios, really tall first, then tiny gaps to fifth which was too low (23mph/1000rpm.) Needed a 6th gear for cruising really
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I get the impression that manufacturers have stopped supplying TG with vehicles to test. Hence it now being an occasionally entertaining JC hour, as opposed to a serious motoring programme. I say bring back Driven in its old form, before it was subjected to the 'Yuff' makeover.
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Yeah, I laughed at the 40-70mph acceleration of the Saab, big deal.
I know a few cars that cost less than three grand, look the dogs bits and turn heads, dead cheap to run and insure and can do 50 in 1st, 88 in 2nd and 117 in 3rd!
And that acceleration is what makes Saab drivers smug? Hmm, ok then.
It was a better programme than last week only for dispelling a few myths about certain car manufacturers. The water tank item was very useful to show what to do, I couldn't believe how many people drown in their own cars each year.
And I do think that a lot of car manufacturers will not let TG test its cars. This week TG high point for me was seeing the 'Emperor's new clothes' 5-series go into the seriously uncool section.
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The Saab acceleration looked quite impressive (not the fastest thing in the world, but not bad) but I would imagine it would be quite different on the road: you want to overtake a car on a NSL A road and it's a bit wet. You floor the throttle, the car accelerates, you cross the painted (and rained on) white line and the steering wheel would leap out of your hands! You would certainly back off the throttle, making your acceleration time no better than any other car.
IMHO
Gareth
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I dont think it was the acceleration that gives the smug grin. I think it was the comfy environment, the 'inability to crash it', and the fact it is (nearly) manufactured by a jet manufacturer.
There a lot of Saabs without that turn of speed so i dont think its that.
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i'd be interested in whats car you are referring to above (50 in 1st, 88 in 2nd and 117 in 3rd)?
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Blimey Top Gear this Sunday was a bit boring. Lots of journos racing round a track at high speed in performance cars. I am sure they were having great fun but it was dull viewing. Seems like lazy journalism to me. The Rich Hall bit was good though. And there were some funny comments from Clarkson et al.
Fifth Gear seems to have them beat. They seem more down to earth. I like the regular safety related feature. This weeks on lorries side swiping cars was interesting. I have had two lorries try to side swipe me in 5 years - which was terryfying - seen one near miss, and seen another that was not a near miss. I always wondered how a car could end up being pushed sideways at 50mph by a juggernaut. Fortunately the occupants seemed to come to a safe stop on the hard shoulder.
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Did we see the same program???? I enjoyed the lambo stuff thoroughly and particularly liked the novel way of parking countach parking. I would dig my granny up and strap her to the front of jumbo if I thought it meant I could have a miura of my own :-) The only week of top gear I thought was a bit off form was the first one in the series. I even enjoyed the bmw filled show even though I don't really like beemers much.
Fifth gear was scary. The view Tiff had from inside the truck which showed him looking around and not seeing a 14 foot long, 5 foot high car was really worrying. I always assume trouble when seeing a large truck. I give lhd trucks more room as I have always wondered whether they can see down their right hand side very well. Now I know they can't see much from mid trailer until around 8 feet in front of them. It certainly explains a sudden increase in accidents near slip roads involving lorries. I bet a lot of them are lhd and pull across onto the motorway without seeing a car already on there.
teabelly
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I guess a more value judgement free assessment is that Top Gear was heavily slanted towards testing performance cars on a race track and this does seem to be a feature of the series. I just can't really relate to that, or at least not in such heavy doses. One cream cake is nice. The second is okay. The third comes back up. I know from past threads that a lot of people on this site disagree.
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I've had enough, will be seeking alternative entertainment next week.
Has a Porsche 911 been on every week ?
Going around a track very quickly in supercars has become boring.
Stig playing 'amusing' music has become very boring.
Stand up comic routine with members of audiance 'two tone beard', 'vauxhall driver' has become predictable.
I watched 5th gear tonight. They mentioned things like cost, tax issues, classics, insurance costs. I think I'll be tuning in again next week.
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If anyone is interested TG are supposed to be filming around Millenium Point in Birmingham tomorrow, between 11.30 & 2.30. James May is doing something about Jaguar I think. I am not sure whether they want spectators but they might want the odd extra to jump out of the way of the car in true Sweeny style..... along with some strategically place card board boxes :-)
teabelly
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I was watching this past Sunday?s Top Gear and in the celebrity driver part where that Simon guy drives, when they put his time up on the board they show the times of the other celebrities. There is a ?P. Stewart? on this list, was that Patrick Stewart (a.k.a) ?Jean-Luc Picard???!? If so can someone tell me the date of the episode he drive in. I would LOVE to see that show!
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Yes, it was Jean Luc Picard. Don't know the date of airing though. It was in the last series, if that's any help. Bound to be shown / already has been shown on the satellite channel, UK Horizons. (ch.564 on Sky)
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Seems like there's a new Stig, who isn't Perry or the guy who sometimes stood in for him.
HJ
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There IS a new Stig - the original easy listening lover "died" after failing to stop in time on an aircraft carrier in a 0-750mph shootout with a jet fighter.....
But I'm sure Perry McCarthy is chuckling away to himself somewhere (at the bottom of some deep ocean).
As for the show I think it's great entertainment and also appeals to a far wider audience than the original programme, which really only appealed to car nuts such as myself.
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Thing is, a new Stig renders all the track lap times from this time on at least a BIT incomparable.
Speaking of which, they still always show the Koenigsegg or somesuch at the top of the laptime tower, but I remember the episode where the Radical SR3 did it in 1m 19.something seconds.
Maybe the Radical is too far removed from a 'production' car to bear comparison? But then the Lambos and Pagani Zonda are hardly mainstream are they...
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Maybe it's just my old age but I'm afraid it seems increasingly childish to me..and most of it is irrelevant to me.. I used and still am keen on cars but something I could aspire to. Now I can buy a secondhand Roller but a Lambo?
And it's very amusing to see how long a Nissan pickup will last but.
Now it's not motoring but just gratuitous sex and violence for mindless yobs but with the sex excluded:-)
madf
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Exactly Tunacat - surely the new Stig should take the Suzuki round the track to see how close to the original Stig's time he is.
SWMBO and I were discussing Top Gear last night especially the "Star in a Reasonably Priced Car" thing. We still smell rats that Simon Cowell beat Jodie Kidd's already suspicious time. He was all over the place! That got us thinking. Is JK on tour or recording somewhere, or could he be the new Stig...?
Whatever the outcome, I'm sure JK will be back soon to have another go and what was Clarkson going on about getting Damon Hill on this week at the end of the closing titles?
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Does anyone remember the Top Gear where they race one of the AWD Lambos against a RWD car of some kind and Clarkson talks about how the Lambo is a little slower off the line than the RWD car because of its AWD? What car was that against? And what AWD Lambo was it?
Thanks.
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It was a Lamborghini Murcielago vs a Pagoni Zonda c12s.
Pagani - Italys newest supercar made in Modena.
The reason why the Lambo was slower was that they had to get the car rolling gently before flooring it - to save the clutch from melting.
The Zonda is also considerably lighter - about 400kg! - Which is the reaon why it is quicker.
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