Top Gear or 5th Gear?

by **martine** » Tue Sep 16, 2008 7:35 pm

Your fav...

by **Oddball** » Tue Sep 16, 2008 7:45 pm

Top gear all the way.

Fifth gear does perhaps give better consumer advice...but in the words of Jeremy Clarkson...

"I don't care!"

by **jbsportstech** » Tue Sep 16, 2008 8:14 pm

The new fifth gear is worse than ever. That Tom Ford is an idiot I didnt enjoy watching to 7-8k worth of damage to the new Ford Kuga only to tell its a great car.

by **ScoobyChris** » Tue Sep 16, 2008 8:17 pm

Fifth Gear would be great if they didn't try to just imitate Top Gear's winning formula and fail miserably and came up with some ideas of their own.

Used car roadshow is often quite good (if you can cope with Penny Mallory!).

Chris

by **Red Herring** » Tue Sep 16, 2008 8:27 pm

I quite like VBH, and Tiff doesn't do to badly, but comparing show to show Top Gear wins every time. Just remember it is just supposed to be entertainment, and nothing more.....

by **spurs-442** » Wed Sep 17, 2008 9:43 am

I've gone for Top Gear as i like the banter on the show and the fact that it is one of the only BBC programs that isn't ridiculously PC and H&S focused. (obviously they have H&S but its not so in your face)

Fifth gear does have its good points though and these can be showing the more "average" car rather that the never ending line of Astons and Ferrari's on Top Gear.

so to sum up - Top Gear is great for the entertainment - who can forget the USA challange and the African epic.

Fifth Gear is great for general driving and road tests.

by **Sean** » Wed Sep 17, 2008 7:05 pm

spurs-442 wrote:I've gone for Top Gear as i like the banter on the show and the fact that it is one of the only BBC programs that isn't ridiculously PC and H&S focused. (obviously they have H&S but its not so in your face)

Fifth gear does have its good points though and these can be showing the more "average" car rather that the never ending line of Astons and Ferrari's on Top Gear.

so to sum up - Top Gear is great for the entertainment - who can forget the USA challange and the African epic.

Fifth Gear is great for general driving and road tests.

Well said. I love Top Gear, but I also enjoy watching Fifth Gear. I think it's like comparing a tabloid and broadsheet newspaper. Top Gear being the tabloid of course.

by **jont** » Wed Sep 17, 2008 8:14 pm

Top Gear used to be a fresh entertainment show, but recent series show the formula is getting rather tired, and Clarkson seems to become ever more a parody of himself. 5th gear at least has a couple of reasonable experienced drivers (Tiff + VBH), although it's a shame neither show has presenters who are openly pro Advanced Driving/further training etc. 5th gears problem is that it's tried to copy the TG format and failed dismally as none of the presenters have sufficient character to pull it off, and they don't come across as a team in the way that TG do.

by **Jasp** » Wed Sep 17, 2008 8:43 pm

I remember the day when car programmes were about cars people could actually afford.

Me, I like the Used Car Roadshow which has practical advice.

by **Mr Cholmondeley-Warner** » Wed Sep 17, 2008 10:08 pm

TG is definitely the better show - 5G shows a lack of budget, too many changes of presenter, too "bitty" format - i.e. no recognisable structure, and the inevitable consequences of trying to copy someone else's formula.

That said TG is showing its age now with ever sillier stunts and less and less about cars.

I like UCR too and I could handle Penny Mallory all day

- it's that Jason bloke with the dodgy quiff and the slimy sales patter that gets on my (o)(o)

by **Jasp** » Wed Sep 17, 2008 10:16 pm

Mr Cholmondeley-Warner wrote:it's that Jason bloke with the dodgy quiff and the slimy sales patter that gets on my (o)(o)

That pen of his does my nut in. I don't know why he insists on writing things on cars all the time. I bet he writes his shopping list on his kitchen windows.

by **Red Herring** » Wed Sep 17, 2008 11:10 pm

5th gear did a bit once on Advanced driving, sort of. They had VBH sit in on a Police Advanced car course then the instructor raced her round a circuit, and lost of course.....

by **Jasp** » Wed Sep 17, 2008 11:14 pm

Red Herring wrote:5th gear did a bit once on Advanced driving, sort of. They had VBH sit in on a Police Advanced car course then the instructor raced her round a circuit, and lost of course.....

I remember that.

VBH vs Police
http://video.google.co.uk/videoplay?doc ... 2wLouM3PAg

by **waremark** » Thu Sep 18, 2008 1:32 am

I would appreciate comments from our police friends on: "At one point you were doing 130, you slowed to 100 for some red lights". If the accompanying shot related to this, there were vehicles aroung the lights.

by **jont** » Thu Sep 18, 2008 7:06 am

Red Herring wrote:5th gear did a bit once on Advanced driving, sort of. They had VBH sit in on a Police Advanced car course then the instructor raced her round a circuit, and lost of course.....

But as others said at the time, it would have been a lot more interesting if they'd run the circuit backwards so VBH didn't have the benefit of knowing exactly where she was going. And there was no spin about the benefits of road driving training, instead rude comments about "hand shuffling" on the wheel.

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