THE DEFINITIVE Top gear Skoda Yeti thread!

[bahnstormer vrs]

Top Gear is all about family entertainment. It is about boys being boys with their toys, which when you are an adult and can possibly afford them, is much more interesting than pushing around my old dinky toys. We all dream to some extent. That it features cars is almost incidental to the programme. I know it's all about cars, but it isn't, it's about fun. it's a paradox.

Mike

+ 1

We all need to remember Top Gear is an entertainment programme with motoring/cars as its theme. 5th Gear is a Motoring programme .......

I usually laugh at some point during Top Gear; but not 5th Gear.

Waiting with eager anticipation to see tonight's programme.

[Freshacre]

+ 1

Waiting with eager anticipation to see tonight's programme.

Yeah! Me too! To be entertained, and to see the Yeti be in front of millions of viewers.

[FellyMagic]

Clarkson has to go! No matter what you think, he is now killing the show. His boring ar**lick of some obnoxious celeb who is just there to plug their book/film/play, and the heavily scripted rubbish he comes out with.

He is also getting too old to do a lot of the things, and has a severely knackered back (more than one operation has been required on his spine), and has arthritis in his hips. He should stick to doing documentaries now, of which he is surprisingly good at. His St George's Cross medal documentary was excellent viewing

[MartynVRS]

http://www.topgear.com/uk/photos/top-gear-16-episode-1-rehearsals-2011-01-21?imageNo=11

Looks like more than one Skoda in tonight's Top Gear (go back one pic for the Yeti)

[Jim H]

I wonder if they will test the Fabia II vRS at some point. A re-match against a Bini Cooper or Cooper S would be good to see. If they do I hope it's a bit more sensible than 5th Gear did. Their test was really testing the tyres test rather than the car.

I suppose they could have done a head to head test Mini Countryman vs Yeti, which would be nice.

[Llanigraham]

Clarkson has to go! No matter what you think, he is now killing the show. His boring ar**lick of some obnoxious celeb who is just there to plug their book/film/play, and the heavily scripted rubbish he comes out with.

He is also getting too old to do a lot of the things, and has a severely knackered back (more than one operation has been required on his spine), and has arthritis in his hips. He should stick to doing documentaries now, of which he is surprisingly good at. His St George's Cross medal documentary was excellent viewing

Why do you need to use foul language just to describe someone you don't like? To a lot of people he is very good at what he does. If you don't like him try using the OFF button instead of foul mouthing.

[grayson]

Well Clarkson still makes me laugh- out loud !- which is more than a lot of TV does- his politics are a long way right of mine but he is a wordsmith . I don't know if any sad bugger has ever posted any youtube stuff of the William Woollard era but my God it was so dull. Reminds me of the legendary Autocar test of the Ferrarri Daytona in 1972ish -" We found the handbrake disappointing".. I think if I had the keys to a V12 174mph supercar it would not have been the damn handbrake I was building up my hopes about...

Edited 23 January, 2011 by grayson

[Dodgy]

Top Gear since around the year 2003, has been wonderful entertainment for us all - certainly.

BUT, the entertainment is completely at the expense of the crucial facts that real potential car buyers are really interested in.

The original Top Gear gave us these facts and their senses of whether it was exciting or boring to drive.

Clarkson does not think the nation can even be patient enough to listen to a few minutes of facts, so he doesn't give them.

The balance is all the wrong way.

I suggest a program that gives all the facts about the car in a few minute summary, then a few minutes of driving review, then a few minutes of ownership expectations - eg, running costs, feel-good factors etc.

Fifth Gear is better in this regard, but they're all rubbish compared to the old Top Gear!

And I'm only 41.... !!!

People need to know:-

1. petrol or diesel with engine weight and position to help us with an idea of handling

2. normally aspirated or forced induction - and what type eg, turbo or super charged or both

3. weight of car with full tank and one person on board as weighed by the reviewer

4. the space in the boot - by using full sized suitcases and smaller ones to give us a clear idea

5. the full features of the seat options eg, if the seats recline, let's know about it, if they come out, let's see!

6. the full options for the car - if the car has the option of a heated screen/seats etc, tell us!

7. the reliability likeliness based on what parts are used eg, Yeti parts from VAG, therefore reliability should be good

8. drive the car off road, on road - but all roads eg, speed humps, park on Wycombe Hill and try reversing/driving up it...

9. brake test in dry and wet with measured distances (with graphics of what is good relative to the hghway code & other cars)

10. acceleration tests with 50-70 MPH included.

11. NVH test on different roads - with measured noise levels at 30, 60, 80 and 100 MPH (for Autobahns)

12. explain the suspension eg, independent all-round suspension rather than a fixed beam is important to know!

13. type of brakes - disc brakes with ABS latest version all round is crucial

14. crash test results

15. how much servicing, renewable items, insurance etc are going to cost and relative to other competitor cars...

16. how interesting was the car - a sense of occasion?

10 minutes would be a minimum, 15 minutes more acceptable, but 20 minutes would be perfect....with lots of good slow camera shots - we don't want to see the reviewer - just hear a nice voice.

Am I right about this?

No.

That's what the Internet is for, you'll recall it wasn't available to the masses when Chris Goffey was on Top Gear. If I want to know how many drinks holders a car has, I search the Internet. If I want motoring themed entertainment, I watch Top Gear.

[bryanp]

Stupid thing is the Yeti got Top Gear Magazine family car of the year, just show'show much the 3 stooges have to do with the magazine!

http://www.topgear.com/uk/photos/cars-of-the-year?imageNo=4

[CFB]

well i guess we'll all find out exactly what they say in about 45 mins???

personally i don't care what they say, it's not really a road test show like the original top gear was.

now it's just an entertainment show featuring cars.

still watch it religiously though

[wibbler]

Not sure why this has turned into a Clarckson slagging match when he himself has rated the Yeti pretty highly. His review of the Yeti in his Times article is online for all too see. Even the previews for tonights show have him going on about how grist the Yeti is.

Anyhow, can't wait myself. 15 mins to go. Only problem with Too Gear is the sears is always to short!

[yellowyeller]

Coincidentally Top Gear actualy have had a Yeti on its previous program...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b00t3t7s/Top_Gear_Series_15_Episode_3/

Its's actually the Silver (or White) SE or Elegance (black out windows) in the background when May was reversing at 52:50

blimey, blink & you'd miss it... some spot!

[Dodgy]

Hang on, how come so many of you have already decided it's going to be a bad review?

Do you know something the rest of us don't?

[BossFox]

I was wondering the same.

He was mostly positive when he wrote the Times article and was bang on when he said they guessed too low for sales and it'd be hard to get hold of one.

[FellyMagic]

Why do you need to use foul language just to describe someone you don't like? To a lot of people he is very good at what he does. If you don't like him try using the OFF button instead of foul mouthing.

Why do you think his own show got canned? Because he is poor at being a host. He just hasn't got the talent. He is OK at writing things, but the chatshow bit slows the show down too much, as he flounders & flaps, not knowing what to say, and is dull as ditchwater. (He cannot manage without a script/autocue) And on the TG site, the amount of people who have actually said the 'reasonably priced car' bit needs dropping is huge. They could use the gap in the show to actually give us more footage on challenges etc, such as when it really does go 'Pete Tong', and not the faked 'whoopses' they always have.

They have openly admitted that most of the track shots are done with a test driver and not themselves. You don't like the truth that Clarkson has had his day, and ratings of the show are dropping, as more & more people are fed up of the same re-cycled gags over & over again. It is Last Of The Summer Wine with cars...

The show should have been laid to rest when Hammond had his accident.

And Clarkson thinks it is intelligent & witty to act like a 6 year old, and slag off everything that doesn't cost £250k+, even if in his gutter columns in some Murdoch tabloid/broadsheet he raves about it. He is a 2 faced idiot, and having met the man, you can really tell he is basically a spoilt brat who has never grown up. He still thinks he is capable of clowning around like he is still a kid, but his ever increasing health issues clearly says he can't.

Also look at the schedule slot. Jan-Feb are the dead months. Top Gear will be axed soon..It's costing the BBC too much money

[Dodgy]

LOL, get over it, lots of people other than you like Top Gear, and I highly doubt it is about to be axed. It's a massive success, even if you don't happen to be their target demographic

[octaviaconvert]

well clarkson has just declared the yeti the best car in the world....discuss

[Dallan]

Its doing well so far, might be a good idea to take note of the reg for future buyers

[alexandjen]

Some really practical tests and comparisons eh

[ChrisRs]

So far so good....Is there a final blow????

It is Clarkson!!

[BilboBaggins]

Wow- did I make a mistake ordering a Superb?

[bripete]

well clarkson has just declared the yeti the best car in the world....discuss

i think clarkson is a is a load of crap whots tattoing got to with testing a 4x4 wheel drive i think sumtimes top gear is getting out of hand

as for the car i would have it i had the money nice car and as i speak now i waching top gear landing a hellekopter on top of it

whot for say now more

[ChrisRs]

Thats just pleased Skoda UK!!!

[Ray_Green]

Well he likes it then. Outstanding review

[ukcruiser]

... Because Jeremy Clarkson's Broke it!

Surprised about the review tho, a tad silly, but on the whole, he really does like it!

Al.

ps. Maybe make this a Sticky thread?!

Edited 23 January, 2011 by ukcruiser