Top Gear: Why We Love It - Road Testament - 08/12/10

I wore a team Poliezi shirt to the Top Gear USA pilot, and I thought the show was great! Sucks that it wasn't picked up....

hey jf this is a little off topic but how did u get involved in that film about the 918 spyder it was really cool

I think it is too early to make a call on chemistry. You say TG:A has the magic, but their first couple of episodes were a bit crap, until they found that friendship. I have high hopes for TG:USA. I think it could work. 

Thanks for this episode, I like RT because it is the exact same conversations I have with my friends. I like to hear other peoples takes.

I am a huge fan of TopGear and i beleive that it is the combination of Clarkson, May, and Hammond is what keeps me watching. The bickering and the different views on cars lets people choose the side they want.

For the first time the majority of what you guys discussed didn't come out of your ass.

Non-fiction..!? The show is 100% fabricated & filmed in support of a story . Sorry JF but the only honesty is to the opinions of the hosts & producers.

TopGear made unattainable cars quite reachable for the common man/woman, plus more on the entertainment-side and not like a doco/info/review based show like the others.
  And James May - hurrah for the nerds and geeks.

FIFTH GEAR IS OVER FOR MORE THAN YEAR....come on guys

While listening to the pod cast at work I just had to give my take on the subject. Lately I have also been going back to watch older shows of TopGear on netflixs and this very subject has been on my mind. I don't think Top Gear (the British remake)would work in America for one main reason. Americans have different views on cars in general.  America is all about the aftermarket. This is something I don't think our beloved Trio on Top Gear get and they don't have to since they don't live in the states. They would rather test a car that cost 100,000+ that will do everything for you than buy a mustang and put 20,000 into it to make it just as fast and responsive. 
I think for it to work, a car show in the states, would have to be about Americas love of cars and be hosted by guys that actually do it. i.e. maybe Jay Leno. They need to bottle up the love we have for the american car show, the feel of the drag strip, and the independence which is america. We just do more with less and we love it. We are a nation of grease monkey's and indiviuals. We give respect to the cars that do cost 100,000 , since they are amazing machines but we don't put much stock into the people that actually buy them. For us the heros are the Carol Shelby's and Ed Roth's and I think a car show should take that direction. 

Just my opinion. 
The artist. 
A Kid that grew up on a Gasoline ally.

TopGear Australia was a failure it tried to copy the BBC formula too closely and resulted in a crap copy. We are trying again with a new production house and with two new members. They kept the driver Steve, but replaced the other two "hosts".. time will tell.

i didn't know top gear and fifth gear was shown in america

I was at the taping of the "Top Gear: America" pilot, with Adam Carolla, Tanner Foust and Eric Stromer.  And as much as it was odd at first to see the exact layout of the UK version with these three new guys pasted in... It was, in all honestly, truly brilliant.  The chemistry was much better than anticipated, and everything was perfect for a US transplant. It's sad it was axed in that format.  I think it was truly the closest they could have gotten.  There was the age, experience and humor of the three that worked so well.  You looked up to them without truly knowing them.  These three new guys for the History channel version... They look too young.  They look too... "Small". Too inexperienced. Jeremy, Richard and May have a "size" to them that makes them believable yet they have a humor and idiocy that makes them friendly to a viewer from the outside looking in.

I say Adam Carolla, Tanner Foust and Eric Stromer was it.  And this new version is going to suck.  But, of course, being the Top Gear fanatic I am... I'll watch the hell out of it.

So sad.

i watch top gear cause it shows a guy testing a car like a normal guy would while being extremely entertaining
i watch fld cause its the same thing except shorter and it covers more things

Duhhhh we watch TOP GEAR because of the World Famous STIG

You know JK and Alex... You add Derek D. into your mix, throw in some cars and you would have Top Gear USA. Or at least Sixth Gear, you know one better than Fifth Gear... ;>)

I started watching FLD because it was just like Top Gear. 

Give it a shot, I dare you. Make a 30min movie and see what happens. You can get you movie posted to the PBS. THEN you have American Top Gear. No advertisers to worry about, no ratings to care about, just do what you guys do. 

Cheers. Great show.

you watch fith gear because you like cars and you watch top gear to watch entertainment!!!!!!

Jeff & Alex should be producing Top Gear USA but don't be hating on Americans!

"What makes Top Gear, Top Gear?".  What makes you 2 imbeciles, imbeciles?  I disagree with your observations. Top Gear was much better early on when  the show was actually about cars. Lately, so many of the segments have had very little to do with anything that would be of interest to the automotive enthusiast. It's become slapstick shtick that has become more about the characters than cars.  It is no longer a car show.

Top Gear America will suck. You can't replicate British humor and those proper accents.

good episode guys