i'll play devils advocate and say there is NO WAY that the u.s. top gear will be half as good as the original. not anytime soon. they have to gel. they have a lot of geling to do. and we have the original so high up with expectations that it's impossible for a new version to do well....

that said. why didn't richard, james and jeremy come to help them start. show them the ropes or something. and why did they choose those three? tanner - he's ok, pretty dry but at least a fair car guy. rutledge is weird, kinda dumb, nerdy, rednecky but not too much of any, just kinda weird. then mr adam, new york, that i guess thinks he's funny? everytime he talks i dread what he may say. none of the three warm up to the camera or each other. it's like three strangers doing something new. adam and rutledge don't seem to have any car knowledge.

i'll give it time but it's not looking good.

 

I haven't liked the selection of cars so far. Either it's really old, outdated Detroit cars that have no relation to today's market and a very weak nostalgic value, if any or very expensive high-ends that are basically just sensationalist pieces.

I think it'd be cool if they did comparisons between like M3, Audi S4 and some AMG car. Basically optimize your first few shows, win people over, not just borning pieces like racing a helicopter in a aston martin or whatever. Honestly, it seems like the hosts produce the show too because they seem to be the only people that care about the content.

For some reason, I watch every week, but I'm losing interest fast.

 

Watch some of the first season of Top Gear UK and tell me that is what it is now. It is going to take a few years but, the sad part is Americans won't give it a couple of years to develop. They want now and have absolutely no patience. The reason they choose the cars that they do is because that is the majority of Americans choose lame cars and have absolutely no style. Give it a try see where it goes if at the of the first season you still hate it, okay dump it. Just give it a chance, it is slowly slowly getting better.

 

I'm sorry dude but if you have no respect for Tanner Foust and call him a "wannabe" drifter because of a little joke he made about our cars than thats pretty sad.

I saw that episode last night, and I laughed at the comment. He's pretty right anyway.

and how does that one comment alone make them not like mini's?

 

I wasn't aware that this is a version of a British show, that being said however I tried watching it ( 2 1/4 episodes) and was so dull and boring I went back to watching reruns of american pickers which is far more interesting.....

 

From the sound of things here, I'm thinking Seasonette...

 

OK maybe I do drive an 05 Cooper S and I am middle aged but, I dont need a snot nosed spoiled little kid like Tanner Foust to remind me of it. And by the way, my wife is not controling. And just for the record, drifting is not racing IMO.

 

Oh please get off the damn drifting bullcrap and make ligitimate arguements.

 

All this drifting talk and snyde remarks about MINI complaints miss the point. I'll attack the show on it's execution on what it's supposed to be. The show is just kind of boring and the pieces they've ran so far just weren't the best choices. do an offroad comparison episode, do a import coupe comparison show, do a full-size luxury comparison show, do a compact car comparison, etc. do I need to see how many cups of soda a buick station wagon can keep from spilling on a rediculous street course, NO. Stupid idea and a waste of programming time. if the show fails i'm not happy, i'm upset. this is a good opportunity to bring car and driver type information to television and the execution has been terrible so far, IMO. the fact that faust has a shortsighted opinion of MINIs doesn't surprise me. it's clearly a car the brits are going to understand and appreciate for what it is. MINIs make up less than 1% of cars sold nationwide in America so one more person who doesn't "get it" doesn't offend or shock me. Just make the show informative, entertaining and good. end rant.

 

Have you seen the original Top Gear? They never have "real comparisons". It was always crazy stunts and silly challenges. That's the whole point of the show.

 

Fair point. I guess that was fun and yes i've seen the original a few times and to be fair I don't HAAATE the US version and i've watched each episode. Just eh... something more technical and less corny... like some have said, gotta give it some time.

 

Yes it is not nearly as good as the original. I believe it will get better, but will always be in the shadow of the brit humor.

The first two episodes were the worst, but then they started adding in stuff with competitions between them and it got better. So if you only saw the first two and gave up, then you might be missing out.

It is an automotive entertainment show, so I take for just that, no more no less. If I can get one really good laugh in from an episode I will keep watching.

Right now I wish they would get the Stig a better fitting suit, awful.

As far as picking on the MINI, well, mine is a piece of junk from the quality standpoint, but I love to drive it and do not care what anyone says. Gave up pride a long time ago since I have to buy running shoes in the women's department because my feet are so small. I'll even buy pink ones if they are on sale.

 

I still think it is awful!. There is no 'life' in the 'hosts' and Rutledge seems to be yelling rather than 'smoothly presenting'. They need to have a single 'master host' like Clarkson is on the Brit version. If you ever watch the Speed Channel show of Battle of the Supercars with Paul Tracy and Tanner Foust, if they incorporated some of this into the show it would be better. On that show, neither of the drivers serves as host and they play off each other and the host better. Rutledge needs to go, he is trying too hard to be a 'southern doofus' and it looks forced. The other guy - the 'comedian' just need to go he serves no purpose at all and is not funny.

 

I don't know...I kinda like mr. new york. What!

 

What makes the UK Top Gear special is their chemistry, which took a few seasons to develop. Everyone loves the show because of the ridiculous arguments the hosts get into over the even more ridiculous challenges they're doing. I'd rather watch that then some informative Car and Driver TV show.

The only thing thats missing from US top gear is the chemistry, but thats because its only about 5 episodes deep. Giving it some time will make it alot better. Thats how the original one was also.

 

Yeah, the chemistry is they hate each other.

 

Yeah the chemistry obviously is the icing on the cake but I think that since most of the cars being shown on the UK version were cars I've rarely if ever seen or learned about, it was more interesting.

I get the fact that the UK version is kooky and crazy so the US should follow suit and the chemistry will have to develop, etc, etc-- but pontiac fieros, buick station wagons, that piece was garbage and a waste of a show. the CRZ/CRX Comparison they did made a lot of sense and was informative. To be constructive, more comparisons like that would pull me in on the chance of learning something and then all they have to do is execute by not being too lame or corny. Entertaining and funny are nice but more of a bonus if the content is there.

Good episode premises:
- Take a classic vehicle like the VW Bug, or VW Van, explore the vehicle with some kooky skit, like trying to pick up girls in the old car and then compare three 2011 vehicles that can be said to be modeled after, or to do the same thing as the classic. ** Maybe VW Van vs. 11 Honda Odyessy, MINI Countryman , and Scion xB.
- Explore the world of custom automaking: Do a piece about custom and reengineered cars. Explore the aftermarket modding world and show how three different cars can be altered and in which ways. ** Tour a Roush Mustang facility, explore the Subaru WRX modding community, and do a piece about kit cars or something like quarter midget racers.
- Compare modern sports cars with their classic forefathers. Yeah this is an obvious premise but sometimes simpler is better imo. ** '11 Mustang GT5.0 with the 91 car, Chevy's new Z28 Camaro vs the original, MINIs now vs. Minis of the past
- Compare the next generation of electric cars. ** Tour the Tesla facility in SoCal, Road test the Nissan Leaf and drive the Chevy Volt.

Just a few off the top of my head and I'm not getting paid for this...

The show doesn't suck but it's not the greatest either. I'm not giving up on the somewhat-quasi-likable-losers just yet...

 

You're right. The American version just sucks all 'round. I didn't even watch it last Sunday night just because it is not entertaining, re: of what that whining Tanner Faust thinks of the Mini. All he does on that or Supercars is whine about how he got cheated.

 

I watch the British and American versions. There's no such thing as too much automotive television.

 

I just don't understand why we need an American version? the cars are so global now, just show us the real TOP GEAR on a major network in HD and in its entirety...

 

I try to watch but just can't take it.

 

I actually liked this week's episode a bit more. The review of the Panamara was pretty cool and the X6M is a fringe product for sure and I like how they exposed the fact that there's a very small market for the car and it's hard to say what the heck the vehicle even is.

trending upward....

 

The only thing that is worth watching is the Stig (US version) driving the cars around the track for a comparison time.

The rest of the US Top Gear is just a rip off of the stunts on the original TG.

Truely dissappointing like none of us had ever watched the original TG. What ARE they thinking?

Put on the All4 MINI already but make it a Rallycar competition vs the Nissan Juke 4WD and Subaru or Audi AWD.

 

I won't even read the whole thread, TOP GEAR USA is the Red Headed Step Child of the TOP GEAR Franchise. Take the information lightly and for complete entertainment purposes only. Their opinions of things should mean about as much to you as current events in Harry Potter.

When Adam Corolla *the true enthusiast* gets "The Best Damn Car Show," up and running, then you will have something good to watch.

 

I thought TG Australia, TG USA, TG... are to just be that, local/country franchises of TG U.K., nothing more, nothing less. Just having the local flavor and car industry to pick on.