Top Gear America - Honda Civic Hatch is the reasonably priced car!

[das borgen]

Did anyone here catch the premiere of Top Gear America last night?

They had former MLB pitcher for the Rangers and Angels, and current pro race team owner/driver CJ WIlson as their first "star in a reasonably priced car". I can't remember how they title the segment.

They're using a red Civic Hatch as their car! Their track is in Vegas at an old military air base,
SPEEDVEGAS

 

[360glitch]

Nice!

http://www.bbcamerica.com/shows/top-gear-america/full-episodes/season-1/episode-01-made-in-america

About 29 minutes in.

 

[xcoreflyup]

My car!!!!

 

[hatch_dawg]

Impressive!

 

[silverrascal]

I was wondering when someone was going to post something... haha.

In the old UK version, the "reasonably priced car" was usually a joke like the Kia Cee'd. Currently the UK version is "Star is a Reasonably Fast Car" and it's a Toyota GT86 which is better. I wonder how the Civic HB Sport is supposed to be perceived? CJ Wilson mentioned he didn't mind the "softer" suspension and made it easy to cut off the corners. I think a Honda Fit might have been a better, uh, fit for the segment of the show.

 

[BarracksSi]

I was wondering when someone was going to post something... haha.

In the old UK version, the "reasonably priced car" was usually a joke like the Kia Cee'd. Currently the UK version is "Star is a Reasonably Fast Car" and it's a Toyota GT86 which is better. I wonder how the Civic HB Sport is supposed to be perceived? CJ Wilson mentioned he didn't mind the "softer" suspension and made it easy to cut off the corners. I think a Honda Fit might have been a better, uh, fit for the segment of the show.

CJ's reference is actual race cars, so yeah, he'll say that the Civic feels softer.

I wonder if they're trying to stay on the good side of manufacturers. The Cee'd (and Lisetti [sp?] and others) were laughably average, and they were not chosen as a compliment to their manufacturers.

Other wishes:
- The track is too complicated for good TV. The original TG track is simple -- two boxes, eight corners, and good sight lines for shooting video. They fabricated a gem of a test course on that runway. This Vegas track has nothing where they can say, "Let's see how much understeer it does here," or, "Will he lift for the follow-through?" The commentary, or LACK of commentary, during CJ's and Stig's runs illustrates how much the track sucks.

- I wish they could've arranged to have more cars and more celebrities set a range of times. TGUK made a point to have a half-dozen celebs drive the Cee'd for timed laps when it was brought onto the show, which gave us a baseline of what to expect from future drivers. Right now, we don't know whether CJ's time is good or bad (it's probably good, given that he's got race experience, but still...).

Anyway, thanks for the heads up. Hopefully the show will hang around long enough for these guys to gel.

 

[ClemsonPatriot]

I will only rejoice when the Grand Tour reviews the Civic; hopefully they will.

Top Gear (UK or American) is terrible compared to the original....

 

[silverrascal]

CJ's reference is actual race cars, so yeah, he'll say that the Civic feels softer.

I wonder if they're trying to stay on the good side of manufacturers. The Cee'd (and Lisetti [sp?] and others) were laughably average, and they were not chosen as a compliment to their manufacturers.

Other wishes:
- The track is too complicated for good TV. The original TG track is simple -- two boxes, eight corners, and good sight lines for shooting video. They fabricated a gem of a test course on that runway. This Vegas track has nothing where they can say, "Let's see how much understeer it does here," or, "Will he lift for the follow-through?" The commentary, or LACK of commentary, during CJ's and Stig's runs illustrates how much the track sucks.

- I wish they could've arranged to have more cars and more celebrities set a range of times. TGUK made a point to have a half-dozen celebs drive the Cee'd for timed laps when it was brought onto the show, which gave us a baseline of what to expect from future drivers. Right now, we don't know whether CJ's time is good or bad (it's probably good, given that he's got race experience, but still...).

Anyway, thanks for the heads up. Hopefully the show will hang around long enough for these guys to gel.

Yeah, I agree about the track or lack of a track. And frankly not enough good camera angles to see how the driver's manage around too.

It's cool to see the Civic X being tossed around but I'm curious to know why they chose the Honda over the myriad of other FWD cars. I was hoping they would discuss the car a bit but nothing was ever mentioned.

 

[geolemon]

In the old UK version, the "reasonably priced car" was usually a joke like the Kia Cee'd.
...I wonder how the Civic HB Sport is supposed to be perceived?

EXACTLY! I don't know that this is flattering lol...
I saw this headline and immediately thought "Uh oh... should I regret taking delivery of my Sport Hatch this week?"

 

[das borgen]

I don't think they're meaning it as a joke now at all actually with the Civic on this version of Top Gear

 

[geolemon]

Yeah, I agree about the track or lack of a track. And frankly not enough good camera angles to see how the driver's manage around too.

It's cool to see the Civic X being tossed around but I'm curious to know why they chose the Honda over the myriad of other FWD cars. I was hoping they would discuss the car a bit but nothing was ever mentioned.

To be honest, I haven't seen the American version lately...

But I loved the BBC Top Gear track at the airport. And the Stig - and the celebrities in car. All of it - couldn't be better.

The Grand Tour has been a liiiitle disappointing in almost all ways. For sure, the filming looks awesome on a 4K TV - but the scripted stuff has taken as slight but disappointing shift towards the implausible in a juvenile way. On Top Gear, you could believe the pranks were pranks. On Grand Tour, they've crossed that 'suspension of disbelief' line. That alone has left me forgetting to even bother tuning in.
But "The American" as an analog for the Stig is terrible. That little track isn't bad, but doesn't seem you could drive it as aggressively as the airport. And The Stig made his commentary silently - on the track. He didn't make stupid eye-rolling clearly scripted comments. It's another way that 'suspension of disbelief' line is disappearing along with Hammond, Clarkson and May's credibility.

I frankly liked the US version of Top Gear when it was Adam Ferrara, Tanner Foust, and Rutledge Wood. I thought their chemistry was good. I don't know if they expected the series to be as good or popular as the BBC version - if it existed with these three today, it might be a viable substitute for the dearly departed BBC version, IMO.


Side note: I always thought the ULTIMATE "reasonably priced car" would have - should have - been the Miata. It's a purpose built sports car for the people... and good enough to inspire confidence in the real drivers, to really make for great celebrity-driver competition... including the possibility of some tail-out antics!

 

[silverrascal]

To be honest, I haven't seen the American version lately...

But I loved the BBC Top Gear track at the airport. And the Stig - and the celebrities in car. All of it - couldn't be better.

The Grand Tour has been a liiiitle disappointing in almost all ways. For sure, the filming looks awesome on a 4K TV - but the scripted stuff has taken as slight but disappointing shift towards the implausible in a juvenile way. On Top Gear, you could believe the pranks were pranks. On Grand Tour, they've crossed that 'suspension of disbelief' line. That alone has left me forgetting to even bother tuning in.
But "The American" as an analog for the Stig is terrible. That little track isn't bad, but doesn't seem you could drive it as aggressively as the airport. And The Stig made his commentary silently - on the track. He didn't make stupid eye-rolling clearly scripted comments. It's another way that 'suspension of disbelief' line is disappearing along with Hammond, Clarkson and May's credibility.

I frankly liked the US version of Top Gear when it was Adam Ferrara, Tanner Foust, and Rutledge Wood. I thought their chemistry was good. I don't know if they expected the series to be as good or popular as the BBC version - if it existed with these three today, it might be a viable substitute for the dearly departed BBC version, IMO.


Side note: I always thought the ULTIMATE "reasonably priced car" would have - should have - been the Miata. It's a purpose built sports car for the people... and good enough to inspire confidence in the real drivers, to really make for great celebrity-driver competition... including the possibility of some tail-out antics!

I could not agree MORE with your post! You've put into words everything I've thought. "The American" is so over-the-top stereotype and the comments just make me wanna puke. The track is devoid of any real "soul" compared to the airport track. I watch GT but it's not quite as entertaining as UKTG.

Former hosts of AmTG were getting better as the show progressed. I don't mind the new group and I'm willing to give them some more episodes before deciding.

I, too, agree about the Miata but I guess the current generation is not so reasonably priced anymore but still a helluva fun ride especially for tossing around a track.

 

[alphatrion]

The episode was so bad. The comradery was so forced that it made me cringe. Looks like it's going to be as bad as the previous US version. They would be better off focusing on the cars instead of this artificial banter.

 

[VarmintCong]

I also liked the old cast of American top gear. Not anywhere as funny as the U.K. Hosts but they had some chemistry and seemed like guys you would enjoy hanging out with. Great cinematography as well.

New Top Gear can't seem to hold my attention, and The American was funny but gets old quick and as you guys said seems too scripted.

 

[Mikeybc]

It will be interesting to see how the stars deal with the rev hang if they have the 6 speed.

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