Last Sunday, the first episode of the new series of Top Gear aired on BBC Two. As you can imagine, I was in front of the TV the second the clock turned 8:00 to watch it. Now, here’s my quick review of the episode and what I thought of it.
The focus of the episode was to celebrate the anniversary of the mighty V8 engine (or motor if you’re in the States). The three hosts, Matt LeBlanc, Chris Harris, and Rory Reid, travelled to Utah to test out their favourite V8 powered cars.
Matt, being from the USA, chose a Hennessey GT350R that had over 800bhp going to the rear wheels. Chris went for the sensible choice of the Mclaren 570GT (the softer Mclaren). And last but not least, Rory decided upon the all-wheel-drive Jaguar F-Type SVR.
I really liked this segment. Being a car person, I like seeing cars go head to head in different challenges, so I found this part very entertaining and interesting. Although I will say that I wasn’t very surprised that an 800bhp Mustang struggled to put its power down on dirt.
Something that did surprise me though was the Mclaren. Chris went on and on about how it’s the everyday Mclaren, the one that has been built more in favor of comfort than raw speed and performance. With that in mind, I was sure that the SVR with its all-wheel-drive would smoke the rear-wheel-drive Mclaren on the dirt roads of Utah. However, that was not the case. What actually happened was (in a wild-western shootout sort of race) the Mclaren shot off like a rocket on the dirt and beat the Mustang and the F-Type.
Rob Brydon was the Star in a reasonably Fast Car this week. The track was a very wet which meant Rob found it hard to find his way around the track on his practise. He also, for some reason, shifted the Toyota GT86 into pretty much every gear except for the one he needed to be in. In my opinion, Rob Brydon is a really funny guy and he was a great addition to this episode.
In conclusion, I enjoyed this weeks episode and would highly recommend it to any dedicated car enthusiast. Give it a try even if you’re still unsure about the new hosts. Top Gear is back this Sunday with a new episode where Chris and Matt go looking for Big Foot. I wish them all the best of luck.
petrolheads 
I do miss Hammond, the “closet American” as Jeremy always called him, and I miss James, Captain Slow, and Jeremy. But last season I think the new crew really jelled. Thanks for the post. It is on my DVR. Gotta watch it now.
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