Any fans of the show Top Gear?

[deedubb]

I'm more of a car guy than an audiophile, and this is my favourite show. However, I've noticed that people on car forums have started using a lot of British terms that are commonly used on the show. For example, everything is now "epic". The trunk is now called the boot, and everyone is now a bloke instead of a dude or a guy. It's become my new pet peeve. Last I checked, we still live in North America. /rant

 

[jostenmeat]

The thing that strikes me when I see a British car show is how they pronounce "coupe". I still can't figure out how to insert accent markings here or anywhere for that matter (and would like to know how), but they say it how the French might I suppose, "coup-ay", (or literally, "cut" in the past tense). Gets me every time.

 

[krzywica]

Love the show...love it love it love it!

And yes I would fit inter your bulloxed up caterory of American people that use Brittish words.

Oh meat

 

[deedubb]

aluminium is another one.

 

[tbergman]

Love the show, but I have the hardest time figuring out British terms for things, I also like watching that other British car show "Wheeler Dealers" or something like that. Took me forever to figure out what they were talking about. Also, don't forget that the hood is now a "bonnet"

 

[krzywica]

Kozzers (Police)
Zed (Anything with the letter "Z" in it, Z28, 240Z ect)
Dacia Sandero

 

[deedubb]

Kozzers (Police)
Zed (Anything with the letter "Z" in it, Z28, 240Z ect)
Dacia Sandero

Zed...us Canucks do weird things like that as well. Other weird things...colour, favourite, neighbour. I still use mpg but the standard here is L/100km.

 

[STRONGBADF1]

My favorite show!

My favorite pronunciation is "team".

 

[ragged]

Love that show.

 

[Davemcc]

I'm more car guy than audio guy and I find that that show has nothing of value to me. It's sometimes amusing but I don't find it relevant or informative. It's entertainment for the ADD generation, nothing more.

 

[deedubb]

I'm more car guy than audio guy and I find that that show has nothing of value to me. It's sometimes amusing but I don't find it relevant or informative. It's entertainment for the ADD generation, nothing more.

IMO, it's not really supposed to be informative. It's pure entertainment, and it excels in that.

 

[MidnightSensi]

It isn't a technical show, it is more about the emotional feeling and satire of sports cars. Yes, they cover cars and how they handle, but mostly the 'sounds' and 'feeling' of cars are discussed.

I don't watch it all the time, but the funniest thing I saw on that show was them with a Pugani and some other exotics in a car garage in Paris. The spoilers won't clear, they could barely fit, they couldn't see, couldn't get the doors open, and the clutches were burning from coming up the steep incline while the one in front was getting stuck. The humor of it would really only be appreciated by someone who has driven a lot of sports cars, and the laughable 'I can only buy gas at the BP on 27th Ave because this spoiler is so damn low' bits of it.

I like the show. The journalism is entertaining and the visuals powerful. If they forget to answer your burning question of the type of brakes used, well, your probably not a customer for the car anyways.

 

[just-some-guy]

i would rather barf on my shoes than watch that show.
i am a real HOT RODDER = i make my own parts.

 

[GO-NAD!]

Zed (Anything with the letter "Z" in it, Z28, 240Z ect)

Of course it's pronounced "Zed"! That's the way it's said up here, as well. I must confess, hearing it pronounced "Zee" is like finger nails on a chalkboard to me. As far as I'm concerned, a "Zee28" is a "Zed28" after automotive castration. Completely emasculating, IMHO.

Sorry if that offends anybody, but I had to get it off my chest.

As for Top Gear, I watched it regularly while I lived in the UK for a couple of years at the turn of the century, but rarely since then. I have to say that Jeremy Clarkson is the funniest automotive journalist I've ever seen/heard/read. He slays me! Sure, they don't go deep under the hood/bonnet - but there's lotsa eye candy.

 

[jwenthold99]

It is the only television show that I regularly watch. I love Clarkson's view on the "average American", and the fun they have with the automotive laws in England.

 

[STRONGBADF1]

I'm more car guy than audio guy and I find that that show has nothing of value to me. It's sometimes amusing but I don't find it relevant or informative. It's entertainment for the ADD generation, nothing more.

TopGear is far from technical and that's why I like it so much. Just car guys jerking around. Their sense of humor is sophomoric which is funny in itself.

One of my favorite episodes was when thy had a soccer match with cars.

 

[NicolasKL]

IMO, it's not really supposed to be informative. It's pure entertainment, and it excels in that.

I agree, but I think the Stig's lap times also have a lot of value in performance comparisons. I don't know of any American auto rags that have the same track/driver consistency that allows the same apples to apples comparisons.

I think anyone that thinks it contains nothing of value must be fairly humorless, to be quite frank.

 

[deedubb]

It isn't a technical show, it is more about the emotional feeling and satire of sports cars. Yes, they cover cars and how they handle, but mostly the 'sounds' and 'feeling' of cars are discussed.

I don't watch it all the time, but the funniest thing I saw on that show was them with a Pugani and some other exotics in a car garage in Paris. The spoilers won't clear, they could barely fit, they couldn't see, couldn't get the doors open, and the clutches were burning from coming up the steep incline while the one in front was getting stuck. The humor of it would really only be appreciated by someone who has driven a lot of sports cars, and the laughable 'I can only buy gas at the BP on 27th Ave because this spoiler is so damn low' bits of it.

I like the show. The journalism is entertaining and the visuals powerful. If they forget to answer your burning question of the type of brakes used, well, your probably not a customer for the car anyways.

That was a great episode.

I agree...the cinematography is great, and as for being a customer for the car, I would say most of the cars they cover are unobtainable for more than 99% of their viewers. It's fun to dream though.

 

[Midwesthonky]

LOVE the show! Better than most of the C-rap found on network tv these days. But I also watch it as entertainment, not for any sort of serious auto media analysis because it definitely isn't that! It is entertainment and their personalities are a key factor in it.

As for US people using British terms, it is silly, sounds silly too. I do use the term "mobile" instead of cell phone, but that is mostly because I work with a lot of foreigners and the term works better for them to understand me.

I was over in the UK last week so I got full exposure to British words. Nobody can drop the F-bomb in clever, unique, and shear quantity than the brits. Or some 18-year old girls talking about "...those guys were staring at your titties when you walked down the stairs..." In that accent with the word "titties," I had a difficult time not laughing. And it was my co-worker and I that were the guilty parties that invoked the comment. Stairs and features of that size/shape just naturally invoke one of the other topics I really study a lot...

Oh yeah for the car and audio guys, Aston Martin DB9's running in 1st gear in central London sound AWESOME!! They tuned that exhaust properly... It sounded much better than that newer Ferrari that went by a minute later.

It was funny though, at the factory, we were all speaking english, yet I didn't always understand the Brits.

 

[Midwesthonky]

I agree, but I think the Stig's lap times also have a lot of value in performance comparisons. I don't know of any American auto rags that have the same track/driver consistency that allows the same apples to apples comparisons.

I like the Stig gimmick and how they play him/it up. I loved the episode where Stig was on holiday in a pool. He was in uniform in a floating lunge chair in a pool with girls in white bikinis and racing helmets.

Or the episode where they went across the US through the rural south with pro-gay statements written on the cars...or the episode...