More pics from Top Gear testing American metal
Click above for high-res gallery
Not long after we learned that the famous Top Gear trio was in the U.S., a fan managed to snap some shots of Clarkson, Hammond and Mays testing their favorite examples of American muscle at the Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah. The hosts made their way to salt flats by way of Reno, Nevada where they had a few modifications done to each vehicle in the name of high speed safety, namely driveshaft loops and fire extinguishers. If you saw our previous post on the subject, you already know that Clarkson is driving a Corvette ZR1, Hamster a Challenger SRT8 and May the super-fast but still luxurious Cadillac CTS-V, a car that shares much of its supercharged V8 architecture with the new force-fed mill in the 'Vette. We can already surmise that the ZR1 easily took top honors at Bonneville thanks to its slippery shape and abundance of power. Now, which car wins the comparison test? We look forward to next season to find out. Check out the gallery below for more pics of the action going down, or click here and follow the photostream. Thanks for the tips, AkulaX1 and Andi!
Gallery: Top Gear at Bonneville
[Sources: Flickr, Digital Corvettes]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
John R 12:39PM (9/22/2008)
Hamster does stunts for Rod Stewart part-time...
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Franz 12:48PM (9/22/2008)
I hope this episode airs early next season.
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pe3ko 1:16PM (9/22/2008)
i want top gear now!!! arghghhgghhhhh
John P. 12:49PM (9/22/2008)
Stupid Idiots. Taking a Corvette (one of the best handling cars in the world) to the salt flats for a test. I guess it plays well to the home crowd's perceptions of American cars. Oh well, Bonneville is a beautiful place in it's own way.
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TKOsoccer03 1:02PM (9/22/2008)
Maybe because they want to do 205 mph in an American car .. and that is without question the safest place.
I kinda hope they line up the CTS-V and the Challenger next to each other and drag them .. that would be sweet to see this luxury sleeper saloon light up an American muscle car :)
This is going to be an awesome episode .. I can't wait.
Derek 1:00PM (9/22/2008)
Call me crazy, but most people do top speed tests on the flats. I've never heard anyone mention the handling of any machine on the flats.
Sure, they'll be power-sliding loonies out there, but if you had a ZR-1 and that much open space...
ehisforadam 1:12PM (9/22/2008)
"...luxury sleeper saloon light up an American muscle car"
You say that like the Cadillac isn't a muscle car, American, and doesn't have 125 more horsepower and 125 more torques.
CarbonBlack 1:04PM (9/22/2008)
FOR SALE: 3 freshly sand-blasted examples of American ingenuity!
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Seminole 1:07PM (9/22/2008)
I'm getting a woody just thinking about this episode!
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Torrent 1:09PM (9/22/2008)
That old guy is going to bash the Corvette in the Review, then off air, put down a deposit for one.
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LMBVette 2:45PM (9/22/2008)
Actually, Jezza usually has good things to say about the Vette. He always finds something to rip on every car, but he still respects the Vette.
He also liked the performance of the last gen CTS-V, but hated the 'feel' and interior. I'll bet he likes this one much, much better.
Basically, if a car can do big smokey burnouts....Jezza deep-down loves the car. LOL
martin 10:58PM (9/22/2008)
Great :-) We've got a "fat American" near the filming of TG in pic 5 of 8.
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Mike 1:20PM (9/22/2008)
The Challenger is sooo outclassed in this group.
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Eddie 1:41PM (9/22/2008)
Yea it does seem outclassed. A Viper would have been a more logical rival to the other cars with over 550hp each.
naggs 6:50PM (9/23/2008)
shoulda brought both, but they have 3 guys so they need 3 cars. they should have given and acr viper to the stig!
Benfolio 1:32PM (9/22/2008)
LOVE the pic of the Challenger in that dirty backwoods shop with the exhausts in a bucket and tons of fan belts on the wall.
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why not the LS2LS7? 1:33PM (9/22/2008)
The only weird part about this is that when Top Gear does these "each picks a car" tests, they invariably end up arguing about which of their cars is the best. So that would presume the Top Gear guys are going to argue for American cars? I can see Hammond doing it, but that's about it.
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Carlos 1:42PM (9/22/2008)
They'll probably argue about which one has the least soul or some bs like that.
Eddie 1:43PM (9/22/2008)
I think Hammond will. Remember he likes the new Camaro. He owns a 60's Mustang, too
catgirlshyla 2:54PM (9/22/2008)
Hammond also expressed interest in the Challenger on Top Gear when it was still in the concept stages.