Autoblog

Bionic Woman. Knight Rider. And now....Top Gear? NBC, America's remake network, has ordered a pilot of an Americanized Top Gear. Expect to see all the usual Top Gear conventions, including three presenters; a masked Stig-like driver; a private test track; taping in a hangar before a live audience; and (probably D-List) celebs driving midsize cars. Unfortunately, you won't see the program's British hosts, Jeremy Clarkson, James May, and Richard Hammond. And this is where it gets dicey. You see, those guys are the reason Top Gear is what it is. They're clever and witty, and they endear themselves to gearheads with segments like Clarkson's hilarious Peel P50 "review" (it's pasted after the jump). NBC's going to have a hard time finding US hosts who can replicate that vibe without being relentlessly annoying in the process. As BBC remakes go, we truly hope that a US-flavored Top Gear succeeds like The Office, but we're concerned that it might just turn into another Coupling. Thanks to all who sent tips.

[Source: Reuters]

Seeing how fast you can drive and stop a 900-horsepower Formula 1 car in an enclosed space sounds like a pretty crazy thing to do, even if said enclosed site is the massive ExCeL in London's Docklands, site of next week's British Motor Show. In the event of a mishap, a wall impact there would likely not be the same as going into a pile of tires after skidding through a gravel pit. It'd leave a nasty mark.

Like I said: Crazy.

Of course, doing crazy things is the specialty of the gang at Top Gear, so they dispatched mystery driver extraordinaire, The Stig, to see what havoc could be wrought driving Toyota's TF105 Formula 1 car indoors. A 384m straight line course was laid out using orange cones, and extra care was taken to make sure the car would be as manageable as possible on the site's very smooth concrete floor. That meant dialing back the V10 so that it would max out at a paltry 16,000 RPM (what can you possibly do with that?), wrapping extra-sticky slicks around the wheels, and of course, making sure the traction control was working.

(More info, killer pics, press release after the jump)

[Source: Toyota]