Espresso Veloce V12 coffee maker is ready to crank up your morning originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 03 Apr 2013 07:58:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

• Mitsubishi Mirage
• Toyota Executive wants to build all US-market cars here
• Hyundai to build Nurburgring test facility
• The return of Alfa (again), Dart powertrain, the future of Chrysler vans
• Ford Atlas Concept
• Honda Gear Concept

Continue reading Autoblog Podcast #317

Autoblog Podcast #317 originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 23 Jan 2013 17:50:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

• Mitsubishi Mirage
• Toyota Executive wants to build all US-market cars here
• Hyundai to build Nurburgring test facility
• The return of Alfa (again), Dart powertrain, the future of Chrysler vans
• Ford Atlas concept
• Honda Gear concept

Submit your questions for Autoblog Podcast #317 LIVE! originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 22 Jan 2013 18:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Honda Gear concept explored at Montreal Auto Show

Honda Gear concept explored at Montreal Auto Show originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 18 Jan 2013 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Honda surprises with Gear concept in Montreal

Honda surprises with Gear concept in Montreal originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 17 Jan 2013 18:28:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Video: Take a first look at Top Gear China

Video: Take a first look at Top Gear China originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 23 Mar 2011 13:31:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Writing about cars for a living is a great gig, but as we're sporadically reminded, not without its occasional dangers. Few know that as well as the guys on BBC's Top Gear, where Richard Hammond miraculously recovered from a spectacular 280+ mph jet-powered dragster crash and Clarkson was recently involved in a head-on collision on location. But with franchises being set up in Australia, Russia and the United States, we knew it was only a matter of time before one of the local hosts followed suite, but we didn't think it would be the pretty boy in the hybrid.

According to Stromer's account, he was rollin' down the street in Hollywood, sipping on gin and juice a "triple grande nonfat latte" in his Camry Hybrid when someone rear-ended him, flipping the Toyota up on its side, sliding 50 feet down the street and roof-first into a curbside palm tree. None of the airbags deployed (suprisingly) and People Magazine's "sexiest man alive" emerged unharmed, so our base audience of middle-aged women can rest easy. Meanwhile, given the incident, we're not sure if we feel better or worse about Stromer's role in the show, but at very least he's proven he can demolish puppy-tear-powered family sedans as well as he can drywall.

To listen to how Stromer was "raped in a Camry" on TG co-host Adam Corolla's radio program, click here.

[Source: The Adam Corolla Show via Jalopnik]

Top Gear USA host Eric Stromer flips his Camry Hybrid originally appeared on Autoblog on Sun, 16 Nov 2008 10:52:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

With all our mouths salivating over the upcoming NBC version of the hit BBC program Top Gear, the guys over at Autofiends got a chance to sit down with Tanner Foust. As we revealed a couple of weeks ago, in addition to being a drifting and rallying champion, Tanner will be one of the three hosts - alongside Adam Carolla and Eric Stromer - who will be anchoring the Americanized show.

The interview makes for an interesting read, and in the process Foust casts a bit more light on what we can expect from the show. For example, while the BBC's publicly-funded format allows for full-hour shows, the NBC program will run closer to 42 minutes with commercials breaking up the shorter segments. The show's test track - en route to which Foust got lost with Jeremy Clarkson in a Callaway Corvette - is based in Orange County, California. And to the best of his understanding, Foust and his co-hosts will be free to speak their minds about the vehicles they'll be reviewing, which he promises will run the spectrum from budget automobiles to supercars, alongside "epic" challenges in true "American style where bigger is better". We'll be looking forward to seeing for ourselves. Follow the link to read the full interview.

[Source: Autofiends.com]

Tanner Foust sheds light on Top Gear USA in blog interview originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 01 Jul 2008 09:33:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

When I was a kid there was this terrible car show on television that was sponsored by a certain automaker that shall remain nameless. Every week - that is, every week I could bear to watch it, at least - the hosts would review a car from that company, and guess what? They always liked it! And that's what makes Top Gear such a hit. Because the BBC is publicly-funded, they don't have advertisements. (Notice that downloaded episodes of Top Gear run an actual full hour, instead of the usual "hour-long" shows that run 45 minutes.) Without advertisers, Clarkson and company are free to say what they want about whatever car they're reviewing, and so journalistic integrity remains intact, even as they catapult caravans and play soccer (sorry, "football") with hatchbacks.

With NBC "gearing" up for its own version of the hit car show, reportedly to be called simply "Gear", the fear was that, as the show would be dependent on commercial advertisements, the recently-announced team of co-hosts would be reigned in by the bean-counters regarding what they could and could not say about the cars they'd be reviewing. Thankfully, on a recent episode of his radio talk-show, Adam Carolla revealed that no such limitations would be imposed by NBC on the show's editorial autonomy. You know, this may just work out yet. Thanks for the tip, T Bray!

[Source: FinalGear.com]

Top Gear USA free to criticize cars at will originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 23 Jun 2008 13:26:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Google Earth spots Top Gear USA test track? originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 19 May 2008 18:34:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Performance figures don't give an accurate picture of just how well a car performs overall. A given car may be the fastest to sixty, but that doesn't mean it has the highest top speed, tightest cornering or sharpest brakes. Lap times around a given track paint a more accurate, comprehensive picture of a car's abilities, but picking one track as the gold standard is dicey business. That's where Top Gear's Power Lap board comes into play.

Although weather conditions can vary, BBC's Top Gear puts all the cars through the paces at the same test track outside their studio, and what's more is that they're driven - or at least, so we're lead to believe - by the same driver: The Stig.

The latest high-performance supercar to make a run for the top of the record board is the Caparo T1, which, at 1:10.6, easily trounced the previous record holder, the Koenigsegg CCX, by an astonishing seven seconds. Unfortunately the Caparo was disqualified because, in its track set-up, it lacked the adjustable ride height to enable it to clear a requisite speed-bump. Caparo insists they deserve a second chance with a road-spec version. If the show's producers give the Ultima GTR an official run, meanwhile, the Caparo's reign as king of the Power Lap could be short-lived, adjustable shocks or not.

[Source: PistonHeads]

Caparo T1 disqualified after taking Top Gear lap record originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 20 Nov 2007 11:03:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Ultima, one of several dozen independent British sportscar companies and makers of the GTR, could only take so much rejection. The cottage automaker claims it offered its road-legal race-car to the producers at BBC's hit TV show Top Gear several times, only to be repeatedly refused. So Ultima took things into its own hands, brought its latest fire-breather to the same converted airstrip that TG uses for a test track, retained a Stig of its own, and undertook to beat the fastest lap on the track.

Aside from the occasional exception like the Renault F1 car, the current record holder on Top Gear's power-lap board is the Koenigsegg CCX (which Top Gear can't spell). After the Stig famously spun the Swedish supercar off the track, the designers mounted a new rear wing to keep the tail planted, and the CCX set a fastest lap of 1:17.6, which was enough to beat the Ferrari Enzo, Maserati MC12 and Pagani Zonda that previously sat atop the chart.

Ultima drove the GTR720 to the track in full road trim and set a fast lap of 1:12.8, which easily beat the Koenigsegg. In fact, Ultima claims that at that rate, the GTR would lap an Enzo every 12 laps. Dang. Shame it would also beat the Ferrari in an ugly contest, though. Ultima says another visit in the more powerful 800-hp version is in the works.

[Source: PistonHeads]

Go your Own Way: Ultima GTR beats Top Gear lap record by 4½ seconds originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 23 Oct 2007 14:58:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Do you like outtake reels? Who doesn't! Do you like Top Gear? Well, if you're the kind of person who reads Autoblog, then chances are you do. In that case, have we got the video for you!

After the jump you'll find six minutes' worth of your favorite telemotive personalities (that's right, we just made up a word) fumbling over their lines, making each other laugh and cursing like longshoremen. Oh yeah, and plenty of breasts, 'cause what would a British men's "programme" be without that? Follow the jump to check out the Top Gear Boobers Bloopers video.

NSFW: If you work in a puritanical office environment, well... sorry for you, but you might want to wait 'till you get home to watch the video on account of the cleavage and bleeped-out naughty words.

[Source: German Car Scene]

Continue reading VIDEO: Top Gear Outtakes

VIDEO: Top Gear Outtakes originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 17 Oct 2007 18:03:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

In addition to hosting the world's most popular car show, authoring a library of books and writing regular columns for a variety of magazines and newspapers, celebrity automotive journalist Jeremy Clarkson has turned out a tall stack of DVD specials.

The video after the jump is a trailer of his latest video, called Supercar Showdown. In the new special, scheduled for a November 5 release, Clarkson takes to the road and the track in some of the most mouth-watering and earth-shattering supercars, including the Ferrari 430 Spider and 599 GTB Fiorano, Lamborghini Gallardo and Murcielago Roadsters, Bugatti Veyron, Audi R8, Porsche 911 GT3, Radical SR3, Aston Martin V8 Roadster and Ascari A10. Sabine Schmitz and The Stig also feature in a head-to-head in what looks to be a jaw-dropping orgy of Octane.

Click through to catch a sneak preview.

Kudos to Mike for the tip.

Continue reading VIDEO: Jeremy Clarkson's Supercar Showdown trailer

VIDEO: Jeremy Clarkson's Supercar Showdown trailer originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 03 Oct 2007 18:34:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

The BBC was reportedly evaluating producing an American version of its hit show Top Gear with the existing British cast. The show's star lead host Jeremy Clarkson, however, apparently having seen enough of the U.S. after filming the show's road trip through the South, has nixed the idea.

The proposal would have involved Clarkson, together with his co-stars Richard Hammond, James May and The Stig, flying stateside for four months to embark upon a hectic filming schedule, a prospect which didn't tantalize Clarkson, to say the least. On top of other concerns, Jezza reportedly wouldn't want to leave his family behind for such a long period of time.

For their part, the BBC hasn't given up, and will undoubtedly look at other possibilities, with or without Clarkson. Stay tuned.

Thanks for the tip, Derek!

[Source: The Sun via PistonHeads]

Clarkson nixes U.S. Top Gear originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 24 Jul 2007 15:32:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

If you're reading this from your home or office in the UK, despair not, for all is not lost. To compensate for the bland food and consistently rainy weather, we've got a game for you!

The flash-animation quiz game after the jump pits the Top Gear presenters Clarkson, Hammond and "Captain Slow" against Formula One stars present and past: Nigel Mansell, Michael Schumacher and Lewis Hamilton. Chose your player and your opponent, and test your knowledge of all things related to grand prix racing and the BBC's famous car show...er, programme. (Sorry, chaps.)

It's good for literally minutes of fun. Tens of minutes, even, if you get hooked on watching Mansell and May kick the bullocks off each other after each right or wrong answer. Jolly good fun, that.

[Source: VCars]

Top Gear vs. F1: It's Go Time originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 10 Jul 2007 13:03:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Britain's Health and Safety Executive faulted both the BBC and the makers of the Vampire dragster, Primetime Landspeed Engineering, for Richard Hammond's dastardly crash. The HSE said that the risk assessment that Primetime gave to the BBC didn't take into account that Hammond didn't have the necessary skills to pilot the car in an emergency. So the BBC, according to the HSE, should have given Hammond enough time to learn how to drive the car and also should have challenged the risk assessment it was given, but it did not.

Hammond crashed the dragster at 288 mph and spent five weeks in the hospital with brain injuries. He has since fully recovered. Neither the BBC nor Primetime, though, will be prosecuted.

[Source: Drive.com.au]

Liability in Hammond crash falls on dragster maker, BBC originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 25 Jun 2007 14:35:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Et tu, Tiff? Fifth Gear presenter Tiff Needell, in a roundabout twist of fatalist logic, has the temerity to suggest that automakers voluntarily adopt a maximum horsepower limit. His argument is a classically defensive one: willingly give up a little bit before the opposing forces -- who want everyone to drive Priuses -- force everyone to give up a lot.

Regardless of what you think of that tactic, the real problem is when Tiff (of all people!) starts saying that cars have enough horsepower as is, bringing up the same points that are used by the people he's trying to thwart. "Today's motors have more than enough performance. Developing models with even more could do more harm than good with the accompanying bad publicity." Tiff? Is that really you? As if it could get worse, he then cites the Vauxhall Corsa VXR and Renaultsport Clio 197 as all we really need: "All have less than 200 bhp, but are more thrilling to drive than some supercars from a couple of decades ago. [They] can rocket from 0-60 in under seven seconds, which means they're easily fast enough for most people."

A couple of decades ago? Seven seconds? Most people? And it only goes downhill from there. You can check out the entire piece for yourself, but be warned it's not a fun Memorial Day read. When bastions of the enthusiast press start sounding like Comintern double agents, you know it's gotten really crazy.

[Source: Auto Express]

For shame! Tiff Needell makes argument for HP limit originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 28 May 2007 05:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Top Gear writer Giles Chapman and script editor Richard Porter assembled a collection of Cars That Dad Had. As one synopsis put it, the book reflects "a time before people carriers and lifestyle off roaders, when the nearest thing to an airbag was hiding behind your fat brother." Being a British book, it doesn't detail the cars our dads waxed lyrical over -- unless your dad was that one guy in the neighborhood who had an original Mini or a Datsun Sunny (the 1200 in the US). The book also puts dads into categories based on what kind of car he bought. A Robin Reliant dad, for instance, is Frugal Dad. We wonder if they've categorized the dad who bought the never-completed-project-car-that-rusted-under-a-gray-tarp. The full book press release is posted after the jump.

Continue reading Top Gear turns nostalgic with 'My Dad had one of those'

Top Gear turns nostalgic with 'My Dad had one of those' originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 03 May 2007 09:06:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Clarkson's at it again, casting shadows of doubt on the future of Top Gear. The celebrity automotive journalist (perhaps the most well-known, period) claims that while the BBC program ranks among the most watched television shows on the air, and that its audience continues to climb "like an F-15 on combat power," Top Gear is facing serious problems which could jeopardize its future.

The first, according to Jezza, is that following Richard Hammond's miraculous recovery and return to the show, the production schedule got horribly delayed. Clarkson figures that it takes about half a year to produce a season, which puts them severely behind schedule for the next series. Even if the show were to return in October, which he figures is the earliest a new series could air, Clarkson cites disgruntled fans who lamented the lack of content in the hastily-produced and recently-concluded 9th season.

"The series that's just finished was full of us three cocking about, and almost completely devoid of anything you might fairly call a 'road test,'" surmised Clarkson in his recent column. "This has gone down very badly with the people in internet land." (Hey, is he talking about us?)

Clarkson fears that most television viewers don't want to see him and the gang driving Ferraris and Lamborghinis, but just want to be entertained, and that if and when the show does return for a tenth season, it stands the danger of being watered-down. But it's the extraordinary track tests and tire-munching road trips that made the show as popular as it is. Top Gear, it seems, needs to be rescued from its own success.

Cheerio for the tip, Kim.

[Source: Top Gear]

Save Top Gear from its own success originally appeared on Autoblog on Sun, 15 Apr 2007 16:02:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.