Another day, another Top Gear controversy. This time, the boys from the BBC's hit show haven't enraged a country or British sensibilities - they've gone back to their old stomping grounds of upsetting car companies.
In last week's episode of Top Gear (which is set to air in the United States on Monday), host and head agitator Jeremy Clarkson tested the Zenvo ST1, a wildly powerful new hypercar from Denmark. Naturally, it all went very wrong. The car broke. Twice. The rear brakes weren't functioning correctly and the clutch failed. In fact, Zenvo had to take their orange test car back for a time. When it returned, it caught fire after a cooling fan decided to stop functioning. It got worse for Zenvo, though.
According to Zenvo, Clarkson later misquoted the starting price in the UK (by some 140,000 pounds, or $233,786) before handing the car to The Stig on a cold, wet track, where it returned a hairy lap time of 1:29.9 - slower than a Ford Focus ST.
Zenvo has issued a rather lengthy response to Danish website Pro Street, which we have available (auto-translated) in its entirety, below. According to the manufacturer, elements of the review were left out by Clarkson and Company, like the car's 189-mile-per-hour blast down the TG track's main straight and its 2.69-second run to 62 mph on "damp tarmac."
The fire and clutch issues were also addressed before Zenvo got on to the lap time. According to the Danes, on the day of the Stig's lap, "driving was not recommended in many parts of Britain due to low temperature and extreme rain. The weather conditions and the amount of water on the track severely reduced traction on the car's 345/30 ZR20 rear tires, resulting in a lap time that does not reflect the real potential of the car in dry conditions."
We've got Clarkson's entire video review available below, along with the official statement from Zenvo. Have a look at both, and then let us know what you think of this latest Top Gear fiasco in Comments.
In last week's episode of Top Gear (which is set to air in the United States on Monday), host and head agitator Jeremy Clarkson tested the Zenvo ST1, a wildly powerful new hypercar from Denmark. Naturally, it all went very wrong. The car broke. Twice. The rear brakes weren't functioning correctly and the clutch failed. In fact, Zenvo had to take their orange test car back for a time. When it returned, it caught fire after a cooling fan decided to stop functioning. It got worse for Zenvo, though.
According to Zenvo, Clarkson later misquoted the starting price in the UK (by some 140,000 pounds, or $233,786) before handing the car to The Stig on a cold, wet track, where it returned a hairy lap time of 1:29.9 - slower than a Ford Focus ST.
Zenvo has issued a rather lengthy response to Danish website Pro Street, which we have available (auto-translated) in its entirety, below. According to the manufacturer, elements of the review were left out by Clarkson and Company, like the car's 189-mile-per-hour blast down the TG track's main straight and its 2.69-second run to 62 mph on "damp tarmac."
The fire and clutch issues were also addressed before Zenvo got on to the lap time. According to the Danes, on the day of the Stig's lap, "driving was not recommended in many parts of Britain due to low temperature and extreme rain. The weather conditions and the amount of water on the track severely reduced traction on the car's 345/30 ZR20 rear tires, resulting in a lap time that does not reflect the real potential of the car in dry conditions."
We've got Clarkson's entire video review available below, along with the official statement from Zenvo. Have a look at both, and then let us know what you think of this latest Top Gear fiasco in Comments.
The Stig's supercar' at the Top Gear show. After being named 'The Stig's supercar' and credited for staggering performance in Top Gear Magazine in 2010, the car faced problems on its appearance at the Top Gear TV show. The car however, also achieved good results during the tests.
At the first visit, the clutch of the car burned out after an hour of extreme drifting by Top Gear drivers. At the second visit,a faulty intercooler fan caught fire after more than one hour of intensive high speed testing and 50 liters of fuel used. The source of the fire, has been traced back to a defect in the fan delivered by an acknowledged automotive supplier. After this incident Zenvo Automotive are conducting thorough testing of all fans before mounting them in the cars.
The car unofficially reached 304 kmh (189 mph) which was the highest speed measured on the straight of the Top Gear test track in recent times. This information did not air on the show. Also not made public was that Top Gear clocked the acceleration time from 0-100 kmh (0-62 mph) at 2.69 seconds on damp tarmac.
Instead Top Gear brought a lap time with the Stig conducted on a day where driving was not recommended in many parts of Britain due to low temperature and extreme rain. The weather conditions and the amount of water on the track severely reduced traction on the cars 345/30 ZR20 rear tires resulting in a lap time that does not reflect the real potential of the car in dry conditions.
Zenvo Automotive is looking forward to making a more realistic lap time in dry weather conditions.
The Zenvo ST1 has a list price of 660.000£ and not 800.000£ as stated in the show
At the first visit, the clutch of the car burned out after an hour of extreme drifting by Top Gear drivers. At the second visit,a faulty intercooler fan caught fire after more than one hour of intensive high speed testing and 50 liters of fuel used. The source of the fire, has been traced back to a defect in the fan delivered by an acknowledged automotive supplier. After this incident Zenvo Automotive are conducting thorough testing of all fans before mounting them in the cars.
The car unofficially reached 304 kmh (189 mph) which was the highest speed measured on the straight of the Top Gear test track in recent times. This information did not air on the show. Also not made public was that Top Gear clocked the acceleration time from 0-100 kmh (0-62 mph) at 2.69 seconds on damp tarmac.
Instead Top Gear brought a lap time with the Stig conducted on a day where driving was not recommended in many parts of Britain due to low temperature and extreme rain. The weather conditions and the amount of water on the track severely reduced traction on the cars 345/30 ZR20 rear tires resulting in a lap time that does not reflect the real potential of the car in dry conditions.
Zenvo Automotive is looking forward to making a more realistic lap time in dry weather conditions.
The Zenvo ST1 has a list price of 660.000£ and not 800.000£ as stated in the show
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