Top Gear Australia

[hrd-hr30]

I changed channel after not even driving the lambo. I agree with everyone saying they are just trying to be like the UK guys too much. For f**ksakes the set is identical to the UK topgear!!! Cant aussies ever think of orignal shit themselves... forever copying shows from US and UK.

I saw a picture of the STIG hanging up... please dont tell me they have a STIG here wearing the same outfit and acting the same??

of course its exactly the same. TopGear sold the rights to the format... wtf else were they going to do but an Aussie version of the exact same thing?

it was always going to be lame, but these guys took it to a whole new level.

Stig totally summed up how pathetic Aus TopGear is. Tip for SBS/TopGear Aus - if you have a bloke who can't drive for shit, don't show in-car footage of the hamfisted clot!

The sooner these 8 episodes flop miserably, so we can all move on and forget it ever existed, the better!

[m3gtr]

Anyone for a fail of epic proportions?

I wanna slap the whiney dude

[Marlin]

Stig totally summed up how pathetic Aus TopGear is. Tip for SBS/TopGear Aus - if you have a bloke who can't drive for shit, don't show in-car footage of the hamfisted clot!

lol!! I suggested much the same Harry, but thought it might have been me that was driving all wrong! lol... he is "The Stig" after all

You know, after seeing that, I'm burning my "I am the Stig" t-shirt! Wouldn't want a random slap walking the Queen St Mall

[m3gtr]

Hamfisted.

great choice of word.

He looked like a noob driving the cars and i lol'ed at the bullshit way he was using the auto shifter in the GTR.

The show sucked to be perfectly honest.

Theyll bin it after one season.

[Sinful]

Watch it and wasnt impressed by it at all..

Thought would at least give it the benifit of the doubt,but the Aussies trying to use the british humour Didnt work and wasnt funny in the slightest...

I think I might know who the stig is.. I reckon he did ok

The R35 was the best bit out of the whole show

[madbung]

Top Gear [LITE]

Dun like....

Charlie Cox can go back to the 70's now...how annoying is that twat ?

Don't forget it's the show we've all been waiting for next week....Holden v Ford GTFO!

[AndrewJZX100]

of course its exactly the same. TopGear sold the rights to the format... wtf else were they going to do but an Aussie version of the exact same thing?

I'm glad someone here has an idea.

As for the actual show, does anyone else think they got the driving discipline arse-about? Like they thrashed the crap out of the soft-roaders, that old bloke airing the Rav quite considerably, and the short one trying to bust a fatty scando in the X Trail, then they took it easy in the 911, cruising around some back road in Tassie with plenty of out-of-focus shots, some engine note cuts and very little interesting driving sequences (although I'll give them props for the nice little explanation on the PDK system).

I'm hoping they get their shit sorted for the next ep, and we see less attempted tomfoolery in 4WDs and more statics and powerslides in stomper V8s (you can't tell me no one loves seeing the UK boys dropping skids in their high end machinery, thats half the attraction of Top Gear )

I'm also hoping to see less hamfisted acting and some actual automotive passion. Clarkson, Hammond and May seem to genuinely enjoy what they do, and it shows in their on-screen persona (and the aforementioned driving 'style' of the UK show ). The 3 blokes in the Aussie one seem to have been told to mimic that, and it all came across as acted up rather than genuine passion for what they were doing.

Another few bones of contention for me was lack of actual 'testing' as such and the seeming assumption that everyone who will watch Aussie Top Gear would have seen the UK version at some stage. I'm still waiting for a conclusion as to which soft roader performed the best through the conditions, and then theres the Lambo/Maybach/Moke stories that just didn't seem to have any basis what so ever. New Lambo? Fking awesome looking rig yes, why not drive it to show whats new/imporoved about it? Nah won't do that. The Maybach, most expensive car in the world or something. He sat in the back for about 5 minutes, showed us some headphones then that was pretty much it. The Moke 'experiment'? Yeah still trying to find a point to that one. And finally, if you'd never seen a Top Gear ep before, would you have any idea what The Stig means to the show? Oh some dude in a white suit is driving the car now? And the aforementioned over acting is somewhat understandable when you know what they are trying to replicate, but if you've never seen Clarkson and Co doing their thing before you'd be forgiven for thinking they took some pingers before filming.

Having said all that, I'm going to give it a chance, but I reckon they've got to forge their own way of presenting the show otherwise it's probably not looking good for a second season..

[NickR33]

Utter crap.

All 3 of the hosts shit me to tears, thank god south park was on after which made my night!!!

I'll keep watching it, but will have a cd in the background so I dont have to listen to them, oh, and that old bloke, he reminds me of the inflatable waving arm guy from family guy, the old bloke couldnt stop doing arm/hand movements when talking

argh.

so... how good was Southpark last night oh noes, no more internet!

[DRD-00F]

it's was a ghost! A spooky ghost ectoplasmad me!

[swanny180]

I dunno, while there was some cringe factor, I really don't think they did too bad.

I mean, how the f**k are you meant to follow in the footsteps of the UK show? Not using an extremely similar formula would be pretty stupid, wouldn't it? It makes sense to basically follow the recipe but introduce an Australian flavour to it.

Secondly, the first episode will always be an incredibly difficult balancing act. Having watched older UK Top Gear episodes, the audience didn't really get it when they first introduced the stig, and the cinematography of the track was initially rubbish. They even had some ghey datalogger display up on screen while Jeremy commentates the track.

The biggest reason the UK version is so damn good and so polished, is that they've actually had some time to refine things.

Whilst viewers (and audience members for that matter) haven't always totally comprehended new aspects of the show when theyre introduced (Top Gear Stuntman anyone...?) , it's difficult to actually run through a big explanation in the show, due to the obvious time restraints.

As for the presenters, I actually think they started out really poorly and ended up a lot stronger towards the end of the show.

Possibly the biggest problem in my opinion is that I felt the presenters were trying to fake genuine-ness, obviously a bit of an anomaly in itself.

They have a bit of pressure on them to act and appear like mates like the TG UK presenters do - I think the best thing would be for them to stop worrying about appearing like buddies, and actually *be* mates and then just trust that it will show, if that makes sense.

Don't get me wrong, I was a bit disappointed. But they do have unfathomably huge shoes to fill...

[Kranker]

It was fine, not great, just fine,

As long as SBS shows both the UK and the AUS topgear, not just the AUS version, im not going to complain

They've got a few bugs to iron out but just remember that fat bastard on early top gear, he was a joke, all three presenters are better than him.

Give it time, its better than most crap on TV

[full house]

I can't tell. . . maybe the way it looks . . .its just very simple.

[Thanks Japan For Nissan]

Well , i thought the first top gear australia as very..umm lets just wait for next week and see if they can imporve their humor without having it scripted.

Oh and the R35 was the best part of the show for me

[sh@un]

What airfield was it?

hoxton park?

cessnock?

isn't it filmed in Vic? it's probably Avalon

[r33cruiser]

Well , i thought the first top gear australia as very..umm lets just wait for next week and see if they can imporve their humor without having it scripted.

Oh and the R35 was the best part of the show for me

LOL yea...

i just dont know how i can hold out till next week when they compare a ford to a holden

[Bluprint]

isn't it filmed in Vic? it's probably Avalon

Camden Airport near Sydney

[funkymonkey]

wtf is with that test track... i mean, oran park is just around the corner from that airfield. its either really horrible filming or bad editing, but those test track runs just looked shite, two turns and a couple of chicane's the whole thing's over.

but the show in general I actually liked. after reading half the reviews from the pundits on here and on finalgear.com i was expecting rubbish. you know what? it was actually good. I'd almost call it a mix of Fifth Gear and Top Gear. The scruffy lookin fella reminds me of the new guy from fifth gear for some reason. what most of the plonkers don't realise is that SBS has a fraction of the budget of the BBC (and the viewers too... 8 million TGUK viewers vs 990,000 TGOz viewers) yet still managed some half decent segments compared to the rest of the rubbish made in australia. the hosts... well yeah they did ry to have parallel personalities with the pommes, but in their own way are kinda unique. Warren is funnier than May, the scruffy fella is more skilled than the Hamster, and Cox isn't just a highly opinionated loudmouth with no driving skills... he's just a ex race car driver who happens to be a highly opinionated loudmouth.

Best aussie show after Underbelly I'd have to say.

[akeenan]

i havent watched any australian tv for 5 years now. but if this is what it has become (my opinion comes from 7 minutes of you tube) then jesus christ. ABSOLUTE SHIT. if people in australia have been subjected to such low levels of crap.... I truely am sorry ....

will not watch (download again) again

[Starionturbo]

It was a huge fail.

I expected it to be rubbish and it was.

They made a whole huge police escort down east link stopped a Maybach, said it was an S class, Pulled some headfones out of the door pocket and plugged it in then went on to say that it was stupid because its just an S class mercedes? wtf

the only thing its worth for is to watch some of the cars they take out - just to see and here them.

The Poms sure make great car TV shows (top and 5th gear) but they fail in there Magazines. Australia in my opinion has some of the best Car Journalists in there Magazines (motor, wheels etc) are miles ahead from other car mags!!

[Rocky88]

Oh look! a new Lamborghini... that we won't drive.

Probably cause that guy hit rev limiter on start... what a tool