The Grand Tour

[halopub]

Part of it was probably to purposely toe the line for comedic effect but the word is also pronounced differently in German, with a 'foo.' 

I also liked Jeremy's easy-to-understand analogies. In business terms, it's about a) being the market/segment leader, b) group influence on individuals to conform to brand choice and c) switching costs.

Those quilted interiors in the Bentley were pretty sweet. I did not get the exterior at all, though.

The baby Range Rover, Evoque, seems like it's more suburban-friendly and practical than other RR models for typical road use. I vaguely remember James testing it in Death Valley and thinking I'd like all the extra blind spot cameras and traction options. I don't drive off road but this area has sometimes slippery roads, continual construction plus a lot of human hazards to avoid. The Acura SUVs are the more common model around here but I can see the appeal of a compact luxury crossover that can handle crazy roads when it needs to.

[halopub]

7 hours ago, Danny Franks said:

So this episode just made me ask anew, 'how many cars do these guys have?'

Still, I find it kind of endearing that, after getting their big Amazon payday, they seem to have gone out and bought practical hatchbacks.

Do they really take home that much, though? With the traveling studio and Amazon's technical requirements (e.g. 4K), the production costs must be considerable. I'm sure the trio do very, very well with their regular salary and production stakes but I'd be surprised if it were anywhere near the $15-30 million US that Dave Letterman and Jay Leno used to bring home. Now those two have crazy car collections.

I'd have to do some digging but I remember reading somewhere that Jeremy drives practical cars for everyday use like the school run.

7 hours ago, Danny Franks said:

This episode also showed how they can do consumer advice and make it fun. I didn't know that you got a £4500 supplement from the government to buy an electric car, but I do now. I do find the idea of electric cars intriguing, but I have to agree with Jeremy - they're just not practical yet.

I agree!

Plus they got Roger Daltrey and Wilko Johnson to make cameos.

I've only seen one i3 on the road and don't like the look of it. From the pictures, the solid color ones aren't as bad.

I don't have the mojo to pull off the flashy i8 hybrid but the i3's particular kind of dorkiness offends the design fan in me. Don't get me wrong, features like the responsibly-sourced interior and regenerative braking are excellent inclusions but I'm never going to get past that boxy exterior. I wonder how their hybrid sedans compare performance-wise.

Edited February 3, 2017 by halopub
grammar

[ProfCrash]

Pretty much all of the parking structures and lots in my area have charging stations that you could park at while eating or at work. I would think that the electric car is developing a new business model along highways. Put in the charging stations and open a café/restaurant. People can have a cup of coffee or tea and get something to eat while they recharge their cars. I would think that it would make for a decent business model right now.

An ok end to the season but nothing overly exciting.

I sure hope that Season 2 is less forced and a bit more organic in nature. Drop the silly stunts that are meant to be a slap in the face of the BBC and just do your thing. I don't get how the BBC can prevent them from having celebs on the show, that is a pretty normal feature on a large number of shows. Maybe they cannot do Star in a Reasonably priced car but they should be able to talk cars with a guest.

Another season like this and I might not watch any more.

[Joe]

Richard Hammond crashes, may have fractured his knee. He seems to have that particular combination of bad and good luck to crash, get hurt, but able to walk away, eventually. Is there a term for that kind of thing?

[emma675]

I saw that earlier today after a cryptic tweet from Jeremy. Thank goodness he's okay but I wonder if his wife and family are done with him filming at some point? You can only have so many terrible crashes before something really bad happens.

[biakbiak]

Apparently he got knocked out a month ago in a motorcycle accident and said he wouldn't do anything dangerous.

[msani19]

Richard's ok right? These guys push it way too much. I'd have slugged him when he was retrieved from that smashed vehicle.

[biakbiak]

2 hours ago, msani19 said:

Richard's ok right? These guys push it way too much. I'd have slugged him when he was retrieved from that smashed vehicle.

He fractured his knee. 

[SVNBob]

8 hours ago, Joe said:

Richard Hammond crashes,

From the comments on that article:

Quote

"Does that mean he's not coming on then?"

[Quilt Fairy]

Any word on when the second season will air?

[biakbiak]

11 minutes ago, Quilt Fairy said:

Any word on when the second season will air?

They start filming the studio bits in two weeks and they should start dropping shortly after that so probably mid November which is when it started last year.

[lambertman]

Launch date! December 8.

[halopub]

According to the show's Twitter feed, The American and Celebrity Brain Crash segments have been dropped.

[Netfoot]

29 minutes ago, halopub said:

The American and Celebrity Brain Crash segments have been dropped.

No surprise.  They were the worse segments of the show.  

[biakbiak]

1 hour ago, halopub said:

According to the show's Twitter feed, The American and Celebrity Brain Crash segments have been dropped.

Thank goodness. The celebrity brain crash segment was extremely stupid. I still can't believe that the BBC had a case that any sort of celebrity interview was too close to Top Gear.

[b2H]

No argument with any of the three of you.  

[SVNBob]

5 hours ago, biakbiak said:

The celebrity brain crash segment was extremely stupid.

Which was the point.

[biakbiak]

3 minutes ago, SVNBob said:

Which was the point.

I should have said extremely stupid, annoyingly mind numbling repetitive, boring as shit, and tragically unfunny.

[Netfoot]

5 hours ago, biakbiak said:

tragically unfunny

Fer sure!

This plus "The American" are segments I've been predicting would be eliminated since about the third episode of S1.

[ProfCrash]

7 hours ago, biakbiak said:

I should have said extremely stupid, annoyingly mind numbling repetitive, boring as shit, and tragically unfunny.

You forgot a total waste of time that could have been used for something fun and or entertaining or substituted with watching paint dry as a more interesting alternative.

I can't wait to watch the new series and hope that they are able to get back into the groove.

[halopub]

23 hours ago, Netfoot said:

No surprise.  They were the worse segments of the show.  

While audience reaction was relatively consistent, Jeremy is contrarian enough that I wasn't entirely sure they would eliminate the segments. I had wondered if they would keep The American and instead write lines consistent with Skinner's real-life, relatively positive disposition.

Other show changes will include the tent staying put - they say for budget, not Clarkson's health - a new test driver, an additional race track at Enstone and celebrity guests incorporated into a new segment. The Mozambique film will serve as the big road trip episode since the walking wounded were not able to film a proper Christmas special.

The show is already making hay out of the "audition" process for a test driver, recruiting Mark Webber for a chuckle-worthy online video. There has also been some fan speculation over why the BBC apparently canceled their Stig trademark.

Richard's latest crash will be on the first episode and I'm sure there will be allusions to Clarkson's pneumonia and May's hospitalization for an undetermined infection. 

[ProfCrash]

hmmm I wonder if they will add a doctor to the set to keep an eye on everyone. They could make that work....

[Lisin]

For the opening episode, we are in Switzerland where the presenters compare a Lamborghini Aventador S, a Honda NSX and an all-electric Croatian supercar calles the Rimac Concept One in a battle of past, present and future. 

[Lisin]

God. Even having him in the tent and having known all along everything was fine watching Hammond’s crash nearly wrecked me. 

I’m really happy they’re not killing celebrities this season and I’m absolutely loving the new track! The gravel bit is fabulous! I like the head to head aspect of it too. I honestly didn’t believe they’d do it until it happened because they are the biggest trolls in tv presenter history. 

Nothing can beat the opening of season 1 but this was still just great. So glad it’s back and that the Hampster didn’t burn up. 

[Cherry Cola]

So glad the boys are back!!! 

I'm glad the redneck is gone and celebrity brain crush. 

So glad Hammond is ok!!! That was scary! 

I love Jeremy's sense of humor.  He never fails to make me laugh. I don't watch this for the cars, I watch dor the camaraderie and jokes between the guys.  

[Netfoot]

The Three Stooges return!  (It was nearly two, silly Hammond!)

I liked how they made fun of the hotel's menu.  And how, after the hill-climb they announced the run times without comment on Hamster's Horrific!

[Steff]

I was surprised they made the Rimac crash the 1st episode.  I found myself inwardly cringing when they would say something that would later apply to the crash.  Joking with Hammond that this "might kill him" & Hammond talking about being nervous before his hill climb. 

I had read that Jeremy was the one to call Hammond's wife after it happened & I noticed James walking down the hill with everyone when they were carrying Richard to the air ambulance. 

Love how they found an unfinished track & put 2 stars up against each other to go around the "no stars in a car in timed laps" rule from Top Gear.  It's not a "real" track & it's not a cheap car.  LOL Well done on running thru a loophole. 

Overall another GREAT episode & I'm so happy that they are back on again.  Can't wait for next week.

[Lisin]

2 hours ago, Steff said:

I was surprised they made the Rimac crash the 1st episode. 

So was I, but I guess they figured "get it out of the way" or whatever? Since everyone knew it happened and that obviously it was fine in the end. Then they made so many references to it that I thought they may not show it at all! 

[emma675]

I'm glad they showed Richard's accident in the first show and got it out of the way. I was tense the whole episode waiting for it to happen and although we didn't see a lot of it, I could tell how horrific it was. You could see the fear in Richard's eyes right before it, it's almost like he could tell he had no control over the Rimac towards the end. For as much as they bicker and fight, James, Jeremy and Richard are brothers. I can't imagine how they reacted as they watched the accident unfold; I'm glad they kept the accident footage as minimal as they did.

I felt like this first episode was a little subdued, but it was still fun and I'm glad it's back.

Edited December 10, 2017 by emma675d

[Steff]

1 hour ago, emma675 said:

I'm glad they showed Richard's accident in the first show and got it out of the way. I was tense the whole episode waiting for it to happen and although we didn't see a lot of it, I could tell how horrific it was. You could see the fear in Richard's eyes right before it, it's almost like he could tell he had no control over the Rimac towards the end. For as much as they bicker and fight, James, Jeremy and Richard are brothers. I can't imagine how they reacted as they watched the accident unfold; I'm glad they kept the accident footage as minimal as they did.

I felt like this first episode was a little subdued, but it was still fun and I'm glad it's back.

I've watched several interviews with all 3 of them & we didn't see much footage of the accident because there wasn't any.  They were done filming for the day.  Jeremy & James were at the bottom of the mountain run eating and Richard decided to do one more run for fun.  None of their cameras were filming, none of the car bumper cams or the in car cam were on.  Only Richard's microphone was still running.  The footage we saw of the car going over the edge was a You Tube video shot by a bystander.    Jeremy & James heard about it over the production radios & rushed up to the top of the hill climb course.  They saw a burning car & at first didn't realize Richard got out of the car. 

There's a great 25 (ish) minute long interview with Richard on their DriveTribe website.  The creators of the Rimac have been doing massive data downloads from the car to figure out what went wrong, plus they are still trying to figure out how the car didn't hit the house. 

[b2H]

What is truly scary was the afterthought toward the end of the show - how the car continued to combust for five days after the crash because of the cell technology.

Not that anyone would want to deliberately crash something like this, but the technology definitely needs to focus on preventing the domino combustion under these circumstances.

All in all, a great show and agree that it was great that they got the crash out of the way early on.

[Netfoot]

17 minutes ago, b2H said:

What is truly scary was the afterthought toward the end of the show - how the car continued to combust for five days after the crash because of the cell technology.

My radio controlled pilot friends and I use this type of battery (lithium-ion, lithium-polymer, etc) in electric-powered aircraft.  They have the advantage of fast charge and discharge rates, as well as a high power density, meaning low weight but lots of juice.  However, they do have their disadvantages.

They are prone to thermal runaway.  If they get damaged, a chemical reaction occurs which generates heat.  Heat causes more damage which causes even more heat.  Eventually you have a fire.  Once they are burning, the chemicals give off oxygen.  (In fact they tend to out-gas oxygen with minimal provocation.)  This oxygen is sufficient to support further combustion, so the fire can't be smothered by any type of extinguisher, sand or even buckets of water.   Proper charging regimes and careful handling is the order of the day with these batteries.  

You can probably understand why airlines are reluctant to carry them.

Oh, by the way, every single person who reads this (you included) carries one around on their person every day:  They are used in virtually every cellular phone, tablet, etc, on the planet.  Because so long as you use them sensibly, you shouldn't have a problem.  In other words don't, with tremendous force, smash your electric powered model aircraft (or your Rimac) into anything.  

[Lisin]

1 hour ago, b2H said:

What is truly scary was the afterthought toward the end of the show

Truly scary AND gave me one of my largest chuckles when Jeremy said it was quite "burny" which killed me for some reason. Heee. Burny!

[ProfCrash]

I liked how they handled it. They discussed the various hospitalizations, James unexplained, Jeremy's pneumonia and Hammonds accident. They all teased each other mercilessly, which is how they interact. When they got to the crash they were clear that it was serious but light hearted in how they addressed it. From the comment about not being professional (the cameras in the car were destroyed in the crash and then the fire), to the revealing the results of the race, the discussion of the cars and then Richard saying that he was fine.

Obviously we knew Richard was fine, he was sitting there and seemed to be in good spirits. I watched a bunch of his interviews regarding the accident and his knee was just destroyed. He can no longer run, which is going to drive him crazy because he was a runner. It sounds like there is more surgery to come. But the fact that the major damage was to a knee and not more devastatingly serious is amazing. With all the rolling and crashing, he managed to get himself out of the car, which speaks to the structural integrity of the car, and needed help getting away from the fire. But damn did he get lucky and is that a well built car.

He actually did an interview with Rimlic where they discussed the car and he seemed fine with that interview.

They handled it really well on the show. I am glad that they are past that and I can't wait to see what comes next. I did like the new race with a different type of course and the dual interview. I laughed when they said that they got rid the celebrity death thing because they realized everyone hated it. The show feels like Top Gear in its hayday.

[emma675]

How far into filming of the season was the accident? I'm just wondering if it happened early and they had to adjust challenges to work around Richard's injury?

[ProfCrash]

Not sure about Richard but the Christmas special was delayed by Jeremy’s illness. I suspect we will have a few Richardless episodes this season. He had crutches or a cane in most of the interviews I saw

[Lisin]

Quote

We are in New York to find the fastest way from the Big Apple to Niagara Falls in a race featuring Jeremy in the new Ford GT versus James May on public transportation, dragging an injured Richard Hammond. Also, Jeremy tests the Mercedes-AMG GT R at the Eboladrome, cricketer Kevin Pietersen goes against baseball's Brian Wilson in Celebrity Face Off, and The American test driver is replaced.

[Netfoot]

Clarkson's win is no surprise.  They always rig it so he wins.  In the history of TG there is only one instance where Clarkson lost one of these races.  

[biakbiak]

I do love that they not only fixed the two main criticisms of the show, the celeb death and the American but also acknowledged that everyone hated them. Also, I like that the replacement is a woman but they didn't make a big deal about it.

Brian Wilson needs the beard. 

[surveyandprotect1]

Did anyone catch the problem with the storyline?

 

Clarkson calls "JetBlue" to request that Hammond and May get downgraded from "business class". The problem is that JetBlue doesn't have classes at all. 

[Cherry Cola]

I found it hilarious that James is Vagina in Jeremy's phone. 

I also think they figured out that viewers don't want commentary from the test driver...just like the Stig. 

I find the races fun to watch...I am sure some of the funny bits are set up...but I enjoy them. 

[Danny Franks]

Just watched the first two episodes. They seem sharper, tighter, more like the old Top Gear than the rambling, meandering of some of the first season's episodes.

Interesting film, comparing three different engine types. The Rimac looks like an incredible vehicle, and so does the NSX. I'm really interested these new types of propulsion for cars, seeing the various practicalities and difficulties of what are essentially new, experimental technologies.

The crash was scary, and underpinned the whole episode with a sense of forbidding, because we all saw photos of that crash a while back.

It's good to see they learned from the first season, and dropped the celeb gag. This new competitive celeb feature is much better, and fun for the celebs too, getting to speed around in an F-Type. And a nice personality clash with Wilson and Hasslehoff.

[Danny Franks]

So the American is replaced with a (thus far) anonymous British woman? Works for me. Looks like she's a great driver. That Merc was rather silly, though.

I liked the celeb thing more in this one. Kevin Pietersen is a bit of a tool, but has plenty of energy. And I liked the baseball player, despite his whacky outfit. He also reminded me of Alan Tudyk, which is never a bad thing.

Not too interested in the race, with a car I don't like vs public transport. But they did have the interesting twist of Hammond being on crutches and then in a wheelchair, which allowed them to make a very valid point about the difficulties of disabled travel. I can only imagine how frustrating it is. 

The outcome was inevitable,  as it always is. But I guess that's not really the point of the show.

I still think this format has always been at its best when they each have a crappy old car, and put it through the ringer. It always brings out their camaraderie and mutual love of cars, as well as the genuine humour of unexpected calamities. Hopefully they'll do it at some point this season.

[Netfoot]

2 hours ago, Danny Franks said:

which allowed them to make a very valid point about the difficulties of disabled travel. I can only imagine how frustrating it is.

In 2001, I was locally diagnosed with something (I won't say what), and had to travel to the USA for tests and, potentially, surgery.  I exited the car at the local aeroport, and was met by a wheelchair, complete with someone to push it, courtesy of the airline.  They whisked me to the head of the line for check-in, and when the time came, I was wheeled to the aircraft and seated first.  Upon arrival in the USA, I was met again by a wheelchair with a push-person, right at the jet-bridge, and pushed through immigration, bypassing what looked like a couple thousand people standing in line.  I was whisked through customs without stopping, with a large carry-on bag in my lap which was never inspected either on to, or off of the aircraft, and in the shortest possible time was helped into my car for the drive to the hospital.  (Note, this all occurred six weeks after 911.)

A few years later, a family member also had to travel in a wheelchair, and experienced similar treatment on both ends of the journey.

If you have to travel, you will find you have a much easier time of it if you are in a wheelchair.

Oh, and the tests showed that the initial diagnosis was completely wrong, meaning that I didn't have the luxury of a wheelchair to travel in, on the way back.  Instead I was repeatedly stopped, searched, questioned, forced to remove my shoes, and generally made miserable.  Now that was a nightmare!  Finally I was 'profiled' (along with every other bearded passenger) and shunted aside for extra security checks before I could finally board and GTF oudda there.  

[lambertman]

20 hours ago, Danny Franks said:

So the American is replaced with a (thus far) anonymous British woman? Works for me. Looks like she's a great driver.

She's Abbie Eaton ( @abbieeaton44 ). Curious that they didn't name her since it's clearly not intended to be a secret. Perhaps this week.

[b2H]

I appreciate the concept of showing how difficult it can be to travel (and @Netfoot, so glad you're not as sick!)., but beating Richard over the head with it all was tiresome.  Yes, his inattention caused the accident; yes, this isn't the first one he had...  I get all that.  But he didn't set out to do it and damned near died in the process.

I've been watching TG/GT for several years now and, for me, this one was rapidly becoming annoying, just for the severity of what put him in this position.  It's not like it was a hangnail, for Pete's sake.

Spoiler

Still rumors out there that the Stig could return, if BBC doesn't renew TG.

[biakbiak]

7 minutes ago, b2H said:

I appreciate the concept of showing how difficult it can be to travel (and @Netfoot, so glad you're not as sick!)., but beating Richard over the head with it all was tiresome.  Yes, his inattention caused the accident; yes, this isn't the first one he had...  I get all that.  But he didn't set out to do it and damned near died in the process.

I've been watching TG/GT for several years now and, for me, this one was rapidly becoming annoying, just for the severity of what put him in this position.  It's not like it was a hangnail, for Pete's sake.

  Hide contents

 

It doesn't bother me because it doesn't bother Richard, it's how the always joke, and it can be cathartic that they are able to make these jokes precisely because he is okay.

[halopub]

On 12/12/2017 at 9:03 AM, emma675 said:

How far into filming of the season was the accident? I'm just wondering if it happened early and they had to adjust challenges to work around Richard's injury?

About seven months in - they filmed scenes in Dubai during their tent taping there last December. I assume they did take a brief break right after season one finished airing, to regroup and plan.

[SVNBob]

On 12/9/2017 at 6:47 AM, Netfoot said:

And how, after the hill-climb they announced the run times without comment on Hamster's Horrific!

After all, they did make a big deal about him being ok after his first bad crash, so why bother doing it again?  And besides, they might have been prevented in doing that by the Beeb.  It technically would have been copying Top Gear.  /sarcasm

But while mentioning the first crash, I will note that that was also covered in the first episode of the series after it happened.  So there is precedent for the lads to get that major event out of the way immediately so the rest of the season won't have that hanging over it.

[halopub]

Quote

In this show Jeremy blasts from the South of France to the Alps and then on to Turin in the 1479 HP Bugatti Chiron, James races the Kia Stinger GT against skateboarders, and Richard tries to relieve the boredom of office lunchtimes with the all-new sport of car park racing. Plus, actor Hugh Bonneville goes against naturalist Casey Anderson to find the world's fastest person who lives with a bear.

One of my favorite episodes so far in the series. James was on point with his humor - e.g. calling the cross a spoiler alert; all of them cracking up after he offered goodwill to all men, including those he hates - and his glee at the conclusion of the Stinger review made me laugh. The camera footage during Jeremy's "drive" through Turin was impressive, regardless of how the team managed to capture it; I liked the return of Giovanni and Jeremy gingerly doing the pizza slice down the Alps in regular clothes.

The office park racing was a fantastic fantasy sequence. I haven't decided how real the driving was - those power slides were rather skillful and I don't know that people would risk either their own or company cars like that but it was fun anyway. When I have a chance I'll have to look up the commentary from the companies involved - it did seem interesting that the show would bother to note which cars were company-owned ("fleet"), personal, leased or "privateer."  And they also left all the license plates visible.

Normally I'd be over the Hammond crash jokes but for some reason, those and the endless pneumonia cracks are still making laugh.

 

Edited to add: Gizmodo UK has sussed out that at least two of the office park drivers were pros. It doesn't really take away the fun for me because the premise still has enough plausibility to it. Plus Nick from Accounts was there to deliberately crash into the trash cans.

Edited December 22, 2017 by halopub
added link