Fifth Gear Season 14 Episode 6

A bit late but here’s the review for the sixth episode of Fifth Gear, one which was pretty interesting.

Tom kicked off the show with a review of Volkswagen’s newest and most gorgeous coupe, the Scirocco. He tested a model fitted with the optional DSG automatic gearbox and really proved it’s worth in the sport setting. Although the outside looks great, the inside is a bit of a dissappointment, giving off the impression that there are just bits and pieces taken from other VW cars. Because it is named after a wind, Tom thought what better way to test the car than racing with a paramotorist. In simpler terms, a guy with an industrial fan on his back and a parachute. Although the sand really gave Tom a run for its money he managed to win the race, proving that the Scirocco can even beat Mother Nature.

“It’s new but is it any good” followed next, Jonnie testing the new Hyundai i800, the korean new minivan which can seat up to 8 people. He put it up against the Chrysler Voyager, which seats only 7 persons. Not having 7 or 8 guys at the ready for the test, Jonnie decided to use bags full of potatoes instead. In the end, for the family guy, the Hyundai is great but for someone with a taste for luxury, the Chrysler is the more sensible choice, proof that many celebrities use it to transport their entourages.

Next up, Tim approached a problem from the second hand car market, the so-called “canvassers“. They call you after you put your car for sale and offer to put the car onto their network of clients, if you pay a fee. Tim received an offer where his car was to be put on almost 100 different website for 28 days and a special offer, if the car isn’t sold in one week, he would benefit a free weekend holliday. Free as in pay for your own breakfast and dinner, which aren’t that cheap. No clients replied to the car, and even after their promising that Tim’s car will be offered to dealers to make an offer for it, nothing materialised. So a solid piece of advice, not everybody is that interested in helping you, so be careful when you’re selling a car.

Next up, James Toseland, a Moto GP rider which on a previous show raced Tiff around a track, returned today to learn how to drive as a professional on four wheels aswell. The car of choice? A brand new Aston Martin V8 Vantage. Although his previous race was quite dangerous, making Jason Plato say he is quite dangerous. But after a few laps and drifts with the car, let’s jsut say that courage was leaving James. His first laps were quite slow, but after a few tips from Jason he really managed to improve quite a lot. So he thought to take it up a level, and asked Jason to teach him how to drift. This technique was quite tricky for the motorcycle rider and after quite a lot of practice he managed to achieve some drifts.

With the launch of the new Jeep Wrangler, Jonny decided to put this new model up against it’s ancestor, the Willis Jeep, the original model which was tried through a lot of wars and battle grounds. So Jonny was the guy behind the Wrangler and former special forces officer Myke Hawke. The first test was a practicality one, they each had to take off the textile top and fold down the front windshield. Needless to say, burdened by new healt and safety regulations, the Wrangler lost to its more basic predecessor. The next trial was trying to overcome a terrible 1:1 clime, the winner being the one which got closer to the top. The new Jeep won it, with the new electronic systems really putting the power down and going almost half a car higher than the old one. The last test was made up of a road through a quite deep lake, where the new Jeep proved its worth, by not letting any water in, as opposed to it ancestor which got the two drivers pretty soaked.

Vicky followed by puttin the new Porsche Boxter RS 60 Spider against not a new sport car, but againt an 11 year old Porsche 911 Carrera 2. So who would win against the mid-engined Boxter or the rear placed 911, both them having almost equal technical specs like power or 0-100 km/h times. Although the Boxter felt more agile than his older brother, it lost to the 911 by .3 of a second. Just goes to show you, if it’s new it doesn’t mean it’s more powerful.

Tiff closed off the show by going to the Santa Pod drag strip, where a world records was being set. The fastest alternative fuel vehicle title was up for grabs, with all likes of cars fighting for it. Tiff would be driving the experimental Lotus 270E Tri-Fuel car, which is able to run on normal gasoline, on ethanol and also on methanol. Because powered by the latter it had more power than a Ferrari F430, that was the fuel of choice. Although it managed a very impressive time, Tiff would have to be contempt with the title of fastest 4-wheel alternative powered car. He was beaten by a motorcycle powered by apples (!), more specificaly, on the ethanol derived from the distilation of normal apples.

All in all, a good show worth a watch, and here’s a few videos with some parts.