300bhp/ton

Here's a review from last Sunday's Top Gear of the Shelby GT500:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8BbXZN0Gkv4


Personally I don't think its the best review in the world and kinda misses the point of a muscle car, but its still quite a good article

Although it does highlight that the GT500 is no circuit racer not even close. Sure it's fast but with 500bhp I guess many would have hoped it would be quicker around the circuit.

Top Gear track lap time:

Corvette Z06 1.22.4
Porsche Cayman 1.26.2
Lotus Exige 1.26.4
Chevrolet Corvette 1.26.8
Ford Mustang Shelby GT500 1.30.0
Subaru Impreza STI 1.30.1
Vauxhall Monaro VXR 1.30.1
Nissan 350Z 1.31.8
Mazda RX-8 1.31.8

EDIT: Ignore the from JC about the LSD, think he must be losing his marbles, lol.

PWORLDSTANG

I can't watch this video until later, but this guy always dogs American cars. Ford or Chevy, he never has nothing to say but negative ****.

300bhp/ton

Sorry to disagree but that is a stereo typical American response.

Do you realise that JC actually had a Ford GT??

And that Hampster has a Dodge Charger 440 R/T and a Mustang GT390??

They simply like cars and review them. The only thing they do is forget the target audience and the commonality of modifiing cars in America.

It's not the norm in the UK to buy a car and mod it, you simply just buy a faster car in the first place. This is not so in the States.

Then there's the audience like when they tested the s197 Stang because it's fast they seem to think that a Lotus Exige or Porsche are an alternative car forgetting that they cost 2 or 3 times more.

So no they don't always dog American cars, just too many of you guys are far too sensative.

PWORLDSTANG

LMAO! Are you serious? "Stereotypical American Response?" I do know that he owns a Ford GT! I've seen that episode. And he also rants on how different areas of the car was designed by designers from different European countries. Like I said, I've seen that episode. But, every other American car he's reviewed, the majority of the **** that he's said is negative. I know that it's a review, and the purpose is to give an honest overview of the car. But It doesn't help that he doesn't like America to begin with (yes, I've seen that episode too). And by the way he reviews American cars, you can clearly see that he strongly dislikes this country. All I was saying is that he never has anything positive to say about American car, with the exception to the Ford GT.

Us Americans are too sensitive?... I'll just wait and let someone else get on you for making that stupid *** statement.

C5_vette

have not got a chance to watch it yet, stupid work firewall, but as far as the hating on american cars thing goes, in the past those guys havent been to optomistic about them, espacially vettes, man J.c really hated those ( ever seen the episode where he machine guns down a c4 from a helicopter haha), which is why i loved when they reviewed the C6z06 and they raved about it...

But they do no hate U.S cars they actualy both own some as you mentioned,

as far as modifying cars in the U.K im not sure what you are talking about, there is a pretty healthy euro tuning scene over there, at least thats the impression i get whenever I am over there ( at least twice a year/ and prob heading there for grad school in the fall)

edit: here is the link of Clarkson blowing up that 84 vette, it should still work..

http://www.jalopnik.com/cars/clips/c...tte-207922.php

Genesis_26317

iTrader: (2)

Ya know I am just going to delete my comment.

No sense in being a rude *******.

Finite1

iTrader: (3)

PWORLDSTANG, you should go read John Clease's Letter to America and see how you feel about that.

No I've heard this before. A lot of people are mistaken by how they rate cars and think they are bias towards American cars.

And they should be, in a sense, because they look at the rest of the worlds cars and they actually run the car in a curcuit track to evaluate all around.

this review was good IMO, it's the same exact type of review I hear on other sites about this car from people who actually drive it. One guy actually said the same thing the Roush mustang is better than the GT500 and that a c6 ls2 > gt500. because it's only good for straight line and rolls. interior isn't that great in person. looks aren't great. it cant compete with its biggest foe the corvette.

and this review pretty much cleared that up yet again.

lol "...but it's M3 money."

I'd rather have the Roush after seeing that.

PWORLDSTANG

^ Who is John Clease? What did his letter say?

C5_vette

+ 1 thats the best part about this show..

300bhp/ton

Yeah but he gave the C6 a great write up and in 2 subsiquent DVD's he's produced.

Seriously they don't hate US cars, they give every car the same treatment, it's just on US based forums a large percentage of American's always seem to tak eit to heart.

TVR, MG, Rover, Jaguar & Aston have at times faired no better and often far worse than any American car ever has.

German and Japanese don't get any better of a ride nore either do Italian.

And it's FRENCH cars which regulary get the biggest pounding on Top Gear, yet again many Americans never seem to realise this and thing the only insults and jokes are aimed at them, which simply isn't true.

There is a big mod scene but its generally older cars and young people, most are not fast and alloy wheels and body kits is the limit of their mods along with a stupid sized stereo.

Adding superchargers and engine rebuilds on fairly new performance cars really is not the norm.

Yeah that was not Top Gear but a Clarkson DVD, he also destroyed a Porsche 911, Nissan Sunny, Ford Sierra, Yugo, Volvo, Hyundia and several other cars in his various DVD's.

So yeah totally 100% American cars....

shiv15

iTrader: (7)

Rover, Jag, and Aston are owned by Ford and as far as I'm concerned are American.

Genesis_26317

iTrader: (2)

C5_vette

Yea i know they liked the c6, as I said, its the first one in a long time ha

Fair enough on the mod scene, there are spots where you can find well modified cars, but your prob right about mostly visual upgrades

+1 on the DVD not top gear....


and I never said they only went after U.S cars ha, from what i recall he has a bit of beef with the Lambos.. I am a big fan of the show so i could care less ha

Bitemark46

Is that the same episode that they put the GT500 on that mobile dyno? Stupid schmuck doesn't even know the difference between fwhp and rwhp. ******* show is so biased. Next they'll say that a standard VW beetle handles and out accelrates a dodge viper. -Mark

Finite1

iTrader: (3)

You may know him from Monty Python productions.

You can find the letter on the internet in various places.

AronZ28

iTrader: (2)

That show makes fun of all cars, not just ones from the US.

And I think their point is well made about the GT500. A Monaro, which has 100 less hp and seats 4 people posted the same lap time as the GT500. And a Monaro's suspension is set up with some thought to ride comfort as well.

Genesis_26317

iTrader: (2)

John Clease

Boy this is going to **** a lot of people off.

Here it is:
To the citizens of the United States of America, in the light of your failure to elect a competent President of the USA and thus to govern yourselves, we hereby give notice of the revocation of your independence, effective today.

Her Sovereign Majesty Queen Elizabeth II will resume monarchical duties over all states, commonwealths and other territories. Except Utah, which she does not fancy. Your new prime minister (The Right Honourable Tony Blair, MP for the 97.85% of you who have until now been unaware that there is a world outside your borders) will appoint a minister for America without the need for further elections. Congress and the Senate will be disbanded. A questionnaire will be circulated next year to determine whether any of you noticed. To aid in the transition to a British Crown Dependency, the following rules are introduced with immediate effect:

1. You should look up revocation in the Oxford English Dictionary. Then look up aluminium. Check the pronunciation guide. You will be amazed at just how wrongly you have been pronouncing it. The letter 'U' will be reinstated in words such as 'favour' and 'neighbour', skipping the letter 'U' is nothing more than laziness on your part. Likewise, you will learn to spell 'doughnut' without skipping half the letters. You will end your love affair with the letter 'Z' (pronounced 'zed' not 'zee') and the suffix ize will be replaced by the suffix ise. You will learn that the suffix 'burgh' is pronounced 'burra' e.g. Edinburgh. You are welcome to respell Pittsburgh as 'Pittsberg' if you can't cope with correct pronunciation.

Generally, you should raise your vocabulary to acceptable levels. Look up vocabulary. Using the same twenty seven words interspersed with filler noises such as "like" and "you know" is an unacceptable and inefficient form of communication. Look up interspersed. There will be no more 'bleeps' in the Jerry Springer show. If you're not old enough to cope with bad language then you shouldn't have chat shows. When you learn to develop your vocabulary then you won't have to use bad language as often.

2. There is no such thing as "US English". We will let Microsoft know on your behalf. The Microsoft spell-checker will be adjusted to take account of the reinstated letter 'u' and the elimination of -ize.

3. You should learn to distinguish the English and Australian accents. It really isn't that hard. English accents are not limited to cockney,upper-class twit or Mancunian (Daphne in Frasier). You will also have to learn how to understand regional accents - Scottish dramas such as Taggart will no longer be broadcast with subtitles. While we're talking about regions, you must learn that there is no such place as Devonshire in England. The name of the county is Devon. If you persist in calling it Devonshire, all American States will become shires e.g. Texasshire, Floridashire, Louisianashire.

4. Hollywood will be required occasionally to cast English actors as the good guys. Hollywood will be required to cast English actors to play English characters. British sit-coms such as Men Behaving Badly or Red Dwarf will not be re-cast and watered down for a wishy-washy American audience who can't cope with the humour of occasional political incorrectness.

5. You should relearn your original national anthem, God Save The Queen but only after fully carrying out task 1. We would not want you to get confused and give up half

Genesis_26317

iTrader: (2)

6. You should stop playing American football. There is only one kind of football. What you refer to as American football is not a very good game. The 2.15% of you who are aware that there is a world outside your borders may have noticed that no one else plays American football. You will no longer be allowed to play it, and should instead play proper football. Initially, it would be best if you played with the girls. It is a difficult game. Those of you brave enough will, in time, be allowed to play rugby (which is similar to American "football", but does not involve stopping for a rest every twenty seconds or wearing full kevlar body armour like nancies). We are hoping to get together at least a US Rugby sevens side by 2005. You should stop playing baseball. It is not reasonable to host an event called the 'World Series' for a game which is not played outside of America. Since only 2.15% of you are aware that there is a world beyond your borders,your error is understandable. Instead of baseball, you will be allowed to play a girls' game called rounders, which is baseball without fancy team strip, oversized gloves, collector cards or hotdogs.

7. You will no longer be allowed to own or carry guns. You will no longer be allowed to own or carry anything more dangerous in public than a vegetable peeler. Because we don't believe you are sensible enough to handle potentially dangerous items, you will require a permit if you wish to carry a vegetable peeler in public.

8. July 4th is no longer a public holiday. November 2nd will be a new national holiday, but only in England. It will be called Indecisive Day.

9. All American cars are hereby banned. They are crap and it is for your own good. When we show you German cars, you will understand what we mean. All road intersections will be replaced with roundabouts. You will start driving on the left with immediate effect. At the same time,you will go metric with immediate effect and conversion tables. Roundabouts and metrication will help you understand the British sense of humour.

10. You will learn to make real chips. Those things you call French fries are not real chips. Fries aren't even French, they are Belgian though 97.85% of you (including the guy who discovered fries while in Europe) are not aware of a country called Belgium. Those things you insist on calling potato chips are properly called crisps. Real chips are thick cut and fried in animal fat. The traditional accompaniment to chips is beer which should be served warm and flat. Waitresses will be trained to be more aggressive with customers.

11. As a sign of penance 5 grams of sea salt per cup will be added to all tea made within the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, this quantity to be doubled for tea made within the city of Boston itself.

Genesis_26317

iTrader: (2)

12. The cold tasteless stuff you insist on calling beer is not actually beer at all, it is lager. From November 1st only proper British Bitter will be referred to as beer,and European brews of known and accepted provenance will be referred to as Lager. The substances formerly known as American Beer will henceforth be referred to as Near-Frozen Knat's Urine,with the exception of the product of the American Budweiser company whose product will be referred to as Weak Near-Frozen Knat's Urine. This will allow true Budweiser (as manufactured for the last 1000 years in Pilsen,Czech Republic) to be sold without risk of confusion.

13. From November 10th the UK will harmonise petrol (or Gasoline, as you will be permitted to keep calling it until April 1st 2005) prices with the former USA. The UK will harmonise its prices to those of the former USA and the Former USA will, in return, adopt UK petrol prices (roughly $6/US gallon- get used to it).

14. You will learn to resolve personal issues without using guns, lawyers or therapists. The fact that you need so many lawyers and therapists shows that you're not adult enough to be independent. Guns should only be handled by adults. If you're not adult enough to sort things out without suing someone or speaking to a therapist then you're not grown up enough to handle a gun.

15. Please tell us who killed JFK. It's been driving us crazy.

16. Tax collectors from Her Majesty's Government will be with you shortly to ensure the acquisition of all revenues due (backdated to 1776).

Thank you for your co-operation and have a great day.

John Cleese

Finite1

iTrader: (3)

*PoP*

Thats a can of worms for this thread.


I already endorsed a deliberation on this at another site amongst a UK gent and a few American's who also added to a huge debate.