Top Gear/Season 10 Episode 9

Season 10 Episode 9
Season 10, Episode 9
Airdate	December 9, 2007
Written by
Directed by	Brian Klein
← 10x08 Season 10 Episode 8	10x10 → Season 10 Episode 10
Top Gear — Season Ten

Episode Nine of the tenth season of Top Gear, and is episode ninety overall.

Guest Stars: Keith Allen

Information

24-Hour Biofuel Endurance Race

In season nine's episode five, the boys attempted to plant crops that would eventually be used to produce biofuel. Their work resulted in 500 gallons of biodiesel they needed to get rid of. So they entered themselves into the Britcar 24-Hour Endurance Race at Silverstone with a diesel-powered car. This year Audi won the LeMans 24-Hour Race with a diesel car, largely because it didn't have to stop as often to refuel. The Top Gear entry was a 4-year-old, £11,000 (roughly $22,300) BMW 330d with 45,000 miles on the odometer. But the Top Gear Team needed to turn it into a race car including working on the brakes, engine, suspension, electronics, adding race seats and a long-range fuel tank.

Arriving at Silverstone, the group believed they would be competing against other amateurs but discovered they were going up against 200 mph supercars with blue chip sponsors, loads of equipment and luxury motorhomes. Turning to themselves, Jeremy Clarkson pointed out how their car is the only one in the field with a novice indicator on the back end. Everyone else has done at least six races. Richard Hammond has done no laps around Silverstone, Clarkson has done a charity race at and five laps around Silverstone, and James May has done no racing at all and only a couple laps around Silverstone. Turning to their competitors, the trio discover one running a diesel-powered BMW M3 that is much better than their BMW.

Qualifying begins and each driver is required to complete a minimum of three laps. The fastest lap time among those laps will decide their starting position on the grid. Clarkson finishes his three laps, May loses count and only does two, and Hammond gets lost. They intended to let Hammond stay out longer to get a feel of the track, but he's forced in early so May can finish his third lap. However, the group of an ace up their sleeve in the form of a fourth driver — The Stig. Thanks to his efforts, they don't place last in qualifying. But, as it's a 24-hour race, they must complete an additional three practice laps around at night. Due to very poor visibility Clarkson takes the BMW off the track. The Stig, however, actually goes around faster than in the day and puts the team up in 42^nd. Things go horribly wrong on May's lap as the gearbox explodes and the team engineer believes the turbo, clutch and flywheel have been damaged.

Two hours before the race is to begin, the Top Gear BMW 330d's front end is completely off. The other cars lined up for the formation lap, but the trio's car remained in the garage. As the other cars started for the formation lap, the 330d's repairs are complete and the team is able to start from the pit lane. With the Stig at the wheel, he moves the car up from near dead last to 39^nth place in an hour and twenty minutes, and lapping about 13 seconds quicker than the next diesel car. The car dies, however, and is pushed into the garage to be fixed. Thirty minutes later May goes out as the Stig got out of the car and isn't allowed back in until someone else has a go, thereby doing only half of his three hour stint. May does a 2.30.0 to the Stig's 2.16.0, but eventually gets his time down to a 2.24.0. As their car is running on diesel they don't have to stop for five minutes every hour to refuel and are able to stay out almost three times longer.

Night begins to fall and, in conjunction with fatigue, May's lap times begin to tumble and he goes off the track. He's brought in and Clarkson takes his place. The BMW 330d didn't have much straight-line speed, but it made for it in the corners. After Clarkson finishes his stint, the Top Gear Team is up to 37^th place. Hammond goes out next for his first racing lap of Silverstone and it's in the dark, to boot. But Hammond eventually collides with a £500,000 (roughly $1,000,000) Mosler MT900 that was fighting for the lead and is towed back to the pits. The collision left the BMW's wishbone broken, ruined the disc brake, destroyed two wheels, shattered the left headlight, caved in the passenger door and the engine wouldn't start.

Three hours later, the Top Gear Team manages to get the car working again but find themselves dead last. And so the Stig is put back into the BMW 330d. In the subsequent three hours, the Stig pulls the car up eight places. May takes over for the Stig, but then fog rolls into Silverstone and blinds everyone. Eventually the fog becomes so thick, the race is halted until morning. With the lack of sleep, May accidentally pulls into the wrong pit garage, partially blocking in their main competitors — the Saxondale Team — who are running a diesel-powered BMW. The Stig goes out again and passes the Saxondale Team, but the front splitter dislodges itself from the front end and there's a massive fuel leak, forcing the Stig to pull into the pit lane. The Stig stays in the car and goes back out. With four and a half hours left in the race, the Stig has gotten them up to third in class and Hammond and Clarkson are the ones left to finish the race.

With two hours and thirty minutes left, it's down to Clarkson against Saxondale's quick driver in their own BMW 330d. Unfortunately, Clarkson's aggressive driving destroys the tires, allowing the Saxondale BMW to pass and forcing Clarkson into the pits for a fresh set of tires. Luckily, the Saxondale Team have problems with their car and Clarkson is able to make up ground. Finishing the race, the Top Gear Team places third in class (out of five) and thirty-ninth overall (out of fourty-six).

Fiat 500

May reviews the Fiat 500, the near carbon copy of the 1950's Fiat 500. The new Fiat 500 is not a small, cheap, utilitarian transport like the old one. Underneath its bodywork, the 500 based off the current Fiat Panda. The Panda is bigger, more practical and about £1,000 cheaper. However, the Panda is just a car while the 500 is a car and a fashion item. It has automatic air conditioning, electric windows, buttons on the steering wheel, a pseudo-metal dash and a big single instrument cluster. It even has a retro horn. Prices start at £8,000 (roughly $16,200), which is more expensive than the Panda but £3,000 less than the nearest Mini Cooper. It's six inches shorter than the Mini, yet it's actually more spacious inside. The thing about the Mini, however, is that it drives brilliantly. Has Fiat pulled off the same accomplishment with the 500? To test it out, May travels to Budapest to race the Fiat 500 against two BMXers across the city. Going through the downhill hairpins, the Fiat 500 experiences a lot of body roll which May counts towards the amusement value of the car. The 500 can be had with a 1.2 or 1.4 L gasoline engine, or a diesel engine like in the one May is test driving which is "rubbish." One thing May likes about the 500 is that the rev counter is inside the speedometer, so the speed chases the revs up and down the dial. After eight miles the race finishes and May loses.

Back in the studio, May concludes that he likes the Fiat Panda more than the Fiat 500. The Panda is more fun to drive. Clarkson decides to poll the audience as to which car they prefer and no one chooses the Panda.

Star in a Reasonably Priced Car

This week's Star in a Reasonably Priced Car is Keith Allen, a Welsh comedian, actor, singer and writer. Keith Allen races the Chevrolet Lacetti around a very wet test track in 1.51.7.

Ascari A10, Daihatsu Materia

The Top Gear producers have deemed there have been too many supercars featured on this season of the show. As such, they've told Clarkson to review a proper family car, the Daihatsu Materia. It's a small and easy to park, five-door hatchback. Clarkson has decided to compare it to a competitor, the Ascari A10.

The Ascari A10 is a carbon fiber clad monster with a 5.0 L V8 engine in the back from a BMW M5. It's better looking than the Daihatsu and, with 625 hp, it's much louder and faster. 0-60 takes 2.8 seconds with a top speed of 215 mph. The interior is about as luxurious as a military Land Rover, but it drives beyond belief. The steering is even better. The Ascari A10 is like a Koenigsegg, but a million times more manageable.

But how does the Ascari A10 compare to the Daihatsu Materia? The Materia has a multi-CD changer, airbags, five seats and a big trunk. The A10 has none of these things and you can't even understand its dashboard. The A10 is £350,000 (roughly $710,000) making it more expensive than the Materia and less economical. And then there's the cornering. The Ascari A10 has no anti-lock brakes and no traction control, so the only thing keeping it pointed in the right direction is the driver. Choosing between the two is difficult, but Clarkson would have to pick the bright yellow Ascari A10.

The Stig takes the Ascari A10 around the test track and posts a time of 1.17.3 in the wet for the Power Laps board. As the A10 has a hydraulic lifting nose, it can get over speed bumps and thus stay on the top of the Power Laps board.

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