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While Top Gear USA thrashes about trying to grab American fans of the British Hit, Porsche has proven how easy the formula really is to replicate. Take one insanely fast car, one authoritative-sounding middle-aged man, lots of unnecessarily smoky drifts and edit it all together with lots of fast-cuts, focus pans and other familiar camera tricks. And just like that you’ll have the essence of a Top Gear test, not to mention the kind of video that is catnip to fans of fast cars. Plus, because Porsche doesn’t try to replicate all of Top Gear’s chemistry and banter, it actually works. Because, as we’re rapidly learning, that part of Top Gear can be copied… but apparently not replicated.
20 Comments on “Porsche’s GT2 RS: Who Needs Top Gear Anyway?...”
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“Oh, ‘ello thay neow peetrol heeads. Ay be drivin’ tha piss ouootah theeis heeah Pooorschah as fawst as ay fookin’ kin neow, boys. And ay tayell ya, neow, eet’s ahs mooch foon ahs droppin’ thee ewoold ladies knickahs, ya noo.”
See. TGUS will never, ever be as good as TGUK — or even this Porsche car pr0n video.
An accent from the British isles is just a much better voice over track for this sort of thing. Necessary, even.
I hate drifting (except where necessary like in dirt/snow…). It’s pointless on a track and subjectively scored. And I’m pretty sure that sliding a car around a corner is still not the fastest way around said corner. So, is this an expensive drift car or a racecar? If it is the later, then this video does not help sell “the most powerful Porsche ever built.”
Totally agree… fun, but pointless. Losing grip is never faster on a track.
I was saying in my head, “There goes a $2000 set ‘o’ tires in 20 minutes.” That’s probably why he was doing it… with Porsche picking up the bill.
Rule of thumb for racing: whoever steers the least wins.
I’m with you. I can’t stand this type of video. I’d rather Top Gear put a little more thought into their test clips instead of just saying, “the power from this (insert engine or car name) is mind-blowingly epic!!!” for any reasonably fast car and then showing a bunch of silly burnouts around a corner like any Miata on cheap all-seasons could do.
“Rule of thumb for racing: whoever steers the least wins.”
The same applies to using a hand brake to initiate the turn. Less is better.
Someone should invent a fake ’30s folk singer named Smoky Burnouts.
Instead of copying TG they should’ve copied Faszination Nurburgring, the Yellowbird video. Put a Stefan Roser clone in the drivers seat and set a fast lap. Who cares what language he speaks because he he’s too busy driving to talk, all one needs is pure engine sounds.
that was probably the most terrifying beautiful thing I’ve ever seen. like watching charlize theron shave your neck with a samurai sword. i need no further evidence why i am unfit to drive a 911 from the ‘good old days.’ God almighty that wheel did not stop chattering and bouncing for more than half a second that whole lap. But do love the growl of that air-cooled flat six.
With that burr, he needs Nicky Grist as a co-driver.
After watching and listening to that clip, I’m now ready for a plate of haggis and a wee dram.
Top Gear US is unwatchable, I got through the first few minutes, fast forwarded through the rest and knew what the whole show was about because I’d seen it before, and done better.
I couldn’t even watch more than a bit. It looks like they threw the footage into the video effects blender. Matting everything is ridiculous, as are those cheesy graffiti overlays. There wasn’t the sense of editing rhythm that Top Gear UK has. And the humor is critical. If there’s not going to be any humor, then I’d prefer 5th gear.
Or maybe it’s just because I can’t find excitement in a $200K 911.
And the industrial video rock is horrible. Guitar thrashing over cars is so YouTube.
Fifth Gear has finally perfected the formula of not being Top Gear – hosts that can drive, can review cars critically, and can speak properly into a camera. That’s really all it takes to make a decent car show. You’re never going to get the US equivalent of Jezza, Hamster, and May, or the Aussie equivalent. When you try, you end up with a disaster.
Wow, found some like minded discussion. I was looking at the vid, feeling and thinking like when is this guy going to actually drive the car?
I really don’t give a rats ass about cast chemistry and humor on a tv show about AUTOMOBILES. In fact, not having to listen to snark and British vernacular is one of the main reasons I prefer the Americanized Top Gear.
Some of the U.S. Top Gear haters remind me of an old Army buddy (buddy when I could stand him anyway) of mine that used to incorporate European, mostly British, phrases into his speech to try to appear intelligent/sophisticated. Contrary to what he believed, everyone else thought he was a douchebag. I’ll give the B&B that don’t like U.S. Top Gear the benefit of the doubt. However, I’m willing to bet that there’s at least a couple of posters afflicted with the ol’ nothing-American-can-be-as-good-as-European douchebaggery.
What I love is the continual stream of clearly toxic wastewater…
Yeah, that was great, watching a barely understandable Scotsman drifting (or is that “drefting”?) around a road course burning up thousands of dollars worth of rubber. Any inner-city clown could do that with an old Supra!
I can’t figure out what’s worse – the fact that they thought using the phrase “Driven to Extremes” is cool, or the fact that they couldn’t even use correct grammar when they wrote it.