Top Gear (2002) s23e03 Episode Script

The Audi R8 2.0 V10 Plus

1 'Tonight, I speak German' Vorsprung durch! '.
.
the German speaks English' Go out, go out, go out! '.
.
and Matt takes a tour of London with superstar wheel man Ken Block.
' Oh! Westminster Bridge! Hello, and welcome to Top Gear.
This is it, the wait is over.
Tonight is the night.
Yes, the night where more cars go sideways than ever before on Top Gear.
No, no.
No, that's not what I'm talking about.
No.
I'm talking about you guys finally getting to see Chris enjoy his breakfast twice.
Once on the way down and once again on the way back up.
Can we just get this over with, please? Sure, yeah.
Let's roll the Audi R8 film.
Here is the brand-new R8 2.
0, and it's gunning for the big boys.
Cost -- £135,000.
Engine -- the V10 from the Lamborghini Huracan.
Horsepower -- over 600.
And there's no cheaty turbo charging here, which means you can rev this engine all the way to 8,700 rpm.
Even the slightest tickle of that accelerator delivers all that power right to the back of your head.
0-60 in 3.
2 seconds.
And she will not run out of puff until she hits 205mph, which makes her the fastest, most powerful, road going Audi of all time.
Vorsprung durch.
Have some of that! The engine might be supercar old school, but everything else about the R8 is reassuringly state-of-the-art.
There's aluminium and carbon fibre all over the shop, which makes it a bit lighter, but a lot stiffer than before.
And as far as looks go, it's completely an R8 still, obviously.
However, it's just subtly so much sharper and better sculpted, miles better looking.
I love it.
Physical dials? No chance.
The entire dash is a high-def widescreen telly that can be configured as you desire.
And then there's the stuff you can't see.
Under your fingertips here is a seven-speed, twin-clutch gearbox, changing gear faster than you can say, "Does it come in manual?" Which it doesn't, by the way.
And because it's a bonkers fast Audi, naturally it has to have four-wheel drive.
This, though, is especially clever four-wheel drive which can shove 100% of the engine's power front or back depending on which end wants it most.
Every single second this R8 is making a gazillion calculations based on information drawn from hundreds of sensors that help it to decide exactly where to push and what to shove.
One of the results of which is that it grips so well through the corners your internal organs will have to apologise to each other quite a lot.
Here we go again.
So, the R8 will change gear for you.
It will alter the suspension stiffness and steering response for you.
It will decide how to divvy up the power for you.
ALL to give you the optimum performance.
There's no doubt that the R8 is a brilliant car.
An amazing bit of kit, but is it just a bit too friendly to be a genuine supercar? Or does it have a dark side? To test whether the Audi computers have removed the V10's venom, we've come to one of the most extreme, intimidating race circuits on the planet.
Laguna Seca.
Home to the infamous Corkscrew.
A high-speed descending helter skelter over a blind crest that throws you into a sheer 30-metre drop.
Clearly there was only one person in Top Gear's arsenal to take to the wheel.
Sabine Schmitz.
- Sab - Hm? How about a challenge? Challenge? What do you mean? - Your brain versus Audi's brain.
Two flying laps.
- Mm-hm.
First lap, the car's in control.
All the computers, all the race aids on, gearbox in automatic.
- You're just a driving monkey.
OK? - Yeah, OK.
Second lap, you're in charge of everything, gearbox in manual.
- Sabine versus the machine.
- Oh, cool.
Let's go.
'First lap, dynamic mode.
'That means all of the R8's driver's aids are on -- 'launch control, dynamic steering, track spec damping 'and traction control, 'faster throttle response and a quicker gear change.
' Three, two, one.
Go! I'm just a monkey behind the wheel! I do nothing! It's shifting itself.
Whoo! Corner number three.
No gear shift at all.
Are you still there? We're going on the hill.
Corkscrew! That was fun.
The car has everything under control.
Coming to the final bend.
Oh, baby! Home straight.
Oh, slow down, Sabine, please.
You need some fresh air? Oh, [BLEEP.]
.
[BLEEP! BLEEP! BLEEP!.]
'After putting a few pounds in the swear jar it was time for lap two.
'This time, all driver's aids off.
' OK, 1.
46.
78 to beat.
Can Sabine beat the Audi machine? In three, two, one.
Go! This is the real deal now.
Hairpin bend.
Go on, Sabine.
Feels better from a passenger point of view, if that matters.
Yes, corner number three.
Going well.
Yeah! Come on, Sabine.
Yeah! - Feels smoother.
- Good traction.
Up the hill.
Come on.
All you can see is sky! Oh, much quicker into the Corkscrew this time.
Hold on tight to your balls, sonny! - Ah! - Hey! My stomach wants a divorce.
Two more corners left.
This is great stuff.
Yes! Very late breaking into the last corner.
Come on, Sabine.
You can do it.
Sideways into the home straight.
- Go on, Sabine.
- Here is the finish line.
Whoo! Stop! Stop! Stop! Stop! Please, stop! Go out, go out, go out! Why is it red? Strawberries.
For breakfast.
The new Audi R8 and Sabine Schmitz, everyone! Who did beat the machine by seven seconds.
Seven seconds.
Yeah! Thank you very much.
So, Sabine, the Audi R8 V10 Plus, Audi's fastest road car ever.
A hit or a miss? I like the suspension, I like the response of the steering wheel, I like the power and the brakes.
Everything perfect.
I have a little problem with all that technics inside, you know the computer stuff.
Doesn't work so easy, you really have to think about it, - what you're doing.
- So, thumbs up? - Thumbs up.
I love it, but I'm not so sure about strawberry boy.
I'm not here.
OK.
Didn't say you were.
Now it's time to hand the R8 over to our tame racing driver.
Some say es ist der Mann der auch ein Rennfahrer ist.
Er hat zwei Fuchse! Oh, it gets me every time.
I tell you.
- OK, all we know is he's called - .
.
the Stig! All right.
Let's do this.
Off the line, the Audi R8 V10 Plus.
Italian heart, German suit.
Stig, with all the computers firmly switched off, just like Sabine, of course.
Up to the first corner and that's very, very tidy, nip and tuck from the Stig.
Stealthy focus, focus stealthy.
Immaculate through Chicago.
Oh, so precise.
Oh, so accurate.
Very Teutonic.
Into Hammerhead now.
Will there be any oversteer whatsoever? Of course there won't.
The R8's four-wheel drive system keeping everything pointed in the right direction.
Time to open up the taps now and step on that gas.
Up to the tyre wall, then.
Bit of a slide on the exit there.
Second-to-last corner.
Stig stamping on those carbon ceramic brakes.
Still no dramas.
Why would there be? Round Gambon clean as a choirboy's conscience and across the line.
So, we have the car here and we have the time here.
The Audi R8 V10 Plus, basically a Lamborghini Huracan dressed for dinner as opposed to ragging it around the track, so, it should be pretty close.
There's the Lamborghini Huracan at 1.
15.
8.
And it is 1.
15.
7.
There they are.
Happy together.
OK.
OK.
Now, here's the film that's made all of us the most jealous, because we didn't get to make it.
Driving the new Ferrari F12 tdf, it's that damn Chris Harris.
- Hate that guy.
- Yeah.
This is the Ferrari 250 G Berlinetta Tour de France.
It's a car named after the legendary race.
No, not that one.
The other one.
The Tour de France Automobile.
They called it the toughest car race in history.
An entire lap of France.
4,000-odd gruelling miles over ten days on road, track and dirt.
The Tour de France made the Le Mans 24 Hours look like a Sunday fun run.
It ran for nearly a century, but its glory days were the end of the 1950s, where this Ferrari 250 Tour de France cleaned up, winning every year it competed.
Only 77 were ever made and this one is worth £5 million.
They were easy to drive long-distance.
They were reliable.
But they were also quick.
This one can do 160mph.
Which is thanks to a three-litre V12 producing 250 horsepower.
Which, by 1950s' standards, was a lot.
What's it like into this hairpin? Second.
Heel and toe.
First.
Wow! Bit of understeer.
Get on the gas early.
Grab second.
Listen to the noise! My first day in the job.
Can't believe they've given me a £5 million Ferrari to throw around.
Wouldn't make the best introduction to the BBC insurance department, would it? "Hi.
Yeah, Chris here.
New bloke.
" The Tour de France race didn't just run on road.
They'd also stop off for a blast around any track they found along the way.
Tracks like this one.
Circuit Paul Ricard.
Fast .
.
technical .
.
and boasting one of the longest straights of any track on the planet.
Just the place, then, to let the old girl off the leash.
My first chance to open it up.
Yes.
Doesn't get any better.
That engine, that gearbox.
It's really hard not to imagine yourself as some gentleman racer from the late '50s.
What a life to lead.
Whoa, bit of oversteer.
So good was the 250 TDF that when it reached racing retirement .
.
Ferrari retired its name too.
Now, 50 years later, the Tour de France is back.
Whoa-ho-ho, ho-ho! Welcome to the Ferrari F12 tdf.
770 bhp of brain-melting V12 .
.
fury.
The basic recipe is the same as the TDF from the '50s.
A normally aspirated V12 up front, motivation from the back.
But this is another world.
OK.
This isn't officially called the Tour de France, because those pesky men in Lycra now own the full name.
So, tdf lower case it is.
What Ferrari's done here, basically, is take the F12 and sharpened it.
More power.
Less weight.
A pretty standard recipe for going quicker.
But taking a car as savage as the Ferrari F12 and making it sharper is like taking a hydrogen bomb and making it more explode-y.
It is bonkers fast.
Nought to 60 in under three seconds.
Top speed 211mph.
But the tdf isn't really about speed.
It's about downforce.
The dark art of gluing a car to the ground through the power of air alone.
It's not pretty, but it's all functional.
This big mouth gulps in the air, then extracts it through this nostril, then in again into this intake here, where it gets accelerated down the side of the car.
And these gills are fully functional, cos they reduce the pressure in that wheel arch.
And then everything gets kicked over this new rear spoiler and there are even flaps down there underneath that are just to give you more downforce but, of course, it's also an excuse for some beautiful details.
Everything's carbon and little bits that stick out everywhere.
This car also has something Ferrari calls "passo corto virtuale".
Where the tdf's rear wheels turn slightly in the opposite direction to its fronts.
They say this makes cornering more nimble.
I say more scary.
Ferrari said it created this car to be challenging, to be a bit of an animal.
And, by George, it is.
I'm using about a quarter throttle here in third gear and I'm completely sideways.
I don't think I have driven a car that wants to oversteer more readily.
That was 90mph.
And I absolutely love it.
It's a difficult car to control, but would you want it any other way? Should Ferrari make cars that everyone can drive? All supercars now can be driven by complete idiots.
The world needs cars that are difficult to drive.
Compared to the normal F12, then, the tdf is easier to crash and less easy on the eye.
And it costs £100,000 more.
But none of that matters.
You want a car that makes the hairs on your neck stand up, that makes every nerve in your body dance like it's in some insane '90s rave every time you push the throttle? This is it.
This is that car.
Ferrari has hinted this might be its last proper V12 without some sort of artificial power boost.
Maybe turbos, more likely hybrid electrical power.
So, the F12 tdf could be the end of the road for that grand, pure engine and a road stretching back to the 250 Tour de France and before.
The V12 -- the very soul of Ferrari.
If this is indeed a send-off .
.
it's an unforgettable one.
All right.
OK, OK, OK.
So, Chris, just between you and me, you've driven every supercar, hypercar, super-hypercar, hyper-supercar on the planet.
- How does it compare? - Well, it's scarier.
It looks angry, it sounds angry -- everything about it is angry.
I can't believe you need a licence to buy a gun, but you can just walk in and buy one of these.
OK, so then, where does Ferrari go from here? Oh, I don't know, but it probably involves electricity and hybridity, and four-wheel drive.
It'll be a new recipe.
This is the last of the old kind.
It's pure, it's vivid, it's just wonderful.
So you like it? Yes.
Would you date it? - I'd marry it.
- Ah! OK, ladies and gentlemen, the future Mr and Mrs Harris.
And keep that applause going for tonight's Superstars in a Rallycross Car, Kevin Hart and Anthony Joshua.
Hey, hey, hey.
- Hey, my friend.
- Wow.
Hello, Kevin, how are you? How are you, sir? - Anthony, how are you? - You all right, yeah? - Hello, hello, hello.
Kev there, Anthony there.
- What about this? - Wow.
Amazing.
- Amazing.
- So cool.
When we announced that you two were going to be on the same show, people became so excited they literally started to fall apart.
- Is that what happened? - Seriously.
Can those people in the back, can they see me? Is this? Should I sit up? I feel like this is unfair.
I feel like they all lost sight of me as soon as I did this right here.
It's like - I was here, then I wasn't.
- OK, so, Anthony, do me a favour, tell everybody all about Kevin, please.
Well, Mr Kevin Hart, currently seated to my left, is starring in Central Intelligence alongside Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson - Yes, that's good.
- The film is out the 29th of June.
- And here is a clip where The Rock, who plays a CIA agent - Yes.
.
.
Bob Stone, is pretending to be Kevin and his wife's therapist.
- Yeah, that's good.
You did really good.
- Thank you.
It's called soul-gazing.
Stare into my soul, and I'll stare into yours.
- Maggie, this - Hey.
Shh.
There's no talking, and don't look away.
(Stare into my soul.
) - (You are not my - Shh, there's no talking.
) Yeah, but I'm not staring at (Me and you.
Stay with me.
) - (I'm your wife.
) - You are not my wife, don't.
- Hey.
How could you hit your wife? How could I? How could I what? - You hit your wife! - No, I - He hit me.
- OK.
- He hit you.
You hit us.
Excellent.
OK, so If you look very carefully at that clip, it looks like you're trying not to laugh all the time.
No, that was a long day.
We laughed we laughed I would say 90% of that was was broken up by laughter.
First of all, Dwayne's hands are the size of my face, so him to smack me my whole face was numb by the end of that day.
I just couldn't stop laughing, so he had to keep smacking me.
And he said, when I smack him, he's like, "Just go for it.
" And I said, "All right," and I smacked the [BLEEP.]
out of Dwayne.
I was like, "You have a smack, dude.
" Even though we're acting, I smacked him, I knew we were acting, but I still got scared.
"All right, man.
"Come on, don't you be for real.
Like, that's my character.
" - And are you movies now? Is that what you're focused on? - Yeah, man.
You know, I'm like a sex symbol.
Here's the thing.
Here's the thing, man, the big screen makes me look tall, - so I'm in love - Does you a favour? Yeah, I'm in love with the fact that I just look tall on the big screen, and then it's a shock - when people see how small I really am.
- OK.
- "I got you!" - Cos you are.
- Yeah.
I mean it, I knew you were small because I've seen you on other shows, but you are really, really small.
No, you know, I don't say "small", I say "petite".
That's a better word.
It's just a better word to use.
Petite just means I'm put together in a smaller package than your average-size male.
That's all.
- But I got a nice smile, so it takes your attention off of my size.
- Yeah.
You got to learn, it's tricks to the trade, man.
If you're going to be small, there's certain things you got to do.
I'm a good clapper.
See that right there? When you think about me being small, I might give you a good clap.
You out of there, you forgot about it that fast.
If I was tall, I wouldn't be cool.
- If I had this size, I'd look stupid.
- What you trying to say?! I would look stupid if I came out here with the same voice, - all big like this.
- Yeah, it would be no fun for us, either.
You'd be like, "Kevin, get your dumb ass out of here, "looking all stupid.
" Can't move my neck.
It'd be weird.
Do me a favour, can you tell us what Anthony's up to? Oh, man, no problem.
Mr Anthony Joshua to my right here, if you do not know, this man will be defending his IBF heavyweight title against Dominic Breazeale.
Yes, yes.
It's going down on the 25th of June at the O2.
You know what, I don't need to talk about this man.
To show you how incredible Anthony is, here's a punch that won him the belt in this first place.
Well, this IS the punch that won him the belt in the first place.
Take a look for yourself, people.
See, that was good.
.
.
on the floor, and there's still 1.
40 left in this second round.
And he's down again.
And Joshua on the brink here, strolls into the corner.
The IBF heavyweight champion of the world.
- Yes, yes.
- Wow.
- Wow.
- Thank you.
So, Anthony, you defend your title on the 25th of June and, of course, in that fight, it was all over the second round.
- Yeah.
- Don't you sometimes feel a bit guilty when you end the fights too early? Don't you feel, like, for the advertisers, the sponsors? .
.
drag it out a little bit longer? I leave that down to the promoters of the job.
And even though, you know, you do get the glitz and glamour and stuff, like coming on this beautiful show, meeting legends like Kevin and yourself, it is a gladiator sport, as well, and it's kill or be killed.
So, at the same time, there is the longevity, and the entertainment, and the advertisement of it, but people are coming out to see someone get knocked out, and I'd rather that be him than me.
OK.
- I get it now.
- So you understand, yeah? - It's serious business.
- I'm so stupid(!) So that was in the second round.
- Now, he went down just before the knockout punch - Yeah.
- .
.
he got up to a mandatory count of eight.
- Correct.
So they were two big punches.
When you sort of sense that moment coming, is the punch fizzing in your hand, or does it come from nowhere? It's it's second nature cos it's just an instinct that I've picked up through training constantly over the years.
I love it, because you see it in their eyes when they get hit.
Everyone has a plan.
They come to the ring with so many plans -- "I'm going to do this, I'm going to do that.
" And then, as soon as you hit them with a certain shot, everything goes out the window - Yeah.
- .
.
and it's funny to see in their eyes.
- YOU know.
- Yeah, I know.
- I relate.
- You can relate? Yeah, I relate.
So, yeah, and then it goes out the window -- all plans out the window.
- OK, so, let's talk about cars, shall we? - OK, yes.
Let's do it.
OK, so, best first car? Now, be ready for this, Anthony, OK? This guy is so into his cars, it's not funny.
- All right? - Yeah? - Just be prepared.
- Yeah, yeah, yeah.
- OK, this may be your first knockout for a while - My first defeat.
- .
.
in the wrong direction.
- Yeah.
- OK, so, first car ever? - Yeah.
Ladies and gentlemen, take a look at this.
This is, you're about to see a Pontiac, man.
A Pontiac Firebird.
First of all, what happened to my chest in that picture? But it was a Firebird Trans Am, man.
This is my first baby.
I remember getting this car.
My mom couldn't afford to get me a car.
This is when my dad wasn't really in my life as much as he should have been.
So my brother, he went and mustered up some money and brought me a car.
At the time, it wasn't new, you know, it didn't start all the time, but it was my baby.
It was my first car, man.
But for the first car, a Pontiac Firebird Trans Am? - Yeah, yeah.
- What a brother.
Have you sort of returned the favour since then? Absolutely not.
No, I have not.
No, of course, man.
I've gotten my brother I've gotten my brother some cars to date, but nothing is ever going to surpass what he did for me.
Anthony, you're up against a Pontiac Firebird.
- This is a tough call.
- Yeah, that is a tough call.
And it must be your genuine first car.
Anthony, what is it? My first car was a Vauxhall Astra 1.
6.
All right! Look how skinny I look.
My head don't fit my body.
Why do you look like a boxing coach that didn't make it? He looks like he has no training.
OK, well, we've got to fight the corner - for the Astra against the Pontiac - Yeah.
.
.
because the Vauxhall Astra is the - third bestselling car ever in the UK - Really? - .
.
ever.
- Wow.
- That's what I'm saying -- I know what I'm talking about.
- Seriously.
- Yeah.
One in four drivers in the UK -- they may not want to admit it -- - has driven a Vauxhall Astra.
- Yeah.
All right, well, we've got to find out, OK, best first car? Audience, you decide.
Let's hear it for the 1980 Pontiac Firebird.
Yes, yes, yes.
Yeah.
Or the Vauxhall Astra? OK, Kevin wins Round One.
Round One, Round One.
Round One, Round One.
- Now, now, now.
- Well-deserved.
Best best car ever? OK? - Best car ever? - I have to warn you, Anthony, - he currently owns nine brilliant cars.
- Nine? OK? So let's just see the nine cars he currently owns, OK? OK, look at those.
Just take us from the top-left to bottom-right, please, Kev.
OK, that's my Ferrari, that's a 458 Italian.
I told myself when I get to a point in my career where I can afford one, I was going to get one.
This is after I bought it, and this is my sexy pose that I chose to do in front of it.
So you got a G Wagon? Is that a '63? That's a '65.
Then you got an SLS, and then you've got a Wrangler, - is that a Rubicon? - Yes, it is.
You know the great thing that I did with this? People, if you look close, right, you see that stepladder on the bottom of it? - That's didn't come with that -- I put that on there.
- Good for you.
I put that on there, yeah, true stuff.
I jump in and out of it, actually.
It's funny when you jump out in front of girls, cos the just say, like, "What happened to his knees?" But it's a good it's a good truck, man.
It's like the opening scene in Trading Places Pretty much, when Eddie Murphy's down on his knees.
Back to the grid.
Now, the van is interesting, cos a lot of people don't know about these vans.
- Oh, it's my pride and joy.
- This is a Jet Sprinter.
- Now, educate people about this van.
- OK, so I work a lot.
I have a crazy schedule, so I built a mobile office.
What this is, it's basically equipped to have everything I need, from Wi-Fi, a living room setting, a closet, a bed, yeah.
There she is, see that? That right there, that's called peanut butter insides.
I like peanut butter.
I love peanut butter.
So those seats recline just like an aeroplane.
They go forward, back, that back row reclines all the way down into a bed.
This is what I'm in more than anything at all, pretty much.
Let's go to the final corner, because I do believe the final car - you're going to cite as your best car ever.
- This is.
And I don't understand why, but please tell me.
All right, so this car here is a Pontiac GTO 1966.
There's a story behind this car.
My dad loved the Pontiac GTO.
You know, he loved it.
He said, "Son, this is the best car of all cars.
" My dad was in and out of rehab, in and out of jail throughout my life.
And just as a testimonial to my dad, and my dad having meaning to me, when I could afford it and I found it, I bought what my dad's favourite car was, and built it up in mint condition.
And then it was kind of a hypocrite move, cos my dad came to my house.
He's like, "Can I drive it?" I said, "Absolutely not.
" - I haven't let him.
- Really? - I have not let my dad near the car.
But the nickname for that car is Dad -- that's what I call it.
It's just after my father.
All right, so best car ever? - Best car, right there.
That's it right there.
- That's cool.
Now, Anthony, sorry, forgive me, I forgot you were here, actually, because - that took a while.
But see what I'm saying about Kevin here? - Yeah.
So you're going up against this 1966 Pontiac GTO.
- Yeah.
- Yes.
- Good luck.
What do we have? My best car ever would be the Range Rover Sport.
Why? Well, it's the car that I bought for my mum.
Aw-w-w! Bye! I wanted my mum to feel like her son, who's an Olympian, she'll be proud to tell everyone.
She can live up to those expectations.
So the day before I fought for the British title I made sure my mum got her car delivered.
She come out, and this was parked downstairs.
She's crying, she's over the moon, - and that's why this is my favourite car.
- Wow.
- Yeah.
- It's a good play.
- I like it.
- Cos it's only about winning.
- I like it.
- Don't care about anything else.
- I like it.
- Yeah? - Yeah.
- He bought the car for his mum! - I like it.
Beautiful mom.
That's a beautiful mom.
So, it is Mrs Joshua's Range Rover up against Mr Hart's '66 Pontiac GTO.
Let's hear it for Kevin Hart's beautiful 1966 Pontiac GTO, called Dad, that he won't let his dad drive Or let's hear it for brand-new IBF heavyweight world champion, from Britain .
.
the car that he bought for his mum, - the Range Rover, Anthony Joshua.
- Boo! Boo! Boo! Boo! Who buys a car for their mother?! Boo! Boo, moms.
- Nobody else? Just me? - So it's 1-1.
Shall we go to the laps? Kevin, how do you think yours went? Oh, man, I think mine was amazing.
You're looking at a semi-pro, so it's not it's not something that's difficult for me.
This stuff comes easy.
You know, I ate that track up.
Yeah, that's what I did.
I made the track my [BLEEP.]
.
Well, we'll see.
Anthony, how do you think it went? As long as it went half as good as Kevin's, I'm happy.
I'm happy.
Very wise answer.
Would you like to see Kevin's lap? Yes? OK.
He loves his cars, how can he drive? Let's find out, here we go.
On the line, Kevin Hart.
30 million Twitter followers, but that counts for nothing on our rallycross course.
I can feel it.
Ricky Bobby.
If you're not first, you're last.
A bit of Talladega Nights there.
Time to shake and bake, Kevin.
Good conditions on the course today, so no excuses there, dry but cool, should be quick.
Now let's kill the rest of it, let's go.
Let's go, give it to me.
Big splash? Yes! The Mini's wipers going crazy.
Now, this is very promising so far.
Here comes Hammerhead, and I like the look of that.
Oh, that's very nice.
That is very nice.
Ooh, good turn, Kevin.
Good turn.
Good turn, indeed.
Off-road now for the second time.
Let's have a look at the hairpin, very telling, this.
Oh, again, very nice, ladies and gentlemen.
And the jump! Air, yes! Big air.
Nearly there, Kev, just a few more corners.
Let's go.
We there.
Don't overthink it, Kevin.
The second American on our rallycross track, will he be faster than Jesse Eisenberg? Let's hope so! Into the last corner and across the line! What do you think? That was great driving.
- That was great driving.
- But you know when you see yourself back on-screen, you think one thing or the other, what do you think of that, seriously? Well, I mean, a lot of you guys could tell I have experience behind the wheel, you know? It was very quick.
Honestly, it could be a record.
I don't know what it was, but I'm curious to know what the fastest times around here were.
- I'm quite sure I'm up there.
- All right.
- Yeah.
Well, we're about to find out.
Shall we see Anthony's lap? World champion in the ring, how does he do out on the track? Let's have a look now.
All right, Anthony Joshua, the first MBE in our rallycross Mini.
Let's go, baby! Not at all motivated there.
Olympic gold -- easy.
Serious competition now, Anthony.
There, there, grip! Give me some grip! Lovely.
Through the water splash.
Yay! And time for the tricky left-hander.
This isn't easy at all.
Nice.
If you're too hard on the brakes there, it's all over.
Hammerhead, look at that.
Yes, come on, opposite lock! This is looking good.
This is looking rapid.
Come on! Let's pick it up.
Up! Back off-road, and this is so slippy.
There's SO little grip here.
Did you give it some handbrake? I think he did, ladies and gentlemen.
High rev! Good air! Excellent air for such a big guy.
- Right, Tyre Wall - This is the one, this is the one.
Whoo! Look at that, look at that! 16 fights undefeated, will he retain his perfect record here? Bouncing into the last corner, big chunk of grass there and he's over the line! Great drive.
That is a great drive.
- Well done, well done, well done.
- That's a great drive.
That's a great drive.
- What do we think? - May the best man win.
- May the best man win.
- That's fine, cos it's you.
- That's what I'm saying, deep down.
- That was a great drive.
I thought they were both great drives, very, very good.
Kevin, to go top, 1.
53.
9 to beat.
Kevin Hart completed our lap in 1.
50 7.
7, there you go.
- Wow.
- That's all right! - Top three.
- You go third.
- Top three.
- That's not bad.
I'm happy with that.
Top three.
Did you beat Anthony, did Anthony beat you? Anthony Joshua, your time around the Top Gear track in the rallycross car, as our superstar, one of our superstars, is 1.
50 2.
6! You're the brand-new leader! - There he goes! There he goes! It's OK! - What is this?! - You're beaten by the new champ! - No! - No, it's fine! - No! No! - It's fine! - No! - Let's hear it for Anthony Joshua and Kevin Hart! - No! This is racism! This is racism at its best, right now! He won because he's black! Let's hear it again for Kevin Hart and Anthony Joshua! - You were moving! - Very good.
OK, our next film is about Rory Reid and a little blue hatchback.
This is the new Ford Focus RS.
It looks like a five-door family hatchback that's been down the gym.
Scratch the surface, though, and it's got substance.
A Cosworth-tuned 2.
3-litre turbo engine that bangs out 345 horsepower.
345! In a Ford Focus! That's like fitting a retirement bungalow with its own surface-to-air missile system! 0 to 60 happens in 4.
7 seconds.
Quicker than the Lamborghini Countach ever managed it.
People, this isn't a Focus, it's a blur.
And to prevent this blur becoming a smear, it's got massive brakes and adaptive suspension to cope with British B-roads.
Even in its most unyielding setting, this isn't a hot hatch that's going to grind your spine to talcum powder the minute you see some bumpy tarmac.
The ride is firm, but it's forgiving.
And, more importantly, it's fast.
And then there's the best bit.
The Focus RS now has four-wheel drive.
That's not exactly revolutionary in a modern hot hatch, but this version is a bit special.
Most four-wheel drive hot hatches send pretty much all their power to their front wheels, but the Focus RS sends 70% of its power to the rear.
Sensors monitor speed, yaw, steering angle and G-force, sending data to the rear drive unit, where two clutch packs employ side-to-side torque vectoring to send power to the left or right wheel.
You got all that? Me neither.
But what it all adds up to is this button.
You press it four times .
.
and this happens.
Whoo! Yeah! Whoo! Pointing forward is so last-century.
Sideways! That's the new forwards.
And if you're thinking, "Well, that's immature," yep, it is.
But so am I! Drifting just makes everything better.
Imagine how much happier we'd be as a nation if we could get everywhere like that.
And it's not because I've been taking lessons off the Stig.
I haven't.
Sliding this car is so easy.
I reckon even a child could do it.
My granny could drift this.
See what I mean? If I have to find a problem, the seating position is a little bit high, the gear change is a tiny bit woolly around the edges, and from some angles the RS does look tame.
Sure, they're minor flaws, but the world of hot hatches is cut-throat right now.
Especially when it contains bruisers like this, the Honda Civic Type R.
Like the Focus, it costs £30,000, but unlike the Focus, it's all big arches, big wing, big attitude.
However It looks great .
.
and it drives OK, so why does it feel a bit out of date? In the Ford Focus, your 30 grand buys you four-wheel drive.
In here, it's two for the price of four.
There's more power than before .
.
but it's all on the front wheels.
And where's my drift button?! Even though it was only out last year, the Civic just feels old-fashioned, like Honda have been so busy perfecting the old formula, they didn't notice that the world's moved on.
The game's become more grown-up, more sophisticated.
Uh-oh.
I'm in serious trouble here.
The Mercedes-AMG A45.
Yep, the current kings of Formula One have gone and built a hot hatch, and the results are predictable.
Go! No, no, no! It's just like Formula One! Honda, down on power, languishing at the back.
Civic, you've failed me! I like your look, but if I need power .
.
I need the A45, with an engine developed by Merc's F1 team.
40 horsepower more than the Focus, 70 more than the Civic, that's 376 horsepower from a two-litre engine.
Unprecedented.
Like the Focus, the A45 also has four-wheel drive.
It's got a fancy pants double-clutch gearbox.
It 0-60s in barely four seconds.
And, with the limiter removed, it'll hit 169mph.
It's just as you'd expect from an F1 team, all very impressive and all a bit dull.
Look, here I am going round the Hammerhead at serious speed.
But you just don't feel as part of the action as you do in the Focus.
This wins Top Trumps every time.
Most power -- tick.
Drag race -- tick.
But who needs Top Trumps if it's not exciting? Are you excited? I'll take that as a no.
And that's the point.
The A45 is just a bit grown-up for a hot hatch.
It's like something your dad might drive.
Here's the other kicker.
This A45 is ten grand more expensive than the Focus and the Type R.
In hot hatch world, in any world, that's a lot.
Which is why I choose the Focus.
Ten grand buys you 200 days' worth of B-road petrol, or 50 tyres to turn into dust clouds.
Even if it were the same price, the RS is more interactive, more hands-on, more joyful.
This is the best hot hatch on the planet.
Maybe even the best fast car you can buy, full stop.
Keep your Ferraris, man, keep your Porsches and your Paganis.
I'm taking the Focus RS.
I love this thing.
I do.
And here they are, Rory Reid and his little blue hatchback.
That's a pretty hard sell you gave the Focus there, Rory.
But, seriously, "Keep your Paganis, keep your Porsches," really? Really, really, man.
This car does the mundane, it does the astonishing.
You can take this to the shops, you can drift it, you can race it.
It's like having a three-car garage in one car.
Name me one other car that's as much fun to drive.
Your Paganis, your Porsches, all the stuff you just said to keep.
Yeah.
I'm talking about in the real world though, OK? On real roads, the Focus RS is just more of a laugh, man, you know? It's more super than most supercars.
Oh You're sure? - Yeah, I said it! I said it! - OK, OK.
Ladies and gentlemen, Ford salesman of the month, Rory Reid.
So, not too long ago, I had a day off and I wanted to do a bit of sightseeing around London.
And, here's a little tip for you, don't go with one of those open-top bus tours.
You want to see London, you're feeling brave, go with Top Gear Tours.
Ask for Ken.
- Ken? - That's it.
I don't think I Do I need a helmet? - I would suggest it.
- All right, all right.
OK, you know what I'm thinking Whoa, whoa, whoa! I'm not in a big rush, you know.
We can talk about some of these sights I'd like to see.
When you get a minute.
I really want to see Buckingham Palace and I'd also like to see Tower Bridge.
Oh, and the Houses of Parliament.
You know where that is? Oh, Canary Wharf! Did you know that that, right there, is the second tallest building in London? Yeah, that one over there.
Back there, way back there.
That was it.
- Whoa, whoa, wait a minute.
- What? What? - That's Tom Odell.
I wanna find - Who's that? - Listen to him.
Great piano player.
- I can't hear anything.
- I can't hear anything.
You know what, though? Let's give him a little money.
Here.
- That's very nice of you.
- Yeah.
Do you drink a lot of coffee? Oh, cool, Lloyds of London.
Where we going? Secret route.
What's this button do? - Don't.
- OK.
Don't touch anything.
Not touching anything.
Do you know that most of the London Underground is actually above ground? This is a good short cut.
Oh, cool! This St Paul's Cathedral.
Whoa, whoa, whoa.
Turn around.
Go round again.
A lot of famous people get married here.
Do they look familiar? Congratulations! A fascinating city, really.
Did you know that a lot of people think this is London Bridge, but it's actually called the Tower Bridge, because of the, uh, the towers.
Interesting, huh? Is this another short cut? This is interesting.
Very colourful.
- Least I could do.
- You're all right, Ken.
Oh, look, look, look! What is that? - I think that is a Stigsy.
- Oh, cool! - Can I just? - No.
Oh, Westminster Bridge! Did you know that it's illegal to die in the Houses of Parliament? So maybe be careful.
Oh.
Does Winston approve? It doesn't look like it, does it? - Sorry.
- Sorry.
Whoa, whoa, whoa.
Slow down.
Five-O.
See the police right there? They're right behind us.
- Is this thing street legal? - I think so.
Did you know that if the flag on top of Buckingham Palace is all the way at the top, that means the Queen is home? So she's home.
So we better, uh We better be on our best behaviour.
I wonder what room she's in.
Well, let's find out.
Hey, there she is! So, we saw the Queen.
That was awesome.
- So check London off the list.
Thanks, Ken.
- You're very welcome.
- Where to next? - Next? I'm ready! Let's go.
OK, I gotta ask you.
What does the red button do? - No.
- Come on.
Not this time.
Maybe next trip.
Oh.
Yeah! - Wow.
- What a ride.
- What a ride.
What a ride.
Thanks to the RAF .
.
and the city of London and to the amazing Ken Block.
- He is something else, isn't he? - Unbelievable.
Oh, uh, by the way, he said that whenever you want, - he's ready to take you - Oh, no, no, no! I'm fine, thanks.
All right, on next week's show, the might Aston Martin Vulcan, the Tesla Model X.
And second-hand luxury takes on Eddie Jordan on a super-posh train.
See you next week, everyone.
Thanks for watching.
Bye-bye!
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