Top Gear (US) s01e01 Episode Script
Cobra Attack
5 On this TV series 4 No one will date a rock star.
3 We will not ask you to vote on how people sing and dance.
2 This is a show about cars.
1.
This is "Top Gear.
" Welcome to "Top Gear.
" I'm Adam Ferrara.
That is Tanner Foust, and this is Rutledge Wood.
Yep, and we've got a great show coming up.
We visit my hometown for an epic battle between two snakes, we drive three Italian supercars to the limit, and living legend Buzz Aldrin takes to the "Top Gear" test track in a segment we call "big star, small car.
" Now, we could go out into a long, drawn-out explanation of what "Top Gear" is, or we could just show you what to expect over the next 10 weeks.
Ready to get your asses kicked? I don't want to die in a Buick.
Stay in the bike Lane! We were spitting fire.
Holy If you're a middle-aged man with an overcontrolling wife, 2005 Mini Cooper.
This is quite possibly the dumbest thing I've ever done.
Throttle, hit it.
This is gonna be so bad.
the car is bent.
Look at it.
Why would you hit my house? Like being aroused at gunpoint.
Oh, there it is.
I'm gonna hit my car.
Oh, there is no way she can pull that off.
Even I wouldn't wear that.
That was my bad.
And that's "Top Gear" Lots of horsepower, questionable decision-making, and, of course, awesome cars like this.
Yeah, this is a Shelby cobra 427.
It's basically just a tin can with a huge motor wedged in it, but it's also one of the most sought-after classic cars in the world.
Originals can sell for a million bucks.
There's really never been anything like this car, except maybe one.
And to celebrate the only car of the modern era that even comes close to having the spirit of a cobra, we decided to head south for an amazing all-American challenge.
This is Griffin, a bucolic sleepy town basking in the heat of a Georgia summer.
We came here because we couldn't find any other place in the United States that would allow us to do what we were about to do.
An epic challenge involving two snakes.
Snake number 1.
In the late 1980s, Chrysler got involved with Lamborghini.
This sordid affair lasted six years, and when they split, they left behind a love child The dodge viper.
It's considered one of the few American supercars.
Just the name instills a sense of fear.
The "srt" stands for "street and racing technology," and the "10" tells you there are 10 cylinders under that enormous hood.
The viper is the most American car I have ever driven.
It's all power, absolutely no finesse, and it doesn't give a damn what the rest of the world thinks about it.
It's not practical.
Frankly, it's just dangerous.
But if you ever wondered what it would be like to strap yourself to the back of an engine, this is it.
Oh, God! 100! 120! 140! That's 150.
That's as fast as I dare go on this runway.
What sets the viper apart is its complete lack of electronic aids.
There's no electronic stability control, there's no traction control, and with 560 foot-pounds of torque, that can be a little bit tricky.
Every time I turn the steering wheel, it feels like this car is determined to kill me.
It's like a mean, mean horse that doesn't like people sitting on its back.
But there's something cool about controlling that chaos.
It's about getting on this horse and mastering it, even though it doesn't like it.
And by "mastering" it, I mean "surviving.
" Dodge officially phased out the viper in 2010.
It won't come back in a new version until 2012, and by then, stability control systems will be mandatory in the U.
S.
, so there will never be another car as dangerous as this ever again.
To pay tribute to this legend, we've been challenged to make a lap from here to the other side of town and back, which sounds pretty easy Except we're not alone.
This is snake number 2 The ah-1 cobra attack helicopter A sleek, highly maneuverable gunship.
It's armed with a sophisticated missile-guidance system.
Now this angel of death had a new prey us.
How fast is it? 172 miles an hour.
Okay, the viper goes 202, so I got 30 miles an hour on them already.
Cool.
Uh, they have missiles.
I got to be honest with you the viper tricky to drive.
Really? For you? I feel lucky to be here right now.
It's brute, fast, awesome, and scary.
Does it have airbags? Yeah.
We'll be fine.
They've got missiles.
So, here's the challenge We have to drive the viper from the airfield across the town of Griffin to the railroad bridge and back a 10-mile round trip all while being hunted by the cobra.
The viper was fitted with a missile-detection system.
If the cobra got in range, the white light went on.
If it got missile-locked, the yellow light would go on.
And if the red light went on, well, we were dead.
Like a video game, we had just three lives to make it there and back.
When do we go? I think right now.
I think we go now.
Rutledge was the navigator.
His first task find the airport exit.
How do I get out of here? This is a dead end.
Aw, crap.
I'm swerving.
Our only chance was to try and outmaneuver the cobra.
I think the swerving just makes him mad! He's got yellow! Oh Okay, I have crapped my pants! Oh, no! He's right above us! Oh, my God! Look at that! He's got yellow.
Oh, no.
Oh, my God! We're dead! One life down.
We had just two left.
We needed to get out of the airfield.
It was time for plan "b.
" Oh, I think you shook him.
Is this the way out? Yeah.
You're gonna go up here.
Hang a left at this stop sign.
All right, we're in the trees.
We should probably just, like, blend a little bit.
We're in the trees.
A couple guys in a convertible.
There he is right there.
I'm gonna pull into the car wash.
In a weird way, the viper is kind of every guy's dream It's bright, it's loud, it's fun, and it's got way more power than pretty much any of us need on the street.
The viper is kind of like that girl that you wouldn't bring home to mom.
Right.
You have videotaped every intimate session you had.
It's like Pam Anderson.
Yes.
There's not much real about it, but who cares? Let's get out of here.
Now, listen, I know we've got power.
Let's just try to drive normal for once, okay? Let's just drive slow.
No, I get it blend in.
We were just 3 miles from the bridge, and we still had two lives left.
See, look There's another red convertible Yeah.
With another woman in it.
See, I think that's a pattern.
Yeah, I definitely think we're probably the only two dudes riding together in a red convertible right now.
We had made it to the old warehouse district, just a few blocks from the bridge.
Oh, crap! This is ridiculous! See him? Yeah.
Hang a right.
You back up? There you go.
All right, now just go right at him.
Uh-oh.
Whoa! Look out! Look at that! All right.
We'll go down here.
We'd lost the cobra and made it to the halfway point.
Now all Rutledge needed to do was find the way back to the airfield.
With only one life lost, things were looking up.
I don't know where But it's almost like it echoes through the Oh, man, I hear him.
Oh, no.
There he is.
He's got a visual on us.
Oh, crap! Don't just sit here! Go, go, go! Hard left We got to go underneath the bridge.
[ Tires screech .]
Oh, nice, nice, nice.
You shook him.
The high-speed escape had saved our butts, but now we were lost Should I turn right here? Yeah, take a right.
Take a right.
Dead lost.
How did we get into a cemetery, Rutledge? What kind of navigator are you? I cannot find my way out of here.
We are going straight to hell, my friend.
Just turn left here on blasphemy boulevard.
Plan "f" wasn't working out.
Tanner, I hear him.
Oh, help! Where is he? He's right behind us.
As we moved amongst the tombs and graves, the cobra dived on us, ready to spit its venom.
This was our judgment day.
This is like "Dukes of Hazzard"! No, no, no! He's gonna lock on us.
No! Ohh! Of course, we get killed in a cemetery.
I decided the time for hiding was over.
It was time to fight back.
It was time for plan "V" V-10.
Where is he? Left turn.
The high-speed run got us back to the airfield.
We just had to make it through the hangars to safety 500 yards away, but the cobra was waiting.
Oh, crap.
No.
Oh, I saw his eyes.
Damn, that thing's fast! I'm going 150 miles an hour! Oh, my God.
Dead end, dude.
Holy Out in the open, we were siting ducks.
Oh, we're dead! No! He got sick, didn't he? I don't know if he got sick, but he was screaming a lot.
I'm just now getting to where I can sleep through the night without hearing that helicopter in my nightmares.
I'm sorry you guys were killed, but I'm more sorry that dodge is killing the viper.
Yeah, this is the last year for this generation of viper, so that was our send-off.
But now dodge is also saying goodbye in their own way by doing lots of limited editions, like this one behind me.
This is the acr 1:33 edition.
What do you guys think of this? Yeah.
When you think of viper, you don't think of subtle, right? And the red wheels They're not subtle, so it fits right along the lines.
That's what's too flashy for you the red wheels? It was actually built specifically to commemorate Dodge's demolishing of the production-car record at Laguna Seca.
So, how much for this one? This one's $112,000.
Yeah, and mainly because they're only making 33 of them.
Now, this one's too rare for us to beat up on and feel good about, but that regular ACR is not.
No problem at all.
We got a 1.
6 mile track that "top gear" uses to test all of its cars.
It's full of straights and curves, and it's designed specifically to highlight the strengths and weaknesses of any car, push it to the limits, and, of course, beyond.
Now, every car we put out on our test track is gonna be driven as hard and as fast as possible so that, throughout the series, we can keep track of all the times.
That way, you can see which cars really perform on the racetrack and which cars suffer.
The only thing missing from this equation is a professional race driver.
And there he is.
You'll never see his face.
You'll never see his voice.
And his only job is to drive as fast as he can.
And no one knows what hides behind that smoked visor.
All we do know is he's called "the Stig.
" All right, very difficult to launch the ACR with 600 horsepower and rear-wheel drive.
Stig, very impressive there.
It's about a 2,000-rpm launch, and he just pulls away from there, no problem.
Hard on the brakes through turn 1.
Now, this does look like a massive car going through the tightest chicane on the track, called the southern chicane.
Stig kicking up a little bit of a roost into the slowest portion of the track, the teardrop.
Now, coming out of the teardrop Very difficult with a car with so much horsepower to avoid wheel spin and opposite lock.
Let's see if the Stig can do it here.
Yes, second gear puts the power down.
Amazingly efficient out of that particular corner.
150 miles an hour on the saightaway.
Now, I'm told that, at 150, this car creates 1,000 pounds of downforce, and he is using all of it as he grinds down onto the brakes into cameraman's corner.
Little sawing at the wheel there.
Bit of a sketchy moment for the Stig, but he pulls it off.
Fastest section of the track.
Coming into the final corner, finding a gear there.
This is gonna be an amazing time.
And Across the line.
Now, this really is virtually a racecar with license plates.
So, being our first car on here, I can tell you you'll just have to trust me on this this was an amazing time, going to be the benchmark, one of the times to beat, for sure a 1:22.
0.
Wow.
Doesn't seem fair to have that as the first car out.
I mean, that's a pretty high target.
Especially for a car that's that hard to drive There's no traction control.
There's no driver aid besides your ft and your hands.
Now it's time for something we like to call "big star, small car.
" You know, other TV shows treat their guests to rides in fur-lined helicopters.
They sit them on the couch and ask them softball questions about their latest project not "Top Gear.
" We make our guests work hard.
We put them on our "Top Gear" track and have them set a lap time in our celebrity car.
Now, of course, this car had to be something special.
So, we had to find something that had awesome power, incredible handling, and, of course, style, so we took it upon ourselves to get this The Suzuki sx4.
That's right.
This is $17,000 of front-wheel-drive acceptableness.
Each week, a celebrity will try and push this Suzuki around our track as fast as possible.
But first we decided to give it a safety check.
Do you have a helmet? You're gonna wear a helmet? Yeah.
You guys didn't get helmets? Are these the wipers? Would you stop it? Come on.
All right, here we go.
See if catch air on the yump.
The what? The what? The yump it's a jump in rally.
We just yumped.
Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait! Stop, stop, stop! Stop, stop, stop! What? What? What? What? Stop! What? Gosh.
What? Did you guys have lunch? I did not.
We should get something.
Probably on the way back.
Oh, boy.
Oh.
Oh, that was smooth.
Oh, that was nice.
So, that is what a Suzuki can do when it has two idiots in it trying to distract the driver.
Now let's see what it's capable of in the hands of our celebrity.
Please help me welcome a real American hero, Buzz Aldrin! Yes! Hey.
Have a seat, my friend.
Wow.
It's an honor to meet you, and thank you so much for being on our show.
So, '61 Kennedy says, "before the decade's out, we're going to the moon.
" '69 you were part of that landing party, and you did 18,000 miles an hour in a can.
Almost 18,000 17,000-something.
But that was just in orbit.
Just in orbit? Yeah.
Well, we had to go faster to leave the earth.
How fast did you go? 25,000 miles an hour.
25,000 miles an hour? Yeah, yeah.
In the same can? Same can, yeah.
No steering wheel you shift it with thrusters and Well, the rocket steers a little bit You hope.
You hope? So, let me ask you this about your cars.
You've had many, many cars, but your first car when you graduated west point, you got a '51 Chevy? They weren't too expensive in those days.
And you had a '56 DKW.
Right.
That's a 3-cylinder, 2-cycle.
So, you got to mix the oil? You got to put the oil in with the gasoline.
I thought it was a good combination of interesting and a sports car, and it really wasn't too much of either one.
And you had an Austin-Healey sprite? Oh, that was neat.
That was nice.
Bug-eyed sprite? How did it ride the sprite? Very smooth until you got on those Boston cobblestones, and then it's kind of hard on the rear end.
Yeah.
And you had a '70 Saab Sonett? Oh, that was a nice little car.
You liked that one? Real low to the ground it was kind of a hotshot car.
Then we moved on to a Corvair convertible.
That was sort of mellow for a new astronaut to drive a Corvair.
The top-dog "right stuff" guys were all driving their corvettes.
Right.
Yeah.
So, I graduated to a corvette a little bit later.
What did you think of the Suzuki when you took it around our track? That's a swift little car.
Swift? Swift Well, swift enough for that track.
Want to see how you did? I'd love to see how I did.
Let's take a look.
Yeah.
Lift-off! I'm sorry.
I couldn't resist.
Okay, good speed in first, second.
So, this is turn 1.
Nice line through there.
Back down to second.
I was already in second.
All right, coming out of this one.
You have a giant hand.
Nice line through there.
You're coming into the southern chicane.
All right, now into third.
Faster, faster, faster.
This turn is the teardrop.
This is the slowest part of our track.
Oh, he's got a camera there, and here's a bold guy out with another camera.
I know it's hard to see with the cameras in the way, but we can't see you without them.
Maybe we can even try fifth gear here Except I don't think that's fifth.
I think I went back to third again.
That's okay.
It's got plenty of gears.
A curve here, then accelerate out.
There's the big hand.
Okay, now coming into the final.
There's the tires.
And left turn and Crossed the line! How do you think you did any idea? I got better and better.
Well, I can guarantee you this You are going to be the fastest time on our board.
It's a time that will be 1:55.
6.
Great.
Buzz Aldrin 1:55.
6.
Ladies and gentlemen, Buzz Aldrin.
This is a tractor.
It doesn't seem like much just sitting here, but the company that made it went on to achieve greatness, as we will demonstrate with the help of some livestock.
The bull.
A symbol of strength.
Agile, aggressive, and fearless.
Only one automaker had the blood of the bull coursing through his veins.
Lamborghini.
Ferruccio Lamborghini was fascinated by bullfighting So much so that many of the models in his company were named after legendary Spanish fighting bulls.
And we set out to determine the baddest bull of all.
Here are the contenders.
The Gallardo superleggera light, powerful, and explosively fast.
The Gallardo Balboni a rare rear-wheel-drive Lamborghini.
And one of the quintessential supercars the Murciélago Superveloce.
My choice is a technological tour de force the Lamborghini Gallardo LP 570-4 Superleggera.
Stay with me.
The "570" is for the horsepower.
The "-4" means it's all-wheel drive.
The "LP" means the engine is there.
Listen to this v-10 hum.
"Superleggera" means "superlight," which means this car is less than 3,000 pounds, the lightest of all the Lamborghinis.
And it does zero to 60 in 3.
4 seconds.
Lamborghini worked with scientists at Boeing to develop carbon fiber that they used in the doors, spoilers, mirrors, and trim pieces to keep the weight low.
That's a polycarbonate window, so you can see the engine.
I wish you could be inside this car to feel my heartbeat.
This car is terrifying and exciting at the same time.
It's like being aroused at gunpoint.
And I even like the color.
It's loud.
It's yellow.
It's that crazy uncle that shows up at a wedding.
He's totally inappropriate.
"Hey, where's the bride? I'm-a kiss her right on the mouth.
" The price tag on this is $243,000 plus the $3,000 gas-guzzler tax.
Now, you'd think, for that kind of money, everything would be included, but if you want a cup holder $650.
I don't know what the Italian word for bull Is, but that's where it goes.
But other than that, I'm having a hard time finding anything wrong with this thing.
I'm going with the only choice a driving purist like myself could go for, and that's the limited-edition Lamborghini Gallardo Balboni.
It's named after the famous Valentino Balboni.
He's the test driver that had his fingers on every single Lamborghini prototype since 1973.
It seems like he put this car together specifically for the professional driver, which means, first and foremost, it is rear-wheel drive The first rear-wheel-drive Lamborghini since the Diablo.
As sacrilegious as donuts are in a Lamborghini, that's what you get with rear-wheel drive.
Now, Balboni has this distinctive white stripe that runs the length of the car.
It continues in a tasteful way on the interior on the seats and the dash.
It's Valentino Balboni's tribute to racing cars.
With the rear-wheel drive, it means the car feels lighter, more crisp more like I like to drive.
Driving in a tiny exotic should be an experience you remember for your entire life.
Just like Pavlov's dogs and the sound of a ringing bell, the clapping noise that a Sushi chef makes that salivates Japanese people like the clapping noise, the click of metal on metal Is what gets me going about this car.
Oh, God.
That gated shifter is insane.
At $219,000, the Balboni isn't the cheapest Lamborghini out there, but for a driver, I think it's the best.
Compared to the other two, this is the most real Lamborghini.
It's not some fancy color.
It's fast, it's long, and it's low.
It's scary just parked.
This is the Murciélago Superveloce, better known as the SV.
Now, this SV is one of the top five supercars in the world, without a doubt.
I mean, it's got everything a supercar needs price, power, exclusivity, and a whole lot of speed.
Now, while those other Lambos can go fast, the SV can go faster.
It has a 670-horsepower v-12, and that's why I picked this car.
What does that mean? This will do zero to 60 in 3.
2 seconds.
The handling on this car is astounding.
It feels like it's on rails.
It's dangerous.
I mean, it makes you feel invincible.
"What can't I do with this car?" The only drawback to this car for me is probably the seats.
They are so race-inspired and clearly designed for a 5-foot-tall Italian man that my 6'3", 225-pound frame is not enjoying.
Now, exclusivity is important to any supercar how many are out there? Production for the SV is set at 350 cars worldwide.
And at just under $500,000, it's clear that this is the greatest bull of them all.
I've got to admit regardless of the fact that I've got the best car in the lineup here, how awesome is this? A desert alone with some Lamborghinis.
You're absolutely right It is a great day for us, fellas, but I have the best car.
The Superleggera this is a racecar on the street.
Is this the plastic one? "Space-age" polymer? Space-age polymer, my friend.
This is Right.
Like Tupperware.
There's no Tupperware in space.
Anybody can drive these cars with their all-wheel drive and paddle shifts.
Okay.
But Balboni designed this for real drivers.
I'm happy to say that you guys are both wrong, because behind me is the ultimate Lamborghini.
The Murciélago SV is it.
It costs twice as much as this.
You can buy two of these cars.
Some people would say it's twice the car.
No.
You, essentially, have a $200,000 drift car, though.
I know.
Is that awesome or what? If we're talking about the ultimate car, creamsicle aside, I'm gonna fly past bananarama well before you even get close to the end.
Really? There's only one way to settle this, and that is to ride these bulls.
Oh, you want to run them? From a standstill, one mile.
You don't have much room to brake.
So, whoever holds the foot on the gas the longest is gonna go the fastest.
Winner takes all.
Really? I'm in.
Rutledge has the biggest head, so he goes first.
Okay.
Doing a standing mile's not some simple little race.
Once your car's going over 150 miles an hour, the game changes.
Wind and stability become a factor.
The me al game is huge because you have to get your car up to speed before you run out of track.
I'm nervous for him.
I'm genuinely nervous for him right now.
.
E t that's a big bull he's riding.
It seems like just an easy thing, but with all this crosswind, that doesn't look like the most aerodynamically efficient machine, you know? Standing mile, Murciélago SV.
Let's do it.
He's off.
There he goes.
Oh, my gosh.
He's doing it.
He short-shifted a little bit.
That's gonna cost him.
Oh, my gosh.
He just grabbed another gear.
He short-shifted the last two gears.
Uh-huh.
Probably took a little bit of speed away, but what do you think that was? I'm thinking 180.
What'd you do? Oh, damn.
You were right.
All right, park it.
Right.
Standing mile.
Good launch.
Esp off.
Hammer down.
There he goes.
Love the sound of this thing.
Come on, baby.
That's 90 already.
He'll try to get 176 best he can.
Uh-huh.
That's a lot of vibration.
That's 150.
Come on, baby.
170.
He's still going.
No, I don't want the brakes.
He doesn't like losing.
He's probably doing 175 coming back.
A lot of crosswind you know, amazingly stable, though, considering I've completely wasted these tires.
And? No! Are you okay? What'd you do? Faster than I thought 173.
173? Oh! Wow.
I feel really bad that you didn't Beat me.
Let's just write this down today I beat Tanner foust.
Foust: Here's the deal this car can beat 175 easy.
If mine went 173, this one's gonna have no problem at 175, if Adam can just keep his foot down.
Those guys think my car is made of plastic, but I have a secret weapon thrust mode.
Set it in "corsa.
" Traction control off.
Left foot on the brake.
I think Adam is too fearless for his own good.
There he goes.
Thrust mode! Oh, he grabbed another gear after all of that.
Man.
Good God, was that fun! That sounded faster than 175, though.
I'm just saying.
How would you know? You know, 'cause you can tell from the - you don't mnh-mnh.
I'm sorry, man.
Sorry.
You lost.
I, uh Take it with pride, dignity.
173's really fast.
I'm proud of you.
It's just not 175.
Well, we heard you you didn't lift.
[ Chuckles .]
He looks happy.
So, did you do it? Rutledge, that sucks.
You said, right before it went, "he's too fearless for his own good.
" Let me hear the words "plastic" now.
Wow.
Have you ever been that fast in your life? No.
You're shaking! Yeah, let's see your hand.
That's cool.
That's a legit 180.
That's cool.
T: That shaking is near death.
That could be it.
You know what it might be? It might be victory over Tanner.
A lot of people don't get that feeling.
I did.
I mean, we've shared it.
You and I both did.
This is a good day.
And you beat Tanner.
Yeah.
And I beat Tanner.
Yeah.
But You did come in third.
I think I'm gonna go be sick.
I'm gonna call my wife.
I want to go back in the car.
Unbelievable.
You over it yet? Not at all.
Perfect.
I mean, the fact is that I fried the tires.
If I didn't do all the drifting This is great.
I'm gonna get you a prize for being the man to come up with the worst excuse for losing a race in a Lamborghini ever.
"It was the tires!" If I didn't go so fast I blame myself, really.
I was driving sideways all day.
" That's fun.
The important thing is not how fast we went in these cars the important thing is how fast the cars went around the track.
And that we both went faster than you.
Just Putting that out there.
That's very important.
I agree with the first part, which is why the Stig did take all of these cars around the track.
You guys want to see the times? All: Yeah! Okay.
The Balboni did a 1 a very respectable 1:26.
9.
.
Puts it right in there.
Yes.
But the Murciélago SV did a 1:23.
4.
There we go.
There we go.
Well, that's all we've got for this show.
Oh, no.
Oh, no.
Oh, no.
Oh, no.
My car.
Oh, yeah.
That one, uh Did actually go around the track one time.
Yes.
The question is, how fast? Well, we've got that lap on tape.
Anybody want to see it? Yeah.
Take it away, Stig.
And he's off.
Launch control on this thing puts it zero to 60 in somewhere around 3.
5 seconds.
It's really an incredibly quick car.
Carbon brakes, as he cranks it in.
Stig really pushing this one.
This car weighs under 3,000 pounds, so it's incredibly nimble, even though he's getting a little bit of understeer through the chicane.
Stig just another day at the office, as he cranks into the teardrop.
Now, this is the tightest section on the track.
2-wheel-drive cars have a problem in this particular corner to get the power down not the Superleggera, as it races up to 140 miles an hour on the straightaway.
Just flying by the tires on that one.
Now, this is the sketchiest part of the track with the bump midcorner, 140 down to the zero.
You can actually see sparks coming out of the front as those carbon brakes are working.
S working, also, inside.
Little wag of the tail as he comes out of cameraman's corner.
As he comes in the last corner, getting a little bit of rotation this time.
And across Yes! It looked very good.
It did.
That was so fast, it changed colors.
The time on that one was a blisteringly fast 1:22.
8.
My car.
My car.
Thank you.
But you know what? For a company that started making tractors, that's pretty decent.
I would love to see in the south a John Deere sports car.
3 We will not ask you to vote on how people sing and dance.
2 This is a show about cars.
1.
This is "Top Gear.
" Welcome to "Top Gear.
" I'm Adam Ferrara.
That is Tanner Foust, and this is Rutledge Wood.
Yep, and we've got a great show coming up.
We visit my hometown for an epic battle between two snakes, we drive three Italian supercars to the limit, and living legend Buzz Aldrin takes to the "Top Gear" test track in a segment we call "big star, small car.
" Now, we could go out into a long, drawn-out explanation of what "Top Gear" is, or we could just show you what to expect over the next 10 weeks.
Ready to get your asses kicked? I don't want to die in a Buick.
Stay in the bike Lane! We were spitting fire.
Holy If you're a middle-aged man with an overcontrolling wife, 2005 Mini Cooper.
This is quite possibly the dumbest thing I've ever done.
Throttle, hit it.
This is gonna be so bad.
the car is bent.
Look at it.
Why would you hit my house? Like being aroused at gunpoint.
Oh, there it is.
I'm gonna hit my car.
Oh, there is no way she can pull that off.
Even I wouldn't wear that.
That was my bad.
And that's "Top Gear" Lots of horsepower, questionable decision-making, and, of course, awesome cars like this.
Yeah, this is a Shelby cobra 427.
It's basically just a tin can with a huge motor wedged in it, but it's also one of the most sought-after classic cars in the world.
Originals can sell for a million bucks.
There's really never been anything like this car, except maybe one.
And to celebrate the only car of the modern era that even comes close to having the spirit of a cobra, we decided to head south for an amazing all-American challenge.
This is Griffin, a bucolic sleepy town basking in the heat of a Georgia summer.
We came here because we couldn't find any other place in the United States that would allow us to do what we were about to do.
An epic challenge involving two snakes.
Snake number 1.
In the late 1980s, Chrysler got involved with Lamborghini.
This sordid affair lasted six years, and when they split, they left behind a love child The dodge viper.
It's considered one of the few American supercars.
Just the name instills a sense of fear.
The "srt" stands for "street and racing technology," and the "10" tells you there are 10 cylinders under that enormous hood.
The viper is the most American car I have ever driven.
It's all power, absolutely no finesse, and it doesn't give a damn what the rest of the world thinks about it.
It's not practical.
Frankly, it's just dangerous.
But if you ever wondered what it would be like to strap yourself to the back of an engine, this is it.
Oh, God! 100! 120! 140! That's 150.
That's as fast as I dare go on this runway.
What sets the viper apart is its complete lack of electronic aids.
There's no electronic stability control, there's no traction control, and with 560 foot-pounds of torque, that can be a little bit tricky.
Every time I turn the steering wheel, it feels like this car is determined to kill me.
It's like a mean, mean horse that doesn't like people sitting on its back.
But there's something cool about controlling that chaos.
It's about getting on this horse and mastering it, even though it doesn't like it.
And by "mastering" it, I mean "surviving.
" Dodge officially phased out the viper in 2010.
It won't come back in a new version until 2012, and by then, stability control systems will be mandatory in the U.
S.
, so there will never be another car as dangerous as this ever again.
To pay tribute to this legend, we've been challenged to make a lap from here to the other side of town and back, which sounds pretty easy Except we're not alone.
This is snake number 2 The ah-1 cobra attack helicopter A sleek, highly maneuverable gunship.
It's armed with a sophisticated missile-guidance system.
Now this angel of death had a new prey us.
How fast is it? 172 miles an hour.
Okay, the viper goes 202, so I got 30 miles an hour on them already.
Cool.
Uh, they have missiles.
I got to be honest with you the viper tricky to drive.
Really? For you? I feel lucky to be here right now.
It's brute, fast, awesome, and scary.
Does it have airbags? Yeah.
We'll be fine.
They've got missiles.
So, here's the challenge We have to drive the viper from the airfield across the town of Griffin to the railroad bridge and back a 10-mile round trip all while being hunted by the cobra.
The viper was fitted with a missile-detection system.
If the cobra got in range, the white light went on.
If it got missile-locked, the yellow light would go on.
And if the red light went on, well, we were dead.
Like a video game, we had just three lives to make it there and back.
When do we go? I think right now.
I think we go now.
Rutledge was the navigator.
His first task find the airport exit.
How do I get out of here? This is a dead end.
Aw, crap.
I'm swerving.
Our only chance was to try and outmaneuver the cobra.
I think the swerving just makes him mad! He's got yellow! Oh Okay, I have crapped my pants! Oh, no! He's right above us! Oh, my God! Look at that! He's got yellow.
Oh, no.
Oh, my God! We're dead! One life down.
We had just two left.
We needed to get out of the airfield.
It was time for plan "b.
" Oh, I think you shook him.
Is this the way out? Yeah.
You're gonna go up here.
Hang a left at this stop sign.
All right, we're in the trees.
We should probably just, like, blend a little bit.
We're in the trees.
A couple guys in a convertible.
There he is right there.
I'm gonna pull into the car wash.
In a weird way, the viper is kind of every guy's dream It's bright, it's loud, it's fun, and it's got way more power than pretty much any of us need on the street.
The viper is kind of like that girl that you wouldn't bring home to mom.
Right.
You have videotaped every intimate session you had.
It's like Pam Anderson.
Yes.
There's not much real about it, but who cares? Let's get out of here.
Now, listen, I know we've got power.
Let's just try to drive normal for once, okay? Let's just drive slow.
No, I get it blend in.
We were just 3 miles from the bridge, and we still had two lives left.
See, look There's another red convertible Yeah.
With another woman in it.
See, I think that's a pattern.
Yeah, I definitely think we're probably the only two dudes riding together in a red convertible right now.
We had made it to the old warehouse district, just a few blocks from the bridge.
Oh, crap! This is ridiculous! See him? Yeah.
Hang a right.
You back up? There you go.
All right, now just go right at him.
Uh-oh.
Whoa! Look out! Look at that! All right.
We'll go down here.
We'd lost the cobra and made it to the halfway point.
Now all Rutledge needed to do was find the way back to the airfield.
With only one life lost, things were looking up.
I don't know where But it's almost like it echoes through the Oh, man, I hear him.
Oh, no.
There he is.
He's got a visual on us.
Oh, crap! Don't just sit here! Go, go, go! Hard left We got to go underneath the bridge.
[ Tires screech .]
Oh, nice, nice, nice.
You shook him.
The high-speed escape had saved our butts, but now we were lost Should I turn right here? Yeah, take a right.
Take a right.
Dead lost.
How did we get into a cemetery, Rutledge? What kind of navigator are you? I cannot find my way out of here.
We are going straight to hell, my friend.
Just turn left here on blasphemy boulevard.
Plan "f" wasn't working out.
Tanner, I hear him.
Oh, help! Where is he? He's right behind us.
As we moved amongst the tombs and graves, the cobra dived on us, ready to spit its venom.
This was our judgment day.
This is like "Dukes of Hazzard"! No, no, no! He's gonna lock on us.
No! Ohh! Of course, we get killed in a cemetery.
I decided the time for hiding was over.
It was time to fight back.
It was time for plan "V" V-10.
Where is he? Left turn.
The high-speed run got us back to the airfield.
We just had to make it through the hangars to safety 500 yards away, but the cobra was waiting.
Oh, crap.
No.
Oh, I saw his eyes.
Damn, that thing's fast! I'm going 150 miles an hour! Oh, my God.
Dead end, dude.
Holy Out in the open, we were siting ducks.
Oh, we're dead! No! He got sick, didn't he? I don't know if he got sick, but he was screaming a lot.
I'm just now getting to where I can sleep through the night without hearing that helicopter in my nightmares.
I'm sorry you guys were killed, but I'm more sorry that dodge is killing the viper.
Yeah, this is the last year for this generation of viper, so that was our send-off.
But now dodge is also saying goodbye in their own way by doing lots of limited editions, like this one behind me.
This is the acr 1:33 edition.
What do you guys think of this? Yeah.
When you think of viper, you don't think of subtle, right? And the red wheels They're not subtle, so it fits right along the lines.
That's what's too flashy for you the red wheels? It was actually built specifically to commemorate Dodge's demolishing of the production-car record at Laguna Seca.
So, how much for this one? This one's $112,000.
Yeah, and mainly because they're only making 33 of them.
Now, this one's too rare for us to beat up on and feel good about, but that regular ACR is not.
No problem at all.
We got a 1.
6 mile track that "top gear" uses to test all of its cars.
It's full of straights and curves, and it's designed specifically to highlight the strengths and weaknesses of any car, push it to the limits, and, of course, beyond.
Now, every car we put out on our test track is gonna be driven as hard and as fast as possible so that, throughout the series, we can keep track of all the times.
That way, you can see which cars really perform on the racetrack and which cars suffer.
The only thing missing from this equation is a professional race driver.
And there he is.
You'll never see his face.
You'll never see his voice.
And his only job is to drive as fast as he can.
And no one knows what hides behind that smoked visor.
All we do know is he's called "the Stig.
" All right, very difficult to launch the ACR with 600 horsepower and rear-wheel drive.
Stig, very impressive there.
It's about a 2,000-rpm launch, and he just pulls away from there, no problem.
Hard on the brakes through turn 1.
Now, this does look like a massive car going through the tightest chicane on the track, called the southern chicane.
Stig kicking up a little bit of a roost into the slowest portion of the track, the teardrop.
Now, coming out of the teardrop Very difficult with a car with so much horsepower to avoid wheel spin and opposite lock.
Let's see if the Stig can do it here.
Yes, second gear puts the power down.
Amazingly efficient out of that particular corner.
150 miles an hour on the saightaway.
Now, I'm told that, at 150, this car creates 1,000 pounds of downforce, and he is using all of it as he grinds down onto the brakes into cameraman's corner.
Little sawing at the wheel there.
Bit of a sketchy moment for the Stig, but he pulls it off.
Fastest section of the track.
Coming into the final corner, finding a gear there.
This is gonna be an amazing time.
And Across the line.
Now, this really is virtually a racecar with license plates.
So, being our first car on here, I can tell you you'll just have to trust me on this this was an amazing time, going to be the benchmark, one of the times to beat, for sure a 1:22.
0.
Wow.
Doesn't seem fair to have that as the first car out.
I mean, that's a pretty high target.
Especially for a car that's that hard to drive There's no traction control.
There's no driver aid besides your ft and your hands.
Now it's time for something we like to call "big star, small car.
" You know, other TV shows treat their guests to rides in fur-lined helicopters.
They sit them on the couch and ask them softball questions about their latest project not "Top Gear.
" We make our guests work hard.
We put them on our "Top Gear" track and have them set a lap time in our celebrity car.
Now, of course, this car had to be something special.
So, we had to find something that had awesome power, incredible handling, and, of course, style, so we took it upon ourselves to get this The Suzuki sx4.
That's right.
This is $17,000 of front-wheel-drive acceptableness.
Each week, a celebrity will try and push this Suzuki around our track as fast as possible.
But first we decided to give it a safety check.
Do you have a helmet? You're gonna wear a helmet? Yeah.
You guys didn't get helmets? Are these the wipers? Would you stop it? Come on.
All right, here we go.
See if catch air on the yump.
The what? The what? The yump it's a jump in rally.
We just yumped.
Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait! Stop, stop, stop! Stop, stop, stop! What? What? What? What? Stop! What? Gosh.
What? Did you guys have lunch? I did not.
We should get something.
Probably on the way back.
Oh, boy.
Oh.
Oh, that was smooth.
Oh, that was nice.
So, that is what a Suzuki can do when it has two idiots in it trying to distract the driver.
Now let's see what it's capable of in the hands of our celebrity.
Please help me welcome a real American hero, Buzz Aldrin! Yes! Hey.
Have a seat, my friend.
Wow.
It's an honor to meet you, and thank you so much for being on our show.
So, '61 Kennedy says, "before the decade's out, we're going to the moon.
" '69 you were part of that landing party, and you did 18,000 miles an hour in a can.
Almost 18,000 17,000-something.
But that was just in orbit.
Just in orbit? Yeah.
Well, we had to go faster to leave the earth.
How fast did you go? 25,000 miles an hour.
25,000 miles an hour? Yeah, yeah.
In the same can? Same can, yeah.
No steering wheel you shift it with thrusters and Well, the rocket steers a little bit You hope.
You hope? So, let me ask you this about your cars.
You've had many, many cars, but your first car when you graduated west point, you got a '51 Chevy? They weren't too expensive in those days.
And you had a '56 DKW.
Right.
That's a 3-cylinder, 2-cycle.
So, you got to mix the oil? You got to put the oil in with the gasoline.
I thought it was a good combination of interesting and a sports car, and it really wasn't too much of either one.
And you had an Austin-Healey sprite? Oh, that was neat.
That was nice.
Bug-eyed sprite? How did it ride the sprite? Very smooth until you got on those Boston cobblestones, and then it's kind of hard on the rear end.
Yeah.
And you had a '70 Saab Sonett? Oh, that was a nice little car.
You liked that one? Real low to the ground it was kind of a hotshot car.
Then we moved on to a Corvair convertible.
That was sort of mellow for a new astronaut to drive a Corvair.
The top-dog "right stuff" guys were all driving their corvettes.
Right.
Yeah.
So, I graduated to a corvette a little bit later.
What did you think of the Suzuki when you took it around our track? That's a swift little car.
Swift? Swift Well, swift enough for that track.
Want to see how you did? I'd love to see how I did.
Let's take a look.
Yeah.
Lift-off! I'm sorry.
I couldn't resist.
Okay, good speed in first, second.
So, this is turn 1.
Nice line through there.
Back down to second.
I was already in second.
All right, coming out of this one.
You have a giant hand.
Nice line through there.
You're coming into the southern chicane.
All right, now into third.
Faster, faster, faster.
This turn is the teardrop.
This is the slowest part of our track.
Oh, he's got a camera there, and here's a bold guy out with another camera.
I know it's hard to see with the cameras in the way, but we can't see you without them.
Maybe we can even try fifth gear here Except I don't think that's fifth.
I think I went back to third again.
That's okay.
It's got plenty of gears.
A curve here, then accelerate out.
There's the big hand.
Okay, now coming into the final.
There's the tires.
And left turn and Crossed the line! How do you think you did any idea? I got better and better.
Well, I can guarantee you this You are going to be the fastest time on our board.
It's a time that will be 1:55.
6.
Great.
Buzz Aldrin 1:55.
6.
Ladies and gentlemen, Buzz Aldrin.
This is a tractor.
It doesn't seem like much just sitting here, but the company that made it went on to achieve greatness, as we will demonstrate with the help of some livestock.
The bull.
A symbol of strength.
Agile, aggressive, and fearless.
Only one automaker had the blood of the bull coursing through his veins.
Lamborghini.
Ferruccio Lamborghini was fascinated by bullfighting So much so that many of the models in his company were named after legendary Spanish fighting bulls.
And we set out to determine the baddest bull of all.
Here are the contenders.
The Gallardo superleggera light, powerful, and explosively fast.
The Gallardo Balboni a rare rear-wheel-drive Lamborghini.
And one of the quintessential supercars the Murciélago Superveloce.
My choice is a technological tour de force the Lamborghini Gallardo LP 570-4 Superleggera.
Stay with me.
The "570" is for the horsepower.
The "-4" means it's all-wheel drive.
The "LP" means the engine is there.
Listen to this v-10 hum.
"Superleggera" means "superlight," which means this car is less than 3,000 pounds, the lightest of all the Lamborghinis.
And it does zero to 60 in 3.
4 seconds.
Lamborghini worked with scientists at Boeing to develop carbon fiber that they used in the doors, spoilers, mirrors, and trim pieces to keep the weight low.
That's a polycarbonate window, so you can see the engine.
I wish you could be inside this car to feel my heartbeat.
This car is terrifying and exciting at the same time.
It's like being aroused at gunpoint.
And I even like the color.
It's loud.
It's yellow.
It's that crazy uncle that shows up at a wedding.
He's totally inappropriate.
"Hey, where's the bride? I'm-a kiss her right on the mouth.
" The price tag on this is $243,000 plus the $3,000 gas-guzzler tax.
Now, you'd think, for that kind of money, everything would be included, but if you want a cup holder $650.
I don't know what the Italian word for bull Is, but that's where it goes.
But other than that, I'm having a hard time finding anything wrong with this thing.
I'm going with the only choice a driving purist like myself could go for, and that's the limited-edition Lamborghini Gallardo Balboni.
It's named after the famous Valentino Balboni.
He's the test driver that had his fingers on every single Lamborghini prototype since 1973.
It seems like he put this car together specifically for the professional driver, which means, first and foremost, it is rear-wheel drive The first rear-wheel-drive Lamborghini since the Diablo.
As sacrilegious as donuts are in a Lamborghini, that's what you get with rear-wheel drive.
Now, Balboni has this distinctive white stripe that runs the length of the car.
It continues in a tasteful way on the interior on the seats and the dash.
It's Valentino Balboni's tribute to racing cars.
With the rear-wheel drive, it means the car feels lighter, more crisp more like I like to drive.
Driving in a tiny exotic should be an experience you remember for your entire life.
Just like Pavlov's dogs and the sound of a ringing bell, the clapping noise that a Sushi chef makes that salivates Japanese people like the clapping noise, the click of metal on metal Is what gets me going about this car.
Oh, God.
That gated shifter is insane.
At $219,000, the Balboni isn't the cheapest Lamborghini out there, but for a driver, I think it's the best.
Compared to the other two, this is the most real Lamborghini.
It's not some fancy color.
It's fast, it's long, and it's low.
It's scary just parked.
This is the Murciélago Superveloce, better known as the SV.
Now, this SV is one of the top five supercars in the world, without a doubt.
I mean, it's got everything a supercar needs price, power, exclusivity, and a whole lot of speed.
Now, while those other Lambos can go fast, the SV can go faster.
It has a 670-horsepower v-12, and that's why I picked this car.
What does that mean? This will do zero to 60 in 3.
2 seconds.
The handling on this car is astounding.
It feels like it's on rails.
It's dangerous.
I mean, it makes you feel invincible.
"What can't I do with this car?" The only drawback to this car for me is probably the seats.
They are so race-inspired and clearly designed for a 5-foot-tall Italian man that my 6'3", 225-pound frame is not enjoying.
Now, exclusivity is important to any supercar how many are out there? Production for the SV is set at 350 cars worldwide.
And at just under $500,000, it's clear that this is the greatest bull of them all.
I've got to admit regardless of the fact that I've got the best car in the lineup here, how awesome is this? A desert alone with some Lamborghinis.
You're absolutely right It is a great day for us, fellas, but I have the best car.
The Superleggera this is a racecar on the street.
Is this the plastic one? "Space-age" polymer? Space-age polymer, my friend.
This is Right.
Like Tupperware.
There's no Tupperware in space.
Anybody can drive these cars with their all-wheel drive and paddle shifts.
Okay.
But Balboni designed this for real drivers.
I'm happy to say that you guys are both wrong, because behind me is the ultimate Lamborghini.
The Murciélago SV is it.
It costs twice as much as this.
You can buy two of these cars.
Some people would say it's twice the car.
No.
You, essentially, have a $200,000 drift car, though.
I know.
Is that awesome or what? If we're talking about the ultimate car, creamsicle aside, I'm gonna fly past bananarama well before you even get close to the end.
Really? There's only one way to settle this, and that is to ride these bulls.
Oh, you want to run them? From a standstill, one mile.
You don't have much room to brake.
So, whoever holds the foot on the gas the longest is gonna go the fastest.
Winner takes all.
Really? I'm in.
Rutledge has the biggest head, so he goes first.
Okay.
Doing a standing mile's not some simple little race.
Once your car's going over 150 miles an hour, the game changes.
Wind and stability become a factor.
The me al game is huge because you have to get your car up to speed before you run out of track.
I'm nervous for him.
I'm genuinely nervous for him right now.
.
E t that's a big bull he's riding.
It seems like just an easy thing, but with all this crosswind, that doesn't look like the most aerodynamically efficient machine, you know? Standing mile, Murciélago SV.
Let's do it.
He's off.
There he goes.
Oh, my gosh.
He's doing it.
He short-shifted a little bit.
That's gonna cost him.
Oh, my gosh.
He just grabbed another gear.
He short-shifted the last two gears.
Uh-huh.
Probably took a little bit of speed away, but what do you think that was? I'm thinking 180.
What'd you do? Oh, damn.
You were right.
All right, park it.
Right.
Standing mile.
Good launch.
Esp off.
Hammer down.
There he goes.
Love the sound of this thing.
Come on, baby.
That's 90 already.
He'll try to get 176 best he can.
Uh-huh.
That's a lot of vibration.
That's 150.
Come on, baby.
170.
He's still going.
No, I don't want the brakes.
He doesn't like losing.
He's probably doing 175 coming back.
A lot of crosswind you know, amazingly stable, though, considering I've completely wasted these tires.
And? No! Are you okay? What'd you do? Faster than I thought 173.
173? Oh! Wow.
I feel really bad that you didn't Beat me.
Let's just write this down today I beat Tanner foust.
Foust: Here's the deal this car can beat 175 easy.
If mine went 173, this one's gonna have no problem at 175, if Adam can just keep his foot down.
Those guys think my car is made of plastic, but I have a secret weapon thrust mode.
Set it in "corsa.
" Traction control off.
Left foot on the brake.
I think Adam is too fearless for his own good.
There he goes.
Thrust mode! Oh, he grabbed another gear after all of that.
Man.
Good God, was that fun! That sounded faster than 175, though.
I'm just saying.
How would you know? You know, 'cause you can tell from the - you don't mnh-mnh.
I'm sorry, man.
Sorry.
You lost.
I, uh Take it with pride, dignity.
173's really fast.
I'm proud of you.
It's just not 175.
Well, we heard you you didn't lift.
[ Chuckles .]
He looks happy.
So, did you do it? Rutledge, that sucks.
You said, right before it went, "he's too fearless for his own good.
" Let me hear the words "plastic" now.
Wow.
Have you ever been that fast in your life? No.
You're shaking! Yeah, let's see your hand.
That's cool.
That's a legit 180.
That's cool.
T: That shaking is near death.
That could be it.
You know what it might be? It might be victory over Tanner.
A lot of people don't get that feeling.
I did.
I mean, we've shared it.
You and I both did.
This is a good day.
And you beat Tanner.
Yeah.
And I beat Tanner.
Yeah.
But You did come in third.
I think I'm gonna go be sick.
I'm gonna call my wife.
I want to go back in the car.
Unbelievable.
You over it yet? Not at all.
Perfect.
I mean, the fact is that I fried the tires.
If I didn't do all the drifting This is great.
I'm gonna get you a prize for being the man to come up with the worst excuse for losing a race in a Lamborghini ever.
"It was the tires!" If I didn't go so fast I blame myself, really.
I was driving sideways all day.
" That's fun.
The important thing is not how fast we went in these cars the important thing is how fast the cars went around the track.
And that we both went faster than you.
Just Putting that out there.
That's very important.
I agree with the first part, which is why the Stig did take all of these cars around the track.
You guys want to see the times? All: Yeah! Okay.
The Balboni did a 1 a very respectable 1:26.
9.
.
Puts it right in there.
Yes.
But the Murciélago SV did a 1:23.
4.
There we go.
There we go.
Well, that's all we've got for this show.
Oh, no.
Oh, no.
Oh, no.
Oh, no.
My car.
Oh, yeah.
That one, uh Did actually go around the track one time.
Yes.
The question is, how fast? Well, we've got that lap on tape.
Anybody want to see it? Yeah.
Take it away, Stig.
And he's off.
Launch control on this thing puts it zero to 60 in somewhere around 3.
5 seconds.
It's really an incredibly quick car.
Carbon brakes, as he cranks it in.
Stig really pushing this one.
This car weighs under 3,000 pounds, so it's incredibly nimble, even though he's getting a little bit of understeer through the chicane.
Stig just another day at the office, as he cranks into the teardrop.
Now, this is the tightest section on the track.
2-wheel-drive cars have a problem in this particular corner to get the power down not the Superleggera, as it races up to 140 miles an hour on the straightaway.
Just flying by the tires on that one.
Now, this is the sketchiest part of the track with the bump midcorner, 140 down to the zero.
You can actually see sparks coming out of the front as those carbon brakes are working.
S working, also, inside.
Little wag of the tail as he comes out of cameraman's corner.
As he comes in the last corner, getting a little bit of rotation this time.
And across Yes! It looked very good.
It did.
That was so fast, it changed colors.
The time on that one was a blisteringly fast 1:22.
8.
My car.
My car.
Thank you.
But you know what? For a company that started making tractors, that's pretty decent.
I would love to see in the south a John Deere sports car.