^^^ even Lada get UK Help, I study on Shoreham Airport and there happens to be a site for Ricardo Vehicle Consultancy there. Aside from McLaren MP4-12C's bimbling around the airport (they even managed to wedge a mclaren chassis and engine into a modified Ferrari 360 Body!) we have had lots of Lada Priora's going about too and quite a few camouflaged cars too. and it wasn't more than 10 years ago that a Kia was worse than the plague and now they are class contenders.

Kia's made itself more European that's all. Good diesel engines, an ex Audi designer and improved plastics and chassis design. Old Kias weren't awful cars, certainly over the last ten years, but they were cheap and reliable white goods for people who just needed a motorised box to get from A to B.

The new stuff is brilliant though. Picanto, Sportage, Optima and Sorrento are as good as Japanese rivals and nipping at the heels of the Europeans now. Not quite there but about 99%. And still priced like Korean cars, with insane warranties to match. Yes there are clauses but a seven year warranty speaks volumes for how confident they are about their new products.

And I can see that, with the money it'll make, the Chinese carmakers will catch up. China itself is such an important market now that everyone wants a slice. If you need any proof then look at Saab - GM was so threatened by the idea that it might set up base in China under Chinese ownership that it as good as blocked the buyout and let the company die rather than let it in on a share of an emerging market.

Plenty of European manufacturers are designing cars for Chinese consumers first, then tweaking them for Western markets. Mercedes for example. And the Peugeot 508 is designed for China too.

That market is worth a fortune so expect it to fund rapid development of new cars.

lets not forget about india, the Hindustan Ambassador (Read as Morris Oxford) is still one of the best sellers however companies like Tata are moving things on swiftly having revealed the pixel and new safari the delhi auto expo last week. I forget which mag it was maybe top gear or autocar but they ran an interesting article on Ratan Tata and his replacement.

Also On youtube I am subscribed to Overdrive, an indian motoring tv show that is thankfully broadcast in english. and with a third of the worlds population living in china and india it would be silly to not focus a lot of effort there.

My god. I don't really expect a motoring show anymore, but I do expect to be entertained. Tonight's show was nothing but tedious boredom. I thought Jeremy was going to gobble Ryan Renold's cock with the amount of hero worship arse licking going on.

Missed tonight, sounds like I didn't miss a lot

It's Dogwank tbf.

Someone should make a montage of the actual car review bits and put it on DVD. I'd buy that. Wouldn't pay much though, it'd only be 15 minutes long.

i thought it was a really good episode,

Everyone's so tough on it now!

And the 'final' edit they showed!!!

Wasn't a terrible taster for the impending Sweeny film, but it was a little bit daft.

Hammond scrapping with Nick Love was a highlight for me lol.

Hehe, I'll be going to Nardo and plog in sweden with work :)

Fenton....!

Fenton....!

That whole piece was quite funny

How nice did the Bentley sound and how daft is the 4WD system on the Ferrari

Did you put it into 5th. This is what happens when you put it in 5th

And the Fenton part at the end!! :lol:

Hehe, I'll be going to Nardo and plog in sweden with work :)

Didn't realise you did Nardo too. Did the 'plog three years ago working on 11MY L359, was cracking fun but boring in the evenings as there's not much there. Going to the arctic circle's a bit disappointing too, there's just a sign:

Someone down in the town has a Mk1 Polo though!

Ivalo in Finland's a bit better, as you can stay in Saariselka where there's a bit more going on. I did this there last year:

Yeah do quite a lot of places tbh!

Mojacar, Nardo, idiada, boxberg, nurberg, Sweden, Dubai, Canada, America, UK lol I can't think

Fenton....!

Funniest part imo, was not expecting it for one second.

Epic race with the two WW2 Spitfire (27litre) and Meschersmit bomber (47litre) engined cars, now thats what I call an engine upgrade

i lold at the rain tbh

Either KTM has buggered about with the X-Bow or Top Gear is lying.

Switching it on is easy. The key fits into a rubbery slot on the centre console (iirc it's proximity based so you can just leave it in your pocket anyway), fit the steering wheel, press the clutch, press the start pedal and off you go.

That car was on an 09 plate, same age as the one I had. But I don't remember a toggle switch.

I think that was the best episode of the season.

tbh I've enjoyed the series so far. humour has been a bit more subtle. The audi micky taking was amusing, thwe morgan was the best thing I've seen go round their track too

The Morgan on the track was amusing yet exiting at the same time, it may not of been the quickest but fuck me it was entertaining

I want a ride in that brutus even if just as a passenger, the noises alone would be fucking amazing to experience

Edited 4 March, 201214 yr by Mclovin

I want a ride in that brutus even if just as a passenger, the noises alone would be fucking amazing to experience

I liked the way after starting it, he put that flimsy bit of metal over the holes in the exhaust stubs, only stopped the flames from escaping nothing to do with silencing it and the look clarksons face when it started spitting red hot oil in his face

Yeah.. that was the best episode of this series for sure!

Why would you want an exhaust noise played through your car stereo? Quite possibly the gayest things I've seen on a standard car. It's got a V8 under the bonnet that you would think would be more than capable of creating an exhaust noise without the help of bang & olufsen

Was another good episode tho and I like how they are trying to promote grass routes motor sport with track days last week and rally cross this week, both done without going all benny hill on our arsed too

Just a shame it was the last one of the series