Top Gear. A lot of people love it, a lot of people hate it and I think a growing number of people used to love it. It's transformed from a motoring review show with a stiff upper lip, into an out and out entertainment show. One that is perhaps more concerned with cheap jokes and manufactured story lines than catering for real car enthusiasts.

Over the last couple of months I've been finding my appetite for car shows wetted not on the TV, but on the web. These internet based shows cater for real enthusiasts and can cover stories that would never be suitable for a mass audience. Thankfully the quality of the video produced is getting ever better and is beginning to rival Top Gear; save for those little visual wow moments the BBC still muster from time to time.

So here are my top picks so far...

Drive - Chris Harris on Cars

It's difficult to think of much to say about Chris Harris...other than I think from a driving/car enthusiasts point of view he is THE best journalist come presenter around today. I'll just let the videos do the talking:

GT3RS 4.0: It's his own car...!

GT3 RS 4.0 vs: See it take on some tough competition in this next video

Group B Heroes: Unusual cars, great video!

BMW M5 '86: Chris' other car, a real enthusiast choice.

Jay Lenos Garage

Jay Leno's fame is easily matched if not surpassed by his enthusiasm for all things car and bike related. He presents a variety of video styles from interviews to reviews. He also covers a wide variety of machinery from new cars to hot rods to motor bikes and caravans. I guess variety is the name of the game with Jay so here's some videos to show this off:

Zonda R: No messing around, straight in with a hyper car!

Plymoth Duster: A car with a heart felt story

Bilstein Shocks: An in depth look at dampers

Fiat 500 Abarth: Something a little closer to home

EVO Magazine - Diaries

Of course being one of the UK's leading motoring magazines EVO offers plenty of video content on their site. The real gems are the video diaries, which just have a little something...modest yet brilliant.

Harry's Zonda pt.1: Remind me of looking around cars in Forza 4, but better.

Harry's Lotus Elan: What a little beauty of a car!

Megane Review: A regular review.

Zonda 760: Not many people get this access, helps being an owner. Oh the noise!

Motortrend

My latest find is from Motortrend. They offer a variety of 'shows' but so far their Epic Drives has stood out.

Corvette ZR1: Chasing 200MPH on the Autobahn.

Audi R8 V10: Topless in Norway...and a bit of a history lesson. Stunning roads.

911 Turbo S vs. GTR: Painfully American...but fun all the same!

So there you have it. A range of alternatives to what we get pedalled to us on TV. Hopefully you've found them interesting/entertaining. If there are any other corkers out there I'd like to hear about them!

Couldnt help but laugh at the jay lenno plymethh vid, If anyones seen waterboy they will know what i mean lmao :)

I saw this thread title and instantly thought chris harris on cars, quality videos, definitely deserves to be on TV

Top Gear. A lot of people love it, a lot of people hate it and I think a growing number of people used to love it. It's transformed from a motoring review show with a stiff upper lip, into an out and out entertainment show. One that is perhaps more concerned with cheap jokes and manufactured story lines than catering for real car enthusiasts

I think thats whats made if better - stand out from things like 5th gear....

The best thing about Top Gear is literally the relationship the presenters have with eachother. It makes for some fucking funny television when you see them covertly trashing eachothers cars.

The best thing about Top Gear is literally the relationship the presenters have with eachother. It makes for some fucking funny television when you see them covertly trashing eachothers cars.

This is why I love top gear, they are having the same kind of fun I would like to be having in cars. Facts and figures bore the shit out of me tbh

Facts and figures bore the shit out of me tbh

As it does with the vast majority of the television watching nation. Watch Top gear from the 1980s and 1990s, it makes for terrible television.

yes top gear isnt all about the cars anymore, but 5th gear is.

but what would you rather watch? top gear or 5th gear? 5th gear is just boring lol

yes top gear isnt all about the cars anymore, but 5th gear is.

but what would you rather watch? top gear or 5th gear? 5th gear is just boring lol

I don't mind Fifth Gear, it's good at times but I never think 'Oh Sweet, Fifth Gear is on today' - I have no idea when it's on, if it even is any more.

A look into the beginning of the F1 era, through the eyes of Cosworth, who much to Duckworth's displeasure realised thy had to go turbo to be competitive. My old Uni lecturer is in there too 'crazy Geoff' although he's a fair bit older now.

A look into the beginning of the F1 era, through the eyes of Cosworth, who much to Duckworth's displeasure realised thy had to go turbo to be competitive. My old Uni lecturer is in there too 'crazy Geoff' although he's a fair bit older now.

That's a bloody brilliant video Pete. Plenty of bottom end destruction as well if I remember rightly?

Top end that causes problems initially with higher rpm and skipped teeth cause a valve clash- not sure if it's on the video but I've heard stories of short block problems in development, not surprised really, they'd almost tripled the specific output on low boost!

Got an interesting SAE paper on Honda's 1.5 V6 F1 engine, ran on silly mixes of Tolulene and other exotic fuels (namely some oxygenators), compared to modern day when F1 supposedly run pump fuel!

Been enjoying all 9 series of Wheeler Dealers :s, I love it!

check out The CAR SHOW 2011 its american but its funny as, a good equivelent to top gear without trying to be

Been enjoying all 9 series of Wheeler Dealers :s, I love it!

I'm the same, granted, mike's too cheesy by far, but edd can make anything interestting and I always come away with something I either didn't know or i'd forgotten, and an appreciation for a car that i'd not really thought about lately.

i learned alot from edd china and a few short cuts

eds a top bloke

does he still make the "unique" vehicles anymore?

remember him in the early nineties driving his sofa on the big breakfast

Also makes me laugh how some people seem to think that not liking top gear makes them a real car enthusiasts

Also makes me laugh how some people seem to think that not liking top gear makes them a real car enthusiasts

x2 I'm a proper enthusiast I like ALL cars. I watch TG, its not all serious car stuff which is goodfor a break I quite enjoy having a laugh watching it. I read Autocar, Top Gear Mag and Auto Express. I watch Overdrive Mag on youtube (for the indian take on cars) CarBuyer (good reviews) Drive (only for Chris Harris, Awesome journalist) again autocar and auto express.

Motor Trend however is cringeworthy appalling watching.

I wont go into the exhibitions, presentations, Race weekends etc I go to but the main point is I'd consider myself a real enthusiast but I watch Top Gear, people are entitled to their opinions but effectively saying people aren't car enthusiasts because they love an entertainment program based around cars is ridiculous. Top Gear is a platform for getting folk into loving cars and its a bloody good platform for doing so.

Also makes me laugh how some people seem to think that not liking top gear makes them a real car enthusiasts

I didn't see anyone in this thread who said that? I watch Top Gear every week for one...

Top Gear can be good and has been good, but of late has gone way off the mark. The India special is an example of them completely losing the plot...or completely regurgitating the same old plot. The format is starting to stagnate to the point where you know what's going to happen before they do it. I think some of the latest episodes were barely recognisable as a car show. The point of the thread is to say look there are alternatives, so whilst TG might be fun to watch, there are a lot of other good sources for content.

Also makes me laugh how some people seem to think that not liking top gear makes them a real car enthusiasts

I didn't see anyone in this thread who said that? I watch Top Gear every week for one...

You said it yourself in the title

Personally I thought the last few episodes of the last series were some of the best for a long time, they cut down on the slap stick while still keeping it fun, and the lads having a go at different sorts of grass routes motorsport was great to watch

Also makes me laugh how some people seem to think that not liking top gear makes them a real car enthusiasts

I didn't see anyone in this thread who said that? I watch Top Gear every week for one...

You said it yourself in the title

Personally I thought the last few episodes of the last series were some of the best for a long time, they cut down on the slap stick while still keeping it fun, and the lads having a go at different sorts of grass routes motorsport was great to watch

I said videos for real enthusiasts, but I didn't say I didn't like it...anyhoo...

You're right the Rally cross bit was good towards end of season.

No you didn't

It's at the top of the screen... "Top Gear Alternatives, For real enthusiasts!"