Mar 30, 2011 2:18:42 PM
We all know their reviews and sketches are staged and scripped but this is pathetic:
The show featured Jeremy Clarkson saying the Tesla ran out of charge at 55 miles, with footage of it being pushed around a garage, ending with Clarkson saying "It's just a shame that in the real world it doesn't seem to work."
Shortly after it aired, Tesla said the Roadster never lost its charge, never needed to be pushed and asked Top Gear for some kind of retraction. After some sparring, the BBC admitted the footage of the push-powered Roadster was meant to show what could happen,
Mar 30, 2011 2:28:18 PM
Mar 30, 2011 2:37:43 PM
Carlos from Spain:
We all know their reviews and sketches are staged and scripped but this is pathetic:
I don't like Top Gear. The reason is simple: You can't make a car show for serious people using dumb jokes. It would be so much more fun if they would do some crazy stuff with the cars instead, like crazy driving, showing off, etc. but the comments are usually below the belt and sometimes just plain untrue or very biased. Why many people enjoy Top Gear and while Top Gear sometimes really has its funny moments, the show itself is more of a car show circus but not a reliable source for car information or car reviews.
I would love to see a high value, serious show about sports cars, with good reviews and even better video footage but I guess it is never going to happen. I also hate it when I hear music instead of the original car sound, this is just pathetic.
RC (Germany) - Rennteam Editor Porsche 997 Turbo, BMW X5 M, BMW M3 Cab DKG, Mini Cooper S JCW
Mar 30, 2011 2:46:03 PM
I feel the same, unfortunately it seems that there is is not enough audience for a seroius car show, which is also sad if you think about it. It was this way when TopGear started years ago and it had Tiff and Vicky, and Jeremy was one of the secondary presenters with a bad hairdoo...
I watch TopGear for the humorous content, but sometimes they go a bit too far for those ratings and they should realise that somethings cannot or should not be stagged for the benefit of the scrip and entertainment value. If you are doing a sit-com then everybody knows that everything is 100% fictional, but if you present yourself as a documentary with a comical tint, there there are limits to what you can make up for the sake of the comedy. Same with a car show or home improvement show or cooking show, etc. You can't appear to be "testing" a car and make up stuff about it just to make the review more entertaining, there is a company behind that car, customers, etc.
I don't know if they will win the lawsuit or not, but in an ideal world just the publicity of what they did should be more damaging and would take the "three stooges" of their high horse and bit... unfortunately its not an ideal world.
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Mar 30, 2011 2:51:23 PM
Carlos from Spain:
I watch TopGear for the humorous content
I sometimes watch them for the same reason and to actually see some nice car video footage. Jeremy Clarke is a clown. Apparently other people love him.
Yes, maybe Top Gear would have a much smaller audience without these jokes but it really takes away a lot of the quality of the show.
RC (Germany) - Rennteam Editor Porsche 997 Turbo, BMW X5 M, BMW M3 Cab DKG, Mini Cooper S JCW
Mar 30, 2011 3:43:48 PM
Carlos from Spain:
I feel the same, unfortunately it seems that there is is not enough audience for a seroius car show, which is also sad if you think about it. It was this way when TopGear started years ago and it had Tiff and Vicky, and Jeremy was one of the secondary presenters with a bad hairdoo...
I watch TopGear for the humorous content, but sometimes they go a bit too far for those ratings and they should realise that somethings cannot or should not be stagged for the benefit of the scrip and entertainment value. If you are doing a sit-com then everybody knows that everything is 100% fictional, but if you present yourself as a documentary with a comical tint, there there are limits to what you can make up for the sake of the comedy. Same with a car show or home improvement show or cooking show, etc. You can't appear to be "testing" a car and make up stuff about it just to make the review more entertaining, there is a company behind that car, customers, etc.
I don't know if they will win the lawsuit or not, but in an ideal world just the publicity of what they did should be more damaging and would take the "three stooges" of their high horse and bit... unfortunately its not an ideal world.
to all that.
Especially the comment about the bad hairdo.
fritz
Mar 30, 2011 5:05:38 PM
Mar 30, 2011 5:42:53 PM
No im with Tesla here. TG is going too far and it's not funny. They used to make fun of German cars like the CGT in saying that it was amazingly engineered and whatnot. They have a strong bias and now they let it show too much. In faking that the Tesla didn't even make it saying it just doesn't work... that's complete BS and not a bit funny.
The problem here is that the majority of idiots believes what they see in TG.
Hence sue them.
indeed shifting is ancient technology - so is a fuel burning engine.. I happen to like both :)
Mar 30, 2011 5:46:11 PM
Tesla with its innovative EV concept need to defend themselves...
Clever advertising out of it...
http://www.teslavstopgear.com/
indeed shifting is ancient technology - so is a fuel burning engine.. I happen to like both :)
Mar 30, 2011 5:49:21 PM
Top Gear is an entertaining programme with some doses of English sense of humour (which I find witty and enjoy myself). But you don't learn much about cars objectively. Lots of bias on behalf of Clarkson too.
View it as a show not as a serious automobile TV magazine.
"Form follows function"
I like Clarkson. He doesn't hide his biases. But in this case, he and TG are dead wrong. The problem for TG is if they acknowledge the rigged test, then the entire premise of the show loses its credibility is.
Often it is better to fight the battle, retreat to fight another day rather than loss the war.
nberry:
I like Clarkson. He doesn't hide his biases. But in this case, he and TG are dead wrong. The problem for TG is if they acknowledge the rigged test, then the entire premise of the show loses its credibility is.
Exactly. One doesn´t have to like Clarkson for his sense of humour and some of the stunts they perform on the show are questionable to me as well but it still comes somewhat surprising that they stage a car´s unreliability. In terms of carmedia, one would assume that most numbers are adjusted to the better...
Wait a minute, someone actually takes Top Gear as a serious and credible source of information?
For god's sake, these are the guys who tied a car to a low earth rocket, fired one out of catapult, put one on top of building being demolished, and every test ends in a 100ft long - tire smoking powerslide around the track.
No real car enthusiast would take anything said on Top Gear with anything other than a pinch of salt, but Top Gear appeals to a much wider audience and those who watch it think that they are then informed about a few car facts based purely upon what they have seen on the show. As they know very little about cars what they see and hear on the show therefore sinks in as being factual. I only know a few people in real life who are serious car enthusiasts and they all know TG is full of automotive twaddle but that it is still fun to watch. If however you talk to most normal people about cars they will often quote what something very opinionated which they have seen on TG or heard from Clarkson, which is of course frustrating at times. As Porsche owners you must have run into somebody who has said, "yeah but Clarkson says your car is cr*p" at one time or another...
I can see how Tesla who are desperately trying to build a brand here would be very upset by TG putting out an article that tells the mass public that their new car is all but useless as it will run out of fuel every 5mins, further reinforcing the public stereotype that electric cars are rubbish.
Mar 30, 2011 8:55:38 PM
90% of the TG audience believes all these stunts.. it's a sad reality but unfortunately very true.
Adam:
I can see how Tesla who are desperately trying to build a brand here would be very upset by TG putting out an article that tells the mass public that their new car is all but useless as it will run out of fuel every 5mins, further reinforcing the public stereotype that electric cars are rubbish.
+1
I think Tesla is being very smart and will turn this into positive advertising for them.
indeed shifting is ancient technology - so is a fuel burning engine.. I happen to like both :)
fritz:
Carlos from Spain:
I feel the same, unfortunately it seems that there is is not enough audience for a seroius car show, which is also sad if you think about it. It was this way when TopGear started years ago and it had Tiff and Vicky, and Jeremy was one of the secondary presenters with a bad hairdoo...
I watch TopGear for the humorous content, but sometimes they go a bit too far for those ratings and they should realise that somethings cannot or should not be stagged for the benefit of the scrip and entertainment value. If you are doing a sit-com then everybody knows that everything is 100% fictional, but if you present yourself as a documentary with a comical tint, there there are limits to what you can make up for the sake of the comedy. Same with a car show or home improvement show or cooking show, etc. You can't appear to be "testing" a car and make up stuff about it just to make the review more entertaining, there is a company behind that car, customers, etc.
I don't know if they will win the lawsuit or not, but in an ideal world just the publicity of what they did should be more damaging and would take the "three stooges" of their high horse and bit... unfortunately its not an ideal world.
to all that.
Especially the comment about the bad hairdo.
+2
Mar 31, 2011 10:02:41 AM
The best suv in the world which JC praises from the beginning of the show till it ends broke down over 5 times in China
http://www.autoblog.com/2011/03/29/report-angry-chinese-driver-tows-range-rover-back-to-dealer-wit/
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Mar 31, 2011 10:56:42 AM
Atzporsche:
No im with Tesla here. TG is going too far and it's not funny. They used to make fun of German cars like the CGT in saying that it was amazingly engineered and whatnot. They have a strong bias and now they let it show too much. In faking that the Tesla didn't even make it saying it just doesn't work... that's complete BS and not a bit funny.
The problem here is that the majority of idiots believes what they see in TG.Hence sue them.
Aaron, did you end up buying those Tesla stocks in the end?
j/k, I can imagine Tesla being upset. Especially as a starting company with a new product that people are not really familiar with, this could mean the end of their bussiness.
Topgear is really funny to watch, even though they don't appreciate porsche as much as I do ( ), but they should keep a little hindsight to the ramifications of their actions. Humor is good, humor at cost of others... not so much.
Joost:
Atzporsche:
No im with Tesla here. TG is going too far and it's not funny. They used to make fun of German cars like the CGT in saying that it was amazingly engineered and whatnot. They have a strong bias and now they let it show too much. In faking that the Tesla didn't even make it saying it just doesn't work... that's complete BS and not a bit funny.
The problem here is that the majority of idiots believes what they see in TG.Hence sue them.
Aaron, did you end up buying those Tesla stocks in the end?
I hope he did ( did you see the jump today because Morgan and Stanley put it on the ''buy'' list ) !!! Tesla is doing well and the target for the stock price is over the double of what it is today. I hang on to mines
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997.2 C2S, PDK, -20mm
Gnil:
Tesla is doing well and the target for the stock price is over the double of what it is today. I hang on to mines
I sold at 36...bought it at 22. Was an amazing profit but I'm not too much into electrical cars, so I will stay away now, even if electrical cars may be the future to some point.
Currently, there is too much hysteria floating around from the Japan nuclear disaster and I would wait until people get their common sense back.
RC (Germany) - Rennteam Editor Porsche 997 Turbo, BMW X5 M, BMW M3 Cab DKG, Mini Cooper S JCW
RC:
Gnil:
Tesla is doing well and the target for the stock price is over the double of what it is today. I hang on to mines
I sold at 36...bought it at 22. Was an amazing profit but I'm not too much into electrical cars, so I will stay away now, even if electrical cars may be the future to some point.
Currently, there is too much hysteria floating around from the Japan nuclear disaster and I would wait until people get their common sense back.
The height of the hysteria was in fact a good time to buy.
(I mean to buy shares generally, not Tesla particularly).
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fritz
Apr 1, 2011 6:45:40 PM
I've bought and sold over 4 times now on that volatility. I figure with my small capital i might as well play this game. If worst comes to worst, I hold on to the stock and sell later letting it mature long-term.
indeed shifting is ancient technology - so is a fuel burning engine.. I happen to like both :)