Win a Top Gear T-Shirt
September 15, 2008 by Alborz Fallah
After our recent visit to catch up with the guys (and the Stig) from Top Gear Australia, we had such a good time, we thought we’d give something back.
So we are giving away a Top Gear shirt and a Top Gear bag to one of our readers, but there is a catch. You have to come up with an idea for a Top Gear Australia segment.
The best idea will be sent to Top Gear Australia and depending on how good it is, may be used in the second season.
Keep it simple and realistic. Post your segment ideas in the comments.
The winner will be picked at the end of September.
Top Gear Australia will premiere on Monday September 29th on SBS.
Print it: 
$5000 Aussie Muscle Car challenge, each of the guys must buy a aussie muscle car made during the 70s and complete a series of challenges.
OR with those cars, they would try to drive from weribee starting at 4pm on a thursday, to frankston. Although they only get half a tank of petrol and cant take any tollroads. PEAK HOUR MADNESS IN A PETROL GUZZLING V8 BEAST!
Precision driving, design and execute a precision driving routine. Make it more fun by starting of slow and then slowly increase the pace each lap until someone stuffs up
Give the guys a car each with a simple problem to fix to get the car started, the presenter who diagnoses the problem first and completes a lap to cross the finish line first wins.
Try to avoid being caught by the police (or rent a cops) with in a certain time frame from one end of the city to the other, obeying all road rules. You can only drive in a pre selected area. If you are pulled over you are out. Of course the correct authorities would have to be involved.
Okay..my idea is like alot of others but here we go.
Typical car challege with a twist. Start with a certain budget of oh i dont know. Maybe $3000-5000. Then buy a car with it (like most car challeges).
Now we do the usual lap of a race track, drag race and public gathering challenge(see whos car sttracts most attention). Now accumulate the points.
Its not over yet though.
Now hop on ebay and find some of those “performance mods chips” for your car. Plus any other cheap items that are supposed to help your car perform better. Albiet a body kit, a performance chip, sway bar, an ebook on how to make the best out of your suspension who knows. Basically the cheapest mods available. We all the the ones right, that are supposed to be the bee end and all of performance mods.
Now repeat the lap , drag race and public gathering. Calculate the points. And your winner is the one with the biggest difference in points!
Well thats it. Maybe end it with a fender bender challenge on whos car last longest just as a finaly cause the cars will no doubt be stupid afterwards/ and or already damaged frm the previous challenges.
Could be a bit of fun for viewer at home and you dont need to know much about cars to understand it.
P.S: i would use a charade if i was them. Plenty of stuff on ebay for em.
Leaving Sydney GPO (sbs is based there)our three plucky lads have to get to cronulla beach as quick as possible (there is a panel van competion there or something..) In peak hour one travels by Jet ski (thru the heads) one in a suitable passanger car.. (whichever ’sponsor’ hands over the most cash) and one travels by public transport.
watch the ensuing japes.. Hmmm what to do with the stig… Have him waiting in a sandman panel van the beach?? This idea needs a polish.. Anyone help…
Have the boys head out to used and new car yards with hidden cameras; convince the dealer to let them go out on a test drive by themselves. Then bring a totally different car back, and leave. Or come back with the same car but completely trashed (not the original car they took, just the same car), take it through mud and fill it with rubbish.
HA HA HAAAAA
LOL
You are the man Salesman. No competition here.
In honour of the all Australian invention…. The Ute.
(Lou Bandt, designer, Ford Australia 193?)
Consider a segment on:
“Feral Utes” and their unusual owners (shirts, boots, accents etc)possibly shot at a Ute muster somewhere, or a country B&S….
Awards for:
Best circle work
Most feral ute
Most original ute
Most banged up ute
Most scmick ute
Most girls in a ute tray filled with warm mud etc
You get the drift…. the Stig could do a lap at the local race track in the Ute loaded with beer cans and bets could be made on how many cans fly out, with all proceeds made split 1/2 with the winner and 1/2 with me.
Anyhow.. a show in honour of the Ute. Send it over to the UK for Tourism Australia. Classy eh?
Every time my girl drags me to westfield, i spend the whole time thinking it’d be a great place for a go-kart track. So many different corners, so many different obstacles to avoid/take out. The Stig could line up fitness first consultants and mow them down.
Charlie Cox, Warren Brown and Steve Pizzati drive a R32 NISSAN SKYLINE GT-R to the Bathurst 1000. They must camp at the top of the mountain for the entire weekend. Only supplies are tofu, rice crackers and Bacardi breezes.
The last man left alive wins.
How about a trailer reversing competition, to make it Australian, the tow vehicle must be a ute, and to make it a little more challenging, should have a manual transmission
I’ve got a great one, have them re-enact one of the newer season 10 episodes from TopGearUK.
There should be enough content that was written down to practically do the whole season, but lets not get ahead of ourselves.
I wonder how many zombies will find this entertaining.
nice one salesman, seen that one about test driving on the TV show “punked” was very funny
The Stig in the Goggomobile:
Get hold of the Shannons dude’s Goggomobile Dart and have The Stig give it a crack. Show us how the thing really performs and let’s find out once and for all whether the thing is really worth insuring.
Ta
Each presenter picks a car to modify and try and tow a road train.
or get them to drive a road train through the city in peak hour.
race mining trucks
Will it Blend FTW!
Sorry if someone has already mentioned it coz it seems so obvious to me…….let any or all Ssangyong models drop from the tallest crane you can get your hands on and compare how much BETTER they look after woulds!!
Wow that’s a lot of comments. I like Bosscr’s point, Lease Plan vehicles (or Orix fleet or whoever) always perform better than privately owned ones. While rentals, particularly XR6s and Aurions are incredible all terrain machines, I’m sure Top Gear Australia could do something with that :P
Coincidence actually because I took a stuffed Lease Plan BA falcon ute to Ford today to have the body taken off it and put on one of the last RVs available, we gave it its own “Top Gear Challenge” really, we used it in quarries for about two years, it lost in the end. Not as badly as whoever lease plan sells it to will lose though…
They just need to get some classic aussie icons (Kingswood GTS, XY GTHO etc) and drive them across the middle with challenges along the way.
Always a good one, how far do 2WD rental’s go on tracks marked 4WD only or how fast do they go in 1st gear.
The Backpacker Challenge
Each presenter is landed in Cairns with a small budget, let’s say $2000 each. You’ve gotta buy the best bang for your buck as to what you think a backpacker needs for their travels. The eventual aim is that presenter and car have to make it down the coast to Brisbane in one piece after completing a number of challenges.
Namely: The hitchhiker help out – pick up a specially positioned fellow backpacker with their awkward load of luggage (some for the surf, others might have bikes etc).
The 2 minute break-in challenge – backpackers carry their life around in their cars, how easy is it for a would-be thief to get in there.
The all-terrain challenge – how well do your backpack mobiles stand up to a rough gravel shortcut? These vehicles are taken across country for the most direct route between towns.
Home away from home – with just your trusty sleeping bag, how many hours of comfortably sleep can each presenter get before having to get out of their car?
Once in Brisbane count points for breakdowns, fuel economy and how much you could re-sell the car for on the secondhand market.
The Panel Van Challenge – Remember those aussie icons from the 70s – Sandmans, Sundowners and Drifters. We don’t have any modern equivalent so the challenge will be to take a recent car (less than 5 years old) and convert it into a truly modern shaggin’ wagon. Points are given for build quality, unusualness of donor car choice and custom fit-out. Teams would have a week to perform the modifications.
Seeing as all 3 drivers have past race experience, put them in a race in a car far below what they are use to.
Challenge 1.
Find 3 VW’s of pre 1970 construction and perform slight modifications to make it:
1. Track worthy, ie. Roll cage, harness, Racing bucket, etc.
2. allow improvements to be made to the car by the presenters of there individual choice, as long as the performance improvements are VW based. (aka larger combi engine/larger braek package/ etc.) (this should provide some laughs as i’m sure all 3 presenters will want different things)
3. Custom body kit & paint job constructed by only the presenters without the help of others. ( again should create some very interesting looking machines)
Then take this track spec VW beetle to one of the many australian tarmac rally events within the country and put the 3 drivers up against each other.
It will create a very interesting series of events as all will be racing against each other and in cars far below what they are use to driving, especially driving fast.
This should be a relitively cheap and create a lot of show worthy moments.
The chick magnet challenge
Each host will be given some money, or even a so called chick magnet car, and they have to do a series of challenges. At the end of the challenges, they have to prove that their car does attract chicks.
Tune up some 1970’s hippie cars with bigger engines, a new paint job and as much accessories as they can afford given a budget of $1000 and use them for a road trip around Australia.
James May tried to sail a car on water and failed miserably (as he so often does) perhaps as Australian’s we should build a car that does sail. But this time on land, there’s plenty of wide open and windy desert to sail across so why not tackle fuel consumption and sail across our country (or at least part of it) We beat the American’s in their own sailing race….I’m sure we can beat the Brits!
statistics show that some cars (primarily F1s) can drive upside down in a tunnel due to their large amounts of down force. I’m sure some boffin could find a way to put the statistics to the test…..why can’t it be a top gear boffin?
speaking of wings on cars how about we try to build a car that flies, it goes without saying that this could be quiet dangerous; flying at 30,000 feet in a hatchback has some serious implications if stuff goes wrong…..perhaps we could start with just loosing contact with a runway….$10,000 per contestant should allow them to buy a light enough car with enough power to reach take off speed….not to mention buying the wing to rope to the roof-racks!!
what’s the quickest way around the Sydney CBD? pedal bike, moped, running, bus (lol), the monorail (potential for Stig involvement) or a go cart…..perhaps a Ferrari just so it can loose
big Aussie six….which Australian wagon or sedan can fit the most cargo or perhaps people within it’s boot?
r32 golf vs wrx sti vs evo X….perhaps in a skid pan, on a mountain road or gravel road?
send the Hammond of Australian top gear to drive road trains in the northern territory…..don’t forget to defuse his air conditioner before he sets off….he’s gotta sweat
Top Gear UK vs Top Gear Australia!
This would be great as the last episode of season 1 or last/first of season 2 where the presenters of Top Gear Australia vs the presenters of Top Gear UK. Maybe have it in a country between both Top Gears? and have it similar to the Top Gear vs German’s segment on the last episode of series 11?
It could have stuff like stig vs stig or a another drag race with british cars vs australian cars. Or maybe some cross culture stuff such as Top Gear UK has to make a BBQ while moving while Top Gear Aus has to make lots of tea while in a moving vehicle.
Also could have something like seeing which country has the strongest cars by putting them up against each other in challenges to see which car could last the longest after being dropped, rammed, set on fire and etc. Similar to the Toyota Hilux challenge of series 2.
Stevo the Devo: Love your panel van idea. That would be cool.
i think u should add cars such as (suv) or (four runner). Give some detail on them cause every time i’v see ur program its always an other suports car. its good but kind a old patren so start giving some detail on (four runner) or something like ways.
Female Stig VS Male Stig
or
The Stig family racing show / competition
i think you should volkswagen passat cc verses the mercedes benz cls.show the passats new features lane assist,park assist and acc automatic distance control.220kw of power.0 to 100 in 5.6 seconds in the v6 fsi.
5k for a car must be 1970-1980
drive frm darwin to adelaide in summer with $500 for fuel
or
a perth to sydney 1 person drives brand new f6 vs 1 person drives new r8 vs 1 has to use train,bus ect see which is fastest
Guys Guys….WHere is the Aussie components here.
How about the Best Mongrel Ute Challenge..??
The oldest and ugliest ute. driven from Sydney to Lightening Ridge with challenges along the way…
Obstacle course with caravan in tow
Hill climb with 1 ton trailer with the obligatory 5 ton payload
Point awarded for most rust dropped along the way
etc etc
Viewer Competition. Viewers submit their details and entries go into a barrel. 10 names are picked out and they get to do a lap in the resonably priced car. The winner of that leg then spends time with the Stig and gets to do a couple of laps in a M3, AMG Mercedes or S series Audi or whatever the show can get their hands on.
Seeing as everyone seems to beieve Australia is divided down the middle by ford and holden. A great segment would be to buy two old cars. VR and EH for example. Cut it down the middle (length ways or for ease in half) join them up and drive it round for an ensured reaction. Eg submit it into a Ford show and shine when half the car is a commodore.
Aussi’s being who they are love football meat pie Skippy and Holden Cars.
So Why not wander or drive down Aussi motoring historys fast lane with a Special on the glory days of Austalian Mussel cars Say the A9X Torana and a SLR5000 fanged around Eastern Creek and Just to make it interesting Maybe grab a GTO 3 For a Quick lap.
To top it off Just have a New HSV Clubsport on the side and we will be thinking “What Were they thinging off” they must have been nuts to race those things. But boy it was fun and thats what Preformace cars are about from any era.
Give the guys an identical car with a fuel tank of fuel and see which person konks out first. It will be a test of their lead boot driving technique
Have the Stig test cars on the V8 Supercar tracks as part of the events during the Supercar series.
Civil Service vehicle challenge
Each presenter will be given $5000 to buy a vehicle of their choice and turn it into a civil service vehicle be it a firetruck, cop car, ambulance, snow plow, anything. They would be given a series of challenges
Speed test- Every civil vehicle must be able to attend a scene in the quickest time, one lap around the track against the base time of a standard ambulance.
Efficiency Test- How well do their cars fair with their real life counterparts?
Team work: The three presenter will work together with their vehicles to help a mock up scene.
They should get a car. Bog standard, Commodore, Falcon, whatever. Get the guys to set a lap time and each week fit aftermarket parts ( such as mags, tyres, swaybars, a chip, lower it etc ) and see what difference it makes to their times each week after each mod. Over the weeks the thing will hopefully get faster.
Maybe auction it off for charity at the end of the season?
Cheapest transport challenge: Is it cheaper to fly or drive?
Pitch the cheapest cost flight from Brisbane to Sydney (or other 2 cities) against: A petrol (Cox) eg Fiesta, diesel (Pizzati) eg VW Polo, and hybrid (Brown) .
So, if they can get a $99 flight, how far can they get on $99 in each of these cars? Drive until they get to the city or the fuel runs out.
If there is extra fuel, a series of tests (acceleration, how many hippies can you squeeze into it etc etc.
They can buy the plane ticket in the name of the Stig and then, at the airport they could have the final call for the Stig. Have him trying to get through security with helmet on etc. They can throw in a bit of current affairs with the new X-ray machines and have the Stig going through the machine… He could have a massive wang or half metal or made of car parts or no belly button or something.. Security could have him open his luggage and it’d be full of different types of race suits.
Worst fuel consumption from the most economical cars on the Market:
According to Australia’s Green Vehicle Guide, the most economical for their respective drivetrains/fuels (petrol, diesel and hybrid) are:
Fiat 500 (4.2L/100km, diesel),
Toyota Prius (4.4L/100km, Hybrid), and
smart fortwo (4.7L/100km, petrol).
But not many people actually ever reach these levels of economy unless they cruise in the 110km/hr zones at 75km/h.
Soo…. stick a host in each car and find out: What is the worst fuel economy the TG team can get in each of these cars. Then follow the story up with a series of challenges to turn it into a competition: 0-400m, 0-100, overtaking a semi, and quickest through the city. Points for each ‘competency’. Who will be the final winner? What will be the worst fuel economy you can get in an ultra-efficient car? How does that compare to a regular Commodore or Camry?