Top Gear Australia episode 4 preview
October 13, 2008 by George Skentzos
The next episode of Top Gear Australia airs in just a few short hours, but in the meantime here is a preview of what you can expect next week.
For episode four, Steve Pizzati drives the most powerful car ever built in Australia – the HSV W427 at Holden’s Lang Lang proving grounds.
Warren Brown and his indigenous tracker Diesel attempt a trek across Western Australia on a horse whilst Cox and Pizzati tackle the challenge in a TRD HiLux fitted with a Follow Me GPS.
The star in a bog standard car is Jack Thompson, most notable recently for his role in the new epic film ‘Australia’.
Finally, the team tries their hand at lawn bowls Top Gear style, rolling a bunch of brand new Holden Astra’s down a ramp towards the jack.
Top Gear Australia airs Monday nights at 7:30pm on SBS.
Print it: 
Watch Pitazzi stuff this review up and get huge complaints next tuesday. I mean look at that face!
THAT DUDE HAS GOT TO BE ON THE GEAR!!!!
TGA…..put on the flame-suit! lol
He looks way too happy for someone with something red and hard in his hand
He may be partial to speed….not the vehicle velocity kind either :)
My predictions:
The HSV W427 segment will be crap because he will be too scared to criticise a local manufacturer
The trek across WA will be interesting and well filmed
The Astra bowls will be funny as long as Cox doesn’t try and yell his quips. Oh, and I hope they use Vivas and not Euro Astras.
Jack Thompson might be a bit crap because I don’t picture him as a petrolhead, just an old man who would do 80 on the freeway.
Australia’s Top Gear road tests the latest horses.
C’mon we’re not that backwards are we?
I reckon they’ll find that the W427 is an awesome, explosive car with a great engine note, good handling and great brakes.
They’ll find that it is either over-priced ($150k Commodore?) or good value if you consider that it is pretty damn near a V8 Supercar for the road.
That’s not an original thought, just what all the other journos are saying. As long as there are plenty of roaring getaways and tyre smoke it should come across well.
It will be interesting to see how they handle the local car manufacturers going forward, but they did a good job with the Holden vs Ford battle. They were ready with praise and criticism for both and in the end said both were great products from Australia and the choice is yours.
(I think Pizzati ballsed up the launch, though, handing the Holden a big lead in the drag when in reality the XR6T would have done a lot better off the line. All for the drama and theatrics no doubt.)
Still a long way from being anywhere near as good/ funny as Jeremy Clarkson, James May, and Richard Hammond :(
I tried to watch this utter crap again….sorry but this show just doesn’t work :(
SBS….please give us back TG-UK and sell this shite to some commercial station….please!!
The whole idea of TG-UK was to watch exotic cars in exotic locations with presenters that have a history with the essence of the show. Not sloppy seconds and then have the presenters compare everything to a piece of shite commodore…my god!!
Totally deflated….thank god for youtube ;)
Please spare us any more of this embarrassment; it is un-utterably bad.
Spare yourself, just change the channel and stop whinging. Ive enjoyed the show so far and hope they keep punching out episodes. The more top gear the better, UK or Aus (soon to be US too)
The guy they get to play james may is actually quite good
His X6 review tonight was interesting, the other two, not so much.
Having just watched EP3, the show is improving pretty quickly. Charile Cox has more or less stopped yelling and the show hangs together better and lets be honest TG UK is a pretty big pair of boots to fill.
Mmmm thats really an exciting sport to emulate with cars Lawn bowls.
its getting better and better with each episode…they all seem more comfortable in their roles now, given some more time, they will be pretty good me thinks
Charlie Cox is awful, terrible and brings the show down, should be punted immediately.
I’m trying to like it, really I am… but it’s just… painful.
Is it just me, or does everyone else not want them to destroy brand new astra’s for a stupid challenge, seems a bit of a waste
This show with it’s stereotypical Australiana belongs in the 70’s with Puberty Blues and Running on Empty.
Who the hell paddock bashes?
Isn’t that done by like 5% of the population in rural Australia?
How embarrassing for the rest of us Australian’s.
Why is the crowd in the back full of XXXX drinking red necks?
It’s a car show, why get a star whose most expensive car was a $6K Carolla.
Who’s idea was it to bring in that rockwiz dumb a.. btch to the show???
The X6 review sucked:
1. They picked 3.0L Diesel version instead of HOT twin turbocharged petrol version or the 4.4L V8
2. He didn’t even properly raod test it, Bimmers beg to be thrashed thats when they shine!
Certaintly living up to your name, elitist. Its just a bit of fun, get over yourself. BTW have you watched Top Gear UK lately? Tell me thats not full of outdated british stereotypes, i can tell you it is, and its for a laugh you humourless pleb.
The star in a reasonably priced car segment is the only segment that matches TGUK. Decidedly average on both shows. TGUK gets some really crap non car guests on too.
I would like to see them start bringing on some Aussie racing guys to do a more experienced hot lap board. The talent list is quite long, Mark Webber, Skaife, Lowndes, Murphy, Jim Richards, Wayne Gradner, Jim Read, Victor Bray, Briscoe, etc.
I think TGAU is getting better every week. This weeks segments were better, the X6 test was pretty good, the Merc test raised some interesting points, the paddock bashers was amusing and the news segment flowed much better. Warren’s cartoons were quite good too.
I’m going to continue watching it, for two reasons. I find it entertaining and that it is a better car show than anything else made in Australia for the last 20 years. If you support the concept, other channels might try their own and bring some competition to the genre.
The dislike of TGAU is from people comparing it to a chemistry that has been in place for 11 (10 for May) seasons. With the improvements that have been happening in the first 3 episodes, I am looking forward to what it is going to be like by the end of this series.
@Elitist:
hahaha sounds like ‘The Car Show’ with Glenn Ridge is your sorta show, no offensive humour there perfect for boring types like you lol. And ive paddock bashed, and its great fun!!!
Paddock bashing is the best fun, but one of them should of got an old Datsun Stanza, best paddock basher ever. That looked like a hell of a lot of fun. If anyone is looking to do this go talk to a car yard and tell them to give you a ring if anyone trades in an old falcon or commodore, you could probably get a decent basher for $300. Or less.
Much improved I must say. Good to see Pitazzi disagreeing with Clarkson’s view of the Merc.
Elitest, when have they compared anything to a commodore except the F6, your a tool who thinks he’s better than everyone else. I dont see you hosting this show. If you hate australiana so much, your free to leave.
Good to see the guys have improved up a notch!!
I agree with both the Merc, and X6 review.
Only the celebrity guest ruined the show today, with her constant, try hard, unfunny attempt at humor!
I’ve said it before and i’ll say it again…
A lot of you put whinging pom’s to shame…
Its actually quite embarrassing…I thought the Australian values were about giving a fair go and the rest?…
Let Australian TV develop..As a lot of people have said…the show is getting better and a lot of you forget the humble roots from where Topgear UK originated.
Excellence doesn’t happen over night and these guys are trying to meet the expectations and standards that it has taken approximately four or 5 seasons for Top Gear UK to create and perfect.
Stop having a nerdy asthmatic attacks over not getting your weekly dose of TG:UK It will be back in about 4 weeks.
I think alot of you have just decided that because the first two episodes sucked then it will suck forever and thats it. I thought the third episode was a very large improvement and I actually enjoyed watching it. I think some of you need to pull your heads in and give it more of a chance. You can’t expect the first episode to be awesome, thats just silly.
Watch any decent TV show, the first episodes usually always suck
Less Cox meant better show, IMO (sorry Charlie). Here’s the tip – tape the show on HDD, then fast forward through the rubbish parts – there is probably 20 – 25 interesting minutes on it for me, and it makes it far easier to digest if you are not sitting through the bits that dont interest you.
Definite improvement on the first two shows which were very painful to watch.
Only real let-down was the guest who couldn’t drive a manual or get a laugh,they need to invite someone like say Chopper Read?
I thought Ep3 was much better, they seem to be finding their feet a bit & the whole show just came together better. It’s not all good, but your kidding yourself if you expect it to be. IMO the Pommy version, while very good, has it’s fair share of crap bits too.
So according to a number of childish posts above anyone who dares to say they don’t like TGA is whinger. Well excuse me for having an opinion, let alone one that is different to the TGA apologists.
Grow up!
Bring back the original!!! I don’t care they if SBS does a shit car program, but most annoying is that it stops showing the UK one.
Gheeezzz… some of you people whinge about the (sh!te) Australian version and ask to bring back the UK version. For gawd’s sake, SBS will take forever to put new UK episodes on – just download them via BT, it’s not that bloody hard!!!
Ok Ok that episode was a big improvement on the 1st 2, if people are still complaining about the littlest of things they shouldnt watch the show because obviously you are not car fans, you just like the uk show, not cars..i am a car nut hated the 1st 2 episodes due to the lack of information/specs on the cars was nil, but come on that episode was pretty good compared to the others, they test drove the cars properly they had a good ol aussie bush bash in the cars, i mean what more do you people want, tea and scones, go watch dancing with the stars cause you obviously are not car fans, you just like the colour pictures….Durrrr
GO look at the first 5 episodes of topgear uk and tell me that wasnt painfull. Go on…
oh 1 thing “What were they thinking” does need to boot….
Geez luiz…..
@VW Freak, to be fair to SBS I think they’re pretty much up to date with the UK series, well, they’re about to screen seires 11, and given that series 12 starts in the UK on 2 Novemeber, SBS will continue to be one series behind. But, like you, I manage to watch the UK show via alternate means anyway, so when SBS shows it doesn’t really bother me.
As for TGA, 01×03 was easily their best effort. They’re at the stage now where the over enthusiastic guests are the weakest point. I hope the improvement keeps coming, when you balance the free hit they got copying the UK format with the unrealistic expectations of all the internet warriors, I reckon they’ve made a solid start to producing a very good program. Certainly plenty of potential already to see Series 2 has some good foundations to build on. Keep it up SBS!
What a load of rubbish … at least we don’t have to rush through dinner on a Monday night any more. The TV is now silent, as the first two episodes were more than enough. My son did have a look at Episode 3 but turned it off after a few minutes.
At the very least, they could have given us guys who you wanted to look at. These guys not only have no camera appeal, they have no personality either. You would never say that James May is the best looking kid on the block but his dry sense of humour and personality more than makes up for it. These guys have nothing!!!!!!!
This show is embarrassing!!
I strongly suggest you guys watch the 2002 episodes of TGUK (when the show was reincarnated for the first time into this format).
I think you will pleasantly suprised to see that the quality in on par for something that is only 3 episodes long.
By the end of the season once the producers have ironed out the issues, you will have a very cohesive show, and besides some of the stuff they say is quite funny, its just the crowd that doesnt get into it like the UK one does.
After having attended the taping for episode 4 I can say that the show is getting better. All the haters comparing the show to the already established UK version need to change the channel. In person the guys are pretty good, even Steve if he does display some ADD qualities. After having a brief chat to him he’s alright. These guys just need time to get their chemistry together and they’ll be fine. If anything the only thing I reckon that they should change is the test track, i’m not a fan. If the script writers let them get a bit more personal with their opinions on the cars that would also be better. Still, it’s not a bad show. I hope it continues.
@ Brett:
Brett, the point I and some others are trying to make is that people aren’t just saying “we don’t like it” its just “whinge bitch & moan, yadda, yadda yadda…” It’s all the same…there is nothing constructive, just tearing it to shreds and the line: “BRING BACK TOPGEAR UK”… Its irritating listening to people gloat about how they turn the TV off on a monday night just because of Topgear Australia. May I suggest they are the ones that need to grow up. Give the show a chance to develop its own persona and put away the measuring stick.
As it has been said before Top Gear UK wasn’t always as good as it is now…so many people only jumped on the TGUK bandwagon when they finally got it spot on.
The Top Gear UK (series 11) will begin Monday 24 November at 7.30pm for those interested…
This show is so lame…watched ep 2 Holden Vs Ford…no quarter mile times, no 0-100 times ,no fuel consumption figures…couple burn outs that’s all…Stig didn’t get to drive either of 2 cars WTF !!!…..this show is not even funny….just 3 lamers talking absolute crap……..this show its a joke.
I reckon they should rename the show.. “What were they thinking” then stick up the presenters faces up on the board and fade out to something (anything) else half decent.
Greenroom…you are so right…they borrow 2 fastest cars made in Australia and yet they get Stig to drive dump truck instead of Holden or Ford….WHAT WERE THEY THINKING??
I have to agree with the majority, the show just lacks any real humour and excitement. I am trying really hard to enjoy it, but I just cant get into it. To be honest I expected a lot the first week and have since re-evaluated my expectations so im not comparing it directly to TG-UK.
That being said, I will give it another week or two and then im done. Charlie Cox just needs to shut up, honestly, that guy must love the sound of his own voice…he is the Kochie of SBS! Steve is ok, but not game enough to make strong statement one way or the other…he obviously likes his position on the fence….plus he committed a cardinal TG sin by stating he likes paddle shift gear boxes (that killed it for me…)! As for Warren, his “stunt” with the sharks wasnt interesting, and the hearse smart car was appalling, really really bad taste….the only funny thing he has been involved in was when Cox took out his door last night on Ep3.
Let’s hope the trio reads this forum and takes a few ideas on board….the show needs more humour, more wise cracks, and more opinions to offend the masses ha ha.
Ok, I give up its terrible. I cannot see how this will improve. At least get rid of Steve (replace with a hot car chick).
Thanks
Now come on Robj and co, 3 episodes is no where near enough to banish the show for life…i swear, the way some people seem to be carrying on you would think the show is 4 season old and still of the same quality, episode 3 was MUCH better than the first two, and it will get better, have patience for pete’s sake!
I have noticed that there seems to be a lot less haters after this episode than the last two….
I was really hoping the show would get better but to all the people who say that it is; what are you talking about? Where is it getting better. I can’t see it, sorry.
Well it’s better then most of the American crap shown on the other channels.
Not long till the UK version is back i hope *Fingers Crossed*