In the absence of the regulation thread on Driven I?ll start one.
The comparison between the S class Merc and 7 series BMW IMHO set new a new low even by the standards of this programme.
For those who didn?t watch, it consisted of Jason switching off the electronic traction devices. He then drove each car like Steve McQueen on steroids through aircraft hangars, a covered passageway and out onto the airfield in the usual opposite locking , tyre smoking manner that prospective purchasers of this type of limousine will obviously demand. To set the standard for this performance they were pursued by the class leading hot rod ? a Lexus 400 driven by the new racing driver female in the show.
The aim of the pursuit was to beat the Lexus to an aircraft for the getaway. This was followed by the cars driven over speed bumps at 25mph; the measure for success here was how much champagne was spilt, and lipstick smudged, by the rear seat occupants.
Who on earth invents these stupid scenarios?
C
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Aye it was poor, particularly as the cars will be of no relevance to 99.99% of viewers. The bit on buying bargain barges wasn't bad though.
Maybe soon they will return to the heady heights of excellence set on that hour long Norway (I think) special.
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Next week's sounds more promising - finding some cheap competition for the Civic R...
I wonder how fast the new Merc and BM will depreciate, with all those gizmos? At least you could depend on the old, relatively simple, models staying reliable - I don't suppose the new ones will let you take them out the garage if they haven't had a main dealer service for 12 months!
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I think tonight was an excellent, and each week they come up with a new approach to testing that keeps the interest while still testing the cars in a relevant way - the champagne test is surely just a variation of the bowl of jelly test in the Mondeo. Made me (and more impressively SWMBO) laugh out loud, liked the smudged lipstick comparison.
The new lady presenter is good, but I'd take a very dim view of replacing the lovely Penny with her. They both VBH look a very amateurish and cheap though.
I'd say keep up the interesting programmes. There's been more interesting TV in the last couple of drivens (esp. ice) than in a decade of TG.
Lee.
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I agree with Lee. I thought it was huge fun. Today's news is that David Backham has just splashed out £160k on an armoured S Class while in London people are being pulled out of their flash motors at gunpoint, so anti hijacking definitely is relevant. And its nice of the boys to employ a well-known girl racing driver (Amanda Stretton), knowing that one day she will show them up. I also liked the way they used the businesspeople of the future to evalualte the cars. Good thinking. Perhaps that's why the S Class gets a facelift later this year and gets replaced in 2003/04. To my mind, even though it's a lovely looking car, it's now bettered by the new E Class anyway.
HJ
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Well, what would you expect from a presenter called Jason?
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I think she's a bit of a fox, myself :-)
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Agree pointless test of the cars inquestion people who buy this stamp of car are not interested in high speed pursuit but rather comfort and luxury along with good security , none of which was covered , was it?
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