Top Gear Z vs Z4

jakoye

The Z never had a chance against the Beemer on Top Gear. Clarkson is notorious for his Europhile bias when it comes to cars. He's never really liked the Z.

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c41006

I think he was pretty fair and accurate in his review

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brado

Red__Zed

did you watch it?

jakoye

I did. Top Gear is one of my favorite shows, so I saw this when it first came out. It kind of shocked me when I first saw it that, after all the good things he said about the Z, he ended it with JeffBlue's sig:

"So what we're saying is: buy the BMW because it's slower, less exciting, more expensive and less well-equipped."

Now that may have been just a bit of a toss-off for a funny, but when the Z beats a car in nearly every category and you choose its opponent... well, sorry, but that's just not playing fair!

And please, the Z4 does NOT look better than the 370Z, yet the Top Gear crew was all gah-gah over it. To me, at least, the Z4 looks

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Red__Zed

I think that line was a nod to the Z.

c41006

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jakoye

It's interesting how differently people can interpret things, eh?

No sweat, if that's how you read it. For me, at least, I interpreted it as them preferring the BMW no matter how the Z performed. And I think they were a little too pleased by the looks of the BMW, certainly more than those of the Z. They were literally gushing over the BMW.

I was also a little offended by the fact that the Z had to share the spotlight at all!

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brado

sarcasm

SeattleLion

Do you really watch the show a lot? It's the show's big running gag that Jeremy loves BMW's and Merc's; Richard loves Porches and the Z. The show purposely put the 370 against the BMW for that reason.

During the test drive Jeremy said that the Z was amazing fun to drive. He thought it was a "racing hen" (alluding to the silly Jurasic Park theme). The review was a true endorsement. And, the Z won!

jakoye

Yep. But I don't see it so much as a "running gag" (Jeremy's love for Mercs and BMWs) but instead a reflection of Jeremy's actual tastes. He's actually owned (and owns) a lot of Mercedes and BMWs, but never a Z.

And, as I said, at the end, when he delivers his JeffBlue sig line, I think he was telling the truth from his perspective: yes, the Z was great fun to drive, but when it came down to brass tacks, he preferred the Beemer.

Also, at the end of the piece, who else but Richard was sitting behind the wheel of the Z4 in the studio, praising its good looks and some such additional nonsense.

All that, for me at least, completely spoiled anything positive they said about the Z. I wanted a lovefest and instead got a back-handed slap. At least, that's how *I* saw it. YMMV.

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