Misplaced Pages

Reviews: Jeremy reviewed the Citroën Berlingo, which he said was an affordable small car with character and great storage space. He also compared the Pagani Zonda and Lamborghini Murcielago. He loved the Zonda and called it the king of supercars. The Zonda achieved a 1:23 around the track while the Murcielago had a 1:29. Hammond reviewed a Mazda 6, Mazdas attempt at a sports sedan. It was surprisingly tight, but still not an amazing sports sedan.

News: Ford GT40 Concept, Fiat Stilo Estate, new Nissan Micra, Smart Roadster, Bentley Continental GT, and Jeremy's opinions on Formula 1.

Challenge: The Stig had to drive fast enough to be undetected by a speed camera. After attempts in a Honda Civic Type R (129 mph)and a Mercedes CL55 AMG (148 mph), he finally did it at 170MPH in a TVR Tuscan S.

Star in a Reasonably Priced Car: Harry Enfield who sets a very slow lap of 2:01 in the Suzuki Liana

Review: The Stig tests the Ford Focus RS on the track against its main competition, the Subaru Impreza and the Honda Civic Type-R. The Impreza completes the track in 1:39 and the Civic finishes in 1:38.06. Surprisingly the Focus RS beats the competition out in a time of 1:33.8. Jeremy then drives the Focus RS on the empty roads of Wales. Aside from a generally positive review, Clarkson claims that at times the differential makes the car uncontrollable and does as it pleases.

News: Mazda unveiled the RX-8. VW announced the unpronounceable Touareg.

Main Review: Noble M12 GTO Despite the cars atrocious turning radius, wonky brake lights, and windows that don't completely go down Jeremy loves the car for its amazing handling, great power, and most notably its complete lack of under steer. The Stig puts the Noble around a wet Top Gear track in 1:33.

Star in a reasonably priced car: Jay Kay, leader singer of the band Jamiroquai, plays a game with Clarkson trying to identify bits of cars. Jay Kay correctly identifies two of the four cars while neither were able to identify the other two. He then completes his lap around the Top Gear track in 1:48.1.

Review: Hammond gives a look back on his childhood dream car, the 1977 Ford Escort RS1800.

Challenge: Hammond wanted to see how many motorcycles a double-decker bus can jump over.

Main review: Mini, older women doing donuts in an S2000, Westfield XTR2

Challenge:

Star in a Reasonably Priced Car: Ross Kemp, 1:54, Wet

Main review: Aston Martin Vanquish v Ferrari 575 (featuring Damon Hill in the 575), Buyer's Guide to second-hand Nissan Skylines, Mid-Range Olympics: Ford Mondeo, Mercedes C-Class, BMW 3-Series, Honda Accord, Jaguar X-Type, Renault Laguna

Challenge:

Star in a Reasonably Priced Car: Steve Coogan, 1:53, wet

Main review: Maybach, Mercedes S-Class, Audi A8, Bentley Arnage T

Challenge:

Star in a reasonably priced car: Johnathan Ross who gets lost in a practice lap and pulls over the car to find the way, 1:57

Theme: Style, fashion, and 'cool'.

Clarkson's review: Clarkson drives the Renault Vel Satis through Swindon.

Clarkson's second review: Clarkson drives his personal Mercedez-Benz SL55 AMG around the track very carefully. The car is then stolen by Hammond and given to the Stig for a lap.

News: Nissan's return to motorsport, Mazda MX-5, 2 Fast 2 Furious/Hyundai Elantra, Renault Vel Satis

Hammond's review: Hammond drives the BMW Z4 in Portugal.

Also shown/reviewed: Honda NSX, Renault Megane, Renault Avantime, Debut of the Cool Wall

Challenge: Dawe is with the "Grannies" while they learn how to handbrake park in a Mini.

Insider Trading: Suzuki Liana, Used car plcs, car trade-in financing.

Dawe's review: Dawe looks at used Volkswagen Golfs.

Theme: Environment

Hammond's review: Hammond drives a Saab 9-3, following the government guidelines for "commuting in an eco-friendly manner."

News: Daihatsu Copen, BRABUS Mercedez-Benz SL55 AMG, Cars with a 5-star safety rating

Dawe's review: Kids and supercars: Ferrari 360, Pagani Zonda, Nissan Skyline R34 GT-R, TVR Tuscan, Lamborghini Countach.

Also shown/reviewed: Peugeot RC, Cool Wall, Ford TH!NK, diesel engines, Toyota Prius, LPG cars

Clarkson's review: Clarkson drives a Lotus Elise badly, and then gets a lesson in how to do it properly.

Insider Trading: Fiat Stilo, Ford Ka, Isuzu Trooper

Challenge: Fastest Faith, Part 1: A search for the "fastest faith" starts, with the contestants being a Catholic Priest, a Jewish Rabbi, a Buddhism Lama, a Anglican Priest, a Bishop also from the Church of England, and a follower of the Hare Krishna. Each driver drove a highly tuned Subaru Impreza WRX STI. The car was spun by the rabbi and the Hare Krishna, giving them 5th and 6th place respectively. Fourth place went to the Lama, third to the bishop. The Catholic priest was beaten by the Anglican priest for best time.

Main review: Audi RS6, Mercedes-Benz E55 AMG, Maserati 4200GT.

Supermini Comparison:Ford Fiesta vs. Citroën C3 vs. Honda Jazz vs. Nissan Micra vs. MG ZR

Challenge: White-Van Men raced a Ford World Rallly Transit van.

News: New Citroën Berlingo, Astra, Audi TT DSG

Star in a Reasonably Priced Car: Michael Gambon's antics at the last corner cause it to be named after him

Also noted: A Lada Riva is modified by Lotus.

Main review:

Challenge: A Radical was raced around the track against an aerobatic plane.

Main review:

Challenge: Fastest Faith, Part 2: The search for the "fastest faith" continued with a Muslim Imam, a Rastafarian, a Druid, and a Seventh-day Adventist. The Adventist pastor was unable to fit in the car, giving him 4th place. The Rastafarian, who was jokingly warned to "keep off the grass," turned in the top time, beating the druid and the imam, who got 3rd and 2nd respectively. The Rastafarian also beat the Anglican priest from the earlier challenge.

Best of Top Gear: A review of the series.

Main review: Smart 'R' - James May's old Bentley

Challenge:

Hammond used a drag racer with a jet engine to incinerate the car he considered to be the worst of all time, an automatic, mid-eighties Nissan Sunny. At the end of the show he also used the racer to burn a caravan.

Main review:

Challenge:

Star in a Reasonably Priced Car: Chef Jamie Oliver who was set a challenge of cooking salad in the back of his campervan whilst being driven by the Stig (couldn't do it). Wanted to beat Gordon Ramsay in the Suzuki Liana, came exactly the same time, 1:50

Main review: BMW Z8 Alpina

Challenge:

Star in a Reasonably priced car: David Soul off Starsky and Hutch, who was the first American and first guest to break the Suzuki Liana, 1:54

Main review: Clarkson briefly looks at a Jaguar R Coupe prototype, May shows the 1953 Le Mans Jaguar C-type and Hammond drives a 1960s Jaguar Mark 2.

Review: The new Jaguar XJ is cunningly tested by Clarkson, looking at how far he can drive it before he gets bored. He managed to get all the way to Duncansby Head before saying "Oh dear, I seem to have run out of country."

Review: Clarkson drives the Jaguar XKR-R, a racing version of the Jaguar XKR, before looking at the Aston Martin DB7 GT.

Main review:

Challenge: Can a Ford pit team change an engine faster than four women can get ready for a night out? They can, a lot faster

Star in a Reasonably Priced Car: Anne Robinson, 1:57

Main review:

Challenge:

Main review: Clarkson tested the Koenigsegg CC8 which, with a top speed of 242 mph (389 km/h) was at the time the world's fastest production car. Clarkson did a speed run on the test track. The record was 170 mph (274 km/h) set by the Pagani Zonda. This was broken, with the Koenigsegg managing 174 mph (280 km/h). Clarkson later commented how he felt nervous before the run because engineers from Koenigsegg had asked him if they could put tape around the windscreen; he thought that the tape was to keep the windscreen from flying off.

Car Safety: Hammond test drives the new Renault Megane in London and then brings it to the Top Gear test track where they simulate a crash test with a real driver.

Challenge:

Main review:

Challenge: A "race for the universe" between The Cybermen from Doctor Who, The Doctor (Colin Baker), Ming the Merciless from Flash Gordon, Darth Vader, Klingon from Star Trek and Daleks from Doctor Who

Star in a Reasonably priced car: Supermodel Jodie Kidd talked to Clarkson about Horses, Gumball 3000 ralley and shoes that make her look a normal height, came top at 1:48

Main review: Vandenbrink Carver (a three-wheeled bike with tilting tandem cockpit), Hammond and Clarkson try to fit in it at the same time

Review: Volvo S60R

Review: Vauxhall Signum

Star in a Reasonably Priced Car: Patrick Stewart, 1:50

Main review: Ford GT, filmed in Detroit

Star in a Reasonably Priced Car: Singer Martin Kemp, comparisons between him and Ross Kemp discussed: Both on Eastenders, both moved to ITV, both called Kemp and both set a time of 1:54.0

Challenge: Can you do a lap of the M25 in a diesel Volkswagen Lupo

Skit: The original (black-suited) Stig goes 109mph in a Jaguar XJS on the HMS Invincible, flying off the deck. All that is found of the Stig is his glove.

Main review: The team visited the Isle of Man to test four BMW sports cars, the M1, M3, M5 and M3 CSL.

Skit: New "white Stig" is introduced

Challenge:

Main review:

Challenge:

Using a swimming pool, Hammond showed the dangers of being in a car that is sinking in water; and demonstrated that you should open the car doors as soon as it strikes the water, rather than waiting for the car to fill with water and the pressure to equalize.

Main review: Hammond tests several new Mini Cooper S. The powerful Works Cooper S, the Hartge Cooper S, Digi-tec Cooper S and the sporty BBR Cooper S.

Documentary and Review: Due to the 40th anniversarry of car company Lamborghini, Hammond and May test some classic cars. Hammond tests the 1967 Miura, commenting on its controversial styling and engine positioning; and the improved 1971 SV version. May tests his childhood dream car the 1980s Countach, remarking on its unforseen awkwardness and unpracticallity.

Star in a reasonably priced car: Comedian Rich Hall set a time of 1:54.0

Review: Clarkson tests the new Lamboghini Gallardo. Stig sets a lap time of 1:25.8.

Main review: Clarkson tests the 1.3 litre Wankel Mazda RX8 228 bhp coupe on the track, saying that despite the mixed styling it performs well and for £22,000 is good value for money. The stig sets a lap time of 1:31.8, being the same as the Nissan 350Z coupe, to which Clarkson remarks that the Mazda be the better car performance and handling-wise.

Documentary/Review: Hammond looks at several cars deemed to be good investments as future 'classic' cars. These include the Volkswagen Corrado VR6 and the Mercedes 190E 2.5-16 Cosworth.

Challenge: The team set the challenge of finding the best wig for a fast drive in an open top convertible.

Star in a reasonably priced car: Sony BMG executive Pop Idol/X Factor judge Simon Cowell joins the leaderboard with a time of 1:47.1.

Review: May reviews the new Fiat Panda citycar, car of the year.

Challenge: How tough is a HiLux Toyota Pickup truck? Clarkson performs a number of tests on the robust vehicle including drowing, rammed into buildings and a tree, blown up at the top of a condemned building, and set fire to. The car still works afterwards.

Main review:

Challenge: James May tosses a Toyota Hilux off a tower block being demolished, it survives, and drives, triumphant, into the studio

Main review:

Challenge:

Main review: Richard compares a Nissan Micra to a Boeing 747

Challenge: 'Top Gear Generation Game' 5 of Richard Hammonds more modern cars versus 5 of Jeremy's older cars, the old cars win 3-2

Star in a Reasonably Priced car: Comedian Johnny Vegas who doesn't have a driving license, comes in 1:58.6, beating Harry Enfield and Richard Whitely who both have driving licenses

Main review: Honda NSX, Which the team 'auction off parts off the set to pay for', including a Calendar of Milton Keynes Roundabouts and an e-mail asking for Hammonds signed photo signed "love Stuart".

Challenge:

Best of Top Gear: A review of the series.

Review: Jaguar XK RR vs Aston Martin DB7 GT

Challenge: Capt Slow has the Hilux placed on a tower block...

Star in a Reasonably-Priced Car: Martin Kemp

Review: May reviews the new BMW 5 Series

Review: Hammond reviews the Porsche 911 GT3, and then Stiggy takes it around the track

'Skit: The Death of the Stig

Review: James reviews Aston Martin Vantage

Review: Jeremy is jetted off to Detroit, and begins his doomed love-affair with the new Ford GT

Challenge: The Hilux survives the demolition of a tower block, and drives, triumphant, into the studio

Main review:

Challenge: Hammond and May take public transport while Clarkson attempts to beat them in a car in a race to Monte Carlo. Hammond and May take the Eurostar and TGV, while Clarkson drove the Aston Martin DB9, winning by a significant margin.

Challenge: Clarkson undertook a challenge to see if he could evade being caught in missile lock from an WAH-64D Apache anti-tank helicopter while driving a Lotus Exige. The helicopter failed to lock in on the Exige when remaining within the confines of the test track. However, when allowed to move further away, the helicopter acquired lock within seconds.

Main review: The Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren is taken round the track. Ends up with the fastest time at 1:20.9 and also the fastest automatic ever!

Star in a Reasonably Priced Car: Paul McKenna takes on the Suzuki Liana. Normally, guests are interviewed by Clarkson talking about their cars and then they show their timed lap and that's it. But this week, since the star is a hypnotist, he will also hypnotize one of the 3 presenters. According to Clarkson, it can't be him because apparently they tried and he couldn't be hypnotized. And it can't be James (for whatever reason). So it has to be ... well ... you guessed it. "Oh boy are we going to have some fun!" - Jeremy Clarkson

Review Jeremy Clarkson reviews the Alfa Romeo 166 V6 Selespeed, which he unashamedly loves and praises, and then takes it to a near-abandoned village in West Yorkshire coal mining country, where it gets its wheels nicked and is left on bricks! This is a very big Alfisti (Alfa Romeo aficionado) insider joke, as Alfa Romeo wheels are non-compatible with almost all other car makes.

Challenge: Richard Hammond finds out if a nun can drive a monster truck.

Main review: Cars for track days, Porsche 911 GT3 RS versus Ferrari Challenge Stradale. Both cars are heavily stripped down with minimal amenities. Jermey remarks that the Porsche is very plain, while the Ferrari is very complex, and finds the Ferrari is the more astonishing track car. Both cars scored a Power Lap time of 1:22.3 in the hands of the Stig.

Review: Richard Hammond reviews a 1968 Dodge Charger 440 R/T and was tempted to buy one, but found out it won't fit in his garage. Jermey promptly tells Hammond that the Charger is rubbish and the Dodge Challenger is the right Dodge muscle car to buy.

Star in a Reasonably Priced Car: Jordan, 1:52

Challenge: The guys are asked to buy road-legal cars for less then 100 pounds. Then they will be set a couple of challenges. Clarkson turns up in a Volvo 760 (2.0 V6 GLi). James turns up in a Audi 80 1.8e. Hammond bought himself a Rover 416GTi.

Main review: The Porsche Carrera GT is given a run round the track against the automatic gearbox time of 1:20 from the McLaren 2 weeks ago, and beats the SLR by 0.2 seconds.

Challenge: Can a Ford Sport Ka with satellite navigation beat the racing pigeon? Unfortunately, James forgot to use the postcode as always and wasted 25min just to get to the right place. The pigeon won in style with 30mins to spare, even without James' cockup. To rub it in even further, 14 of the pigeons managed to get there so it really was a massacre.

Star in a Reasonably Priced Car: Snooker player Ronnie O'Sullivan who came second at 1:47.3, but proved he can play a frame of snooker (with four reds instead of 15 and the rest as normal) faster than the Stig can drive his car around the track.

Main review: Clarkson, May and Hammond tested the BMW 645i, Jaguar XK-R and Porsche 911 on Pendine Sands in the rain. Clarkson successfully made an allusion to the nature of each car, and also had each presenter matched to their cars "You've (May) got the Business jet (the 645i), I've got the Tornado (The Jag) - where's Hammond with the Messerschmitt (the 911)."

Star in a Reasonably Priced Car: Johnny Vaughan and Denise Van Outen, who manage to break the car, 1:53.4 which Jeremy moves up to 1:53.2 because there were two people in the car.

Challenge: Hammond demonstrated that it was safe to sit in a car struck by lightning by sitting in Volkswagen Golf in a huge lightning generator.

Clarkson reviews the most popular car in Japan, the Nissan Cube, and generally makes fun of its styling, poor performance and handling. Quote: "They really have thought of everything. For instance when you put the key in the ignition (does so) it beeps to tell you that you've just done that!"

May drives a modernized Jaguar XJS that actually works, unlike the original ones.

Hammond looks at the Cadillac CTS, which is not available in Britain. He tests it on some windy roads, referring to "corners: an American car's natural enemy." The results are favorable but Clarkson disagrees, saying, "Cadillacs are for pimps and pensioners."

Main review: Clarkson reviews the Renault Clio. He likes it even though it is unrefined, cheap and unsafe. They conclude that it is like a puppy dog - just plain fun despite its poor manners.

Challenge: Hammond investigates: "Could you run your car on poo?" The answer is yes, but the savings are not worth it.

Star in a Reasonably Priced Car: Radio presenter Terry Wogan who did it in an embarrassing 2:04

Main review:

Challenge: James and Richard pose as minicab drivers.

Star in a Reasonably Priced Car: Lionel Richie, who breaks the wheel off of the Suzuki Liana

Main review: Clarkson takes a look at the Toyota Prius, and then promptly ignores it. May tests the Maserati Quattroporte, trying to figure out if the car wants to be a luxury saloon or a performance car.

Obituary: Hammond bids a fond farwell to the Rover V8 engine. Hammond then sends off the engine by entering a Touring car race in an unmodified Rover SD1.

Star in a reasonably priced car: Martin Clunes took the Liana around the track, with a time of 1:50.0.

Challenge: To see if Diesel technology has caught up to Petrol technology, Clarkson and Hammond race on the track, with Clarkson in a Skoda Fabia, while Hammond raced the Mini Cooper.

Skit: Hammond makes fun of motorists that block the yellow box.

Review and Challenge: Clarkson reviews his dream car, the Ford GT. He makes numerous comparisons with the Ford GT40, and graphically illustrates that he barely fits into the GT, while part of his head lies above the door of the GT40. Hammond and May ridicule the GT, on its fuel economy and lack of ease of getting into the car parked in a parking stall. The Stig takes the American Iron on the track, clocking a lap time of 1:21.9.

Skit: In a possible response to the US television show Mythbusters failed attempt to replicate their Jet Taxi myth a few months back, Hammond takes a Boeing 747 and demonstrates the power unleashed by one of the engines.

Main review: Jeremy drives the new Jaguar X-type estate. Richard and James go to the Isle of Lewis and Harris, where less convertibles are bought per capita than anywhere else in the UK. They go there to test convertibles, of course.

Challenge: Can you parachute into a moving car?

Main review:

Challenge:

Review: Jeremy reviews the Porsche 911 Carrera S. He declares that it is the laziest design job ever. However, he also says that this is a car for keen drivers; a 911 from the old school. The Stig sets a power lap time 1:28.9, on an extremely wet track.

Restoration Rip-Off: James introduces James Dean's Lotus Ten, one of only seven made.

News: Top Gear is up for a National Television Award. They show the new Ferrari F430. Jeremy has to eat his hair because of a bet he made that the new Vauxhall Astra would not look like the concept. Chef Antony Worrall Thompson begins fixing a hair omelette for Jeremy.

Star in a reasonably priced car: Bill Bailey talks about owning a 2CV, and his fondness for wrecking hire cars. He sets a time of 1:53.4 in the Liana, on a wet track.

Challenge: An old ice cream van attempts to jump over four bouncy castles. The van manages to clear none of the castles.

Review: May reviews the Vauxhall Monaro, Clarkson reviews the Chrysler 300C, and Hammond reviews the Jaguar S-Type R. They take the cars to Pendine Sands, and driving each of the cars around for a bit on the beach, they come to the conclusion that the Monaro is the best of the three. Jeremy then eats a bite of his hair omelette.

Review: Hammond looks at the Ford Focus, comparing it to the Vauxhall Astra, and the VW Golf. He finds that the Focus is the best of the three, apart from the styling.

News: May goes on a rant about Bill Bryson. Ferrari gives the Pope an F1 Car. They discuss the new BMW 3 Series.

Restoration Rip-Off: May introduces the Adams Probe 16 from A Clockwork Orange, one of only three made.

Review: Clarkson reviews the Ferrari Enzo. He muses that supercars today may be approaching engineering perfection, but the cars from fifteen years ago are more fun to drive. The Stig sets a lap time of 1:19.0.

Star in a reasonably priced car: Geri Halliwell talks about all the cars she has wrecked. She goes around the track, in the wet, in 1:55.4.

Challenge: A world champion all-terrain skateboarder is pitted against a Group N Mitsubishi rally car. The car loses soundly. They then switch out the rally car with a Bowler Wildcat, and the Wildcat wins by a considerable margin.

Cool Wall: The Vauxhall Monaro is declared to be cool. The Porsche 911 is uncool. The Mercedes SLK, and the Ferrari Enzo are very uncool.

Review: Jeremy looks at several older supercars and compares them to the newer supercars, coming to the conclusion that the simplicity of older cars makes them more fun, even if they are slower around a track.

Main review:

Challenge:

Main review: Pagani Zonda S Roadster, Which Jeremy says Richard fell in love with and that girls who came there showing their bare midriffs there were wasting their time

Challenge: Richard and James spend 24 hours in a Smart ForFour not allowed to get out to see if the brochure claim 'designed like a lounge', they find it handles well, that it turns heads well enough to get people to buy them food, Hammond goes for a wee in it and they sleep in Britain's most haunted village, Pluckley

Star in a Reasonably Priced Car: comedian Jimmy Carr, who comes faster than anyone else at 1:46.9

Review: Aston Martin Vanquish S, which Jeremy tests in a race against Steve Coogan in a Ferarri F575

Main review: Morgan Aero 8 GTN. Lap time: 1:25.9

News: Hammond finally gets a Dodge Charger, more precisely, a 1969 model.

Restoration Rip-Off: The Fender Stratocaster guitar and the Mercedes-Benz 300SL Gullwing both celebrate their 50th birthdays this year, so as a result, instead of talking about a restored car, May talks about the reasons why the Gullwing is the first supercar, with songs performed with the Stratocaster playing in the background.

Star in a reasonably priced car: Actor Christian Slater takes the Liana around with a lap time of 1:51.4.

Down to Earth Board: The presenters show the excellent charcteristics of the Subaru Legacy

Challenge: Hammond starts a people carrier race series, with the inaugural race hosing two Renault Espaces, a Toyota Previa, a Toyota Spacecruiser, a Mitsubishi Spacewagon, and a Nissan Serena. The Espaces win the race.

Challenge: After much practice, Clarkson took a diesel Jaguar S-Type around the Nürburgring in just under ten minutes. His instructor, Sabine Schmitz, exclaimed "I could do that in a van". She then took the Jaguar out and recorded a lap time almost a minute quicker on her first try. In the following series she was given the opportunity to prove her "van" boast, and using a standard diesel Ford Transit posted a lap time only seven seconds slower than Clarkson's Jaguar lap.

Main review:

Star in a Reasonably Priced Car: Cliff Richard, 1:50

Star in a Reasonably Priced Car 2: Army veteran and blind land speed record holder Billy Baxter, who is written as "Blind Man, as he was blind, Clarkson guided him around the track and he came in at 2:02, faster than Terry Wogan and Richard Whitely who both have their sight

Challenge:How much Porsche can you get for 1500 pound? The presenters each have to buy a Porsche for less than 1500 pounds and put it through a series of tests. Hammond buys a van-engined 924, May buys a 2.5 liter 4-cylinder 944, and Clarkson buys a broken-down 928. Jeremy wins in the end by selling his car as spare parts and as "furniture", although the better car, it seems, was James' 944.

Main review: The Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution 8 MR FQ400 takes on the Lamborghini Murcielago. The Evo was driven by Jeremy whilst the Lambo was driven by James Kay, the British touring car champion. It was shown that Lambo could not shake off the Evo after several laps. It came down to the final lap where the Lambo spun out. However, the turbo lag is perhaps the worst aspect of the Evo. Afterwards, the Stig posted a time of 1.24.8 for the Evo.

Challenge: The long age answer of 'which boxster is the best' is answered. The Porsche Boxster or the Mercedes Benz SLK 350? In the end, the Boxster won the bragging rights.

Star in a reasonably priced car: Musician Roger Daltrey, lead singer of The Who, takes the Liana around with a lap time of 1:49.7.

Review: Clarkson reviews the Toyota Prius admiring the quietness but not the overall fuel efficiency when compared to diesel cars.

Review: Hammond reviews the Ford Mustang.

Main review: Can a Renault F1 car get around the track in under a minute? Well, the Stig was given the car and round it went, in exactly 59 seconds.

Challenge: Can a Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution Rally car beat a bobsled? James was in the car, driven by Henning Solberg, with Richard in the bobsled. The bobsled won by a whisker with 59.68 secs whilst the Evo came in under 1.02.24.

Star in a Reasonably Priced Car: comedian Eddie Izzard, who did it in 1:52 and suggested swearing Sat-Nav

Challenge: Hammond and May, using a plane, raced Clarkson who drove a Ferrari 612 Scaglietti from London to Verbier in Switzerland. Clarkson won again but this time only by minutes, overtaking the others on the road of their destination.

Main review: Ariel Atom, from a Somerset company which pulls Jeremy's face off and the Stig takes round the track in 1:19.5

Challenge:

Star in a Reasonably Priced Car: Trinny (1:54 in the wet) and Susannah (in 1:55.6 in the wet)

Comparison: James and Jeremy go out to review a collection of cars from the Pacific Rim: Cars from Malaysia and Korea. Among these are the Kia Rio and the Hyundai Accent, in a 3-cylinder diesel version.

Best of Top Gear: A review of recent series.

Review: The Porsche Carrera GT, from Series 4, Episode 4

Challenge: James and Richard go minicabbing

Star in a Reasonably Priced Car: Sir Ranulph Fiennes, from Series 4, Episode 9

Challenge: Can you parachute into a moving car, from Series 4, Episode 9

Star in a Reasonably Priced Car: Joanna Lumley, from Series 5, Episode 3

Review: May reviews the Vauxhall Monaro, Clarkson reviews the Chrysler 300C, and Hammond reviews the Jaguar S-Type R. They take the cars to Pendine Sands, and driving each of the cars around for a bit on the beach, they come to the conclusion that the Monaro is the best of the three. from Series 5, Episode 1

A Comic Relief special, presented by Hammond and May, with competitors Clarkson, Jodie Kidd, Patrick Kielty, Jimmy "Carrnage" and Darren Jordon.

Served as the pilot upon which the short-lived BBC Three series was based.

Main review: Clarkson tests the Mercedes CLS AMG

Challenge: Clarkson attempted to see whether a Challenger 2 tank could lock its main cannon onto a Range Rover Sport.

Hammond and May played a football match using the new Toyota Aygo.

Main review: Clarkson tested the £412,000 Maserati MC12.

Challenge: The team decided to buy a 2-door coupé that wasn't a Porsche for under £1,500 , mirroring a competition they had in series five where they each had to spend £1,500 to buy a Porsche. They were then set a series of challenges to see who had got the best deal, scoring points for each challenge. The winner turned out to be May, with a Jaguar XJS. Hammond bought a BMW 635CSi, while Clarkson went for a turbocharged Mitsubishi Starion. May, however, offered to give the title to Clarkson if he admitted "I'm a clot and I ruined my car", as he had installed a highly uprated turbocharger without any change to the cooling system, during the endurance race; The result was the engine coolant boiled repeatedly, destroying hoses and putting Clarkson out of the running. The challenges included trying to get to 140 mph (225 km/h), having to drive at 30 mph (48 km/h) over Belgian cobbles with a bucket of water on their lap, and the previously mentioned endurance race, which was on a farm.

Main review: Aston Martin DB9 Volante

Challenge: None

Review: May drives the Maserati Bora and Clarkson reviews the Wiesmann MF3 and the TVR Tuscan. They also present the new Batmobile in the studio.

Star in a Reasonably Priced Car: Christopher Eccleston, who opts for an automatic (as he is only qualified to drive an automatic car) and does his lap in 1:52.4, beating Vinnie Jones to his surprise

Main review: The guys hand over duties to their mothers to review a range of new small cars including the Renault Modus, Honda Jazz and Peugeot 1007. They're tested by seeing how much space there is, how fast they are (to which Richard guesses James' mother is The Stig) and how easy they are to get into. Their mothers' decision is the Honda is the best, while the presenters favour the Renault. Jeremy returns to the 60's to define cool with the Aston Martin DB5 and Jaguar E-type and Richard Hammond tests the new BMW 3 Series.

Challenge: None

Main review:

Challenge: Snipers of the Irish Guards try to shoot Clarkson, as he drives the new Mercedes SLK55 AMG and Porsche Boxster S around a deserted village.

Greatest Driving Song of All Time: For the remainder of the series, May will be presenting five songs the viewers nominated to find out what song is the "Greatest Driving Song of All Time." This week, it is Golden Earring's "Radar Love".

Main review: Aston Martin's DBR9 is given race round the track after a long list of endurance tracks. Will the extra horsepower and the lighter carbon fibre body smash the time?

Challenge: A race from Heathrow Airport to Oslo with Jeremy driving the Mercedes SLR, while James and Richard took a flight to Newcastle, and then a ferry to Kristiansand. Initially, it looked hopeful for them as they planned to complete the trip by speedboat; however, in heavy seas, they broke down in two speedboats and had to complete the journey by bus. They eventually arrived more than five hours after Jeremy.

Greatest Driving Song of All Time: Steppenwolf's "Born to Be Wild"

Main review: TVR Sagaris

Challenges:

1. Richard goes to the Nürburgring to see if Sabine Schmitz can do a lap of the infamous track in a Transit van in under 10 minutes.

1. Jeremy races a Fiat Panda against a marathon runner around the London Marathon circuit during the morning rush-hour.

Greatest Driving Song of All Time: Deep Purple's "Highway Star"

Main review: Ferrari F430

Challenge: Clarkson' Hammond and May take some convertibles to Iceland. Specifically the Crossfire; Nissan 350z and the Audi TT.

Greatest Driving Song of All Time: Meat Loaf's "Bat out of Hell". In addition, this song has been ridiculed by the presenters.

Main review:E60 BMW M5

Review: Clarkson drives three hatchbacks, the VW Golf, Renault Mégane, and Vauxhall Astra. Clarkson thinks the Astra is too powerful for a front-wheel drive car. He likes the Mégane, but would still buy a Golf instead.

Challenge: A new world record was set for the number of complete sideways rolls in a car. A stuntman managed to make a Ford Sierra estate complete 6 rolls - and survived.

Star in a reasonably priced car: Radio presenter Chris Evans who does it in 1:47.6

Greatest Driving Song of All Time: Queen's "Don't Stop Me Now"

Main review: Jeremy tests the BMW 5 Series diesel version. It's compared to the petrol version, which are few and far between. The Stig takes it to a 1:31.8 time.

News: Clarkson reveals that radar guns are now being pressed into service to catch speeders on rivers.

Challenge: Hammond goes back to Iceland to race a modified off-road vehicle against a Snowmobile over Lake Kleifarvatn.

Greatest Driving Song of All Time: A retrospect of the five finalists.

Star in a reasonably priced car: Big Brother host Davina McCall tries to invite Clarkson onto Big Brother and admits she owns an eco-unfriendly Range Rover. She gets a 1:57.1, slower than the completely lost Jonathan Ross in wet conditions.

Review: May takes the Bentley Continental GT to Dubai, as he can think of no other place to respectfully test the car. May defies his Captain Slow nickname by bringing the Bentley to 180 MPH on roads specially closed off for him.

Star in a reasonably priced car, take two: Mark Webber complains that the wet conditions would hurt him, despite Clarksons reassurances that he could've gotten 4 seconds faster in dry. His time of 1:47.1 is disputed after Clarkson suggests that he could have gotten a 1:43 in dry conditions. Afterwards, Clarkson gives Webber a shirt proclaiming I AM THE STIG.

Review: The Trio reviews several off-road toys, including a Quad Bike, the 8-wheeled Argo Cat, a Hovercraft, and others in a bid to find out, which one of them is fun?

Main review: Hammond tested the Vauxhall Monaro VX-R and was taught how to drift in the same car by D1 Grand Prix driver Yasuyuki Kazama, despite being unable to speak English (he had to teach using hand signals). Kazama then took the VX-R and showed Hammond how to drift properly (the making of this segment can also be seen on JDM Option vol. 18 & Video Option vol. 138)...

News: ...and it's revealed that Vauxhall has discontinued the distribution of the Monaro VX-R, making the former segment a complete waste of time.

Challenge: James tries to re-create the Top Gear theme tune using car engine noises. Ranging from the supercar Ferrari Enzo to a classic Chevrolet Corvette to modern cars like the Suzuki Swift and the Mazda RX-8 and even a construction dumper, James result is childed by Clarkson, whom compares it to "a fat shop assistant farting."

Star in a Reasonably Priced Car: Timothy Spall talks about his movie roles with Tom Cruise, and manages to take the Liana to a respectable 1:51.1 time, Same time as Sir Ranulph Fiennes, to which Spall says "I bet he's faster round the Arctic than I am".

Greatest Driving Song of All Time:

• Rankings:
  1. (WINNER) Queen - "Don't Stop Me Now"
  2. Golden Earring - "Radar Love"
  3. Meat Loaf - "Bat out of Hell"
  4. Steppenwolf - "Born to Be Wild"
  5. Deep Purple - "Highway Star"

Review: Clarkson reviews the Ford Lightning, and mentions the uselessness of a truck in England. From claiming it's made from old shovels and the interior is rubbish to getting something stolen from the bed of the truck, Clarkson closes his argument by mentioning how these trucks often appear to crash in police chase videos.

Cool Wall: Clarkson and Hammond couldn't be bothered to put up the BMW 3-Series on the cool wall.

Review: Hammond participated in the Pamplona Bull Run in Spain, where he was shoved into the path of a bull by a participant, before a segment in which he road tested the Lamborghini Murcielago Roadster.

Main review: Hammond addresses the (fictitious) complaints of viewers that want a mid-level supercar in the £200,000 bracket. The answer: the British supercar (though designed by a Dutchman and the engine comes from Germany) Ascari KZ1. The Stig then takes the car to a 1:20.7, below the Porsche Carrera GT.

News: The three look at the Mini Cooper Estate Concept from the Tokyo Auto Salon. Clarkson mocks BMW's attempt to make a "quintessentially British" car by making references to Nazi Germany.

Challenge: Hammond, May, and Jeremy went head to head to compare the new Aston Martin V8 Vantage, the BMW M6, and Porsche 911 on the Isle of Man.

Star in a reasonably priced car: Trevor Eve takes the Liana to a 1:48.0. Eve's laid back attitude despite spinning out is noted and mocked by Clarkson.

Poll: How reliable is your car? According to the poll, 10 of the bottom 13 cars were of French origin. The top 3 were the Lexus RX (3rd), the Lexus IS (2nd), and the Honda S2000 (1st place).

Main review: Clarkson reviews the Porsche Cayman, which is cut short by the director's expression of disgust at Clarkson complaining about mostly everything about the car (which he bought as an investment). The Stig posts a 1:26.7 for the Cayman.

News: Hammond shows one viewer's attempt to get directions from Nottingham to Bideford, while avoiding the M5 motorway via the RAC plc website. The route took her into the Atlantic Ocean, and crosses Ireland twice.

Documentary and Review: Hammond explains the history of British Racing Green, with a run in a Bentley Blower, and reviews a recreation of a Vanwall F1 car.

Star in a reasonably priced car: A time of 1:47.8 was made by Ian Wright despite his erratic driving skills and demeanor.

Challenge: Hammond and May play with life-size radio control cars made from real cars. One would ride in the car while the other attempted to navigate a course, and keep a caravan from being crushed by a wrecking ball. The two then raced against the British Radio Control Champion (to their surprise, a girl) on a new course. The course ends with them trying to jump another caravan.

Challenge: Jeremy, in an Audi RS4, competed against a mountain climber to see who could make it to the top of a gorge in France. After he loses the hillclimb challenge he challenges the climber to descend faster than he does, whereupon the climber base-jumps to the bottom.

Main review: Clarkson reviews the Ford Focus ST (jokingly referred to as the ASBO), bringing a modern touch to British motoring. The Stig takes the car to a 1:34.9 time.

News: Top Gear announces that they won an International Emmy for the Non-Scripted Entertainment category. Clarkson explains that he was unable to go to New York to receive the award since he was too busy writing the script for that episode.

Star in a reasonably priced car: British transport minister Stephen Ladyman injures the Liana when he looses control of the car and goes backward into a tyre wall. Despite this setback, Ladyman posts a time of 1:48.8. Ladyman reveals that he is a motorhead despite his staunch stance on speed cameras.

The Cool Wall: Clarkson and Hammond fight over the placement of the BMW M6. Hammond eats the card, which May cites later Hamsters eat cardboard.

Road Trip: All three presenters created a traffic jam in Paris attempting to leave a car park in a Pagani Zonda, a Ford GT, and a Ferrari F430; the problem was that, owing to the angle of the slope onto the road combined with the low bodies of the cars, the fronts were scraping the ground. May defied his "Captain Slow" nickname and drove the Ferrari F430 faster than Hammond in the Pagani Zonda and Clarkson in the Ford GT on a twisting mountain road, all while driving across France in the three aforementioned supercars to reach the Millau Viaduct.

Two fast times highlight this episode of Top Gear.

Main review: Hammond reviews the insanely revised Pagani Zonda F, with a Carbon Fibre Body, Magnesium Wheels, Carbon Ceramic Brakes, and an improved structure. The improvements to the car help it garner the fastest power lap time of 1:18.4 by The Stig.

News: The presenters mourn the death of World Rally champion Richard Burns, who died two weeks before.

Star in a reasonably priced car: Ellen MacArthur pulls the fastest lap on the power board with a lap of 1:46.7

Challenge: James May drives in a competition to race the new Renault Clio through Lisbon, Portugal against a downhill urban biker.

Challenge: The group is told to buy a used Italian supercar for £10,000 and drive from Bristol to a strip club in Slough, with challenges along the way, including a lap around Castle Combe raceway, trying to beat the time the Stig took in a Vauxhall Astra diesel with a time of 1:35, the measurement of lost horsepower from their cars, an insurace estimate, a tune-up involving an oil change and repalcing the spark plugs, and trying to park in a tight space in Marlborough. Clarkson buys a misbadged 80bhp Maserati Merak, thinking it is an SS model until the horsepower test, May buys a broken-down 117bhp Lamborghini Urraco, and Hammond buys a 194bhp Ferrari 308GT4 with rust problems. In the end, none of the supercars reach Slough, as the Merak's engine blew up, and the electrical systems of the 308GT4 and the Urraco fail (the electrical system being the reason the Urraco was broken down in the first place), in addition, the Urraco caused a traffic jam outside Slough.

Main review: Hammond reviews the Marcos TSO GT2. Hammond likens it to a TVR, which broke down several times. The Stig manages to take it to a time of 1:28.2.

News: The group reviews stupid automotive accessories.

Star in a reasonably priced car: F1 and Indy Car champion Nigel Mansell takes the lead on the F1 lap board with a 1:44.6. Mansell's time proves a theory from The Stig that the Liana could garner a 1:44 lap time.

Challenge: The Stig compared the drivetrains of RR vs. 4WD on the Porsche 911 on an indoor exhibition rally track of the World Rally Championship at Millennium Stadium to settle a debate by Porsche fans.

Challenge: Hammond and May once again attempted to beat Clarkson in a race across Europe using transport other than a car. This time, as May had almost earned himself a fully-fledged pilot's licence, their chosen mode of transport was a Cessna 182 (light aircraft), hired from West London Aero Club. They were forced to make an early landing and travel the remainder of the journey by Eurostar. Once again, Clarkson won by a whisker, aided by his 1001 bhp (746 kW) Bugatti Veyron supercar, reaching the top of the Natwest Tower minutes before the other two.

Main review: Volkswagen Golf R32 and the BMW 130i. The R32 trounced the 130i with a lap time of 1:30.4 over the 130i's 1:31.9. Clarkson also panned the BMW for its price and lack of practicality.

Challenge: Hammond and May argue about the state of driving, which sparked a time attack at Prescott Hill Climb Course with a Austin-Healey Sprite versus a modified Peugeot 306. The Stig takes the two around, with the Sprite, on a serious diet, defeating the 306 by a second.

Review and Challenge: Hammond tests the Mazda MX-5, which involved racing the car against a dog. The dog won.

Star in a reasonably priced car: Little Britain star David Walliams and comedian Jimmy Carr appear, with Walliams' lap time of 1:50.7 slower than Carr's

2005 Top Gear Awards:

• Biggest Surprise - Audi RS4
• Ugliest Car - BMW 3 Series
• Best Car - Bugatti Veyron
• Best Engine Noise - Aston Martin V8 Vantage
• The most ill-advised piece of facial hair in motorsport - Fernando Alonso
• Gas Guzzler - Ford GT
• Coolest Car - Aston Martin V8 Vantage (according to Clarkson), Porsche 911 (according to Hammond and the script)
• The Golden Cock - James May

Challenge: In the final segment, Clarkson travelled to Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca in Monterey, California to compare racing a lap in real life versus the video game Gran Turismo 4. Clarkson's time of 1:41.148 for the video game was substantially faster than the 1:57 time that he was able to do on the real course. The car he used on the game was a Honda NSX and the car he drove at Laguna Seca was the US equivalent, the Acura NSX. This section also featured a farewell to the NSX.

Best of Top Gear: A review of the series.

Challenge: Heathrow to Oslo (Mercedes SLR vs Plane, bus, ferry, speedboat, speedboat, bus... (from Series 6, Episode 6)

Star in a Reasonably-Priced Car: Davina McCall, from Series 6, Episode 10

Review: The Ford Focus ST (dubbed the "ASBO"), from Series 7, Episode 3

Star in a Reasonably-Priced Car: Christopher Eccleston, from Series 6, Episode 3

Challenge: Sideways rolls World Record attempt, from Series 6, Episode 9

Biathlon: Jeremy raced a Volvo XC90 against James in a Audi Q7, cross-country, with 2 shooting rounds mid-course (the loser had to eat "golden snow"). James used a standard Biathlon .22 rifle, while Jeremy opted for a H&K MP5 machine pistol. Despite the increased firepower, Clarkson missed every target.

Cold weather endurance: Richard was subjected to Arctic temperatures in a Citroën C1, in a bid to see who will crack first: man or machine?

Speed skating: Jeremy (looking sheepish as he skids on the ice, introduced by May as 'Torville') raced a Jaguar XK8 against a human skater (Introduced by May as 'Dean') on an ice course.

Off-road slalom: James and Jeremy raced a four-wheel drive Land Rover Discovery and a two-wheel drive Jaguar XK8 against the clock, on five inches of frozen lake.

Bobsleigh: In a repeated segment from Series 5 Episode 8, Richard and a bobsleigh team race against James and a Mitsubishi Evo rally car, along near-identical courses.

Ice hockey: Ten Suzuki Swifts played 5-a-side hockey, in teams captained by James and Richard, and refereed by Clarkson, who missed recording a goal after he fell off the embankment, to the disgust of the team captains.

Ski jumping Could a rocket-powered Mini jump further than a skiier from a downhill slope? This section included the quote which summed up the entire ethos behind the programme's new direction: "We're on the cutting edge of cocking about."

The episode ended with a ski jump on a snowmobile driven by the Stig.

Carr: Jimmy Carr takes us on a short tour of the Top Gear production offices, green room, make-up, etc.

Challenge: Jeremy, in an Audi RS4, vs. speed mountain-climbers, at a gorge in France, from Series 7, Episode 2

Carr: Jimmy tours The Stig's room, then goes to the track, where Walliams is doing his laps, and interview The Stig

Challenge: Richard joins Sabine Schmitz at the Nürburgring, where she attempts a lap of less than ten minutes, in a Transit van, from Series 6, Episode 7

Carr: Jimmy tours the car park, commenting on the cars held therein, and James and Richard's limo's. He then interviews May, who relates a tale of being "the other guy"

Challenge: Clarkson drives the Mercedes SLK55 AMG and Porsche Boxster S around a deserted village, whilst being shot at be an elite 8-man sniper squadron, from Series 6, Episode 5

Reviews: Hamster and Slow play "Road Test Roulette", reviewing the cars of drunk people, from Series 6, Episode 9

Carr: The crowd is interviewed, and The Stig bothered

Review: Jeremy tests the Aston Martin Vanquish S in a race against Steve Coogan, driving his Ferarri F575, from Series 5, Episode 4

The Italian Mid-Engined Supercars for Less Than a Second-Hand Mondeo Challange, from Series 7, Episode 4

Hammond in Mazda MX-5 vs Greyhound, from Series 7, Episode 6

The Top Gear Toupée Test: The Stig drives a be-wigged man in open-topped sportscars, from Series 3, Episode 5

May in Renault Clio vs an urban biker, from Series 7, Episode 4

Clarkson in Range Rover Sport vs a Chalenger 2, from Series 6, Episode 1

A new introduction graphic was introduced. This episode also saw a Top Gear dog introduced (aptly named "Top Gear Dog"), a labradoodle who is afraid of cars, who therefore only appeared on studio segments, and is not fond of James May.

Review: Richard drove a hot pink Nissan Micra C+C around Ledbury, Herefordshire, but due to the car being "the most embarrassing in human history" he abandoned the car mid-review, stating "It's not as if anyone's going to steal it, are they?" Clarkson joked it looked like a scrotum.

News: Clarkson declares his Ford GT is the most unreliable car ever after an incident with two trickle chargers.

Review: James praised the newly restyled Honda Civic.

Challenge: The team were challenged to fit a working home-made convertible roof to a Renault Espace people carrier. Challenges included driving at 100mph (the roof blew off), taking it to the monkey section at a safari park, (roof almost broke when a monkey sat on it) and finally to take it through a brand new car wash that cost 1 million pounds. The people carrier was quickly abandoned and the group ran away behind a corner. The following conversation took place.

• Jeremy Clarkson, taking a quick look: "It's on fire."
• Richard Hammond & James May: "It's what?"
• Richard Hammond, after quickly taking a look: "It's on fire."

Star in a reasonably priced car: The new series saw the Suzuki Liana replaced as test car by the Chevrolet Lacetti. In order to get some times on the separate board for the new car, several celebrities set times in this episode, including Jimmy Carr, Trevor Eve, Justin Hawkins and Les Ferdinand.

In order of arrival:

1. James Hewitt (written as "Well Spoken Man") - 1:47.6
2. Alan Davies - 1:50.3
3. Trevor Eve - 1:47.0
4. Jimmy Carr - 2:08.9 (made the car spin off the track at the last corner)
5. Justin Hawkins - 1:48.4
6. Rick Wakeman - 1:55.3
7. Les Ferdinand 1:47.4

Diesel News: James May introduces the JCB Dieselmax, JCB's attempt at breaking the diesel land speed record.

Main review: Koenigsegg CCX A car that Jeremy mentions as the new way of giving up smoking. Power lap: 1:20.4. The Stig lost control of the car and hit a tyre wall while attempting to top the leader-board by attacking the corners more aggressively. After a suggestion by both Clarkson and The Stig to add a spoiler for downforce, Koenigsegg announced that they would take back the CCX and return with a spoiler equipped.

Review: Clarkson reviews the Chevrolet Corvette Z06, and notes that the car is not suitable for road usage, noting he would rather have Bird Flu than drive it everyday. The Stig takes it to a 1:22.4, putting it in the realm of Italian and German supercars.

News: The group figures out how the Police can identify drivers under the influence of illegal drugs. They devised a series of questions in relation to specific drugs.

Challenge: Hammond races a man in a canoe with an engine in Iceland. Hammond use a specially prepped offroad 4X4 called a Tomcat, with the chassis of a Range Rover and a TVR V8 engine.

Star in a reasonably priced car: This week celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay set a new lap record of 1.46.38.

Main review: Clarkson tests the Jaguar XK in Yorkshire.

Skit: The group tried to see how hard it would be to host a Drive Time Radio Show. BBC Southern Counties Radio in Brighton allowed the group to take over a 3 hour block, which went downhill fast.

Star in a reasonably priced car: The Stig faced the challenge of going around the track in the old Suzuki Liana and he managed to get the fastest time, beating Ellen MacArthur and Nigel Mansell. Clarkson tried several times to get some kind of response from the stig but he stayed silent, eventually walking off stage before he had been given his time

Challenge: The team were tasked with creating amphibious vehicles from an ordinary car, driving them for 20 miles, and crossing 2 miles of a reservoir in Newcastle. Hammond's Volkswagen Vanagon "Dampervan" sank early on, and Clarkson's "indestructible" Toyota Hilux "Toybota" capsized near the finish line. The winner was May, who sailed at extremely low speed in his Triumph Herald sailboat to the finish. However on land, Hammond's van struggled with hills and May's car (with its sailing mast) struggled with low objects, such as bridges and trees. Both Hammond's and May's cars suffered from overheating as their hull for the water blocked the engine ventilation. To add insult to injury, Clarkson's Hilux refused to start after it's capsizing.

News: Someone sends a pair of Doggles for Top Gear Dog to use. There is also a debate about the condition of the presenter's cars from Clarkson's ribbing of Hammond for washing his car with his family to May keeping a paintbrush in his car to clean the switches on the dashboard. The conversation then swings to the dot-matrix displays on the British motorways, ending with James being ridiculed when he comments about drying his pants in his friend's microwave.

Main review: Clarkson reviews a Lotus Exige S on the Top Gear test track, beating the Stig driving a Ford Mustang. Power lap: 1:25.1

Star in a reasonably priced car: Actor Philip Glenister went around the track in 1.54.35, the shows first wet lap

Main review: The BMW Z4 M. Lap time: 1:26 flat. It was praised by Richard Hammond for thrilling in the most primeval way.

News: The presenters talk about banned number plates, which include "AA55 HOL," "MI BUM," and "HA06 MAS." It also talks about eBay item 4639771121.

Star in a reasonably priced car: Actor Ewan McGregor set a time of 1:48:00.

Challenge: Hammond races against a British army parachuter in Cyprus with a Porsche Cayenne Turbo S, and as usual, the parachuter won. After the race, Hammond crashes the car with the film crew's car.

Review: The new Mercedes-Benz S-Class - the future of motoring. Clarkson tested the new S-Class both as a review and to see what features every car will have in ten years as has historically happened.

Challenge: Clarkson then went about designing his own interior of a car. He bought an old Mercedes-Benz S-Class and designed his perfect interior based upon his house. The car, dubbed "Anne Hathaway's Cottage," features a wood-burning stove, kitchen chairs, a flagstone floor and wood with a cement base, even plastered insides of the doors. James May and Richard Hammond then tested the car. No seatbelts and unsecured seats meant they went flying at first, however eventually, with May holding Hammond's seat, a 0-60 time of 35.4 seconds was established.

Lap time, take two: The Koenigsegg CCX is now equipped with a rear spoiler and is taken around the track with a new lap time of 1:17.6; overthrowing the Zonda F. The presenters were so proud of the time, they stated that not only do they present the show, but they are also designing the cars

Main Review: The Prodrive p2 concept car is put through its paces on the track. Meanwhile Jeremy Clarkson attempts to explain what active-diff and anti-lag is. A practical demonstration of the former leaves Clarkson carsick. The Stig achieves a lap in the p2 in 1:24.9 seconds.

Review: Afterwards Jeremy Clarkson reviews the new Citroën C6, and is disappointed that the car doesn't seem to be mad enough for a big Citroën... but the car redeems itself as a mobile camera platform for covering horse races.

News: Jeremy Clarkson launches the 2006 Top Gear motor survey while casually panning between cameras, they talk about the Audi RS4 cabriolet, then Clarkson claims that points should be awarded to unsporting/aggressive F1 drivers.

Star in a reasonably priced car: Michael Gambon (announced as Sir Michael Followthrough) returns as the star in a reasonably priced car, and talks about being challenged by Johnny Depp to mention Claudia schiffer's knickers in every interview they did for the movie Sleepy Hollow and mentiones that he makes up things when he gets bored, such as he was a ballet dancer who fell in a kettle drum and he was gay but was forced to give it up. He also makes up his age (28) and a way how the Prodrive p2 works. He achieves 1:50.3 seconds with the Chevrolet Lacetti.

Challenge: A "scottish lady" (as Hammond refers to him) called Jackie Stewart claims that he can cut down anyone's driving time around a circuit by 20 seconds. But the Top Gear presenters don't believe him. So, to prove him wrong James May a.k.a. captain slow takes up the challenge. Sir Jackie manages to get James 20 seconds faster (just).

Challenge: The Toyota Aygo is challenged by the Volkswagen Fox in a game of football.

Off for a month due to 2006 FIFA World Cup coverage.

Main Review: Jeremy tests 3 hot saloons; the Ford Mondeo ST220, the Mazda 6 MPS and the Vauxhall Vectra VXR. The Mondeo achieves a laptime of 1:34.4, while the Mazda 6 an even better 1:32.2. Despite being the fastest car with a 161mph top speed, the Vectra can only manage a time of 1:35.5 due to 'catastrophic' understeer.

News: Jeremy and Richard have a fight about muscle cars. Richard gushes about the new 2008 Dodge Challenger while Jeremy complains about his recent trip to the United States and driving in a Chrysler 300 and calls both a BMW M6 and a Jaguar XKR muscle cars. James finally shuts them up by announcing Daihatsu is going to make a new Copen.

Star in a reasonably priced car: Brian Cox very much enjoyed the run, although he wasn't fast at all with a time of 2:01.

Challenge: Jeremy, James and Richard decide to go on a caravan holiday in Dorset to try and find out why caravanners are blocking the roads everywhere. The trio unsuccessfully try to have fun (despite the rules at the campsite and being bored) and cause numerous traffic jams (including being almost cited by the Police at one point), May crashes the caravan into a bollard, Hammond and Top Gear Dog are "kidnapped" by an elderly female fan, and Clarkson accidentally destroys the caravan and its neighbour whilst trying to cook chips.

Challenge: The Stig has a go at the indoor world speed record in one of the ExCeL Exhibition Centre's halls with a Toyota F1 car. He set the pace of 81 mph, although this was only slightly faster than the 70 mph recorded by the Chevrolet Lacetti.

Main Review: Hammond and May test three people carriers: the Ford S-MAX, the Mercedes B-Class, and the Vauxhall Zafira VXR.

Review: Jeremy reviews the Lamborghini Gallardo Spyder. He comments that it is not the best driver's car in the world, but it's something that could be used every day. The Stig set a lap time of 1:25.7.

News: MG is back, kind of. Jeremy refuses to apologise to caravan owners, after the programme received 2 complaints about Muslim comments, 3 complaints about taking a man who looks like Jesus out of the audience and 150 complaints following the previous week's caravan abuse.

Star in a reasonably priced car: Steve Coogan talks about being in a hot tub between Jackie Chan and Arnold Schwarzenegger. Also mentions Saxondale episode involving a Clarkson-like character. He sets a time of 1:50.9 in the Laceti and becomes the first person to drive under the condition of 'Hot' as The Stig said that the heat had done something either to Coogan himself or the car of the Track. Coogan was upset when he learned that Rob Brydon (a comedy partner of his) did it faster in the Suzuki Liana.

Challenge: James 'Captain Slow' May races two traceurs across Liverpool in a Peugeot 207 1.6L Diesel, from the edge of the city to the Liver Building. He, naturally, gets lost, and loses.

Challenge: Jeremy, James and Richard race against The Stig. The trio must build a Caterham Seven kit car from scratch in a pit garage at the Knockhill race circuit in Scotland, while The Stig drives the same model up from the South East of England. The team's blushes are saved when The Stig is arrested for speeding.

Review: The team decides to test some vans by being roadies for The Who. May picks a Renault Master, Hammond chooses a Ford Transit, and Clarkson gets a Volkswagen T30 TDI 174 Sportline. After The Who's concert at Hyde Park, Jeremy, James, and Richard take some of their equipment 90 miles to the site of their next show. They come to the conclusion that you should find the cheapest van that does what is needed. Subsequently, Clarkson admitted that the feature was not the greatest of ideas.

Star in a reasonably priced car: F1 driver Jenson Button talks about his facial hair, getting women, and why he hadn't yet won a race. He sets a time of 1:44.7 in the Liana and loses a £20 bet with Jeremy as he could not go faster than The Stig (who did it in 1:44.4) as he said he could. (Button won his first F1 race a week later at the 2006 Hungarian Grand Prix.)

Star in a reasonably priced car, take two: Ray Winstone comes on and talks about going to drama school, parts he has played, and his car history. He goes around the track in 1:51.4, on a hot track.

Review: Hammond takes the Noble M15 for a drive. He says that it is a civilized, comfortable, sportscar fit to be driven daily, yet is still as fun. The Stig takes it around the track in 1:22.5.

Challenge: Each presenter has to buy a van for £1000. Jeremy buys a Ford Transit, James gets a LDV box van, and Richard buys a Suzuki Supercarry. They hold a variety of challenges related to what a man with a van might need. They have a drag race, a loading/unloading test, a trial to see how closely they could tailgate, a challenge to change a door on their van as fast as possible, a thief resistance test, seeing how long they can stay in front of the Stig in a police car, and seeing how many replies they get to a man with a van ad. Hammond ends up soundly winning overall, despite crashing his van in a rollover during the police pursuit challenge.

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