They shoot the Prius and it starts on fire! LOL
hahaa, He's seen cows faster than the V6 Mustang!
LOL! He walks into a six way intersection, doesn't get run over; and he's happy he doesn't live there?!
How does he get away comparing a Dodge Ram and an Ariel Atom?
The Corvette is noisy, and rough on the highway, but the GT XI isn't?

And all the "Americans" look the same... it's just one big America Bashing episode.

[these are more rhetorical questions, just to prove a point.]

I don't care what he or anybody says. If i got a car for free, it would be a Corvette over a european, and especially Japanese car anyday. (Though the new M6 is sweet!)

 

We like what we like.

They like what they like.

 

Clarkson is funny and a good show host but.... He don't know **** when it comes to cars!

 

European Cars > Amercan Cars on the most part some cars in quality...

but the zr1 pwns him.

 

Yet you guys do the same thing and it's ok? Every ZR-1 thread that pops up I hear comparisons to Ferraris and supercars. So why can't he do the same? Yes the 599 cost 3 times more, and it's 3 times the car. If you tried to explain the traction control system and E diff to the engineers of the Corvette their heads would explode.

Also if GM stuck another 180k into the ZR-1 I'm sure they'd still find ways to load the thing down with as much cheap ass plastic as possible. I love the ZR-1 because it's everything America stands for which is over the top excess, but I hate it because it's also everything America stands for which is half assed quality at the expense of excess. The 599 is the total package, it might be the perfect car. The Corvette is like a cheap hooker, it's great for a thrill but it's crude and rude, kind loud, not so pretty, but it gets the job done. I'll take either car if someone wants to give them to me, but if it's my money being spent, I'd buy the Ferrari.

As for Clarkson, take him with a grain of salt. He gets paid to bash on America, he does it to the French too. It goes over well in Europe and has made him alot of money. While he certainly likes to bash America, there is some truth to what he says. If you take any car in America and compare it to it's European counterpart and drop money out of the equation, you'd be hard pressed to find anyone who'd buy the American car for any reason other then it's an American car.

With that said, it looks like GM is getting it. The new CTS looks awesome, I've driven the new Malibu and it's nice, not C class or 3 series nice, but almost. Then again at 28k for the V6 it's almost C class or 3 series price so it's ok that it falls slightly short. The G8 looks promising, although it's not really an American car, and there seems to be some other good things in the pipeline so America is catching up I think.

 

how can you compare a lotus to a mustang on the track?

i will admit, a lot of the euro vs. american tests were kind of unfair

 

Yeah, but that Clarkson's MO, you have to realize this is more for entertainment then for actual educational value.

 

yea your right, i just didnt like how he kept badmouthing america. i know the video was not meant to be shown here but come on, but i really liked this guy up until i saw these videos.

 

wow. never seen a thread so full of pouty whiners in my life.


top gear for the win.
every single, EVERY single car show on north american television is pathetic in comparison.


this is my opinion....dont like it? bollocks to you

 

i dont disagree with you at all.

 

Top Gear really is better then anything we get here. We are getting an American version called "Gear" later this year. It will be on NBC and I don't know who the hosts are yet.

 

i wont hold my breath. heh.

but anything would be better than the junk on TV now.

 

w/e all we do is eat and sit around and ****... lol

 

i just watched all of them lol

 

Ok, since I'm the *bloke* that posted this thread, I guess I'll chime in now.

First, I'm glad to see this wasn't a repost and that everyone is finding the videos interesting (sort of). LOL

Second, I like how everyone is keeping it civil. GJ peeps!

Third, it does seem that European cars are better built than American cars.

But let me ask you guys this: If, say, European cars have 3x the build quality of American cars - but they cost 3x as much ...

Doesn't that make them equal in value? Isn't it a wash?

I would think that European cars could be considered vastly superior to American cars IF they were able to produce that increased quality for the same amount of $$.

But they don't.

Now I'm not familiar with every single European car made, but as an example: Please tell me what cars they make that can match the performance of our 245hp, 150mph+ Stage 2 Factory Warrantied SS/SC's ...

For 21k.

Probably not many (if any at all). Right?

 

ah and american cars for the most part are much more reliable then European cars

 

Top Gear FTW!!!

I think we have tv shows that are just as bias as Top Gear towards European cars, maybe not to the extravagance that top gear is mind you.

I think having an American car vs. a European car has its pro's and con's:

Lately American cars have taken a lot of flak about being poor build quality and such which has tarnished the image as well as cheapened the appeal of American cars. But, American cars, by and large are cheaper to fix and maintain for north american owners because most of the parts are sourced from north american manufacturers.

European cars have long been touted as great build quality, superior handling (not necessarily power) and the lot. Most of this is true but repair costs are higher when they do break down for the most part and sometimes can only be serviced by specific mechanics (for instance a ferrari, you wouldnt want to take that thing to your local Canadian Tire/equivalent shop).

this isn't to say one is better than the other, but more to contrast the two different manufacturers.. like someone said previously, American cars are marketed differently since they are catering more to North American societal views of what a good car should be and what features they want, while European cars are marketed towards Europeans view of a good car...

wow... sorry guys, that was a little long...

 

Not everyone in europe drives a BMW. There are cheaply built cars over there too.

 

I agree MarcS... i remember a top gear episode where Jeremy Clarkson made fun of Citroen...

 

tagged

 

The problem with trying to compare something to the Cobalt SS from Europe is that we don't get Europes tuner cars here. They do have some great ones though and actually some American sister companies make some great tuners for Europe that we don't get. Over there cars like the Ford Focus ST and the Vauxal Astra VXR contend for the top tuner car spot but we don't get them here. The best place to try and look for accurate comparisons are in the luxury car segment because we don't get the Euro bargain basement cars. However starting at the very high 20k dollar cars we get the BMW 3 series and the Mercedes C class. Both are brilliant. When you look at what America has in that range it's hard to find where we stack up.

Let's look at cars like the Charger and Magnum, the base models are well under the price of the 3 series and C class. However if you add the options like the bigger engine and other goodies you get in the upper 3s and almost 40. Those cars are not on the same level as the Germans for those prices. If you look at the base models then the Americans compete with the Audi A3, which is hideously ugly, but well ahead of the Charger and Magnum on creature comforts and fit and finish.

If we look at the Cady CTS I think it's the best thing America has to compete with the Germans. I can't wait to drive a new one to see how it compares but I know the old one fell somewhat short. However from the previews I've seen of the new one I don't think that's going to happen again because it looks like GM really stepped it up a notch. However if you move upscale in Cadys line up the cars just get blown away by what the Germans have.

I think it's an interesting time though to be a car guy. I think to a certain extent we are seeing the resurgence of the American car companies. GM in particular. Only time will tell though. I know I'm kind of excited about it because I think my next car will probably be a sporty luxury coupe of some sort.

 

Yup, I forgot about the Euro Focus ST ...

(Thru Model Year 2007)

2.5L/225hp
0-60mph: 6.5 sec. (Ford est.)
Top Speed: 150mph (Ford est.)
Price: £17,495 ($30,611)

What the ... 30+k?

And it performs worse than my 21k Stage 2 SC?

But wait, the '08 ST has MORE POWER!

(2008 ST)

260hp (Upgrade Package)
0-60mph: 5.5 sec. (Ford est.)
Price for Upgrade Package: £1,500 ($2,624)
Total Price: £18,995 ($33,235)

Now that's more like it! Uhhh, wait a minute ...

Over 33k ?

'08 SC buyers will have that much hp, and still have over $8,000 left.

USA - 1, Europe - 0

 

ACTUALLY if you take the 08 STs price and use todays exchange rate it comes out to 37k USD. So it's even more ludicrous. lol However if they brought that car stateside I'm sure it'd be more competitive price wise and if the Cobalt were brought to Europe it would be comparable as well.

So yeah I guess it's USA 1 and Europe nothing. Do we really want to do this for every car because it's going to get redundant and Europe is going to rack up a lot of points in a hurry when we start talking luxury, sport, and super cars.

 

And now the Vauxhall Astra VXR ...



SPECS:
0-60mph 6.2s
Top Speed 152mph
£19,155 ($37,875)

Performance roughly in between a stock SC and a Stage 2 SC ....

But at a $12,000-$15,00 penalty.

Ouch.

So the tally on this and the previous car is:

USA - 2, Europe - 0

Take that Jeremy Clarkson!

 

ummm you guys have been talking about quality this whole thread.....

and when you do a comparison, all you do is compare HP vs price?
what the **** has that got to do with it?


and while your at it, how about you compare wages to car prices in europe too.
you cant just compare the numbers and say "oh thats a ripoff"

thats not even commenting on the fact that arguing about price is, and always will be, a lame excuse.

come now. I knew you guys were bitter about the euros having better cars.
but be realistic.