Episode 8 Top Gear USA


Episode 8

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On Top Gear, the fastest way to Las Vegas...

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Have you seen a limo around here waiting for me?

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..The ultimately confusing driving machine...

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But I still can't figure out what to call it.

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..And some Poison on our track.

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I got a lot of speed, and no control right now.

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Welcome to Top gear.

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On this show, no weight will be lost, no wives will be swapped.

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But if you enjoy the smell of tyre smoke, this is where you belong.

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I'm Adam Ferrara, that's Tanner Foust, and this is Rutledge Wood.

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And this, courtesy of the Petersen Automotive Museum, is a Porsche 356.

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It's the first production car in the world to carry the Porsche name.

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Company founder, Ferdinand Porsche, once said,

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"If one does not fail at times, then one has not challenged himself."

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And now the company he left behind is challenging itself to come up with a new car.

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I went out to see whether or not they were setting themselves up for a fail.

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'In two syllables, it defines an entire category.

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'Sports car.

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'One glance of its coat of arms conjures up superiority, racing pedigree, and a rear engine.

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'And their pursuit of automotive advancement gives us a faint glimmer into the future of automobiles.'

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The name Porsche's synonymous with sports cars,

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and they've had some great ones, like the 911.

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They've also had some not so great ones, like the 924.

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But their newest model is low, sleek, muscular, and...

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DRAMATIC MUSIC

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..it's a four-door.

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'This is the Porsche Panamera Turbo.

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'It'll set you back almost 134 grand,

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'and that buys you a staggering top speed of 188 miles per hour.'

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'That's not just sports car performance...

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'..it's supercar speed.

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'But it's a sedan.

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CLASSICAL MUSIC

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'Looks like the engineers at Porsche have taken up their founder's challenge, and delivered a 911...

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'with a front engine... and too many doors.'

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And you might be thinking, "That's a big, fat, fail already."

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I mean, Porsches should be making sports cars, not sedans.

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And they've never made a sedan, which clearly shows(!)

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'Just look at this thing.

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'The last time you saw something this hunched back, it was hanging off the Cathedral at Notre Dame.

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'Pretty it's not.'

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'It gets a little better once you get inside,

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'but the cockpit's got so many bells and whistles, I need Chewbacca riding shotgun.'

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Look at all these buttons.

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Earlier, I tried to put on my heated seat, and two missiles came out of the headlights.

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This is confusing.

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I'm also a little confused by the name, the Panamera.

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'Porsche says it's named after the Carrera Panamericana, the Mexican road race in the Fifties.

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'But the race only lasted three years after numerous fatalities.'

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They do not mention that in the brochure(!)

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So it's not pretty, it's got a dumb name, and a dashboard that would baffle even NASA,

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but not everything about the Panamera is a fail.

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Now, one of the CEOs said he wanted to be able to sit in the back seat in total comfort,

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and he's 6ft 3, just like me.

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'Porsche put bucket seats in the back that are similar to the front seats of the 911.

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'There's plenty of leg room,

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'and the synthetic suede headliner has a bubble that gives the back seat an incredible amount of space.'

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Having a big back seat is important in any car,

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but is it worth the sacrifice when it looks like an eggplant?

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But when you drive it...

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..it feels amazing.

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Driving this thing in sport mode is like holding on to a missile.

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I mean, this is a sports car.

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So what if it's got two extra doors? When you're looking this way, you won't even notice.

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The Panamera Turbo has a massive 4.8 litre twin turbo V8 engine

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borrowed from the Cayenne Turbo SUV.

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It delivers a whiplash-inducing 500 horsepower.

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And weighing over 4,300 pounds,

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it needs as much power as it can squeeze out to maintain its sportiness.

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This sedan can do zero to 60 in one...

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..two...

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..3.8 seconds. That's faster than an Aston Martin DBS!

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This isn't just quick for a sedan. This is just quick, period.

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But even if it accelerates like a Porsche, there's no way it handles like one, right? Wrong!

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CAR SKIDDING

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The handling on this car completely matches the power.

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It is so tight and so precise, yet completely forgiving when you need it.

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And with the all-wheel drive, you just point and shoot.

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And it goes wherever you want.

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Up wings out!

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I feel like I'm having an out-of-body driving experience.

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I know I'm driving a four-door, but it feels like a sports car.

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Much of the body is built from aluminium

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to reduce weight and improve fuel economy.

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It's nice to see that Porsche's at least striving to go green.

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But sometimes you can take things a little too far.

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Here's something strange. It's called the start-stop system.

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Let's say I'm driving in traffic and come up to a light, so I stop as normal.

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But then the car dies.

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But that's not a problem.

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It's designed to do that to save gas, and it works.

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All I have to do, take my foot off the brake,

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the car fires back up, take off.

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Did I mention it has launch control? Check this out.

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Come to a complete stop.

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First, put it in Sport.

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Then you put it in Sport Plus.

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Put your left foot on the brake, bring the rpms up to five grand,

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wait till it says "launch control activated" and hold on!

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Holy moly! Man, I think the front end left the ground!

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100...

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..110, 112...

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..122...

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..130...

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..139...

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..150...

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HE LAUGHS

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..158...

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..164, 166, 167!

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And I'm running out of room.

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167 mph in a four-door!

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HE LAUGHS

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Thank you, Lord.

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The Panamera might not conform to what you make expect from a Porsche,

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but I don't think old Ferdinand'll be turning in his grave just yet.

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CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

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-So, you liked it?

-You know what? It is pretty good.

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This is the top-of-the-line turbo model,

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which is a little bit pricey at 134 grand,

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but you can get a base model Panamera for 74 grand,

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which is a pretty good deal,

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considering you get a sports car and an everyday grocery-getter.

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I still wouldn't buy one.

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Are they really claiming that this is a potential track car,

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that you can play with like on the weekends?

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They think so, it's got launch control and a lap timer -

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they are serious about this car.

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It's unbelievable, but there's only one way to find out,

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and that is at the hands of our silent racing driver.

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So, take it away, Stig.

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All right, on the line, activating the launch control.

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Out of the hole extremely quick for such a heavy car.

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0-60 in under four seconds.

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Really amazing, as it goes into turn one.

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Into the chicane, this is one of the tighter track sections.

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Stig just bored inside, really, I think.

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AUDIENCE LAUGHTER

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Comfortable, upset to drive a big behemoth.

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Into the teardrop, tightest section of the track,

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when you get 500 hp on this corner it can be difficult to stay tidy.

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A little bit of wheelspin on the way out of that one,

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but, amazingly, just picks up the speed,

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really gets out of its own way.

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130 mph on the back straight here.

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Now the Stig is starting to get a little bit excited,

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goes through the bumpy corners,

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the Panamera absorbs it absolutely with no drama.

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Into Cameraman's Corner, tyres squealing,

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complaining they have to work with 4,300 lbs.

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Coming into the Ss, making his way quickly towards the last turn.

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A little bit out of shape year, little bit of opposite lock,

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fighting his way into the last corner and across the line.

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APPLAUSE

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Wow.

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I have to say, it looked a lot quicker than I thought it was.

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Yes, for something that big he was cooking.

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Coming out of the corners is where it looks most impressive,

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even when it's sliding it picks up speed quickly.

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I would call this a GT car,

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and to give you an idea of where the GT cars land,

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we've got a V12 Vantage with quite a bit of a horsepower advantage at a 1:28.2.

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Getting a little bit optimistic, the Mercedes SLS with a 1:27.6.

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You think it was quicker than a Mercedes?

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-AUDIENCE: No.

-Not a chance, right?

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The Panamera did a 1:25.3.

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-Woah!

-Wow!

-That's faster than a Lambo!

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That's faster than a Balboni.

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1:25.3, I am absolutely shocked at that, to be honest with you,

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I can hardly believe it.

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Wow.

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I mean, I know a lot of people would agree that in their mind

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a Porsche only has two doors, and I'm one of those people,

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but you've got to admit,

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that is a fast sports car they've built, and it has four doors.

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APPLAUSE

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Now it's time to answer a classic question

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what is the fastest way to travel across this country?

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If you're going coast-to-coast, of course, it's to fly,

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but what if your destination is only 500 miles away?

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Is it faster to fly, or drive?

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It really is a dilemma we've all been faced with at some point.

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For example, if you're going from Chicago to Detroit.

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Let's say you're in New York, is it faster to fly or drive to DC?

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Or if you're in Talladega and you need to get to Bristol.

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Or, the classic for us, how many of you have driven from LA to Vegas?

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CHEERS AND LIGHT APPLAUSE

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And how many of you have flown?

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OK, so it really is a question - which is quicker, LA to Vegas, flying or driving?

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To find the answer, Tanner and I packed our things and met in Hollywood.

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-Mr Rutledge.

-Hey, Tanner.

-How you doing?

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-This place is awesome, huh?

-Yeah, it's incredible.

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'Grauman's Chinese Theatre on Hollywood Boulevard.

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'This would be the starting point of our race.

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'The producers had given us two envelopes marked "fly" and "drive".'

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I'll drive.

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Great, I will fly and whup you.

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-When does it say we actually start?

-Uh, it says now.

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So I guess...

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All right.

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Probably should figure out what we're looking for before we get going.

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Ferrari key, that's a good sign.

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And a parking ticket.

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'I had to find my car in the parking garage, hit the freeway,

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'drive the 272 miles across the desert to Las Vegas

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'and beat Rutledge to the finish line,

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'at the Fontana bar in the Bellagio Hotel on the strip.'

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Southwest Airlines flight coupon.

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'I had to go 12 miles to LAX, fly 231 miles to Las Vegas,

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'then go the two-and-a-half miles from the Vegas airport to the strip.'

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Hey, man, have you seen a limo around here waiting for me? No limo?

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-Hollywood Highland Centre Parking Garage.

-It's right down here.

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Taxi! Do they have taxis here? Taxi.

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I heard a honk. Nice!

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Wow, this is beautiful.

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'This is the Ferrari California.

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'0-60 in under four seconds and a top speed of 193 mph.

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'This grand tourer is the first front engine V8 Ferrari ever.

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'It's a car designed for this race.'

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Wow, my driver's licence is not going to make it through the next two hours.

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'Two turns from the parking garage and I was on the freeway on-ramp.'

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Oh, yeah! The shifting is ridiculous.

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Finally, there we go.

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'After 10 minutes, my cab finally arrived.

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'Next stop, LAX, just 12 miles away.'

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Oh, my gosh, the transmission on this car...is unbelievable.

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It's the dual clutch that actually slips the current gear

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and engages the next one before releasing the first clutch.

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What it means is instantaneous shifts.

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It's awesome.

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'20 minutes had gone by and I hit the infamous LA traffic.'

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Seems to be a lot of places to buy weed here, a lot of marijuana places.

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DRIVER: Oh, yeah.

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-California sure is different, isn't it?

-Everything is different.

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Man, who would have thought.

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I need to go east here.

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Uh-oh, this is going the wrong way.

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'I was so mesmerised by the smooth shifting I missed my exit.'

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This is not a good start right now.

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Oh, come on, there is no way she can pull that off, come on.

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Those pants.

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That's way over. Oh, come on.

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Even I wouldn't wear that.

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-Hey, Tanner, what's up?

-Rutledge!

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So, what kind of car do you have?

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Ferrari California.

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Isn't that the kind of girly-like Miata one?

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No, it is the manly, incredibly masculine, huge,

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broad-shouldered, hairy-chested Ferrari.

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'The irony of the Ferrari California is that it represents

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'everything the company's founder, Enzo Ferrari, hated.

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'The only reason he sold sports cars was to fund his racing team.'

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Enzo is quoted as being a bit disgusted with his customers that bought the street cars.

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He thought they bought them for the prestige of owning a Ferrari,

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not for the performance of the race heritage of the car.

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'We finally got to the airport.

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'We'd gone 12 miles in 45 minutes.

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'That's an average speed of 16 mph.

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'I'm sure Tanner was making better time.'

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We're going to cut this a little close.

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'I was somewhere around Barstow on the edge of the desert

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'when I finally lost all traces of civilisation.'

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'100 miles behind me was the traffic of LA.

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'Ahead, the Mojave beckoned my California into its vastness.'

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'The California's shape was created by the legendary design company, Pininfirina.

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'But some people, like Rutledge, have complained

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'that it's too shapely, too feminine for the famous prancing horse.

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'But there's a reason for all those curves.

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'Ferrari spent over 1,000 hours in the wind tunnel to make this

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'their most aerodynamic car ever.'

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And this is probably the perfect desert road trip car.

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It's slippery as can be, it just rips through the air.

0:17:110:17:14

100 mph is like absolutely nothing.

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-Do you have your ID, please?

-Yes, ma'am.

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I've got to warn you, it's a pretty good picture, you may want to keep it.

0:17:230:17:28

All right, I've got 179 miles to go.

0:17:280:17:30

Rutledge is almost certainly on the aeroplane right now.

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If there was ever a time in history for divine intervention,

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it's right now.

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The flight's delayed until 2.55.

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-OK, what time does that put me there?

-It gets you there at 4.05.

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Wow, OK.

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AUTOMATED VOICE: Incoming call.

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I guess that means you're not in the air.

0:17:510:17:53

Oh, no, we're on the plane, we're just about to take off.

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You know, it sounds kind of like you're in the terminal,

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not like you're in the aeroplane right now.

0:18:010:18:03

Uh, my flight's been delayed by just a couple, two or three minutes.

0:18:030:18:09

How long's the delay?

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What time do will you get on the plane?

0:18:110:18:13

Uh, we're going to leave at 2.55,

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so we'll be there at like...

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HE MUMBLES

0:18:190:18:22

The fact of the matter is, in the US,

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domestic air travel is just like hopping on a bus.

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They pack you in like cattle, like these guys in here.

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That guy's like a modern-day airline pilot right there.

0:18:360:18:40

'Even with the delay, I knew that once we took off

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'I'd be jetting past Tanner at over 500 mph.

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'The Ferrari is quick, but I was about to hit the mother of all fast lanes,

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'and Tanner would be doomed.'

0:18:520:18:54

How are you? You have a beautiful scarf.

0:18:540:18:56

Uh-oh, fuel light is officially on.

0:18:590:19:02

Incoming call.

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Hello?

0:19:040:19:05

Hey, Tanner, how's it going, man?

0:19:050:19:08

I don't know if you just heard that beep in the background, but that's my fuel light,

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and I've got 32 miles of fuel,

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and 36 miles of highway before the next fuel station.

0:19:160:19:21

Oh, this is awesome!

0:19:210:19:23

That's the best news I've heard all day.

0:19:230:19:26

We're actually very close to Death Valley,

0:19:340:19:37

where it could be 138 degrees in the shade.

0:19:370:19:41

This is not what I had in mind when I picked the Ferrari key out of the envelope.

0:19:410:19:46

I've read that if you follow semi trucks, you can add 40% to your mileage.

0:19:480:19:52

It's like drafting in NASCAR.

0:19:520:19:54

I can feel it pulling me, actually, it's kind of nice.

0:19:560:19:58

I don't even need to really accelerate, at all.

0:19:580:20:01

We're on the Boeing 737.

0:20:040:20:06

This cost 65 million brand-new,

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plus we've got a range of 3,500 miles.

0:20:100:20:13

The downside of that, it costs almost 15,000 to fill the bad boy up.

0:20:130:20:17

Little bit of a trade-off, but we know, 544 mph top speed,

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and that's impossible to beat on the ground.

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'After 15 miles crawling behind the semi, I'd suddenly hit me -

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'I was hyper-miling a friggin' Ferrari.'

0:20:360:20:39

'Enzo would haunt me, spit in my face.'

0:20:420:20:45

I'd rather walk in the desert

0:20:450:20:46

than drive 62 mph in a straight line all day.

0:20:460:20:49

'And then I spotted a gas station that wasn't on my GPS.

0:20:500:20:54

'Lady luck was back on my side.'

0:20:540:20:56

What? No!

0:20:580:21:01

Abandoned.

0:21:010:21:02

Here you go.

0:21:100:21:12

-Oh, boy!

-Mmm, yummy.

0:21:120:21:13

-Thank you.

-I'll even open it for you.

0:21:130:21:16

Oh, you are the best, Christine, thank you.

0:21:160:21:18

Aah.

0:21:200:21:22

'I was driving on fumes when I finally crawled into Baker.'

0:21:240:21:28

We did it.

0:21:280:21:30

We did it. Yes!

0:21:300:21:32

'This had to be a high-speed pit stop.

0:21:330:21:36

'I knew Rutledge was up there somewhere, filling his greasy beard with pretzel crumbs.'

0:21:360:21:42

I wonder if Tanner made it to the gas station.

0:21:420:21:45

LAUGHS EVILLY

0:21:450:21:47

'I was back on the highway with just 80 miles to go.

0:21:490:21:52

'Up above, Rutledge was surely jetting ahead of me.

0:21:520:21:55

'It was time to get this California out of California.'

0:21:550:21:59

All right, I'm going to call Rutledge.

0:22:060:22:08

If it rings, well, I'm screwed. That means he's on the ground.

0:22:080:22:13

If it goes to voicemail, he's still in the air and we've got a shot.

0:22:130:22:17

PHONE: Hello, thank you for calling Abe Thrillman -

0:22:170:22:20

the sausage king of Chicago.

0:22:200:22:23

Leave me a message.

0:22:230:22:25

I think that answers a lot, actually.

0:22:250:22:28

PILOT: Ladies and gentlemen, we have begun our descent into Las Vegas.

0:22:300:22:34

Please bring your seat backs and tray tables to their upright and locked position.

0:22:340:22:39

we are in the state of Nevada.

0:22:400:22:42

And no sign of Rutledge.

0:22:420:22:44

Now, this is a real trouble part of the trip.

0:22:450:22:48

Right now I've got to wait for everybody to get off,

0:22:480:22:50

so for every minute that I stand here,

0:22:500:22:52

if you figure Tanner's going 75mph,

0:22:520:22:56

then that is...

0:22:560:22:58

Let's say Tanner is going 60 mph,

0:23:000:23:02

then we know for every minute I stand here he's going one mile.

0:23:020:23:06

Come on, bag, come on. Sucker's burning.

0:23:080:23:11

Oh, there's my bag.

0:23:140:23:17

Incoming call.

0:23:170:23:19

-Hello?

-Tanner.

0:23:190:23:21

Rutledge, I don't hear any slot machines in the background, where are you?

0:23:210:23:25

I am in Vegas, I am holding my bag

0:23:250:23:27

and I'm in line for a taxi, my friend, you better step on it.

0:23:270:23:30

Can you see the strip?

0:23:300:23:31

Yes....

0:23:320:23:34

Rutledge was just two-and-a-half miles away from the Bellagio,

0:23:350:23:39

and I was still 25 miles away.

0:23:390:23:41

Damn it! Pedal to the metal.

0:23:410:23:44

-How quick can you get us to the Bellagio?

-About 10 or 12 minutes.

0:23:510:23:55

10 or 12 would be great.

0:23:550:23:57

There is the airport on the right.

0:23:580:24:00

Has anyone seen a little Tom Cruise in a girlie Ferrari?

0:24:000:24:06

Plaid shirt?

0:24:060:24:08

Real good hygiene?

0:24:080:24:09

There's the strip!

0:24:110:24:13

No way I am losing this right now.

0:24:130:24:15

There's a taxi three cars ahead of me, that could be him.

0:24:170:24:20

I've got to catch that taxi.

0:24:200:24:22

-Is this a three cylinder?

-I think it's a six.

0:24:240:24:27

Oh, a six.

0:24:270:24:28

I'm ready to feel that fury of six angry cylinders, I tell you what.

0:24:280:24:32

'267 miles down, three to go, straight down the Vegas strip.'

0:24:320:24:36

-How far do you think we are from the Belaggio?

-Almost there, third stop light after this.

0:24:380:24:43

Come on!

0:24:450:24:46

Three stop lights stand between victory and myself.

0:24:460:24:50

Oh, man, we are one traffic light away from the Belaggio!

0:24:540:24:58

The fountains are waving, they're saying, "You won, get in here!"

0:25:020:25:06

Right, there's the Belaggio, we're looking for the north valet.

0:25:060:25:12

Man, I hope we won.

0:25:120:25:14

Come on!

0:25:140:25:15

There we are, the Belaggio, Las Vegas.

0:25:170:25:20

Stay to the right, follow the wall on your left

0:25:220:25:27

until you get to it on the right.

0:25:270:25:29

All right, I think we've lost our way a little bit.

0:25:290:25:33

You guys smell that?

0:25:330:25:36

Smells like victory.

0:25:360:25:37

Over here. No, this way.

0:25:370:25:40

I didn't see the Ferrari out front, I think we might have won.

0:25:450:25:49

Oh man... Tanner?

0:25:550:25:57

Oh, yes!

0:25:580:26:01

Oh! Oh!

0:26:030:26:05

Oh, that's awful! Oh, you're not serious!

0:26:050:26:10

-I got you an Appletini, dude.

-How long have you been here?

-Days.

0:26:110:26:15

-No, about four minutes, actually.

-Dammit!

0:26:150:26:18

You know, when you fly in the air - delay, 50 minutes is nothing.

0:26:220:26:26

How long was your delay?

0:26:260:26:28

-50 minutes. Man.

-That's the risk you pay.

-It really is.

0:26:280:26:32

-There are some benefits to winning.

-Oh, really? Like what?

-Watch this.

0:26:320:26:37

Oh!

0:26:390:26:40

HE LAUGHS

0:26:400:26:42

How did you do that?

0:26:430:26:45

Those hands - magic.

0:26:470:26:50

You see, flying is too stressful for me.

0:26:530:26:56

Last flight I was on, the flight attendant quit, grabbed a beer and slid down the slide.

0:26:560:27:00

I would have beat him if my plane hadn't been delayed.

0:27:000:27:04

That's the problem with flying, when's the last time you had somebody say,

0:27:040:27:08

"I was late because there was a problem with the landing gear on my car?" Doesn't happen.

0:27:080:27:13

-Did you like the Ferrari?

-I did.

0:27:130:27:15

At first, I was sceptical, a V8 when you really want a V12,

0:27:150:27:19

but the harder you drove it, the more the racing heritage of Ferrari came to the surface.

0:27:190:27:24

All that matters is that we learned one thing.

0:27:240:27:26

If you want to get to Vegas from LA, take a Ferrari.

0:27:260:27:30

Nice real-world advice for everybody here, thank you, Tanner.

0:27:300:27:34

APPLAUSE

0:27:340:27:36

All right! Now it's time to put a big star in our small car.

0:27:400:27:45

Please help me welcome rock legend, TV star, and his new show is called Life As I Know It, Mr Bret Michaels!

0:27:450:27:53

Woo! Bam! Boom!

0:27:530:27:56

Thank you. Thank you, everybody. How are you doing?

0:27:560:28:00

Good to see you.

0:28:000:28:02

-Man! I'm fired up right now.

-Good to see you, my friend.

0:28:070:28:12

It is good to be alive.

0:28:120:28:14

Listen, today, I say this, all the organs are here,

0:28:140:28:17

everything's working right now, functioning.

0:28:170:28:20

-He made it!

-Thank you.

-APPLAUSE

0:28:200:28:23

Thank you very much.

0:28:230:28:25

First, let me ask you about your new show, Life As I Know It.

0:28:250:28:28

It's a combination of everything that is my life, and shows the balance between the love I have

0:28:280:28:34

for my daughters, and my passion for being on the road, trying to make both worlds work.

0:28:340:28:39

Being who you are and your past, when you have to be dad to your daughters,

0:28:390:28:43

and you go "Don't do that!" and they go, "Dad! You gonna show me one of your old videos?"

0:28:430:28:49

Happens all the time.

0:28:490:28:50

In our house, we have a go-kart track, I'm teaching them to ride, they got the little ATVs,

0:28:500:28:57

They had all their friends over, going way too fast, and I say, "You gotta slow down,"

0:28:570:29:01

and I go, "God, I've officially become my father."

0:29:010:29:03

You weren't in boxer shorts and black socks?

0:29:030:29:06

I was! With the things that hold the black socks up.

0:29:060:29:09

"Slow down! You wrecked the Ferrari." "I know what I'm doing!"

0:29:090:29:13

LAUGHTER

0:29:130:29:15

I do have your car list here, and it is extensive.

0:29:150:29:19

-The first one was the Ford Galaxy, you buy that from your father?

-200 bucks.

0:29:190:29:24

It was the olive green, with the black vinyl top, it was a ladykiller.

0:29:240:29:31

You pulled up in that and you knocked 'em out.

0:29:310:29:34

-If you ran 'em over.

-Yes.

0:29:340:29:38

-And then Harleys, of course.

-Yeah.

-You were a big bike guy, and when you got a bit of money,

0:29:380:29:42

you bought a Porsche.

0:29:420:29:45

The first Porsche I got was the 944, not the 924,

0:29:450:29:48

and unfortunately, I hate to say this, I didn't have much luck with it.

0:29:480:29:52

I bought it used, and it was a disaster for me.

0:29:520:29:57

This is no lie, it broke down on me at a gas station in Hollywood,

0:29:570:30:02

and I left it there and they collected it for 500.

0:30:020:30:06

You know, they come and tow it away for 500 bucks?

0:30:060:30:08

Unfortunately for me, that particular Porsche,

0:30:080:30:11

I should have investigated a bit more, it wasn't the best running car.

0:30:110:30:14

This was what I wanted to ask you, because I remember reading about this,

0:30:140:30:19

Poison actually had a NASCAR.

0:30:190:30:22

-Right? What year, was it 2000?

-2002.

0:30:220:30:27

Derrike Cope was driving it, and I'm a big NASCAR fan,

0:30:270:30:30

and we wanted to get him to sponsor a car, it's very expensive, but we love doing it.

0:30:300:30:35

We had some good luck, and what was killer,

0:30:350:30:38

-the best TV time we got out of it is when it blew the engine.

-Right.

0:30:380:30:42

It was on fire, and it looked great.

0:30:420:30:44

They just stuck under the hood of the car.

0:30:440:30:47

That's the way you go out, burning in flames.

0:30:470:30:51

I have to ask you, what did you think of that monster Suzuki SX4 we have for you?

0:30:510:30:55

Honestly, I was so pumped up to get out there and drive around that track,

0:30:550:30:58

and it really... Actually, it handled great.

0:30:580:31:02

-I got in there, I was way too excited, my heart was pounding.

-You had fun?

-I had a blast.

0:31:020:31:07

You guys want to see his lap?

0:31:070:31:08

CHEERING

0:31:080:31:10

Here's the beast. Hey, you launched that, very quick.

0:31:120:31:16

Can't they speed this up to make me look fast?

0:31:160:31:19

Coming into turn one, and no brakes at all.

0:31:190:31:22

BLEEP

0:31:220:31:23

Too sharp.

0:31:230:31:25

OK, this is the chicane, very tight. You're through there, my friend.

0:31:250:31:29

You're coming into the teardrop, the slowest part of the track.

0:31:290:31:32

-And I'm proving it, right?

-Yes, you are.

0:31:320:31:34

-I thought I was going a lot faster than that.

-That's pretty quick.

0:31:340:31:39

BLEEP

0:31:390:31:41

BLEEP BLEEP

0:31:420:31:44

I missed a gear right there is what happened.

0:31:440:31:47

I've got all my excuses lined up!

0:31:470:31:49

This is the back stretch, the fastest part of the track.

0:31:490:31:53

I got a lot of speed, and no control right now.

0:31:530:31:57

-Which could the Suzuki's marketing slogan!

-Exactly!

0:31:580:32:02

-That's pretty aggressive, now you're coming up into Cameraman's Curve.

-Yeah, they all step back.

0:32:020:32:07

BLEEP me!

0:32:100:32:13

-Am I allowed to say that?

-That's perfect, we can get bumper stickers.

0:32:130:32:18

Everything the state taught me has gone at this point.

0:32:180:32:22

-You're driving like a rock star.

-I'm only half stoned here, that's the problem.

0:32:220:32:26

Slap it down into second.

0:32:260:32:29

All right, this is the final curve.

0:32:290:32:31

Last corner, and you are across the line!

0:32:310:32:33

Thank you.

0:32:390:32:41

Where do you think you came on this board?

0:32:410:32:44

I want to win, so I'm hoping I'm above Tony, but I'm feeling it wasn't my finest,

0:32:440:32:49

so I'm going to say just under Tim Allen.

0:32:490:32:53

OK, I have your time here,

0:32:530:32:54

and you did it in 1...

0:32:540:32:57

forty...

0:32:570:32:58

..four...

0:32:590:33:01

No!

0:33:010:33:02

..point...

0:33:020:33:05

four.

0:33:050:33:07

Oh man, you're kidding me!

0:33:070:33:08

APPLAUSE

0:33:080:33:11

-Thank you, thank you.

-1:44.4.

0:33:110:33:15

You know the beat-down I'm going to take from Kid Rock?

0:33:150:33:19

-Thank you for having me.

-You are our final guest, and we usually don't do this,

0:33:190:33:24

-but here at Top Gear, we want to give you a special prize.

-I would love that. It's a bowling ball?

0:33:240:33:28

No, this is Bret Michaels' Top Gear helmet!

0:33:280:33:33

LAUGHTER AND APPLAUSE

0:33:340:33:38

Dude, that is... Thank you everybody.

0:33:380:33:41

CHEERING The trophy!

0:33:430:33:46

And now it's time for Tanner to test a strange German mutant.

0:33:480:33:53

'In Frankenstein, a tortured scientist brings a spark of life to an odd collection

0:33:550:34:00

'of human and animal parts.'

0:34:000:34:01

'The result was a larger and more powerful version of a human being.'

0:34:030:34:07

'Although, by most accounts, very ugly.'

0:34:070:34:10

'Many car companies worked the same way. A chassis here, an engine there.'

0:34:130:34:18

'Then they create something bigger and more powerful.'

0:34:180:34:22

'But is it better?' This is the BMW X6 M.

0:34:220:34:28

'M stands for "motor sport"

0:34:300:34:32

'and they're responsible for creating the M3, the M5 and the M6.'

0:34:320:34:36

They don't have much imagination when naming cars, but they know how to make them go fast.

0:34:380:34:43

'Like Dr Frankenstein, the M-division scientists went into the lab,

0:34:560:35:00

'sliced the top off an X5, stirred in a potent twin turbo V8

0:35:000:35:05

'and grafted on the swoopy greenhouse from the 5 series GT.'

0:35:050:35:09

'Add some angry sparkplugs and you have the X6 M.'

0:35:090:35:13

Honestly, driving this car feels like you're driving

0:35:130:35:16

a sports car, except you're sitting on the ski rack.

0:35:160:35:18

There's just something wrong about being so high in the air

0:35:180:35:22

and having so much performance.

0:35:220:35:24

The X6 M runs about 90,000.

0:35:260:35:30

Which is 22 grand more than the regular X6.

0:35:320:35:34

Load up all the options and you can drop 105,000.

0:35:370:35:41

This car is deceptively huge on the outside, but, on the inside,

0:35:440:35:48

it's tiny.

0:35:480:35:50

The X6 is almost an identical layout to the X5, BMW's luxury SUV,

0:35:500:35:55

without all that pesky practicality and backseat room.

0:35:550:35:59

Now, the dash is shared with the X5, so it's a pretty nice place to be,

0:35:590:36:03

but there are quirky bits - for example, the transmission.

0:36:030:36:06

The shifter is almost like a PlayStation joystick.

0:36:060:36:10

You go down for drive and up for neutral, up again for reverse.

0:36:100:36:15

If you want to do manual shift mode, you kick it over to the left and it's reversed.

0:36:150:36:19

If you want to go down, you go up, and if you want to go up, you go down.

0:36:190:36:24

One interesting thing.

0:36:260:36:27

You'd expect a car for 90,000 to have auto setting on the climate control.

0:36:270:36:31

This has three - soft, medium and, I couldn't make this up, intensive.

0:36:310:36:36

'To shake down a machine like the X6 M, it needed some room to run.'

0:36:360:36:42

'So I took it to the track.'

0:36:420:36:44

'Miles of open asphalt just begging for rubber.'

0:36:440:36:48

Now, the regular X6 was already ridiculously fast.

0:36:480:36:52

It surprised us with a twin-turbo V8, making 400 horsepower.

0:36:520:36:57

But that didn't stop the M division of BMW saying,

0:36:570:37:00

"You know, I bet we can make this weird, little thing faster."

0:37:000:37:03

'So they bolted on two dump-truck-size turbos

0:37:030:37:06

'and replaced the fuel injectors with fire hoses.'

0:37:060:37:09

Mix all that fuel with this dry desert air

0:37:090:37:11

and 550 horses lay waiting beneath your right foot.

0:37:110:37:16

This will do zero to 60 in under four seconds.

0:37:300:37:34

That's faster than a Porsche 911 GT3.

0:37:340:37:37

For a car that weighs 2,000lbs more, it almost defies physics.

0:37:370:37:41

But the real magic with this machine isn't its straight-line speed,

0:37:430:37:47

it's that it handles really, really well.

0:37:470:37:51

It can pull more Gs in the skid pad than an M5 or an M6.

0:37:550:37:59

It's incredible.

0:37:590:38:01

Good things happen when I push this little "M" button, which might as well stand for "magic".

0:38:070:38:12

The suspension gets a little stiffer, the steering gets more responsive.

0:38:150:38:19

The dynamic stability control lets me slide a little bit more.

0:38:190:38:22

It basically lets me live out my destiny as a BMW owner

0:38:240:38:28

-and drive like an absolute

-BLEEP.

0:38:280:38:30

If you turn off the "M" button,

0:38:330:38:35

instantaneously the ride gets a little bit softer.

0:38:350:38:38

The steering gets a little squishier.

0:38:380:38:41

But why would anybody want to do that, anyway?

0:38:410:38:44

'Like the Frankenstein monster, the X6 M is a beast, a more powerful version of its predecessors.'

0:38:510:38:58

'But the Frankenstein monster was tortured

0:38:590:39:01

because he didn't know who or what he was.'

0:39:010:39:04

The X6 M struggles with that same identity crisis.

0:39:040:39:08

Is it a crossover? Definitely not.

0:39:090:39:12

A crossover was designed to be a lighter, more fuel-efficient version of an SUV.

0:39:120:39:16

This thing has the mass of a battleship.

0:39:160:39:18

And if you drive it the way it wants to be driven,

0:39:180:39:21

it gets about nine miles to the gallon. And that's not a joke.

0:39:210:39:24

Is it an SUV?

0:39:260:39:28

No. Remember, the "U" is for "utility".

0:39:280:39:31

This thing has tiny rear seats, a roof line so low that you have to bend over double just to get in.

0:39:310:39:37

It's really not a very useful car.

0:39:370:39:39

But is it a sports car?

0:39:390:39:42

It sure drives like one,

0:39:420:39:44

but sports cars are designed to work in concert with the laws of physics.

0:39:440:39:47

The X6 M seems to go fast in spite of them.

0:39:470:39:51

It just goes down the road, flipping the bird at the natural world.

0:39:510:39:54

I am completely blown away by it,

0:39:540:39:57

but I still can't figure out what to call it.

0:39:570:40:00

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

0:40:030:40:05

So you like it, even though you don't know what to call it.

0:40:070:40:10

It's just flat-out confusing. What would you call this thing?

0:40:100:40:13

-A monster car.

-A monster car.

0:40:130:40:15

-SUGGESTIONS INDISTINCT

-All right, all right.

0:40:150:40:20

How about fastback utility?

0:40:200:40:22

An FU? That's a good idea(!)

0:40:220:40:25

-LAUGHTER

-I was thinking a sport utility coupe.

0:40:250:40:28

LAUGHTER

0:40:280:40:29

-The SUC.

-You want to label this a "suc". Right(?)

0:40:290:40:34

OK, how about this? A fastback utility coupe.

0:40:340:40:38

All right, it's time to put this machine, whatever it's called, to the test

0:40:380:40:42

and put it in the hands of our silent racing driver.

0:40:420:40:45

So take it away, Stig.

0:40:450:40:46

Off the line, there is no denying

0:40:460:40:49

X6 M is an absolute torque monster.

0:40:490:40:51

Twin turbos cranking up.

0:40:510:40:53

Stig not wasting any time around the first corner into the chicane.

0:40:530:40:59

Kind of strangely comfortable. Nobody body roll to speak of,

0:40:590:41:02

even with it sitting up so high up off the ground.

0:41:020:41:05

Stig not impressed.

0:41:060:41:09

As he comes through the Teardrop.

0:41:100:41:13

Four-wheel spin as he claws his way out of there.

0:41:130:41:15

Huge amount of acceleration on to the straightaway.

0:41:150:41:18

It may be big, it may be a little bit ugly,

0:41:180:41:20

but it's doing 130mph on our track right now.

0:41:200:41:24

-Whoa!

-He is throwing it through the course.

0:41:250:41:28

Now he's starting to get excited.

0:41:280:41:30

Working the paddles a little bit

0:41:300:41:32

as he cranks it out of Cameraman's Corner

0:41:320:41:34

and into the Ss, another very challenging part of the track.

0:41:340:41:38

Wow. He is pushing it hard. Coming into the last corner.

0:41:390:41:43

This could be a respectable time. And across the line he goes.

0:41:430:41:47

APPLAUSE

0:41:470:41:49

It looked really good, didn't it?

0:41:540:41:56

But, earlier, the Stig saw the Ferrari California - the one we raced to Vegas,

0:41:560:42:00

that completely smoked you to Vegas. He got hold of the keys and he did a lap on that one.

0:42:000:42:06

It turned in a very impressive time.

0:42:060:42:09

The Ferrari California, 1:28.5.

0:42:090:42:13

Really quite an impressive time, yes. A round of applause for that.

0:42:140:42:18

Pretty incredible, but with such a quick board,

0:42:180:42:20

it's even at the bottom of the board almost.

0:42:200:42:23

The BMW isn't going to be quite that fast,

0:42:230:42:26

but ultimately really respectable, with a 1:30.0 from the big beast. Really amazing.

0:42:260:42:31

APPLAUSE Pretty good.

0:42:310:42:34

Pretty big machine.

0:42:340:42:36

For something this tall and heavy, that's an impressive time, even if you don't know what to call it.

0:42:360:42:41

It is staggering. You could see how hard he was throwing it. It's impressive.

0:42:410:42:45

Because we've got a serious line-up of performance cars.

0:42:450:42:49

OK, how about this?

0:42:490:42:50

A sport hatchback injected turbo...

0:42:500:42:55

-LAUGHTER

-OK. I think that's all we have time

0:42:550:42:58

for tonight. Thank you for watching. Goodbye.

0:42:580:43:02

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

0:43:020:43:03

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