Has Top Gear ever...

[sleepyhead]

...raced a WRC car vs a street tuned car on a circuit or time trial?

Just been re-watching an old episode of Hot Version whereby the Mitsi WRC 05 goes against J's Racing S2000. Good good viewing

I know Top Gear has done stuff like WRC vs bobsleigh but it's not quite the same.

[Funkstar]

No, I don't think they have raced the rally and stock versions of the same car, would be a very interesting race if you ask me.

They should speak to Subaru, they must have some spares at the moment

[sleepyhead]

oooh..I forgot the end of this epsidoe is hilariously good. lets take a bunch of track day goers and their tuned up cars and slap them in a 12 car, 5 lap race

Oh c'mon Top Gear, do something like this....be AWESOME!!! I think the drivers were a mix of pro (or pro-am) racers and your bog standard joe public (who actually impressed the pro racers in earlier episodes).

Oh yeah, and they guy that won, his prize was...a set of tyres...lol.

EDIT: Forgot to add, the very end had out takes of how hard it is to drive the Mitsi WRC'05 car. Both the rally driver and Tsuchiya stalled the car various times. Not sure how that works as its a clutchless sequencial box.

[XA04]

Email them?

[StevenF]

I'm 5th gear did it against the new Mini, around a track they made of cones.

[jamin]

Didn't they try to modify a Renault Velsatis (Or whatever it was called) to get it round their track as fast as an Evo? (I know they failed)

[sleepyhead]

Didn't they try to modify a Renault Velsatis (Or whatever it was called) to get it round their track as fast as an Evo? (I know they failed)

That was a complete fail by TG as it wasn't ever done seriously.

Definitely emailing TG with some stolen ideas from BMI and Hot Version!

[TeePee]

They did a stupid £40,000 boy racer hot hatch against a £7000 kit car.

[MadduckUK]

yes but that was poo, they could have gone for someone who had stripped their car out not crammed it with crap

[this_is_gav]

I think the nearest they've come is running some old classic racing cars against modern standard road-going equivalents in series 5, episode 8.

Ford Escort rally (1974) vs Focus RS (Focus won)
GT40 (late 60's) vs Noble M400 (GT40 won)
Audi Quattro Rally (1983) vs Evo 8 (Evo 8 won... not really surprisingly, given that the Evo 8 requires a service more frequently).

Between 2 cars of similar age the rally car would destroy the road car, providing both cars used similar tyres of course (so not snow tyres on the rally car on track, but not cut slicks either).

[kalniel]

One of the 'gears raced a BTCC car verses the sportiest version of the same car that you could buy.

[MadduckUK]

old or new tg? that sounds v interesting

[this_is_gav]

Either old TG or more likely FifthGear. Certainly never on new TG.

[MadduckUK]

no i didnt think so

[kalniel]

I think it was fifth gear - but I really can't remember much about it. It was completely as you'd expect - the BTCC one was in a different league on the track, but almost entirely undrivable off it.

[MadduckUK]

well i had a zip through finalgears episode thing but i couldnt see it shame