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Oh man you guys are in for a treat. Havent seen any episodes other than the one I was audience in, but he was probably told "be as southern and insufferable as possible"
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# ? Nov 23, 2016 16:17 |
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# ? May 23, 2024 13:34 |
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Granted he is from rural California, but it would be nice if he would just be normal.
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# ? Nov 23, 2016 16:21 |
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Antti posted:This sounds like a really flimsy explanation for what was almost certainly just a poorly thought out bit. Getting a work permit for Ben Collins should be absolutely trivial for a company like Amazon, if you even need one for the few weeks he would've needed it for. Particularly since he's been over here in the US a lot this year, working. Ford had him on hand at the Focus RS drive to give us hot laps.
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# ? Nov 23, 2016 16:42 |
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Ether Frenzy posted:So since we're a couple hours from the show airing, here's some spoilers. Do not read this unless you want to know what happened. This is old but I am just reading up on this thread but that sounds like it could only be on poster that I haven't seen around these parts in some time that can't take his bull through a car wash without the thing dying and a had his Focus RS that got lost by Ford.
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# ? Nov 23, 2016 18:02 |
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MattD1zzl3 posted:I'm willing to give him a chance, he only said a line or three at all and i'd love to see an american racing driver perspective on some of the poofter-european supercars they are going to throw at him. Hopefully he can get to a point where he says what he actually thinks instead of canned southern-isms. I was more concerned with his qualifications. I don't know the guy so I have no idea what his experience is before doing NASCAR, but I wouldn't assume that because someone can drive very fast at full throttle and slight turn on an embankment it necessarily makes them a perfect choice for getting the most out of a wide variety of the world's fastest production vehicles on what admittedly seems to be a very non-standard small race track. I have no idea who else was considered so I honestly don't know if he was the best pick or not. I can say I just plain don't like southern accents but it doesn't really affect my enjoyment of the show. I'd rather hear the driver talk about his experience as it's happening than Clarkson describing to me what I'm already watching on screen like with The Stig.
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# ? Nov 23, 2016 18:20 |
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davebo posted:I was more concerned with his qualifications. I don't know the guy so I have no idea what his experience is before doing NASCAR, but I wouldn't assume that because someone can drive very fast at full throttle and slight turn on an embankment it necessarily makes them a perfect choice for getting the most out of a wide variety of the world's fastest production vehicles on what admittedly seems to be a very non-standard small race track. I have no idea who else was considered so I honestly don't know if he was the best pick or not. Let's not pretend there's anything scientific about the timed laps for these cars. The fact that they are using the same driver is for a bit, nothing more. Don't forget that the old driver was behind a helmet the whole time and likely wasn't always the same person (mostly the same person, but there's likely times when that has changed.) They also run these laps under a wide range of weather conditions. People want rankings so they give them rankings, but the timed lap is simply a bookend to a review that's not too be taken too seriously.
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# ? Nov 23, 2016 18:52 |
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davebo posted:I was more concerned with his qualifications. I don't know the guy so I have no idea what his experience is before doing NASCAR, but I wouldn't assume that because someone can drive very fast at full throttle and slight turn on an embankment it necessarily makes them a perfect choice for getting the most out of a wide variety of the world's fastest production vehicles on what admittedly seems to be a very non-standard small race track. I have no idea who else was considered so I honestly don't know if he was the best pick or not. I'm guessing you don't know anything about NASCAR or oval driving then. Just because he mostly turns left (there are road courses in the NASCAR season) it still requires a lot of car control. They are still managing tire traction and the position and rotation of the whole car. At 200mph mind you. I'm not a fan of NASCAR but I still respect the people who drive in it. Also, he's not southern. He's from northern California.
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# ? Nov 23, 2016 18:57 |
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Cojawfee posted:I'm guessing you don't know anything about NASCAR or oval driving then. Just because he mostly turns left (there are road courses in the NASCAR season) it still requires a lot of car control. They are still managing tire traction and the position and rotation of the whole car. At 200mph mind you. I'm not a fan of NASCAR but I still respect the people who drive in it. Norcal is most definitely redneck territory.
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# ? Nov 23, 2016 18:58 |
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The impression I got from the American's bit was that his canned terrible southern opinions were meant to be the equivalent of the Stig's terrible music choices; just a bit of silly flavour to keep the lap video from being too dry.
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# ? Nov 23, 2016 19:07 |
Wasabi the J posted:Norcal is most definitely redneck territory. As someone from there I ... 遥eah E: working at a small-town ISP in the mid-90s, kept having horse farmers come in to sign up and ask questions about how to use a thing called "McWayub"
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# ? Nov 23, 2016 19:09 |
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I work at a rural California WISP and there's definitely real country folk here. Merle Haggard country!
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# ? Nov 23, 2016 19:15 |
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Seconding cojas statement. Oval racing drivers are world class and dont deserve the shade they get thrown from snobs in the internet. I'm sure that homeboy can drive.
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# ? Nov 23, 2016 19:30 |
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DJ Commie posted:I work at a rural California WISP and there's definitely real country folk here. Merle Haggard country! I'm sorry you work in Oildale. I thought I worked in a terrible environment.
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# ? Nov 23, 2016 19:31 |
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MattD1zzl3 posted:Seconding cojas statement. Oval racing drivers are world class and dont deserve the shade they get thrown from snobs in the internet. I'm sure that homeboy can drive. No one even in old Top Gear denies the driving skills of NASCAR. they simply say it's not very entertaining to watch for people used to road races, which I agree with. I KNOW how hard it is to drive in 3 dimensions and close quarters, is just hard for me to stay interested for 200 laps.
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# ? Nov 23, 2016 19:41 |
Though they have gone to pains to point out how it can be a lot more fun to watch a pack of cars barreling along together at 200 mph in full view of the stands at all times, than to see a bunch of F1 cars flash past your vantage point once per minute and maybe (if you're amazingly lucky) the order has changed.
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# ? Nov 23, 2016 19:55 |
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I actually just went to the NASCAR finale in Homestead this past weekend. My first race. The cars sounded awesome but they throw a full-course caution with safety car (truck) literally every time somebody has a puncture. It should either be 50 laps total or they should have more endurance racing like attitude to wrecks. If they had a dedicated road racing only series on the side I would 100% absolutely watch it
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# ? Nov 23, 2016 20:04 |
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Plus aren't the restrictions on the cars in NASCAR equally as stupidly strict as in F1? So that they have to worry about all the things like "managing tire traction and the position and rotation of the whole car"
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# ? Nov 23, 2016 20:43 |
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Budgie posted:Plus aren't the restrictions on the cars in NASCAR equally as stupidly strict as in F1? So that they have to worry about all the things like "managing tire traction and the position and rotation of the whole car" Yes, managing the car is what racing is.
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# ? Nov 23, 2016 21:05 |
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Budgie posted:Plus aren't the restrictions on the cars in NASCAR equally as stupidly strict as in F1? So that they have to worry about all the things like "managing tire traction and the position and rotation of the whole car" Even more than F1. Nascar is still running iron blocks, and carbs. They also are running full steel chassis. and live axles. Nascar is typically driven on "that far edge" of traction. While F1 varies from "lightly loaded to braking, to cornering to accelerating, to lightly loaded" wash rinse repeat. Nascar sits on the edge of it's traction circle for large fractions of the time. F1 cars can't tolerate the sort of sliding that Nascar does. Yaw angle really effs up the day for a F1 car. As does chassis angle. The fact anyone can get a F1 car, quickly, around a track, is just stunning to me. Half the things they do to make them go fast, put them in a position where "getting anything wrong" puts you on the wrong side of the traction slope, and it's all over with.
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# ? Nov 23, 2016 21:10 |
Nerobro posted:Even more than F1. Nascar is still running iron blocks, and carbs. They also are running full steel chassis. and live axles. Nascar is typically driven on "that far edge" of traction. While F1 varies from "lightly loaded to braking, to cornering to accelerating, to lightly loaded" wash rinse repeat. Nascar sits on the edge of it's traction circle for large fractions of the time. F1 cars can't tolerate the sort of sliding that Nascar does. Yaw angle really effs up the day for a F1 car. As does chassis angle. Hey, now. They switched to EFI a couple years back.
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# ? Nov 23, 2016 21:21 |
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Nerobro posted:The fact anyone can get a F1 car, quickly, around a track, is just stunning to me. Half the things they do to make them go fast, put them in a position where "getting anything wrong" puts you on the wrong side of the traction slope, and it's all over with. Hammond driving an F1 car was actually one of the neater "learn an actual real thing about a race car" bits from TG because it really got across how F1 cars simply don't work like a normal car at all. Drive slowly: cold tires, no downforce, spin out, might also turn itself off to prevent engine-killing stall and do nothing Drive dangerously quickly: still have cold tires and no downforce, spin out Drive AT SUPER TURBO HELLSPEED: tires are warm and you have downforce, everything is OK, unless it isn't, then you're hosed again
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# ? Nov 23, 2016 21:26 |
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Yeah, seeing relatively talented journalist/semi-pro drivers utterly toddlerized by driving F1 cars is always a real big reminder of just how insanely good those guys are. Also watching the usually flawless wheel to wheel racing at insane speeds at insane G levels with relatively 'cold' tires in the first 45 seconds of any F1 race (because you'll know who wins after that) compared to the total clusterfuck in even 35hp cars on the first corner by just about everyone else's ability to 'drive' in Forza/GT/Etc.
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# ? Nov 23, 2016 21:43 |
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wallaka posted:Hey, now. They switched to EFI a couple years back. I'm ~shocked~. Ever since car of tomorrow though, they are essentially a spec racer. And i'm not saying that's a bad thing.
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# ? Nov 23, 2016 21:48 |
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If driving a stock car were so easy, every open wheeler (minus a couple) wouldn't be so loving bad at it. And most of them came up in karting and all kinds of other poo poo at this point. And try to say a dirt track driver doesn't have loving amazing car control.
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# ? Nov 23, 2016 21:53 |
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Anyone who is driving in a top level of motorsport is guaranteed to be a good driver. Even the backmarkers in F1 are good drivers because they still have to prove themselves in lower series before they are allowed to get a license to drive in F1. Saying that someone who drives race cars professionally isn't qualified to drive a car fast is a moron.
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# ? Nov 23, 2016 22:04 |
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Bear in mind everything this country knows about NASCAR is based on Days Of Thunder and American forum posters taking the piss out of rednecks.
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# ? Nov 23, 2016 22:19 |
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If they just popped some canned laughs after the american's jokes it would have gone over much better.
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# ? Nov 23, 2016 22:31 |
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InitialDave posted:Bear in mind everything this country knows about NASCAR is based on Days Of Thunder and American forum posters taking the piss out of rednecks. Well it is a documentary. Not even denying the racing is boring sometimes, but the drivers are legit good. Anyway, I wonder if EP2 is going to come out Thursday night again. Edit: VVVV probably the 200+ when Hammond almost died...so I don't see that happening again.
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# ? Nov 23, 2016 22:35 |
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Most of what I know about Nascar comes from Ricky Bobby. What's the fastest they ever got on Top Gear? I saw the desert intro and thought they might do something with that because I know somewhere in desert-y america is where they do land speed records.
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# ? Nov 23, 2016 22:35 |
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iwentdoodie posted:Well it is a documentary. It's like baseball. That game is boring as poo poo but those guys can still hit a fast moving ball and knock it out of the park.
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# ? Nov 23, 2016 22:38 |
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drunken officeparty posted:Most of what I know about Nascar comes from Ricky Bobby.
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# ? Nov 23, 2016 22:40 |
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The fact that they could casually go over 200 in those three cars was pretty crazy.
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# ? Nov 23, 2016 22:41 |
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InitialDave posted:James May did a hair under 260mph in a Veyron, I think other than aircraft, that's the fastest any of them have gone. Hammond was doing 288 when he crashed.
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# ? Nov 23, 2016 22:42 |
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Cojawfee posted:I'm guessing you don't know anything about NASCAR or oval driving then. Just because he mostly turns left (there are road courses in the NASCAR season) it still requires a lot of car control. They are still managing tire traction and the position and rotation of the whole car. At 200mph mind you. I'm not a fan of NASCAR but I still respect the people who drive in it. Sorry I didn't think my post made it sound like I thought NASCAR drivers were somehow untalented, just that like others have said, those stock cars are a different animal from other types of racing. I would think Ben Collins' career skills would better translate to driving some AWD supercar around the Top Gear or new Grand Tour tracks compared to the usual NASCAR tracks and you're right they do have some road courses. But ultimately bull3964's reply was perfect. The mask gave the Stig the illusion of a consistent robot-like performance despite us never being sure it was always the same person, and the conditions were so variable as to be essentially useless so I shouldn't really care about the driver's ability. I guess if they had wanted an American driver with a bunch of experience driving production cars around a track they could have hired Randy Probst.
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# ? Nov 23, 2016 23:30 |
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Grakkus posted:The impression I got from the American's bit was that his canned terrible southern opinions were meant to be the equivalent of the Stig's terrible music choices; just a bit of silly flavour to keep the lap video from being too dry. Seconding this. He was intended to be a caricature of an American redneck. There was nothing spontaneous about his performance.
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# ? Nov 24, 2016 00:19 |
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Cojawfee posted:I'm guessing you don't know anything about NASCAR or oval driving then. Just because he mostly turns left (there are road courses in the NASCAR season) it still requires a lot of car control. They are still managing tire traction and the position and rotation of the whole car. At 200mph mind you. I'm not a fan of NASCAR but I still respect the people who drive in it.
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# ? Nov 24, 2016 00:24 |
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I guarantee that truck was harder to drive on goodwood than an M2 is on the eboladrome.
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# ? Nov 24, 2016 00:44 |
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Also NASCAR isn't only ovals anyway.
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# ? Nov 24, 2016 00:58 |
sean10mm posted:Also NASCAR isn't only ovals anyway. Some of them are TRI-ovals! Seriously though the two road courses per year is the best racing they have all season, but isn't really a factor over the 34 oval course races they do per season.
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# ? Nov 24, 2016 01:10 |
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# ? May 23, 2024 13:34 |
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Nascar is boring if your sitting at home sober by yourself. Get a party together multiple monitors for different in car views and what not and a keg of beer and Nascar races are good poo poo. Also helps if you-know all the rivalries and scandals.
Preoptopus fucked around with this message at 01:18 on Nov 24, 2016 |
# ? Nov 24, 2016 01:16 |