Fifth Gear

Recently started watching Fifth Gear when I noticed it was available on Prime, well from season 12 onwards.

Thoroughly enjoying it though it does have a couple of minor irritations.

My main gripes are are around the filming of the cars as they test them/ race them. The camera work is too frantic changing shots every 2 seconds or thereabouts, perhaps to give a feeling of exitement. Does not work for me, I end up feeling dizzy.

Usually music in background of said test, as presenter is talking. Its too intrusive and at times difficult to hear presenter Biggest gripe though is quality of filming. Its way too dark, especially at outdoor scenes

On the plus side its snappy. Runs for approx 25 minutes and during that time usually 4 segments of around 5/6 minutes each meaning it does not drag on.

Presenters are great, Vicki, Tiff and Jason are bona fide racing drivers and there seems to be a great chemistry and rivalry between them, friendly of course Other presenters I have seen are Jonny Smith and Tom Ford, seasoned car journolists who know there stuff.

It was always going to be compared to Top Gear, but Fifth Gear is more down to earth. Not every segment revolves around super or hyper cars, like Top Gear does. Plenty of cars featured that many people actually have and can afford. Plenty of decent items on things like car safety. They do however still have time to mess around so its not all serious all the time

More of a car show where cars are the stars, unlike Top Gear which is more of an entertaimment show, with the hosts being the stars.

In short, 5th Gear is a "Five" re-hash of the old Top Gear format, and because it uses many of the same cast and crew, minus Jeremy Clarkson, it's a good one. It's like TG used to be a few years back, when the items were geared more towards information, although I will say that I have always found Tiff Needell entertaining when he track-tests a super-car.

Some have said that the show would benefit from Clarkson; personally I don't think so, partly because Five would probably have to be careful about not upsetting advertisers (unlike the BBC) and he has, shall we say, shown the potential for that!!

All in all, 5th Gear is a great show, and long may it continue.

So there you have it,top gear is the best car show(wait 5 seconds...)in the world,but what's with that other show "Fifth gear" Clarkson was talking about?Being a top gear fan,makes you wanna hate fifth gear already right?I though maybe i could see an episode or two of fifth gear then I can justifiably say "I watched it and it sucks ".But then something really weird happened or didn't happen...Not only I didn't hate it but after the first couple of episodes,in my mind it established itself as one of the most descend car shows in the world.Not only that but it had the only thing the best car show in the world didn't have...Nice big chunks of REALITY.So here is the sum up: Fifth gear is:

----less fun/funny than top gear. ++++Way more realistic,more and better consumer advice. -Not a single person with a great narator's voice when top gear has lots of them. +More practical info,also features like "It's new but is it any good?" and "Cars you didn't know you could afford". -Presenters acting too friendly to the viewers almost begging to watch them. +A woman amongst the presenters.Would be super hot if she lost some weight but still a nice addition to the show. -Script and challenges not as good as top gear's.

So add this up and you come up with Top Gear(9 stars) - 1=8 If you want a show that is great to watch,unusually funny and amusing with super-cars taking up 90% of the time,in a world where every car other than super/hyper/ultra is just rubbish(so rubbish that doesn't deserve a real review),enter the crazy world of Top Gear.But if Earth is your kind of world then Fifth Gear is the car show to take you there.

Rory Reid is not a car reviewer. Get rid of him and focus strengths which are facts and head-to-head tests. The earlier seasons were really great to watch.

I skip everything by Rory as it's borderline bad advice for consumer owners. It adds nothing to the show which is mostly watched by enthusiasts and real car people.

Give us consumer advice, real road tests and what you think consumers will actually buy and run with little issues based on your recommendations.

A great show but too much fluff as of recent that is unnecessary. Let Vicky and Jason do proper road tests with facts. Just give us what we want and the show will be successful again.

Still an enjoyable show. Jason, Jonny and Vikki are great. Jimmy the bore, not so much. I fast forward his bits. He's no replacement for Tiff. Get someone who can either drive or entertain. Or preferably both.