Top Gear Segments - Unusual Reviews

Unusual Reviews

Another Top Gear trademark is the often unusual approach to 'reviewing' cars. Rather than presenting straight road tests, the presenters find interesting ways of focusing on a specific aspect of a car. These items often take the form of (typically) small challenges.

• Drive until you get bored / Test: enjoyable travel. Clarkson claimed that Jaguars "ease the burden of travel" and devised a test for the Jaguar XJ to see how far he could drive one before he got bored. Series Two, Episode Four

• Lap of the M25 / Test: fuel economy. Clarkson drove a lap of the M25 in a diesel Volkswagen Lupo, while another driver used the petrol version to see which would achieve more miles per gallon. Clarkson was allowed to spend any money he saved over the petrol version on a gift at a service station. He chose a small gold model of a cockerel, which made a reappearance in later series as 'The Golden Cock'- the award given to the presenter who'd made the most embarrassing mistake of the year. Series Three, Episode One

• Toyota Hilux destruction / Test: toughness. Clarkson and May used various methods in an attempt to destroy a Toyota Hilux. The heavily damaged (but still driveable) Hilux is now stood on a plinth in the Top Gear studio. Series Three, Episodes Five & Six

• Helicopter gunship evasion / Test: handling. Clarkson tried to avoid being caught in missile lock from an WAH-64D Apache attack helicopter while driving a Lotus Exige. Series Four, Episode One

• London to Edinburgh and back again on a single tank of fuel / Test: fuel economy. Clarkson attempted to drive a diesel Audi A8 800 miles (1,300 km) on a single tank of fuel. Series Four, Episode Four

• Minicab road testing / Test: toughness and practicality. Hammond and May worked as minicab drivers in order to subject a Renault Scenic and Ford C-MAX to a year's worth of hard abuse in one evening. Series Four, Episode Seven

• Off-road up a mountain / Test: off-road ability. Clarkson tried to drive a Land Rover Discovery from the beach to the top of a mountain in Scotland, completely off-road. It was heavily criticised by environmentalists for the damage done by the vehicle's tyres. This stunt was memorable in that Clarkson left the mountain by helicopter with the Discovery's keys in his pocket delaying its removal from the hill. Series Five, Episode Three

• 24 hours in a car / Test: comfort. Hammond and May spent 24 hours in a Smart Forfour to assess the marketing claim that the car is "designed like a lounge". Series Five, Episode Four

• Tank evasion / Test: handling. Clarkson discovered if a Challenger 2 tank could lock its main cannon on to a Range Rover Sport. Series Six, Episode One

• Car Football / Test: toughness and handling. Hammond and May, along with a selection of professional drivers, played a football match using Toyota Aygos. Series Six, Episode One

• Sniper evasion / Test: handling. Clarkson drove around a deserted village in a Mercedes SLK55 AMG and a Porsche Boxster S, trying to evade snipers of the Irish Guards. Series Six, Episode Five

• Road Test Russian Roulette / Test: random road testing. Hammond and May worked as ScooterMen in order to road-test as many (randomly selected) cars as possible, the catch being that they wouldn't know what they'd be road-testing and had to do it in the presence of the cars' owners. Series Six, Episode Nine

• Supercars / Superbridge / Test: illustrate the point of supercars. The trio took three supercars (a Ford GT, a Ferrari F430 and a Pagani Zonda S) on a road trip to the recently opened Millau Viaduct via Paris. Series Seven, Episode Three

• Car Ice Hockey / Test: toughness and handling. Hammond and May, along with a selection of professional drivers, played an ice hockey match using Suzuki Swifts, while Clarkson acted as referee. Winter Olympics Special

• Horse racing camera platform / Test: smooth ride. Clarkson reviewed the Citroën C6 and put it to work as a mobile camera platform covering a horse race. Series Eight, Episode Five

• Car Football 2 / Test: toughness and handling. Hammond and May, along with a selection of professional drivers, staged another football match using Toyota Aygos against a new contender, the Volkswagen Fox. Series Eight, Episode Five