Top Gear USA (2008–…): Season 1, Episode 8 - Car vs. Plane - full transcript
Rutledge road tests the Porsche Panamera Turbo. Tanner and Rutledge are having a race to see which is the fastest way to get from Los Angeles to Las Vegas, a car or a plane with Rutledge ...
Ferrara: Now on "Top Gear,"
the fastest way to Las Vegas...
Have you seen a limo
around here waiting for me?
The ultimately confusing
driving machine...
But I still can't figure
out what to call it.
And some poison on our track.
I got a lot of speed
and no control right now.
Welcome to "Top Gear."
On this show, no weight will be lost,
no wives will be swapped,
but if you enjoy the
smell of tire smoke,
this is where you belong.
I'm Adam Ferrara, that's Tanner Foust,
and this is Rutledge Wood.
And this, courtesy of the
petersen automotive museum,
is a Porsche 356.
It's the first production car in the world
to carry the Porsche name.
Company founder Ferdinand
Porsche once said,
"if one does not fail at times,
then one has not challenged himself."
And now the company he left
behind is challenging itself,
to come up with a new car.
I went out to see whether or not,
they were setting
themselves up for a fail.
Wood: In two syllables, it
defines an entire category...
The sports car.
One glance of its coat of
arms conjures up superiority,
racing pedigree, and a rear engine.
And their pursuit of
automotive advancement
gives us a faint glimmer into
the future of automobiles.
The name Porsche is
synonymous with sports cars.
And they've had some
great ones, like the 911.
They've also had some
not-so-great ones like the 924.
But their newest model is
low, sleek, muscular, and...
It's a four-door.
This is the Porsche Panamera turbo.
It'll set you back
almost 134 grand,
and that buys you a staggering
top speed of 188 miles per hour.
That's not just
sports-car performance.
It's supercar speed.
But it's a sedan.
Looks like the engineers at Porsche have
taken up their founder's challenge
and delivered a 911
with a front engine
and too many doors.
Now, you might be thinking,
that's a big fat fail already.
I mean, Porsche should be
making sports cars, not sedans.
And they've never made a
sedan, which clearly shows.
Just look at this thing.
The last time you saw
something this hunched back,
it was hanging off the
cathedral at Notre Dame.
Pretty it's not.
It gets a little better
once you get inside,
but the cockpit's got so
many bells and whistles,
I need chewbacca riding shotgun.
Look at all these buttons.
Earlier I tried to
put on my heated seat,
and two missiles came
out oj the headlights.
This is confusing.
I'm also a little confused
by the name... the Panamera.
Porsche says it's named after
the Carrera Panamericana,
the mexican road race in the '50s.
But the race only lasted three years
after numerous fatalities.
They do not mention
that in the brochure.
So it's not pretty,
it's got a dumb name,
and a dashboard that
would baffle even nasa,
but not everything about
the Panamera is a fail.
Now, one of the C.E.O.S said
he wanted to be able to sit in
the backseat in total comfort.
And he's 6'3", just like me.
Porsche put bucket
seats in the back,
that are similar to the
front seats of the 911.
There's plenty of legroom,
and the synthetic suede
headliner has a bubble
that gives the backseat an
incredible amount of space.
Having a big backseat
is important in any car,
but is it worth the sacrifice
when it looks like an eggplant?
But when you drive it...
It feels amazing.
Driving this thing in sport mode
is like holding onto a missile.
I mean, this is a sports car.
So what if it's got two extra doors?
When you're looking this way,
you won't even notice.
The Panamera turbo has a massive
4.8-liter twin-turbo V-8 engine,
borrowed from the Cayenne turbo S.
U.V.,
that delivers a whiplash-inducing
500 horsepower.
And weighing over 4,300 pounds,
it needs as much power
as it can squeeze out
to maintain its sportiness.
This sedan could do zero to 60 in 1,
2,
3.8 seconds.
That's faster than the Aston Martin dbs.
This isn't just quick for a sedan.
This is just quick, period.
But even if it accelerates
like a Porsche,
there's no way it
handles like one, right?
Wrong.
The handling on this car
completely matches the power.
It is so tight and so precise yet
completely forgiving when you need it.
And with the all-wheel drive,
you just point and shoot
and it goes wherever you want.
Oh. Wing is out.
I feel like I'm having an
out-of-body driving experience.
I mean, I know I'm driving a four-door,
but it feels like a sports car.
Much of the body is
built from aluminum,
to reduce weight and
improve fuel economy.
It's nice to see that Porsche's
at least striving to go green.
But sometimes you can take
things a little too far.
Now, here's something strange.
It's called the start-stop system.
Let's say I'm driving in
traffic and I come up to a light.
So I stop as normal.
But then the car dies.
But that's not a problem.
It's designed to do that
to save gas, and it works.
All I have to do... take
my foot off the break,
the car fires right
back up, and take off.
Did I mention it has launch control?
Check this out.
Come to a complete stop.
First, you put it in sport.
Then you put it in sport plus.
Put your left foot on the break,
bring the rpms up to 5 grand,
wait till it says "launch
control activated,"
and hold on.
Holy moly!
Man, I think the front
end left the ground.
100.
110.
112.
122.
130.
139.
150.
158.
164, 166, 167!
And I'm running out of room.
167 miles an hour in a four-door.
Thank you, lord.
The Panamera might not conform to
what you would expect from a Porsche,
but I don't think old Ferdinand
will be turning in his grave just yet.
So, you liked it?
You know what? It's pretty good.
Now, this is the
top-of-the-line turbo model,
which is a little bit
pricey at 134 grand,
but you can get a base-model
Panamera for 74 grand,
which is a pretty good deal considering
you do get a Porsche sports car
and an everyday grocery-getter.
I still wouldn't buy one.
I mean, are they really claiming
that this is a potential track car
that you can play with,
like, on the weekends?
They really think so.
It's got launch control.
It's also got a lap timer.
I mean, they are serious about this car.
It's unbelievable, but there's
only one way to really find out.
And that is at the hands
of our silent racing driver.
So take it away, Stig.
All right, on the line,
activating the launch control.
Out of the hole extremely
quick for such a heavy car...
Zero to 60 in under 4 seconds.
Really amazing as it goes into turn 1,
going into the chicane.
This is one of the tighter
sections of the track.
Stig just bored inside,
really, I think...
Comfortable, upset that he's
got to drive such a big behemoth.
Into the teardrop...
tightest section of the track.
When you do get 500
horsepower on this corner,
it can be difficult to stay tidy.
A little bit of wheelspin
on the way out of that one,
but amazingly just picks up the speed,
really gets out of its own way...
130 miles an hour on the
back straightaway here.
Now the Stig's starting to
get a little bit excited,
goes through the bumpy corners.
The Panamera absorbs it
absolutely with no drama.
Into cameraman's
corner, tires squealing,
complaining that they have
to work with 4,300 pounds.
Coming into the s's,
making his way quickly
towards the last turn,
looking like he's getting a
little bit out of shape here.
A little bit of opposite lock,
fighting his way into the last
corner, and across the line.
Wow.
Wow.
I have to say,
it looked a lot quicker
than I thought it would.
Yeah. For something
that big, he was cooking.
Coming out of the corners is
where it looks most impressive.
And putting the power down,
even when it's sliding,
it looks like it picks up speed quickly.
I would call this a GT car.
And, really, to give you an
idea of where the GT cars land,
we've got a V-12 vantage,
with quite a bit of a horsepower
advantage at a 1:28.2.
I'm getting a little bit optimistic.
The Mercedes sls with a 1:27.6.
You think it was
quicker than a mercedes?
All: No.
Not a chance, right? No.
The Panamera did a 1:25.3.
Wow.
That's faster than a lambo.
That's faster than a balboni.
1:25.3.
I am absolutely shocked at
that, to be honest with you.
I can hardly believe it.
Wow.
I mean, I know a lot
of people would agree
that, in their mind, a
Porsche only has two doors.
And I'm one of those people.
But you got to admit, that is a
fast sports car that they built,
and it's got four doors.
Coming up next, the answer
to a classic question...
Is it faster to fly or drive?
Welcome back to "Top Gear."
Now it's time to answer
a classic question...
What is the fastest way to
travel across this country?
If you're going coast to
coast, of course, it's to fly.
But what if your destination
is only 500 miles away?
Is it faster to fly or drive?
It really is a dilemma we've all
been faced with at some point.
For example, if you're going
from chicago to detroit.
Let's say you're in new york.
Is it faster to fly or drive to dc?
Or you're in talladega and
you need to get to bristol.
Or the classic for us...
How many of you have
driven from L.A. to vegas?
And how many of you have flown?
Okay, so, I mean, it
really is a question...
Which is quicker, L.A. to
vegas, flying or driving?
To find the answer, tanner and
I were told to pack our things
and meet in hollywood.
- Mr. Rutledge.
- Hey, Tanner!
- How you doing?
- Good, man. How you doing?
- This place is awesome, huh?
- Yeah, it's incredible.
Wood: Grauman's chinese
theater on hollywood boulevard.
This would be the
starting point of our race.
The producers had given
us two envelopes...
One marked "fly" and
one marked "drive."
I'll drive.
Great. I will fly and whup you.
When does it say that we actually start?
Uh, it says now.
So I guess...
All right.
Probably should figure out
what we're looking for here
before we get going.
Ferrari key... that's a good sign...
And a parking ticket.
Foust: I had to find my
car in the parking garage,
hit the freeway,
drive the 272 miles across
the desert to Las Vegas,
and beat rutledge
to the finish line
at the fontana bar in the
bellagio hotel on the strip.
"southwest airlines flight coupon."
I had to go 12 miles to L.A.X.,
fly 231 miles to Las Vegas,
then go the 21/2 miles from
the vegas airport to the strip.
Hey, man, have you seen a limo
around here waiting for me?
No limo?
Hollywood highland
center parking garage.
It's right down here.
Taxi. Do they have taxis here?
Taxi.
I heard a honk.
Nice!
Wow. This is beautiful.
This is the Ferrari California...
Zero to 60 in under 4 seconds
and a top speed of
193 miles per hour.
This grand tourer is the first
front-engine V-8 Ferrari ever.
It's a car designed for this race.
Wow. My driver's license is not gonna
make it through the next two hours.
Two turns from the parking garage,
and I was on the freeway on-ramp.
Oh, yeah!
The shifting is ridiculous.
Finally. There we go.
After 10 minutes, my
cab finally arrived.
Next stop... L.A.X.,
just 12 miles away.
Foust: Oh, my gosh! The transmission
on this car... is unbelievable.
It's the dual clutch that
actually slips the current gear,
then engages the next one before
releasing the first clutch.
What it means is instantaneous shifts.
It's awesome.
20 minutes had gone by,
and I hit the infamous
L.A. traffic.
Seem to be a lot of places to buy
weed here, a lot of marijuana places.
Man: Oh, yeah.
- California sure is different, isn't it?
- Everything is different in California.
Man! Who would have thought?
I need to go east here.
Uh-oh. This is going the wrong way.
I was so mesmerized
by the smooth shifting,
I missed my exit.
This is not a good start right now.
Oh, come on. There is no
way she can pull that off.
Come on... those pants.
That's way over... that's way...
Oh, come on.
Even I wouldn't wear that.
- Hey, Tanner. What's up?
- Rutledge.
So, what kind of car do you have?
Ferrari california.
Isn't that the kind of girly,
like, Miata one?
No. It is the manly,
incredibly masculine,
huge, broad-shouldered,
hairy-chested Ferrari.
The irony of the Ferrari
California is that it represents
everything the company's
founder, Enzo Ferrari, hated.
The only reason he sold sports cars
was to fund his racing team.
Enzo is quoted as being a bit
disgusted with his customers
that bought the street cars.
He thought they bought them for
the prestige of owning a Ferrari,
not for the performance and
the race heritage of the car.
We finally got to the airport.
We'd gone 12 miles in 45 minutes.
That's an average speed
of 16 miles per hour.
I'm sure Tanner was
making better time.
We're gonna cut this a little close.
I was somewhere around barstow
on the edge of the desert
When I finally lost all
traces of civilization.
A hundred miles behind me
was the traffic of L.A.,
ahead the mojave beckoned my
california into its vastness.
The California shape was created
by the legendary design
company Pininfarina.
But some people, like Rutledge, have
complained that it's too shapely,
too feminine for the
famous prancing horse.
But there's a reason
for all those curves.
Ferrari spent over a thousand
hours in the wind tunnel
to make this their most
aerodynamic car ever.
And this is probably the
perfect desert road-trip car.
It's slippery as can be, it
just rips through the air,
and a hundred miles an hour
is, like, absolutely nothing.
- Do you have your I.D. With you?
- Yes, ma'am.
I got to warn you... it's
a pretty good picture.
You may want to keep it.
All right, I've got 179 miles to go.
Rutledge is almost certainly
sitting on the airplane right now.
If there was ever a time in
history for divine intervention,
it's right now.
The flight's delayed till 2:55.
Okay. What time does that put me there?
It gets you there at 4:05.
Wow. Okay.
Woman: Incoming call.
Foust: Yeah, so, I guess that
means that you're not in the air.
Oh, no, no. We're...
we are on the plane.
We are just about to take off.
You know, it sounds kind of
like you're in the terminal.
It doesn't sound like you're in
the actual airplane right now.
Uh, my flight's been delayed by just
a couple... two or three minutes.
How long's the delay?
What time do they think
you're gonna get in the plane?
We're gonna leave at 2:55.
So we'll be there at like ...
The fact of the matter is, in the
U.S., domestic air travel is...
It's just like hopping on a bus.
They pack you in like cattle,
like these guys right in here.
That guy's like a modern-day
airplane pilot, right there.
Even with the delay, I
knew that once we took off,
I'd be jetting past tanner
at over 500 miles per hour.
The Ferrari is quick, but I was about
to hit the mother of all fast lanes,
And Tanner would be doomed.
Howa are you? You have a beautiful scarf.
Uh-oh. Fuel light is officially on.
Incoming call.
Hello?
Hey, Tanner.
How's it going, man?
Well, I don't know if you just
heard that beep in the beginning,
but that's my fuel light.
And I've got 32 miles of fuel
and 36 miles of highway
before the next fuel station.
Oh, this is awesome.
That's the best news I've heard all day.
We're actually very
close to death valley,
where it could be 138
degrees in the shade.
This is not what I had in mind
when I picked the Ferrari
key out of the envelope.
I'll tell you that.
I've read that if you follow semitrucks,
you can add 40% to your mileage.
It's like drafting in nascar.
Oh, I can feel it pulling me, actually.
It's kind of nice. I don't even
need to really accelerate at all.
Wood: Now, we're on the boeing 737.
This costs $65 million brand-new.
Plus, we've got a range of 3,500 miles.
The downside of that... It costs
almost $15,000 to fill the bad boy up.
A little bit of a trade-off, but we
know 544 miles an hour top speed,
and that's impossible
to beat on the ground.
Foust: Coming up, who
will win the fight
between plane and car
in the race to vegas?
There's the strip!
We had set out to solve
the debate once and for all.
As it faster to fly or drive
from los angeles to vegas?
I had the Ferrari California and
150 miles in my rearview mirror.
Rutledge was flying commercial
and had just left L.A.
But even though I was in the lead,
things were not all good.
Because I had no gas left,
I resorted to desperate measures...
Drafting my Ferrari
behind a big rig.
After 15 miles crawling behind
the semi, it suddenly hit me.
I was hypermiling a
freakin' Ferrari.
Foust: Ah.
Enzo would haunt me,
spit in my face.
I'd rather walk in the desert than drive 62
miles an hour in a straight line all day.
And then I spotted a gas
station that wasn't on my gps.
Lady luck was back on my side.
What?
No!
Abandonned.
- Christine: Here you go.
- Oh, boy.
- Mmm! Yummy.
- Thank you.
I'll even spoil it and open it for you.
Oh, you are the best, christine.
Thank you.
Ahh!
I was driving on fumes when
I finally crawled into baker.
Foust: We did it.
We did it. Yes!
This had to be a
high-speed pit stop.
I knew Rutledge was up there somewhere, filling
his greasy beard with pretzel crumbs.
I wonder if Tanner made
it to the gas station.
I was back on the highway
with just 80 miles to go.
Up above, Rutledge was
surely jetting ahead of me.
It was time to get this
California out of California.
Foust: All right, I'm
gonna call Rutledge.
If it rings... Well, I'm screwed.
That means he's on the ground.
If it goes straight to voicemail,
that means he's still in
the air and we've got a shot.
Hello, and thank you
for calling Abe Froeman,
the sausage king of chicago.
So leave me a message.
I think that answers a lot, actually.
Pilot: Ladies and gentlemen, we have
begun our descent into Las Vegas.
Please bring your seat
backs and tray tables
to their upright and locked position.
Foust: We are in the state of nevada,
and no sign of Rutledge.
Now, this is the real
trouble part of the trip.
See, right now I got to wait
for everybody to get off.
So for every minute
that I stand here...
If we figure Tanner's
going 75 miles an hour,
then that is...
Let's say Tanner's
going 60 miles an hour.
Then we know for every
minute that I stand here,
he's going 1 mile.
Come on, bag. Come on.
Sucker's burning.
Oh. There's my bag.
Incoming call.
- Foust: Hello?
- Tanner.
Rutledge, I don't hear any
slot machines in the background.
- Where are you?
- I am in Vegas,
I'm holding my bag, and I'm
in line for a taxi, my friend.
You better step on it.
Can you see the strip?
Yes.
Rutledge was just 21/2
miles away from the bellagio,
and I was still 25 miles away.
Damn it.
Pedal to the metal.
How quick can you get
us to the bellagio?
Man: About 10 or 12 minutes, I think.
10 or 12 would be great.
There is the airport on the right.
Has anyone seen a little tom
cruise in a girly Ferrari?
Plaid shirt...
Real good hygiene.
There's the strip!
No way I am losing this right now.
There's a taxi three cars ahead of me.
That could be him.
I've got to catch that taxi.
Is this a three-cylinder?
- I think it's a six-cylinder.
- Oh, a six.
I'm ready to feel that
fury of six angry cylinders.
I tell you what.
267 miles down, 3 to go,
straight down the vegas strip.
How far do you think we
are from the bellagio?
We're almost there. We got about...
it's the third stoplight up here.
Come on!
Three stoplights stand
between victory and myself.
Oh, man. We are one traffic
light away from the bellagio.
The fountains are waving.
They're saying, "you won,
Rutledge. Get in here."
Foust: All right, there's the bellagio.
We're looking for the north valet.
Wood: Man, I hope we won.
Come on.
Here we are... the bellagio, Las Vegas.
Stay to the right.
Follow the wall on your left,
until you get to it on the right.
All right, I think we've
lost our way a little bit.
You guys smell that?
It smells like victory.
Over here.
Nope. This way.
I didn't see the Ferrari out front.
I think we might have won.
Oh, man.
Tanner?
Oh, yes!
[ laughing ] Oh!
Oh, that's awful!
- Oh, you're not serious!
- I got you an appletini, dude.
How long have you been here?
Days.
No, about four minutes, actually.
Damn it!
You know, when you fly
in the air... delay.
It could have been way...
50 minutes is nothing.
- How long was your delay?
- 50 minutes.
Man.
- That's a risk you pay.
- It really is.
You know, there are
some benefits to winning.
- Oh, really? Like what?
- Yeah. Watch this.
How did you do that?
Those hands... they're magic.
You see? That's why flying
is too stressful for me.
*** Grabbed a beer, and
slid down the slide.
I mean, I would have beat him
if my plane hadn't been delayed.
That's the problem
with flying, my friend.
I mean, when's the last
time you've had somebody say,
"I was late because there was a problem
with the landing gear on my car"?
- Doesn't happen.
- Did you like the Ferrari?
I did. You know, at first,
I was a little skeptical...
I mean, a V-8 where
you really want a V-12.
But the harder you drove it,
the more the racing heritage
of Ferrari came to the surface.
But all that really matters
is that we learned one thing...
If you want to get to vegas
from L.A., take a Ferrari.
Nice real-world advice
for everybody here.
Thank you, Tanner foust.
Coming up, a real-life monster
of rock in our suzuki sx4.
All right.
Now it's time to put a
big star in our small car.
Please help me welcome
rock legend, tv star...
And his new show is called
"life as I know it"...
Mr. Bret Michaels!
Whoo! Boom! Boom! Boom!
Thank you, everybody.
Thank you, everybody.
- How are you doing?
- Good to see you, my brother.
Man.
- Whoo! I'm fired up right now.
- You're fired up. Thank god.
Good to see you, my
friend. Good to see you.
- It is good to be alive.
- I was gonna ask you.
Listen, today... you
know, listen, I say this...
All the organs are here,
everything's working right now,
everything's functioning.
He made it.
Thank you. Thank you.
Thank you very much. Thank you.
First of all, let me ask you about
your new show, "life as I know it."
Real easy... it's a combination
of everything that is my life.
And it shows the balance between
my love that I have for my daughters
and my love and passion
of being on the road
and trying to make both worlds work.
Cool. Now, do you ever run into...
Being who you are
and your past...
When you have to be
dad to your daughters,
and you go, "don't do that!"
and they go, "dad,"
and then show one of your
old videos or something?
It happens all the time.
What happens is... at our house,
we have a go-kart track there,
so I'm teaching my kids to ride,
and, you know, we do all this stuff,
and they got the little atvs.
The other day, they have
all the friends over,
and they're going way too fast
for what they should be doing.
And I said, "hey,
you've got to slow down!"
And I go, "oh, my god. I've
officially become my father."
You weren't, like, in boxer
shorts and black socks.
I was. That's exactly what I was in.
With the things that
hold the black socks up.
"slow down!" "you wrecked a Ferrari."
"I know what I'm doing!"
I do have your car list here,
and it is extensive.
We only picked out a few.
Well, the first one was the ford galaxy.
Now, did you buy that
one from your father?
200 bucks. It was the olive-green.
You know, it was sort
of the... not forest,
the olive-greenish with
the black vinyl top.
It was a lady-killer.
You pulled up in that,
and you knocked them out.
- If you ran them over.
- Yes.
And then you... harleys, of course.
You're a big bike guy,
so you had the harleys.
And when you got a little bit
of money, you bought a Porsche.
What was the first Porsche you bought?
The first Porsche I got
was the 944, not the 924.
It was the 944.
And, unfortunately,
I hate to say this...
It just... I didn't
have much luck with it.
I bought it used, and
it was a disaster for me.
I ended up... this is no lie.
It broke down on me at a
gas station in hollywood.
And I left it there, and
they collected it for $500.
You know, they come and
tow it away for $500.
Unfortunately for me, that particular Porsche
I should have investigated a little more.
It wasn't the best-running car.
So, now what do you drive... oh!
This I wanted to ask you,
'cause I remember this.
I remember reading about this.
Poison actually had a nascar, right?
What year... it was like 2000...
I want to say 2002.
- 2002.
- 2002.
Derrike cope was driving it.
And I'm a big nascar fan.
And we wanted to get
in, sponsor the car.
It's a lot of fun, very expensive.
You know, but we love doing it.
We had some good luck.
And what was killer...
The best tv time we got out of
it is when it blew the engine.
It was on fire at the pocono
500, and it looked great.
You know what I mean? They just
stuck on the hood of the car,
- and it was quite an experience.
- Well, that's the way you go out,
just burning in flames.
And I have to ask you,
what did you think
of that monster suzuki
sx4 we have for you?
Honestly, I was so pumped up
to get out there and
drive around that track,
and it really was...
it actually handled great.
I got in there, and I
was way too excited, man.
My heart was pounding.
- But you had fun?
- I had a blast.
That's all that counts. You
guys want to see his lap?
Uh-oh.
There's the beast.
You launched that. That was very quick.
Can't they speed this
up to make me look fast?
We're coming into turn
1, and no brakes at all.
Too sharp.
Okay, this is the chicane.
Very tightly through there, my friend.
You're coming into the teardrop.
This is the slowest part of the track.
- And I'm proving right here.
- Yes, you are.
I thought I was going a lot
faster than that, in my mind.
No, you're actually... that's
pretty quick into that turn.
[bleep] Me.
[bleep] [bleep]
I missed the gear right
there is what happened.
I've got all my excuses
lined up, just so you know.
This is the backstretch.
This is the fastest part of the track.
I got a lot of speed...
and no control right now.
Which could be suzuki's
marketing slogan.
Exactly.
That's pretty aggressive. Now you're coming
up into cameraman's curve right up here.
Yeah, they all stepped back.
[bleep] Me.
- That's gonna be my legacy right there.
- That's perfect.
We're getting bumper stickers.
Yeah, I forgot everything the stig
taught me is gone at this point.
U're driving like a rock star.
I'm only half stoned here.
That's the problem.
Slap it down into second.
All right, this is the
final curve... last corner.
And you are across the line.
Thank you.
That was real impressive.
Thank you.
Where do you think
you came on this board?
Listen, I want to win, so
I'm hoping I'm above tony.
- Okay.
- But I'm feeling it wasn't my finest,
so I'm gonna say just under tim allen.
Just under tim allen. Okay.
I have your time here,
and you did it in 1...
40...
4...
Oh!
Point...
4.
Aw, man!
You're right where you
said you were gonna be.
- Thank you. Thank you.
- 1:44.4.
Do you know the beatdown
I'm gonna take from kid rock?
Yeah... You did a great job.
- Thank you for having me.
- You are our final guest.
And we usually don't do this, but
you are the final guest of the season.
So here at "Top Gear,"
we want to give you a special
prize for coming out here.
- This is the only gift we have given...
- It's a bowling ball?
Nope. This is bret michael's
"Top Gear" helmet.
Thank you.
That is for you, my friend.
Dude, that is... Thank you, everybody.
Bret Michaels!
It's a trophy.
Good times.
Coming up, Tanner
gets confused by a bmw.
Welcome back to "Top Gear."
And now it's time for Tanner
to test a strange german mutant.
Foust: In "frankenstein,"
a tortured scientist
brings a spark of life
to an odd collection
of human and animal parts.
The result was a larger, more-powerful
version of a human being,
although, by most
accounts, very ugly.
Many car companies
work the same way...
A chassis here, an engine here.
And then they create something
bigger and more powerful.
But is it better?
This is the BMW x6m.
"m" stands for "motorsport,"
and they're responsible
for creating the m3,
the m5, and the m6.
They don't have much
imagination when naming cars,
but they sure know how
to make them go fast.
Like dr. Frankenstein,
the m-division scientists
went into their lab,
sliced the top half off an x5,
stirred in a potent twin-turbo V-8,
and grafted on the swoopy
greenhouse from the 5 series gt.
Add some angry spark plugs,
and you have the x6m.
Honestly, driving this car feels
like you're driving a sports car,
except you're sitting on the ski rack.
There's just something wrong
about being so high in the air
and having so much performance.
The x6m runs about $90,000...
Which is 22 grand more
than the regular x6.
Load up all the options,
and you can drop $105,000.
This car is deceptively
huge on the outside,
but on the inside, it's tiny.
The x6 has almost an
identical layout to the x5,
BMW's luxury S.U.V.,
with all that pesky practicality
and backseat room.
Now, the dash is shared with the x5,
so it's a pretty nice place to be,
but there are some
kind of quirky bits...
For example, the transmission.
The shifter is almost like
a playstation joystick.
You go down for drive
and up for neutral,
up again for reverse.
And if you want to
do manual-shift mode,
you kick it over to the left,
and then it's reversed.
If you want to go down, you go up.
And if you want to go up, you go down.
One interesting thing...
You'd expect a car for $90,000 to have
an auto setting on the climate control.
This has three... soft, medium,
and... I couldn't make
this up... intensive.
To shake down a machine
like the x6m,
it needed some room to run.
So I took it to the track.
Miles of open asphalt,
just begging for rubber.
Now, the regular x6 was
already ridiculously fast.
It surprised us with a twin-turbo
V-8 making 400 horsepower.
But that didn't stop somebody
at the m-division of BMW
from saying, "you know what?
I bet we can make this weird
little thing even faster."
So they bolted on two
dump-truck-sized turbos
and replaced the fuel
injectors with fire hoses.
Mix all that fuel with
this dry desert air
and 555 horses lay waiting
beneath your right foot.
This will do zero to
60 in under 4 seconds.
That's faster than a Porsche 911 gt3.
For a car that weighs 2,000 pounds more,
it almost defies physics.
But the real magic with this machine
isn't its straight-line speed.
It's that it...
Handles really, really well.
It actually can pull more g's on
the skid pad than an m5 or an m6.
It's incredible.
Good things happen when I
push this little "m" button,
which might as well stand for "magic."
The suspension gets a little stiffer,
the steering gets more responsive.
The dynamic stability control
lets me slide a little bit more.
It basically lets me live
up my destiny as a BMW owner
and drive like an absolute prick.
If you turn off the "m" button,
instantaneously, the ride
gets a little bit softer,
the steering gets a little squishier.
Why would anybody want to do that?
Like the frankenstein monster,
the x6m is a beast...
A bigger, more powerful
version of its predecessors.
But the frankenstein
monster was tortured
because he didn't know
who or what he was.
The x6m struggles with
that same identity crisis.
Is it a crossover? Definitely not.
A crossover was
designed to be a lighter,
more fuel-efficient
version of an S.U.V.
This thing has the mass of a battleship,
and if you drive it the way
that it wants to be driven,
it gets about 9 miles to the gallon.
And that's not a joke.
So is it an S.U.V.?
No.
Remember, the "u" is for "utility."
This thing has tiny rear
seats, a roofline that is so low
that you have to bend
over double just to get in.
It's really not a very useful car.
But is it a sports car, then?
It sure drives like one.
But sports cars are designed to work
in concert with the laws of physics.
The x6m seems to go
fast in spite of them.
It just goes down the road, flipping
the bird at the natural world.
I am completely blown away by it,
but I still can't figure
out what to call it.
So, you like it, even though
you don't know what to call it.
It's just flat-out confusing.
What would you call this thing?
A monster car.
All right. All right. I got one.
How about a fastback utility?
An F.U. That's a good idea.
No, I was thinking a
sport utility coupe.
The S.U.C.
You want to label this a "suck"?
Right?
Okay, how about this?
A fastback utility coupe.
All right. I think it's probably
time to put this machine,
whatever it's called, to the test,
and put it in the hands of
our silent racing driver.
So take it away, stig.
All right, off the line,
there is no denying the x6m
is an absolute torque monster,
twin turbos cranking up.
Stig not wasting any time around the
first corner and into the chicane.
Kind of is strangely comfortable.
Really, no body-roll to speak of,
even with it sitting so
high up off the ground.
Stig not impressed.
As he comes through the teardrop...
Four-wheel spin as he
claws his way out of there.
Huge amount of acceleration
onto the straightaway.
It may be big, it may
be a little bit ugly,
but it's doing 130 miles an
hour on our track right now.
Whoa! He is
throwing it through the course.
Now he's starting to get excited.
Working the paddles a little
bit as he cranks it out
of cameraman's corner
and into the s's...
Another very challenging
part of the track.
Wow. He is pushing it hard.
Coming into the last corner.
This could actually
be a respectable time.
And across the line he goes.
It looked actually
really good, didn't it?
But earlier, the stig actually
saw the Ferrari California...
You remember, the one
that we raced to vegas,
that completely smoked
you actually to vegas...
And he got ahold of the keys,
and he did a lap on that one.
And it actually turned in
a very impressive time...
The Ferrari California... of a 128.5,
really quite an impressive time.
Yes. Round of applause for that.
Pretty incredible, but
with such a quick board,
it's even at the bottom
of the board almost.
Of course, the BMW's not
gonna be quite that fast,
but ultimately really
respectable with a 1:30.0.
From the big beast... really amazing.
Pretty good.
- A pretty big machine.
- Yeah, for something this tall and heavy,
that's an impressive time, even
if you don't know what to call it.
It really is staggering.
You could see how hard
he was throwing it.
And, yeah, it's impressive because
we've got a serious lineup
of performance cars up there.
Okay. Okay. How about this?
A sport hatchback injected turbo?
Okay. I think that's all
we have time for tonight.
Thank you for watching. Goodbye.
the fastest way to Las Vegas...
Have you seen a limo
around here waiting for me?
The ultimately confusing
driving machine...
But I still can't figure
out what to call it.
And some poison on our track.
I got a lot of speed
and no control right now.
Welcome to "Top Gear."
On this show, no weight will be lost,
no wives will be swapped,
but if you enjoy the
smell of tire smoke,
this is where you belong.
I'm Adam Ferrara, that's Tanner Foust,
and this is Rutledge Wood.
And this, courtesy of the
petersen automotive museum,
is a Porsche 356.
It's the first production car in the world
to carry the Porsche name.
Company founder Ferdinand
Porsche once said,
"if one does not fail at times,
then one has not challenged himself."
And now the company he left
behind is challenging itself,
to come up with a new car.
I went out to see whether or not,
they were setting
themselves up for a fail.
Wood: In two syllables, it
defines an entire category...
The sports car.
One glance of its coat of
arms conjures up superiority,
racing pedigree, and a rear engine.
And their pursuit of
automotive advancement
gives us a faint glimmer into
the future of automobiles.
The name Porsche is
synonymous with sports cars.
And they've had some
great ones, like the 911.
They've also had some
not-so-great ones like the 924.
But their newest model is
low, sleek, muscular, and...
It's a four-door.
This is the Porsche Panamera turbo.
It'll set you back
almost 134 grand,
and that buys you a staggering
top speed of 188 miles per hour.
That's not just
sports-car performance.
It's supercar speed.
But it's a sedan.
Looks like the engineers at Porsche have
taken up their founder's challenge
and delivered a 911
with a front engine
and too many doors.
Now, you might be thinking,
that's a big fat fail already.
I mean, Porsche should be
making sports cars, not sedans.
And they've never made a
sedan, which clearly shows.
Just look at this thing.
The last time you saw
something this hunched back,
it was hanging off the
cathedral at Notre Dame.
Pretty it's not.
It gets a little better
once you get inside,
but the cockpit's got so
many bells and whistles,
I need chewbacca riding shotgun.
Look at all these buttons.
Earlier I tried to
put on my heated seat,
and two missiles came
out oj the headlights.
This is confusing.
I'm also a little confused
by the name... the Panamera.
Porsche says it's named after
the Carrera Panamericana,
the mexican road race in the '50s.
But the race only lasted three years
after numerous fatalities.
They do not mention
that in the brochure.
So it's not pretty,
it's got a dumb name,
and a dashboard that
would baffle even nasa,
but not everything about
the Panamera is a fail.
Now, one of the C.E.O.S said
he wanted to be able to sit in
the backseat in total comfort.
And he's 6'3", just like me.
Porsche put bucket
seats in the back,
that are similar to the
front seats of the 911.
There's plenty of legroom,
and the synthetic suede
headliner has a bubble
that gives the backseat an
incredible amount of space.
Having a big backseat
is important in any car,
but is it worth the sacrifice
when it looks like an eggplant?
But when you drive it...
It feels amazing.
Driving this thing in sport mode
is like holding onto a missile.
I mean, this is a sports car.
So what if it's got two extra doors?
When you're looking this way,
you won't even notice.
The Panamera turbo has a massive
4.8-liter twin-turbo V-8 engine,
borrowed from the Cayenne turbo S.
U.V.,
that delivers a whiplash-inducing
500 horsepower.
And weighing over 4,300 pounds,
it needs as much power
as it can squeeze out
to maintain its sportiness.
This sedan could do zero to 60 in 1,
2,
3.8 seconds.
That's faster than the Aston Martin dbs.
This isn't just quick for a sedan.
This is just quick, period.
But even if it accelerates
like a Porsche,
there's no way it
handles like one, right?
Wrong.
The handling on this car
completely matches the power.
It is so tight and so precise yet
completely forgiving when you need it.
And with the all-wheel drive,
you just point and shoot
and it goes wherever you want.
Oh. Wing is out.
I feel like I'm having an
out-of-body driving experience.
I mean, I know I'm driving a four-door,
but it feels like a sports car.
Much of the body is
built from aluminum,
to reduce weight and
improve fuel economy.
It's nice to see that Porsche's
at least striving to go green.
But sometimes you can take
things a little too far.
Now, here's something strange.
It's called the start-stop system.
Let's say I'm driving in
traffic and I come up to a light.
So I stop as normal.
But then the car dies.
But that's not a problem.
It's designed to do that
to save gas, and it works.
All I have to do... take
my foot off the break,
the car fires right
back up, and take off.
Did I mention it has launch control?
Check this out.
Come to a complete stop.
First, you put it in sport.
Then you put it in sport plus.
Put your left foot on the break,
bring the rpms up to 5 grand,
wait till it says "launch
control activated,"
and hold on.
Holy moly!
Man, I think the front
end left the ground.
100.
110.
112.
122.
130.
139.
150.
158.
164, 166, 167!
And I'm running out of room.
167 miles an hour in a four-door.
Thank you, lord.
The Panamera might not conform to
what you would expect from a Porsche,
but I don't think old Ferdinand
will be turning in his grave just yet.
So, you liked it?
You know what? It's pretty good.
Now, this is the
top-of-the-line turbo model,
which is a little bit
pricey at 134 grand,
but you can get a base-model
Panamera for 74 grand,
which is a pretty good deal considering
you do get a Porsche sports car
and an everyday grocery-getter.
I still wouldn't buy one.
I mean, are they really claiming
that this is a potential track car
that you can play with,
like, on the weekends?
They really think so.
It's got launch control.
It's also got a lap timer.
I mean, they are serious about this car.
It's unbelievable, but there's
only one way to really find out.
And that is at the hands
of our silent racing driver.
So take it away, Stig.
All right, on the line,
activating the launch control.
Out of the hole extremely
quick for such a heavy car...
Zero to 60 in under 4 seconds.
Really amazing as it goes into turn 1,
going into the chicane.
This is one of the tighter
sections of the track.
Stig just bored inside,
really, I think...
Comfortable, upset that he's
got to drive such a big behemoth.
Into the teardrop...
tightest section of the track.
When you do get 500
horsepower on this corner,
it can be difficult to stay tidy.
A little bit of wheelspin
on the way out of that one,
but amazingly just picks up the speed,
really gets out of its own way...
130 miles an hour on the
back straightaway here.
Now the Stig's starting to
get a little bit excited,
goes through the bumpy corners.
The Panamera absorbs it
absolutely with no drama.
Into cameraman's
corner, tires squealing,
complaining that they have
to work with 4,300 pounds.
Coming into the s's,
making his way quickly
towards the last turn,
looking like he's getting a
little bit out of shape here.
A little bit of opposite lock,
fighting his way into the last
corner, and across the line.
Wow.
Wow.
I have to say,
it looked a lot quicker
than I thought it would.
Yeah. For something
that big, he was cooking.
Coming out of the corners is
where it looks most impressive.
And putting the power down,
even when it's sliding,
it looks like it picks up speed quickly.
I would call this a GT car.
And, really, to give you an
idea of where the GT cars land,
we've got a V-12 vantage,
with quite a bit of a horsepower
advantage at a 1:28.2.
I'm getting a little bit optimistic.
The Mercedes sls with a 1:27.6.
You think it was
quicker than a mercedes?
All: No.
Not a chance, right? No.
The Panamera did a 1:25.3.
Wow.
That's faster than a lambo.
That's faster than a balboni.
1:25.3.
I am absolutely shocked at
that, to be honest with you.
I can hardly believe it.
Wow.
I mean, I know a lot
of people would agree
that, in their mind, a
Porsche only has two doors.
And I'm one of those people.
But you got to admit, that is a
fast sports car that they built,
and it's got four doors.
Coming up next, the answer
to a classic question...
Is it faster to fly or drive?
Welcome back to "Top Gear."
Now it's time to answer
a classic question...
What is the fastest way to
travel across this country?
If you're going coast to
coast, of course, it's to fly.
But what if your destination
is only 500 miles away?
Is it faster to fly or drive?
It really is a dilemma we've all
been faced with at some point.
For example, if you're going
from chicago to detroit.
Let's say you're in new york.
Is it faster to fly or drive to dc?
Or you're in talladega and
you need to get to bristol.
Or the classic for us...
How many of you have
driven from L.A. to vegas?
And how many of you have flown?
Okay, so, I mean, it
really is a question...
Which is quicker, L.A. to
vegas, flying or driving?
To find the answer, tanner and
I were told to pack our things
and meet in hollywood.
- Mr. Rutledge.
- Hey, Tanner!
- How you doing?
- Good, man. How you doing?
- This place is awesome, huh?
- Yeah, it's incredible.
Wood: Grauman's chinese
theater on hollywood boulevard.
This would be the
starting point of our race.
The producers had given
us two envelopes...
One marked "fly" and
one marked "drive."
I'll drive.
Great. I will fly and whup you.
When does it say that we actually start?
Uh, it says now.
So I guess...
All right.
Probably should figure out
what we're looking for here
before we get going.
Ferrari key... that's a good sign...
And a parking ticket.
Foust: I had to find my
car in the parking garage,
hit the freeway,
drive the 272 miles across
the desert to Las Vegas,
and beat rutledge
to the finish line
at the fontana bar in the
bellagio hotel on the strip.
"southwest airlines flight coupon."
I had to go 12 miles to L.A.X.,
fly 231 miles to Las Vegas,
then go the 21/2 miles from
the vegas airport to the strip.
Hey, man, have you seen a limo
around here waiting for me?
No limo?
Hollywood highland
center parking garage.
It's right down here.
Taxi. Do they have taxis here?
Taxi.
I heard a honk.
Nice!
Wow. This is beautiful.
This is the Ferrari California...
Zero to 60 in under 4 seconds
and a top speed of
193 miles per hour.
This grand tourer is the first
front-engine V-8 Ferrari ever.
It's a car designed for this race.
Wow. My driver's license is not gonna
make it through the next two hours.
Two turns from the parking garage,
and I was on the freeway on-ramp.
Oh, yeah!
The shifting is ridiculous.
Finally. There we go.
After 10 minutes, my
cab finally arrived.
Next stop... L.A.X.,
just 12 miles away.
Foust: Oh, my gosh! The transmission
on this car... is unbelievable.
It's the dual clutch that
actually slips the current gear,
then engages the next one before
releasing the first clutch.
What it means is instantaneous shifts.
It's awesome.
20 minutes had gone by,
and I hit the infamous
L.A. traffic.
Seem to be a lot of places to buy
weed here, a lot of marijuana places.
Man: Oh, yeah.
- California sure is different, isn't it?
- Everything is different in California.
Man! Who would have thought?
I need to go east here.
Uh-oh. This is going the wrong way.
I was so mesmerized
by the smooth shifting,
I missed my exit.
This is not a good start right now.
Oh, come on. There is no
way she can pull that off.
Come on... those pants.
That's way over... that's way...
Oh, come on.
Even I wouldn't wear that.
- Hey, Tanner. What's up?
- Rutledge.
So, what kind of car do you have?
Ferrari california.
Isn't that the kind of girly,
like, Miata one?
No. It is the manly,
incredibly masculine,
huge, broad-shouldered,
hairy-chested Ferrari.
The irony of the Ferrari
California is that it represents
everything the company's
founder, Enzo Ferrari, hated.
The only reason he sold sports cars
was to fund his racing team.
Enzo is quoted as being a bit
disgusted with his customers
that bought the street cars.
He thought they bought them for
the prestige of owning a Ferrari,
not for the performance and
the race heritage of the car.
We finally got to the airport.
We'd gone 12 miles in 45 minutes.
That's an average speed
of 16 miles per hour.
I'm sure Tanner was
making better time.
We're gonna cut this a little close.
I was somewhere around barstow
on the edge of the desert
When I finally lost all
traces of civilization.
A hundred miles behind me
was the traffic of L.A.,
ahead the mojave beckoned my
california into its vastness.
The California shape was created
by the legendary design
company Pininfarina.
But some people, like Rutledge, have
complained that it's too shapely,
too feminine for the
famous prancing horse.
But there's a reason
for all those curves.
Ferrari spent over a thousand
hours in the wind tunnel
to make this their most
aerodynamic car ever.
And this is probably the
perfect desert road-trip car.
It's slippery as can be, it
just rips through the air,
and a hundred miles an hour
is, like, absolutely nothing.
- Do you have your I.D. With you?
- Yes, ma'am.
I got to warn you... it's
a pretty good picture.
You may want to keep it.
All right, I've got 179 miles to go.
Rutledge is almost certainly
sitting on the airplane right now.
If there was ever a time in
history for divine intervention,
it's right now.
The flight's delayed till 2:55.
Okay. What time does that put me there?
It gets you there at 4:05.
Wow. Okay.
Woman: Incoming call.
Foust: Yeah, so, I guess that
means that you're not in the air.
Oh, no, no. We're...
we are on the plane.
We are just about to take off.
You know, it sounds kind of
like you're in the terminal.
It doesn't sound like you're in
the actual airplane right now.
Uh, my flight's been delayed by just
a couple... two or three minutes.
How long's the delay?
What time do they think
you're gonna get in the plane?
We're gonna leave at 2:55.
So we'll be there at like ...
The fact of the matter is, in the
U.S., domestic air travel is...
It's just like hopping on a bus.
They pack you in like cattle,
like these guys right in here.
That guy's like a modern-day
airplane pilot, right there.
Even with the delay, I
knew that once we took off,
I'd be jetting past tanner
at over 500 miles per hour.
The Ferrari is quick, but I was about
to hit the mother of all fast lanes,
And Tanner would be doomed.
Howa are you? You have a beautiful scarf.
Uh-oh. Fuel light is officially on.
Incoming call.
Hello?
Hey, Tanner.
How's it going, man?
Well, I don't know if you just
heard that beep in the beginning,
but that's my fuel light.
And I've got 32 miles of fuel
and 36 miles of highway
before the next fuel station.
Oh, this is awesome.
That's the best news I've heard all day.
We're actually very
close to death valley,
where it could be 138
degrees in the shade.
This is not what I had in mind
when I picked the Ferrari
key out of the envelope.
I'll tell you that.
I've read that if you follow semitrucks,
you can add 40% to your mileage.
It's like drafting in nascar.
Oh, I can feel it pulling me, actually.
It's kind of nice. I don't even
need to really accelerate at all.
Wood: Now, we're on the boeing 737.
This costs $65 million brand-new.
Plus, we've got a range of 3,500 miles.
The downside of that... It costs
almost $15,000 to fill the bad boy up.
A little bit of a trade-off, but we
know 544 miles an hour top speed,
and that's impossible
to beat on the ground.
Foust: Coming up, who
will win the fight
between plane and car
in the race to vegas?
There's the strip!
We had set out to solve
the debate once and for all.
As it faster to fly or drive
from los angeles to vegas?
I had the Ferrari California and
150 miles in my rearview mirror.
Rutledge was flying commercial
and had just left L.A.
But even though I was in the lead,
things were not all good.
Because I had no gas left,
I resorted to desperate measures...
Drafting my Ferrari
behind a big rig.
After 15 miles crawling behind
the semi, it suddenly hit me.
I was hypermiling a
freakin' Ferrari.
Foust: Ah.
Enzo would haunt me,
spit in my face.
I'd rather walk in the desert than drive 62
miles an hour in a straight line all day.
And then I spotted a gas
station that wasn't on my gps.
Lady luck was back on my side.
What?
No!
Abandonned.
- Christine: Here you go.
- Oh, boy.
- Mmm! Yummy.
- Thank you.
I'll even spoil it and open it for you.
Oh, you are the best, christine.
Thank you.
Ahh!
I was driving on fumes when
I finally crawled into baker.
Foust: We did it.
We did it. Yes!
This had to be a
high-speed pit stop.
I knew Rutledge was up there somewhere, filling
his greasy beard with pretzel crumbs.
I wonder if Tanner made
it to the gas station.
I was back on the highway
with just 80 miles to go.
Up above, Rutledge was
surely jetting ahead of me.
It was time to get this
California out of California.
Foust: All right, I'm
gonna call Rutledge.
If it rings... Well, I'm screwed.
That means he's on the ground.
If it goes straight to voicemail,
that means he's still in
the air and we've got a shot.
Hello, and thank you
for calling Abe Froeman,
the sausage king of chicago.
So leave me a message.
I think that answers a lot, actually.
Pilot: Ladies and gentlemen, we have
begun our descent into Las Vegas.
Please bring your seat
backs and tray tables
to their upright and locked position.
Foust: We are in the state of nevada,
and no sign of Rutledge.
Now, this is the real
trouble part of the trip.
See, right now I got to wait
for everybody to get off.
So for every minute
that I stand here...
If we figure Tanner's
going 75 miles an hour,
then that is...
Let's say Tanner's
going 60 miles an hour.
Then we know for every
minute that I stand here,
he's going 1 mile.
Come on, bag. Come on.
Sucker's burning.
Oh. There's my bag.
Incoming call.
- Foust: Hello?
- Tanner.
Rutledge, I don't hear any
slot machines in the background.
- Where are you?
- I am in Vegas,
I'm holding my bag, and I'm
in line for a taxi, my friend.
You better step on it.
Can you see the strip?
Yes.
Rutledge was just 21/2
miles away from the bellagio,
and I was still 25 miles away.
Damn it.
Pedal to the metal.
How quick can you get
us to the bellagio?
Man: About 10 or 12 minutes, I think.
10 or 12 would be great.
There is the airport on the right.
Has anyone seen a little tom
cruise in a girly Ferrari?
Plaid shirt...
Real good hygiene.
There's the strip!
No way I am losing this right now.
There's a taxi three cars ahead of me.
That could be him.
I've got to catch that taxi.
Is this a three-cylinder?
- I think it's a six-cylinder.
- Oh, a six.
I'm ready to feel that
fury of six angry cylinders.
I tell you what.
267 miles down, 3 to go,
straight down the vegas strip.
How far do you think we
are from the bellagio?
We're almost there. We got about...
it's the third stoplight up here.
Come on!
Three stoplights stand
between victory and myself.
Oh, man. We are one traffic
light away from the bellagio.
The fountains are waving.
They're saying, "you won,
Rutledge. Get in here."
Foust: All right, there's the bellagio.
We're looking for the north valet.
Wood: Man, I hope we won.
Come on.
Here we are... the bellagio, Las Vegas.
Stay to the right.
Follow the wall on your left,
until you get to it on the right.
All right, I think we've
lost our way a little bit.
You guys smell that?
It smells like victory.
Over here.
Nope. This way.
I didn't see the Ferrari out front.
I think we might have won.
Oh, man.
Tanner?
Oh, yes!
[ laughing ] Oh!
Oh, that's awful!
- Oh, you're not serious!
- I got you an appletini, dude.
How long have you been here?
Days.
No, about four minutes, actually.
Damn it!
You know, when you fly
in the air... delay.
It could have been way...
50 minutes is nothing.
- How long was your delay?
- 50 minutes.
Man.
- That's a risk you pay.
- It really is.
You know, there are
some benefits to winning.
- Oh, really? Like what?
- Yeah. Watch this.
How did you do that?
Those hands... they're magic.
You see? That's why flying
is too stressful for me.
*** Grabbed a beer, and
slid down the slide.
I mean, I would have beat him
if my plane hadn't been delayed.
That's the problem
with flying, my friend.
I mean, when's the last
time you've had somebody say,
"I was late because there was a problem
with the landing gear on my car"?
- Doesn't happen.
- Did you like the Ferrari?
I did. You know, at first,
I was a little skeptical...
I mean, a V-8 where
you really want a V-12.
But the harder you drove it,
the more the racing heritage
of Ferrari came to the surface.
But all that really matters
is that we learned one thing...
If you want to get to vegas
from L.A., take a Ferrari.
Nice real-world advice
for everybody here.
Thank you, Tanner foust.
Coming up, a real-life monster
of rock in our suzuki sx4.
All right.
Now it's time to put a
big star in our small car.
Please help me welcome
rock legend, tv star...
And his new show is called
"life as I know it"...
Mr. Bret Michaels!
Whoo! Boom! Boom! Boom!
Thank you, everybody.
Thank you, everybody.
- How are you doing?
- Good to see you, my brother.
Man.
- Whoo! I'm fired up right now.
- You're fired up. Thank god.
Good to see you, my
friend. Good to see you.
- It is good to be alive.
- I was gonna ask you.
Listen, today... you
know, listen, I say this...
All the organs are here,
everything's working right now,
everything's functioning.
He made it.
Thank you. Thank you.
Thank you very much. Thank you.
First of all, let me ask you about
your new show, "life as I know it."
Real easy... it's a combination
of everything that is my life.
And it shows the balance between
my love that I have for my daughters
and my love and passion
of being on the road
and trying to make both worlds work.
Cool. Now, do you ever run into...
Being who you are
and your past...
When you have to be
dad to your daughters,
and you go, "don't do that!"
and they go, "dad,"
and then show one of your
old videos or something?
It happens all the time.
What happens is... at our house,
we have a go-kart track there,
so I'm teaching my kids to ride,
and, you know, we do all this stuff,
and they got the little atvs.
The other day, they have
all the friends over,
and they're going way too fast
for what they should be doing.
And I said, "hey,
you've got to slow down!"
And I go, "oh, my god. I've
officially become my father."
You weren't, like, in boxer
shorts and black socks.
I was. That's exactly what I was in.
With the things that
hold the black socks up.
"slow down!" "you wrecked a Ferrari."
"I know what I'm doing!"
I do have your car list here,
and it is extensive.
We only picked out a few.
Well, the first one was the ford galaxy.
Now, did you buy that
one from your father?
200 bucks. It was the olive-green.
You know, it was sort
of the... not forest,
the olive-greenish with
the black vinyl top.
It was a lady-killer.
You pulled up in that,
and you knocked them out.
- If you ran them over.
- Yes.
And then you... harleys, of course.
You're a big bike guy,
so you had the harleys.
And when you got a little bit
of money, you bought a Porsche.
What was the first Porsche you bought?
The first Porsche I got
was the 944, not the 924.
It was the 944.
And, unfortunately,
I hate to say this...
It just... I didn't
have much luck with it.
I bought it used, and
it was a disaster for me.
I ended up... this is no lie.
It broke down on me at a
gas station in hollywood.
And I left it there, and
they collected it for $500.
You know, they come and
tow it away for $500.
Unfortunately for me, that particular Porsche
I should have investigated a little more.
It wasn't the best-running car.
So, now what do you drive... oh!
This I wanted to ask you,
'cause I remember this.
I remember reading about this.
Poison actually had a nascar, right?
What year... it was like 2000...
I want to say 2002.
- 2002.
- 2002.
Derrike cope was driving it.
And I'm a big nascar fan.
And we wanted to get
in, sponsor the car.
It's a lot of fun, very expensive.
You know, but we love doing it.
We had some good luck.
And what was killer...
The best tv time we got out of
it is when it blew the engine.
It was on fire at the pocono
500, and it looked great.
You know what I mean? They just
stuck on the hood of the car,
- and it was quite an experience.
- Well, that's the way you go out,
just burning in flames.
And I have to ask you,
what did you think
of that monster suzuki
sx4 we have for you?
Honestly, I was so pumped up
to get out there and
drive around that track,
and it really was...
it actually handled great.
I got in there, and I
was way too excited, man.
My heart was pounding.
- But you had fun?
- I had a blast.
That's all that counts. You
guys want to see his lap?
Uh-oh.
There's the beast.
You launched that. That was very quick.
Can't they speed this
up to make me look fast?
We're coming into turn
1, and no brakes at all.
Too sharp.
Okay, this is the chicane.
Very tightly through there, my friend.
You're coming into the teardrop.
This is the slowest part of the track.
- And I'm proving right here.
- Yes, you are.
I thought I was going a lot
faster than that, in my mind.
No, you're actually... that's
pretty quick into that turn.
[bleep] Me.
[bleep] [bleep]
I missed the gear right
there is what happened.
I've got all my excuses
lined up, just so you know.
This is the backstretch.
This is the fastest part of the track.
I got a lot of speed...
and no control right now.
Which could be suzuki's
marketing slogan.
Exactly.
That's pretty aggressive. Now you're coming
up into cameraman's curve right up here.
Yeah, they all stepped back.
[bleep] Me.
- That's gonna be my legacy right there.
- That's perfect.
We're getting bumper stickers.
Yeah, I forgot everything the stig
taught me is gone at this point.
U're driving like a rock star.
I'm only half stoned here.
That's the problem.
Slap it down into second.
All right, this is the
final curve... last corner.
And you are across the line.
Thank you.
That was real impressive.
Thank you.
Where do you think
you came on this board?
Listen, I want to win, so
I'm hoping I'm above tony.
- Okay.
- But I'm feeling it wasn't my finest,
so I'm gonna say just under tim allen.
Just under tim allen. Okay.
I have your time here,
and you did it in 1...
40...
4...
Oh!
Point...
4.
Aw, man!
You're right where you
said you were gonna be.
- Thank you. Thank you.
- 1:44.4.
Do you know the beatdown
I'm gonna take from kid rock?
Yeah... You did a great job.
- Thank you for having me.
- You are our final guest.
And we usually don't do this, but
you are the final guest of the season.
So here at "Top Gear,"
we want to give you a special
prize for coming out here.
- This is the only gift we have given...
- It's a bowling ball?
Nope. This is bret michael's
"Top Gear" helmet.
Thank you.
That is for you, my friend.
Dude, that is... Thank you, everybody.
Bret Michaels!
It's a trophy.
Good times.
Coming up, Tanner
gets confused by a bmw.
Welcome back to "Top Gear."
And now it's time for Tanner
to test a strange german mutant.
Foust: In "frankenstein,"
a tortured scientist
brings a spark of life
to an odd collection
of human and animal parts.
The result was a larger, more-powerful
version of a human being,
although, by most
accounts, very ugly.
Many car companies
work the same way...
A chassis here, an engine here.
And then they create something
bigger and more powerful.
But is it better?
This is the BMW x6m.
"m" stands for "motorsport,"
and they're responsible
for creating the m3,
the m5, and the m6.
They don't have much
imagination when naming cars,
but they sure know how
to make them go fast.
Like dr. Frankenstein,
the m-division scientists
went into their lab,
sliced the top half off an x5,
stirred in a potent twin-turbo V-8,
and grafted on the swoopy
greenhouse from the 5 series gt.
Add some angry spark plugs,
and you have the x6m.
Honestly, driving this car feels
like you're driving a sports car,
except you're sitting on the ski rack.
There's just something wrong
about being so high in the air
and having so much performance.
The x6m runs about $90,000...
Which is 22 grand more
than the regular x6.
Load up all the options,
and you can drop $105,000.
This car is deceptively
huge on the outside,
but on the inside, it's tiny.
The x6 has almost an
identical layout to the x5,
BMW's luxury S.U.V.,
with all that pesky practicality
and backseat room.
Now, the dash is shared with the x5,
so it's a pretty nice place to be,
but there are some
kind of quirky bits...
For example, the transmission.
The shifter is almost like
a playstation joystick.
You go down for drive
and up for neutral,
up again for reverse.
And if you want to
do manual-shift mode,
you kick it over to the left,
and then it's reversed.
If you want to go down, you go up.
And if you want to go up, you go down.
One interesting thing...
You'd expect a car for $90,000 to have
an auto setting on the climate control.
This has three... soft, medium,
and... I couldn't make
this up... intensive.
To shake down a machine
like the x6m,
it needed some room to run.
So I took it to the track.
Miles of open asphalt,
just begging for rubber.
Now, the regular x6 was
already ridiculously fast.
It surprised us with a twin-turbo
V-8 making 400 horsepower.
But that didn't stop somebody
at the m-division of BMW
from saying, "you know what?
I bet we can make this weird
little thing even faster."
So they bolted on two
dump-truck-sized turbos
and replaced the fuel
injectors with fire hoses.
Mix all that fuel with
this dry desert air
and 555 horses lay waiting
beneath your right foot.
This will do zero to
60 in under 4 seconds.
That's faster than a Porsche 911 gt3.
For a car that weighs 2,000 pounds more,
it almost defies physics.
But the real magic with this machine
isn't its straight-line speed.
It's that it...
Handles really, really well.
It actually can pull more g's on
the skid pad than an m5 or an m6.
It's incredible.
Good things happen when I
push this little "m" button,
which might as well stand for "magic."
The suspension gets a little stiffer,
the steering gets more responsive.
The dynamic stability control
lets me slide a little bit more.
It basically lets me live
up my destiny as a BMW owner
and drive like an absolute prick.
If you turn off the "m" button,
instantaneously, the ride
gets a little bit softer,
the steering gets a little squishier.
Why would anybody want to do that?
Like the frankenstein monster,
the x6m is a beast...
A bigger, more powerful
version of its predecessors.
But the frankenstein
monster was tortured
because he didn't know
who or what he was.
The x6m struggles with
that same identity crisis.
Is it a crossover? Definitely not.
A crossover was
designed to be a lighter,
more fuel-efficient
version of an S.U.V.
This thing has the mass of a battleship,
and if you drive it the way
that it wants to be driven,
it gets about 9 miles to the gallon.
And that's not a joke.
So is it an S.U.V.?
No.
Remember, the "u" is for "utility."
This thing has tiny rear
seats, a roofline that is so low
that you have to bend
over double just to get in.
It's really not a very useful car.
But is it a sports car, then?
It sure drives like one.
But sports cars are designed to work
in concert with the laws of physics.
The x6m seems to go
fast in spite of them.
It just goes down the road, flipping
the bird at the natural world.
I am completely blown away by it,
but I still can't figure
out what to call it.
So, you like it, even though
you don't know what to call it.
It's just flat-out confusing.
What would you call this thing?
A monster car.
All right. All right. I got one.
How about a fastback utility?
An F.U. That's a good idea.
No, I was thinking a
sport utility coupe.
The S.U.C.
You want to label this a "suck"?
Right?
Okay, how about this?
A fastback utility coupe.
All right. I think it's probably
time to put this machine,
whatever it's called, to the test,
and put it in the hands of
our silent racing driver.
So take it away, stig.
All right, off the line,
there is no denying the x6m
is an absolute torque monster,
twin turbos cranking up.
Stig not wasting any time around the
first corner and into the chicane.
Kind of is strangely comfortable.
Really, no body-roll to speak of,
even with it sitting so
high up off the ground.
Stig not impressed.
As he comes through the teardrop...
Four-wheel spin as he
claws his way out of there.
Huge amount of acceleration
onto the straightaway.
It may be big, it may
be a little bit ugly,
but it's doing 130 miles an
hour on our track right now.
Whoa! He is
throwing it through the course.
Now he's starting to get excited.
Working the paddles a little
bit as he cranks it out
of cameraman's corner
and into the s's...
Another very challenging
part of the track.
Wow. He is pushing it hard.
Coming into the last corner.
This could actually
be a respectable time.
And across the line he goes.
It looked actually
really good, didn't it?
But earlier, the stig actually
saw the Ferrari California...
You remember, the one
that we raced to vegas,
that completely smoked
you actually to vegas...
And he got ahold of the keys,
and he did a lap on that one.
And it actually turned in
a very impressive time...
The Ferrari California... of a 128.5,
really quite an impressive time.
Yes. Round of applause for that.
Pretty incredible, but
with such a quick board,
it's even at the bottom
of the board almost.
Of course, the BMW's not
gonna be quite that fast,
but ultimately really
respectable with a 1:30.0.
From the big beast... really amazing.
Pretty good.
- A pretty big machine.
- Yeah, for something this tall and heavy,
that's an impressive time, even
if you don't know what to call it.
It really is staggering.
You could see how hard
he was throwing it.
And, yeah, it's impressive because
we've got a serious lineup
of performance cars up there.
Okay. Okay. How about this?
A sport hatchback injected turbo?
Okay. I think that's all
we have time for tonight.
Thank you for watching. Goodbye.