Top Gear America ideas

"BaconSandwich is tasty." (baconsandwich) 09/16/2015 at 22:07 • Filed to: None

5

17

Great news! Wait, not that kind of great news, this kind of great news!

By the sounds of it, Top Gear America will be coming back for another season. I thought for sure they were done forever. Being one of the awesome people who like the show, I have thought of a few ideas that they could do:

Food Trucks
Who, out of the three, can create the best food truck? They get to pick what kind of vehicle to start with, and have to deck it out in time for [insert festival here]. Can the three of them together make enough money to buy themselves something bigger than a candy bar? (Another option: the three of them have to work together to try and make 10% the original cost of the vehicle that they pick, and they all work together to make it happen).

200 mph on a dime
Can Rutledge, Adam, and Tanner find a cheap way of getting to 200 mph out at Bonneville? Together they must decide on a vehicle, buy it used, and try to get to 200 mph as cheaply as possible. Can they do it cheaper than anyone else they meet out on the Salt Flats?

Oregon Trail Challenge

What would happen if the west was just being settled? What would the pioneers take for vehicles? The trio try to find out by picking what full-sized van they prefer. Are they any good at driving across grassy prairie? How about fording small streams? Which vehicle can fit the most in it, and provide comfortable sleeping arrangements?

What’s the best vehicle for a forest ranger?
As the title says, they each have to pick a vehicle that they think would best work for forest rangers by participating in a series of challenges: fitting them with equipment, driving up/down mountains, fitting between trees, etc.

Modified Tractor Pull
Can Rutledge pull his own weight? In this episode, we try to find out by strapping him into a modified tractor. As he finds out, driving something with 2,500 horsepower (or more!) isn’t perhaps as easy as it looks.

Do-It-Yourself Tank
With all the recent upheavals in certain countries, what better way to protect yourself than a homemade tank? In this episodes, the presenters find themselves in a junkyard with only a few days and a few willing hands to help them build a homemade tank. Can it survive the sorts of challenges you’d find in a war-torn country? Let’s see!

Head to Head with Roadkill
Okay, so this might be fair, but it could be fun. The Roadkill crew obviously know their way around an engine bay. But how about three against one? Can Tanner, Rutledge, and Adam throw together a wreck that can help them win a series of crap-car challenges against Roadkill? The winner gets the loser’s hood as a trophy.

The ultimate road trip car under $5k
Like the title says, who can find the best road trip car for under $5k? What does a good road trip car have? Rutledge, Tanner, and Adam try to find out by driving from Seattle to New Orleans. Right from the start, they are forced to switch cars and drive one that they didn’t pick. Was their co-presenter’s choice any good?

One car for the rest of your life? (short segment)
If you had to pick one car for the rest of your life, what would you pick? Adam, Tanner, and Rutledge show us their picks, and explain why.

Gunbarrel Highway
The Gunbarrel highway is one of Australia’s straightest, hottest, and dustiest roads. Can the trio make it from one end to the other without any sort of assistance in three old land-rovers, just like the way that Len Beadell did it when he surveyed the road?

Disaster Response Vehicles
Often we see natural disasters on the news. Can the three put together a vehicle to help out in a natural disaster? What supplies do they need, and what sort of disaster do they anticipate? This could be filmed in pieces among other episodes, to see if they can actually help out with the aftermath of a real natural disaster - eventually leaving the vehicle for the people they are helping.

Racing Miatas
We all know that Tanner can drive, but how about Adam and Rutledge? The two go to a racing school to learn to drive, and participate in a spec-Miata race to prove to Tanner that they can do it.

Top Gear America does LeMons
The idea behind LeMons is to find a $500 crap-heap of a car, make it safe, and race it for 24 grueling hours over 2 days. Do the three have what it takes to form a team, and finish the actual race? Time will tell!

Things That Aren’t Minivans
Let’s be honest - most new parents would rather have leprosy than drive a minivan. But is there anything else out there that does minivan type things as well as a minivan does? They each pick a vehicle, and compete in a series of challenges against America’s best selling minivan - the Dodge Caravan.

Gold Rush Vehicles
Back in the days of the Klondike gold rush, the only way to get there was horse or dog sled. Nowadays there are paved roads, but that’s cheating. Can the trio get from the continental U.S. to Dawson City by using paved roads as little as possible? What kind of cheap vehicle can make such a journey?

If by chance anyone from the Top Gear America team does actually read this: keep up the good work. I really enjoy the show!

Matthew Keyser > BaconSandwich is tasty. 09/16/2015 at 22:12

1

I love all of these. I know a guy that used to work for TGUS. If he was still with them I’d totally forward a link to him. If they're going to continue to make it, they might as well do what the viewers would want to watch.

BaconSandwich is tasty. > Matthew Keyser 09/16/2015 at 22:16

1

That’s pretty awesome.

I certainly won’t be the first to admit - it must be hard to make a show like it. People have such high expectations after watching Top Gear UK, but forget that it even took them several seasons to hit their stride.

One of the things I liked about Top Gear America is that it was less predictable - it didn’t feel quite as scripted as Top Gear UK. After a while, it became pretty predictable - you could tell what sort of things were going to happen, and the sort of jokes they were going to tell. With Top Gear America, I didn’t get that as much. Toward the end of the last season, it started getting more like that, and I sort of understand why: Tanner would end up “winning” most of the challenges because he’d be the one driving some supercar in the next segment and understandably so: if I were lending the show an expensive car, I’d want the most qualified driver driving it. But as a result of that, it too, became a little more predictable. Here’s to hoping they can keep it fresh and unpredictable for this next season.

Matthew Keyser > BaconSandwich is tasty. 09/16/2015 at 22:26

1

Top Gear US is very close to my personally for various reasons, chiefly among which I bought a car Tanner drove on the show. Ive always been a huge fan of Top Gear UK and was excited when TGUS started up. Like most people I was largely disappointed with the first season or so because they tried to copy the TGUK recipe which didn’t quite mesh. In the later seasons once they realized the crap that worked from them I began to enjoy the show more. I watch it thinking of it as more of just another car show rather than a counterpart to the juggernaut that is(was) TGUK, because let’s face it, nothing could ever compare.

I started really getting into TGUS once I saw the ad for the “Cult Classics” episode in which Tanner drove a Merkur XR4Ti. Long story short, just a few years later that very car now resides in my garage and serves as not only my very first car, but also my daily driver. I’ve had talks with Rutledge over the course of my ownership and so on. When I heard they got picked up for another season I was very happy, and I genuinely hope the show has great success this season. If only so I can ask more money when it eventually comes time to sell my car.

Chasaboo > BaconSandwich is tasty. 09/16/2015 at 22:31

1

Dang man, those are legit good ideas. I agree, I like Top Gear US better than the UK version. The UK one has 3 old boring dudes. They do the same stuff over and over. With the US version it was fun to watch because I didn’t know where they were going next with the story and I like that. Less predictable. And Tanner Foust can drive the wheels off of anything. None of the UK guys can drive worth a damn.

Sampsonite24-Earth's Least Likeliest Hero > BaconSandwich is tasty. 09/16/2015 at 22:32

0

I am on board with all of these things. We should sent a tweet to the three of them with this link

BaconSandwich is tasty. > Matthew Keyser 09/16/2015 at 22:33

1

That’s awesome! I vaguely remembered someone on here buying the Merkur, but didn’t know it was you. I also had no idea it was your first car. That’s totally awesome.

I’ve had a few message back and forth with Rutledge on Twitter. There’s not too many guys in the show business that I’d consider to be good, seemingly decent family guys like Rutledge. That, and the guy just cracks me up. He’s the kind of person I totally would have hung around with in high school.

On a bit of a tangent: how has the Merkur been for hoses? I’ve heard that after a while, a lot of the hoses tend to try up and crack.

BaconSandwich is tasty. > Sampsonite24-Earth's Least Likeliest Hero 09/16/2015 at 22:33

0

Already done. :P

BaconSandwich is tasty. > Chasaboo 09/16/2015 at 22:35

0

I quite like both shows, but for different reasons. And yeah, tanner definitely could drive the wheels off anything, including a shopping cart! Some of the pictures he’s posted recently on Twitter are pretty crazy.

Sampsonite24-Earth's Least Likeliest Hero > BaconSandwich is tasty. 09/16/2015 at 22:35

1

Haha I did too

Sampsonite24-Earth's Least Likeliest Hero > BaconSandwich is tasty. 09/16/2015 at 22:36

0

And he had a great weekend in his rallycross beetle in Los angels last weekend.

Matthew Keyser > BaconSandwich is tasty. 09/16/2015 at 22:50

1

My father has had a Merkur for 18 years now. He and I have had his entire car apart at some time or another. This is what really pushed me into buying it (that and the fact that Rutledge Wood was actively trying to sell me on the car) With the spare parts and experience my father and I have with these cars, we have yet to be stumped. The hoses on my car had been replaced prior to my ownership so they’re in pretty decent shape. Lots of work has gone into the car though!

And yea Rutledge is great. I’d love to meet him in person sometime. the titles/paperwork on this car alone are pretty neat including the producer buying the car for the show with a brief outline written on what the episode would entail, alone with Rutledge’s signature and address on various papers from his ownership of it.

BaconSandwich is tasty. > Matthew Keyser 09/16/2015 at 22:51

0

That’s really cool!

themanwithsauce - has as many vehicles as job titles > BaconSandwich is tasty. 09/16/2015 at 23:57

1

Well..........Not a bad list, but they have already done.....

1) Oregon trail - they did a decently long mountain crossing road trip in minivans as “covered wagons” and they’ve done at least 2 pickup challenges. Oh and they thrashed rental cars across the desert. I think we need to think differently - Rock crawling cars. Not trucks, cars. Going up and down offroad trails. Winches are allowed. AWD is allowed. If it has a subaru badge, your car is set on fire (Rut will get a fucking toyota tercel, I am betting money now)

2) Road trip car under 5k - they did the 500$ challenge. 5k would be an improvement. I think the better idea is a car flipping challenge........only the road trip will have challenges along the way where the loser has his car damaged to lower its value. After the road trip, the cars must be sold as-is. Most profit/least loss is the winner

3) Gold rush vehicles - they already did the alaska truck challenge in season 1 or 2. It’d be pretty similar, I would think, to their myriad of other truck challenges too. I think the key here is something rather.......bold. Your car for this challenge has to be bought at a government auction and can NOT be normally bought by civilians.

j250ex > BaconSandwich is tasty. 09/17/2015 at 00:08

1

All great ideas. I'd like to see them take a competition seriously for once. Have an actual winner and loser. If tanner is too good then give him a handicap (slower car) to even it up. That's what drove me crazy about the last few seasons they did. They would have this challenge and then it's like the rules didn't matter. Oh Adam cheated. Oh well. This was very apparent in the last episode they did. Race the Appalachian trail. Great concept and should have been an interesting episode. However it got bogged down in their typical style of getting sidetracked and not taking the race seriously. I mean if your going to have a deadline then at least try to stick to it.

Jordaneer, The Mountaineer Man > BaconSandwich is tasty. 09/17/2015 at 00:26

0

The Dacia Sandero? or the Dacia Duster?

BaconSandwich is tasty. > Jordaneer, The Mountaineer Man 09/17/2015 at 08:25

0

Not quite. I debated photoshoping James May into the picture but my 'shopping skills are lacking.

BaconSandwich is tasty. > j250ex 09/17/2015 at 22:29

0

Yeah, the last episode wasn’t as quite as exciting as it could have. But at least now we know there will be another season!