Anyone watching this yet? Netflix Hyperdrive

"nFamousCJ - Keeper of Stringbean, Gengars and a Deezul" (nfamouscj)
08/27/2019 at 15:34 • Filed to: None

1st episode hot take - its American Ninja Warrior meets Top Gear? Contestants (amateurs (supposedly)) take their BMW’s, classic Mustangs, Corvettes, Camaros through a drift track with water hazards, light pole penalties. So far it looks pretty interesting. Oh and some guy just brought a Huracan out for Episode 2. So is Oppo watching and whats the opinion?

Personally I think the commentary is a bit much, the sob story back stories are a bit much. The very first attempt doesn’t start until almost 10 minutes in. At one point a former UFC champ turned commentator runs out of the path of one of the contestants... they’re up on a gantry over top the track *insert facepalm*.

Overall its growing on me so we’ll see how episode 2 holds up and the next “course. ”

DISCUSSION (34)

HammerheadFistpunch > nFamousCJ - Keeper of Stringbean, Gengars and a Deezul
08/27/2019 at 15:48

Just finished binging it last night. I will watch season 2. I think they did a lot of stuff right straight out of the gate. Perfect? No. I think this is the best new car show to come out in a while though.

Arrivederci > nFamousCJ - Keeper of Stringbean, Gengars and a Deezul
08/27/2019 at 15:48

It gets better as you get into it . I’ve finished it now and rather enjoyed it, so I hope it gets a second season.

Two things I’d like to see:
1) Have a pro drive the course in a prepped car so we can get an idea of what a *really good* baseline time would be
2) Have each race be a head-to-head (on the big course) . I get this would make the course twice as expensive to create, but it would be awesome if they could have mirrored places coming together so the drivers could see how close they are to their competitors.

nFamousCJ - Keeper of Stringbean, Gengars and a Deezul > nFamousCJ - Keeper of Stringbean, Gengars and a Deezul
08/27/2019 at 15:48

Kinja'd!!!

AkursedX > nFamousCJ - Keeper of Stringbean, Gengars and a Deezul
08/27/2019 at 15:54

I just finished up the whole thing last night. I honestly enjoyed it. Far from amazing, but not anywhere near as awful as I was expecting. A lot of cool cars and people not afraid to throw them into anything, no matter the potential damage.

I wish I would have known about this being filmed as it was roughly an hour away from me in Rochester NY at the old Eastman property (Kodak Film).

AfromanGTO > nFamousCJ - Keeper of Stringbean, Gengars and a Deezul
08/27/2019 at 15:54

I watched the preview on netflix, but haven’t started watching it yet.

Is it like rally cross with sob stories? Because it seems like it is, and I wonder how a baja bug or trophy truck would do.

nFamousCJ - Keeper of Stringbean, Gengars and a Deezul > HammerheadFistpunch
08/27/2019 at 16:00

I like that they’re going big/potentially dangerous. Did they add an obstacle just for the Lambo in episode 2? How’s that fair to add the water cannon obstacle after 7* people already qualified without it?

nFamousCJ - Keeper of Stringbean, Gengars and a Deezul > AfromanGTO
08/27/2019 at 16:02

They’re easy enough to fast forward through. They start in this bright red lined cage thing so it’s easy to spot when to hit play.

t0ast > nFamousCJ - Keeper of Stringbean, Gengars and a Deezul
08/27/2019 at 16:06

Watched most of it so far and I’m finding it to be enjoyable. The diversity of drivers and cars is great, as is the generally positive attitude of everyone involved. Interpersonal drama, backstory fluff, and commentators/editors trying to artificially play things up are *just* within my (very low) tolerances for that sort of stuff. It could still use some better commentators, a little more polish in its presentation (like better penalty explanations), and (at least IMO) fewer potentially car-damaging obstacles, but overall I’d call it a very good effort as far as mainstream automotive shows go.

HammerheadFistpunch > nFamousCJ - Keeper of Stringbean, Gengars and a Deezul
08/27/2019 at 16:11

Potentially dangerous and water cannon are a combo that will become more important late in the series. they change the course each qualifier.

MrDakka > nFamousCJ - Keeper of Stringbean, Gengars and a Deezul
08/27/2019 at 16:11

Cringey

OmerCarrothers333 > nFamousCJ - Keeper of Stringbean, Gengars and a Deezul
08/27/2019 at 16:32

Repeat after me: THEY ARE NOT MAKING THIS FOR “CAR PEOPLE”.

Sorry, I’ve been in tv for over 25 years, and can tell you that your average tv producer does not care about “car people”. The driver backstories, and the hosts (who are there for whatever passes for charisma and whether the camera “loves them”), are in the show for the people that don’t care about cars. If we relate to the drivers or care about the drivers, then we’ll watch, despite Rutledge Wood being absolutely terrible.

That said, I liked the young woman who DNF’d in round 1, I liked her backstory.

nFamousCJ - Keeper of Stringbean, Gengars and a Deezul > OmerCarrothers333
08/27/2019 at 16:36

The south African one? Yeah hers seemed genuine and I bet the producers were really banking on her getting further than she did.

But I can see how it's more so geared towards the average viewer. The amount of detail on the cars would be significantly more (how they're modified and such) if geared towards car people. But they are doing car people a good service with the sheer variety and uniqueness.

BeaterGT > nFamousCJ - Keeper of Stringbean, Gengars and a Deezul
08/27/2019 at 16:39

I’m still reeling from the last Netflix “car” show where they were drag racing and that guy’ s Mazda rotary got demolished by some dumb Tesla-powered car.

WiscoProud > nFamousCJ - Keeper of Stringbean, Gengars and a Deezul
08/27/2019 at 16:45

I’ve been watching it. Thankfully the commentary improves as the episodes progress. I think they should have ditched the water hazards, watching someone hydrolock isn’t entertaining. I also respect that they got drivers from all different areas, but this was clearly aimed for drifters and other stunt drivers.

WiscoProud > OmerCarrothers333
08/27/2019 at 16:46

Same. I was sad when she hydrolocked. I don’t think that water section should have been included.

WiscoProud > HammerheadFistpunch
08/27/2019 at 16:48

That kind of bothered me. I think each round should be the same for each racer. Basically each driver should have had the same qualifier round. Its like Fastest Car, where its all typical pavement drag racing, then the final race is on dirt. Who would’ve thought the one AWD car would win?

HammerheadFistpunch > WiscoProud
08/27/2019 at 16:56

I don’t love it either but I understand why they did it that way. the idea was to ramp up the difficulty but its a disadvantage to new drivers in the heat.

WiscoProud > HammerheadFistpunch
08/27/2019 at 17:09

Agreed. Change it up for the loser bracket, but each first time driver should have the same course. Its like Fastest Car in that the production needed to work out the kinks.

InfiniteAntar > nFamousCJ - Keeper of Stringbean, Gengars and a Deezul
08/27/2019 at 17:14

I’m on episode four, and I’m loving it. Easily the best car reality / competition show I’ve seen and loads better than that Fastest Car “w e don’t know what sleeper means and think having cars race 4-wide in broad daylight on a cracked runway sounds like a super safe idea” nonsense.

1. I like the challenges and the diversity of what they’re testing (power/precision/strategy/weatherproofing)

2. I like the format (instead of 40 minutes backstory + 5 minutes of competition it’s nearly the inverse)

3. I like the lack of drama (with the one notable exception from the start of ep.2, which was just cruel imo). There haven’t been any “beefs” as far as I’ve seen, and I love that the drivers sit in the stands cheering each other on.

4. I really really love how varied the competitors are. You have a real mix of backgrounds and nationalities, and it’s awesome that the field is like 50% women.

So, yeah, it's American Ninja Car Warrior. But I am 100% here for that.

InfiniteAntar > nFamousCJ - Keeper of Stringbean, Gengars and a Deezul
08/27/2019 at 17:25

Yeah, I wasn’t thrilled that half the field didn’t need to weather (pun intended) any water obstacle. Or that four competitors only got one shot at qualifying. But I figure as long as the orders are randomized, it's as fair as these things can get.

InfiniteAntar > WiscoProud
08/27/2019 at 17:28

Half wondering if Lamborghini is paying Netflix for the consideration. Especially as the Huracán's primary demographic is "Bros watching car shows on Netflix."

WiscoProud > InfiniteAntar
08/27/2019 at 17:37

Based on the amount of difficulty he has, I don’t think so. I think he’s just stupidly rich and loves cars.

HondoyotaE38: A Japanese and German Collab...wait a minute > nFamousCJ - Keeper of Stringbean, Gengars and a Deezul
08/27/2019 at 17:59

My friend literally recommended me this just yesterday, gonna watch it today. Seems pretty cool.

GoodIdeaAtTheTime > nFamousCJ - Keeper of Stringbean, Gengars and a Deezul
08/27/2019 at 18:25

Vinwiki did a video with one the guys from the show. Very interesting. I recommend checking it out when you have time.

AdverseMartyr > nFamousCJ - Keeper of Stringbean, Gengars and a Deezul
08/27/2019 at 19:05

I didn’t watch a single story, and scrubbing to each run was super simple. I started wondering if that’s why they have such a huge “cage” at the start line.

AdverseMartyr > nFamousCJ - Keeper of Stringbean, Gengars and a Deezul
08/27/2019 at 19:09

After watching it my biggest quibble is still with one of the drivers - How do you turn up in approximately the same model car as what was used in the Rockford Files, and not know how to competently execute a J turn. I mean if you own one of those shouldn’t you be able to do the signature move, perfectly?

NYankee1927 > nFamousCJ - Keeper of Stringbean, Gengars and a Deezul
08/28/2019 at 00:04

The water sections are stupid, let’s see who can flood their engine and create drama. Also the penalties are not enough. I’d honestly take most of the penalties and probs post a competitive time just by finishing the course and not screwing up

nFamousCJ - Keeper of Stringbean, Gengars and a Deezul > NYankee1927
08/28/2019 at 06:39

The water sections are interesting. The deep spots could probably go due to the danger/drama but I'd like a technical section that tries to get them to hydroplane and challenge their control vs just following reflectors to avoid damage.

Snooder87 > WiscoProud
08/28/2019 at 10:44

Ye ah, that guy was a pretty good example of “you just cant buy skill”.

N othing against him, I’d probably be even worse, but man seeing him struggle to drift that Lambo was hilarious.

WiscoProud > Snooder87
08/28/2019 at 10:50

It is just completely the wrong car for it. Everything about that car is designed to NOT lose control. I’m sure its a great track or time attack car, but a drifter it is not.

Kanaric > OmerCarrothers333
08/28/2019 at 13:16

Ya while I like this show it’s VERY obvious it’s not made for car people. I found myself waiting several episodes wondering what engines are even in peoples cars only for Rutledge to offhand mention it a few episodes in. I kept hearing straight 6 noises from a S14 and it wasn’t mentioned once. I literally had to google it to find out it had a 2JZ. They should at least have a website set up with peoples builds on it.

Kanaric > nFamousCJ - Keeper of Stringbean, Gengars and a Deezul
08/28/2019 at 13:17

W hile I like this show it’s got some glaring flaws for me . I found myself waiting several episodes just wondering what engines are even in peoples cars only for Rutledge to offhand mention it a few episodes in. I kept hearing straight 6 noises from a S14 and it wasn’t mentioned once. I literally had to google the guy’s name to find out it had a 2JZ. They should at least have a website set up with peoples builds on it.

I’m guessing this stuff is talked about and mentioned but wasn’t included in the show.

nFamousCJ - Keeper of Stringbean, Gengars and a Deezul > Kanaric
08/28/2019 at 13:21

It would be cool if they did a stat sheet at the beginning of the race like with a photo of the driver, the car, engine type, displacement and some figures. But as previously mentioned it doesn't seem like the show is super geared towards car people - more so Ninja warrior types. Unfortunately.

Kanaric > nFamousCJ - Keeper of Stringbean, Gengars and a Deezul
08/28/2019 at 13:28

YES, they should.

But I would think even casual viewers would be at least somewhat interested that Tugay’s BMW had a 2JZ engine. Which they actually did think, and told us, and went a bit into his car. There should at least be a quick mention during these people’s first runs when they mention the power of the car.

Like that E28 M5 I still have no clue wtf is in that. It’s probably a regular af BMW V8. Same with that Polish woman, she probably has a supercharged LS swap.

They only seemed to mention it when it was incredibly bizarro. Like that french Charger with the BMW v8. I just think everyone should get the same treatment that Tugay’s build got.

That E28 was very interesting and only several episodes in they mention it’s a rally car build which makes it even more ridiculous to me. I want to know all there is to know about htat car lmao. They should have shown a video of it actually doing rally too. I am not done with the series yet though so maybe they will.

IMO they should have a website up for these cars or make an episode 0.