Ferrara: Now on "Top Gear"...
Rutledge thinks he's James Bond...
This is the kind of car you want to save the world in.
Dominic Monaghan thinks he's lost on our track...
This car is a hunk of junk.
And Tanner thinks he's gonna throw up.
I get carsick.
[ cheers and applause ]
Welcome to "Top Gear"!
On this show, there will be no cooking,
no one will be taking an emotional journey,
but if it has an engine and tires, it will be right here.
I'm Adam Ferrara, that's Tanner Foust,
and this is Rutledge Wood.
Yes, and we've got an amazing show tonight.
I get to drive the Aston Martin v-12 vantage,
we challenge Tanner to a drifting competition,
And "Lost's" Dominic Monaghan is our big star in a small car.
But first we start with a question...
What exactly do you want from a car?
Horsepower.
Enough room for the kids.
Yes, it would be nice to have both of those things.
Personally, I would like everything in one car.
Something that's good on the freeway and great on the racetrack,
something with five seats, a real trunk,
and, ideally, it wouldn't cost an arm and a leg.
Well, you're very selfish.
Good luck with that.
It may sound impossible, but I'm not so sure.
[ choir vocalizing ]
Foust: The Sierra Nevada mountains,
California.
In winter, this frozen wilderness is entombed in ice.
But when spring brings a thaw,
deep in the forest, a beast stirs.
[ engine revving ]
Foust: This...
[ tires screeching ]
...is the Mitsubishi lancer evolution.
It's what happens when you take engineers, lock them in a room,
and say, "here's your coffee. There's your pencils.
Now don't be a bunch of pansies"...
And they man up.
But that's no surprise because Mitsubishi's engineers
are good at building stuff,
lots of stuff.
Cars is just a very small part of their business.
They make ships, they make electronics...
You may have a Mitsubishi TV in your living room right now...
And they make airplanes.
In fact, Mitsubishi manufactured the wildly successful zero.
One of the best business models on the planet...
Build it, jump in, crash it into a ship.
Of course, when you buy a car, you want more than a one-way trip,
and the Evo delivers.
The Evo packs 291 horsepower into just 4 cylinders and 2 liters.
That's more horsepower per liter than a Ferrari f430.
Zero to 60... 4.9 seconds.
While the interior is nothing to write home about,
it's what you can't see that it so incredible about this machine.
There's a dizzying array of computers and sensors
that do all kinds of crazy things,
but, ultimately, somehow, it puts the power
to the exact tire that needs it when it needs it.
And with this cool little all-wheel control button,
you can choose between different surfaces.
You can select tarmac,
which is pavement to us, of course, or gravel or snow,
which basically changes the strategy and how the car uses its power
to maximize performance on that surface.
That all sounds great, but does it work?
To find out, I've come to mammoth mountain.
With an 11,000-foot summit,
it's one of the highest ski areas in America...
Not the normal place you'd test a car.
But since Mitsubishi claims that this is no ordinary car,
we needed an extraordinary test.
Okay, here's the plan.
I'm gonna race this Evo against these skiers
disguised as walki skittles.
The skittles might dress loud,
but these guys are extreme skiing pros...
Big-mountain-skiing extreme daredevils,
who do not know fear.
They will race to the summit by gondola,
then take a 3-minute banzai run down 3,000 vertical feet
to the finish line at little eagle lodge.
I, meanwhile, will take the twisting 7-mile route to the finish,
that will be a supreme test of the Evo's ability
on pavement, gravel, and snow.
Good to meet you guys.
I guess I need to get a little bit of critical information.
I mean, how long are you sitting on the gondola?
About 14 minutes up the gondola.
- 14 minutes? - Yep.
So, I could get pretty far down the road by that point, right?
- Yep. - Sure could.
And how quick are you getting up to?
We're getting up there between 60 to 70 miles an hour.
- What? - Yep.
You guys ready to give it a shot?
- Yeah. Heck, yeah. - Absolutely.
All right, we'll see you at the lodge.
Hey, Tanner. Oh!
[ groans ] Son of a...
[ engine revs ]
Foust: If I can't take advantage of these first 14 minutes or so,
then I am absolutely screwed.
Okay, going through the hordes of people here.
Mammoth gets nearly a million and a half visitors each year,
and they all seem to be here right now.
Trying not to run over anybody
as everybody comes out of the nice day of skiing.
My fate hung on the Evo's ability to adapt to changing road surfaces.
The first 2 miles were pavement...
Oh, no!
And a big, stupid, slow bus.
I am absolutely screwed.
Just people enjoying their afternoon.
But this is a race.
[ engine revving ]
Thank you, buddy!
[ Vivaldi's "Summer Movement 3" from "Four Seasons" plays ]
The road was now a loose surface,
but in gravel mode, the Evo got its claws out and clung on.
A good thing, too, because coming off here...
would be permanent.
Yes!
Up above, the skittles were climbing relentlessly to the summit.
But I was making great time... until the inevitable happened.
Holy crap.
A propane truck... highly explosive.
I was doomed.
It's a beautiful road, too. It's really nice.
I could be flying right now.
They're probably just about changing gondola right now,
probably getting onto the second one.
Go, go, go, go, go!
Come on, Bessie! Come on, girl!
[ sighs ]
It was becoming clear that what we had here was a road hog.
This is crazy.
Probably overcompensating for something.
He was super-super-short growing up, always got picked on,
so he got a job driving the biggest, slowest, widest truck he could find.
Put flammable stickers all over it so nobody would pass him.
Like, he's laughing in there.
12 minutes down.
The skiers were a few hundred feet from the top,
and I might as well have been going backwards.
- Ready, dude? - Yeah, let's do this.
Come on, truck!
[ choir vocalizing ]
Go, go, go, go, go, go, go!
Somewhere above the snow clouds...
They were coming for me.
The luminous hellhounds were on my trail.
A minute later, I finally lost the angry little guy in the big truck,
and with the weather closing in fast,
the Evo was about to face its ultimate test...
8- foot-deep snow.
I kicked it into snow mode. This was it.
I'd either be shredding like Shaun white
Or sinking up to my windows.
[ engine revving ]
[ laughing ] Yeah!
This is awesome.
I would rather be in this Evo than a jeep
going through this snow right now.
Not only could this car drive on snow, it mastered it.
It owned it.
It was a glorious, beautiful thing, and I was in love.
Heaven... this is heaven.
Oh, my gosh.
Even when the Evo's almost stuck, it just doesn't give up,
sending that power where you need it.
For all you Subaru owners
who think the Evo is just a pavement queen, think again.
This is the real deal.
And then they were on me like fluorescent devils.
And the orange one was in my sights.
[ laughing ]
How did those guys get down here so quick?
We were neck and neck with just a mile to go,
and now the skiers had the advantage.
They could go off-trail, through the woods.
The Evo was good but not that good.
[ choir vocalizing ]
Whoa!
Son of a bitch!
Oh, God, this is gonna be so close.
Come on!
[ engine revs ]
As we burst out of the storm and into the sunlight,
It was too close to call.
Aaaaaah!
Aah!
Yes!
[ applause ]
You know what?
I'm getting the feeling you really like this car.
That was some of the most fun I've ever had behind the wheel.
I mean, I'm blown away by this thing. It's a world-class sports car,
disguised as a family car for 34 grand.
It looks like it fell out of the ugly tree and hit every branch on the way down.
[ laughter ]
It's not about looks, you know?
If you need to express your virility,
you can get yourself a yellow Lamborghini.
This is a machine for drivers,
and if you like the way cars feel from behind the steering wheel,
this is it.
When did you become the fashion police?
You're Mr. Flannel.
How can you be griping about the fashion?
Well, I'm a little more classy now
ever since I drove an Aston Martin, which, conveniently, is coming up next.
[ applause ]
Welcome back to "Top Gear."
It is now time to take a look at a legendary luxury British sports car
favored by James Bond.
Now, for this, we needed a host
that was handsome,
debonair,
charming,
fearless,
and, unfortunately, I was busy.
[ laughter ]
So we sent the guy with the beard.
[ choir vocalizing ]
Wood: This is a car maker that defines itself in three words...
Power...
Beauty...
Soul...
A British company with nearly 100 years of history,
a rich racing heritage,
and a tradition of creating instantly recognizable iconic sports cars.
It can only be...
Aston Martin.
[ woman vocalizing ]
This particular Aston Martin is the v-8 vantage.
It's Aston's smallest and least expensive car,
with the base model setting you right about $120,000.
Now, that's pretty big money for an entry level to the brand,
but it is beautiful,
and it is an Aston.
Now, this has a 4.7-liter v-8 that puts out 420 horsepower,
which sounds great, but it's pulling 3,600 pounds along with it,
which is a huge amount of weight for a car this small.
In comparison, the Porsche 911 weighs 500 pounds less.
You know, the worst part about this car is
the power doesn't come on till high in the RPMs,
So you really got to flog it to feel like you're getting anywhere.
It doesn't feel as fast as it should be.
I mean, when a car looks this fast and costs this much,
you expect it to deliver.
I mean, if you think about all the cars you could buy for $120,000...
A Porsche 911, an Audi r8, the Mercedes cl63,
or even for less money, the Nissan gt-r,
I'd rather have any one of those over this.
So, the car will do 180 miles an hour,
but the speedometer goes up to 220.
Is that a British thing...
lying?
So, what do you do if your 120-grand car has beauty and soul but no power?
[ metal screeching ]
Well, the engineers at Aston Martin decided
the best answer was a heart transplant.
[ engine revving ]
[ tires screeching ]
I'm driving an Aston Martin. I feel like 007.
I mean, this is the kind of car you want to save the world in.
Wood
Rutledge Wood.
[ laughs ]
Just as q branch modified James Bond's personal cars,
Aston's goons somehow wedged a 6-liter v-12 from the larger db9
into the comparatively tiny vantage.
And this was no small amount of work.
Take a look at the cars. It's clear to see there's a big difference.
In the v-8, you've got tons of room around the engine,
whereas the v-12, you can barely fit your hand in there.
For the engineers to fit this motor,
not only did they have to change tons of things,
they had to cant the radiator, shave the oil pan,
and even run a smaller alternator.
But you know what?
That's what hot-rodding is...
You take the smallest car you have and cram the biggest motor in there you can.
Finally, the Brits took a page from the Americans.
This car has a 6-liter v-12 that puts out 510 horsepower...
190-mile-an-hour top speed.
Zero to 60 is 4.1 seconds.
The cost for all this wonderfulness?
180 grand.
And for that, you get a car that's even sexier than the v-8.
If the v-8 is Angelina Jolie,
the v-12 is Angelina Jolie in knee-high boots...
With a riding crop.
Added aggressive touches give it the look of a cage fighter.
From the race-derived side sills and rear spoiler
to the carbon details on the hood.
The v-12 is muscular and menacing.
So, the v-12 was showing some promise after the disappointment of the v-8.
It had the beauty, and it had the soul.
The question was, did it really have the power?
On the edges of the Mojave desert in California,
is a 6-mile-long dry lake bed.
This hot-rodder's playground has no speed limit
and is known simply as "el mirage."
[ engine revving ]
Oh! That power is incredible!
I see what was wrong with the v-8 vantage.
It just didn't have enough motor for the car.
But this... this is it.
The v-12 is only available with a manual transmission,
so you know it's a purebred driver's car.
What fun would a car like this be if you couldn't take traction control off?
[ engine revving ]
That is just a beast.
Ohways!
Oh, that's pretty.
Oh, yeah.
Oh, yeah, I'll hang it out there.
The v-12 has almost perfect weight balance between the front and rear wheels,
and it only weighs 110 pounds more than the v-8 despite the extra cylinders.
That all sounds good,
But what does it mean in real-world performance?
Zero to 60 is.6 seconds quicker than the v-8.
Now, that doesn't seem like much return for an extra 60 grand,
so it was time to put the British hot rod to the test...
The American way.
[ engines revving ]
[ choir vocalizing ]
Within seconds, the v-12 had established an unbeatable lead.
The v-8 was eating my dust.
Oh, man, let's see how fast we can get it.
120.
130.
140!
150! Look at that!
160!
The v-12 will do 190 miles per hour,
but on this surface, there was no chance of getting there.
175 was the best I could get.
And the v-8... it was totally dusted.
You know the one thing that doesn't make sense about this car?
The speedometer in this one only goes up to 200.
Liars!
All of these Brits are liars.
You can't fault Aston Martin here.
They tackled the issue of the lack of power in the v-8 head-on
and created the v-12.
But they did such a great job
That the vantage has been propelled towards a higher level.
It has the performance, the price tag,
and, with only 300 being made, the exclusivity
needed to achieve the coveted tag of supercar.
[ applause ]
Clearly, the v-12 is better than the v-8, but is it really worth 60 grand more?
You know, I think it is. A big problem with the v-8...
It just didn't have the power it needed for the car.
The v-12 solves that entirely.
Yeah, but it costs $180,000.
I mean, you can just about get a Mercedes SLS AMG for that
or a Porsche turbo s and still have a huge pile of money left over.
For you, you could get 1.8 million pairs of tube socks.
[ laughter ]
Yeah, but here's the thing... when you spend that much money,
what do you tell people you drive?
[ southern accent ] Mercedes? A Porsche?
- Yeah, that won't get you laid. - [ British accent ] or an Aston Martin?
[ laughter ] Aston.
[ normal voice ] just makes you feel important.
All right, it may be classy,
but all I care about is how fast it goes around the "Top Gear" test track
at the hands of our silent racing driver.
So, take it away, Stig.
[ engine revving ]
Foust: The Stig, of course, is the fourth member of our team,
whose sole purpose is to shake down each new car we review.
So, let's see how the v-12 vantage performs.
[ tires screech ]
A lot of wheelspin off the line there. 510 horsepower... can't argue that.
but she is a heavy beast.
Breaking into the first corner, it's 3,700 pounds.
Really ripping. Still looking pretty composed
as it comes through the chicane.
Now he comes into the teardrop. This is the slowest part of the track.
Now, with the rear-wheel-drive cars,
this is where it's tough to get the power down.
Can he do it without sliding?
Little bit of opposite lock there. He's working hard today.
Over the yump, catches a little bit of air.
Onto the straightaway at over 120 miles an hour.
And into the trickiest braking spot.
Now, this is the most dangerous part... a big jump right there.
Aston Martin... no problem.
Really looking pretty good on the track.
[ tires screeching ]
As he gets a little bit of wheelspin coming into the last s's.
Coming into the final corner now.
Laying it down. This is gonna be a pretty quick time for such a big machine.
And across the line.
[ applause ]
I don't know... I'm not the hugest fan,
- but I will admit that looked pretty clean. - Yeah.
I mean, you've got the viper sitting the top, some Lamborghinis up there.
The Aston Martin, with an extra more than 1,000 pounds,
comes in at a 128.2.
- Wow! - 128.2.
Earlier, we had the Evo, and the Stig did get a chance to take this around the track.
$34,000 car, basically 1/5 the price of the Aston Martin.
Did it in a 129.2,
only a second slower than the Aston Martin.
Wow. It's unbelievable.
[ applause ]
All right, coming up,
- Hopefully Dominic Monaghan won't get... - Don't... don't do it.
- ..."lost" on our test track. - He did it.
[ applause ]
Yeah.
[ cheers and applause ]
All right. Well, now it's time for our big star in a small car.
Now, he's been trapped on a desert island after an airplane accident in "lost,"
he's been on an amazing journey in "the lord of the rings,"
and he was in "FlashForward," where he saw visions of his future,
but I bet he didn't see himself in a $17,000 hatchback
riding around on an old runway.
Ladies and gentlemen, Dominic Monaghan.
[ cheers and applause ]
How you doing, man? Nice to see you.
- Nice to see you, too. - Have a seat.
So, I mean, I have to ask, first off,
You drive what's been described as a tented and dented Prius.
That's true, yeah. I drive a pretty awful Prius.
Yours is an '05.
Does that mean you have that funny little sticker
- on the bumper? - I do.
- I have the beautiful little sticker. - So, in L.A. And I guess in California,
you could put this little yellow sticker on the bumper
which meant you can drive in the h.O.V. Lane by yourself.
So, all of a sudden, no one's giving out this sticker anymore,
So if you have one...
It's gold dust, and I had to put it on and then razor it
so that people can't pull it off, you know?
And for a while there, you could park on a meter in California
- for free. - For free.
You can't do that now.
I have so many parking tickets, it's ridiculous.
Now, when you were on "lost,"
it seemed like a lot of you guys were getting pulled over,
and you guys kind of said it was like the "lost" curse.
I think they got... probably, out of the main cast,
I think they probably got 9 out of 14 of us.
- Wow! - Yeah, they did well.
On my driving license... I have two now...
Both of them, I pull really goofy faces.
On the first one, I have, like, a big joker grin,
and on the second one, I'm like this.
[ laughter ] what do cops... do they like that?
- Is that a good icebreaker? - No, they don't really like it.
I mean, cops like you if you're a really sexy girl,
and apart from that, you have no chance.
Now, I know you like to go fast, but you're a smart man.
You're thinking forward.
You're on the waiting list for a Tesla model s, right?
That's their new four-door they're working on.
Yeah, yeah. I made a decision a long time ago
that I can buy any car that I want for the rest of my life
as long as it's either electric or hybrid...
Hopefully electric, you know?
'cause, for me, cars are not quite yet at the point
where I need them to be for my imagination.
There are so many things I need them to be...
like, I don't like that noise that the indicator makes.
You know, that [ clicks tongue ]
[ laughter ] I want it to make a different noise.
I want it to make a better noise.
And I don't like the fact
that when the windscreen wiper comes back, it goes, "Enh! Enh!"
like, I want it to go across like this and then go across like that.
And I want it to go from a four-seater to a two-seater when I ask it to.
I want the paint to change color.
And when I stand outside, I want the speakers
that are playing inside to flip and play outside,
when I'm hanging outside.
Like, I want my car to drive me to where I want to go
and then go find parking.
[ laughter ] and I want it to talk to me.
- I want it to ask me how my day was, - Sure.
and ask me where I want to go,
and then I want it to talk to a car thief and say, "you just stole Dom's car."
"not cool. Take it back."
"and if you don't pull over, you're in trouble."
And then I want it to, like, knock the guy out if he doesn't pull over.
[ laughter ] you want to drive a mood ring is what you want.
Every day of the week, a different color.
My mood changes so much, and I think it should reflect in my car, you know?
Well, obviously, since you like fast cars,
You were right at home in our Suzuki.
- You guys want to see his lap? - Kind of.
[ cheers and applause ]
Let's take a look.
[ engine revving ] - Ooh, nice little start there.
- Having a little... - Oh. Couldn't put it into second.
Look how small I look. I look like a little leprechaun.
[ laughter ]
Is it as racy as your Prius, dare I say?
Uh, you know, the Prius takes a long time to actually respond
when you put your foot down on
- the accelerator. - You don't say.
This was a stick shift, so you had a little bit more of a chance, but...
This is the most technical part right there to the course.
Looks like I'm going so slow.
No braking. Just tapped the brake there.
That's naughty... very naughty.
You got to remind yourself, don't you?
Yeah, yeah.
This car is a hunk of junk.
[ laughter ]
You're coming up to cameraman's curve.
It's a lot like dead man's curve,
except we're pretty sure we're gonna lose a cameraman.
Yeah, I spin out a little bit here.
Definitely spinning out.
You look good in the helmet.
You should wear that all the time. [ laughs ]
God, it looks like I'm going like 20 miles an hour.
Oh, that's beautiful. And across the line!
[ applause ]
- So, be honest... - What did the spaceman do? 1:55.
Yeah, Buzz Aldrin was booking.
- How do you think you did? - Oh, man.
I think I did like 1:41.
[ laughter ]
Wow, you're ambitious. I like that about you. [ laughs ]
We're talking about Buzz Aldrin. He was the second man on the moon.
- He's been 25,000 miles an hour. - Yeah, that's hardcore.
You had trouble breaking 90.
Yeah, but what is he... [ laughter ]
- But what is he now, 80? - Maybe.
I can't beat an 80-year-old man?
Well, let's... I guess we're gonna find out, aren't we?
You did it...
Oh, no.
...In one minute...
- Forty, five three. - Yeesh. 10 seconds.
[ cheers and applause ]
So, I was just over 10 seconds faster. Nice work.
Barely, but like you said, he's 80.
- Yeah. - He won't notice.
[ laughter ]
Let's hear it again for Dominic Monaghan.
[ cheers and applause ]
Nice work.
Now, coming up,
Adam and I challenge Tanner to a unique drifting competition.
You know, when he's not busy stunt-doubling for Marty McFly,
Tanner competes in a form of motorsport called drifting.
He says it's a art form that requires supreme car control and immense mental focus.
Yeah, but we say it's just a bunch of guys in imported cars
sliding around like morons.
Well, he is the two-time drifting champion.
Which makes him the champion moron.
So, we decided to organize a little test of his skill.
Wood: If you're going drifting,
you're gonna want one of these...
A Nissan 370z.
Rear-wheel drive, manual transmission,
lightweight, and 332 horsepower.
How could Tanner resist?
[ tires screeching ]
In the south, we call that a powerslide. I didn't know it was a sport.
In New York, we call it grand theft auto.
[ tires screeching ]
Foust: Gentlemen.
Wood: Very impressive, young fella.
Welcome to my backyard.
You guys ready to get your asses kicked here?
What was that?
That was drifting, my friend.
Yeah, originated in the hills of Japan.
Tanner felt it necessary to give us the entire history of drifting,
like how it was started in the '70s by a Japanese racer with a wild driving style.
And how it's still popular today.
You know, drifting's a style thing.
- Oh, it's like figure skating. - Yeah.
- You're the Brian Boitano of drifting. - That's it.
Foust: These guys can make fun of me all they want,
but drifting takes years to perfect.
[ engine revving ]
It may look like just a bunch of smoking tires,
but doing it right requires extreme precision...
And the ability to make the rear tires lose traction at will...
[ engine revving ]
Which allows the back of the vehicle to slide...
Or drift.
I could beat Adam and Rutledge at any drifting challenge with my eyes closed.
You guys ready to get this show on the road?
Oh, yeah.
We've decided to level the playing field on you, my fast and furious friend.
- Yeah, you're not gonna be driving. - Mnh-mnh.
You are gonna be a driving instructor, and we have got you a great teammate.
I get carsick.
That's a real manly statement.
- Yeah. - Tanner Foust, professional drifter...
- "I get carsick." - Do you want to meet your teammate?
Yeah. Who is it?
Hey, Brian!
Come on out!
He's pretending to be blind, right?
This way, Brian!
Ferrara: I thought my buddy Brian Fischler
And his seeing eye dog, Nash, would be the perfect partner for Tanner.
- Marco. - Polo!
Brian's a fellow stand-up comic who agreed to help me out.
Rutledge and I had Tanner right where we wanted him.
But before we started the drifting competition,
we thought it was only fair to at least give Tanner a chance
to teach Brian how to drive.
Fischler: It's been a long time since I've sat behind the wheel.
Okay, let's keep those comments maybe to a minimum if we can.
Know how to drive a manual?
I've never driven a stick, so...
The clutch is this thing on the right?
[ chuckles nervously ]
They didn't tell you that, huh? They wanted to make it more complicated.
- Apparently. - Yeah.
That's, that's awesome.
All right, it's the one on the left, actually.
- Is it really? - Yeah.
That's not the brake?
So, what do you... do you drive with two feet or one foot?
Good question. Two feet.
Bring the clutch until you feel it bite a little bit.
Good. Now you can take your foot away from the clutch.
- You're in gear and rolling. - Okay.
- I take it off the clutch or just... - Yep.
- Okay, you want to try a burnout? - Yeah.
And brake. Oh! There. That's just how you stop.
- Oh. That wasn't a burnout? - No.
Should we let Nash out?
Yeah, we might want to let Nash out.
While Nash was busy walking Tanner,
We tried to figure out what he sees in this so-called sport of drifting.
[ tires screeching ]
Look at you!
Ha ha! That's fun.
Okay, so maybe that's why Tanner likes to do that so much.
Foust: And start turning the steering wheel left.
- Left? We're moving? - We're moving. Good.
Little to the right, to the right, to the right, to the right.
And to the left. Sorry... right.
[ laughing ]
Right. Good. Left, left, left!
Brake, brake, brake, brake, brake!
Hard left, clutch, clutch, clutch!
So, let's go straight ahead.
Sorry, sorry, sorry... straight.
- Straight? - Yeah. Don't stop driving.
Stop, stop, stop. Hard. Stop. Stop, stop!
Tanner definitely had his work cut out for him.
There was no way he could win.
We were so confident, we decided to take a break.
Restrooms and wi-fi... that's all we need.
I updated my Facebook status,
saying I was gonna whup Tanner Foust in a drifting competition.
And for some reason, Rutledge thought I would be interested
in learning about a type of fishing called "noodling"...
Wood: And then once it bites, you just need to pull it up for a second...
A way to catch catfish with your bare hands.
- Are you paying attention at all? - No.
Oh. Harder left, hard left! Left! Left!
[ tires screeching ] - Okay, fine.
You're on the clutch, right?
No, I wasn't on the clutch. I was on the brake.
No, clutch.
[ engine revving ]
Push it to the floor. Full throttle.
[ engine revving ]
Hold it, hold it, hold it, hold it,
hold it, hold it, hold it.
That's Brian driving a six-speed.
Are you kidding me?!
Okay, that's enough.
[ laughs ]
- What'd we hit? - Nothing. We're fine.
He's so much better than you are!
- It's ridiculous! - Shut up! He's better than you, too!
Oh, the blind can drift.
We needed to start the competition before Brian got any better.
[ tires screeching ]
Coming up, Rutledge and I put our pride on the line
in a battle against a blind man.
[ tires screeching ]
Rutledge and I had challenged Tanner to a drifting competition.
To make sure we won,
We had given him a driving partner who was completely blind.
There were three events in our drifting competition...
Hand-brake parking...
Donuts...
And the first event, the burnout.
Whoever could lay down rubber for the longest distance wins.
You know what? Why don't I start?
- Go ahead. - Do it, Rutledge.
Okay.
Get full-on redneck on us.
Wood: Yeehaw, baby!
[ engine revving ]
[ tires screeching ]
That was impressive. I liked it.
Yeah? Pretty good.
Wood: [ southern accent ] Hoo-wee! Y'all gonna need a long measuring tape!
Foust: Clearly, rednecks and burnouts go together like whiskey and hunting.
- [ normal voice ] No way! - Wow.
That looks like 98 feet, if I stop at the nose of the cone.
What do you think, Brian?
Not bad, but it's definitely beatable.
Ferrara: Nobody likes blind and cocky.
Oh, man, he is gonna beat you.
[ engine revving ]
Foust: Just hold the steering wheel straight
until we hit something or I say stop.
- Gotcha. - Okay?
Ready? Full throttle.
[ engine revving ] Dump the clutch.
[ tires screeching ]
And stop.
[ laughing ] Oh, man, that looks close.
Uh-oh.
Good. Let's file out and measure that.
I said right before he went he was gonna beat you.
I didn't know he was gonna beat me, also.
Call it out. Where you at?
- Foust: 98, 99, 100 and... - Uh-oh.
...5.
- 105. 105. - Wow!
- Well done, my friend. - Thank you, thank you.
That's what I'm talking about.
You realize that "Top Gear's" reputation rests solely on your shoulders.
Thank you.
Wood: The pressure was on,
but I knew Adam would be the clutch in this situation.
[ engine revving ]
Apparently, he's all clutch.
- Ladies and gentlemen... - That was clutch.
...Exhibit "a."
There's not a skid mark on the road.
Hold on. It's kind of hard to see.
You have to look... you have to look in the distance.
It's kind of hard. I'd start right...
- Try to walk straight. - What happened?
Did you guys do something to the tires?
- I'll measure it. I'll measure it for you. - I'll help. Yeah, hold on.
Right to the...
That's 11 inches.
- That's pretty good. - Nice work.
- Fischler: That's not bad. - Hey, don't worry.
It's not like you got totally smoked by your blind friend.
Foust: Adam and Rutledge didn't know what hit them.
We gave them a beatdown in the burnout competition.
And we were ready to beat them again in the next event...
The art of the controlled spinout,
also known as the donut.
[ tires screeching ]
A donut is accomplished by spinning the rear tires
and allowing the rear to slide while you steer the car in a circle.
The bigger, the better.
The rules were simple...
Do as many donuts as you could within the circle of cones.
If you hit any of the cones, you were disqualified.
Mr. Clutch was up first.
Here he comes. On our toes.
[ engine revving ]
**
Take off.
[ tires screeching ]
Oh!
He's not in the circle, but...
Oh, and he's going back for another cone.
- Fischler: Did he get another one? - Yes.
And look... he can't even see inside the car.
- He's blind now, too? - It's all smoking.
Yeah. Look at the smoke blowing out of that thing.
That would have been nice if it was in the circle.
Yeah.
Who's up next? I'd like to see you do better than that.
Brian's up next.
Sorry I used the word "see," but, please, go.
Adam hit two cones, so none of his donuts counted.
I knew that Brian could do better than Adam,
and he was blind.
So, we're gonna just start driving around in a circle,
and then I'll just say, "full throttle."
So, that's pedal... that's all the way down.
Pedal to the metal.
Can't believe he's never driven a manual before.
And he's blind.
And he's headed right for us.
You know, let's just ease it back. Let's not put any pressure on him.
One step back.
And count to 3, and full throttle.
- Okay. Come on, Nash. Come on. - That's enough.
[ tires screeching ]
Come on, Nash.
Wood: Neither Brian nor Adam were able to stay within the circle.
It was my time to shine.
[ engine revving ]
[ tires screeching ]
Oh, my God.
Well, if he's one thing, he's consistent.
I don't know how much more of that we could take.
- I don't know about that. - Well done, smoky.
- You don't know about that? - I don't know about that.
That was like a pirouette.
I thought drifting was supposed to be like figure skating.
I just wowed the crowd. I triple-axled.
Foust: Rutledge won the donuts event.
That meant if we were gonna win the entire competition,
we would need to win the final challenge...
Hand-brake parking.
Each driver would need to do an 180-degree drift into a parking place
and get all four tires into the designated area.
I've practiced doing this for years, but this wasn't about me.
Foust: And the question is, can you do it better than Brian,
who has never seen these boxes,
Never seen the color of this car?
Because if he wins this,
that means, in the ultimate drifting competition,
you two got smoked by a blind dude.
Wood: Tanner was right.
Our plan to beat him at his own game was beginning to backfire.
I couldn't let that happen, so I took matters into my own hands.
Okay, Rutledge is coming right now.
- He's looking. He looks focused. - Ferrara: Looks good.
[ tires screeching] - He is...
Amazing! That was amazing.
Are you unloading something on the sidewalk?
Yeah, isn't this the white zone?
I didn't have much faith that Mr. Clutch would do any better.
- Got good speed. - Good speed.
[ tires screeching ]
Fischler: That s... - Whoa!
Wood: Oh, with the roll!
- That sounded good. - Wow!
So, Brian, once he flicked it over there, he just held the clutch in...
- Yeah. - So it rolled backwards.
Oh. But that...
That would certainly work.
Foust: So, it had all come down to this.
Brian had come too far to lose in the final challenge.
Driving along, I'm saying, "a little faster, a little faster,"
And... now.
Yes.
Well, they're generally pointed in the right direction.
Go a little faster, little faster, and now.
[ tires screeching ]
Yeah!
- Fischler: We did it? Oh! - [ laughing ] We are so in there!
[ laughing ]
I've seen it all.
[ cheers and applause ]
- It wasn't that hard, guys. - Maybe next time.
Well, I don't think you won. It was Brian who won.
- Absolutely, it was Brian who won. - Well, he's not taking credit for it.
That's fine. Fair is fair. You guys won.
So, ladies and gentlemen,
let's welcome the first ever "Top Gear" blind drift champion,
Brian Fischler, and his dog, Nash.
Yeah.
[ cheers and applause ]
- Good to see you, Brian. - Fischler: What's up, guys?
- How you doing? - Good.
[ cheers and applause ]
Thank you.
Yeah, that was some awesome driving.
Well, now that I am the "Top Gear" drifting champ,
I think applying for a New York city cabbie's license will be easy.
I think Nash will probably check out if you do that.
I'm just letting you know.
You know, when you first went into first gear and stalled it...
[ laughter ]
[ cheers and applause ]
Yes!
Oh, that's beautiful!
I don't think Nash likes the idea of you being a cabbie.
***
*
Wow, that's it for this episode of Top Gear.
Thanks for watching us. Good night.
Synch by Benfo www.addic7ed.com