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Top Gear has an Extra Gear problem | Episode Review

When the BBC announced Extra Gear, I was excited. As an avid fan of show's like The Talking Dead – companion show to AMC's hit The Walking Dead – a behind-the-scenes look at my favorite motoring show sounded promising. But with the fifth episodes of each show, I'm worried that Top Gear is suffering to keep Extra Gear interesting. We'll start with Chris Evans, inarguably the most heavily criticized member of the new Top Gear team. Evans is progressively less shouty and more comfortable filming while driving in each episode – the fifth is no different. He's almost likable in the Zenos E10 video, like a ginger James May, and he delivers accurate and eloquent driving impressions. The review is entertaining, until Extra Gear shows the producers cut a huge element – an old-versus-new sprint around the Race of Champions circuit at the Olympic Stadium in London. Former Formula 1 ace David Coulthard would drive a Caterham 360, while current F1 pro Daniel Riccardo rocked the Zenos. If the entire premise of Evans review is that the Zenos E10 is the newest of the new for British super-lightweight track toys, why did the producers decide to leave a race against the segment's standard bearer for Extra Gear? It's a baffling move, cutting a segment of the film that reinforces Evans' excitement over the Zenos. Rory Reid's Jaguar F-Type SVR piece is excellent. Fifty five years to the day after Jaguar test driver Norman Dewis raced to the Geneva Motor Show in a second E-Type for display, Reid would attempt the same feat in an SVR. If he failed, Jaguar wouldn't have a car to display. Dewis made the 750-mile trip with 13 hours of notice, and Reid would need to do the same. It's a brilliant, simple premise that reminded me of Jeremy Clarkson's so-called "Race against God" in a Jaguar XJ, way back in season 16. The history of the challenge and Dewis' gravelly commentary add gravitas. But the entire film goes by so fast. It's longer than Evans' Zenos video or Harris' BMW M2 film, but at less than ten minutes, Reid and the SVR deserved more screen time. Extra Gear poured salt in that particular wound with a great segment featuring Norman Dewis that deserved to be in the main show. Reid takes the famed test driver for a spin around the Dunsfold track, then, instead of the comedian of the week, the hosts interview Dewis on Extra Gear's couch.

The first Jaguar Project 7 is the new kid in Harry's Garage

The Jaguar Project 7 is more than just an F-Type with a dab more power and a special body, and Harry Metcalfe (who advises Jaguar Land Rover Special Vehicle Operations, which built the car) is here to show us why. This limited-production model is something truly special, and despite Metcalfe's role with JLR it's hard to misinterpret the enjoyment in his eyes when the supercharged V8 roars. Metcalfe's Project 7 is number one of just 250 cars built and wears a British Racing Green body with orange accents around the nose, mirrors, brake calipers, and underneath the rear spoiler – classic sports car style with a little modern flash. His example is also special because the entire build team signed the area underneath the trunk lid. While the engine comes up to temperature during his drive, Metcalfe shows that the Project 7 can be a fine grand tourer, and he eventually puts the throttle down to let his audience here the sublime engine. Metcalfe claims the limited edition Jag actually has too much horsepower but he means that in the best way possible. Driving it reminds him of being behind the wheel of his Pagani Zonda – a fine compliment for a grand tourer to be compared to an ultra-exotic supercar Find out why by taking a ride with Harry.

Jaguar gets to work on next-gen XF sedan

With the XE now out in the open, Jaguar can begin to focus on what comes next. That means a new crossover, but also replacements for some of its aging current models - chief among them, the XF. Introduced back in 2007, Jaguar's mid-range sedan is growing a little long in the tooth. But from these latest spy shots, we can see that the British automaker is hard at work developing its successor.
Expected to be based on the same iQ A1 platform that underpins the new XE, the new XF promises to be lighter in weight and more advanced than the model it replaces. Look for most of the same engines to carry over, including gasoline and diesel options ranging from four cylinders to eight, with and without forced induction, with a potential plug-in hybrid version to follow. The current model is available in rear- and all-wheel-drive configurations and in sedan and wagon body styles, and we'd expect its replacement to follow suit.
The low-profile wheels and dual exhaust pipes on one of the prototypes spotted suggests it would lie somewhere near the top of the range, while the second prototype packs taller sidewalls and a trailer hitch. It's hard to discern much esle from the spy shots, heavily camouflaged as they are, but as with the technology underneath, we'd expect styling to takes some cues from the smaller XE as well. Jaguar will, of course, need to tread the line between distinctive and understated if it's going to fend off the Maserati Ghibli and take a bigger slice of the pie away from the likes of the Audi A6, BMW 5 Series and Mercedes-Benz E-Class, the Lexus GS and Infiniti Q70, the Cadillac CTS and the upcoming new Volvo S90.