The Grand Tour is currently filming in Croatia, and there's a certain air of "this is totally different to Top Gear... not." Jeremy and Richard are drag racing an Ariel Nomad and the 400 HP Audi TT RS. But James May seems to be driving an old Lada.
Why Croatia? Because it's a beautiful country this time of the year, and the guys love a road trip. The part we can't figure out is why they're comparing a bunch of scaffolding with the mud-in-your-hair feel to what Jeremy would describe as an overpriced Golf. Or would he?
Based on one of the videos we found, Clarkson is the one behind the Audi’s wheel, while Hammond helms the Ariel. Everybody wants a piece of the Nomad action, but we'd point out that the new Top Gear cred already had a go. And somehow, this comparison just isn't exciting enough for us.
The AWD launch control monster that is the TT RS wins the race, as you'd expect. But thanks to its stripped out shell, the Nomad does a great job of staying on its tail.
That's pretty impressive stuff, considering the Nomad is designed for off-road fun, venturing where the TT RS cannot. Still, you're at the mercy of the elements, while Audi offers performance with state of the art technology and comfort.
We also have a bit of footage from the town of Zadar, where James May arrives in a white Lada. It kind of reminds us of the old Top Gear episode"Albania Road Trip" where they Clarkson had a Lada because Bentley wouldn't give them Mulsanne. What was that, six or seven years ago? It's not like Albania and Croatia are far removed countries either.
The Grand Tour's first season concluded after 13 episodes in early 2017. There's no official release date for the second season, but it should happen towards the end of 2017. Amazon's deal with the trio calls for 36 episodes over three years.
Mihnea's favorite cars have already been built, the so-called modern classics from the '80s and '90s. He also loves local car culture from all over the world, so don't be surprised to see him getting excited about weird Japanese imports, low-rider VWs out of Germany, replicas from Russia or LS swaps down in Florida. Full profile
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