Top Gear (US) s01e04 Episode Script
Halo vs. Velociraptor
Now, on Top Gear.
I'll drive a car with I just flew into the sun.
No, there he is.
And kik rock Welcome to "Top Gear.
" On this show nobody will save their failing restaurant, nobody will date Adrianna, but if gasoline flows through your veins, you're at home right here.
I'm Adam Ferrara, that is Tanner Foust, and this is Rutledge Wood.
Yeah, and we got an amazing show coming up.
He gets to drive the badass new Mercedes SLS AMG.
We've got kid rock on our test track in the suzuki, and, g.
I.
Joe, pay attention 'cause we're gonna find a replacement for that.
But before all of that, what would you buy if you had 40 grand to spend? - A judge.
- Ooh! Gto.
No.
A real judge.
What vehicle would you buy? I would buy either a subaru WRX STI or maybe a dodge challenger srt8.
- You could do that.
But did you know, for just over 40 grand, you could buy a flying machine? Few things have captured the imagination of mankind, more than flight.
It's commonly assumed that to achieve it, you need wings.
Ford's special vehicle team begs to differ.
The words "ultra-high performance" usually conjure a 200-mile-an-hour lamborghini or a racetrack-ready Pagani zonda.
The f-150-based Raptor, however, is just as radical.
It subscribes to a totally new definition of performance.
One paved in dirt, measured in suspension travel, and punctuated by hang time.
Okay, so it jumps rather than flies, but this much air time is close enough.
Oh, God! There's something so purely redneck about that sound But everybody can relate to it.
Yes! What's jaw-dropping about the Raptor isn't that it can do 100 miles an hour No, it's that the Raptor is just a plain old production car.
The Raptor is available with Ford's new v-8, a 6.
2 liter with 411 horsepower, and 434 foot-pounds of torque.
But this isn't your ordinary Raptor.
This is the hennessey velociraptor 475.
Hand another 7 grand and your Raptor over to the guys at hennessey, and they'll transform your 6.
2-liter Raptor from an animal into a beast.
Hennessey is a Texas tuning shop famous for creating Texas-size horsepower numbers.
And for modifying supercars that'll steal a bugatti Veyron's lunch money.
Hennessey managed to find another 64 horsepower by replacing the intake and exhaust systems, and retuning the engine computer.
That's like giving crack to a charging rhino.
You look at it, and it looks like it's gonna be a rough ride, you know, like a stiff, rugged truck-y ride.
But in order to be good off road, the suspension has to travel 11 inches in the front and 12 in the back.
That 12 inches when you turn the wheel makes the truck roll over on its axis.
so when you get on road, where it's gonna be 90% of the time, the steering is slow, the suspension's squishy.
In a straight line, it seems fine.
You can hit potholes, small kia rios Basically anything at speed And it's just a kick.
That's it.
Hold on.
We've got to run over a small car.
It's like sitting on a marshmallow.
It's just floating down the road.
You would think you're in a Cadillac.
The only thing that separates this from driving a Cadillac is that every single second you're driving in the Raptor, it sounds like 40 harley-Davidsons are trying to overtake you from the back.
As if the Raptor wasn't visually disturbing enough, hennessey's installed a loud button which takes it to ear-threatening decibels.
Anybody walking by, can't help but just be absolutely pissed off.
It's like hell has broken loose, like armageddon.
It's awesome.
In monte Carlo, you may get some action in a lamborghini or a Ferrari.
In eloy, you're the king in the Raptor.
My reign was short.
The Raptor was a heat magnet.
I was politely told to leave town.
It's attracting attention.
That's what it's supposed to do, right? Ah.
When you get behind the wheel of something like this, suddenly the lines of the roads go gray.
If you want to turn off the road and go into the bushes, watch this.
Yes.
Wow.
All four wheels spinning.
But there are huge gotchas Big holes that can just swallow a whole truck.
That right there was the size of a volkswagen.
Sure, you can spend 40 grand on a camry or something like that.
But will it do this? I don't think so.
Oh, my gosh.
I cannot believe how hard I'm pushing this truck right now.
Despite being an off-road juggernaut, the Raptor has an unusually plush interior.
But it's got these weird knobby gauges, where it's like if you have forgotten you're in a truck, they remind you by showing you big mud tires all over the dashboard.
And the color-coding interior Frankly, it raises the hair on the back of my neck.
The reason for that is, I think it flat-out reminds me of a pt cruiser.
So, the Raptor is certainly a press-release car for Ford.
Probably the most dramatic and radical machine Ford makes, a behemoth that is horrible on the road.
It's made for what people don't do, which is go off road.
A lot of people would think that it's just absolutely crazy to spit out a gas-guzzling ginormous truck in these times.
But it's actually pretty smart because it's a concept car that you can buy and own.
Not many people will drive this, but it will make a big impact on the image of Ford.
We couldn't find a production vehicle that even comes close to matching the raptor's outright speed on the desert floor.
With its go-fast bits and off-road prowess, it hops along the desert quicker than anything.
It's really in a class of its own, so a comparison was virtually impossible.
We did, however, find one person who was willing to take on the velociraptor.
But he's not starting on the ground.
He's gonna start up there 25,000 feet up there.
He's a halo jumper.
Halo, or "high altitude, low opening," is a military free-fall technique first tested by the U.
S.
air force in 1960 to help pilots ejecting at altitudes up to 35,000 feet.
It was then adopted by special forces during Vietnam who were able to fly at high altitude out of missile range and then drop into enemy territory undetected by radar.
This halo specialist's identity is classified.
And since he trains Navy seals how to leap from the heavens and kill people undetect, if I even see him, he may have to kill me.
He kind of reminds me of darth vader.
The race will be exactly 5 miles from start to finish.
The Raptor will face a combination of asphalt, rough trail, and open desert.
The course is set on land designated for cattle grazing, so by law, they have the right of way.
If I mess with the cows, the rancher has the legal right to shoot me.
The halo jumper will start 25,000 feet up, giving him exactly 5 miles of falling.
He will free-fall at speeds up to 120 miles an hour until he hits 2,000 feet.
Then he must open his chute, or we'll be taking him home in a bucket.
To beat the halo jumper to the finish line, I've got to get there in just over 4 minutes, which means averaging 71 miles an hour.
That's unbelievably fast, considering there are sand traps, jumps, and cows between me and the finish line, and he's just falling.
He's been breathing pure oxygen for the last 45 minutes to rid his bloodstream of nitrogen.
If he doesn't, as he climbs, the nitrogen will expand in his blood vessels, and he'll get the bends, the same way a diver can.
And at this altitude, he's also at risk of oxygen deprivation.
Have no doubt this is very dangerous.
I was 60 seconds from the most insane race of my life.
25,000 feet above me was my opponent, a halo jumper.
Both of us were about to hurtle 5 miles to the finish line.
It was time to prepare the Raptor.
Push the traction control, hold it for five seconds, and it flashes, alerting you of the potential danger.
Then push the off-road mode.
Off-road mode enabled.
Then pull this little knob to lock the differential.
Shifting is in progress, and it's done.
Five four Four - Three - Three.
- Two - Two.
- One.
- One.
We're off! I think I got a bad start there.
All right.
Hammer down now.
As halo man hurtled earthwards, he shaped his body to create the least resistance to the rushing air around him.
I had my foot to the floor, and all 475 horses were galloping hard.
I was hitting 80 miles an hour.
The raptor's giant shocks just soaked it up.
Darth had reached terminal velocity 120 miles an hour.
Then he used the force to go even faster.
The off-road technique when you go over the bumps is actually to lift off the pedals.
'Cause if you hit the gas over the bumps, it sinks the back end and takes away the travel And you bottom out.
It's called "g-ing out.
" It's not a good thing.
Ugh! That was about the limit, I think, right there.
The Arizona desert was witnessing two unstoppable missiles, heading for each other at 120 miles an hour Velociraptor and darth vader.
It was like "star wars vii: The Jurassic menace.
" Two minutes down, and I had to be behind.
But ahead was a mile and a half of pavement.
Time to floor it.
A little bit of asphalt to make up a little time here.
I think the top speed's about 120 miles an hour.
There's 115.
He's falling like a bat out of hell And I'm doing 120 miles an hour.
Up ahead was my turn into the open desert.
The asphalt flats had me back in the game.
But no one told the cows.
Oh, that's a heavy beast.
Ahead, 2 miles of track and open desert to the finish line.
Every twist and turn, I tried to get a glimpse of the tiny black dot above me.
I don't see him yet.
But how could I? He was using gravity as his jet pack.
He was ahead, but now the advantage was mine.
The halo jumper had to pull his chute or become darth pancake.
As the canopy opened, he decelerated violently to 60 miles an hour.
This was my chance.
No more twisting and turning.
The Raptor and I were headed to the finish line as the crow flies whatever lay ahead.
This is what makes this truck badass.
Yes.
Halo guy was just a thousand feet above the finish line, and I could see éhe flags ahead.
We were neck and neck.
I could see him circling above.
There was no way he could float down in time.
The race was the raptor's.
Whoa! Too hot into that corner.
Suddenly, he threw his parachute into a dive, spiraling towards the ground at 90 miles an hour.
No! There he is! No way! I thought I had it for sure! Oh! - Wow.
That was a close race.
- It was really close.
It was close, but you still lost.
You know, but it was just barely a loss, and I can't think of another production truck on the planet that would have been within a mile of that halo guy.
It is impressive.
What did you say it costs? The regular raptor's 42 grand.
Then it's another 7 grand to hennessey if you want the velociraptor.
So that's 49 grand for a truck that looks like this, that went over terrain like that at speeds like that.
It makes me want to trade my tundra in right now.
- That is the deal of the century.
- It is.
What makes it so good is not just that it has a foot of suspension travel, but the shocks themselves The oil inside is an aerospace-grade formula that costs more than most entire shocks do.
They really thought this thing out.
It's the real deal.
I love it.
I have to have one in my life.
Can I hug it? - Yes, you can hug it.
- Okay, great.
- Hi.
That's a little scary and creepy.
Well, coming up next, Adam gets a pair of wings Gullwings.
This is the iconic 1955 Mercedes 300sl gullwing.
One of the most desirable sports cars on the planet, and when it was new, the fastest car in the world.
And now, just 55 years later, Mercedes thinks they have come up with a successor to this instant icon.
The 300sl's DNA is everywhere The sculpted, all-aluminum body, Fender vents like shark gills, and its signature doors are pure SL.
But under the 6-foot-long hood lies a beastly, space-age power plant, making almost 3 times the horsepower of the original.
This is the Mercedes-benz SLS AMG.
Listen to this exhaust note.
That's downright nasty! This dirty-talking siren's gonna lead you right into the rocks.
This is the first car Mercedes-benz' tuning arm, AMG, has built from scratch.
And they started by conjuring up the most powerful production, naturally aspirated v-8 on the planet Making 563 horsepower.
So that's why one technician is responsible for its assembly from start to finish.
And when he's done, he signs his name right there.
"Guido Nordheim" sounds like a German underboss.
Thanks to cars like the bugatti Veyron, resurrecting the SL's status as the fastest car in the world is pretty pointless.
But this comfortable Grantura will destroy plenty of supercars on its way to its top speed of 197.
All right.
Let's begin.
At 60 miles an hour, I just dusted the Porsche gt3.
100.
There goes the corvette z06.
V-10 audi r8 Done.
I just flew into the sun.
Comfort wasn't the primary consideration of the original 300sl.
It wasn't built to go to the country clubs.
It was built to win championships, and it did, taking the 24 hours of le mans outright and the Carrera panamericana in the same year.
The SLS, however, is pure luxury in motion.
So, Mercedes went with this aircraft-themed interior, and you can really tell.
Look at this.
This a.
C.
Vent looks like the business end of a jet engine.
They really have the retro airplane feel in these gauges, as well.
And look at the gear lever.
It reminds me of the throttle of a 747.
See all this leather and all this prettiness? It adds weight.
So what the engineers had to do was Jenny-Craig any part of this car they could.
It has a carbon-fiber drive shaft.
It even has magnesium seat frames, the lightest structural metal on earth, all to save weight.
But the car still weighs 3,600 pounds.
This car really feels balanced.
What they did was, they took the big v-8, and they stuffed it down low behind the front wheels.
And the steering is really responsive.
It's not so much turning as it is diving.
Dual-clutch 7-speed gearbox cracks off shifts in a hundred milliseconds.
When this thing hits triple digits, it becomes an adrenaline spigot.
Around town, however, the adrenaline's been replaced with novocaine.
The car just feels numb.
The suspension's more at home on the track, so it's a stiffer ride.
The most obvious link to the iconic 300sl of the '50s is the trademark gull-wing doors.
The way I see it, this is a two-step process.
Step one is getting in the car.
Step two is closing the door.
So, what if we start by sitting down like this, bringing your legs in? All right, that's not cool.
What if we go one leg in, butt down, Sharon stone? Okay, I'm in.
Now we close the door.
Of course.
You'd think with all these buttons, Mercedes would have put an electric motor here to open and close the door.
They didn't because it would have added 61 pounds of weight.
How much you think a subway strap weighs? I got it! So it's closed, but is it safe? If you find yourself upside down in an SLS, Mercedes has devised a pyrotechnics system that blasts the doors off so you can get the hell out, thus making the SLS the only car that can blow its own doors off.
The SLS is a super gt Part supercar, part luxury Grantura.
Now, Mercedes is not gonna be pumping out a lot of these, so it will almost be as rare as the iconic SL it resembles.
But, for me, the looks are not a complete success.
I mean, look at these lines.
It's great, right up until Here.
What happened? It's like they ran out of ass.
They just stopped.
They didn't know how to end it.
It's like someone ran into the design room and said, "stop.
Stop what you're doing.
" "But we're not finished.
" "You're done.
That's it.
We're finished.
" Most cars have that "x" factor.
This car actually has a "y" factor.
"Y" don't I just love it? I just why don't I just love this Don't get me wrong.
There's parts of it I really love, like that [Laughing.]
Motor, the sound of this engine.
An iconic car should feel special all the time, not just when you're doing 160 or climbing through a gull-wing door.
Now, don't get me wrong this is a world-class automobile, and it's bound to be a collectible, but, like icarus, it should learn to respect its limits.
The SLS is supercar fast, it's exclusive, and it has an exhaust note like Thor, the God of thunder.
But is it an instant classic like the 300sl? I'm gonna have to say no.
Did it look fun? It looked fun, but you obviously didn't love it.
No.
I didn't love it.
I love that.
- But I didn't love that.
- Did you like it? I liked parts of that.
The motor was great.
It had plenty of power.
I love the way it sounded.
It felt good once you got it up to speed.
But the look bothered me.
I do not like the back end.
And the doors are fun for about 20 minutes.
You know, I got in.
I made-believe I was a spy.
I liked that.
But after a while, you drive around with doors like that, you're a dick.
Ouch! There still is one test left to do with the SLS.
And thankfully for the Mercedes, it does not involve Adam.
It involves our silent racing driver, the Stig.
The Stig, of course, is the fourth member of our team, whose sole purpose is to shake down each new car we review.
He should feel right at home in this racecar-inspired SLS AMG.
And he's off the line there.
A little bit of wheelspin, but really not much, a 7-speed gearbox in this SLS.
Really incredible 562 horsepower.
The car has some big shoes to fill with that gullwing.
But through the southern chicane, looking very, very composed.
One thing we did hear as the Stig is grabbing at paddles through there is the front-end grip is amazing, but very difficult to put the power down as you see him sliding into the teardrop.
This is the slowest part of the track.
You can see him almost drifting, trying to put all of that horsepower to the ground in a 3,600-pound machine.
On to the back straightaway, the fastest part of the track, hitting speeds upwards of 130 miles an hour.
Really working this vehicle very hard as he comes into one of the fastest sections The second-fastest section, the s's.
Sawing at the wheel, fighting it And breaking in to the very last corner, kicking up some dust.
A little bit of cross-walk there And across the line.
You know, you got to wonder where it's gonna sit.
We've got a tough lineup here with the Balboni.
We've got the Murciélago, the v12 vantage at 128.
Somehow the SLS manages to scrape in a 127.
6.
Wow.
It's really actually very quick.
Does that make you like it more? I mean, it's fun.
It's just It's not that, and I wanted it to be that.
Have to agree with you on that.
We still have a little bit of business, though, because you remember the velociraptor I was in before.
Well, we had another version of that truck.
This one's actually the velociraptor 600, which has a supercharged engine in it.
Unfortunately, somebody left the keys in it sitting out in the parking lot.
The Stig had never seen a pickup truck before.
Did a lap.
Anybody want to see it? - I do.
All right.
Roll the tape.
And he's off.
Got that four-wheel drive kicking in there, so obviously no wheelspin.
Now, this is a truck that weighs almost 3 tons, massive vehicle being hurtled around the track.
Just looks scary.
This must be one of the riskiest things that the Stig does.
He really does take a lot of risks for us.
And there you can see it in his face.
He's getting a little motion sick.
Diving into the teardrop Tightest section Nice little drift in the Raptor.
Who would have thought you'd see that out of a ginormous pickup truck like that? Over the yump.
Those fox shocks just absorb every bit of it as he works his way up to 100 miles an hour.
Really concentrating.
He knows what's at stake here as he pitches it in sideways.
Unbelievable.
That's cameraman's corner, and we almost deserved its name there.
He comes into the s's, fighting his way to the end of the track.
And looks like he's off road, but, no, he's not.
He's still on our track, into the last corner, swinging wide there.
It's not looking good.
Almost takes out the flag, and he's across the line.
Whew! That was sketchy.
Difficult to say where this is gonna land.
We've never had a pickup truck on the test track before.
But it came in with a time of 139.
0.
Wow! Wow! Wow! That's amazing! For that big of a truck? I thought it was gonna roll over.
I want one.
I want one so bad, I would lick it.
That is a very disturbing thought.
Well, coming up next, kid rock is our "big star in a small car.
" Burn, baby.
Burn.
And now it time to put a star in our small car.
Our guest today is a true American badass.
He's sold over 22 million albums just in this country alone, and he is proud to call Detroit motor city his home.
Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome the one and only Mr.
kid rock.
- What's up, man? - Good to see you.
Have a seat.
Man, it is good to have you on the show, man.
Thanks for being here.
- This is one of those fun ones - This is great.
One of those shows you look forward to doing.
What's it like growing up in Michigan around You know, being in Detroit, being around there? I mean, you've got American car blood - just pumping through you.
- Yep.
Everywhere you look, every friend, every relative, everybody you know either, you know, works for one of the big three or at one of the parts plants.
That's what we've been known for and hopefully will continue to be known for is putting out some of the greatest cars in the world.
And even though it's been some trying times, I think we're on the right path to get back to really design something cool with some style.
That's what I'm really hoping for out of Detroit.
So, are you a fan of the big retro movement, then? Yes, I love the retro stuff.
I love the challenger, and, you know, the Camaros, mustangs all that stuff.
I think they're great even the Ford gt.
But at the same time, I'd like to see them do something new that kind of defines our generation, our era, something that's new and moving in the right way that's not, you know, a small box that runs off, you know, whatever leaves and stuff, you know, which is great.
So you're saying you don't own a Prius, then.
Gosh! If there's anything that says "un-esome, uncool," it's a Prius.
I have a 1930 Cadillac, v-16, 1 of 27.
I can sit around, drink beer, and look at that car all day long.
- Yeah.
- It just blows your mind, the ingenuity and the time and the craftsmanship that was put into it.
I know there's been better engines and technology has come near and far, but I think pound for pound, if you just took that car and put it in these times somehow, you know, upgrade it with those engines and all the fancy talk-free this and everything.
But just the craftsmanship of that.
Like, the guy that built that That thing coming off the line Must go home and be like, "you should have saw what we built today at work.
" Whereas you're at work, like, "what'd you do today?" "Ah, we cranked out 78 Priuses.
" It's like, "give me a beer.
" "I'm gonna drink away the pain.
" What's your favorite car that you own right now? God, I just got this really fun '64 bonneville that this designer, nudie, did.
He's an old Western designer, did, like, all of Hank Williams clothes, all the early Western guys Roy Rogers All the flashy Western wear.
He did about I think it was 15 to 20 cars.
Like, Elvis had one and Roy Rogers, of course, webb Pierce, a lot of country stars.
And this was Hank Jr.
's 15th birthday present.
And it came up for auction.
It had been in the smoky mountaintop museum since like '68, and a collector passed away.
It's on the cover of my new record.
It's, you know, bull horns on the front, you know, 22 pistols that open the doors, and turn-of-the-century silver dollars all lining the car, and hand-tooled leather.
It just screams "American fun.
" In the fun department, I've won.
You look so right in the backseat of a car, and you see the two pistols that are holding the backseat.
Like, everything about that is you.
- It's awesome.
- It's fun.
It is.
It's fun.
So you'd say you've driven some fun cars, then, right? Yeah, I'd say so.
How would you say the suzuki compared? It didn't interest me at all.
You guys want to see his lap? Let's take a look.
This thing doesn't get off the line at all.
Not a ton of power.
Plus, it is wet.
- This is pretty impressive.
- Yeah, it's very wet.
Look at the windshield wipers cranking.
Coming into turn 1 here.
Smooth so far.
Oh! Ha-hoo! Tried to take out the tires there.
That's nice, though.
Here we go.
Okay, coming down into the teardrop.
This was a pretty hard part of the course, wasn't it? Yeah.
Come on! You really look like we might be related when I see you in the car.
Wow, that was impressive.
Suzuki they should call this a "su-puke-I.
" This thing is garbage.
So, not planning to replace any of your cars with the suzuki.
Hauling ass.
- By "hauling ass," you mean 75 or 80.
- I was up to at least 80.
Wow, coming in fast there to cameraman's curve.
Burn, baby.
Burn.
Look at that fierce determination.
- Pretty smooth.
- Yeah, that's impressive right there.
Come on, baby.
I'm not gonna ask about that.
Here we go.
Oh! Wow! Look at that lean! And across the line! Oh, wait.
Oh, you're coming back! Wow! You that was nice.
That was fun.
You were the first one to do a victory lap there.
That's impressive.
Now, if we look up at our board.
You got a hobbit, a funnyman, and an astronaut.
How do you think you compared to those three? I'm gonna be really upset if I didn't beat them.
Really? Yeah, I know this is all about having fun, but I really want to win.
Kid rock, you did it in One minute, forty Three-point-nine.
Yeah! And with a "w.
" To put up that kind of time in the rain and to beat our other guys nice work.
Let's give it up one more time for kid rock, at the top.
Now, coming up, we helped the U.
S.
government find a replacement for the Humvee.
On the top, brother.
I will be conquistador-ing you, my friend.
Aah! Now, this, as you may have noticed, is the h1 hummer.
And thanks to Arnold Schwarzenegger, it became the vehicle of choice for ballplayers and adult-entertainment stars, even though it started as a piece of military hardware.
Trouble is, the hummer's become socially unacceptable.
And now the army is turning its back on the faithful Humvee, as well.
And since the economy's in the tank, the army has to cut down on spending.
And that got us thinking What would be the perfect, cost-effective, less-aggressive vehicle for the army of tomorrow? We decided to meet at kill hill, a paintball park just outside of Los Angeles, a place where accountants and meter maids go for the weekend to blow off steam and transform themselves into paintball mercenaries.
I arrived first.
This is a 1977 Chevy el camino ss.
This was the fourth-generation el camino, and this thing had plenty of grunt from its 354-barrel v-8.
Now, that's a lot of power to deliver to a light rear end.
And it's light because it's not here.
It's a truck, but it's also a car.
This is the original crossover.
This is the perfect platform to build my battle wagon.
It's durable, it's strong, it's overpowering It is shock and awe.
Look at the armaments on this car Two dedicated rear guns, two front guns, and they're all controlled by this instrument panel, except for this string that I pull for the rear guns, but it works.
This is the best part, though.
Look at this.
360 degrees of fiery paint raining down on foghorn.
I am gonna paint him like a subway car.
My military machine was built to dominate this battle with brute force.
But knowing Rutledge, I began to worry he might show up with paintball cannons strapped to a monster truck.
Oh, you're kidding! Clearly, I was wrong.
You're fighting a war on a budget a del sol? A 1997 Honda del sol Last year they made them.
They only made 5,600.
This car was mostly bought by women.
And because of that, no one would expect a man to take a del sol into battle.
But as Sun Tzu said in "The Art of War," 'speed is the essence of war.
' and this del sol might not be able to take the same kind of abuse as the el camino, but it will be able to run circles around it.
And this is your war wagon? Look, I got two mounting forward.
What do you got? Look at this two mounting forward.
All right.
How about I got four in the trunk pointed backwards? I also have one mounted on each door.
You really want to bring up that argument, my friend? Where do you think you're gonna hide? You realize, I never have to get out of my vehicle to shoot you.
You realize, you can't get out of your vehicle.
This is front-wheel drive.
It's a 4-cylinder, 5-speed.
I can get wherever I want.
I will give you this, though.
We both picked cars with Spanish names.
We did, didn't we? What does "del sol" mean? Well, the direct translation means "of the sun," which makes sense for the target top.
What about "el camino"? El camino means "the road.
" But when they exported it to Mexico, they changed the name to conquistador.
- Really? - It means "to conquer.
" Hmm.
I will be conquistador-ing you, my friend.
Not if "of the sun" has anything to say about it.
Diplomacy has failed.
This means war.
To determine whose vehicle was worthy to operate in the military, the producers set up a battlefield.
The first to the other side would win, but only if it gave the other car a new paint job on the way across.
But winning wasn't enough.
The loser has to shoot himself with a paintball gun.
- Really? - Yes.
Are those steel-toe, those grandpa shoes you're wearing? - No.
- Oh, you're gonna wish they were.
All right, Adam.
Are you ready? Once more into the breach.
Go! My plan was to set up an ambush so I could unload on Rutledge like dick Cheney on a lawyer.
Come on! Come on! Adam had me down.
my real guns.
Aah! Ow! That hurt! Rutledge made a run for it.
But he would soon find out there is no escape from the truck-camino.
Oh, lord! Oh! Take it babe, take it.
The el camino was as big as a tank, but I squeezed my del sol down its flank.
Come on! 1.
6 liters of fury.
Then it was smooth sailing to the finish line.
The fleet-footed del sol crossed the line first, slaughtering el "slow" camino.
Don't hang that head so low, friend.
You gave it your best shot.
It's not the shooting myself in the foot so much as is it's losing to you.
- Really? - Yes.
- That takes a real man.
- I know.
A real man that picked an el camino when he should have picked a del sol.
Safety's off! Can you hold on? I don't want to get paint in my eyes.
- You want lip balm, too? - Safety first, friend.
Go for it.
Fire away.
Oh, man, this is gonna hurt! That foot right there is gonna hurt! You're not helping.
You're really not helping.
I heard it's like driving a nail gun through your foot.
What a - You don't have the guts to do it.
- You're still talking.
- You don't have the guts to do it.
- You're still talking.
- Come on.
- Quit stalling.
All right, I'm gonna do it.
Shoot it hour-long show.
Go.
- Oh! - Ow! - Oho-ho-ho! - Ow! - Oh, that was awesome! - Ohh! That was awesome! That hurt! Oh! What would you say it feels like? Ow, it [Bleep.]
Hurts.
- Let me see it.
- No.
- Come on back over.
- Shut up.
I cannot get enough of that.
Oh, yeah.
That looked like it really did hurt, actually.
It did.
It hurt a lot.
I just can't believe you actually went through with it.
I can't believe you beat me, "of the sun.
" I can't believe that, either.
And you know what that means is the official "Top Gear" recommendation to the military for the future weapon of choice is The Honda del sol.
Amazing.
Next, you're gonna replace the air force's f22 with a box kite.
I love kites.
On that disturbing note, that is our show for the week.
Thank you for tuning in.
Goodbye.
Synch by Benfo
I'll drive a car with I just flew into the sun.
No, there he is.
And kik rock Welcome to "Top Gear.
" On this show nobody will save their failing restaurant, nobody will date Adrianna, but if gasoline flows through your veins, you're at home right here.
I'm Adam Ferrara, that is Tanner Foust, and this is Rutledge Wood.
Yeah, and we got an amazing show coming up.
He gets to drive the badass new Mercedes SLS AMG.
We've got kid rock on our test track in the suzuki, and, g.
I.
Joe, pay attention 'cause we're gonna find a replacement for that.
But before all of that, what would you buy if you had 40 grand to spend? - A judge.
- Ooh! Gto.
No.
A real judge.
What vehicle would you buy? I would buy either a subaru WRX STI or maybe a dodge challenger srt8.
- You could do that.
But did you know, for just over 40 grand, you could buy a flying machine? Few things have captured the imagination of mankind, more than flight.
It's commonly assumed that to achieve it, you need wings.
Ford's special vehicle team begs to differ.
The words "ultra-high performance" usually conjure a 200-mile-an-hour lamborghini or a racetrack-ready Pagani zonda.
The f-150-based Raptor, however, is just as radical.
It subscribes to a totally new definition of performance.
One paved in dirt, measured in suspension travel, and punctuated by hang time.
Okay, so it jumps rather than flies, but this much air time is close enough.
Oh, God! There's something so purely redneck about that sound But everybody can relate to it.
Yes! What's jaw-dropping about the Raptor isn't that it can do 100 miles an hour No, it's that the Raptor is just a plain old production car.
The Raptor is available with Ford's new v-8, a 6.
2 liter with 411 horsepower, and 434 foot-pounds of torque.
But this isn't your ordinary Raptor.
This is the hennessey velociraptor 475.
Hand another 7 grand and your Raptor over to the guys at hennessey, and they'll transform your 6.
2-liter Raptor from an animal into a beast.
Hennessey is a Texas tuning shop famous for creating Texas-size horsepower numbers.
And for modifying supercars that'll steal a bugatti Veyron's lunch money.
Hennessey managed to find another 64 horsepower by replacing the intake and exhaust systems, and retuning the engine computer.
That's like giving crack to a charging rhino.
You look at it, and it looks like it's gonna be a rough ride, you know, like a stiff, rugged truck-y ride.
But in order to be good off road, the suspension has to travel 11 inches in the front and 12 in the back.
That 12 inches when you turn the wheel makes the truck roll over on its axis.
so when you get on road, where it's gonna be 90% of the time, the steering is slow, the suspension's squishy.
In a straight line, it seems fine.
You can hit potholes, small kia rios Basically anything at speed And it's just a kick.
That's it.
Hold on.
We've got to run over a small car.
It's like sitting on a marshmallow.
It's just floating down the road.
You would think you're in a Cadillac.
The only thing that separates this from driving a Cadillac is that every single second you're driving in the Raptor, it sounds like 40 harley-Davidsons are trying to overtake you from the back.
As if the Raptor wasn't visually disturbing enough, hennessey's installed a loud button which takes it to ear-threatening decibels.
Anybody walking by, can't help but just be absolutely pissed off.
It's like hell has broken loose, like armageddon.
It's awesome.
In monte Carlo, you may get some action in a lamborghini or a Ferrari.
In eloy, you're the king in the Raptor.
My reign was short.
The Raptor was a heat magnet.
I was politely told to leave town.
It's attracting attention.
That's what it's supposed to do, right? Ah.
When you get behind the wheel of something like this, suddenly the lines of the roads go gray.
If you want to turn off the road and go into the bushes, watch this.
Yes.
Wow.
All four wheels spinning.
But there are huge gotchas Big holes that can just swallow a whole truck.
That right there was the size of a volkswagen.
Sure, you can spend 40 grand on a camry or something like that.
But will it do this? I don't think so.
Oh, my gosh.
I cannot believe how hard I'm pushing this truck right now.
Despite being an off-road juggernaut, the Raptor has an unusually plush interior.
But it's got these weird knobby gauges, where it's like if you have forgotten you're in a truck, they remind you by showing you big mud tires all over the dashboard.
And the color-coding interior Frankly, it raises the hair on the back of my neck.
The reason for that is, I think it flat-out reminds me of a pt cruiser.
So, the Raptor is certainly a press-release car for Ford.
Probably the most dramatic and radical machine Ford makes, a behemoth that is horrible on the road.
It's made for what people don't do, which is go off road.
A lot of people would think that it's just absolutely crazy to spit out a gas-guzzling ginormous truck in these times.
But it's actually pretty smart because it's a concept car that you can buy and own.
Not many people will drive this, but it will make a big impact on the image of Ford.
We couldn't find a production vehicle that even comes close to matching the raptor's outright speed on the desert floor.
With its go-fast bits and off-road prowess, it hops along the desert quicker than anything.
It's really in a class of its own, so a comparison was virtually impossible.
We did, however, find one person who was willing to take on the velociraptor.
But he's not starting on the ground.
He's gonna start up there 25,000 feet up there.
He's a halo jumper.
Halo, or "high altitude, low opening," is a military free-fall technique first tested by the U.
S.
air force in 1960 to help pilots ejecting at altitudes up to 35,000 feet.
It was then adopted by special forces during Vietnam who were able to fly at high altitude out of missile range and then drop into enemy territory undetected by radar.
This halo specialist's identity is classified.
And since he trains Navy seals how to leap from the heavens and kill people undetect, if I even see him, he may have to kill me.
He kind of reminds me of darth vader.
The race will be exactly 5 miles from start to finish.
The Raptor will face a combination of asphalt, rough trail, and open desert.
The course is set on land designated for cattle grazing, so by law, they have the right of way.
If I mess with the cows, the rancher has the legal right to shoot me.
The halo jumper will start 25,000 feet up, giving him exactly 5 miles of falling.
He will free-fall at speeds up to 120 miles an hour until he hits 2,000 feet.
Then he must open his chute, or we'll be taking him home in a bucket.
To beat the halo jumper to the finish line, I've got to get there in just over 4 minutes, which means averaging 71 miles an hour.
That's unbelievably fast, considering there are sand traps, jumps, and cows between me and the finish line, and he's just falling.
He's been breathing pure oxygen for the last 45 minutes to rid his bloodstream of nitrogen.
If he doesn't, as he climbs, the nitrogen will expand in his blood vessels, and he'll get the bends, the same way a diver can.
And at this altitude, he's also at risk of oxygen deprivation.
Have no doubt this is very dangerous.
I was 60 seconds from the most insane race of my life.
25,000 feet above me was my opponent, a halo jumper.
Both of us were about to hurtle 5 miles to the finish line.
It was time to prepare the Raptor.
Push the traction control, hold it for five seconds, and it flashes, alerting you of the potential danger.
Then push the off-road mode.
Off-road mode enabled.
Then pull this little knob to lock the differential.
Shifting is in progress, and it's done.
Five four Four - Three - Three.
- Two - Two.
- One.
- One.
We're off! I think I got a bad start there.
All right.
Hammer down now.
As halo man hurtled earthwards, he shaped his body to create the least resistance to the rushing air around him.
I had my foot to the floor, and all 475 horses were galloping hard.
I was hitting 80 miles an hour.
The raptor's giant shocks just soaked it up.
Darth had reached terminal velocity 120 miles an hour.
Then he used the force to go even faster.
The off-road technique when you go over the bumps is actually to lift off the pedals.
'Cause if you hit the gas over the bumps, it sinks the back end and takes away the travel And you bottom out.
It's called "g-ing out.
" It's not a good thing.
Ugh! That was about the limit, I think, right there.
The Arizona desert was witnessing two unstoppable missiles, heading for each other at 120 miles an hour Velociraptor and darth vader.
It was like "star wars vii: The Jurassic menace.
" Two minutes down, and I had to be behind.
But ahead was a mile and a half of pavement.
Time to floor it.
A little bit of asphalt to make up a little time here.
I think the top speed's about 120 miles an hour.
There's 115.
He's falling like a bat out of hell And I'm doing 120 miles an hour.
Up ahead was my turn into the open desert.
The asphalt flats had me back in the game.
But no one told the cows.
Oh, that's a heavy beast.
Ahead, 2 miles of track and open desert to the finish line.
Every twist and turn, I tried to get a glimpse of the tiny black dot above me.
I don't see him yet.
But how could I? He was using gravity as his jet pack.
He was ahead, but now the advantage was mine.
The halo jumper had to pull his chute or become darth pancake.
As the canopy opened, he decelerated violently to 60 miles an hour.
This was my chance.
No more twisting and turning.
The Raptor and I were headed to the finish line as the crow flies whatever lay ahead.
This is what makes this truck badass.
Yes.
Halo guy was just a thousand feet above the finish line, and I could see éhe flags ahead.
We were neck and neck.
I could see him circling above.
There was no way he could float down in time.
The race was the raptor's.
Whoa! Too hot into that corner.
Suddenly, he threw his parachute into a dive, spiraling towards the ground at 90 miles an hour.
No! There he is! No way! I thought I had it for sure! Oh! - Wow.
That was a close race.
- It was really close.
It was close, but you still lost.
You know, but it was just barely a loss, and I can't think of another production truck on the planet that would have been within a mile of that halo guy.
It is impressive.
What did you say it costs? The regular raptor's 42 grand.
Then it's another 7 grand to hennessey if you want the velociraptor.
So that's 49 grand for a truck that looks like this, that went over terrain like that at speeds like that.
It makes me want to trade my tundra in right now.
- That is the deal of the century.
- It is.
What makes it so good is not just that it has a foot of suspension travel, but the shocks themselves The oil inside is an aerospace-grade formula that costs more than most entire shocks do.
They really thought this thing out.
It's the real deal.
I love it.
I have to have one in my life.
Can I hug it? - Yes, you can hug it.
- Okay, great.
- Hi.
That's a little scary and creepy.
Well, coming up next, Adam gets a pair of wings Gullwings.
This is the iconic 1955 Mercedes 300sl gullwing.
One of the most desirable sports cars on the planet, and when it was new, the fastest car in the world.
And now, just 55 years later, Mercedes thinks they have come up with a successor to this instant icon.
The 300sl's DNA is everywhere The sculpted, all-aluminum body, Fender vents like shark gills, and its signature doors are pure SL.
But under the 6-foot-long hood lies a beastly, space-age power plant, making almost 3 times the horsepower of the original.
This is the Mercedes-benz SLS AMG.
Listen to this exhaust note.
That's downright nasty! This dirty-talking siren's gonna lead you right into the rocks.
This is the first car Mercedes-benz' tuning arm, AMG, has built from scratch.
And they started by conjuring up the most powerful production, naturally aspirated v-8 on the planet Making 563 horsepower.
So that's why one technician is responsible for its assembly from start to finish.
And when he's done, he signs his name right there.
"Guido Nordheim" sounds like a German underboss.
Thanks to cars like the bugatti Veyron, resurrecting the SL's status as the fastest car in the world is pretty pointless.
But this comfortable Grantura will destroy plenty of supercars on its way to its top speed of 197.
All right.
Let's begin.
At 60 miles an hour, I just dusted the Porsche gt3.
100.
There goes the corvette z06.
V-10 audi r8 Done.
I just flew into the sun.
Comfort wasn't the primary consideration of the original 300sl.
It wasn't built to go to the country clubs.
It was built to win championships, and it did, taking the 24 hours of le mans outright and the Carrera panamericana in the same year.
The SLS, however, is pure luxury in motion.
So, Mercedes went with this aircraft-themed interior, and you can really tell.
Look at this.
This a.
C.
Vent looks like the business end of a jet engine.
They really have the retro airplane feel in these gauges, as well.
And look at the gear lever.
It reminds me of the throttle of a 747.
See all this leather and all this prettiness? It adds weight.
So what the engineers had to do was Jenny-Craig any part of this car they could.
It has a carbon-fiber drive shaft.
It even has magnesium seat frames, the lightest structural metal on earth, all to save weight.
But the car still weighs 3,600 pounds.
This car really feels balanced.
What they did was, they took the big v-8, and they stuffed it down low behind the front wheels.
And the steering is really responsive.
It's not so much turning as it is diving.
Dual-clutch 7-speed gearbox cracks off shifts in a hundred milliseconds.
When this thing hits triple digits, it becomes an adrenaline spigot.
Around town, however, the adrenaline's been replaced with novocaine.
The car just feels numb.
The suspension's more at home on the track, so it's a stiffer ride.
The most obvious link to the iconic 300sl of the '50s is the trademark gull-wing doors.
The way I see it, this is a two-step process.
Step one is getting in the car.
Step two is closing the door.
So, what if we start by sitting down like this, bringing your legs in? All right, that's not cool.
What if we go one leg in, butt down, Sharon stone? Okay, I'm in.
Now we close the door.
Of course.
You'd think with all these buttons, Mercedes would have put an electric motor here to open and close the door.
They didn't because it would have added 61 pounds of weight.
How much you think a subway strap weighs? I got it! So it's closed, but is it safe? If you find yourself upside down in an SLS, Mercedes has devised a pyrotechnics system that blasts the doors off so you can get the hell out, thus making the SLS the only car that can blow its own doors off.
The SLS is a super gt Part supercar, part luxury Grantura.
Now, Mercedes is not gonna be pumping out a lot of these, so it will almost be as rare as the iconic SL it resembles.
But, for me, the looks are not a complete success.
I mean, look at these lines.
It's great, right up until Here.
What happened? It's like they ran out of ass.
They just stopped.
They didn't know how to end it.
It's like someone ran into the design room and said, "stop.
Stop what you're doing.
" "But we're not finished.
" "You're done.
That's it.
We're finished.
" Most cars have that "x" factor.
This car actually has a "y" factor.
"Y" don't I just love it? I just why don't I just love this Don't get me wrong.
There's parts of it I really love, like that [Laughing.]
Motor, the sound of this engine.
An iconic car should feel special all the time, not just when you're doing 160 or climbing through a gull-wing door.
Now, don't get me wrong this is a world-class automobile, and it's bound to be a collectible, but, like icarus, it should learn to respect its limits.
The SLS is supercar fast, it's exclusive, and it has an exhaust note like Thor, the God of thunder.
But is it an instant classic like the 300sl? I'm gonna have to say no.
Did it look fun? It looked fun, but you obviously didn't love it.
No.
I didn't love it.
I love that.
- But I didn't love that.
- Did you like it? I liked parts of that.
The motor was great.
It had plenty of power.
I love the way it sounded.
It felt good once you got it up to speed.
But the look bothered me.
I do not like the back end.
And the doors are fun for about 20 minutes.
You know, I got in.
I made-believe I was a spy.
I liked that.
But after a while, you drive around with doors like that, you're a dick.
Ouch! There still is one test left to do with the SLS.
And thankfully for the Mercedes, it does not involve Adam.
It involves our silent racing driver, the Stig.
The Stig, of course, is the fourth member of our team, whose sole purpose is to shake down each new car we review.
He should feel right at home in this racecar-inspired SLS AMG.
And he's off the line there.
A little bit of wheelspin, but really not much, a 7-speed gearbox in this SLS.
Really incredible 562 horsepower.
The car has some big shoes to fill with that gullwing.
But through the southern chicane, looking very, very composed.
One thing we did hear as the Stig is grabbing at paddles through there is the front-end grip is amazing, but very difficult to put the power down as you see him sliding into the teardrop.
This is the slowest part of the track.
You can see him almost drifting, trying to put all of that horsepower to the ground in a 3,600-pound machine.
On to the back straightaway, the fastest part of the track, hitting speeds upwards of 130 miles an hour.
Really working this vehicle very hard as he comes into one of the fastest sections The second-fastest section, the s's.
Sawing at the wheel, fighting it And breaking in to the very last corner, kicking up some dust.
A little bit of cross-walk there And across the line.
You know, you got to wonder where it's gonna sit.
We've got a tough lineup here with the Balboni.
We've got the Murciélago, the v12 vantage at 128.
Somehow the SLS manages to scrape in a 127.
6.
Wow.
It's really actually very quick.
Does that make you like it more? I mean, it's fun.
It's just It's not that, and I wanted it to be that.
Have to agree with you on that.
We still have a little bit of business, though, because you remember the velociraptor I was in before.
Well, we had another version of that truck.
This one's actually the velociraptor 600, which has a supercharged engine in it.
Unfortunately, somebody left the keys in it sitting out in the parking lot.
The Stig had never seen a pickup truck before.
Did a lap.
Anybody want to see it? - I do.
All right.
Roll the tape.
And he's off.
Got that four-wheel drive kicking in there, so obviously no wheelspin.
Now, this is a truck that weighs almost 3 tons, massive vehicle being hurtled around the track.
Just looks scary.
This must be one of the riskiest things that the Stig does.
He really does take a lot of risks for us.
And there you can see it in his face.
He's getting a little motion sick.
Diving into the teardrop Tightest section Nice little drift in the Raptor.
Who would have thought you'd see that out of a ginormous pickup truck like that? Over the yump.
Those fox shocks just absorb every bit of it as he works his way up to 100 miles an hour.
Really concentrating.
He knows what's at stake here as he pitches it in sideways.
Unbelievable.
That's cameraman's corner, and we almost deserved its name there.
He comes into the s's, fighting his way to the end of the track.
And looks like he's off road, but, no, he's not.
He's still on our track, into the last corner, swinging wide there.
It's not looking good.
Almost takes out the flag, and he's across the line.
Whew! That was sketchy.
Difficult to say where this is gonna land.
We've never had a pickup truck on the test track before.
But it came in with a time of 139.
0.
Wow! Wow! Wow! That's amazing! For that big of a truck? I thought it was gonna roll over.
I want one.
I want one so bad, I would lick it.
That is a very disturbing thought.
Well, coming up next, kid rock is our "big star in a small car.
" Burn, baby.
Burn.
And now it time to put a star in our small car.
Our guest today is a true American badass.
He's sold over 22 million albums just in this country alone, and he is proud to call Detroit motor city his home.
Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome the one and only Mr.
kid rock.
- What's up, man? - Good to see you.
Have a seat.
Man, it is good to have you on the show, man.
Thanks for being here.
- This is one of those fun ones - This is great.
One of those shows you look forward to doing.
What's it like growing up in Michigan around You know, being in Detroit, being around there? I mean, you've got American car blood - just pumping through you.
- Yep.
Everywhere you look, every friend, every relative, everybody you know either, you know, works for one of the big three or at one of the parts plants.
That's what we've been known for and hopefully will continue to be known for is putting out some of the greatest cars in the world.
And even though it's been some trying times, I think we're on the right path to get back to really design something cool with some style.
That's what I'm really hoping for out of Detroit.
So, are you a fan of the big retro movement, then? Yes, I love the retro stuff.
I love the challenger, and, you know, the Camaros, mustangs all that stuff.
I think they're great even the Ford gt.
But at the same time, I'd like to see them do something new that kind of defines our generation, our era, something that's new and moving in the right way that's not, you know, a small box that runs off, you know, whatever leaves and stuff, you know, which is great.
So you're saying you don't own a Prius, then.
Gosh! If there's anything that says "un-esome, uncool," it's a Prius.
I have a 1930 Cadillac, v-16, 1 of 27.
I can sit around, drink beer, and look at that car all day long.
- Yeah.
- It just blows your mind, the ingenuity and the time and the craftsmanship that was put into it.
I know there's been better engines and technology has come near and far, but I think pound for pound, if you just took that car and put it in these times somehow, you know, upgrade it with those engines and all the fancy talk-free this and everything.
But just the craftsmanship of that.
Like, the guy that built that That thing coming off the line Must go home and be like, "you should have saw what we built today at work.
" Whereas you're at work, like, "what'd you do today?" "Ah, we cranked out 78 Priuses.
" It's like, "give me a beer.
" "I'm gonna drink away the pain.
" What's your favorite car that you own right now? God, I just got this really fun '64 bonneville that this designer, nudie, did.
He's an old Western designer, did, like, all of Hank Williams clothes, all the early Western guys Roy Rogers All the flashy Western wear.
He did about I think it was 15 to 20 cars.
Like, Elvis had one and Roy Rogers, of course, webb Pierce, a lot of country stars.
And this was Hank Jr.
's 15th birthday present.
And it came up for auction.
It had been in the smoky mountaintop museum since like '68, and a collector passed away.
It's on the cover of my new record.
It's, you know, bull horns on the front, you know, 22 pistols that open the doors, and turn-of-the-century silver dollars all lining the car, and hand-tooled leather.
It just screams "American fun.
" In the fun department, I've won.
You look so right in the backseat of a car, and you see the two pistols that are holding the backseat.
Like, everything about that is you.
- It's awesome.
- It's fun.
It is.
It's fun.
So you'd say you've driven some fun cars, then, right? Yeah, I'd say so.
How would you say the suzuki compared? It didn't interest me at all.
You guys want to see his lap? Let's take a look.
This thing doesn't get off the line at all.
Not a ton of power.
Plus, it is wet.
- This is pretty impressive.
- Yeah, it's very wet.
Look at the windshield wipers cranking.
Coming into turn 1 here.
Smooth so far.
Oh! Ha-hoo! Tried to take out the tires there.
That's nice, though.
Here we go.
Okay, coming down into the teardrop.
This was a pretty hard part of the course, wasn't it? Yeah.
Come on! You really look like we might be related when I see you in the car.
Wow, that was impressive.
Suzuki they should call this a "su-puke-I.
" This thing is garbage.
So, not planning to replace any of your cars with the suzuki.
Hauling ass.
- By "hauling ass," you mean 75 or 80.
- I was up to at least 80.
Wow, coming in fast there to cameraman's curve.
Burn, baby.
Burn.
Look at that fierce determination.
- Pretty smooth.
- Yeah, that's impressive right there.
Come on, baby.
I'm not gonna ask about that.
Here we go.
Oh! Wow! Look at that lean! And across the line! Oh, wait.
Oh, you're coming back! Wow! You that was nice.
That was fun.
You were the first one to do a victory lap there.
That's impressive.
Now, if we look up at our board.
You got a hobbit, a funnyman, and an astronaut.
How do you think you compared to those three? I'm gonna be really upset if I didn't beat them.
Really? Yeah, I know this is all about having fun, but I really want to win.
Kid rock, you did it in One minute, forty Three-point-nine.
Yeah! And with a "w.
" To put up that kind of time in the rain and to beat our other guys nice work.
Let's give it up one more time for kid rock, at the top.
Now, coming up, we helped the U.
S.
government find a replacement for the Humvee.
On the top, brother.
I will be conquistador-ing you, my friend.
Aah! Now, this, as you may have noticed, is the h1 hummer.
And thanks to Arnold Schwarzenegger, it became the vehicle of choice for ballplayers and adult-entertainment stars, even though it started as a piece of military hardware.
Trouble is, the hummer's become socially unacceptable.
And now the army is turning its back on the faithful Humvee, as well.
And since the economy's in the tank, the army has to cut down on spending.
And that got us thinking What would be the perfect, cost-effective, less-aggressive vehicle for the army of tomorrow? We decided to meet at kill hill, a paintball park just outside of Los Angeles, a place where accountants and meter maids go for the weekend to blow off steam and transform themselves into paintball mercenaries.
I arrived first.
This is a 1977 Chevy el camino ss.
This was the fourth-generation el camino, and this thing had plenty of grunt from its 354-barrel v-8.
Now, that's a lot of power to deliver to a light rear end.
And it's light because it's not here.
It's a truck, but it's also a car.
This is the original crossover.
This is the perfect platform to build my battle wagon.
It's durable, it's strong, it's overpowering It is shock and awe.
Look at the armaments on this car Two dedicated rear guns, two front guns, and they're all controlled by this instrument panel, except for this string that I pull for the rear guns, but it works.
This is the best part, though.
Look at this.
360 degrees of fiery paint raining down on foghorn.
I am gonna paint him like a subway car.
My military machine was built to dominate this battle with brute force.
But knowing Rutledge, I began to worry he might show up with paintball cannons strapped to a monster truck.
Oh, you're kidding! Clearly, I was wrong.
You're fighting a war on a budget a del sol? A 1997 Honda del sol Last year they made them.
They only made 5,600.
This car was mostly bought by women.
And because of that, no one would expect a man to take a del sol into battle.
But as Sun Tzu said in "The Art of War," 'speed is the essence of war.
' and this del sol might not be able to take the same kind of abuse as the el camino, but it will be able to run circles around it.
And this is your war wagon? Look, I got two mounting forward.
What do you got? Look at this two mounting forward.
All right.
How about I got four in the trunk pointed backwards? I also have one mounted on each door.
You really want to bring up that argument, my friend? Where do you think you're gonna hide? You realize, I never have to get out of my vehicle to shoot you.
You realize, you can't get out of your vehicle.
This is front-wheel drive.
It's a 4-cylinder, 5-speed.
I can get wherever I want.
I will give you this, though.
We both picked cars with Spanish names.
We did, didn't we? What does "del sol" mean? Well, the direct translation means "of the sun," which makes sense for the target top.
What about "el camino"? El camino means "the road.
" But when they exported it to Mexico, they changed the name to conquistador.
- Really? - It means "to conquer.
" Hmm.
I will be conquistador-ing you, my friend.
Not if "of the sun" has anything to say about it.
Diplomacy has failed.
This means war.
To determine whose vehicle was worthy to operate in the military, the producers set up a battlefield.
The first to the other side would win, but only if it gave the other car a new paint job on the way across.
But winning wasn't enough.
The loser has to shoot himself with a paintball gun.
- Really? - Yes.
Are those steel-toe, those grandpa shoes you're wearing? - No.
- Oh, you're gonna wish they were.
All right, Adam.
Are you ready? Once more into the breach.
Go! My plan was to set up an ambush so I could unload on Rutledge like dick Cheney on a lawyer.
Come on! Come on! Adam had me down.
my real guns.
Aah! Ow! That hurt! Rutledge made a run for it.
But he would soon find out there is no escape from the truck-camino.
Oh, lord! Oh! Take it babe, take it.
The el camino was as big as a tank, but I squeezed my del sol down its flank.
Come on! 1.
6 liters of fury.
Then it was smooth sailing to the finish line.
The fleet-footed del sol crossed the line first, slaughtering el "slow" camino.
Don't hang that head so low, friend.
You gave it your best shot.
It's not the shooting myself in the foot so much as is it's losing to you.
- Really? - Yes.
- That takes a real man.
- I know.
A real man that picked an el camino when he should have picked a del sol.
Safety's off! Can you hold on? I don't want to get paint in my eyes.
- You want lip balm, too? - Safety first, friend.
Go for it.
Fire away.
Oh, man, this is gonna hurt! That foot right there is gonna hurt! You're not helping.
You're really not helping.
I heard it's like driving a nail gun through your foot.
What a - You don't have the guts to do it.
- You're still talking.
- You don't have the guts to do it.
- You're still talking.
- Come on.
- Quit stalling.
All right, I'm gonna do it.
Shoot it hour-long show.
Go.
- Oh! - Ow! - Oho-ho-ho! - Ow! - Oh, that was awesome! - Ohh! That was awesome! That hurt! Oh! What would you say it feels like? Ow, it [Bleep.]
Hurts.
- Let me see it.
- No.
- Come on back over.
- Shut up.
I cannot get enough of that.
Oh, yeah.
That looked like it really did hurt, actually.
It did.
It hurt a lot.
I just can't believe you actually went through with it.
I can't believe you beat me, "of the sun.
" I can't believe that, either.
And you know what that means is the official "Top Gear" recommendation to the military for the future weapon of choice is The Honda del sol.
Amazing.
Next, you're gonna replace the air force's f22 with a box kite.
I love kites.
On that disturbing note, that is our show for the week.
Thank you for tuning in.
Goodbye.
Synch by Benfo