Top Gear (US) s05e04 Episode Script
Snow Show
Ferrara: Now, on Top Gear Whoa! We turn a humble school bus Oh, sh Into a snow-destroying warrior.
Fire in the hole! And one of us gets to race against an arctic cat in the ultimate snow-crushing supercar.
February 2014 saw America crippled by a brutal winter storm.
The polar vortex even extended down through the South.
With it rarely snowing and with the best snow machines costing upwards of half a million dollars, these towns just don't have the resources.
So top gear challenged us to come up with a low-cost snow-crushing solution.
We headed to caribou, Maine, and chose the baddest machines for snow removal we could find in order to do some research Wood: Look at that! Yeah! [Laugh.]
Foust: That is a thing of beauty.
And to meet up at the spud speedway.
Holy crap, that is about the most fun you can have.
This thing is an absolute beast, pretty much the biggest, heaviest, fastest, gnarliest thing on snow I can possibly imagine.
What in the Sam hill is that? Whoa, whoa! It's going to eat my truck! Oh, yep, she's a beaut! You trying to dig a hole or remove some snow? I think I was born to drive something this big.
It does make you look kind of normal sized.
How fast can it go? Tops out at 30 miles an hour.
Blowing snow at 30 miles an hour? That's I mean, it can't eat snow at 30 miles an hour, but Six.
Six is a good speed.
Seven, 10.
I would put a bullet in my head if I did six.
It depends on how much snow there is.
I mean, if we're talking about eight feet of snow That'll go through eight feet of snow? Oh, yeah.
All day long.
And it articulates.
Really, following the hips? - That's it.
- Can you even see? Like, what if you just drive into a car with that thing? What am I, Adam? Speaking of Adam.
Holy crap.
What is that? [Laugh.]
This seems safe, doesn't it? No.
Nice work, you got a Fricking train.
It's a snow tank! This is a 1994 Oshkosh snow blower.
It's got a 350 horsepower drive engine with a thousand pound-feet of torque.
The blower engine, 800 horsepower.
Faust: It's named after a line of toddler clothing.
Ferrara: So it'll fit you.
Huh.
Wood: Let's come check this out.
We've got a 2000 Volvo.
Essentially a front end loader with a snow blower on the front.
Ferrara: That's cool.
I mean, this clears the way for you.
No, it's in the way of me.
You guys have too many moving parts.
I just have a blade.
I drop it, physics does the rest.
2007 international dump truck with a snowplow conversion kit.
Big speed and momentum and 70,000 pounds.
That's how you clear snow.
I'm just saying, "keep it simple" Very true.
If there's one thing he is, it's simple.
And a bit confused.
What are we doing here? Let's see.
"You will be given a school bus to create the South's winter warrior.
" A school bus? There's a lot of issues with that.
Go ahead.
They get stuck all the time.
True.
Sure.
Right? Wood: So we have to convert a plain old school bus into a snow-devouring machine and then prove that it was capable of doing the job of these beasts.
But first, as a part of our research, we have to race one lap around this oval track while clearing the snow.
Foust: You guys are going to be going like four Miles an hour.
You might as well just hang out here and maybe go get us some coffee or something.
I'll take care of it.
You ever drifted 70,000 pounds? No, you haven't.
And you won't start today.
Line 'em up! Wood: I've got a big chain for when you guys get stuck.
I'm happy to pull you out after I win.
Foust: My plan is I'm going to back up, get enough speed, because this truck is all about momentum.
Plow mode is in full! Rear end is engaged.
Oh, I wish this had guns on it.
Let's blow some snow! Foust: In three, two, one, go! Backwards, I know I'm going backwards, I know I'm going backwards, I'm really confused, trust me.
Ferrara: Oh, I can't see nothing.
Can't see nothing! Foust: Though Adam didn't know it, he was actually in first place.
Wood: Tanner, I can't see you.
Have you lapped me yet? Finding forward gear.
Where would the wipers be? Oh.
Ha-ha! Come on, baby! Eat, eat, eat! Wood: Oh, I have found my new life's calling! This is it.
Oh, Tanner's coming through fast.
Foust: Go, baby! Yeah, we got full power! Oh, it's turning, it's turning.
Oh, no, oh, no.
Wood: Oh, my gosh, oh, Tanner buried it! I'm buried.
Ha! Wood: As old friends, we felt a moral obligation to help him out.
Kind of.
Foust: You sons of bitches! Wood: I'll be back to get you in another lap.
Ferrara: There you go, girl.
Foust: Oh! What the hell? There's ice chunks in there! Ha ha ha ha! This sucks.
Wood: With Tanner out, it was a two-man race, but Adam was having issues.
I can't see nothing! Foust: Adam, you're literally spraying the snow right back in your own face.
Ferrara: How the hell do you rotate this thing? Wood: While those two suckers struggled, I'd found my stride as I rounded turn two.
You guys hear that? That's the sound of me winning.
Moving a ton of snow over here.
Foust: But Adam meanwhile was picking up speed and was on Rut's tail.
Ferrara: Ha ha! I'm coming on the high side! Wood: You don't know scary until you see a lunatic in a snow tank in your rear view mirror.
Come on, baby.
Wood: As Adam caught up to me in the final turn Watch it, psycho! You don't know what you're doing! He pushed his snow machine Ha ha ha! Turned into a snow bank, and came to a grinding halt.
Ferrara: Ah, [Bleep.]
.
Wood: 'Cause this snow is for real.
I think I got it stuck.
Wood: And I was the clear winner.
Hey, look at me! I won! Foust: Hey, buddy, how 'bout a little help? I'm going to come back there and hook a chain up.
Wood: Oh, sure, pal, let me help you out.
I'm not going to help him out.
Oh, I'm just going to spray snow on him.
Foust: Hey, slow down there! You can kill somebody with that! [Laugh.]
Foust: Come on! I'm outside! Wood: Why would you be outside? It's freezing out there! Foust: I thought I was a sore loser.
Wood: Pretty amazing that this was the only one that could actually get through the snow.
Okay, mine got through the snow, it's just that it's not meant to turn like that.
Okay, you got ground clearance, I'll give you that.
Plus you had some knobby tires.
This is research.
You know what we learned, gentlemen? I learned that I have to eliminate some kind of snow.
More ground clearance and better tires, probably.
Let's go see what we're working with.
I mean, for starters, I won, so that will make it badass.
Ferrara: This is going to be all day, isn't it? All day.
Hello! What? Wood: It's awesome! Ferrara: We'd been given a 1999 Chevy short bus.
With a small block v8 sporting a jaunty 210 horsepower and the ability to carry up to 22 future presidents, it would take quite a few mods to turn this little gem into a real, live snowplow.
How do you get "awesome" out of that? It's a short bus! Just 'cause you rode one of these to school every day for ten years doesn't make it awesome.
You know, I heard that enough growing up.
Foust: It's got no ground clearance at all.
Wood: I mean, yeah, it needs some work, it's a fixer-upper, but it's a good place to start.
Ferrara: Clearly our work was cut out for us.
Each of us would have to tackle a different aspect of the conversion.
How 'bout everything driving performance related, I'll take care of the modifications.
And I'll take care of snow removal since I'm obviously good at that.
I will take care of snow elimination.
Isn't that the same thing? No, I got an idea.
Let's get started.
I'll drive.
Ferrara: Whoever came up with the best modifications would earn the chance to drive the ultimate snow racer, a car that's just as much at home on ice as it is on the race track.
Wood: Whoa! Oh! Ferrara: As our sad little bus limped its way to the auto shop, the solitary vinyl seat took Rut to his happy place.
Wood: You kind of forget until you ride in a school bus how much fun they were.
Stop.
They really aren't that much fun.
This is about the least fun thing to drive ever.
They were fun to ride in as a kid.
You know, if you sat in the back and you went over a bump, it's like riding on the tail car of a roller coaster.
Foust: You guys know I used to be a bus driver? Had the big dish steering wheel with the front tires behind you and you sit there and saw at the wheel like this.
It was so awesome.
Wood: Didn't you get fired from that job? Yeah, I got fired for doing doughnuts in the beaver creek bus lot.
But it was worth it.
Wood: But we weren't here to reminisce.
We were here to make a difference.
I really think the whole key to success here is to remove the snow.
Foust: The things I'm going to do to the school bus would make no snow days ever possible.
Children will hate you.
Yeah, probably, actually.
I'm going to beat the [Bleep.]
out of you kids.
Ferrara: We had forgotten the sacred law of childhood Don't piss off the bus driver.
Foust: Oh, you guys want to play games? I'll show you some games.
Oh! Oh! Oh, there's nothing to hold onto! We need seat belts! I think you're going a little fast here.
Snow bank! Oh! Oh, sh Ferrara: Coming up, our school bus snowplow is ready for war.
Fire in the hole! And one of us races a super car against a snowmobile.
Ferrara: We'd come to caribou, Maine, to convert an ordinary school bus into a snow-plowing monster, and we'd take on a series of challenges to prove it was up to the task.
As we headed to do our modifications, our bus driver was still a little bit cranky.
Oh! Wood: Snow bank! Snow bank! Oh, [Bleep.]
! Ferrara: Will you stop messing around? Have you collected all your data? We've got work to do.
Foust: Yeah, I've collected my data.
You ready? I'm ready.
Can you just not hit any more snow banks? All you've got to do is just get it in there.
You're a gold medal winning rally driver.
Can you drive it into a garage? Foust: We worked through the night, with each of us responsible for a different part of the snowplow, and when morning came It was time to reveal what each of us had contributed.
Wood: Is that not the coolest bus you have ever seen? Whoa! What is wrong with him? Wow.
Huh? Yeah! All right, gents, let's talk performance.
Obviously, ten-inch lifts on a school bus makes it awesome right off the bat.
44-inch tires, made it four-wheel drive, put in a four-inch exhaust to loosen up to 350, and a limited-slip differential, so, yes, if you were wondering, it'll drift.
Oh, I wasn't wondering.
I had no doubt.
It is awesome.
Wow.
Yeah.
This is going to end up on his lawn.
So, Rut, you won the race with a blower, but you put on a snowplow.
I know, but unfortunately, a blower's just too heavy for a short bus, but this is no ordinary plow.
We're talking about a ten-foo-wide hydraulically driven triple-edged spring-adjustable snowplow.
That's right, it goes up, it goes down, you can move it left, right, it articulates, and, to help with the weight, put airbags underneath the front end.
But that's not all.
There's more.
There's more.
In the back there's a sand spreader.
So that's snow removal.
And what is snow elimination? Oh, I'm glad you asked.
Gentlemen, behold.
I saw that, is that like a squid launcher? No, that would be silly.
That is a flamethrower.
What? You don't have to move the snow out of your way.
You just melt it.
You put a flamethrower on a school bus.
What is wrong with you? Nothing.
It shoots 30 feet.
It goes right over the kids' heads.
Where's the fuel for said flamethrower? In the back, in a tank.
And, see that shower head? Yes.
Hot water.
Now you can see.
It's freezing outside, so when you throw hot water on a cold piece of glass, it's going to break.
You're welcome.
And I threw a couple of other things on on a need to know basis, and right now, gentlemen, you don't need to know.
Oh, really, the flamethrower isn't the top-secret part? That stuff you guys have clearance for.
You know what? Let's test it out.
Let's see how all this stuff works.
Well done.
Let's go.
Yeah! Foust: It was time to see what our creation was made of.
Wood: Oh, there's a bank! Holy crap.
I have to admit, this might be the coolest school bus of all time.
The critical thing is four-wheel drive, because the problem with these buses is all the weight's in the front, and if it's empty, there's no kids in the back, you're screwed, it just spins the tires, but now we've got four-by, I've got my high/low transfer case right here, we're good to go.
Wood: Let's drop the blade and see what she can do.
That's too fast! Whoa! There's some snow! Hello! What's wrong with you, man? After seeing what Tanner did with a plow in our race, i wasn't thrilled with him having the controls.
But I was much more worried about the flamethrower.
Really? A flamethrower? Yes.
You know, in 1948, the mayor of Boston had M.
I.
T.
Research flamethrowers for snow removal? Their results were inconclusive.
We're picking up where M.
I.
T.
left off.
I just don't like the fact that the fuel is inside with us.
We'll be fine, just don't hit anything.
Hard.
I've never been more afraid to be in a school bus in my life.
Ferrara: Heading to our first challenge, Tanner did nothing to help ease Rut's fears.
Oh, my snow bank! Oh, snow bank! Yeah, this seems totally necessary! What did you do? You broke the spreader, man! Ferrara: Rut's lame spreader wasn't going to help him, especially where we were going next.
We turned off a paved road onto a rugged logging trail, a place where school buses just don't go.
Whoa, whoa! Wood: Did you knock that person's head off? I don't know what the hell those things are doing out here anyway.
"The roads are piled high with snow and impassable.
" In order to get your schoolchildren home safely, you will have to take your bus off-road.
You must navigate this harrowing trail through the woods, getting the bus plow and those dummies out "in one piece.
" That explains them.
They're already broken.
Those dummies, not these dummies.
Meaning we're not sure this is going to work just yet, so we should take them instead.
Perfect.
Should we go out that trail? Yep.
Sweet.
Foust: These guys have little faith.
I've locked in the four-wheel drive.
I've also got it in four low, and I'm going to go by the mantra that momentum is your friend.
Boy, this trail is really aggressive.
Is he going to make that turn? I think we're going to see it airborne there.
It's going to have like Dukes of Hazzard air out and then try not to get stuck in this stuff.
Foust: All right, fellas.
I've got some kids in here that need to get home and get their homework done.
All right, Tanner, let's see it.
Wood: Oh, jeez, here he comes.
Ooh, it's already a tight turn to make.
Oh, boy, that is Oh, that is big.
[Laugh.]
Oh! [Bleep.]
! Oh, my gosh! There he goes.
Oh, it's narrow as can be, but the off-road capability is certainly there! My ginormous tires were crushing it through these woods.
This snowplow is a beast.
That is the coolest school bus I've ever seen! Whoa! Oh, my God.
Little bit slippery here! Uh-oh, uh-oh.
Ferrara: Coming up, things get a little heated.
Oh hoh hoh hoh hoh! And later, one of us drives a super car in an arctic race.
Wood: We were in Caribou, Maine, and had converted an old-school bus into a monster snowplow.
Tanner was testing his off-road modifications on a grueling logging trail.
Whoa, it's Oh, my God.
Little bit slippery here! Uh-oh, uh-oh.
Wood: Oh, that didn't sound good at all.
There's that.
Phew.
Nailed it.
How'd, uh How'd the dummies turn out? Mmm not good.
[Laughing.]
All right, gentlemen, let's go.
I'm driving.
Technically, Tanner's challenge was a success, if you ignore the decapitated mannequins.
Now it was Rut's turn to test his modifications.
We were told to head to a nearby snow-covered parking lot.
This is good right here.
Foust: I think we're here, gents.
Ferrara: What are we doing here? "Any snowplow worth its salt" "Can plow a parking lot with minimal effort.
" You must clear this parking lot of all snow in less than one hour.
"Make sure the pile of snow is not blocking any entrances.
" Wood: No problem.
You know the difference from when I get in and when you get in? I can actually reach it.
"Woo, I'm a man!" Oh, he made that look pretty easily, actually.
Yeah.
Ferrara: He has an hour to do this.
I don't care if he has six days.
There's no way he's pushing through that snow.
Look at this.
This snow's as hard as a rock.
Wood: Oh, yeah.
Now I will just take a little bit of this snow here.
Huh, that didn't That didn't work.
How are you doing? I've just got to take a little smaller bite and more of 'em.
I'm good.
He's never taken a smaller bite in his life.
Wood: Even though I couldn't use the snow blower, i was still confident my triple-edged plow could conquer the snow.
Oh, [Bleep.]
! No, that didn't work.
Huh, that that definitely did not work better.
Tell you what, let's go sit down.
Foust: With half an hour to go and Rut failing miserably That is disappointing.
We figured we could at least get out of the wind and try to warm up a little bit.
Guys, I think I'm stuck.
Guys? Hey, seriously, I'm stuck, I need help.
Oh, look at that.
It was my lucky day.
Oh, maybe this guy can help.
Oh! Hey! How you doing? Do you want to make 50 bucks? If you just knock out as much of this as you could in five minutes, I'd be really grateful.
Let 'er rip, Charlie! Oh, look at that! Yeah! That thing just decimates the snow! Oh, that is a beautiful sight.
Nobody's got to know about Charlie.
Every square foot of snow Charlie threw in the air made me and my plow modification look golden.
This is 50 bucks well spent right here.
Thanks, Charlie! You're the man! Great job! My favorite snow was in '91, '92 season in Vale.
Oh, my gosh, it was unbelievable.
We had this snow year, there were four avalanches.
What time do you have there? It's time.
- So soon? - Now.
This just looks a little too professional.
I've got to rough up the edges a touch.
Holy cow, I think I lost my lunch! Foust: Oh, he's got a little bit of it moved.
Ferrara: Wow, I didn't think he'd get this far.
Rut! Time's up, Rut.
Yeah, it's been an hour, my friend.
I will give you this, you did a lot better than I thought you were going to do.
It's still a fail, but it's an impressive fail.
It's really this big snowdrift here in the middle.
It's like all just piled up, I can't get through it.
So I think what you're trying to say is that snow needs to be eliminated.
Oh, God.
Please, I would love to see that.
You're not really going to shoot the flamethrower, are you? Yeah.
Step aside.
Rut had cleared away a surprising amount of snow, but that measly little blade was not going to outshine me.
It was time for the eliminator.
Wood: I don't have a good feeling about this.
Fire in the hole! Oh hoh hoh hoh! Ha ha ha ha! Let the elimination begin! Wood: It was like being in hell.
Everything was on fire and Adam was in control.
[Laughing.]
I am prometheus! Oh, this is the most dangerous thing we've ever done, is give him a flamethrower.
Is there something inside there? Dude, I think there's a car in there.
No.
Dude, there's a car in there.
No, a car would be way taller.
Adam, stop, turn it off for a second.
That car's on fire.
Hey, I think the bus is on fire.
Okay.
Huh? I'm a genius! I eliminated the snow.
Yeah, but it's Still on fire.
That's a car.
Yeah, you burned it.
Look, you're seeing the glass that's half-empty.
I eliminated the snow above the car.
Technically this is a success.
You think you've helped these people by removing a layer of the snow? They have helped contribute to snow elimination.
I'll leave a note, insurance will take care of it.
Moving on.
Foust: Maybe leave the note outside the car.
How 'bout I'll drive? All right, almost done.
"Tanner Foust.
" Wood: O-u-s-t.
He hates it when it's a-u-s-t.
You didn't really put my name on there, right? As we fled the scene to our final challenge, i couldn't have been more confident that my performance mods could overcome anything.
We don't even need a snowplow.
We can just drive over everything.
Listen to it.
[Revving.]
Yeah! That is kind of cool.
Wood: 44-inch tires on 20-inch wheels.
You don't feel like that's showing off just a little bit? No, it's pretty cool.
Basically, Rutledge, I made exactly what I knew you would want to go to school in every day.
I would glady drive my kids to school in this every day.
Exactly.
Wood: So I had partially cleared a parking lot while Adam had completely destroyed a car, leaving Tanner as the only one with a decisive victory, and this is our last chance to win a challenge.
Wood residence, Ferrara residence.
Thank you.
Have a good day, honey.
- This is a lot of snow.
- All right, what are we doing here? Let's see.
"Education is a top priority in the United States," and a freak Southern snowstorm shouldn't stop your plow bus.
In a challenge that will test snow removal, performance, and slow elimination, you must make your way five miles from "a local bus route to a nearby school in 30 minutes.
" No problem.
Five miles? - Yeah, let's do it.
- Mount up.
- I'll drive.
- Time to plow.
Foust: All right.
Drive the plow.
Turn the master switch on there.
Yeah, can I have the controller for the plow? It's my It's my plow.
Just give him the controller.
I'll tell you what, you can work the plow if you let me drive.
Hell no.
Okay, plow it is.
Here we go.
Wood: Our bus route would take us through an unplowed neighborhood that looked to have drifts up to four feet deep.
Yeah, now we're talking! Look at this plow! Can you believe it? It's working.
Oh, plow away, my friend! Ferrara: Our plow bus was slicing through the snow with only one small problem.
I don't know where the road is.
It's got to be around here somewhere.
I'll move the plow up here.
You're moving the plow? It's pulling me to the right! Watch the mailbox! No! Ferrara: We were competing to see which of us had made the best modifications to our short bus.
So far, Tanner had the only clear-cut victory, but now, Rut's plow was in full force.
We had just 30 minutes to clear a five-mile bus route in our final challenge.
I'm going to move the plow up here.
You're moving the plow? It's pulling me to the right, Rut! Watch the mailbox! No! Oh! That's not good.
- Rut, what did you push? - Sorry.
That might have been my fault.
Plow up.
Plow's up.
All the way.
All the way up.
You would think that after taking out somebody's mailbox, Tanner might slow down a bit, but with just 20 minutes left to reach the schoolhouse, you'd be wrong.
Oh, man, oh, this looks big.
Foust: Oh, hang on! Yeah, that's big.
There's the end of the road! It's all tires, baby! No, throttle off, leave it off! Plow, baby! [Laugh.]
Woohoo! I told you guys this plow would work.
Oh! Oh, you had to turn that way, right? Wood: But with time fast running out, we found ourselves at a complete standstill.
So this looks deep.
Ferrara: You'll be fine, go ahead.
Oh, God, it's cold! Okay, that's good.
How are we going to push? I can't stand up! Foust: I'll be honest, it would have been nicer if you guys would have closed the door.
It's chilly in here.
Ferrara: You suck.
- Let's go, you ready? - Yeah.
Foust: This seemed like a perfect time to test Adam's windshield-clearing shower head.
That's bull [Bleep.]
.
That's bull [Bleep.]
.
It's too cold to get us wet! I hate you.
[Grunt.]
I hate snow! It's so cold! Foust: Rut's plow was just not getting the job done.
It looked like it was up to me to bail us out again, this time with raw power.
Easy does it.
Hey, Tanner, that's too fast.
That's too fast! Oh, look at this speed now.
That's too fast! Oh, jeez! Oh! What was that? That was us making it.
Ferrara: With a quarter mile to go and ten minutes to spare, we were on the brink of victory.
There it is.
Yep, baird road, hang a right here.
Foust: Ha-ha! Oh, we made it! Ferrara: We're almost done, boys! Oh, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa.
Oh! Whoa! Hold on.
Ferrara: Until we hit The wall.
Huh.
Might be able to kind of like just bust it in a vee, you know? Are you kid holy crap, that's hard.
Yeah, we're going to have to come up with a plan b.
We probably have to go all the way back out that way.
Like a few miles.
And then come around.
Gentlemen, no need for that.
Foust: Mister plan b himself had a plan.
Remember I told you there's a secret weapon on this bus? Yeah.
I'm about to declassify it.
We have a mine-clearing device.
- What? - Yeah, it shoots a projectile with a rope.
The rope blows up.
It is going to blow a channel straight through that snow.
We can drive the bus right through it.
We're home-free! This is easily your worst idea ever.
I can't wait to see it.
Where are you going to stand? - Way over there.
- Okay.
I'm going with you.
You'll thank me.
I'd say good luck, but So you got a guy.
Worst idea we've ever had.
I heard that! No, no, I was talking about the thing No, I was talking about him.
This is a terrible idea.
All right, let's do this.
Oh, safety.
Bomber hat.
He knows everything he touches goes wrong.
Why would he touch things like explosives and fire? You want some earplugs? Uh you just had these in your pocket? Yeah.
You ever met my mom? Always prepared.
Wind's picking up.
Readjust this thing to the left.
All right.
Pressure! Loaded.
Here we go, here we go! Here it is! Fire in the hole! Oh! Oh! Wood: We were on our final challenge to prove who had made the best modifications on a converted snow bus.
The winner would get to race in an arctic super car.
And with only minutes left to complete our school route There it is! We're almost done, boys! We had hit a giant wall of snow.
Yeah, we're going to have to come up with a plan b.
Reluctantly we'd agreed to let Adam try his secret weapon A mine-clearing device.
Arming! Here we go, here we go.
Here it is! Fire in the hole! Oh.
I forgot to arm it.
Now, see, that's what I expected.
Reload! All right, he's reloading.
We have pressure.
Arming! Fire in the hole! Oh! Oh! Foust: Unbelievable.
Adam's idea actually worked.
Oh! Oh! Wood: Whoa! Did you see that? Foust: Until it didn't.
Do you think Adam's okay? Dude, that house is gone.
You all right? [Shouting.]
Did it work? No.
It didn't work.
But there was still the task of figuring out which of us losers was the winner.
You blew up somebody's trailer, you set somebody's car on fire, and your shower head blew off with the explosion.
The plow was awesome.
It did everything we needed it to.
It moved the snow right out of the way.
If it could move the snow out of the way, how come we couldn't get there? Good point.
The fact is, the only one of the modification categories that actually worked the whole time is the performance modification.
It still runs, 4x4 still works.
44-inch knobbies are still badass.
I win.
Let's go.
Though our bus plow saw some success, at the end of the day, clearing snow is best left to the professionals.
Meanwhile, top gear should probably stick with what we do best, which is driving cars fast.
Speaking of which, I had to go drive one.
And if you want to drive fast on ice and snow Then what better car to bring than a super car with the most sophisticated all-wheel-drive system ever put on a streetcar? The Nissan GT-R.
That's right, it's a Nissan and it's a super car.
This is the GT-R track edition.
At $117,000, it's the most expensive GT-R you can buy, but it'll go zero to 60 in 2.
7 seconds, which makes it the quickest.
The GT-R punches way above its weight class thanks to a twin-turbocharged 3.
8 liter v6 that spits out a whopping 545 horsepower.
But what makes this car remarkable is its revolutionary all-wheel-drive system called Atessa.
So the Atessa all-wheel-drive system is unique, and it can put 98% of the car's force just in the rear tires or go completely 50/50, and it adjusts it nearly instantaneously.
You can partially thank video games like gran tourismo for bringing the GT-R to American shores in 2009.
A whole generation had been driving and falling in love with this car before it even got here, at least digitally.
In fact, polyphony digital, creators of the gran tourismo series, were contracted to design the GT-R's multifunction display.
The screen can be customized to view just about everything.
You can check g-forces, I've got boost gauge, you can see how much torque split is going from the rear to all-wheel drive, which is actually an awesome little gauge.
So there's no denying that the technical wizardry in the all-wheel-drive system flat-out works, but is it fun? This car can be as smart as a car can be.
It still can only react.
A driver can anticipate.
If you know three corners ahead where you want the car to be, the car can never be that good.
But here in Wyoming in the Teton Mountain range lies one of the highest elevated roads in north America, where the ice and snow may just be the perfect place to discover this car's true potential.
All I had to do was find something to test it against.
Whoa! Foust: My school bus modifications had won me the chance to get behind the wheel of a Nissan GT-R super car on one of America's most notorious winter roads.
Here in the Grand Teton national park, i could test the very limits of its ultra high-tech all wheel drive system.
All I had to do was find something to compete against.
Whoa! The arctic cat M9000 HCR, the quickest, fastest, most powerful production snowmobile ever sold.
Cross a super bike and a raptor, put skis on it, and you get this.
It's turbocharged.
Makes 177 horsepower, and will hit 121 miles an hour.
It has a zero to 60 time of Well, let's find out.
We've designed a race that is seven miles long.
To keep things fair and a little more exciting, the courses have been designed to suit each vehicle's strengths The road for me and the deep snow for the arctic cat.
You may think this is completely ridiculous.
The snowmobile weighs in at just over 600 pounds without the rider.
In order to have the same power to weight ratio, I would need about 1,300 horsepower in the GT-R.
But if I can keep it on the road, I can beat him.
In three, two, one! Go! Launch control is doing its thing.
That's all I get? That's everything? Oh, it's putting the power down now! Kind of catching up to him! Catching up to him! Yeah! That's what I'm talking about! Okay, this is where we part and the race gets serious.
Going uphill, this patchy road is where the snowmobile would struggle.
This really is just the most dangerous kind of road.
Cliff on one side, ice, slush, and then just plain dry pavement that when you least expect it grabs the car and wants to fling you off the road.
And here's a bit of traction.
Whoa! Holy [Bleep.]
! Whoa! I almost just drove off the road.
Looking at the gauge, the rear-wheel-drive to all-wheel-drive torque split device is absolutely going nuts.
Instantly it sends the power where I need it.
I hate this system on a race track because you're always reacting to whatever the car does, but I tell you what, on these conditions? Oh! It is good.
The Atessa all-wheel-drive system was performing flawlessly, but I had no idea where the snowmobile was.
The arctic cat was flying to the top of the hill at breakneck speed.
And as he crossed the white plains I was cresting the top of the mountain and was hoping to catch sight of the snowmobile.
Holy [Bleep.]
! Oh, my God, he's right there! The arctic cat was now in the lead and I was just trying to stay on the road, but he was quickly running out of real estate and I was gaining ground fast.
There's no way he can pass me on this road.
But the arctic cat had no intentions of staying on the road.
I see him in the field there! His course took him up into the tree line while I was sliding the GT-R around on slush, hopefully picking up more time.
As I got back on the snow-packed road, with the finish line in front of me and no snowmobile in sight, I could taste victory.
Woohoohoo! Oh, there he is! No! No, no, no, no! No! You gotta be kidding me! There is no question that on a race track the GT-R is one of the quickest speed demons money can buy at any price.
But for me, torch brake can turn track game into a guessing game However, as I discovered today put the Nissan on the kind of surfaces that would cripple most super cars, and the GT-R shows that technological gizmos are in fact for real and god lord that they work.
Fire in the hole! And one of us gets to race against an arctic cat in the ultimate snow-crushing supercar.
February 2014 saw America crippled by a brutal winter storm.
The polar vortex even extended down through the South.
With it rarely snowing and with the best snow machines costing upwards of half a million dollars, these towns just don't have the resources.
So top gear challenged us to come up with a low-cost snow-crushing solution.
We headed to caribou, Maine, and chose the baddest machines for snow removal we could find in order to do some research Wood: Look at that! Yeah! [Laugh.]
Foust: That is a thing of beauty.
And to meet up at the spud speedway.
Holy crap, that is about the most fun you can have.
This thing is an absolute beast, pretty much the biggest, heaviest, fastest, gnarliest thing on snow I can possibly imagine.
What in the Sam hill is that? Whoa, whoa! It's going to eat my truck! Oh, yep, she's a beaut! You trying to dig a hole or remove some snow? I think I was born to drive something this big.
It does make you look kind of normal sized.
How fast can it go? Tops out at 30 miles an hour.
Blowing snow at 30 miles an hour? That's I mean, it can't eat snow at 30 miles an hour, but Six.
Six is a good speed.
Seven, 10.
I would put a bullet in my head if I did six.
It depends on how much snow there is.
I mean, if we're talking about eight feet of snow That'll go through eight feet of snow? Oh, yeah.
All day long.
And it articulates.
Really, following the hips? - That's it.
- Can you even see? Like, what if you just drive into a car with that thing? What am I, Adam? Speaking of Adam.
Holy crap.
What is that? [Laugh.]
This seems safe, doesn't it? No.
Nice work, you got a Fricking train.
It's a snow tank! This is a 1994 Oshkosh snow blower.
It's got a 350 horsepower drive engine with a thousand pound-feet of torque.
The blower engine, 800 horsepower.
Faust: It's named after a line of toddler clothing.
Ferrara: So it'll fit you.
Huh.
Wood: Let's come check this out.
We've got a 2000 Volvo.
Essentially a front end loader with a snow blower on the front.
Ferrara: That's cool.
I mean, this clears the way for you.
No, it's in the way of me.
You guys have too many moving parts.
I just have a blade.
I drop it, physics does the rest.
2007 international dump truck with a snowplow conversion kit.
Big speed and momentum and 70,000 pounds.
That's how you clear snow.
I'm just saying, "keep it simple" Very true.
If there's one thing he is, it's simple.
And a bit confused.
What are we doing here? Let's see.
"You will be given a school bus to create the South's winter warrior.
" A school bus? There's a lot of issues with that.
Go ahead.
They get stuck all the time.
True.
Sure.
Right? Wood: So we have to convert a plain old school bus into a snow-devouring machine and then prove that it was capable of doing the job of these beasts.
But first, as a part of our research, we have to race one lap around this oval track while clearing the snow.
Foust: You guys are going to be going like four Miles an hour.
You might as well just hang out here and maybe go get us some coffee or something.
I'll take care of it.
You ever drifted 70,000 pounds? No, you haven't.
And you won't start today.
Line 'em up! Wood: I've got a big chain for when you guys get stuck.
I'm happy to pull you out after I win.
Foust: My plan is I'm going to back up, get enough speed, because this truck is all about momentum.
Plow mode is in full! Rear end is engaged.
Oh, I wish this had guns on it.
Let's blow some snow! Foust: In three, two, one, go! Backwards, I know I'm going backwards, I know I'm going backwards, I'm really confused, trust me.
Ferrara: Oh, I can't see nothing.
Can't see nothing! Foust: Though Adam didn't know it, he was actually in first place.
Wood: Tanner, I can't see you.
Have you lapped me yet? Finding forward gear.
Where would the wipers be? Oh.
Ha-ha! Come on, baby! Eat, eat, eat! Wood: Oh, I have found my new life's calling! This is it.
Oh, Tanner's coming through fast.
Foust: Go, baby! Yeah, we got full power! Oh, it's turning, it's turning.
Oh, no, oh, no.
Wood: Oh, my gosh, oh, Tanner buried it! I'm buried.
Ha! Wood: As old friends, we felt a moral obligation to help him out.
Kind of.
Foust: You sons of bitches! Wood: I'll be back to get you in another lap.
Ferrara: There you go, girl.
Foust: Oh! What the hell? There's ice chunks in there! Ha ha ha ha! This sucks.
Wood: With Tanner out, it was a two-man race, but Adam was having issues.
I can't see nothing! Foust: Adam, you're literally spraying the snow right back in your own face.
Ferrara: How the hell do you rotate this thing? Wood: While those two suckers struggled, I'd found my stride as I rounded turn two.
You guys hear that? That's the sound of me winning.
Moving a ton of snow over here.
Foust: But Adam meanwhile was picking up speed and was on Rut's tail.
Ferrara: Ha ha! I'm coming on the high side! Wood: You don't know scary until you see a lunatic in a snow tank in your rear view mirror.
Come on, baby.
Wood: As Adam caught up to me in the final turn Watch it, psycho! You don't know what you're doing! He pushed his snow machine Ha ha ha! Turned into a snow bank, and came to a grinding halt.
Ferrara: Ah, [Bleep.]
.
Wood: 'Cause this snow is for real.
I think I got it stuck.
Wood: And I was the clear winner.
Hey, look at me! I won! Foust: Hey, buddy, how 'bout a little help? I'm going to come back there and hook a chain up.
Wood: Oh, sure, pal, let me help you out.
I'm not going to help him out.
Oh, I'm just going to spray snow on him.
Foust: Hey, slow down there! You can kill somebody with that! [Laugh.]
Foust: Come on! I'm outside! Wood: Why would you be outside? It's freezing out there! Foust: I thought I was a sore loser.
Wood: Pretty amazing that this was the only one that could actually get through the snow.
Okay, mine got through the snow, it's just that it's not meant to turn like that.
Okay, you got ground clearance, I'll give you that.
Plus you had some knobby tires.
This is research.
You know what we learned, gentlemen? I learned that I have to eliminate some kind of snow.
More ground clearance and better tires, probably.
Let's go see what we're working with.
I mean, for starters, I won, so that will make it badass.
Ferrara: This is going to be all day, isn't it? All day.
Hello! What? Wood: It's awesome! Ferrara: We'd been given a 1999 Chevy short bus.
With a small block v8 sporting a jaunty 210 horsepower and the ability to carry up to 22 future presidents, it would take quite a few mods to turn this little gem into a real, live snowplow.
How do you get "awesome" out of that? It's a short bus! Just 'cause you rode one of these to school every day for ten years doesn't make it awesome.
You know, I heard that enough growing up.
Foust: It's got no ground clearance at all.
Wood: I mean, yeah, it needs some work, it's a fixer-upper, but it's a good place to start.
Ferrara: Clearly our work was cut out for us.
Each of us would have to tackle a different aspect of the conversion.
How 'bout everything driving performance related, I'll take care of the modifications.
And I'll take care of snow removal since I'm obviously good at that.
I will take care of snow elimination.
Isn't that the same thing? No, I got an idea.
Let's get started.
I'll drive.
Ferrara: Whoever came up with the best modifications would earn the chance to drive the ultimate snow racer, a car that's just as much at home on ice as it is on the race track.
Wood: Whoa! Oh! Ferrara: As our sad little bus limped its way to the auto shop, the solitary vinyl seat took Rut to his happy place.
Wood: You kind of forget until you ride in a school bus how much fun they were.
Stop.
They really aren't that much fun.
This is about the least fun thing to drive ever.
They were fun to ride in as a kid.
You know, if you sat in the back and you went over a bump, it's like riding on the tail car of a roller coaster.
Foust: You guys know I used to be a bus driver? Had the big dish steering wheel with the front tires behind you and you sit there and saw at the wheel like this.
It was so awesome.
Wood: Didn't you get fired from that job? Yeah, I got fired for doing doughnuts in the beaver creek bus lot.
But it was worth it.
Wood: But we weren't here to reminisce.
We were here to make a difference.
I really think the whole key to success here is to remove the snow.
Foust: The things I'm going to do to the school bus would make no snow days ever possible.
Children will hate you.
Yeah, probably, actually.
I'm going to beat the [Bleep.]
out of you kids.
Ferrara: We had forgotten the sacred law of childhood Don't piss off the bus driver.
Foust: Oh, you guys want to play games? I'll show you some games.
Oh! Oh! Oh, there's nothing to hold onto! We need seat belts! I think you're going a little fast here.
Snow bank! Oh! Oh, sh Ferrara: Coming up, our school bus snowplow is ready for war.
Fire in the hole! And one of us races a super car against a snowmobile.
Ferrara: We'd come to caribou, Maine, to convert an ordinary school bus into a snow-plowing monster, and we'd take on a series of challenges to prove it was up to the task.
As we headed to do our modifications, our bus driver was still a little bit cranky.
Oh! Wood: Snow bank! Snow bank! Oh, [Bleep.]
! Ferrara: Will you stop messing around? Have you collected all your data? We've got work to do.
Foust: Yeah, I've collected my data.
You ready? I'm ready.
Can you just not hit any more snow banks? All you've got to do is just get it in there.
You're a gold medal winning rally driver.
Can you drive it into a garage? Foust: We worked through the night, with each of us responsible for a different part of the snowplow, and when morning came It was time to reveal what each of us had contributed.
Wood: Is that not the coolest bus you have ever seen? Whoa! What is wrong with him? Wow.
Huh? Yeah! All right, gents, let's talk performance.
Obviously, ten-inch lifts on a school bus makes it awesome right off the bat.
44-inch tires, made it four-wheel drive, put in a four-inch exhaust to loosen up to 350, and a limited-slip differential, so, yes, if you were wondering, it'll drift.
Oh, I wasn't wondering.
I had no doubt.
It is awesome.
Wow.
Yeah.
This is going to end up on his lawn.
So, Rut, you won the race with a blower, but you put on a snowplow.
I know, but unfortunately, a blower's just too heavy for a short bus, but this is no ordinary plow.
We're talking about a ten-foo-wide hydraulically driven triple-edged spring-adjustable snowplow.
That's right, it goes up, it goes down, you can move it left, right, it articulates, and, to help with the weight, put airbags underneath the front end.
But that's not all.
There's more.
There's more.
In the back there's a sand spreader.
So that's snow removal.
And what is snow elimination? Oh, I'm glad you asked.
Gentlemen, behold.
I saw that, is that like a squid launcher? No, that would be silly.
That is a flamethrower.
What? You don't have to move the snow out of your way.
You just melt it.
You put a flamethrower on a school bus.
What is wrong with you? Nothing.
It shoots 30 feet.
It goes right over the kids' heads.
Where's the fuel for said flamethrower? In the back, in a tank.
And, see that shower head? Yes.
Hot water.
Now you can see.
It's freezing outside, so when you throw hot water on a cold piece of glass, it's going to break.
You're welcome.
And I threw a couple of other things on on a need to know basis, and right now, gentlemen, you don't need to know.
Oh, really, the flamethrower isn't the top-secret part? That stuff you guys have clearance for.
You know what? Let's test it out.
Let's see how all this stuff works.
Well done.
Let's go.
Yeah! Foust: It was time to see what our creation was made of.
Wood: Oh, there's a bank! Holy crap.
I have to admit, this might be the coolest school bus of all time.
The critical thing is four-wheel drive, because the problem with these buses is all the weight's in the front, and if it's empty, there's no kids in the back, you're screwed, it just spins the tires, but now we've got four-by, I've got my high/low transfer case right here, we're good to go.
Wood: Let's drop the blade and see what she can do.
That's too fast! Whoa! There's some snow! Hello! What's wrong with you, man? After seeing what Tanner did with a plow in our race, i wasn't thrilled with him having the controls.
But I was much more worried about the flamethrower.
Really? A flamethrower? Yes.
You know, in 1948, the mayor of Boston had M.
I.
T.
Research flamethrowers for snow removal? Their results were inconclusive.
We're picking up where M.
I.
T.
left off.
I just don't like the fact that the fuel is inside with us.
We'll be fine, just don't hit anything.
Hard.
I've never been more afraid to be in a school bus in my life.
Ferrara: Heading to our first challenge, Tanner did nothing to help ease Rut's fears.
Oh, my snow bank! Oh, snow bank! Yeah, this seems totally necessary! What did you do? You broke the spreader, man! Ferrara: Rut's lame spreader wasn't going to help him, especially where we were going next.
We turned off a paved road onto a rugged logging trail, a place where school buses just don't go.
Whoa, whoa! Wood: Did you knock that person's head off? I don't know what the hell those things are doing out here anyway.
"The roads are piled high with snow and impassable.
" In order to get your schoolchildren home safely, you will have to take your bus off-road.
You must navigate this harrowing trail through the woods, getting the bus plow and those dummies out "in one piece.
" That explains them.
They're already broken.
Those dummies, not these dummies.
Meaning we're not sure this is going to work just yet, so we should take them instead.
Perfect.
Should we go out that trail? Yep.
Sweet.
Foust: These guys have little faith.
I've locked in the four-wheel drive.
I've also got it in four low, and I'm going to go by the mantra that momentum is your friend.
Boy, this trail is really aggressive.
Is he going to make that turn? I think we're going to see it airborne there.
It's going to have like Dukes of Hazzard air out and then try not to get stuck in this stuff.
Foust: All right, fellas.
I've got some kids in here that need to get home and get their homework done.
All right, Tanner, let's see it.
Wood: Oh, jeez, here he comes.
Ooh, it's already a tight turn to make.
Oh, boy, that is Oh, that is big.
[Laugh.]
Oh! [Bleep.]
! Oh, my gosh! There he goes.
Oh, it's narrow as can be, but the off-road capability is certainly there! My ginormous tires were crushing it through these woods.
This snowplow is a beast.
That is the coolest school bus I've ever seen! Whoa! Oh, my God.
Little bit slippery here! Uh-oh, uh-oh.
Ferrara: Coming up, things get a little heated.
Oh hoh hoh hoh hoh! And later, one of us drives a super car in an arctic race.
Wood: We were in Caribou, Maine, and had converted an old-school bus into a monster snowplow.
Tanner was testing his off-road modifications on a grueling logging trail.
Whoa, it's Oh, my God.
Little bit slippery here! Uh-oh, uh-oh.
Wood: Oh, that didn't sound good at all.
There's that.
Phew.
Nailed it.
How'd, uh How'd the dummies turn out? Mmm not good.
[Laughing.]
All right, gentlemen, let's go.
I'm driving.
Technically, Tanner's challenge was a success, if you ignore the decapitated mannequins.
Now it was Rut's turn to test his modifications.
We were told to head to a nearby snow-covered parking lot.
This is good right here.
Foust: I think we're here, gents.
Ferrara: What are we doing here? "Any snowplow worth its salt" "Can plow a parking lot with minimal effort.
" You must clear this parking lot of all snow in less than one hour.
"Make sure the pile of snow is not blocking any entrances.
" Wood: No problem.
You know the difference from when I get in and when you get in? I can actually reach it.
"Woo, I'm a man!" Oh, he made that look pretty easily, actually.
Yeah.
Ferrara: He has an hour to do this.
I don't care if he has six days.
There's no way he's pushing through that snow.
Look at this.
This snow's as hard as a rock.
Wood: Oh, yeah.
Now I will just take a little bit of this snow here.
Huh, that didn't That didn't work.
How are you doing? I've just got to take a little smaller bite and more of 'em.
I'm good.
He's never taken a smaller bite in his life.
Wood: Even though I couldn't use the snow blower, i was still confident my triple-edged plow could conquer the snow.
Oh, [Bleep.]
! No, that didn't work.
Huh, that that definitely did not work better.
Tell you what, let's go sit down.
Foust: With half an hour to go and Rut failing miserably That is disappointing.
We figured we could at least get out of the wind and try to warm up a little bit.
Guys, I think I'm stuck.
Guys? Hey, seriously, I'm stuck, I need help.
Oh, look at that.
It was my lucky day.
Oh, maybe this guy can help.
Oh! Hey! How you doing? Do you want to make 50 bucks? If you just knock out as much of this as you could in five minutes, I'd be really grateful.
Let 'er rip, Charlie! Oh, look at that! Yeah! That thing just decimates the snow! Oh, that is a beautiful sight.
Nobody's got to know about Charlie.
Every square foot of snow Charlie threw in the air made me and my plow modification look golden.
This is 50 bucks well spent right here.
Thanks, Charlie! You're the man! Great job! My favorite snow was in '91, '92 season in Vale.
Oh, my gosh, it was unbelievable.
We had this snow year, there were four avalanches.
What time do you have there? It's time.
- So soon? - Now.
This just looks a little too professional.
I've got to rough up the edges a touch.
Holy cow, I think I lost my lunch! Foust: Oh, he's got a little bit of it moved.
Ferrara: Wow, I didn't think he'd get this far.
Rut! Time's up, Rut.
Yeah, it's been an hour, my friend.
I will give you this, you did a lot better than I thought you were going to do.
It's still a fail, but it's an impressive fail.
It's really this big snowdrift here in the middle.
It's like all just piled up, I can't get through it.
So I think what you're trying to say is that snow needs to be eliminated.
Oh, God.
Please, I would love to see that.
You're not really going to shoot the flamethrower, are you? Yeah.
Step aside.
Rut had cleared away a surprising amount of snow, but that measly little blade was not going to outshine me.
It was time for the eliminator.
Wood: I don't have a good feeling about this.
Fire in the hole! Oh hoh hoh hoh! Ha ha ha ha! Let the elimination begin! Wood: It was like being in hell.
Everything was on fire and Adam was in control.
[Laughing.]
I am prometheus! Oh, this is the most dangerous thing we've ever done, is give him a flamethrower.
Is there something inside there? Dude, I think there's a car in there.
No.
Dude, there's a car in there.
No, a car would be way taller.
Adam, stop, turn it off for a second.
That car's on fire.
Hey, I think the bus is on fire.
Okay.
Huh? I'm a genius! I eliminated the snow.
Yeah, but it's Still on fire.
That's a car.
Yeah, you burned it.
Look, you're seeing the glass that's half-empty.
I eliminated the snow above the car.
Technically this is a success.
You think you've helped these people by removing a layer of the snow? They have helped contribute to snow elimination.
I'll leave a note, insurance will take care of it.
Moving on.
Foust: Maybe leave the note outside the car.
How 'bout I'll drive? All right, almost done.
"Tanner Foust.
" Wood: O-u-s-t.
He hates it when it's a-u-s-t.
You didn't really put my name on there, right? As we fled the scene to our final challenge, i couldn't have been more confident that my performance mods could overcome anything.
We don't even need a snowplow.
We can just drive over everything.
Listen to it.
[Revving.]
Yeah! That is kind of cool.
Wood: 44-inch tires on 20-inch wheels.
You don't feel like that's showing off just a little bit? No, it's pretty cool.
Basically, Rutledge, I made exactly what I knew you would want to go to school in every day.
I would glady drive my kids to school in this every day.
Exactly.
Wood: So I had partially cleared a parking lot while Adam had completely destroyed a car, leaving Tanner as the only one with a decisive victory, and this is our last chance to win a challenge.
Wood residence, Ferrara residence.
Thank you.
Have a good day, honey.
- This is a lot of snow.
- All right, what are we doing here? Let's see.
"Education is a top priority in the United States," and a freak Southern snowstorm shouldn't stop your plow bus.
In a challenge that will test snow removal, performance, and slow elimination, you must make your way five miles from "a local bus route to a nearby school in 30 minutes.
" No problem.
Five miles? - Yeah, let's do it.
- Mount up.
- I'll drive.
- Time to plow.
Foust: All right.
Drive the plow.
Turn the master switch on there.
Yeah, can I have the controller for the plow? It's my It's my plow.
Just give him the controller.
I'll tell you what, you can work the plow if you let me drive.
Hell no.
Okay, plow it is.
Here we go.
Wood: Our bus route would take us through an unplowed neighborhood that looked to have drifts up to four feet deep.
Yeah, now we're talking! Look at this plow! Can you believe it? It's working.
Oh, plow away, my friend! Ferrara: Our plow bus was slicing through the snow with only one small problem.
I don't know where the road is.
It's got to be around here somewhere.
I'll move the plow up here.
You're moving the plow? It's pulling me to the right! Watch the mailbox! No! Ferrara: We were competing to see which of us had made the best modifications to our short bus.
So far, Tanner had the only clear-cut victory, but now, Rut's plow was in full force.
We had just 30 minutes to clear a five-mile bus route in our final challenge.
I'm going to move the plow up here.
You're moving the plow? It's pulling me to the right, Rut! Watch the mailbox! No! Oh! That's not good.
- Rut, what did you push? - Sorry.
That might have been my fault.
Plow up.
Plow's up.
All the way.
All the way up.
You would think that after taking out somebody's mailbox, Tanner might slow down a bit, but with just 20 minutes left to reach the schoolhouse, you'd be wrong.
Oh, man, oh, this looks big.
Foust: Oh, hang on! Yeah, that's big.
There's the end of the road! It's all tires, baby! No, throttle off, leave it off! Plow, baby! [Laugh.]
Woohoo! I told you guys this plow would work.
Oh! Oh, you had to turn that way, right? Wood: But with time fast running out, we found ourselves at a complete standstill.
So this looks deep.
Ferrara: You'll be fine, go ahead.
Oh, God, it's cold! Okay, that's good.
How are we going to push? I can't stand up! Foust: I'll be honest, it would have been nicer if you guys would have closed the door.
It's chilly in here.
Ferrara: You suck.
- Let's go, you ready? - Yeah.
Foust: This seemed like a perfect time to test Adam's windshield-clearing shower head.
That's bull [Bleep.]
.
That's bull [Bleep.]
.
It's too cold to get us wet! I hate you.
[Grunt.]
I hate snow! It's so cold! Foust: Rut's plow was just not getting the job done.
It looked like it was up to me to bail us out again, this time with raw power.
Easy does it.
Hey, Tanner, that's too fast.
That's too fast! Oh, look at this speed now.
That's too fast! Oh, jeez! Oh! What was that? That was us making it.
Ferrara: With a quarter mile to go and ten minutes to spare, we were on the brink of victory.
There it is.
Yep, baird road, hang a right here.
Foust: Ha-ha! Oh, we made it! Ferrara: We're almost done, boys! Oh, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa.
Oh! Whoa! Hold on.
Ferrara: Until we hit The wall.
Huh.
Might be able to kind of like just bust it in a vee, you know? Are you kid holy crap, that's hard.
Yeah, we're going to have to come up with a plan b.
We probably have to go all the way back out that way.
Like a few miles.
And then come around.
Gentlemen, no need for that.
Foust: Mister plan b himself had a plan.
Remember I told you there's a secret weapon on this bus? Yeah.
I'm about to declassify it.
We have a mine-clearing device.
- What? - Yeah, it shoots a projectile with a rope.
The rope blows up.
It is going to blow a channel straight through that snow.
We can drive the bus right through it.
We're home-free! This is easily your worst idea ever.
I can't wait to see it.
Where are you going to stand? - Way over there.
- Okay.
I'm going with you.
You'll thank me.
I'd say good luck, but So you got a guy.
Worst idea we've ever had.
I heard that! No, no, I was talking about the thing No, I was talking about him.
This is a terrible idea.
All right, let's do this.
Oh, safety.
Bomber hat.
He knows everything he touches goes wrong.
Why would he touch things like explosives and fire? You want some earplugs? Uh you just had these in your pocket? Yeah.
You ever met my mom? Always prepared.
Wind's picking up.
Readjust this thing to the left.
All right.
Pressure! Loaded.
Here we go, here we go! Here it is! Fire in the hole! Oh! Oh! Wood: We were on our final challenge to prove who had made the best modifications on a converted snow bus.
The winner would get to race in an arctic super car.
And with only minutes left to complete our school route There it is! We're almost done, boys! We had hit a giant wall of snow.
Yeah, we're going to have to come up with a plan b.
Reluctantly we'd agreed to let Adam try his secret weapon A mine-clearing device.
Arming! Here we go, here we go.
Here it is! Fire in the hole! Oh.
I forgot to arm it.
Now, see, that's what I expected.
Reload! All right, he's reloading.
We have pressure.
Arming! Fire in the hole! Oh! Oh! Foust: Unbelievable.
Adam's idea actually worked.
Oh! Oh! Wood: Whoa! Did you see that? Foust: Until it didn't.
Do you think Adam's okay? Dude, that house is gone.
You all right? [Shouting.]
Did it work? No.
It didn't work.
But there was still the task of figuring out which of us losers was the winner.
You blew up somebody's trailer, you set somebody's car on fire, and your shower head blew off with the explosion.
The plow was awesome.
It did everything we needed it to.
It moved the snow right out of the way.
If it could move the snow out of the way, how come we couldn't get there? Good point.
The fact is, the only one of the modification categories that actually worked the whole time is the performance modification.
It still runs, 4x4 still works.
44-inch knobbies are still badass.
I win.
Let's go.
Though our bus plow saw some success, at the end of the day, clearing snow is best left to the professionals.
Meanwhile, top gear should probably stick with what we do best, which is driving cars fast.
Speaking of which, I had to go drive one.
And if you want to drive fast on ice and snow Then what better car to bring than a super car with the most sophisticated all-wheel-drive system ever put on a streetcar? The Nissan GT-R.
That's right, it's a Nissan and it's a super car.
This is the GT-R track edition.
At $117,000, it's the most expensive GT-R you can buy, but it'll go zero to 60 in 2.
7 seconds, which makes it the quickest.
The GT-R punches way above its weight class thanks to a twin-turbocharged 3.
8 liter v6 that spits out a whopping 545 horsepower.
But what makes this car remarkable is its revolutionary all-wheel-drive system called Atessa.
So the Atessa all-wheel-drive system is unique, and it can put 98% of the car's force just in the rear tires or go completely 50/50, and it adjusts it nearly instantaneously.
You can partially thank video games like gran tourismo for bringing the GT-R to American shores in 2009.
A whole generation had been driving and falling in love with this car before it even got here, at least digitally.
In fact, polyphony digital, creators of the gran tourismo series, were contracted to design the GT-R's multifunction display.
The screen can be customized to view just about everything.
You can check g-forces, I've got boost gauge, you can see how much torque split is going from the rear to all-wheel drive, which is actually an awesome little gauge.
So there's no denying that the technical wizardry in the all-wheel-drive system flat-out works, but is it fun? This car can be as smart as a car can be.
It still can only react.
A driver can anticipate.
If you know three corners ahead where you want the car to be, the car can never be that good.
But here in Wyoming in the Teton Mountain range lies one of the highest elevated roads in north America, where the ice and snow may just be the perfect place to discover this car's true potential.
All I had to do was find something to test it against.
Whoa! Foust: My school bus modifications had won me the chance to get behind the wheel of a Nissan GT-R super car on one of America's most notorious winter roads.
Here in the Grand Teton national park, i could test the very limits of its ultra high-tech all wheel drive system.
All I had to do was find something to compete against.
Whoa! The arctic cat M9000 HCR, the quickest, fastest, most powerful production snowmobile ever sold.
Cross a super bike and a raptor, put skis on it, and you get this.
It's turbocharged.
Makes 177 horsepower, and will hit 121 miles an hour.
It has a zero to 60 time of Well, let's find out.
We've designed a race that is seven miles long.
To keep things fair and a little more exciting, the courses have been designed to suit each vehicle's strengths The road for me and the deep snow for the arctic cat.
You may think this is completely ridiculous.
The snowmobile weighs in at just over 600 pounds without the rider.
In order to have the same power to weight ratio, I would need about 1,300 horsepower in the GT-R.
But if I can keep it on the road, I can beat him.
In three, two, one! Go! Launch control is doing its thing.
That's all I get? That's everything? Oh, it's putting the power down now! Kind of catching up to him! Catching up to him! Yeah! That's what I'm talking about! Okay, this is where we part and the race gets serious.
Going uphill, this patchy road is where the snowmobile would struggle.
This really is just the most dangerous kind of road.
Cliff on one side, ice, slush, and then just plain dry pavement that when you least expect it grabs the car and wants to fling you off the road.
And here's a bit of traction.
Whoa! Holy [Bleep.]
! Whoa! I almost just drove off the road.
Looking at the gauge, the rear-wheel-drive to all-wheel-drive torque split device is absolutely going nuts.
Instantly it sends the power where I need it.
I hate this system on a race track because you're always reacting to whatever the car does, but I tell you what, on these conditions? Oh! It is good.
The Atessa all-wheel-drive system was performing flawlessly, but I had no idea where the snowmobile was.
The arctic cat was flying to the top of the hill at breakneck speed.
And as he crossed the white plains I was cresting the top of the mountain and was hoping to catch sight of the snowmobile.
Holy [Bleep.]
! Oh, my God, he's right there! The arctic cat was now in the lead and I was just trying to stay on the road, but he was quickly running out of real estate and I was gaining ground fast.
There's no way he can pass me on this road.
But the arctic cat had no intentions of staying on the road.
I see him in the field there! His course took him up into the tree line while I was sliding the GT-R around on slush, hopefully picking up more time.
As I got back on the snow-packed road, with the finish line in front of me and no snowmobile in sight, I could taste victory.
Woohoohoo! Oh, there he is! No! No, no, no, no! No! You gotta be kidding me! There is no question that on a race track the GT-R is one of the quickest speed demons money can buy at any price.
But for me, torch brake can turn track game into a guessing game However, as I discovered today put the Nissan on the kind of surfaces that would cripple most super cars, and the GT-R shows that technological gizmos are in fact for real and god lord that they work.