Top Gear USA - First Season

...5... On this TV series... 4 ... No one will date a rock star.

3... We will not ask you to vote on how people sing and dance.

...2... This is a show about cars.

...1.

This is "Top Gear."

Sync By . DcoY .

Welcome to "Top Gear."

I'm Adam Ferrara.

That is Tanner Foust, and this is Rutledge Wood.

Yep, and we've got a great show coming up.

We visit my hometown for an epic battle between two snakes,

we drive three Italian supercars to the limit, and living legend Buzz Aldrin

takes to the "Top Gear" test track in a segment we call "big star, small car."

Now, we could go out into a long, drawn-out explanation

of what "Top Gear" is, or we could just show you

what to expect over the next 10 weeks.

Ready to get your asses kicked?

I don't want to die in a Buick.

Stay in the bike Lane!

We were spitting fire.

Holy ****

If you're a middle-aged man with an overcontrolling wife, 2005 Mini Cooper.

This is quite possibly the dumbest thing I've ever done.

Throttle, hit it. This is gonna be so bad.

the car is bent. Look at it.

Why would you hit my house?

Like being aroused at gunpoint.

Oh, there it is.

I'm gonna hit my car.

Oh, there is no way she can pull that off.

Even I wouldn't wear that.

That was my bad.

And that's "Top Gear"... Lots of horsepower, questionable decision-making,

and, of course, awesome cars like this.

Yeah, this is a Shelby cobra 427.

It's basically just a tin can with a huge motor wedged in it,

but it's also one of the most sought-after classic cars in the world.

Originals can sell for a million bucks.

There's really never been anything like this car, except maybe one.

And to celebrate the only car of the modern era

that even comes close to having the spirit of a cobra, we decided to head south

for an amazing all-American challenge.

This is Griffin, a bucolic sleepy town

basking in the heat of a Georgia summer.

We came here because we couldn't find

any other place in the United States

that would allow us to do what we were about to do.

An epic challenge involving two snakes.

Snake number 1.

In the late 1980s, Chrysler got involved with Lamborghini.

This sordid affair lasted six years,

and when they split, they left behind a love child...

...The dodge viper.

It's considered one of the few American supercars.

Just the name instills a sense of fear.

The "srt" stands for "street and racing technology,"

and the "10" tells you

there are 10 cylinders under that enormous hood.

The viper is the most American car I have ever driven.

It's all power, absolutely no finesse, and it doesn't give a damn

what the rest of the world thinks about it.

It's not practical. Frankly, it's just dangerous.

But if you ever wondered what it would be like

to strap yourself to the back of an engine, this is it.

Oh, God!

100!

120!

140!

That's 150.

That's as fast as I dare go on this runway.

What sets the viper apart is its complete lack of electronic aids.

There's no electronic stability control, there's no traction control,

and with 560 foot-pounds of torque, that can be a little bit tricky.

Every time I turn the steering wheel,

it feels like this car is determined to kill me.

It's like a mean, mean horse that doesn't like people sitting on its back.

But there's something cool about controlling that chaos.

It's about getting on this horse and mastering it,

even though it doesn't like it.

And by "mastering" it, I mean "surviving."

Dodge officially phased out the viper in 2010.

It won't come back in a new version until 2012,

and by then, stability control systems will be mandatory in the U.S.,

so there will never be another car as dangerous as this ever again.

To pay tribute to this legend, we've been challenged to make a lap

from here to the other side of town and back, which sounds pretty easy...

Except we're not alone.

This is snake number 2...

...The ah-1 cobra attack helicopter...

A sleek, highly maneuverable gunship.

It's armed with a sophisticated missile-guidance system.

Now this angel of death had a new prey... us.

How fast is it?

172 miles an hour.

Okay, the viper goes 202, so I got 30 miles an hour on them already.

Cool.

Uh, they have missiles.

I got to be honest with you... the viper... tricky to drive.

Really? For you? I feel lucky to be here right now.

It's brute, fast, awesome, and scary.

Does it have airbags? Yeah.

We'll be fine. They've got missiles.

So, here's the challenge...

We have to drive the viper from the airfield

across the town of Griffin to the railroad bridge and back...

a 10-mile round trip... all while being hunted by the cobra.

The viper was fitted with a missile-detection system.

If the cobra got in range, the white light went on.

If it got missile-locked, the yellow light would go on.

And if the red light went on, well, we were dead.

Like a video game,

we had just three lives to make it there and back.

When do we go?

I think right now. I think we go now.

Rutledge was the navigator.

His first task... find the airport exit.

How do I get out of here?

This is a dead end. Aw, crap.

I'm swerving.

Our only chance was to try and outmaneuver the cobra.

I think the swerving just makes him mad!

He's got yellow! Oh...

Okay, I have crapped my pants!

Oh, no! He's right above us!

Oh, my God! Look at that!

He's got yellow.

Oh, no.

Oh, my God! We're dead!

One life down. We had just two left.

We needed to get out of the airfield.

It was time for plan "b."

Oh, I think you shook him.

Is this the way out?

Yeah. You're gonna go up here.

Hang a left at this stop sign.

All right, we're in the trees.

We should probably just, like, blend a little bit.

We're in the trees. A couple guys in a convertible.

There he is right there.

I'm gonna pull into the car wash.

In a weird way, the viper is kind of every guy's dream...

It's bright, it's loud, it's fun, and it's got way more power

than pretty much any of us need on the street.

The viper is kind of like that girl that you wouldn't bring home to mom.

Right.

You have videotaped every intimate session you had.

It's like Pam Anderson.

Yes. There's not much real about it, but who cares?

Let's get out of here.

Now, listen, I know we've got power.

Let's just try to drive normal for once, okay?

Let's just drive slow.

No, I get it... blend in.

We were just 3 miles from the bridge,

and we still had two lives left.

See, look... There's another red convertible...

Yeah. ... With another woman in it.

See, I think that's a pattern.

Yeah, I definitely think we're probably the only two dudes riding together

in a red convertible right now.

We had made it to the old warehouse district,

just a few blocks from the bridge.

Oh, crap! This is ridiculous!

See him?

Yeah. Hang a right.

You back up? There you go.

All right, now just go right at him.

Uh-oh. Whoa!

Look out!

Look at that!

All right. We'll go down here.

We'd lost the cobra and made it to the halfway point.

Now all Rutledge needed to do

was find the way back to the airfield.

With only one life lost, things were looking up.

I don't know where... But it's almost like it echoes through the...

Oh, man, I hear him.

Oh, no. There he is. He's got a visual on us. Oh, crap!

Don't just sit here! Go, go, go!

Hard left... We got to go underneath the bridge.

Oh, nice, nice, nice. You shook him.

The high-speed escape had saved our butts,

but now we were lost... Should I turn right here?

Yeah, take a right. Take a right.

...Dead lost.

How did we get into a cemetery, Rutledge?

What kind of navigator are you?

I cannot find my way out of here.

We are going straight to hell, my friend.

Just turn left here on blasphemy boulevard.

Plan "f" wasn't working out.

Tanner, I hear him.

Oh, help!

Where is he? He's right behind us.

As we moved amongst the tombs and graves,

the cobra dived on us, ready to spit its venom.

This was our judgment day.

This is like "Dukes of Hazzard"!

No, no, no! He's gonna lock on us.

No!