Top Gear USA - Fifth Season

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!

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?

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, .

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!

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.