Top Gear

On tonight's Top Gear,

Steve Coogan has a go in our Reasonably-Priced Car.

Buying a used Nissan Skyline,

and we give world rally champion Richard Burns a taste of his own medicine.

But first, has it launched this month of a new British film

in which a very British hero drives a very British car.

I am, of course, talking about Harry Potter,

but since we couldn't get a Ford Anglia in time for this week's show

I thought we could have a look at one of these instead.

It's the Aston Martin Vanquish,

and it's the kind of car you wanna take to the Riviera.

But this is Britain, so we don't have a Riviera.

So I took it to the Isle of Wight instead.

And here we are, in Cowes.

This is old school Britain.

Shops selling heavy jumpers, pubs selling heavy food.

So the Vanquish seems out of place.

It has a new type of chassis which is theoretically very very light,

and the body is made of carbonfibre for the same reason.

You might imagine, then, that the Vanquish is like modern British cuisine.

Juice drizzled on to a spot of rocket.

But no, it's a proper old State & Kidney pie, this.

It actually weighs more than the DB7

and that is made of Angle Grinders, and Church pews.

For locals, didn't see unduly bothered about the excess weight, though.

And that's the best thing about driving a Vanquish.

Even though it costs about 158,000 pounds,

every one loves it.

How much house can you get for that in the Isle of Wight?

Really? So let's have a look in the Estate Agent's Window.

What've you got for a price of Vanquish, then?

That house there, .. detached house, 3 bedrooms,

lounge, whatever one of those is,

three bedroom house, for about the same as the Aston.

Would you rather have that house or that car?

The car.

Good girl.

Definitely the car.

That's a six-litre, 460 horsepower V12 engine.

You could detach that to your house and still do 0-60 in 5 seconds.

Just hurls you out of a corner.

Just flour it, and WAAFF. BANG.

Aw. That's a fast car. That's a properly fast car.

So much power!

It's not just the power, either. It's the noise.

Listen to this.

Woo. I could get all flowery now and tell you it sounds like lightning.

But actually what it sounds like is

Tom Jones bending over to pick up the soap

while he's in the showers in Wandsworth nick.

Raaaarrrgh! That noise.

Ready?

It is a wonderful noise.

And I love the way this car looks, too.

I love the interior. I like the badge.

I like the fact that Bonds has one. I like its Britishness.

You find yourself willing up as you growl along

in a wave of nationalistic prime.

I Vow to Thee, My country.

It feels as, though, I'm driving around in Douglas Bader himself.

But like Douglas Bader, the Vanquish has something missing.

A gear lever. Look.

Instead, I've got these Formula 1 style paddles behind the steering wheel.

Right-hand side to change up, left-hand side to change down.

And that means you have to keep both hands on the steering wheel.

Which is fine in Formula 1.

No one talks on the phone in Formula 1.

Or eats.

And you try doing a 3-point turn.

Here, look, I've ran out of island, I've got to do one.

So, er, Reverse.

Pull both of them, that's neutral.

Push that. Wait, no, still hasn't.. Yep, we've got reverse.

Here we go, back up.

So I've got to get my foot off the brake,

and before we've rolled into the Atlantic, I've got to hit the accelerator.

But I mustn't hit it too hard,

or I'll end up in the lifeboat hut doing about 140 mph.

So..

What a great gearbox. What a wonderful invention.

Well done, whoever thought of this.

What was the matter with the manual?!

Why do we have to have this?!

There are other problems, too.

It judders in town, and the clutch gives up completely

if you are trying to do a full bore standing start.

That means the Vanquish has to wade into the battle

with one arm tied behind its back,

and that's a problem, because look what's attacking it these days.

This is the new Ferrari 575, fitted here with

an equally new sports handling pack.

It costs about the same as the Aston,

Both are two-seaters, both are front-engined, rear-drive GT cars.

Both do nearly 200 mph, both do 0-60 in under 5 seconds.

So which is the best?

Well, let's talk to the man who's driving the Ferrari.

Damon Hill.

So, what's it like?

It's beautiful. Really?

Yeah. It's just a lovely machine, it's.. Everything you expect from a Ferrari.

And it gives you that slight flizzle, a slight nervousness. Scary.

It's like butterflies.

Is it scary? Yeah.

I mean, you have to put in some respect, it's a prancing horse.

You know, you don't actually feel completely comfortable in the car.

You're enjoying driving it, but at the same time

you are very wary of losing concentration on it.

Well, I tell you what, you drive that now, I'll drive this.

Meet up at the end, see what we'll think.

And, um, if I flash, okay, it means I want to come by,

you'll just pull over. Just get out of the way, alright?

Right, okay, and you really think that's going to happen, do you?

What if I don't?

This has the same stupid gearbox as the Aston Martin.

But unlike the Aston, you don't have to have it.

You can save yourself 8,000 pounds. 8,000! And have a proper manual.

It's a little difficult to use words like "Awesome"

and "Very very very impressive" when you'are used to Formula 1 cars.

Cuz after that, everything else is a little bit sluggish.

But for what it is, this IS a very very impressive beast.

The nice thing is that you can dawdle around this car,

minding your own business going slowly,

and then just drop a gear, and suddenly,

You're in Schumacher mode.

I like to hear the engine again. Listen to this.

Now it feels like a sports car.

Then, with the driving over, we met up to make a decision.

The Ferrari.

And for me? Ferrari. Yeah.

It's just more complete somehow.

I think it gives you that shot of adrenline, doesn't it?

Which, really, the Aston doesn't.

And then it's the power of that Ferrari.

It's just immense, isn't it?

I don't think I can remember ever having been in a road car

when my head's been thrown back.

Really? Yeah, second gear, it's doing that with your head.

I mean, that has got some serious acceleration on it.

First of all, it's got 515 horsepower.

The Aston has only got 460.

Yeah, and the Aston is a lot heavier.

It's one thing that kills the acceleration, its weight.

The thing is though, there are certain aspects on the Vanquish

that I'd quite like to see on the Ferrari.

I love the way it looks.

And the sound. And the noise.

I have to say, I'm actually disappointed to get back in the Ferrari.

You can't hear it. It sounds like a Ford Fiesta.

If you'd have those looks, and the noise,

and the something that makes people like you more if you are in an Aston

I think you would be allowed out of more side turns

than you would if you had the Ferrari,

when you are a bit of a.. Schumacher.

We don't want that!

Jeremy, you were doing 40 mph there.

Absolutely, we never exceeded the speed limit once

in the entire making of that film there.

I have to say, though, it was, for me, one of the greatest days.

Honestly, truthfully, Ferrari, Aston Martin, Sun shone, Damon Hill.

It was just heaven.

And, what made it particularly exciting was that

the local Isle of Wight radio station decided, in its wisdom,

to broadcast the fact over the air that

Damon and Jeremy were down there with an Aston and a Ferrari,

why don't you all go along and have a look!

So I came around a corner, at 40 in the Ferrari,

and there he is with his hair greased down,

"I brought me brother out"

Oh, God.

We got to herd them down off the road. It was just heaven.

You loved this. You love the 575.

575 is a fabulous fabulous car, but it must be stressed,

the one I drove there had the Fiorano Handling Pack on it,

which transforms the car apparently.

Standard suspension - a bit wallow-y, a bit soft.

But this one was spoiled by the gearbox.

The gearbox, just, honestly..

How bad was that?

It just ruins it.

You just think, just change it.

Cuz it's affecting the second-hand values. Oh yeah.

I mean, If you went out with a slug of money, you'd struggle to buy a 575.

What's the waiting time for that now?

Well, least price, it's kind of 12, 18 months.

Really? Yeah, I mean, if you want to pay a Premium, you'll get one before.

But, with a Vanquish, I can get you one next week, this price.

Really? Yeah. And second-hand, well,

I've just seen them advertised. Strong money.

If you try to trade one in, it's a different story.

The story of these cars's going 6 months sold

would like 50 grands of depreciation.

So, 170 new, 120 second-hand.

So basically, then, the Ferrari is a winner

as far as investment's concerned,

it's a winnner on the road.

But, what about on the track?

And it's 1:36.

Now, into the Ferrari.

The CD again.

1:36 to beat. The final corner here.