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With the 60'000 pounds you have, go out there and buy a new, or old four-door saloon, a twist from the last challenge. If you purchase an old tin can you are entitled to a free oil change while the new ones... don't.

To add on the excitement, each person is entitled to any two free upgrades in the Drivetrain section.

With that, you are to meet up at Tokyo R246 (Normal), difficulty 4, two laps. Note your overall time, and do post pics to the events that rise up while on the way, and undergoing through the first challenge.

The points system will function as follows. Depending on the number of contestants, the leading will the the most points while the last placed contestant will achieve one point.



Only 6 participants are allowed in the competition, all based on real-life counterparts...

NOTE: If there is demand... exceptions will take place...

James May (Captain Slow) : Outlaw-2
Richard Hammond (Hamster) : VTi-Roj
Jeremy Clarkson (Fat Man) : Fin-Toy
The Stig : Spitfireix
Tiff Needel : Dr1FT3R
John H Davis : Sweeper
Steve Coogan: Shafz.


I already have a four-door saloon in my mind...


---------------------------------------------------------------

James May: I was first to arrive with my majestic, red Holden Commodore SS. Yes, the big one, after being made puny of in the last challenge. It costs about 41'000 pounds, and has the same engine as the Corvette, and the Monaro. But get this... This car is actually being sold by Vauxhall... as a VXR8. How about that? I've wanted to see the original car itself, and I have to say... it looks brilliant, well... apart from the fact that the interior is a bit... chunky in my terms, but heck, it works!

As for the upgrades I've been given, I decided to get the triple plate clutch and a full customisation gearbox. It felt a little lacking in power when I got it stock somehow... but with these upgrades... This machine will most probably enjoy.... I hope...

Now then, where's the rest of the blokes?

*Waits in Commodore, very tempted to do some sliding like the Monaro...*

God I'm so tempted...

This post has been edited by outlaw-2 on Oct 14 2007, 08:24 AM

A sedan free-for-all? I'm in

*searches for a certain black car*


I gotta say, finding a car for this was easier than I thought. The car I have purchased? Its mean, green-ish, and does 175mph standard. The car I am describing, is none other, than the Lotus Carlton!!!!

I actually found the car before I got the cash from the office, so I had to do a quick trip before the car was sold before me

Lotus Carlton '90 - £28.521

49500 miles on the odometer, and all it needs is an oilchange. Result!

My 2 free transmission upgrades will be announced later...

This post has been edited by VTiRoj on Oct 13 2007, 01:20 AM

AH! Here the auto journalist stars join up for a little racing.
Well bringing the goods from Japan today after our 2nd place John Davis has this time around decided to try his luck with the Japanese machinery, and after our test with the Lancers we decided to give the Evolution a go.

What we are gunning with today is a 16 valve 2 litre turbo engine coupled with 4WD.
And according to our guys in Japan they actually said this to us:
"A high power turbo plus 4WD equals Easy win"
And we also got some help garage wise from the 34 driver in the last tournament he provided us with some tuning help and assistance so the upcoming episode of Motorweek will be featuring his garage and this Evo!

My weapon of choice, Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution 6 RS TME!
Barely coming with a dashboard from factory this car got in the free upgrades section a brand spanking new flywheel and a fully customizeable LSD.

With a price tag of 12990...

EDIT: We are go with the Evo 6 RS... A bit of a challenge to drive is fine.

This post has been edited by Sweeper on Oct 13 2007, 01:46 AM

After oil change, my Carlton makes 381bhp

As for transmission upgrades, I have chosen Triple Clutch and Carbon Driveshaft

Off to Tokyo I go


Right, I decided to not waste time (and potentially getting lost) by driving through Europe to Tokyo, so I had me and the car privately flew over. During the flight, I had been watching a few old episodes of Top Gear, and found myself watching the episode with the D1 drifters. I thought, "hm, I have a 381bhp saloon, why dont I do my own "Tokyo Drift"?

So, I present to you.

The Hammond And The Hammondous: Tokyo Drift.








After a lap of smokey sideways action, I heard sirens, so like a getaway driver, I sped off before the arrived

Now, wheres this race?

This post has been edited by VTiRoj on Oct 13 2007, 01:50 AM

First challenge results so far: 4'09.269
1st place however.

This post has been edited by Sweeper on Oct 13 2007, 02:03 AM

My race was quite the event. I faced a Lotus Esprit, BMW M3 GTR, Corvette ZR-1, Cuda, and a Jaguar XKR!

However, none could keep up with my Carlton, except the XKR which wouldnt let go of my butt


The grid

First corner scramble

Despite its efforts, the M3 could not out-drift my drifts from eariler

Corvette driver was displeased about the German GTR scraping its nose

All fired up...

Lean, mean... er... leaning machines?

Cuda didnt have the oomph to stay by my side

I had to dash to the main straight to catch the XKR

Drafting...

Braking battle!

Insane cornering

The finish

Final time: 4'05.031. The Jaguar clocked a .317

Current results so far...

Richard Hammond: 4'05.031
John H Davis: 4'09.269
James May: 4'09.374
Tiff Needel: 4’21.282

The Management: Apparently, James seemed to have reached the wrong side of Japan; Hokkaido when we told him it was supposed to be in Tokyo... Bloody lost he is...

This post has been edited by outlaw-2 on Oct 13 2007, 08:54 PM

last time, the Italian wine got me, and I lost the alfa and ended waking up in St. Petersburg. now, I'm probably going for the germans, or americans..

Hokkaido? Wow. Someone should really buy May a TomTom for Christmas

James May: I got the place right when I flew to Tokyo, I drove my way when I saw the words 'Tokyo' on the sign with some gibberish words before a 'km' was seen... And look where I ended up?



I'm at the northern most of Japan, Cape Soya! Holy mother of God I screwed up big time! But I do have to admit... I'm really enjoying the sunset here... I think I'll stick around here a little longer before I rush my way to Tokyo...

EDIT:

After curing myself back to Tokyo... immediately, I entered the challenge, and cleared it after getting all over the place thanks to a specific 350Z...

4'09.374

After noting my time, I finally stumbled upon John H Davis's...

4'09.269

There's only one thing I could say... if it were to be Jeremy Clarkson's way...

"Does anybody here have a gun or a knife?"

This post has been edited by outlaw-2 on Oct 13 2007, 08:19 AM

Talk about close May, phew

Well since the challenge didn't allow pre tuned vehicles, Traction Monster industries were rather disappointed that they couldn't let me enter with their R34 GT-R which they say is the ultimate when it comes to cornering work.
Instead though, I got my Evo 6 which they were happy to help me set up later on, the Evo is still in stock trim and speed can still be extracted from this incredible rally bred machine.
The engine has been said to be good for 900 HP and the usual breaking point is not the car but your wallet.

I also had some chatter with the 34 driver that showed up in the last challenge, turns out Traction Monster industries actually has a contract with him when it comes to supplying machinery, and he was happy on giving me a few extra driving lessons before this challenge, however the techniques needs some refinment before I can use them properly, but as we have seen, the Evo is quite fast in corners and although it is lacking guts for the straightaway it will still prevail in the rain, dirt, snow or in places with few straights and the need for quick sprints as it certainly provides the grip to get it going.

[Tiff]Well after the, frankly, horrendous choice last time, I'm being a bit more cautious in my choice this time around. Stay tuned for my choice, a little later,
Well, after much searching, I found a car with only 6.2 miles on the clock. As the Yank is going to the Dark side, I thought I'd go for its arch nemesis the Subaru Impreza,
For the sake of specifics, I went for the Subaru Impreza Sedan WRX STi Version VI('99), in a gold that strongly resembles the tuner company Top Secret. Hopefully it goes half as well, but anything up from the Alfa is good in my book!
Car cost: 17,757
As for the freebies, STi sorted me out with a free fully customisable transmission, as well as a 1.5 way LS/D.Let the challenge begin![/Tiff]

Pure golden evil,

looks good from all angles this car, even in an odd colour

Hiding in the dark...

Well, after making my way to Tokyo, I was faced by a challenger from the dark side, an evo, as well as the other competitor, a skyline GTR. My biggest worry however, was the Honda NSX Type R, the car that inevitably won this race, but I think second place isn't bad. I may have been round Jason Plato a bit much, as I took a very touring car driving style to this race, and I'm sure a car wash wouldn't go amiss...

NSX Type R ’92 4’06.860
Impreza Sedan WRX STi Ver. VI ’99 4’21.282
CLK 55 AMG ’00 4’21.412
Evo VI RS ’99 4’21.556
RX-7 Spirit R Type A (FD) ’02 4’21.811
Skyline GT-R V-spec ’99 4’22.531
My hands were a bit slippery though, must've forgotten to wash the petrol off my hands...


The starting grid, me at the back with the NSX, and the 34 leading the pack.

This car ended up leading the race by about a corner ahead at all times, no chance of catching it,

More gold evilness

I was fighting tooth and nail against this R34, BTCC style, aka bashing eachothers cars around,

The Dark side, in this case the slow side too,

This Mercedes CLK proved to be a threat in the second lap, resulting in me having to block him along the straight

This post has been edited by Dr1FT3R on Oct 13 2007, 01:40 PM

Count me in as The Stig if possible. Just the suitable profile for me.

Noted, spitfire, you're in.

James May: (Sees result) I just realised the humongous gap of the time between Tiff's and mine... What the-...

I'm going either for Japanese or American car.. are tuners allowed, if they're under 60K? I saw a good deal at Tom's..

as Sweeper stated before Fin, they're not.
So get yerself a nice stock machine

After my race in Tokyo, I decided to "do a May" and get lost, and ended up at a neat place called the Driving Park. After looking around, I did some laps... sideways...

So, I present the Sequel to The Hammond And The Hammondous: Tokyo Drift...

The Hammond And The Hammondous: Tokyo Drift 2!



Oh no, a concrete block!

HA! Missed!


God I love ol' Smokey yes, I named my Carlton "Smokey"

This post has been edited by VTiRoj on Oct 14 2007, 04:12 AM

Okay.. Audi S4 it is then, pictures and times will be delivered later.. and this car oversteers nicely.. watch out Emo and SiT-drivers.. germans are on it again.

Are all the places taken in this or can I join?

@Shafz: There are only 6 places. And they've all been taken. So, no, you can't join.

Couldn't he be Jason Plato or Vicki Butler-Henderson?

If there is a demand, I'll make an exception.

Shafz. What character would you want to be, a star in the reasonably priced car, or any familiar figure in either Fifth Gear, or Top Gear? Of course, Top Gear Dog is not okay...

@ Jeremy: Just be careful if you happen to see an Aussie chasing you...

This post has been edited by outlaw-2 on Oct 14 2007, 07:53 AM

I would like to be Steve Coogan, as he was a star in a reasonably priced car and has appeared ina number of episodes. If not, uhm... Adrian Simpson.

This post has been edited by Shafz. on Oct 14 2007, 07:57 AM

One question here (OK; I know that The Stig can't talk but still) - does every contestant have to use a different car or can I pick a model already in use?