Clarkson's biased...
 

Incredibly biased. I mean, he talks about the Ford GT during the review, calling it his "childhood dream", and he ends up buying one.

He raves about the problematic RX8, a Mazda, which is owned by Ford, but trashes the 350Z, which won car of the year in two different publications (Top Gear being one of them, but if you read the issue, Clarkson voted against it) probably because it was the RX8's main competitor.

He prefers a Jaguar XKR to a Porsche or a BMW 6 series, the latter two being brilliant cars for the money. Jaguar is part of the Premiere Automotive Group, or PAG, which is owned by Ford.

He always subtley criticizes German-built or owned cars, as long as they are not Mercedes-Benz's, (since he does own an SL55) his reason that they lack character. (So Mercedes Benz has character? give me a break. The last one that did was built more than 3 decades ago.) This is so evident in the June 6 episode where he placed the absolutely brilliant (and I'm not alone on this) Porsche Carrera GT on the uncool side of the "cool wall" and the McLaren-Mercedes SLR on the cool side. His reason? The Carrera is too vulgar. WTF?! The Carrera GT looks like a really fast Porsche, but the SLR? It's more vulgar than an Enzo for pete's sake. I mean, the length of the bonnet, the vertical doors, the razor blade rims, the side vents, the air brake, the alloy-in-glass rear lights... hell, even the exhausts are on the side! And he says its not vulgar?!

I'm bloody happy Hammond and the TV audience stood up to him and forced the SLR down to the uncool side of the board. Talk about double-standard and biased.

He owns and loves Ferrari's, and as long as he's the one doing the review, he will almost certainly choose them over anything else, (as long as it isnt part of the PAG; i.e. Aston Martin) no matter how logical it is to choose the other (i.e. Ferrari CS vs Porsche)

He loathes BMW's, probably because they are the only real competitor of Mercedes-Benz's, and uses his popularity and wit to sway viewers towards his side of the pendulum. One only needs to see the M3 vs S4 review here. With all due respect to Audi, the S4 is a brilliant car, but the M3 is still far better in terms of performance and handling. The M3 is one of the most popular cars bought by racing enthusiasts/teams, and if the S4 was really better than it, then it should follow that they would be purchasing that car instead.

He took a shot at them (BMW) when they reported the 1-series, by mocking the acceleration time, a time which is not exactly trounced by a regular Focus, Mazda 3, or Golf.

In the June 6 episode, he took shots at the Z4, calling it just short of being a terrible car, yet over at 5th Gear, Tiff Needle (who used to be a Le Mans veteran, for those who aren't aware) pitted the Z4 against the Boxster, and the Z4 won. Tiff also called the M3 and the Z4 fantastic cars.

Clarkson's biases are really starting to leak through, and frankly, its starting to get on my nerves. Its very difficult to watch and appreciate a road test/review when you know that the reviewer makes his decisions based on his opinions (and biases frankly), and not on logic, which is what we, the viewers, actually need to base our purchases on.

End of rant.

Mmmm .... well , i dont think anyone buys a car based on a car show , you go to the dealer , test drive all your options and end getting one ...

The funny about clarkson is that he always picks the car HE thinks its the best ... and always prefers British cars cuz of his nationalist , you dont need to pick him very serious , we all laugh about his pointless apretiations , and agree in some objetive opinions that he mades ... He just makes his appretiations on cars , very personal ones , and that is why the ppl like the show and like Clarkson ... It would not be as popular if they run something like DRIVEN , giving points for Value for money and Space and WTF ... the show is mainly about how cool a car can be

That's true, but what I don't like is how he puts down brilliant cars just because he feels that the competitor should be the one people should buy, because that's what HE would buy. He could at least call them fantastic, then simply say why he would prefer the other one, because of what type of person he is, therefor he prefers that kind of car. Something like what James (May) does all the time.

Clarkson called the McLaren F1 twitchy, harsh, and all these other expletives, yet the rest of the world disagreed with him. I mean, can't he simply accept that he's not a good enough driver for it? I've read different publications, (in different languages as well) and they all agree that the McLaren F1 is still the car to beat. It's incredible how biased he can be.

Mind you though, a good review (or a bad one) CAN influence your purchase, generally because you trust that the reviewers know more than you do.

All ppl knows that Clarkson never talks seriously , and i agree he always picks teh car that HE would buy . I dont think the McLaren was too much for him , remember it was built to be an easy car to drive . And this was not the only time that everybody disagreed with him ... M3 , M5 as far as i can remember . I think ppl watch mostly top gear because the spectacularity involved in the show , the editings , the features , they just spend all the money in getting a good show , maybe not for extremely good reviewings , he also has said a lot about not buying a Mercedes cuz they are bad built , bad service , not even an attitude , i remember he said that about the E class , while he loved the E class Diesel version in his Times Column ...

I agree with you that Jeremy is biased but you forgot one important thing.... everyone is biased! Every person has a different taste, how boring would it be if every single person in the world got the same taste in "things". Diversity is what makes us interesting. Not sure about you, but most people, including myself, likes certain cars more than the other.

Given the choice of a M3 and a S4, I would certainly take the S4 instead of the BMW. Not that I hate BMW or anything but there're certain things that the Audi is more suitable for my personality, intended image and well... taste.

You may think I'm a Jeremy fan who agrees everything he says. Maybe I am but it's probably due to coincidence and similar in taste. For instance, I love the aston db7/9 and jag XK's. Unlike Tiff, I don't care about how well (bad) they handle. On the public road, you can never ever reach that limit. Call me biased but I do want a ride that's fun to drive yet reasonably responsible. There's no point having a car if it's so unusable you can only drive it once a month.

As you say, Jeremy is doing the reviews based on his opinions and that's what separates Top Gear from the rest of the programs. If you want objective reviews, just watch Auto Motor und Sport. If you want reviews for people who just want a freeway cruiser, watch an American show. If you want reviews for people who need a cheap ride, watch a Canadian show. However, if you're like most of us, looking for an entertaining review, Top Gear is your show. 5th Gear isn't bad either but it got a little bit boring after the producers put on the sensible hat.

Yes, I AM BIASED but I'm proud of that :mrgreen:

That's why you have more than one reviewer on the show. Each reviewer representing each type of person. For example, Richard would take a Porsche over a Jag but Jeremy would take the Jag no matter what. Okay, he does hate the cheap jags like the S-Type.

Same thing can be said about 5th Gear. Tiff is completely biased towards "fun" cars, many of which are unsafe on the road. If the car doesn't go sideways easily, it's not fun. Not to mention Tiff doesn't like AWD cars, in an interview he did last year, he mentioned how he prefers FWD over AWD. I'm sure a number of you won't agree with him on that.

Wait, I think you've misunderstood me. Read what you just said:

See how you explained WHY you prefer those cars? Jeremy doesn't. He blames the cars (that he doesn't like) for his shortcomings, and since there ARE people who aren't as aware or as educated as we are, it comes across as if he's calling that particular car a poor product. He likes the SLR because he said it didn't bite his head off, like the Carrera GT or the McLaren F1. I could've understood it if he said that he prefers the SLR because he can't be bothered to shift gears while going fast whilst seating in a nice comfy interior, but he instead labels the Carrera GT and the McLaren F1 as cars which are not user friendly/difficult to drive/to stressful.

Besides, you CAN have a good show EVEN if you are biased. Look at Richard Hammond and James May for example. Richard does not own a Z4, and instead prefers Porsches, but that did not mean he would trash a perfectly good car (Z4) because of personal taste.

I agree with AlienDB7 , its like when you go to the doctor and he diagnoses Cancer , would you believe him ? or take different opinions to make your own ? :wink:

This would've been fine if all 3 of them reviewed the same car, but they don't. Then at least we could draw our own conclusions based on the collective input of the 3.

I think the show ill improve though, since Hammond stands up to Jeremy's bullying, and makes sure that the audience does as well.

haha i always new he was biased but never thought he would love ford that much

Well actually the only ford he LOVES is the GT , and the Jag/Astons he loves them cuz they are british , remmeber he always complains about the ford bad quality in the Jag/Aston products .

Exactly! This just shows how easy it is to pick out just the shortcomings and ignore the rest.

But that's what makes for an interesting debate and that seems to be what Jeremy is good at ;)

You notice he usually try to go against the audience? He even like the ugly renaults.... no comment on that!

Well he said all french cars are Cool , very bad quality and horrid rides but Cool ...

Hehe... that wouldn't be a show if he would not do it that way. Just compare Martin Brundle and his Supercars video with Jeremy, who's more entertaining?

That's a good point about the supercars DVD. You can have the best cars and most analytical reviews of a car, but Clarkson just offers an alternative light hearted view of motoring.

He is the first to admit he cannot drive and his opinions are purely subjective, but he is a journalist and creates the most imaginative and entertaining similes once a week for entertainment! You just have to learn to take his reviews seriously and just enjoy the programme :D