Top Gear (series 2)

The host lineup from Series 2 till Present.

Main review: Jeremy reviewed the Smart Roadster and said it was good to drive despite poor acceleration and a limited top speed. However, the boot space was described as "similar to a baking tray", and the semi-automatic gearbox was found to be almost unusably slow to respond to gear changes. Also viewed were Volkswagen Beetle Cabriolet and the Ford Street Ka, which Clarkson and Hammond agreed were impossible for men to drive with dignity.

Cool Wall: Renault Avantime is removed from the wall because it isn't produced anymore. VW Beetle Cabriolet and Ford Street Ka are Cool, but only for girls, and the Smart Roadster is Subzero.

Love/Hate Board: Jeremy introduces the Love/Hate board. "Love" is already full with just one picture, which is of actress Kristin Scott Thomas. In the "Hate" section are chummy radio opening messages, cyclists, paddle-shift gear boxes and personalised license plates.

Challenge: Hammond used a drag racer with a jet engine to incinerate the car he considered to be the worst of all time, an automatic, mid-eighties Nissan Sunny. At the end of the show he also used the racer to burn a caravan.

Star in a Reasonably Priced Car: Vinnie Jones recreates a classic scene from Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels with a melon and a Smart Roadster. He achieved a time of 1:53.

Review: New presenter James May reviews his Bentley T2, which he says ruined his life because of poor fuel economy and he has to rent a garage 7 miles from his house to keep it in. Clarkson enjoys the Bentley's ludicrously soft suspension, but is confused when May calls his Bentley "so cool that certain people will not understand."

News: The presenters discuss the remake of The Italian Job and the Peugeot 206 GTI Estate.

Review: Richard Hammond reviews the indestructible Bowler Wildcat, becomes overwhelmed with emotion during the test drive and exclaims he is "a driving god", much to Clarkson's and May's amusement. The Bowler achieves a time of 1:39 on a dry track. Slow for a car, but immensely fast for a high-riding off-roader.

Main review: Jeremy drives the new Rolls-Royce Phantom. He has to swallow preconditions of the Germanness about it, and realizes that it is a faithful reproduction of the Rolls-Royce marque. Power, from a 6.75 litre V12, is 453 bhp. Clarkson was impressed with other aspects, such as the responsive handling and fuel economy. In the end he found it to be a magnificent car, but lamented the aspects of it that the British were unable to do themselves. May consoles him with the realization that the Germans and British can work together to make fantastic cars.

News: For the first and probably only time, Jeremy is excited by a small, cheap car. He calls the well-equipped Daihatsu Charade "fantastic" and notes that it is priced at £5995.

Review: Richard drives the Queen's Rover P5 and recommends secondhand P5s to luxury car enthusiasts.

Star in a Reasonably Priced Car: Chef Jamie Oliver, who was set a challenge of cooking a salad in the back of his campervan whilst being driven by the Stig (Oliver could not do it). Wanting to beat Gordon Ramsay in the Suzuki Liana, he achieves the same time of 1:50

Love/Hate Board: People who sit too near the wheel, people who sit too far away from the wheel and horses go into the "Hate" section

Challenge: Richard decides to elect a new government based on which party is the fastest at racing in an MG ZR. The results were as follows:

6. Monster Raving Looney Party - 2:13

5. Conservatives - 1:41.8

4. Green Party - 1:41

3. Labour Party - 1:38.8

2. Legalised Cannabis Alliance - 1:36.5

1. Liberal Democrats - 1:33.9

The Liberal Democrats representative won a "safe seat" (an actual front seat) from a Volvo.

Review: A comparison of the Audi S4 and BMW M3. The Stig drives the M3 to a lap time of 1:31.8 but at 1:30.9 the S4 is faster. Jeremy Clarkson comments that he would have the BMW M3 for one lap of the track, but for everyday life he would go for the Audi S4. James concurs with Jeremy.

Main review: Jeremy was blown away by the torque of the V10 diesel engine in the new Volkswagen Touareg, but found nothing else to like about the car. He complained about two equally intolerable ride settings: sickeningly rolly in comfort mode, bone-shatteringly harsh in sport mode. Handling, trim, rear visibility, ride, and price issues doomed the Touareg. It was priced at ₤50,000 Clarkson gave his most scathing review yet and said he'd rather eat the money than spend it on a Touareg.

News: The team discuss the new Citroën C2, the new Porsche 911 GT3 and how confusing the 911 range is. James is interested in the Bristol F.2 Fighter but moans that merely knowing Jeremy Clarkson bars him from ever buying a Bristol.

Review: Clarkson, May and Hammond ask the audience what they think is a bad car, recommending first the Audi A2. Hammond then reviews the presenters choice for the worst car – Lexus SC430. He also reviews the Hyundai Coupé, pointing out how a manufacturer not previously renowned for sports cars has made a much more competent sports coupe than the Lexus for less than half the price.

Review: James road tests the Perodua Kelisa. He and Richard agree it is very soft and easy to drive. Jeremy says that no one would want one and that its name sounds like a disease.

Challenge: What country makes the fastest supercar? Last series's stripped down Jaguar XJS goes up against the Chevrolet Corvette C5, Ferrari 360, Porsche 911 Turbo, Venturi Atlantique and Honda NSX on a straight line race. The Jaguar, with nitrous injection, bringing it up to 500 bhp, wins the race.

Star in a Reasonably priced car: David Soul of Starsky and Hutch, who was the first American and first guest to break two Suzuki Lianas. He posted a time of 1:54 despite having coasted the last 300 yards with a broken gearbox. To Soul's disappointment, he was not able to explain that he broke the gearboxes because of his unfamiliarity with driving on the right side of the car and shifting with his left hand. If not for that problem, the Stig believed that he could have beaten Jay Kay, currently at the top of the leaderboard.

Insider Dealing: Mazda MX-5 deals, Kia Rio for £1 deposit.

Review: Jeremy reviews the BMW Z8 Alpina. He says that even though that Alpina have re-engineered it in an attempt to focus it, the Z8 is like a "delinquent child - born bad and will always be bad". Achieved a surprisingly good time of 1:29 on a dry track.

Main review: Clarkson briefly looks at a Jaguar R Coupe prototype and says that it looks fabulous (despite similarity to the S-Type, which he hates). May relates the humorous story of Duncan Hamilton and Tony Rolt at the 1953 Le Mans Jaguar C-type and Hammond drives a 1960s Jaguar Mark II.

News: The team question the truthfulness of the Reliability Index and James is invited to the opening of a car park.

Star in a Reasonably Priced Car: Boris Johnson talks about his love of cycling and his car column in GQ magazine. Jeremy tells him he drives in bus lanes and cycle lanes, Johnson challenges the shows director to put that statement in the final cut. Johnson achieved 1:56 in the Liana.

Challenge: Jeremy sees how far he can drive until he's bored, taking with him a black Jaguar XJR. He managed to get all the way to John O'Groats before saying "Oh dear, I seem to have run out of country". He then proceeded to drive back to England and complete the challenge without beginning to hate driving.

Cool Wall: Jaguar XJR is cool in black as Hannibal Lecter owned one, however the rest of the XJ range is deemed uncool.

Insider Dealing: Cheap old Jaguar XJs. Hammond would like to try it, but he's always dissuaded by the depreciation.

Review: Clarkson drives the Jaguar XKR-R, a racing version of the Jaguar XKR, before looking at the Aston Martin DB7 GT. The Stig drives the Aston Martin DB7 GT to a lap time of 1:30.4. Clarkson says that it's the opposite of the BMW Z8: slow on a track, but fun to drive in the real world.

Review: Jeremy Clarkson reviews the Porsche 911 Turbo. Given forehand knowledge of his hatred for 911s, Clarkson quietly explains that they've managed to engineer their way around the rear-engined problem. Having once claimed that the Ferrari F355 was the best car ever, he now says that the Porsche 911 Turbo is better. The Stig drives the Turbo to a lap time of 1:31.0 on a wet track. Clarkson also reviews the Porsche 911 C4S and didn't get the point of it.

Challenge: Can a Ford's World Rally Championship pit team change dismantle and rebuild a rally car faster than four women can get ready for a night out? They can, a lot faster. Hammond got bored of waiting and left.

Star in a Reasonably Priced Car: Anne Robinson discusses why she thinks the Audi TT is cool and why her Mercedes SL is better than Jeremy's. She achieved 1:57 in the Liana.

Feature: Richard meets a Lotus engineer and Gumball Rally driver who built a car in his kitchen and had to cut through the wall to get the car out.

Review: James compares the Ford Street Ka and the Triumph TR6.

Main Review: "Imagine the entire French air force crashing into a fireworks factory- that's how much of a laugh the Clio V6 is!" Jeremy lauded. He reviewed the mid-engined Renault Clio V6, he said that it would be in his "Perfect 10 Garage". The Stig got a time of 1:36.2 on a very very wet track.

Main review: Clarkson drives the Subaru Impreza STi against the Mitsubishi Evo VIII in Scotland but, despite having a lot of fun, is unable to give any reason to choose one over the other. The Stig drives both around the track where the Mitsubishi comes out fastest with a lap time of 1:28.9 (faster than the Lamborghini Murcielago). The Subaru manages a time of 1.30.1 – 0.4 seconds faster than the Aston DB7 GT from episode 4. Hammond and Clarkson prefer the Impreza, for no particular reason.

Review: Clarkson tests the Vauxhall VX220 Turbo, saying that the poor badge has forced Vauxhall to make it much better than the Lotus on which it was based, to get taken seriously. The Stig posts a time around the track 1:31.3 on a dry and sunny track.

Challenge: Richard Hammond goes on a track day for Peugeot 206GTi and had a great time.

Cool Wall: Jeremy's Mercedes-Benz SL is Uncool as is Richard's Old Porsche 911 left-hand drive. Jeremy gives Richard a Chinese burn for putting the Peugeot 206 GTi in Uncool.

Challenge: James tries to set a land-speed record for a caravan. First by dragging it behind a Mitsubishi Evolution VII and later by dropping it vertically from a tall crane (and breaking it). He wasn't successful, but the presenters were happy in the destruction of one more caravan.

Race: The Stig races five track-day cars to find the fastest one to take to a track day, the results were;

5: Lotus Elise Sport - 1:28.2

4: Caterham R400 - 1:25.0

3: Ariel Atom 2 - 1:24.0

2: Westfield XTR2 - 1:23.2

1: Radical SR3 - 1:19.8

Star in a Reasonably Priced Car: Jeremy plays a game of Countdown with Richard Whitely with words such as IMIN, SEXUL, NEVOR LARD and I MUSHI BITS, Whitely achieves the slowest time ever in the Liana (2:06).

Insider Dealing: Minor facelifts can cause large price drops in brand new cars, especially with the Volkswagen Passat.

Review: Richard reviews the Peugeot 206 GTi, it is however not as safe in a crash as a Peugeot 205.

Main review: Clarkson tested the Koenigsegg CC8 which, with a top speed of 242 mph (389 km/h) was at the time the world's fastest production car. Clarkson did a speed run on the test track. The record of 170 mph (274 km/h) set by the Pagani Zonda was broken, with the Koenigsegg managing 174 mph (280 km/h). Clarkson later commented how he felt nervous before the run because engineers from Koenigsegg had asked him if they could put gaffer tape around the windscreen; he thought that the tape was to keep the windscreen from flying off. The Stig drives the Koenigsegg to a lap time of 1:23.9, which is just one-tenth of a second slower than the Zonda. Jeremy has frequently referred to the Ford Modular engine in the Ford Mustang as a "terrible engine" but declined to mention that the Koenigsegg's engine was a modified 4.6 L Modular V8.

Car Safety: Hammond test drives the new Renault Megane in London and then brings it to the Top Gear test track where they simulate a crash test with a real driver. The car survives its impact very well.

Star in a Reasonably Priced Car: Jeremy has little to talk to Neil Morrisey about, as they were on the same Parkinson episode. Morrisey gets 1:49 - 1 second faster than Jeremy.

Review: Jeremy reviews the Hummer H1, saying its too big and clumsy for English villages. He then looks at the H2 and says its "immensely good". Though based on a Chevrolet Tahoe platform, it has a manly, chunky interior and tons of space, exciting Jeremy in a way similar to the Range Rover. Neither of the other presenters are impressed.

Review: Richard drives a Talon riot control vehicle. He uses a water cannon to put out a fire and then runs over a Portakabin at full speed.

Review: Jeremy Clarkson drives a Nissan 350Z over city and country roads. He gives it a grade of C minus, 3 out of 10, and "could do better." After a day's drive, he declares it to be one of the most exhausting cars he has ever come across. He also criticizes its build quality and engine tone.

Main review: Alfa Romeo 147. Jeremy drives it in a drag race against the VW Golf R32 and the Ford Focus RS. The Alfa wins easily with its superior power. However, the Alfa doesn't have 4WD or a differential, and Clarkson says the chassis is "very, very wobbly and loose." He calls the Alfa "insane" and says "you'd have to be insane to buy one." He recommends one of the other two, probably the Golf, for the real world, but admits he still preferred the Alfa. The Stig then drives the Alfa to a lap time of 1:35.6, which puts it slower than both the Focus and R32.

Challenge: A "race for the universe" in a Honda Civic, the results were as follows;

6: Daleks (from Doctor Who) - DNF

5: Ming the Merciless (from Flash Gordon) - 1:49

4: The Sixth Doctor (Colin Baker) - 1:43

3: Klingon (from Star Trek) - 1:42

2: Darth Vader - 1:37

1: Cyberman (from Doctor Who) (Time not announced)

Star in a Reasonably priced car: Jodie Kidd who talked about her love of horses and the Gumball 3000 rally, she came in at 1:48, 0.3 of a second faster than board leader Jay Kay.

Review: James and Richard went on a camping holiday in the Lake District and reviewed new cabriolets such as the Volkswagen Beetle Cabriolet, Mercedes SL, Audi A4, Citroen C3 Pluriel, and Daihatsu Copen. The Beetle is sloppy to drive, and increasingly unstylish, so none of the presenters like it. James and Richard unite in disapproval with the SL, Jeremy's car, over its price point and the pointlessness of its power. The Pluriel is a nice idea poorly executed; in the end they find the Audi to be the best, with only James taking the Copen seriously.

Main review: Vandenbrink Carver (a three-wheeled bike with tilting tandem cockpit), Hammond and Clarkson try to fit in it at the same time with humorous results. It is not fast or cheap, but the gimmick of a tilting cockpit on a stationary rear subframe is entertaining for both of them.

Review: Jeremy reviews the new Volvo S60 R, and says its like "a cheaper version of a Rolls Royce Phantom" rather than a serious competitor to a BMW M5. Achieved a lap time of 1:35.

Review: James reviews the revolutionary GM Hywire, which runs on a mixture of hydrogen from the tank and oxygen from the air.

Star in a Reasonably Priced Car: Patrick Stewart who talks about his love of Jaguars and what it is like living in Los Angeles, did 1:50 in the Liana.

Review: Vauxhall Signum. Jeremy despises its Vectra-ness and finds it poor to drive, but admits that the rear seating is very clever and comfortable. As a result, he tries to drive it a la Mr. Bean, using string tied to the steering wheel and poles to reach the pedals.

Main review: TVR T350C, which Richard raced against a Harrier Jump Jet. The Stig did a lap of 1:27 in it. It was compared to the Noble M12, which did a lap of 1:25.

Review: Jeremy's Volkswagen Phaeton W12, he says it is immensely comfortable, nice to drive and its windows do not steam up when you try to make a cup of tea in it. With the electronic limiter off, it can crack 200 mph. He is not verbose in praising it, but reveals that he prefers it to the Jaguar XJ, the BMW 7-Series, and the Mercedes S-Class.

Star in a Reasonably priced Car: Alan Davies talks about what it is like driving with Steve Coogan and an experience he had speeding, did a lap of 1:54 in "mildly damp" weather.

Review: James is the only one interested in the fate of Cadillac, so he sets out to see what they've done to reverse their market woes. He finds the astonishing 1000 bhp, naturally-aspirated 13.6 litre V16 Cadillac Sixteen concept car. It shuts down cylinders to preserve fuel economy and has a badge carved from crystal in the center of the steering wheel. The interior is too cushy and the clock is too posh- James loves it. Jeremy and James agree that this is the best Cadillac since 1966.

Reviews: Overfinch Range Rover 580, which Jeremy races off-road with a Mercedes SLK320 on road (and wins). Though fast in a straight line, in the corners it leans over alarmingly. It achieved the slowest lap to date of 1:44. The Stig says it was the first time he has ever been scared in a car.

Challenge: Earlier in the series Clarkson issued a challenge to the CEO of Land Rover: he was to drive a Range Rover for six months without breakdowns, threatening to kill the CEOs dog upon any kind of failure. Jeremy shows how the Range Rover has fared with numerous tests: it worked as an off-road car, a pace car and a car for taking children to school in (although it was a mess). However, the lever adjusting the vertical position of the steering wheel broke towards the end of the test. Richard and Jeremy agreed the failure was not big enough to warrant a death of a dog, so Jeremy stole the CEOs bonsai tree from his desk and unceremoniously proceeded to cut it in half.

Best of Top Gear: A review of series 1 & 2.