Top Gear (series 20)

Review: Richard reviews the Peugeot 208 GTi which he finds to be a slight improvement over the modern day Peugeots. He then moves onto the Renaultsport Clio 200 which although he praises for its juvenile streak, criticises it's technology, especially the flappy paddle gearbox which is not sharp and makes no sense in a hot hatch. He finally tests the Ford Fiesta ST which although slower than the other two he praises the price, looks and brilliant handling. He concludes by saying that while the Peugeot and Renault are very good the Ford is simply brilliant. The Stig drove each car around the Top Gear test track, with the Clio 200 posting the quickest time at 1:32.0. The Fiesta ST was second at 1:32.7 and the 208 GTi was the slowest at 1:33.2. Richard and Jeremy agree that the Fiesta ST is the best to drive.

News: The presenters discuss items available for purchase at motorway service stations and plans to introduce pubs in them. James comes up with a solutions for repairing potholes on roads. They also look at the new BMW 4 Series coupé and Richard complains about the M4 motorway and the M version of the car being called the BMW M4.

Star in a Reasonably Priced Car: A Vauxhall Astra Tech Line is introduced as the new reasonably priced car, replacing the Kia Cee'd. The Astra has a 1.6 litre engine and comes with "lifetime warranty". A new lap time board is also introduced and Jeremy and Richard host a party for celebrities to get some times on it.

The times posted (in order of appearance) are:

1. Brian Johnson – 1:45.1
2. Charles Dance – 1:48.8
3. Warwick Davis – 1:46.8
4. Joss Stone – 1:48.9
5. David Haye – 1:46.7
6. Mike Rutherford – 1:51.5
7. Jimmy Carr – 1:45.6 (Jeremy named him "Jimmy Crash" on the lap board)
8. Rachel Riley – 1:48.5

"Car Vs. Something" Race: Jeremy and James travel to New Zealand to conduct a race between Oracle Team USA's America's Cup-winning AC45 sailing boat and a Toyota Corolla from the northern tip of the Coromandel Peninsula to the northern tip of the North Island. James had to cover 220 miles (350 km) in the AC45, whilst Jeremy had a much longer 410 miles (660 km), due to the fact he had to head south around the Firth of Thames before turning north and driving through Auckland. The AC45's crew was made up of James, Olympic gold medallist Sir Ben Ainslie and a number of the crew that had won and would later retain the America's Cup. As the Corolla was a rental, Jeremy called it "the fastest car in the world", meaning he could drive it fast without having to worry about damaging it.

In his efforts to beat James, Jeremy drove quickly, but had to cope with rough roads, narrow stretches and more, leading to him scraping the side of the car on a narrow bridge to allow an oncoming vehicle to pass. Meanwhile on the sailing boat, James complained about how uncomfortable the boat was because of the choppy water, and then lost his satellite phone to a strong wave. Jeremy decided to take a shortcut on gravel roads to cut down his distance to the finish line; the track ended prematurely, landing him completely off-road. When he finds another gravel road once again, he encounters a tractor and in the process of giving way to it, damages his car on a boundary wall at the roadside. He swaps his originally blue Corolla for a red one at a hire car centre he soon found, hoping James would be too exhausted to notice the difference. To make up for lost time, Jeremy drives along Ninety Mile Beach (55 miles long). Unfortunately, the Corolla gets stuck in the sand on a beach, which was the finishing point. As the boat could not go all the way to the beach, James had to swim the last leg of the race. He reaches the checkpoint before Jeremy but is exhausted from the journey, thus winning, and still manages to notice the colour change of the Corolla.

Review: Jeremy reviews the BAC Mono, a single seater track-day car that can be driven on public roads. With extensive use of lightweight materials, a Cosworth tuned engine and racing gearbox, the car is capable of immense performance and cornering grip, but Jeremy is startled by fact that it can destroy the driver's face at high speed, and the price tag of ₤102,000. The Stig lapped around the Top Gear test track in 1:14.3, the second fastest time and just slower than the Pagani Huayra.

News: The Dacia Duster is named budget 4x4 tow car of the year and Jeremy got himself a bicycle. The presenters then discuss the tyre job that Pirelli had done at the 2013 British Grand Prix. Volvo launches a function on their cars that can automatically find a parking space and park itself, but it was immediately ridiculed by the presenters that their car would be lost, not knowing where it would be parked. Ferrari and McLaren are launching their new cars respectively, the LaFerrari having KERS installed (with the engine and the motors both drive the rear wheels) and the McLaren P1 having DRS equipped. The Pagani Zonda is being upgraded, with a price tag of ₤2.3 million and a base car to start with. The trio then suggest a road trip between the three cars.

Motorsport Race: Attempting to find out the best taxi in the world, Richard pits several taxis from the world at the Lydden Hill Race Circuit. Like previous challenges, a group of touring car racing drivers and Richard himself are employed to race the vehicles. The British taxi is represented by the Hackney carriage (Richard), a Volkswagen Beetle representing the Mexican counterpart (Paul O'Neill), a Ford Crown Victoria representing the American yellow cab (Tom Chilton), a Hindustan Ambassador representing the Indian Taxi (Gordon Shedden), a Mercedes-Benz E-Class from Germany (Matt Neal), a South African Toyota Hiace (Mat Jackson) and a stretch limousine Lincoln Town Car from Russia (Anthony Reid) completes the round-up. During the race, the limo spun out and the Ford t-boned it, destroying both cars in the process; The Mercedes crashed into a tyre barrier and flipped, leaving only the Ambassador, Beetle, Hiace and Hackney carriage to cross the finish line. The Ambassador barely managed to finish first, thus it being named "The best taxi in the world". Back in the studio, Jeremy explains that the Hindustan Ambassador began its life as a Morris Oxford series III, a car that all of the presenters hate.

Star in a Reasonably Priced Car: The director of Rush, Ron Howard, talks about the background of his upcoming film and the heated struggle between James Hunt and Niki Lauda, then the hot favourites of winning the 1976 Championship. He clocked a lap in the reasonably priced car at 1:49.9.

Special Race: Paying tribute to the closed down BBC Television Centre in White City, London, James staged a race between a duo of parkour runners and motorcycle champion Dougie Lampkin inside the building. Lampkin won the closely fought race.

News: Jeremy admits that he was not in Hertfordshire with the Ferrari F12 in the last episode; rather, he claims that he was in Buckinghamshire. The three then take turns complaining about electronic gimmicks in new cars, singling out voice-activated controls and power-operated boot lids for special condemnation. In comparing the effects of "sport" modes in new cars, Jeremy notes that the Stig was able to lap a Volkswagen Golf GTI faster in Comfort mode than in either Normal or Sport modes. A new supercar, the Icona Vulcano, is profiled, with the presenters finding substantial humour in the name of the car's chief design director, Samuel Chuffart.

Road Trip: The trio decide to drive across Spain, to test three new "budget convertibles". Jeremy selected a bright yellow £195,000 McLaren MP4-12C Spider, Richard took a red £198,000 Ferrari 458 Spider, and James chose a grey £121,000 Audi R8 V10 Spyder. Their first competition saw them driving through the marina area of Puerto Banús, to see who got the fewest number of pictures taken of their car, with the results revealing that James' R8 was snapped 22 times, Richard's 458 got pictured 47 times, and Jeremy's 12C got snapped for a whopping 438 times. The next day, they came across an immense area of abandoned, newly built flats and decided to conduct a noise test. Richard believed that he had won when his 458 generates 107 dB of engine noise at full tilt (to 105 dB from the other two), but was declared the loser when Jeremy and James declare the object to be to generate the least amount of noise. They then set off, and drove along on a curving road in the Sierra Nevada mountain range to test the limits of their cars, and rather enjoying the road, but their reverie is cut short - literally - when the road suddenly stops, unfinished due to lack of funds.

The next day, the trio found themselves on a near-deserted motorway to head further north into Spain. Searching for a place to test the top speeds of their cars, they chanced across the disused Ciudad Real Central Airport. After amusing themselves with the still-active facilities in the abandoned terminal, they gave themselves permission to use the main runway to test their cars. First was a top-speed test, in which the 12C reached 198 mph (319 km/h), besting the 458's 193 mph (311 km/h) and the R8's 186 mph (299 km/h). The next test, campaigned over a half-mile length of runway, was a race in which the presenters must start with the tops down, and finish with the tops up; after Jeremy messed up initially, the 12C won again, followed by the R8 and the 458. After the race, Richard discovered that the gravel on the runway had severely damaged the underside of his Ferrari. After their time at the airport, the trio decided that instead of renting hotel rooms, they would find another series of abandoned housing projects and squat in an unoccupied house for the night, where they mutually decided that the Audi is the best budget convertible, the Ferrari is the best supercar and the McLaren is the best car.

For the last leg of their trip, the trio entered Madrid and found yet another huge abandoned housing project. Commenting on the size of the project, Jeremy figured that the development would be an ideal location for a street-racing circuit, which they create and christened as the "Circuito de Sir Francis Drake". Calling their event the "Madrid Grand Prix", they imported the Stig to set a benchmark lap in a Jaguar XKR-S convertible. None of the presenters could best the Stig's 0:57.5; Richard ran a 0:58.5, followed by Jeremy's time of 0:59.1 and James' best of 1:00.8.

Back at the studio, all three attempted to claim victory on the final task, or that the Stig went faster in the Jaguar, before James produced a chart demonstrating that while all three cars won the final task, and his and Jeremy's choice had won the sound test, the R8 had won pretty much all the other tests on the chart. In the end, though, all three presenters decided that they would rather have the Ferrari even though Jeremy initially preferred the McLaren.

• An economy test was not shown in the episode, but it was revealed the Audi had won that as well.

Star in a Reasonably Priced Car: Benedict Cumberbatch talks about the latest episode from his hit TV show Sherlock and practices a fake punch against Jeremy. He sets a 1:47.8 lap time in the Vauxhall Astra.

Review: Jeremy compare the Mercedes SLS AMG Black Series to the Mercedes SLS AMG Electric Drive. The Black Series is now faster and has better handing than the normal one due to its lighter weight, more horsepower, a rear wing and electronic differentials. He sums the Black Series up by saying that it was built to make a lap fast, whilst the normal one was built to make a lap fun. The Electric Drive however, comes with a more powerful engine and its own "high-visibility jacket" (a reference to the light green paint job), although it is very quiet. But, against the petrol-powered Black Series, it is dominant in a drag race because of its four independent motors powering each wheel, despite it being heavier by half a ton, due to having 864 batteries in the spine of the chassis. Jeremy sums it up as a brilliant car, but the drawbacks are quite significant, as the range is not very good, and it costs £360,000 but it does show that when the oil runs out, cars can still develop. The Stig sets a time of 1:21:7 in the Electric Drive, but sets a faster time of 1:19:0 in the Black Series, showing the difference between the petrol and the electric versions of a car.

News: Jeremy talks about the government's attitude to speed limits, saying that the new Secretary of State for Transport said that the new proposed speed limit of 80 mph (130 km/h) will not take action, as people currently drive at 95 mph (153 km/h), 15 more than that speed limit. He then thanks the Minister and ends the news to make sure that the producer doesn't edit it out, as they have previously done, otherwise there would be no news.

Star in a Reasonably Priced Car: Hugh Jackman talks about his upcoming film, The Wolverine, and his embarrassing experience in the onsen in Japan, while both admit the size of their penises. He sets a time of 1:46:1, becoming the third fastest.

Car Creation Challenge: Owing to flooding that had stranded cars under water, the trio wondered if a vehicle could be made to adapt to flooding. At the Top Gear Penistone Engineering Workshop, the boys decided to a create a makeshift hovercraft, using a Ford Transit van, so it could be ideal for getting around in towns that were flooded regularly. Richard explained that two 90hp engines he used for the hovercraft components were more than enough, despite Jeremy disagreeing. The finished product they made, proved to work well on the road (though not discretely or with room in the back), but after being geared up in wetsuits in order to tick all the boxes for health and safety for testing on a reservoir, the "Hovervan" immediately sank after entering the water. Jeremy blamed Richard for not having used powerful enough engines, Richard blamed James' skirt being too short, and James blamed Jeremy for going in too fast, before all three reworked the idea.

The Mark II of their Hovervan addressed what issues they encountered, which included having bigger skirts, inflatable rubber tubes around the side so that should the engines cut out it would still float in the water, while the lift engine was from a Yamaha R1 superbike and the thrust engine was from a lightweight 2.4 litre V8 from a Radical track car, providing up to 600 horsepower. To test that this Hovervan worked well, the boys took it out on the River Avon, Warwickshire, while not geared up in wetsuits, as they were so confident that this time it would work. However, after just embarking on the river, they immediately lost control and ran into a tree, which cracked the windscreen on one of its branches, and then ran low on fuel due to its high fuel consumption, with Jeremy and James shocked to learn from Richard its tanks could only hold 2 gallons. While refuelling, they received a challenge saying that they had to drive to Tewkesbury from Stratford-upon-Avon, a journey of approximately 50 miles. After the refuel, they set off, with the Hovervan proving to be quite effective, besides the spray and the loud noise, where in Stratford-upon-Avon, the noise proved to be also quite distressing. While trying to escape the town, they scraped against two grade 1 listed bridges, knocked a man into the water, and hit some moored boats.

Review: James tests the new Porsche 911 Carrera S, and aside from a few key body styles, suspension tweaks, and engine upgrades, it hasn't changed much since the birth of the Porsche 911 in 1963. However, the new 911 doesn't satisfy the more "older purists" of the 911 nameplate. The solution: a 911 tribute car built by Singer, a Californian Tuner that combines the classic 911 with subtle modern touches, including a more modern body made out of carbon fibre. He concludes the segment by claiming the Singer 911 is, like the Eagle E-Type Jeremy drove in Series 17, a love letter to a car.

News: Richard talks about the new Porsche 911 GT3 until Jeremy tells him to shut up about his 'glorified Beetle.' Then James talks about the new Porsche 911 Turbo which disappoints Jeremy as he labels Porsche as 'liars' and 'crap engineers' given Porsche claimed they would never built another turbo car. However, Jeremy also bad talked about the Show, and was forced to change his answer when they thought they can edit that part out. Jeremy then announces that David Cameron is banning internet pornography, which means that they can't look at the new Lamborghini Egoista or anything orange. Ford releases pictures of the new EcoSport, which they claim addresses the fact that modern cars don't have enough radiator grills. This segues into voice activated systems on cars, which are rubbish and how certain words could prompt the wrong actions (e.g. looking for a song by The Police might inexplicably call the real Police). Dacia releases a new Duster Black edition, which is said to be nothing more than a Duster with a vinyl wrap. Jeremy talks about a man in a BMW going through a flood, wishing he had the 'Hovervan' from the previous episode.

Review: Richard tests the new Lamborghini Aventador Roadster in Italy, then he moves onto the Lamborghini Sesto Elemento. Richard drives it around the Imola racetrack, noting how powerful and basic the car is. The Stig then takes the Sesto Elemento around the track; he spins off the track at one point, but manages to finish a lap in 1:14.0. The car was then removed from the board, due to it not being road legal.

Star in a Reasonably Priced Car: Aerosmith singer Steven Tyler (introduced as "Liv Tyler's dad") is the final celebrity in the series to drive the Vauxhall Astra. He manages a 1:51.0 (while Jeremy says, "It was a one, and then it was five. It was another one, and the end it was a 0."), the second slowest at the time.

Car Review Challenge/Special Race: Jeremy and James are forced to do a review on different crossover utility vehicles to see which one is best for a caravanner and not mock caravanners. Despite having reservations about reviewing a fleet of CUV's, James picks a key from a bowl held by Jeremy to start with one car; he picks a key and it's for the Toyota RAV4. However, when James reviews it, Jeremy points out that the car he's reviewing is actually a Mitsubishi Outlander. Testing out all of the CUV's, a common theme arises; they are all bland, dreary, and are too similar to each other. Jeremy goes on a rant on how a CUV like a Honda CR-V is almost similar to a Honda Civic except the fact that the CUV is priced higher and has a different suspension setup. James decides to chart out qualities in a CUV that carvanners want, noting such factors as towing capacity and insurance.

Review: With the discontinuation of the First Generation Range Rover Sport, Richard tests out the Second Generation Range Rover Sport. Unlike the first generation, which lacked off-roading credibility and had an ownership consisting primarily of footballers and their wives, Richard is able to take the new Range Rover Sport off-roading, which it handles well thanks to various gadgets on the SUV (including sonar to traverse water obstacles). At Donington Park, it minimally beats a John Cooper Works Mini Cooper driven by The Stig. However, Jeremy complains that the new Sport does not have the trademark split tailgate like the big proper Range Rover. This leads to Jeremy and Richard having a debate on what is better, bigger or smaller.

News: James complains about Highways Agency Traffic Officers blocking roads for minor accidents where their primary role is supposed to be opening roads quickly due to disruptions. The group proposes to reclassify the HATO's into Wombles. Royal Mail releases a set of stamps featuring British classic cars, but the group criticises some of the choices, including a Ford Anglia police car and a Morris Minor Van. Mazda and Alfa Romeo have teamed up to build a car similar to the Mazda MX-5 and the Alfa Romeo Spider, but Jeremy points out the last time Alfa Romeo attempted a joint venture, they teamed up with Nissan, and they produced the Alfa Romeo Arna, which Jeremy states was "terrible". An idea proposed on a previous episode of Top Gear to relax parking standards in town centres catches the ear of Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government Eric Pickles, which prompts the trio to ask him to come out and do a Star in a Reasonably Priced Car segment.

Review: James tests the New Routemaster bus in Somerset, arguing that for the same price that can buy a supercar with two seats, you can get a vehicle that can seat more people. However, James soon finds out that unlike a supercar, a bus is hard to start, is difficult to manoeuvre, has clearance issues, and is rubbish on track days, though he does point out that like a supercar, people will gawk, stare and take pictures. The bus also shares a similar engine and drive train layout like many supercars. Still, the new bus has features that are needed for bus service, including floors resilient to biological fluids, hints to the old Routemaster, and screens that advise people if the second level is full.

Star in a Reasonably Priced Car: Mark Webber talks about England's win in the 2013 Ashes series, his and Jeremy's common interest in cycling, his flip at the 1999 24 Hours of Le Mans as well as his flip at the 2010 European Grand Prix, and explaining his departure from Formula 1 to join Porsche's LMP1 team, while stating that he won't miss teammate Sebastian Vettel. He sets a time of 1:43.1, beating his wet time of 1:47.1 in series 6 and Sebastian Vettel, thus placing him second. He misses board leader Lewis Hamilton's time by 0.2 seconds.

Review: Jeremy tests the Jaguar F-Type which he expects to be quiet and comfortable but actually is an 'X-Rated Hardcore Monster for the Terminally Unhinged'. He adores the bellowing V6 noise, the speed, the well equipped and glorious interior, the beautiful exterior, the simplicity in driving the car and the handling of the car which he compares to a BMW M3. However he has many complaints about the car, from the price point, to the small boot capacity if the car is bought with a spare tyre, to the rock hard suspension. However Jeremy concludes that the car's good points easily outweigh the negatives.

Feature: Despite Jaguar and Land Rover being owned by an Indian company, the cars are still being built in Britain, so the trio wonders if any other cars are still being made in Britain, despite the stereotype that the country is devoid of such manufacturing and was severely crippled by labour strikes.

In their investigation, they find out that major car makers like Honda, Toyota, and Nissan operate manufacturing plants in England producing cars, while Ford has engine manufacturing plants in Wales and Essex, where one out of three Ford cars sold around the world has an engine that came from one of the two British plants. Various car parts from engines to gearboxes to interior trim for the Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG Electric Drive, the BMW 3 Series and the Bugatti Veyron, also originated from within England. At the same time, Rolls-Royce, whilst sourcing parts from Germany, hand manufactures their cars in Sussex, especially interior pieces and pinstriping by skilled craftsmen. In addition, Aston Martin was voted The Coolest Brand in the World for five of the last seven years whilst a large list of celebrities each owned a Range Rover.

Meanwhile, Motorsport involvement in the United Kingdom is wide and varied. Out of eleven Formula 1 teams, eight are based in England, with seven based near enough to each other to be "seen" from a hill in Oxford. A gearbox used in cars from Indycar, the Dakar Rally, the 24 Hours of LeMans, and used in the production Pagani Huayra, are built in an industrial estate in Berkshire (Xtrac Limited). Various other components, from clutches to hybrid systems to ECU's used in motorsport, originate in England as well. And when looking at Heavy equipment, a considerable number of countries have used British-made heavy equipment like Military Vehicles, Lorries, and (according to James) each country has at least one piece of JCB branded equipment. And, with the exception of France, the rest of the world enjoys automotive shows made in Britain.

With the track record researched, the trio invites the many manufacturers of motorised vehicles in Britain to bring what they make, to a meeting point in London (The Mall). The response is huge as a montage of motorised vehicles of all shapes and sizes start their journey to London. Vehicles from Rolls-Royce, Ariel Motor Company, Honda, Mini, Noble Automotive, Triumph Motorcycles Ltd, Briggs Automotive Company, Jaguar Cars, JCB, Land Rover, Morgan Motor Company, and the McLaren Group start their journey from across the country to London. Formula 1 teams Lotus F1, Mercedes-Benz, McLaren, and Red Bull Racing also embark from Milton Keynes.