Ben Collins Stunt Driver Page #5

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of the car into the corner

whilst accelerating,

and it's just incredible.

I'm very reassured by the fact that

this car is covered in Kevlar,

the stuff they make

bulletproof jackets from.

There's a whole shield

in front of the engine bay

and in the rear quarter panels,

so if I do come under fire,

I've got some pretty good protection there.

I've got a good feeling about this Mini.

I think this is the one.

Oh, hang on a minute.

Team are calling me in.

That was awesome. Thank you so much.

- Is everything okay?

- No, we need to refuel.

What, did you half fill it or

something, or was that a full tank?

- That is a full tank.

- You serious?

I'm serious.

Well, five minutes isn't going to cut

a car chase. There's no way.

This car had everything I wanted,

and now I've got to

start completely from scratch.

Ugh!

Hi, Barry.

Ben, don't mention names

over a cellular phone!

And you know why I'm calling.

Have you found me a car?

Uh, no, not quite.

What do you mean, "Not quite"?

Well, I've tested some amazing stuff

but nothing that's quite right for the job.

You really need to sort this.

Fourteen hours, find me that car!

I will, I promise. I've got a plan.

Barry... Hello?

Bye... Bye, Barry.

Thanks for calling.

Here are the final four cars

I'm assessing for this mission.

And to help me make the big decision,

I've brought in stunt driving

heavyweight, Martin Ivanov,

known as "the Russian."

A multiple-award-winning stunt

performer and driver,

we met on the set of Quantum of Solace,

and he's the one man I trust

when it comes to a car chase.

Martin, thanks for coming all the way from

Moscow to test these cars out.

You know the brief.

The first one we've got is the Audi S8,

and it should be good because it's,

you know, a true action movie favourite.

Yeah, perfect, this is the car.

No more searching needed.

Okay, great, that's good confidence

but we have got more in the car park,

so, this is just one of the four.

No, no, no, no. This is the car.

Now, to settle this argument,

we need to get out on the track.

The amazing thing with this car

is when you get into it,

it feels really big, it's like being

in a tank but it's so fast with it.

It's got twin-turbocharged,

V8 engine, 520 horsepower.

And because it's Quattro, I think

it's gonna be almost as good off-road

as putting its power down on the tarmac.

So I think you've got a point.

This could be a fantastic car.

But we are gonna test some more cars

because I still think

one of those ones in the garage

could be better than this one.

Yeah. Let's see.

And here's the next contender.

From super saloon to super car,

this is the Noble M600.

This could be a hero

or a villain's car with its mean looks.

But this beast is all

about killer performance.

Now, the reason I've chosen this Noble

is because it delivers true performance

in a very, very simple old-fashioned way

and I'm talking as basic

as horse and cart.

It goes from 0 to 60 in three seconds,

and just keeps going

until you get to 225 miles per hour,

which surely is enough to defeat

anything by land, sea or air.

I have to admit, aerodynamics are a

little bit light on the Noble,

which does make it quite

skittish at high speed

but it's also what makes it so fast.

Just look what it's like in the corners.

It's just balletic.

And the harder you drive it,

the more you get out of it.

I love this car.

I think this could be a winner.

Release the Russian.

I am coming.

I almost feel sorry for Martin,

in that I'm going to break his

spirit right at the beginning

because the advantage this

car is pulling on the Audi is sizeable.

It's killing it.

The poise in these chicanes is where

I really seem to break away from him.

Martin's car is leaning heavily,

blistering its front tyres no doubt,

as it tries to keep up with the Noble.

I'm sure he'll get over it

on his flight home.

Bye-bye, Martin.

Ugh! So much for

catching me, Martin. Where were you?

This car is a joke.

- What do you mean?

- Look at the ground clearance.

It's not that low, is it?

Your chase will end at first speed bump.

Well, let's go try

another one then. Come on.

- Yeah, let's do it.

- Grumpy.

Next is the Jaguar F-Type.

A stunning GT, which is giving

Aston Martin a run for its money.

It certainly looks the part,

but does it have it where it counts?

This is the Jaguar F-Type S,

a supercharged version of the V6 engine,

knocking out 374 brake horsepower.

It's got a shorter wheelbase

than that massive Audi,

which should give this the advantage

in the off-road part of the chase,

and it's got some ground clearance,

which was the Achilles heel for the Noble.

So, this has got to be

a strong candidate.

Now, unbelievably,

in terms of acceleration,

the Audi actually has

the edge over this Jag,

but this has longer legs,

and it can stretch them

to 171 miles an hour.

And it's great at drifting.

Which means I can throw loads of smoke

in the face of my would-be pursuers.

It's just so much fun, this car. Ahhh!

Release the Russian.

Come to papa.

It's much, much more

evenly-matched this time.

I've got a little bit more pick-up and

traction, just coming out of the corners

but as soon as we get on these straights,

he is closing right up on me.

This does not bode well.

Let's try the old smoking-tyre manoeuvre

and see if I can push him back a little bit.

Come on, Jag!

I've got my foot to the floor.

I can't stop him.

Ahhh, Martin!

Oh, I thought you'd be smug.

- Victory!

- I know what you're gonna say.

I mean, you kind of won,

but only in the straight bit.

- This is still a good car.

- But I won.

- All right, well, I've got one more, yeah?

- Yeah, your last chance.

Yeah, you're so tough.

I've saved the best till last.

The BMW M3 is a legend

of Teutonic performance.

The M3 has been trouncing its rivals,

on and off the race track,

for nearly four decades,

but is it the all-rounder I need?

Now this is BMW's brand new M3,

the pinnacle of German engineering,

a car that even Martin would approve of.

BMW have given this M3

a brand new engine.

They ditched the V8 for a lighter

straight 6 turbocharged unit,

firing out 425 horsepower.

It's an incredible car to drive.

You've got so much control

under your right foot.

Fantastic cornering.

And you can still drive it like

an absolute hooligan when you want to.

This car is great.

Deploy the Russian.

You don't know the power of dark side.

Now, instantly, I get the feeling

that we're much more closely-matched.

Both these cars have got

incredible poise through the corners.

He's hanging on, but it's nothing like

as deadly as it was with the Jag.

Even in this big straight, the Audi,

I can just see him closing in.

Argh! Braked a bit late.

Oh, you're close, Martin,

but you're not quite close enough.

Yeah.

Well, that was a workout, but one

of these cars definitely is a winner,

and I think I'm sitting in it.

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