Top Gear: The Perfect Road Trip 2

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CLARKSON:
Last year, Richard Hammond

and I set off from Venice

on what should have been

the perfect road trip.

(LAUGHING)

We always had

the right car for the right road.

What a machine!

The sun shone when we wanted it to...

Look at this now.

...and the rain came when we didn't.

(LAUGHING)

It was brilliant.

Right up to the moment

when the French Constabulary

took away our driving licences.

Oh... Right.

So, this year with the lesson learned,

we thought we'd do

the perfect road trip again.

And this time we'd get it right.

(OPERATIC MUSIC PLAYING)

Do not adjust your set.

I know this how we began last year,

on a Riva Acquarama,

the world's best speedboat.

In Venice, the world's best city

- that's built on a sea.

- Yeah.

But there are some major differences

between what you saw

last year and what you'll see this time.

Firstly, he's even fatter.

- Oh, I am.

- He is.

And secondly, we have completely

changed the route.

Oh, yeah. This year we are not

going to France.

Because frankly, they are...

Well, they're a bunch of...

(OPERATIC MUSIC PLAYING)

Instead we shall be staying in Italy,

God's personal racetrack,

going from Venice down through Tuscany

and Rome

and along the spectacular Amalfi Coast.

And the cars we'll be using will be

even better than they were last year.

Faster, harder, louder.

We'd even arranged to finish on the

glittering jet-set island of Capri

in a couple of classic Ford Capris.

Nothing could go wrong this time.

(HORN HOOTING)

Frankly, the roads we've lined up

this year are biblical.

Well, they're not biblical,

they're more modern than that,

but they are magnificent.

And the cars we have to drive on them...

So, there is a whole exciting, thrilling

bag of things we've got lined up.

But one thing we haven't put in it...

Is James May.

James May. He's not here.

Which is what really makes it perfect.

You lose Captain Slow.

We can go with the sort of speeds

they like in Italy.

And I have one extra thing,

one extra little piece

of perfection this year...

- Oh, here we go.

- ...to go with the perfect road trip.

No, critical, for the first time ever.

Food, we're abroad.

Ordinarily, I pretty much starve

or survive on crisps.

This time, for the first time,

not only am I going to be able to eat

foreign food,

I'm gonna love it

because we are going to Bologna,

home of spaghetti Bolognese,

my favourite food in the world.

Bologna. Bolognese.

I'll be able to eat like a local

and love it.

(OPERATIC MUSIC PLAYING)

CLARKSON:
Soon, we docked the boat

and were ready to meet the cars

we'd chosen

for the first leg of the journey.

Richard would be using the brand new

5.2-litre V10 Lamborghini Hurcan,

the long-awaited replacement

for the Gallardo.

And I'd be using this.

The equally new McLaren 650S,

which comes with a twin turbo

3.8-litre V8.

Now, you're probably sitting there

wondering why neither of us

has chosen to use a Ferrari 458.

And that's a good question

because it is a magnificent car.

- It is. But it has one massive flaw.

- Mmm.

- James May owns one.

- He does.

He does and he has completely ruined it.

Nobody would want to buy

Ferrari 458 now.

- No.

- Nobody.

I do not want to drive to Bologna

in James May's car.

No, it would be like going there

in his underpants.

- It would ruin the experience.

- It's worse.

Whereas in these,

our immediate future is bright.

Our immediate future is orange.

Very, very orange.

Ya-ha-ha!

(ENGINE ROARING)

What a noise!

James May thought long and hard

about buying a McLaren.

But then he realised it was much quicker

than the Ferrari, so of course,

being Captain Slow,

he'd want the Ferrari.

And that was the old MP4-12C,

that was what he was thinking of buying.

This is the 650S and this...

This is a different animal.

This looks more aggressive than the 12C.

It's got some technology from the

P1 in it and much

to the annoyance of those

who did buy a12C,

this is a hell of a lot faster.

I have at the control of my right foot

641 brake horsepower.

I have 500 torques and all that means

I can go from 0-60

in 2.9 seconds.

The 12C was three seconds faster

round the Top Geartest track

than a Ferrari 458.

This... Oh, this is...

Jesus wept, that's quick!

When we talk about super cars

and then hyper cars,

this is hyper car speed, it really is.

And yet, like the 12C,

it's unbelievably comfortable.

It is like driving around in a cloud.

Because all the wheels

are connected electronically

rather than with anti-roll bars,

there's no physical connection

between them.

And that means

when one wheel goes over a bump,

it feels it, but none of the others do.

That's why you just glide along.

What this means is that you can go

faster and harder for longer.

Which means that pretty soon

you'll have to stop somewhere

so your colleague can catch up.

(BELL TOLLING)

- Shut up!

- I haven't said anything yet.

Yeah, but I know

what you're going to say.

You're gonna go on about

how your car's faster when it's...

It is.

HAMMOND:
That'll do 202 miles an hour.

CLARKSON:
The McLaren will do 207.

It's more powerful,

it's got more torque, it's lighter...

There's no point even discussing speed,

and I wasn't going to.

I was going to say...

I don't think your car looks very nice.

- HAMMOND:
No. What?

- It doesn't.

Because it doesn't look very nice?

Look at it, it's all angles and...

It's beautiful.

Look, I will concede, reluctantly,

it's not as visually exciting

as some Lamborghinis are

when they're first launched.

- It should be.

- Deny that the back of your car

still looks like the back

of a vacuum cleaner.

It looks like something on a shelf

in an electronic...

It does, it does.

I... Listen, I'm not saying

that the McLaren is perfect,

but it's more perfect than that is.

I want you to stop talking now

because there's a danger

- I might agree with you a tiny bit.

- (MUMBLING)

And I don't wanna do that. What I do

wanna do is drive my Lamborghini.

Right.

All right, I will concede

that the McLaren is a very good car.

But in the real world, this is better.

It's the things you can't see

that make the difference.

The turbo in the McLaren

is carbon fibre.

Very strong, very light, very good.

But you ding it,

basically you're gonna need a new car.

The tub in this is a blend of

carbon fibre and aluminium

which is easier to repair.

This interior, it's superb.

This has had proper thought put into it.

Things are where they should be,

there's no confusion and what's what

just for the sake of how it looks.

And all of the electronics

now come from Audi.

Which means they work.

There's a device which shuts down

the engine at a set of traffic lights.

And there's four-wheel drive.

But don't think that

they've made it all sensible.

Oh, my God! (ENGINE ROARING)

Listen to that.

(TYRES SQUEALING)

It's got the same

5.2-litre V10 as in the Gallardo.

It's got a new top-end

and a new exhaust system.

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