Editing Top Gear (2002 TV series)/Series 5/Episode 6

{{Infobox Episode
|episode = Episode 6
|image           =<tabs plain style="margin:0;padding:0;" container="text-align:left;">
<tab name="Thumb 1">
[[File:TG 2002 S5E6 - VW Golfs.jpg|300px]]
Jeremy Clarkson reviews some classic Golfs.
</tab>
<tab name="Thumb 2">
[[File:TG 2002 S5E6 - Challenge Board.jpg|300px]]
Cheap Porsche Challenge board.
</tab>
<tab name="Thumb 3">
[[File:TG 2002 S5E6 - Clarkson Golf.jpg|300px]]
Clarkson behind the wheel of a VW Golf.
</tab>
<tab name="Thumb 4">
[[File:TG 2002 S5E6 - Porsche Before.jpg|300px]]
Paul Anderson's Porsche 928 prior to filming.
</tab>
</tabs>
|prodcode = GFGA690F
|number = 45 (since 2002), 607 (since 1977)
|length = 59:36
|viewers = 4.87 million
|previous = [[Top Gear (2002 TV series/Series 5/Episode 5|Series 5, Episode 5]]
|next = [[Top Gear (2002 TV series/Series 5/Episode 7|Series 5, Episode 7]]
|airdate =
UK: 5th December, 2004<br>
US: 30th August, 2010
| airdates    =
WO: 19th January, 2005<br>
PL: 22nd January, 2005<br>
NL: 22nd April, 2005<br>
RU: 1st May, 2005<br>
CA: 4th December, 2005<br>
AU: 16th January, 2006<br>
PR: 26th March, 2006<br>
BE: 7th October, 2006<br>
FI: 10th June, 2007<br>
HU: 17th August, 2009<br>
EE: 26th August, 2009<br>
CZ: 12th September, 2009<br>
ES: 5th July, 2010<br>
DE: 8th May, 2011<br>
IT: 4th February, 2013<br>
JP: 27th January, 2014
''Dates may not be 100% accurate.''
}}

{{TG 2002 Episode|episodename=Series 5, Episode 6|airdate=5th December|year=2004|xth=sixth|series=[[Series 5]]|number=45th|number77=607th|number78=598th|prognum=21st|totprog=24|resolution=576i|aspratio=16:9 Widescreen|tvorstream=British television|channel=BBC Two}} {{TG 2002 Episode Starring|hosta=Jeremy Clarkson|hostb=Richard Hammond|hostc=James May|stig=[[The Stig#First White Stig|The Stig]]|star=[[Cliff Richard]]|waswere=was}}, in addition to blind army veteran and land speed record holder [[Billy Baxter]] also taking the [[Reasonably-Priced Car#Suzuki Liana|Suzuki Liana]] around the [[Top Gear Test Track|track]], with Clarkson as co-driver.

This episode is perhaps best-known for featuring ''Top Gear''<nowiki>'</nowiki>s second {{Cheap Challenge}}, the [[Top Gear (2002 TV series)/Series 5/Episode 6/£1500 Porsche Challenge|£1500 Porsche Challenge]], where the three presenters were tasked with finding a used rear-wheel drive [[Porsche]] for £1,500 or less and completing a series of challenges with them.

==Synopsis==
{{TG Intro|narrator=Jeremy Clarkson}}
*How fast can a blind man get round our track?
*How much Porsche can you buy for 1500 quid?
*And Britain's most successful recording artist ever is in our Reasonably-Priced Car.

Series 5, Episode 6 begins with an unusually low, panning shot which switches from a floor-mounted TV displaying the ''Top Gear'' logo to a clearing in the audience, before stopping in front of a silver Volkswagen Golf GTI. Jeremy Clarkson then states how the car revolutionised the hot hatchback and how he voted for the Golf GTI in the ''Car of the Century'' poll held in 1999, before cutting to the episode's first film.

===Volkswagen Golf GTI===
{{Unabridged Article|articlename=Volkswagen Golf GTI Film}}
Clarkson briefly overviews the history of the GTI marque up to 2004, evaluating how the car's performance deteriorated to the point it was outmatched by a diesel saloon from the same automotive conglomerate. He then decides to drive the new model, to see if anything has changed. Much to Clarkson's delight, he is impressed by the new car's increased performance and claims that the car has regained the "puppy dog enthusiasm" that was missing in the previous model. He also complements the car's practicality and its unassuming appearance, meaning that it can serve equally well as a family runabout in addition to its hot hatch credentials. Jeremy recommends the car over 4x4s, which at this point were the dominant choice for family transport.

Back in the studio, Richard Hammond gives a brief overview of the Golf's rivals. Each of them were driven around the Top Gear Test Track by The Stig, and their lap times placed on a special, smaller lap time board for hot hatchbacks. The Golf GTI was then taken for a lap.

{| class="wikitable" style="width: 40%;"
! style="width: 5%"|Position
! style="width: 25%"|Car
! style="width: 10%"|Time
! style="width: 15%"|Track Conditions
|- align="center"
|1
|Honda Civic Type-R
|1:32.8
|Dry
|- align="center"
|2
|SEAT Léon Cupra
|1:32.9
|Dry
|- align="center"
|3
|'''Volkswagen Golf GTI'''
|1:33.7
|Dry
|- align="center"
|4
|Renault Mégane Sport 225
|1:34.0
|Dry
|- align="center"
|5
|MINI Cooper S Works
|1:34.2
|Dry
|}
To the surprise of both hosts, the car fails to beat its older, rebadged brother (the SEAT Léon Cupra) and the aging Honda Civic Type-R. Hammond also notes that the Type-R is cheaper than the Golf, but Clarkson then remarks that Honda's brand image is not as highly regarded as that as Volkswagen's, and that on the whole, the Golf is the better package, deeming the car a "sensation". The camera then switches to James May, who begins reading out [[{{ROOTPAGENAME}}/The News|The News]] for that week.

===The News===
{{Unabridged Article|articlename=The News (1st December, 2004)}}
Continuing on from the theme of hot hatches, May opens The News by unveiling the upcoming hot hatch version of the then-new Vauxhall Astra, the VXR. Though initially impressed by the sub-£20,000 price tag and the promised output of 240 brake horsepower, Clarkson derides the interior's appearance as resembling the "inside of a man's wash bag". Richard Hammond then talks about how DaimlerChrysler CEO Jürgen E. Schrempp had his armour-plated Mercedes-Benz S-Class limousine worth £500,000 stolen<ref>[https://nypost.com/2004/11/23/theft-proof-benz-stolen/ New York Post - Theft-Proof Benz Stolen.]</ref> in 20 minutes during a meeting in Stuttgart, before Jeremy Clarkson follows this up by mentioning that ex-KGB operatives have apparently been stealing<ref>[https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/the-good-the-bad-and-the-ugly-of-2004-5bzg3m86cz9 The Times - The Good, The Bad, And The Ugly of 2004.]</ref> German car industry secrets during constant system breaches that they have been powerless to stop.

==Reception==
===Contemporary===
{{FinalGear Poll|episodename=Series 5, Episode 6|criticalreception=critically acclaimed|pollposition=placing sixth in|votes=8}}

===Retrospective===
{{Topgearbox Poll|episodename=Series 5, Episode 6|rank=94th}} According to [[Sean McKellar]], the episode features "the ultimate cheap car challenge"<ref>[https://www.topgearbox.com/cars/entertainment/top-gear/challenges/series-5-episode-6/ Topgearbox - Series 5, Episode 6.]</ref> and is a must-see episode.

{{Unabridged|episodename=Series 5, Episode 6}}

==References==