We *all* have access to test tracks. If you don't want to spent £80 or so on a track day then that's your choice. I've done track days and I didn't see anyone celebrating bad driving.
Then again, I've never watched Top Gear and had someone say to me "Oh, did you see Top Gear? I'm off to buy a Ferrari and do doughnuts. I wish Jeremy hadn't shown me that cars can do that".
It's not bollocks though. You'll find that the best way to find out how a car behaves in an emergency situation is to simulate that situation. The safest place to do that is on a test track. I don't have a test track, but I do know that some cars are worse than others, and there are some situations - i.e diesel spills - that mean knowing if your car if likely to understeer or oversteer (if you don't already know) could well save your life.
Top Gear points out *and shows you* how well badly cars perform in extreme circumstances. Programmes like TG, and magazines like "Car" have done more to make the roads of the world safe than anyone else - including that idiot Nader in the '60s.
If a car performs badly on TG then it'll get a reputation for handling badly, which means it won't sell as well as something that handles well to the people who watch the programme. That's a few million people watch it every week, and have for years. If it wasn't for TG then I imagine there'd be a lot more people driving Fronteras.
-- Pete M - Using the Scouse Side of the Force - Range Rover Vogue EFI Citro‘n Xantia SX TD OMF#9
"Stay calm. Stay calm. I'm a relatively respectable citizen -- a multiple felon, perhaps, but certainly not dangerous."
Richard HammondOn 24 Sep 2006 21:31:41 GMT, Huge Inertia. I was recording another program at the time (I can't recall which one, because I've obviously recorded...
