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Top Gear has an Extra Gear problem | Episode Review

When the BBC announced Extra Gear, I was excited. As an avid fan of show's like The Talking Dead – companion show to AMC's hit The Walking Dead – a behind-the-scenes look at my favorite motoring show sounded promising. But with the fifth episodes of each show, I'm worried that Top Gear is suffering to keep Extra Gear interesting. We'll start with Chris Evans, inarguably the most heavily criticized member of the new Top Gear team. Evans is progressively less shouty and more comfortable filming while driving in each episode – the fifth is no different. He's almost likable in the Zenos E10 video, like a ginger James May, and he delivers accurate and eloquent driving impressions. The review is entertaining, until Extra Gear shows the producers cut a huge element – an old-versus-new sprint around the Race of Champions circuit at the Olympic Stadium in London. Former Formula 1 ace David Coulthard would drive a Caterham 360, while current F1 pro Daniel Riccardo rocked the Zenos. If the entire premise of Evans review is that the Zenos E10 is the newest of the new for British super-lightweight track toys, why did the producers decide to leave a race against the segment's standard bearer for Extra Gear? It's a baffling move, cutting a segment of the film that reinforces Evans' excitement over the Zenos. Rory Reid's Jaguar F-Type SVR piece is excellent. Fifty five years to the day after Jaguar test driver Norman Dewis raced to the Geneva Motor Show in a second E-Type for display, Reid would attempt the same feat in an SVR. If he failed, Jaguar wouldn't have a car to display. Dewis made the 750-mile trip with 13 hours of notice, and Reid would need to do the same. It's a brilliant, simple premise that reminded me of Jeremy Clarkson's so-called "Race against God" in a Jaguar XJ, way back in season 16. The history of the challenge and Dewis' gravelly commentary add gravitas. But the entire film goes by so fast. It's longer than Evans' Zenos video or Harris' BMW M2 film, but at less than ten minutes, Reid and the SVR deserved more screen time. Extra Gear poured salt in that particular wound with a great segment featuring Norman Dewis that deserved to be in the main show. Reid takes the famed test driver for a spin around the Dunsfold track, then, instead of the comedian of the week, the hosts interview Dewis on Extra Gear's couch.

California adapts ZEV mandate with PHEVs for smaller automakers

California is the nation's largest market for zero-emissions vehicles with over 100,000 of them estimated to be on the roads there. The state's goal is to keep that number growing every year. To that end, the California Air Resources Board is now tweaking its rules in a way that might not boost ZEVs but could mean more plug-in hybrids for the Golden State. Jaguar Land Rover, Mazda, Mitsubishi, Subaru, and Volvo asked for an exemption to the state's zero-emissions vehicle mandate last year due to their relatively small development budgets compared to larger automakers. CARB denied their request but did craft a compromise, according to Automotive News. Rather than being required to offer a ZEV in the state, companies with an annual global revenue of less than $40 billion, like those in this group, may instead sell plug-in hybrids to earn ZEV credits. The companies aren't completely off the hook, though. If these plug-in hybrids don't earn enough credits, the corporations must buy them on the market to make up the difference. Automakers with popular electric models like Nissan and Tesla have made a big business through this trading system by selling their surplus to rivals. Tesla alone pocketed $51 million in the first quarter from this part of its business, according to Automotive News. The changes to the regulations also aren't set in stone, yet. CARB is meeting in 2016 and could adjust things further at that time. Related Video: News Source: Automotive News - sub. req. via Hybrid CarsImage Credit: Justin Sullivan / Getty Images Government/Legal Green Jaguar Land Rover Mazda Mitsubishi Subaru Volvo Emissions Electric Hybrid California zev credits zero emissions vehicle

Driving JLR Classic's factory-restored Jaguar Reborn E-Type

COVENTRY, England – Moviegoers of a certain age will likely draw an association between the flag-emblazoned E-type “Shaguar” driven by Austin Powers and the carÂ’s image as an icon of Swinging-Sixties cool. For sure, the Brits cling to this era, recalling a time when everyone from The Beatles to the nationÂ’s car manufacturers were successfully exporting English swagger to the world. As the 60th anniversary of the E-typeÂ’s first appearance in 1961 approaches, attention is again focused on this golden age for British automotive engineering and JaguarÂ’s increasingly industrialized approach to leveraging its heritage. That takes the form of an impressive modern facility on the outskirts of the brandÂ’s hometown, where classic Land Rover, Range Rover and Jaguar vehicles are “Reborn” in nut-and-bolt factory restorations. This isnÂ’t a few old hands turning spanners in a dusty corner of the main factory — instead customers can go direct to Jaguar Land Rover Classic Works, order the Reborn vehicle of their dreams and sit patiently for the spectacular return on their considerable investment. In the case of the Reborn E-type driven here, that starts at around $400,000, though that figure can rise considerably if youÂ’re fussy about the vintage of the original car and want one based on a more sought-after early model. For the real fanboys Jaguar is even offering Drivsix matched pairs of restored E-type 60 Editions to celebrate the coupe and roadster that were famously driven direct from the factory to the Geneva unveiling just in time for Jaguar founder Sir William Lyons to reveal it to the world. That even Enzo Ferrari was moved to acknowledge its beauty adds to the romance of that moment, and explains why Jaguar is so keen to celebrate it. But can the Reborn E-type do justice to such myth and legend? And is factory original really preferable to the restomods built by independents like Eagle? Wheel time in a gorgeous Reborn 1965 4.2 Fixed-Head Coupe on an authentically grey and overcast English day is my chance to find out. The E-type may have earned EnzoÂ’s respect for its looks but, ever the wily engineer, he will likely have been paying closer scrutiny to what was under those slinky panels. Jaguar had demonstrated it could beat the worldÂ’s best in sports car racing with multiple Le Mans wins in the 1950s. As the new decade dawned, it looked to have ambitions to do the same in showrooms with a product that made MaranelloÂ’s finest seem like old tech.