Clarkson hates Audi A2

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kit lewis

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In this months Top Gear magazine they are giving away a 'Clarkson on Cars' supplement where the Levi clad leviathan of the motoring press gives us the benefit of his collected wisdom. In the section on compact cars I was amused to find the following which might be suitable for a new thread:

“There are days when I think the national currency must have changed to dollars overnight, and usually it’s the days when I drive past an Audi showroom and see the sticker price on an A2. Currently they are asking £14,125 for the 1.4 diesel, which to the terminally dim, will seem a good price for an Audi with its lightweight Phillipe Lord Richard Westwood Conran Rogers aluminium polenta space frame technology. But even though it’s been created by engineers so clever that their brains need lifts to move their ideas around, the A2 just doesn’t work. The least you would expect from a city car is a decent ride in town, but the A2 is less forgiving than George Bush. Economical yes, but you’ll need to sell your house to pay for it, leaving you nowhere to drive it anyway. In fact the only benefit of the lack of weight is that the car rocks when you put the windscreen wiper on, providing fun for all the family who’ll be living in the back seats. Assuming, that is, that you remembered to pay for the optional three seats in the back, rather than the miserly two which come as standard. This car has taken the mick for a long time, and I’m not the only one who thinks so. Burnt Fishtrousers, the new boss of the Volkswagen group has ordered it to be axed.”

Clarkson on Cars - His Loves and Hates supplement Top Gear magazine – November 2002

Anyone care to comment? Does it really rock when the wipers are on!

Kit



Soon to be the owner of a Dolphin Grey 1.6 FSI SE with Red Leather, ECC, DIS & Symphony 6 CD
 
The only point that I would agree with him on is the bit about the car rocking when the windscreen wiper is on, its only slight and it doesn't bother me.

Clarkson is well and truely past his use by date !!
 
I usually quite like Clarkson and his sense of humour but a lot of stuff tends to go straight over his head. This from the man who bought himself a Ferrari 355 - how can he preach down to us when he drives around in impractical supercars or £80,000 limosines.

Brings a whole new - and rather boring - meaning to the old bumper sticker, Don't come knockin' if the cars a rockin'.

1.4SE petrol in Merlot Red, Biege interior, 16" 5 spoke alloys, DIS, Open Sky, Elec rear windows.
 
It amazes me - he says to buy an A2 you have to sell your house, but then happilly (in the new Sunday Top Gear Show) praises a £310,000 Italian sportscar for being better than the £160,000 Lambo... Aslo it was amusing to see him drive the "moderatly priced car" off the track - however chosing a less than impressive basic car just to drive it round a test track to see which celebrity is fastest is crazy. Much like the 170mph Gasto stunt (at what speed does a Gasto not catch you). As for economy - the supercars Clarkson thinks are great whould only go 1/4 of the distance on the fuel of an A2, cost loads more to insure etc that I'm sure he's never lived in the real world!!

One aspect that attracts me to the A2 is the two rear seats as opposed to three! I'd much rather have the choice.
 
At least with the 2 rear seats they can be removed to create more boot space, whereas the 3 seat version only folds forward.
 
I find Clarkson’s words talented and amusing, and I expect very much tongue in cheek. In fact in the world of stardom (as Steve will probably confirm) if you are not seen as slightly radical then you are quickly cast onto the heap.

I acknowledge if you take his comments and evaluate them with other background facts then it is easy to pull his statement apart (as others have very fairly illustrated), but on the other hand if you stop and think he does make a point – obviously in his own style. By example just take the cost of cars and remove the £ sign, and if one stepped back a few years you could be forgiven for asking was the 18,000 price in Dollars or Lira.

Clarkson does genuinely like cars, and is emotionally moved by their presence, however since his days of moving into the interviewing world I now find that he struggles to leave that baggage behind when presenting the new Top Gear TV programme. Alas I think he is now struggling with an identity crisis. Perhaps 12 months collecting trolleys in a Tesco carpark would bring him back down to ground.

Regarding the windscreen wiper slightly jolting the car around, yes this is true, but how many people sit stationary with their engines off and wipers going in order to complain about this. Some could argue that this is poor design, but I would say the A2 would look stupid with 2 dainty wipers flapping around the screen, and so in the name of bold design the A2 owner is made to suffer a minor inconvenience. Nothing wrong with that.

Regards
John Disdale
 
What's the deal with the wipers? Surely Clarkson is clever enough(?) to work out the simple forces at work and can find a reason why a light car such as the A2 moves a little as the wiper sweeps across the screen. I bet if you sneezed in a stationary Caterham you would go backwards :)


Tino
Dolphin Grey 1.4 SE
 
Right I know this isn't exactly an objective reply to this but who the hell care about what Clarkson says?? I mean this is the guy who dropped a 911 Carrera RS (and there aren't that many left of that kind) from a crain, just because he doesn't like the 911?!?!? Sorry but that is just simply a NoNo!! That car is a piece of car manufacturing history, whether he likes it or not!! He is funny at times, that is right, but sometimes he just simply goes way o.t.t.

A2 1.4TDI Silver, still standard :(
 
Well said McMuffin - now Top Gear have a full hour to fill with cupid stunts. Should be enough time to upstage Driven's car sumo.
The only thing that surprised me was their drooling over the Mazda 6 - I hadn't thought anything from Japan would produce anything other than a sneer from Clarkson. Must be a bloody good car.
 
I have to say to counter the clarkson bashing that the new topgear is better than driven and his show last night on I.K. Brunnell was good.

Phil
 
Yes I thought a very good documentary by Clarkson on Brunel

Dave

1.4SE -> 1.6SE 4 weeks and counting
 
I guess Clarkson is just stating some arguable facts in his own style, however 2 years after the car was released!!!! What a great reporting technique - wait until a car has suceeded or failed, then make an opinion. Respect - NOT!!!

Kaine

A2 1.4Tdi SE | black | red leather | Concert | Open Sky | A2OC Stickers x2
 
Who the f**c* is Carkson? Just another writer, writing the opinion he is paid for? Who cares........
 
COtt - Lots of people respect and appreciate the comments of others, and if this were not the case then there would be no market for the 30 odd car magazines that are on the market each month.
 
I never really understood where his famous "Norfolk bashing" statement came from.....that really was below the belt.....as for his car views-yeah well, if we all listened and took note of what he said, no one would drive Vectras and we would all be living in cardboard boxes so we could afford to run some exotic supercar.
Good luck to the bloke.....give someone enough string and all that.....

Steve - 2003 1.4SE petrol, Silver, black/black interior
 
He seems to make a decent living out of it, so he must have some fans out there!
I agree that you take what he says tounge-in-cheek, and laugh with him. He's right about the price of the A2 - particulary if you bought one before the £250 deal and free insurnace came out (Like I and many others did!)

MartinW
 
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