New Rival to both Top Gear and Amazon's New Show

Believe it or not but Peter Andre could be the new host ITV’s rival to Top Gear.

Yes the Australian one hit wonder is said to be the new face of the ITV new car show which has already shot pilot episodes for the new prime-time show called IT’S ME OR THE CAR.

It would seem that the huge shake up behind the scenes of BBC’s motoring show Top Gear has created a new craze of motoring shows in general, and now singer Peter Andre has jumped on the band wagon.

ITV bosses are apparently extremely pleased with the episodes filmed by Peter, who is odds-on favourite to win this year’s Strictly Come Dancing.

Peter has previously starred in several ITV productions, including 60 Minute Makeover and a string of reality shows with ex-wife Katie Price.

Meanwhile, Jeremy Clarkson has been tweeting to fans to announce the start of filming for his new Amazon Prime show, but there seems to be someone missing from the line up!

The outspoken presenter took to social networking site, to promise fans that the new show would begin filming in the next few weeks after James May declared that plans for it were “going nowhere!”.

Clarkson quoted that “To be clear, May is busy with other stuff but Hammond, Wilman and I are extremely busy putting our new show together. Much is already sorted.”

Meanwhile over at BBC2 the TOP GEAR producers are lining up a relatively unknown car nut to co-host alongside Chris Evans.

Show chiefs have screen-tested bespoke car designer Ant Anstead, who presents Channel 4’s For the Love of Cars alongside Life on Mars actor Philip Glenister.

It would be a drastic move compared to rumors of more well-known hosts including Suzi Perry or Jodie Kidd.

Suzi Perry

Source: Wikipedia

Philip Glenister and Ant Anstead

Source: Wikipedia

Jodie Kidd

Source: Telegraph.co.uk

Information sourced from:

• The Sun on It's Me or The Car
• Unreality TV on the Top Gear presenters
• YouTube video above
• Wikipedia's article on For the Love of Cars
• Native Monster's interview with Suzi Perry

The Automotive Industry

Cars are ranked in the top 5 most expensive goods and the manufacturers know it. The amount of money and effort that goes into the design, engineering and production is titanic. In this article I will outline these 3 main areas.

Design

As well as being the basis for the rest of the project, the design phase of the automotive industry is where the new research is put into play. The marketers will be out looking for customer complaints and suggestions to adjust the designs to suit the needs of the consumers. Software will be used to present, adjust and improve repetitively. The design is not limited to the end product but will also identify resources, factories and machinery required for the entire production line in some detail.

Volvo auto design vehicle by ClkerFreeVectorImages is license under a Creative Commons 0 license

Source: https://pixabay.com

Author: ClkerFreeVectorImages

License: https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/

Engineering

In this phase models and prototypes many are made of everything, from the engine parts to the entire car in miniature size and in full scale size. Materials are defined and adjusted to suit the environments and drivers who will be using the vehicle. There are many independent engineering process which must be conducted the chassis, suspension, engine and transmission, cooling and heating, lighting, electrical, aerodynamics are just a few of the things that should be looked at.

Landing gear schematic by Inductiveload is in the public domain

Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org

Author: Inductiveload

Production

Final touches are implemented to ensure the vehicle is up to government standards. Pre-production cars are built and the vehicle is all but finished. By this stage factory should be ready and key personnel should have been trained. Agreements and contracts with dealerships will be drafted and signed.

Concesionario de Mercedes-Benz by Diego Delso is licensed under a Creative Commons 3.0 license

Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org

Author: Diego Delso

License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

Mad Max: Fury Road the icon

Recently I watched Mad Max: Fury Road and I was reminded of a great Australian legacy, the Pursuit Special for the Mad Max series. Shown in the opening few minutes of the film, before being wrecked, it appears again near the end of the film, re-built and running for the enemy, before it gets wrecked again. Below is a photo a replica built from the original Mad Max sitting in ACMI in Melbourne:

Replica of the original Mad Max sitting in ACMI in Melbourne.

A little history…

Mad Max’s Pursuit Special also referred to as the V8 Interceptor started life outside the films as a 5.8L 1973 Ford Falcon XB GT Coupe, an exclusively and quintessentially Australian car. To make the car fit better with the needs of the film (a more futuristic feel), a Weiand supercharger was added, though it wasn’t connected to the engine, and additional exhausts were added from 1 to 4, though again, they weren’t connected to anything.

The supercharger was run using an electric motor to achieve the same effect of the intakes opening and closing, while the extra exhausts were vibrated enough from the one connected so as to appear that they were also functional.

A Concorde front end was added, which was a fairly new accessory for the period and the Mad Max films were noted for helping increase sales once it was released to the market.

After the film was finished, the car was sold to a junk yard to help cover the costs of production. Thankfully it wasn’t crushed into a cube, as it was bought back and re-used for the second Mad Max film.

The car needed a few additional changes to account for its time out in the desert. Significant rust was added to the car, and the back window removed to provide space for ‘survival materials’ such as large petrol tanks.

A duplicate of the car was created for the sole purpose of wrecking the vehicle at the end of the film. The original remained intact but was later sold to a metal dealer as it wasn’t needed anymore. The vehicle was bought by an avid fan of the films and survives to this day.

Information sourced from:

• Wikipedia
• Mad Max Movies

Top Gear New and Old

Chris Evans brought Freddie... old LOTUS

Clarkson Finally got the P45

After many weeks and months there is finally clarity on what will happen to the favour Trio of whom left BBC2 Top Gear after Clarkson finally got his real P45 and Chris Even (not the Hollywood star) the new BBC2 Top Gear Presenter, will he also get to design his own P45 or will the new show be better than ever before. The explanation to what a P45 really is

Speculation is mounting that Jeremy Clarkson's new Amazon Prime show be called Gear Knobs, after it was discovered a trademark application for the cheeky title by Clarkson's lawyers, Olswang.

The application was made a fortnight before the former Top Gear presenter announced a deal worth a reported £160m ($390m AUS) to make a new series with Amazon. It was filed through a shell company, which has also registered the title "Gear Nobs".

A third title ‘Speedbirds’ was also registered by the lawyers. It was wondered if this name could be new moniker for ‘a Stig-like character’ in Clarkson, Hammond and May's new show. The filings mean the titles can be used for TV shows and merchandising.

The Top Gear brand was worth an estimated £150m ($365m AUS) a year in sales to the BBC through a lucrative combination of live shows, DVD sales, and all manner of branded merchandise, including Stig bubble bath and Top Gear birthday cakes.

However, the risqué names may not be what Amazon has in mind. Although the applications were made in the middle of July, at the end of August the company’s boss Roy Price said the team were still struggling to find a name for the show.

Jeremy Clarkson may be enjoying an extended holiday, but details of his forthcoming car show for Amazon Prime continue to leak out via his co-host Richard Hammond.

Hammond is currently doing the rounds promoting his other new show, which coincidentally happens to be about the Amazon rainforest, Richard Hammond's Jungle Quest.

Meanwhile, the new host of Top Gear, Chris Evans, revealed that work on the revamped BBC2 programme is now underway.

Evans recently took the entire cast and crew for a boozy night out at his local pub in Camden, but swore them all to secrecy about what the new show would be like.

That was until the new BBC2 Top Gear team ran out of creative gumption. Then they headed straight downstairs to the bar and continued on with the ideas session.

As well as having some drinks, the team managed to do some work, according to the 49-year-old presenter.

To come from the night was a new running order for the new Top Gear which was then pasted to the office wall before they all become to plastered themselves. further information on the exiting Top Gear Trio

Information sourced from:

• http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b006mj59
• http://www.topgear.com/car-news
  
• http://www.slashgear.com/former-top-gear-hosts-new-amazon-show-tipped-to-be-called-gear-knobs-18405534/

Ethanol

Could Ethanol fuel be damaging your car? The University of South Alabama's Dean of the College of Engineering, Dr. John Steadman says "ethanol could damage fuel lines, rings and those things that may be affected by having a strong chemical solvent" in cars made before 1986

Sao Paulo Ethanol Pump by Mariordo Mario Roberto Duran Ortiz is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported license

Ethanol fuel damages older engines, the legislation in Australia restricts any blend of more than 10% of the corrosive liquid to be sold from regular petrol stations. Countries in the American continent have placed laws to restrict the sale of "gas" without ethanol, which is sold in its E20 (20% ethanol) or E100 in the case of Brazil where the vehicles have an auxiliary tank which allows for the engine to warm up from a cold start, using petrol, and then the ethanol takes over.

While the fuel is controversial and requires vast farm land and manufacturing facilities to produce, the blend can reduce carbon emissions (Particularly CO2 emissions) by 6-80%, just looking at the combustion process. There are other factors which go into the calculation when CO2 is measured against the movement of a vehicle. One of the most important factors is the quality of the engine, when the engine is old or /and corroded, the vehicle will be slower and could be more carbon expensive to run.

Newer cars do not need to worry much, but because of the corrosive property of ethanol, which could destroy the plastic parts of a fuel tank the fuel could lead to engine death.

Another property of the blend is its phase separation where a vehicle's engine could be damaged, when mixed with water, particularly dangerous for boats, or in cold temperatures due to condensation of the fuel tank. Popular Mechanics have an article with advice available click here to find out more.

Petrol is not the solution, but ethanol blends wont be either if they damage the engines of current day, make sure you know what kind of petrol suites your car at the gas station, and where to get the right stuff if your car wont accept what's being offered.

Visit this website (Federal Chambers of Automotive Industries) to find out if ethanol fuel suits your car

Visit this website (Australian government's page) for a government provided website on alternative fuels.

Start your engines

FIA-start-lights-race-started by Pitlane02 is licensed under a Creative Commons 3.0 license

Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org

Author: Pitlane02

License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/deed.en

What does a driver feel on the track when it’s wet? The wheels slip, the car slides, the drivers judgment is crumbling and the nerves take over.

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Charles Pic 2013 Malaysia FP1 by Morio is licensed under a Creative Commons 3.0 license

Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org

Author: Morio

License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/deed.en

The ISYS Top Gear team brings you reviews, news, interviews and everything in between, on the track, in the showroom or on the road. Our reviews are not just limited to automobiles, we will from time to time be looking at the entertainment world and technologies, and from time to time we will be posting polls to ask for your opinion and input.

Your input is important to us and we choose to keep it that way, and as such we have kept each page, post and biography open to your opinion and comments. If there is anything you wish to discuss with the administration, in private, an email address (ISYS100A2015@gmail.com) is provided for this purpose.

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The ISYS Top Gear Team

Checkered Grunge Flag by Nicolas Raymond is licensed under an Creative Commons License 3.0 Unported

Source: http://www.flickr.com

Author: Nicolas Raymond (https://www.freestock.ca

License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/au/

My name is Phil Madin I'll be writing about the history and future of gadgets, fuels and technologies.

Ricky Brackenbury will be bringing you all the latest in the world of bikes and the MotoGP.

Chris Ward will be talking about the top gear series, its presenters and spinoffs.

Chris Deer will be reviewing races, tracks, championships, events and, in October, Bathurst and the V8 supercars..