Top Gear On Caravanning

[swedish brick]

Top Gear is great, Clarkson is one of the best presenters ever! I think its his attitude that makes him good!
I have never used or towed a caravan and dont really want to, its not my thing, but each to his own. Destroying stuff is funny no matter what it is, who watches formula 1 to see who wins? you only watch to see who screws up and causes the biggest flaming wreck ever! or is it just me?
Caravans are just one of the many things on top gears 'hit list'.

I do think though that some people are idiots, like the old guy I got stuck behind the other day, who decided to tow a huge caravan with a K reg 1400cc Astra and promptly held up the entire area!
They dont bother me that much though normally, are people so sad that they must go as fast as possible all the time?!
My own pet hate is the stupid little teenagers on those pathetic little mopeds acting like they own the road! They are dangerous!

[barrie013]

20 years or so ago, I drove from Dover to Manchester in my 122S:300 miles.
Estimated 50 mph, 6 hours. Did the journey in 5 hours, average speed 60 mph.
I would not like to try and work out a time for the same journey today, even in a T5, it could still take any amount of time. I now have a more relaxed attitude to driving, and plan a half hour break every couple of hours, and give myself extra time for potential hold ups. If I get stuck behind a caravan, or whatever, so be it...just sit back and relax...lifes too short to let it get at you, you'll end up with a coronary. As has been said, this is still a (relatively) free country, and I certainly don't have a problem with anyone enjoying Top Gear, even if they do abuse Volvos, my attitude comes from my being an old f*rt, and living in the past. (Sits in corner ranting about modern music) !One of the best things about this forum, is that the majority of us do not fit into the 'eurobox' category, and actually drive our cars bacause we like them, and not to show our status to the neighbours etc. This said, this makes us all individuals, rather than having the herd mentality, which is why we get so many diverse opinions on here, without any nastiness. Which has gone right off topic, so I'll go now and take some more medication...

[LankyTim]

Thats a good point actually. Its rare to see any nastiness on this forum. I know of some forums where people literally jump down your throat when you post something they dont agree with. The volvo300 forum is without any nastiness too. Maybe volvo owners are just more level headed than the average car owner?

[Citizen.Agfa]

Love that Sweeney stuff, it made I larf!!

Nick H.

[RoscoMac]

It will be interesting to see what the Caravan Club say about it all - given that it was one of their sites! They have really shot themselves in the foot I think!

In general I wont pull over to let people passed - but then i usually make a point of sitting at the speed limit (proper distances etc). Besides HGVs never do it and they are supposed to be limited to 40mph on A roads!

Originally Posted by RoscoMac

In general I wont pull over to let people passed - but then i usually make a point of sitting at the speed limit (proper distances etc). Besides HGVs never do it and they are supposed to be limited to 40mph on A roads!

at last! a true caravanner, nice to see, lets just hope yours is one of those that commits hari- kari and ends up either a pile of pop-rivits, pans, crockery and bits of fibreglass on the hard shoulder or forlornly lying on its back at the bottom of some motorway embankment like some stranded tortoise before to long

[LankyTim]

Dont mince your words Chow, just spit it out, lol.

[blues60]

Although I do not have, nor ever anticipe owning a caravan I can see why people use them. My parents caravan and have done for years. They drive all over Europe at a fraction of the cost of hotels and air travel.
I would say everyone is entitled to their opinion and if you like caravaning then more power to you!
On the subject of Clarkson, I think you have to view him as a child in a large 40 year old mans body. He knows what he says riles people and plays on that fact. He is paid for his controversial and pig headed attitude and paid very well. I saw the feature on Top Gear last night and having spend a few summers with my parents in their 'van I found it very funny. That aside I anticipated that the feature may tend to be biased from the outset and the fact that they ended up burning the thing to the ground came as no surprise. It appeared totally staged and was just a piece of amusing TV (IMHO).
What I find more annoying than caravans on the road is the car driver who insists on sitting a few feet from the back of a "rig" tailgating, with no attempt to overtake. This then makes it effectively 3 vehicles you have to overtake.

[Badger-Bob]

Originally Posted by chow

at last! a true caravanner, nice to see, lets just hope yours is one of those that commits hari- kari and ends up either a pile of pop-rivits, pans, crockery and bits of fibreglass on the hard shoulder or forlornly lying on its back at the bottom of some motorway embankment like some stranded tortoise before to long

Now that I dont find funny at all.Bob

[perussell]

I think Blues60 hits the nail on the head. Various types of traffic will always move at differing speeds for differing reasons. The problems then arise because if a slow moving vehicle is at the front everybody bunches up meaning that if an individual wishes to go faster for any reason i.e. overtake, it is nearly impossible or highly dangerous because you are having to overtake anything from 2 -4 (or however many vehicles) in one go. I also think a lot of drivers lack the ability/courage/power to overtake properly - these are probably the same idiots as never move from the middle lane of a motorway from joining to leaving.

And yes, I cried with laughter at the Clarkson piece on caravanning - it was pure entertainment and the reactions of some of the people on this blog just confirm the old adage 'you can please some of the people some of the time but you will never please all of the people all of the time' and for that latter grouping may I suggest the use of the TV 'off' switch.