Friday 29 October, 7:30pm on Five
The venerable car-based consumer show continues. In this episode, Tiff Needell pits a Vauxhall against an Audi, Vicki Butler-Henderson reveals all about a new luxury SUV, Jason Plato thrashes an Audi supercar and Jonny Smith enters his first ever competitive trackday event. Audi used to have the market for powerful 4×4 saloons cornered – but Vauxhall are trying to muscle in with their Insignia VXR. Tiff takes both butch saloons to the limit at the twisty Anglesey circuit to find out which is faster. Will it be the old hand or the young pretender? Vicki reveals all about a luxury SUV from a company that is brand new to the UK – Infiniti. After selling cars in America for decades, the Japanese carmaker is coming to Europe hoping to steal customers away from established SUV manufacturers. The FX30d has impressive gadgets such as 360-degree parking cameras and an onboard Michelin guide – but can it really drive as well as its rivals? The Audi R8 supercar is a ‘Fifth Gear’ favourite, but there has always been a gap in the market for a more hardcore version of the car. Happily, Audi has obliged and produced the R8 GT – a stripped-out lightweight model that costs �140,000. To find out just how good this extreme R8 is, Jason heads to the track to burn up some laps. Every petrolhead dreams of being a racing driver, but because motorsport is seen as an expensive hobby, those dreams rarely come true. To prove that the sport does not have to break the bank, Jonny goes through the training, driving tests and theory exams required to obtain a racing licence, before entering a competitive trackday event – all on a tiny budget. In a Porsche 944 he has borrowed for the day, he attempts to put all of his practice to good use – but will he be able to stay on the track long enough to snatch a victory?