BBC Top Gear: Bentley GTC vs. Amtrak California Zephyr

Jersey_Mike wrote:A race to the World Trade Center site or the Battery would be interesting because Clarkson would be forced to drive through Manhattan while the other two could just take PATH.

Well, they kind of did that with the Across London during Rush hour Challenge (May had the SUV, Hammond a Bike, Clarkson a speed boat (they deliberatlely chose start and end points near the Thames) and the Stig was Public Transport). But they also did do "Rush Hour in Manhattan" (all in autos), attempting to reach a Public Television station facility on the Upper West Side from a starting point in Brooklyn -I remember groaning a few times at their choice of routes, Especially when May (I think) tried to West thru Columbus Circle - ooops, pretty big Time/Warner office on the West Side of the Circle blocking 59th St, hey James?

The point would be that since private automobiles can usually beat Amtrak from DC or Boston to NYC, Clarkson would need a bit of delay to make it competitive.

Jersey_Mike wrote:The point would be that since private automobiles can usually beat Amtrak from DC or Boston to NYC, Clarkson would need a bit of delay to make it competitive.

Err-- what? I have family in DC and have driven NY - Washington probably >50 times. It's 240-odd miles on some of the most congested roads in the United States. If you can drive it sub-4 hours you're lucky. The Acela does it in 2hr57mins.

Figure a running time of 4.5 -5.5 hours From the Beltway Jct to the Top of the NJ Turnpike(I-80/95 Jct) if the traffic flows
normally and a working EZ-Pass,with heavy traffic at Baltimore and at the Delaware River Bridge,6-7 hours.
I-95 is never fun to be on!!

I want to see them race from D.C. to Boston, Clarkson will drive Hammond flies and May takes Amtrak. That would be fun to watch. Hammond probably flies to the US daily anyway since they say he's really American and not British.

Err-- what? I have family in DC and have driven NY - Washington probably >50 times. It's 240-odd miles on some of the most congested roads in the United States. If you can drive it sub-4 hours you're lucky. The Acela does it in 2hr57mins.

They would be racing from Dulles airport so the train bunch would be on Metro for the first leg of the trip.

Or we could give the train the advantage and start from Washington Union Station. That way the air guy's got to get his way to the airport, slowing him down.

Start at the airport? Whose side are you on!?!?

Well, I'll illustrate a "virtual" race between the different modes between Boston, MA and Washington, DC.

The start location will be what Google Maps deems as the city center of Boston, MA and the finish point would be what Google Maps deems as the city center of Washington, DC. The start time will be Tuesday, January 8th at 9:00am. They make the trip as 1 person with a standard travel suitcase.

TRAIN-James May
View in Google Maps
09:02a Depart Boston City Center
09:15a Depart Boston-South Station on Acela Express train 2159 to Washington
03:45p Arrive Washington-Union Station
03:46p Detrain; walk to Union Station Metro Station
03:56p Board Metro Red line train toward Shady Grove
04:04p Arrive Farragut North Metro Station
04:13p Board Bus 80 toward Kennedy Center at K St NW & Connecticut Ave NW (Main)
04:15p Disembark Bus 80 at 19th St & E St (S); Walk to Washington City Center
04:24p Arrive Washington City Center

Arrival time: 4:24pm
Cost for 1 Adult: $171.90
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
DRIVE-Jeremy Clarkson
View in Google Maps
09:00a Depart Boston City Center
+ no delays +
04:19p Arrive Washington City Center

Arrival time: 4:19pm
Cost for 1 Car: $245.26
(@ IRS standard reimbursement rate of $0.555/mile (which covers gas, tolls, wear and tear, etc.)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
FLY-Hammond
View Boston Portion in Google Maps View Washington Portion in Google Maps
09:02a Depart Boston City Center
09:04a [Public Transportation to Logan Airport]
09:12a [Public Transportation to Logan Airport]
09:19a [Public Transportation to Logan Airport]
09:24a Arrive Boston Logan Airport

09:25a Check In/Security Theater
10:45a Depart Boston Logan Airport on Jet Blue flight 687 to DCA (Reagan)
12:23p Arrive Reagan Airport
01:00p Disembarked/Luggage Reclaimed/Leave Airport

01:11p Leave Reagan Airport
01:17p [Public Transportation from Reagan Airport]
01:32p [Public Transportation from Reagan Airport]
01:43p Arrive Washington City Center

Arrival time: 1:43pm
Cost for 1 Adult: $205.00
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
BIKE-Patrick Boylan (for excessive nitpicking )
View in Google Maps
09:00a(08) Depart Boston City Center
+ no breaks, getting lost, or physical trauma +
06:47a(10) Arrive Washington City Center

Arrival time: 06:47am, Thursday, January 10
Cost for 1 Adult: $0
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
WALK-Matt Johnson (for beating dead Turboliners )
View in Google Maps
09:00a(08) Depart Boston City Center
+ no breaks, getting lost, or physical trauma +
10:59a(14) Arrive Washington City Center

Arrival time: 10:59am, Monday, January 14
Cost for 1 Adult: $0
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------



So the plane wins handily (as suspected). However, driving and taking the train are very close. Driving wins by 4-5 mins, but I'm sure if James May put a little pep in his step on that last walking segment he could win (Google Maps budgets 9 minutes for a only couple block walk). But if Clarkson hits any delays anywhere (he is leaving Boston City Center during rush hour after all), then May can crawl that last segment and still edge out the driver.

lirr42 wrote:Well, I'll illustrate a "virtual" race between the different modes between Boston, MA and Washington, DC.

The start location will be what Google Maps deems as the city center of Boston, MA and the finish point would be what Google Maps deems as the city center of Washington, DC. The start time will be Tuesday, January 8th at 9:00am. They make the trip as 1 person with a standard travel suitcase.

TRAIN-James May
View in Google Maps
09:02a Depart Boston City Center
09:15a Depart Boston-South Station on Acela Express train 2159 to Washington
03:45p Arrive Washington-Union Station
03:46p Detrain; walk to Union Station Metro Station
03:56p Board Metro Red line train toward Shady Grove
04:04p Arrive Farragut North Metro Station
04:13p Board Bus 80 toward Kennedy Center at K St NW & Connecticut Ave NW (Main)
04:15p Disembark Bus 80 at 19th St & E St (S); Walk to Washington City Center
04:24p Arrive Washington City Center

Arrival time: 4:24pm
Cost for 1 Adult: $171.90
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
DRIVE-Jeremy Clarkson
View in Google Maps
09:00a Depart Boston City Center
+ no delays +
04:19p Arrive Washington City Center

Arrival time: 4:19pm
Cost for 1 Car: $245.26
(@ IRS standard reimbursement rate of $0.555/mile (which covers gas, tolls, wear and tear, etc.)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
FLY-Hammond
View Boston Portion in Google Maps View Washington Portion in Google Maps
09:02a Depart Boston City Center
09:04a [Public Transportation to Logan Airport]
09:12a [Public Transportation to Logan Airport]
09:19a [Public Transportation to Logan Airport]
09:24a Arrive Boston Logan Airport

09:25a Check In/Security Theater
10:45a Depart Boston Logan Airport on Jet Blue flight 687 to DCA (Reagan)
12:23p Arrive Reagan Airport
01:00p Disembarked/Luggage Reclaimed/Leave Airport

01:11p Leave Reagan Airport
01:17p [Public Transportation from Reagan Airport]
01:32p [Public Transportation from Reagan Airport]
01:43p Arrive Washington City Center

Arrival time: 1:43pm
Cost for 1 Adult: $205.00
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
BIKE-Patrick Boylan (for excessive nitpicking )
View in Google Maps
09:00a(08) Depart Boston City Center
+ no breaks, getting lost, or physical trauma +
06:47a(10) Arrive Washington City Center

Arrival time: 06:47am, Thursday, January 10
Cost for 1 Adult: $0
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
WALK-Matt Johnson (for beating dead Turboliners )
View in Google Maps
09:00a(08) Depart Boston City Center
+ no breaks, getting lost, or physical trauma +
10:59a(14) Arrive Washington City Center

Arrival time: 10:59am, Monday, January 14
Cost for 1 Adult: $0
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------



So the plane wins handily (as suspected). However, driving and taking the train are very close. Driving wins by 4-5 mins, but I'm sure if James May put a little pep in his step on that last walking segment he could win (Google Maps budgets 9 minutes for a only couple block walk). But if Clarkson hits any delays anywhere (he is leaving Boston City Center during rush hour after all), then May can crawl that last segment and still edge out the driver.

Cute. Though to be fair, DC tends to consider Capitol Hill as "the center of the city" (all streets key off of it).

So in that case, I think Train beats car.

As for walking... yeah.. not quite

I don't think those fools on Capitol Hill deserve to be the center of anything at this point.

Well, I doubt Mr. May could make it to and through South Station in time for that particular Acela.

On the other hand, the idea of "no delays" for Mr. Clarkson between Boston and Washington had me laughing so hard my ribs hurt!

djlong wrote:Well, I doubt Mr. May could make it to and through South Station in time for that particular Acela.

On the other hand, the idea of "no delays" for Mr. Clarkson between Boston and Washington had me laughing so hard my ribs hurt!

Not to mention James may has no sense if direction. I can think of multiple examples of that.

I take it you've seen the India episodes... Both are brilliant.

I've seen the India special a few times and I still laugh when hammonds car is getting ripped apart trying to winch a Bentley, keep in mind Hammond was using a Mini Cooper.

Here's some examples where James gets lost, Romania, the hot hatchback challenge where he ended up on top of a wall surrounding the town they had to drive out of. The streets were ridiculously narrow. The nuclear winter special, yes I know they had covered the windows(Hammond and may drove into each other).

Bad news, guys. Topgear season 19 starts soon, and Jalopnik has the inside scoop. No Bentley v. CZ race is mentioned:

http://jalopnik.com/5972772/everything- ... socialflow

However, all is not lost: " they'll be racing from Wembley [Longdon] to Milan to catch a soccer match with Jeremy in a Shelby Mustang GT500 and the other guys in a train".

What does that mean, Eurostar + TGV? It appears Paris-Milan is a 7 hour ride, plus 2:20 London-Paris (how sad is it that in Europe, you can go London-Paris in 2:20; here, you can go Chicago-South Bend or New York-Port Jervis...). Figure in 30 minutes on either end for subway/tram connections to the stadium (no rubber tired vehicles are allowed the train contestants), and you've got 10.5 hour travel time via train. Can Clarkson beat such timing in a GT500 with 662 horsepower but the aerodynamics of a brick?