Welcome to Sunday Matinee, where we highlight classic car reviews or other longer videos I find on YouTube. Kick back and enjoy this blast from the past.
It's been a couple of weeks since we watched a clip from Old Top Gear, but the show was full of great gems. This week, Clarkson takes to the track to find out which is less likely to get you killed- a fast car or a slow one?
In true Clarkson fashion he doesn't really answer the question, as he goes out and proves that better brakes and suspension allow for better stopping power and handling, not necessarily that a car with a higher top speed is safer. Sure, he makes the point that if a car has a bigger engine its brakes, tires, and bouncy bits must be good as well, though that's not always true (I'm looking at you, malaise-era muscle cars). It follows then that the car must be safer, in his world.
Should we all be demanding, then, that cars all corner like they're on rails and stop like they've hit a glue trap? Or should we just go with the whole exercise and demand higher performance in general, for safety?
Either way, I still want a Lotus Elise. It will satisfy both sides of the argument.