The Top Gear Magazine Podcast

Here at Top Gear Magazine, we take customer service seriously. So seriously, in fact, that to celebrate our SUV of the Year, we decided to hand-deliver our latest issue to every single subscriber in… New Zealand. All of them. From the misty peaks of the North Island to the windswept southern tip of the South, Rowan Horncastle and Ollie Marriage threw Hyundai's Santa Fe at every sheep-strewn, pothole-laden, postcard-perfect road New Zealand had to offer. The result? A tale of adventure, exhaustion, and a small existential crisis about how far people will go for good content. In this episode of the Top Gear Magazine Podcast, Rowan Horncastle and Ollie Marriage spill the tea on their utterly bonkers Kiwi road trip, including what happens when you test an SUV on roads seemingly designed for hobbits. Spoiler: it's not all smooth sailing. Buckle up for tales of adventure, chaos, and quite possibly the longest test drive in history. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

You wait ages for an 800+ bhp super GT, then two turn up at once. It's the Aston/Ferrari showdown we've all been waiting for: 12 Cilindri vs Vanquish. In this episode of the Top Gear Magazine Podcast, Jack Rix, Rowan Horncastle, and Ollie Marriage grill Ollie Kew about his latest adventure to Italy, where he and Jethro Bovingdon spent a day testing two of the finest front-engined, rear-wheel-drive machines on the planet. Tough day at the office, that. The Ferrari? A masterpiece of minimalism – no turbos, no hybrid, just a howling V12 and some clever active aero. The Aston? The most powerful production car it's ever built. Let the battle commence. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Jaguar, a 102-year-old British car company, has just revealed a new concept car: the Type 00. Nothing unusual there – car companies frequently create eccentric models to preview their future offerings. However, what Jaguar has done has sparked a massive, fiery online debate that has spilled over into politics, the evening news, and the culture wars. In this episode of the Top Gear Magazine Podcast, Rowan Horncastle, Jason Barlow, Ollie Kew, and Ollie Marriage discuss the new car and the controversial rebrand that has caused the internet to erupt in a big way. What does it mean for Jaguar – and for British car culture? Buckle up as the team dives into the drama, debates the design, and has a few laughs along the way. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

It's back – the most important automotive event of the year : The Top Gear Awards. This is where we name the best cars in the world, slap shiny TG rosettes on them, and remind you why being a petrolhead is still worth it. The votes are in, the arguments are down to a low simmer, and the winners? Oh, they're spicy. This year, we've got hybrid hypercars leading the charge (literally), like the Lamborghini Temerario, alongside all-out combustion greatness like the McLaren 750S – think peak V8 madness, distilled and detonated on a track. Meanwhile, SUVs and crossovers are evolving faster than smartphone updates. Hyundai's ludicrously handsome Santa Fe proves that practical doesn't have to be boring, while the Dacia Duster answers every question you didn't know you were asking. For EV fans, don't worry – we've got you covered. The Renault 5 shows it's possible to blend affordability, nostalgia, and actual personality in a segment that sometimes feels like a kitchen appliance showroom. And if you want a peek into the future? There's the McMurtry Spéirling – a car so fast it's basically a legalised warp drive. So charge your glasses (or plug them in) and raise a toast to the cars, the chaos, and a car industry that refuses to back down. This year's lineup is as thrilling as ever, and trust us – you're going to want to hear all about it. So tune in as Jack, Rowan and the two Ollies discuss this year's winners. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

There has never been an open-top version of the Chiron, as there was with the Veyron. But we're not sad, because rather than merely cutting a hole in the roof to make one, Bugatti has instead given us this: the W16 Mistral. The jaw-dropping exterior is bespoke, just 99 will be made, and the price for admission is £5m. Production starts right about now, and every single one was sold out before it was revealed to the public back in 2022. It's also the last-ever road-going Bugatti to use a W16 engine, before we move on to the V16-powered Tourbillon. And in this case, the quad-turbo, 8.0-litre, W16 engine goes out on a high, in the same 1600hp guise as used in the record-breaking 304mph Chiron Super Sport 300+. Speaking of which… when the roofless Veyron 16.4 Grand Sport Vitesse hit 254mph in 2013, it did it with a mere 1200hp. With over a decade of engineering advancements behind it, including an extra 400hp, how fast might the W16 Mistral go? To find out, Top Gear joined Bugatti at the Papenburg proving ground in Germany, and snuck in a little go of our own. Over to Deputy Editor Ollie Kew, who, in this episode of the Top Gear Magazine Podcast tells Jack Rix, Rowan Horncastle and Ollie Marriage what it's like to be on set of a new World Record attempt. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

A few years ago, TG got an Eagle E-Type, Alfaholics GTA-R, Singer 911, GTO Engineering 250 SWB, and Bond's DB5 in the same place, at the same time. Our insurers are still rocking back and forth to this day. Since then, the whole scene has exploded. But has it gone too far? In this episode of the Top Gear Magazine Podcast, Ollie Marriage explains Restogods Remastered, where he got an Automobili Amos Lancia Delta, Cyan P1800, Kimera 037, and Totem Giulia GTA together while Rowan Horncastle, Jethro Bovingdon, and Jack Rix interrogate him to see if they're any good. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Jack, Rowan, Ollie and Jethro discuss the cars and inside stories from the best week of the year... driving the 12 top performance cars of 2024 on road and track in Spain for a week... and there can only be one winner Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Jack, Rowan, Ollie and Jethro discuss the cars and inside stories from the best week of the year... driving the 12 top performance cars of 2024 on road and track in Spain for a week... and there can only be one winner Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Not one but two new Porsche 911 GT3s are upon us, both a regular be-winged car and the more subtle Touring model. And for once, the headline news isn't the power, the peak revs or the Nürburgring lap time, but how practical it is. That's right, because for the first time in the 25-year history of the GT3, it's being offered with back seats. It's only for the Touring, but that addition alone will be enough to start The Internet chattering about whether this is ‘all the car you'll ever need'. However, if kids, or at least taking your kids with you, isn't your thing, then worry not. The back seats are merely an option, and the non-Touring GT3 can't be had with them at all. Plus, if you're the sort of Porsche purest who hates weight, you can double down on that ethos with either a Weissach pack for the GT3 or a Leichtbau (aka Lightweight) pack for the Touring. As for what else is new (and there are a lot of detailed, GT3 RS-inspired changes) then join Top Gear Magazine's Associate Editor Tom Ford, for an in-depth walkaround of both new GT3s with Andreas Preuninger, Porsche's Director of GT Cars… Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Jack Rix and Jason Barlow are invited into Ferrari's inner sanctum to learn all about the once-in-a-decade new hypercar. How on earth do you follow up the 288 GTO, F40, F50, Enzo and LaFerrari? Here's how... Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Tesla has revealed its long-awaited autonomous 'Cybercab' at an event in Los Angeles, we were there to soak up the insanity, take a ride in the driverless EV and bump into our good friend Marques Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Christian von Koenigsegg, Mate Rimac, John Hennessey... names don't get bigger in the world of hypercars. So we brought them together at Sonoma Raceway in California to share ideas... and drive each other's latest cars Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

We all know EVs tend to work best in cities, we also know most EVs are a bit boring... enter a wave of retro-styled EV city cars designed to save us from mundane motoring Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

New models are coming thick and fast from Maranello, the team fires up the crystal ball and discusses a LaFerrari successor, new F40, first full EV and an even faster 296 GTB Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

We asked you for questions, and you lot delivered. Rowan, Jack and Ollie Kew answer your burning questions including how to get a job at TG, is Ferrari cool and our favourite biscuits... bizarrely Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Looks like a miniature Batmobile, sounds like a TIE fighter from Star Wars, goes like the absolute clappers. And we've finally got behind the wheel of the McMurtry Spéirling – the car last seen kicking up dust and shredding hillclimb records at the Goodwood Festival of Speed. But it has been tinkered with and is now available to buy for a cool £984k. The new Spéirling Pure comes with all the goodies Max Chilton deployed at Goodwood. That means a twin-electric-motor setup powered by a 60kWh battery system detonating 745kW of electrons (or a nice, round 1,000bhp) on the rear axle. Together with a “patented downforce on demand system” and a scarcely believable kerbweight of under 1,000kg, this thing is capable of serious numbers. Not just 190mph flat out, but also the fact it'll pull 3G through the corners and be able to lap Silverstone 10 times at proper flat-out pace, then recharge in 20 minutes to do it all over again. And Ollie Marriage has experienced it for himself. So, Rowan Horncastle and Ollie Kew grill him to find out what this Cheat Mode car is really like to drive. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In this episode of the Top Gear Magazine Podcast, we're talking long term test cars. Ollie Marriage has just returned from a 3,000-mile trip in an Ineos Grenadier and we want to know if he and it survived. Ollie Kew proves how the new Mini is a bit of a fake and Rowan Horncastle is sad at the loss of driving a Porsche Cayenne S daily. And has anyone seen Jack Rix? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Don your chinos and join Ollie Kew for a special episode of the Top Gear Magazine Podcast as he wanders around the poshest part of California for Monterey Car Week. Don't worry if you haven't got access to the exclusive Quail lawns, as our Deputy Editor can sneak you and your ears behind the red velvet rope to get live reactions to the latest, greatest and most expensive cars on the planet. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In this episode of the Top Gear Magazine Podcast, we're talking Venturos: the mini adventure monkey bike with a novel delivery method – it's buried in the middle of nowhere and you have to go and find it. Having battled his way to and off the Isle of Jura, Rowan is back in the studio to talk about his, and other adventures with Ollie Marriage and Ollie Kew. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In this week's episode of Top Gear Magazine Podcast, we're talking slippery cars. Having come back from Audi's ‘Windkanal' (that's a wind tunnel, to you and me) Top Gear Magazine's Deputy Editor, Ollie Kew, is our guide. He went to see just how far aerodynamics have come in nearly a century, so took the Auto Union Type C ‘Stromlinie', the innovative Audi 100, and the new Audi A6-etron Avant, to the company's wind tunnel for a little show ‘n' tell. Now he's going to try and explain his findings to Rowan Horncastle and Ollie Marriage before they all discuss if any car designed around the wind has ever been cool. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Christian von Koenigsegg is a glutton for engineering punishment. His Swedish hypercar company currently builds the Jesko (which has just set the 0-400km/h-0 record) and it'll soon start delivering the new CC850 and Gemera to customers. That's three distinct models, each with their own head-scratchingly complex innovations. And yet, amongst all this, he said “yes” to a request from a customer who wanted their older-model Agera RS melded with the best bits of a Jesko and CC850 to create an absolute one-off. Many engineering headaches later we have this, the Chimera, which blends an Agera RS with the 5.0-litre twin-turbo V8 engine from a Jesko and the fiendishly complex manual-cum-automatic gearbox from the CC850. In this episode of the Top Gear Magazine Podcast Jack Rix tries to explain the Swedish headache to the rest of the team. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Aston's 110th birthday present to itself is a machine so old school it has a wooden gearlever and recycled geography teacher upholstery. Analogue heaven, or expensive anachronism? We discuss that and the rise of the expensive manual gearbox with the help of the 911 S/T, GMA T.50 and Pagani Utopia. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Looking for the ultimate flex at your local track day? Then we've got the consumer advice you need. In this episode of the Top Gear Magazine Podcast, Jethro Bovingdon details the pros and cons of the McLaren Solus GT (a lightweight, single-seat V10 of pure violence) against Ford's long-tail tribute to the '67 Le Mans-winning GT40 Mk IV, and the most extreme iteration of the third-gen Ford GT, the Ford GT Mk IV. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Join Top Gear magazine's Jack Rix and Rowan Horncastle as they guide you around this year's incredible mix of motors at the Duke of Richmond's posh car garden party, the Goodwood Festival of Speed. So, whether you're in the car, at work or walking the dog, pop your headphones in and prepare for an hour-long audio tour that takes in the latest and greatest cars from a giant lawn in West Sussex including the world's greatest supercars, hypercars and an army of Chinese EVs. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On this episode of the Top Gear Magazine Podcast, Christian von Koenigsegg gives us a full tour of his brand new factory. This meaty conversation brings in plenty of juicy topics, including topping 300mph in the near future and why he thought of the Tourbillon name before Bugatti... Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Can you hear that? That's the sound of Bugatti and Cosworth's new V16 being dyno'd. In this exclusive podcast, Jack Rix, Rowan Horncastle, Ollie Marriage, Ollie Kew and Tom Ford discuss the rare breed of cylinder counts: the V16. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Say hello to the Bugatti Tourbillon, the 1,800bhp V16 hybrid Chiron successor every billionaire has been waiting for. In this exclusive podcast, Top Gear Magazine's Jack Rix tells you everything you need to know about this next-generation Bugatti with the help of Bug's new boss, Mate Rimac. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Just us or is everything getting fatter these days? And where have all the small cars gone? Well here comes the new Kia Picanto flying the flag for a leaner, simpler approach to modern life and Tom Ford taking it for a mega road trip to the skinniest roads in the world. In this episode we discuss all things diddy cars and what it's like doing thousands of miles in Korea's smallest, cutest car. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Modern supercars are so good natured that they can cope with anything, right? How about a driving test at the toughest driving centre in the country? Well, to find out, we recently sent Ollie Marriage to retake his driving test in Lamborghini's 1,000bhp hybrid hypercar: the Revuelto. In this episode of the Top Gear Magazine podcast, Jack Rix, Rowan Horncastle and Ollie Kew quiz Top Gear's Head of Car Testing to see if he passed or failed. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Zonda. Huayra. A succinct but epic bloodline for the next Pagani hypercar to follow. And there's much promise too, for the new Utopia: a twin-turbo, AMG-supplied V12 with 846bhp; a carbo-titanium monocoque; even the option of a manual gearbox. Only 99 will be built, each costing around £2.2m a pop. But is it a piece of automotive art, too delectable to be driven? Top Gear Magazine's Head of Car Testing, Ollie Marriage, discusses his recent - very wet - drive to Rowan Horncastle and Ollie Kew. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

AI is taking over. But is motorsport under threat? Recently, A2RL held the world's largest autonomous race at the iconic Yas Marina Circuit in Abu Dhabi. Rowan Horncastle and Jack Rix out to the desert to check it out. And Stig showed up to see if there's life in real race cars yet. Here's what happened live on the ground. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Tesla's Cybertruck has grabbed The Internet's attention. But can it jump? Rock crawl? Survive whoops? Conquer the sand dunes? In short, can the Tesla Cybertruck REALLY off-road? Viral videos of it struggling on mild inclines tell us ‘no'. But Top Gear Magazine's Editor-in-Chief, Jack Rix, and Head of Car Testing, Ollie Marriage have been in the USA finding out if that's true. Tune in as they tell Rowan Horncastle and Ollie Kew whether it can handle the rough stuff. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The electric car landscape has changed beyond recognition in the past five years, but we're still far from the point where petrol, diesel and mild hybrids are being outsold by pure electric and plug-in hybrid models. So Top Gear's EV Awards is still very much valid. And in this episode of the Top Gear Magazine Podcast, Jack Rix, Rowan Horncastle, Tom Ford and the two Ollies discuss some of this year's winners; including the new all-electric Porsche Macan, Mini Cooper, Merc G-Wagen as well as going to China to drive the new MG Cyberster. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Ever driven through a tunnel, dropped the windows and given it the beans? Is the Pope Catholic? Now imagine taking that experience to the extreme. Top Gear Tunnel Run is a brand new weekly YouTube Series that you need to check out. If you like the sound of The Stig driving the world's loudest cars flat-out through a 2.7km railway tunnel… you're going to love this. Headphones on, it's going to get loud! Rowan Horncastle, Jack Rix, Ollie Marriage and Ollie Kew discuss this brand new series. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Jack Rix catches up with Tesla Design Chief Franz von Holzhausen on the Model 3 Performance launch in California. The interview booth? Sitting in the front of Franz's very own matt black Cybertruck. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Top Gear is launching a new digital magazine, available exclusively on Apple News+, the all-you can read subscription-based service, call Top Gear Tech. Here's why we're doing it and what to expect, plus we chat with its star columnist Marques Brownlee about Apple Vision Pro, his own Tesla Cybertruck and whether he bankrupted Fisker with his review of the Ocean EV. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The new Land Cruiser is like every other Land Cruiser - pretty much indestructible off-road. This new one adds something alien into the mix, though, it's desirable too with its retrotastic exterior. Ollie Marriage spent a weekend with one in the Scottish Highlands and reports back. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The Bugatti Bolide is the maddest track car ever made - the massive W16 powertrain from a Chiron stuffed into a bespoke race car chassis, creating the most violent passenger seat experience imaginable. Jack Rix reports from the Nardo proving ground after being the first person outside the company to experience it in full flight. Can he keep his lunch down? All will be revealed in this episode of the Top Gear Magazine Podcast. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Is there anything wrong with stuffing batteries and motors into a beloved classic car? Plenty of companies are doing it, including Silent Classic and its electrified 240Z we drove recently, but does that make it right? And what makes one old car ripe for conversion and another totally off-limits? Ollie Marriage, Ollie Kew and Jack Rix discuss. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This year we will see the death of the iconic Audi R8. Which, sadly, means no more howling V8s and V10s. Boo. In this episode of the Top Gear Magazine Podcast, Jack Rix, Rowan Horncastle and Ollie Marriage discuss the history of Audi's supercar, from driving Will Smith's iRobot stunt car to the latest, greatest and most hardcore version: the Abt XGT. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

It's long been the go-to for app-based taxis, but is the new Toyota Prius about to change all that? Jack Rix, Rowan Horncastle and Ollie Marriage speak to Tom Ford picked up The Stig and set the satnav for Scotland (via a racetrack) to find out. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Has Rivian just had its Tesla Model Y moment? We're in Laguna Beach, California for the reveal of two new smaller, more affordable EVs (R2 and R3, both of which will be sold in Europe) and catch up with CEO and Founder RJ Scaringe. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The DC Avanti mixes Bugatti Veyron (ish) looks and Renault Megane RS power. Here's the time Jack Rix and Rowan Horncastle hit the stressful Indian streets in one. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

After the Grenadier and Quartermaster, Sir Jim Ratcliffe's next adventure is a new, slightly smaller e-4x4. it is exciting for two reasons. Firstly, it's Ineos's slightly smaller, fully-electric off-roader, taking the genes of the Grenadier and transposing them into a car fit for the zero- and low-emission future. Second, and perhaps more importantly, it opens up a world of names for new models. On this episode of the Top Gear Magazine Podcast, Jack Rix, Rowan Horncastle and Ollie Marriage talk about it in the studio before catching up with Jason Barlow who is down the pub at the car's launch. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The R5 has returned. Yippie! Join Jack Rix, Rowan Horncastle and Ollie Marriage as they discuss the all-new, all-electric £25k Renault 5 E-Tech. Yep, Renault's classic small car returns for the electric age, complete with the single greatest optional extra ever. A ‘porte baguette' to hold your favourite tubular loaf and stop it shedding crumbs all over your car. The chaps discuss that and a lot, lot more. Including Zagato's new Alpine A110. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Lucid is one of America's brightest electric car start-ups. It's also burning stacks of cash faster than Christopher Nolan's Joker. What's going on at Tesla's worst nightmare? Ollie Kew sits down with Lucid's CEO and CTO, Peter Rawlinson. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In this episode of the Top Gear Magazine podcast, Jack Rix, Rowan Horncastle and Ollie Kew get tucked into the latest issue. Which includes dreaming of a day at Asia's first members-only driver's club, The Magarigawa Club. Wondering if Aston Martin has gone mad. And discuss whether Lucid can be the next big thing. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In this episode we're talking juicy Japanese concept cars. Tom Ford has been out in Japan looking at the latest metal from Nissan, Mazda, Toyota and Lexus. Will Nissan blink and retreat to the safety of hybrid for the next GT-R, or go all out on the electrons? Will Toyota tone down the FT-Se's Transformers styling? Will Mazda manage to get snake hips into production and can the LFA distil driving pleasure without a psychotic V10? No idea, that's why Jack Rix, Rowan Horncastle and Ollie Kew are grilling a jetlagged Tom Ford for your benefit. Enjoy! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Mount Washington in New Hampshire is home to the most inhospitable weather in the world. Ollie Marriage recalls the time he drove to the top of it, in winter, in a Subaru, braving 150mph winds and freezing temperatures armed only with a jar of Marmite Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Jack sits down with Ford's petrol-head CEO, Jim Farley - who's also steering the company towards EV domination - and asks the big questions: Why has the Fiesta been killed off? Will there be another Ford GT? Is the Red Bull Formula 1 partnership just a vanity project? And is his nickname really Jimmy Car Car? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Rowan is away at the Dakar Rally, somewhere in Saudi Arabia. We haven't heard from him for weeks... until this podcast arrived, recorded at the bivouac containing everything you need to know about this year's race. Over to Rowan... Wherever he is Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices