Better Car guy/reviewer - Leno or Clarkson?

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Better car guy / reviewer

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Earth

Earth

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GTP_Royalton
I was surprised how entertaining and educating this McLaren F1 review was by Leno He didnt need editing, music, and camera effects like Clarkson

 
Personally, I think that Clarkson and Leno have very different styles and programmes. For a start, Top Gear has a huge budget, while I'm not even sure Jay Leno's garage is shown on TV. Also, Leno is a comedian, whereas Clarkson is a journalist, so they have different backgrounds. I think that without all the effects that Clarkson gets he would still be good, but not as good as Leno because Leno is a professional comedian. However, I think top Gear's best features are the challenges with all three of the presenters.
 
Earth
I was surprised how entertaining and educating this McLaren F1 review was by Leno He didnt need editing, music, and camera effects like Clarkson

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OCfPmuVndBU">YouTube Link</a>
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I love Leno. His collection is ridiculous, and has such passion for all kinds of automobiles. He's one person I would love to meet because of his knowledge and interest in cars. And he is pretty down to earth, he goes to car shows in his denim shirt and jeans, messy hair and just talks cars like any other guy.
 
Definitely Leno. Clarkson brings a huge ego and bias to the table, so you know certain kinds of cars (cough cough american cough) will get the short end of the stick.
 
Earth
I was surprised how entertaining and educating this McLaren F1 review was by Leno He didnt need editing, music, and camera effects like Clarkson
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Considering he was on old Top Gear which also generally didn't have those things (and, you know, writes articles), I have to imagine Clarkson doesn't "need" those things either.
 
xNEVER-ONEx
Definitely Leno. Clarkson brings a huge ego and bias to the table, so you know certain kinds of cars (cough cough american cough) will get the short end of the stick.
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Exactly. Clarkson is biased towards British cars. He basically says that British cars are better then every other kinds of cars out there.
 
Leno is cool and has a lot Of cars but Sometimes his info is not that accurate plus the show itself is not as high quality as any recent videos of clarkson.
 
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motortrend
Leno is cool and has a log Of cars but Sometimes his info is not that accurate plus the show itself is not as high quality as any recent videos of clarkson.
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From what I've seen, if he's not well informed on a car he brings in some guy from the manufacturer that is and can explain more in depth.
 
I like Clarkson because he brings in livelihood and character, instead of just dry parroting of the facts. And while he exaggerates things, he does have a point too.
 
Clarkson is an entertainer, and a great one at that. The reviews he does on his show vs the ones he writes vs what he's actually bought are all wildly different depending on his mood and the year. He doesn't actually review anything - he puts on a great show.
 
Leno is a true car guy, Clarkson is a journalist (and a damn good one). Both are two different kinds of talents. I think Leno is more of a car guy, since he appreciates all kinds of cars, where Clarkson is a better journalist and presents stuff better, I also find him funnier than Leno, but thats just me. I like them both.
 
Leno all the way.
He's a car guy, clarkson is an entertainer who is often making a mockery of himself as well as the cars he pretends to review. :meh:

Btw, "Journalist" implies a person actually uses journalistic ethics in his work... I think we all know how biased Clarkson is and clearly that means he not a good journalist, a good entertainer? (sure, I'll let you all have that one just so clarkson isn't totally useless). :lol:

Edit:
Just watched the Leno McLaren video and immediate laughed at Clarkson, Jay is far more in touch with reality... Clarkson's review of the Mclaren came down to him saying the car was like a teacher he had respect for but didn't like. :eek:
How could any self-respecting "car-guy" not like the McLaren? :lol:
 
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edawg456
Exactly. Clarkson is biased towards British cars. He basically says that British cars are better then every other kinds of cars out there.
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:rolleyes:

Apart from, y'know, all the cars he doesn't do that with.

Clarkson is biased, for sure - but generally towards anything loud an fast, rather than something from a particular nation.
 
Leno is not very entertaining. Clarkson can be a bit 'too entertaining' (see the 997 GT2 review). I find Harry Metcalfe, Tiff Needell, and Chris Harris to be the best honestly. They consistently deliver solid, thoughtful opinion pieces that combine entertainment and useful information. I especially enjoy Tiff's stream-of-conciousness style reviews where he communicates almost every detail he feels while driving. Even if he really likes a car, he does not hesitate to bring forward things he doesn't like, whereas Clarkson usually only does this to set up gushing-praise for a car which always comes across as a bit to scripted and not genuine.

Tiff:


Chris:


Harry:
 
edawg456
Exactly. Clarkson is biased towards British cars. He basically says that British cars are better then every other kinds of cars out there.
Click to expand...

If anything his two major biases are towards, as hfs posted, loud and fast stuff, and AMG/Black Series Mercedes-Benz' which a few of his recent reviews in Series 18 and his defense of his own CLK63 Black in S17E06 would lead people to believe.
 
I echo the thoughts that Tiff Needell is the best. Very genuine on camera, doesn't have a blatant bias, doesn't annoy people, describes everything, has great technical insight...just everything you want from the "car expert" in a motoring programme.
I pretty much watched 90s Top Gear and 5th Gear purely for his pieces.

Clarkson has never been a car expert really. He's more of a presenter who has a fascination with cars. He works best when he is given a decent script and he's reviewing or discussing cars that are quirky or emotion pieces. I've always liked his pieces on "why" Alfa Romeo or Lancia. When he's given a proper review to do with an ordinary car, he's pretty terrible - resorting to exaggerations and general rubbish to make the review funny.
He's got worse over the years mainly because he's become more famous. It wasn't so bad in the 90s when he was just another presenter. His ridiculous opinions weren't the basis of Top Gear, they were just like a short sketch.

Its kind of a shame really as you get the feeling Clarkson would have some good and interesting things to say on nearly any car. But he rarely chooses to approach his opinions that way (or rather, he isn't scripted to approach his opinions that way).

I don't know much about Jay Leno. But he's certainly better as a "car guy" or "reviewer" than Clarkson is. So to answer the thread title - Leno. But to answer the general question - Needell.
 
lol, pointless poll ever. They're not even comparable. Clarkson is a journalist, a very, very bad journalist at that, THEN a bleh car guy. Leno is a fully saturated car guy and does the Garage snippets because he loves cars, not because he gets paid for it.
 
Eunos_Cosmo
Leno is not very entertaining. Clarkson can be a bit 'too entertaining' (see the 997 GT2 review). I find Harry Metcalfe, Tiff Needell, and Chris Harris to be the best honestly. They consistently deliver solid, thoughtful opinion pieces that combine entertainment and useful information. I especially enjoy Tiff's stream-of-conciousness style reviews where he communicates almost every detail he feels while driving. Even if he really likes a car, he does not hesitate to bring forward things he doesn't like, whereas Clarkson usually only does this to set up gushing-praise for a car which always comes across as a bit to scripted and not genuine.

Tiff:
<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_zYWOqm_Zkc">YouTube Link</a>

Chris:
<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=74daMAXQ-Co">YouTube Link</a>

Harry:
<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=beutB6R0Zqg">YouTube Link</a>
Click to expand...

Totally agree, Chris and Tiff are awesome
 
Eunos_Cosmo
Leno is not very entertaining. Clarkson can be a bit 'too entertaining' (see the 997 GT2 review). I find Harry Metcalfe, Tiff Needell, and Chris Harris to be the best honestly. They consistently deliver solid, thoughtful opinion pieces that combine entertainment and useful information. I especially enjoy Tiff's stream-of-conciousness style reviews where he communicates almost every detail he feels while driving. Even if he really likes a car, he does not hesitate to bring forward things he doesn't like, whereas Clarkson usually only does this to set up gushing-praise for a car which always comes across as a bit to scripted and not genuine.
Click to expand...

Couldn't agree more! 👍 I especially love Harry Metcalfe's reviews, like an old pair of comfy slippers.
 
Overall, I like Jeremy Clarkson; I find him very entertaining, and he's a good writer. But, there's lots of things I dislike about him; he has some very obvious bias, and lets his opinions control too much of the overall review. It also seems that his more recent works are more biased and opinionated, and he's much harsher on cars now for odd reasons. If you go back and watch some of his stuff from 10-20 years ago, he was more reasonable and restrained, and delivered praise for cars that he would immediately slam down with criticism these days. Kinda sad. But still, I like him. :)
Jay Leno is very down to Earth, and he's a real car guy. Now I've never bothered to watch his shows, so I don't know his style of comedy. But his reviews are entertaining, but you also learn a lot; I've seen his videos on cars that I thought I knew lots about, but then I walk away knowing all this new information that I would've never found out if I had watched a Clarkson review. So yeah, I like Jay Leno, he's real good. :)
As for Tiff, his voice always irritated me, so I can't comment on him. :ouch:
 
I enjoy Leno's shorts when he's in his garage. There is something about him and Bernard on camera discussing things. It feels like you're just hanging out in the garage talking cars. It's endearing. Things fall apart when he's actually test driving the car or when he's alone on camera. His commentary on the fly is par at best. Considering he hosts the tonight show, you'd hope it would be better.
 
edawg456
Exactly. Clarkson is biased towards British cars. He basically says that British cars are better then every other kinds of cars out there.
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Yup. Totally biased. Which is why he bought, at one time, a Hummer H2 and a Ford GT40.

Because he like, y'know, hates anything built in America.

Very obviously biased towards anything British... which is why he slagged off on the McMerc SLR and has bought a whole bevy of SLs over the years...

-

Clarkson isn't the best car reviewer... isn't nearly the best driver... and some of his views are, frankly, rubbish... but he's wonderfully entertaining. A zillion (pretty good) books, editorials and articles attest to that. And you don't get SFX when it's written down. :D
 
niky
Clarkson isn't the best car reviewer...
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That's a gross understatement. Any car reviewer who doesn't appreciate the McLaren F1, or any of Gordon Murray's work at that, isn't to be taken seriously IMO.

niky
isn't nearly the best driver...
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I personally don't know much about driving, but it's pretty obvious that this is true. When he's driving the tyres are shredded before the conclusion of the afternoon review. Ridiculous.

niky
and some of his views are, frankly, rubbish...
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"Rubbish" is an inadequate description. Anyone who makes the fun of disabled children should be shunned from any sort of praise.

niky
but he's wonderfully entertaining.
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Nah. Maybe I did find him funny when I was younger, but now I find his humour more frustrating more than anything else. And by the way that's coming from a guy who takes more enjoyment from silly or stupid humour than what a normal person should. I found myself laughing continuously throughout virtually all of Hot Shots!, never mind the sequel.

It seems that Clarkson is lacking every aimable quality of what I'd like to see on my rare evenings watching television. Thankfully, James May makes TopGear what it should be.
 

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