MatraSport Forum

Anyone watch Top Gear tonight?  They tried to get an Avantime to match an Evo round the TG track. Failed of course but it looked good trying  ;D

Why would they want to do that? ???

Yup, and I particularly liked the fact that they could only mention three cars they all liked, and the Avantime was one of them.

It was never going to be as fast as a Evo X - thats plain ridiculous, but they got it witin 8 seconds on a 1.36 lap, which is pretty good for a 2 tonne front wheel drive car :-)

I noticed their engine overhaul also brought in a nice sounding exhaust - I wish I could find such one for my 406 Coupe (same engine)

/Lennart

/Lennart

They still trashed it though, by taking out the rear seats and glass roof and screwing that spoiler to the roof.
For the benefit of Anders and other non-uk members, Top Gear is a motoring programme that sets its presenters impossible tasks, usually involving the destruction of rare classic cars.  I've never forgiven them for wrecking those three British Leyland cars in the last series.

The Avantime would almost certainly survived the process.  Apart from the rear spoiler they did not do much that couldn't be re-fitted - probably because they all like the Avantime....

...unlike the three BL cars that were well and truly trashed.  Although it is always a bit of a shame to see old cars wrecked I personally didn't shed too many tears about three examples of 70's BL "quality" products meeting their end.

We do get to see Top Gear from time to time here, usually shown with irregular intervals (or several old episodes in rapid succession) on Danish commercial channels. Which means that a guy like me, who spends all his time away from TV, practically never watches the show :(

But this sounds like a very nice episode, which I (and my wife!) will try to catch!

Why did they remove the glass roof? I remember when they trashed an Espace to make a 'convertible' out of it (not particularly well made, I'd say!)...

- Anders

To save weight, along with the rear seats.
Ok, so who's going to make the BBC an offer for the bits?  ;) You'd be getting state of the art brakes and suspension.

They upgraded those? Any details?

I agree... Though I Love watching top gear, I find their thrashing of classic cars offensive.
I recall Clarkson destroying a Maseratti, a Porsche 911 and a Renault alpine all cars which has faults of cause.. but also all cars that have loyal groups of devoted enthusiasts....
When one considers that people buy such cars with their "hearts" rather then their "minds" and common sense,  In think its shameful to treat them with such disrespect.

I could only speculate what Mr. Clarkson and Co. Would do to a Murena or bagheera... But my bet is that it's not gonna be pretty... if not for any other reason then for the simple fact that they aren't british
 
   

They fitted larger brakes, and had to fit bigger wheels to accommodate them.  They also lowered the suspension and fitted stiffer shock absorbers.  None of this made much different to the lap times, although it was obvious from the film that it was cornering much better.  Probably a lot less comfortable too  ;D

£5200 for a top spec Avantime in good nick.....I could cry...!! :'(

I have seen nice looking Avantime 3.0 V6 auto in good condition, and with less than 60k miles going for approx. £3500 - roughly 32.000 DKK  ::)

Maybe I should bring one back next time I'm in the UK... only downside is that the steering wheel is on the bloody wrong side  ;)

But it would probably reduce the import tax on the vehicle...

Yes the tax is reduced by 15-25% can't remember the exact number...

But it would be alot better if they used the UK car prices for calculating the tax!
Then you would be able to get an Avantime on danish plates for as little as:
Car: 32.000
Tax: 75.000
Registration: 2.000
Transport etc.: 5.000

Total: 114.000 DKK  :P

Interesting thought  :'(

I'd still rather pay a little extra, and have the steering wheel in the proper side  ;)

... well I find it rather depressing, but I think that was what you meant.

Google on Top Gear and Avantime gave me this:
http://videos.streetfire.net/video/Top-Gear-Renault-Avantime_199780.htm

:D

Umm that exhaust sound is just great! 8)

So what's that in real money?  About £12000 for a £3500 car.  I'll never complain about the poor deal British motorists get again. :)  With that and your approval regulations, you Danes have a really hard time.  Anyway, our Murenas all have the steering wheel on the wrong side and it doesn't bother us, although my wife, when she's in the passenger seat, would beg to differ ;)

Hi
I disagree with Waldos estimate of the Danish import tax for an Avantime. 75.000 DKK will be a lot less that what I will have to pay for a 10 year old Espace.
The price that you have paid for a second hand car, which you import, to Denmark is irrelevant for calculation of the Danish import duty (the authorities do not even want to know the figure).
The import duty will be calculated as 62 % of the estimated marked value of the car on the road on the Danish marked. Lets say that the marked value for an Avantime in Denmark is 250.000 DKK then the import duty will be: 250.000 DKK x 62% = 155.000 DKK

Hans

Hi Hans,

Yes that's why I wrote "it would be a lot better if they used the UK car prices...

It was all in my imagination  ;)

But apart from that, you actualy have a better situation with a very special car like the Avantime... as they are very rare in Denmark the tax department will have to look at the trade prices around Europe (as it's more or less impossible to find the correct danish trade price). And with a bit of luck you could use prices from cars listed in Germany, UK etc. for negotiating the tax.