http://www.gminsidenews.com/forums Suggest a news article by posting a link appropriate for our press room! en Mon, 23 Nov 2009 10:57:31 GMT vBulletin 60 http://www.gminsidenews.com/forums/v2/misc/rss.jpg http://www.gminsidenews.com/forums http://www.gminsidenews.com/forums/f38/test-hammerhead-eagle-i-thrust-better-than-volt-86383/ Mon, 23 Nov 2009 06:53:15 GMT Top Gear has built a home-made electric car, a ‘rival’ to the Chevy Volt, and we’ve tested it.

If you watched this week's Top Gear TV show you'll know all about the Hammerhead Eagle i-Thrust, a car built by Messrs Clarkson, May and Hammond. You can watch it on iPlayer, if you missed it.

If not, here's a brief review: the Hammerhead Eagle i-Thrust is a road legal car/shed that started life as a TVR Chimaera and underwent quite a few modifications to become a 21st-century range-extender, all built for considerably less money than GM would spend... on biscuits.

Top Gear on video - Hammerhead Eagle i-Thrust

In order to get an independent opinion on just how good the Hammerhead Eagle i-Thrust is, it was then brought to Autocar to undergo our world-famous road test.

Top Gear picture special - Hi-res Hammerhead Eagle i-Thrust pictures

The results on the intrepid trio's efforts and our review - conducted by our own intrepid tester Steve Sutcliffe - were screened on Sunday night.



Now you can download your own copy of the full road test here: Top Gear road test - Hammerhead Eagle i-Thrust (Topgear 6MB). First, click on the link. If your download doesn't start automatically then right-click (ctrl-click on Mac) on the link, choose 'Save target as' (or 'Save link as' on a Mac) and save the file to your desktop.

To whet your appetite, here are a few tasters:

Performance

"We failed to crack 60mph. In the end it reached 50mph in 16.6sec and ran out of juice at 55mph, making it the slowest car we have tested this century."

Ride and handling

"The Eagle i-Thrust rumbles along, its bodywork flapping in the wind as the 2CV tyres try their best – and occasionally fail – to prevent the body panels from rubbing on the floor."

Design and engineering

"There are so many contributory factors to its technical make-up that it could, in fact, be more accurately described as a freak."

Buying and owning

"As Daimler-Benz discovered over a century ago, you’ve got to start somewhere before you can progress."

Verdict

"It's impossible to regard the i-Thrust as a success."

We've also made our own video of the test, which can be viewed by clicking Top Gear on video -Hammerhead Eagle i-Thrust

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