New local car TV show on Solar Sports

Pao|o

Just saw an ad for a new car show on Solar Sports. It goes on air every Monday, 9PM. I heard from my friend (who watches it) that it has segments on rare/exotic cars.

shun_sakurai

Monday 9pm? I'll try to catch it. Am still searching for a local car show/magazine with enough "balls" (for want of a better term).

shun_sakurai

Got to watch 20 minutes of it. Overall I'm pretty disappointed with what I saw.

Am most put off by how they "reviewed" the Lancer Evo VIII. Ohhh, suuuuuure. Pia Boren was talking 3/4 of the time the rally replica was onscreen. They seem to forget that the car should do its own speaking---on the open road or on a circuit, not in cramped city roads.

"Race Hour" needs a lot of improvement...

Pao|o

I have to agree with you shun_sakurai the show needs a lot of work. The way they presented the Evo reminds me of how other local car shows in the past present cars of any type or make.

Its funny though that they dont interview or even show the owner. I even noticed a carton box in the back seat of the car. And what's up with the sun glasses? At the pace the car was being driven I was half expecting it to pull over to a 7-11 and for the crew to get a Slurpee.

Race Hour is Snooze Hour no thanks to bad writing, photography and directing. I also found irritating the MTV-like presentation of each segment. This is just me but I was hoping to see a more BBC Top Gear type format. Your on the track driving the car wild around the course. If the idea of having the Pia drive the car like there's no tomorrow frightening then let the car owner drive it. I'm pretty sure the owner will more than oblidge in mowing down the tarmac at insane speeds. I'm pretty sure Pia can handle the car but I doubt the production team could handle the stress of having a car that expensive zipping around the track at 100MPH+.

Pia is OK the creative team producing the show SUCKS.

After seeing the way the show presented the Evo I wouldnt volunteer any car unless I was a dealer wanting to sell.

slamm

I've seen it twice already and i dont see much difference from the old shows except that Pia Boren is a better alternative than Butch Gamboa as a host. :P

One problem on why our motoring show and magazine comparos are half cooked is probably due to the general lack of facilities and equipment (outside of BRC and SiR) to do some all-out testing ala "Top Gear". Our manufacturing industry is also in a point that when some cars are given a bad review/exposure, they can easily cut off the much needed advertising support and demo units to support the endeavor.

My .002

shun_sakurai

Slamm has good points. Budget talaga natin kulang.

Maybe not all car reviews need a good flogging at some sort of track. Notice how so much of Top Gear's drive reports are shot in UK back-roads? We've been doing these "provincial" car articles for years. It's just a matter of slightly tweaking the treatment and presentation to make it all the more interesting...just my suggestions.

Top Gear even shoots in urban locales sometimes (usually to show how driveable a certain car is)...and it doesn't come off as cheap. I wonder why.

Sadly the remarks about the car industry seem irritatingly true...no one wants to hear their products being cricitized (despite efforts to the contrary). Unfortunately that means there's less chance of having improvements in the cars we buy.

===
Any suggestions for the motorshow segments? An HCP friend in the race community's asking for inputs. He's trying to make the Subic race coverage as interesting as possible. I'll relay them to him na lang.

shun_sakurai

The creative team ought to look at and benchmark other car shows.

Personal suggestions of mine are "Top Gear" and "Auto Motor und Sport-TV."

The latter is actually pretty similar to local shows---it's just done better. Each week, there's a comparison test, a road news segment (usually on German traffic safety and driver issues), a solo drive report, an occasional segue into new car tech or motorsport, and even a segment called "Fascination"---for modified cars and/or one-off concept cars.

Despite the comparo tests being between German brands most of the time (mostly BMW vs. Merc), I don't tire of watching this clean, businesslike car show.

Pao|o

Pia looks a hell of a lot better than Butch. The car review sounds more like a press release no thanks to an uninspired script.

I think another reason urban/provincial roads work with Top Gear is because it isnt as traffic, streets filled with trics/jeepneys and the cars are driven at cruising speeds. If you noticed the Evo was driving rather slow and slowed down every so often so the car camera could keep up. Some of the angels reminds me of those home made car videos you can get off Kazaa.

I didnt finish watching the show but I think a local segment on road rules & safety is a good thing. Maybe the MMDA could have that spot to promote better driving & post updates to their new attempts at solving the traffic problem?

The show lacks excitement and a fresh format. Having a karting champion as host is a plus for me but I do wonder when we'll see the skills at work.

slamm

I noticed that too... Work on the video shots layout and angles... something clean but dramatic and not too many abrupt cuts will do a good start.

shun_sakurai

According to a racer friend "Race Hour" concentrates more on rallycross coverage. I'll try to catch it once again and see for myself how they cover the rally races.

BigDumpling

I haven't seen the show so I can't say anything about it but...enough of the Buth Gamboa bashing! His daughter's a PExer! Baka umabot sa kanya 'yung mga sinasabi n'yo! Hehehehe...

Pao|o

A little constructive criticism wouldnt hurt in regards to automotive manufacturer & TV show. A reason why people dont like local content is because of the half hearted attempt at doing a review. Seldom do you perceive any complaints of any car. Every car is perfect in each special way unless of course the TV show has such low standards.

Heck, Richard Hammond had the balls to bash the Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren cause it had plastic in its interior & had ON or OFF breaks. I could imagine how it'll be reviewed here.

Ifer

Your comments on the new show on solar is fair and understandable. However guys, i think for starters, we must commend them for having the guts to present a show that is quite different from the old and boring motor sports show diba? And i think Pia Boren still needs to improve as a host but she knows what she is saying and that is a plus factor for the show! On the other end, i hope they will feature a porche car, i think they wanted it to be like a Top Gear-style but baka they're afraid of what the viewers might say or the car manufacturers for that matter. But let's see...

Ifer

by the way, the comments and suggestions posted here will definitely help the show make room for its improvements.

kyle618

dapat marunong cla magcriticize... puro na lng "thanks to the awesome engine of the xxx engine... its super smooth and as u can the luxery of the wood (kahit peke)." sometimes i laugh my *** off when they mention luxery to a normal AUV with some wood. :( *****!

Ifer

..well that's why we should give them the benefit diba. Anyhow, i'm sure if they see these comments they will bring the show to the next level. Baka naman nasa experimental stage pa lang..hehe

shun_sakurai

Ifer,
Actually, Race Hour's way of reviewing cars is nothing new. I've seen similarly worded and presented "reviews" in older car shows of yore and even in local car magazines (that's why I never buy C! despite the spiffy layout).

It seems this problem of not being critical enough of what we're reviewing afflicts other ASEAN countries as well. Try reading issues of Autocar ASEAN (PhP150 an issue, very cheap yet quite good). You'll notice the difference between the Malaysian reviewers and the UK scrutineers, how aggressively they pick out flaws in cars.

Chris Wee, Autocar's Malaysian editor, is right when he states that there is nothing wrong with stating the flaws of a car. It's all up to how reporters present it. Think about it. The motoring press is there first and foremost to help consumers pick out better cars and to challenge the industry to satisfy customer demand. How will carmakers be driven to make better cars if we keep showing them fake smiles?

As it is, our local motoring press is mostly...how should I say it..."spineless." If reviewers keep mentioning the good points of each car and overlook the bad points, then, as a PEXer once posted, we should have been driving PERFECT FLAWLESS cars. But we don't, so we have every right to complain and to tell others how a car fell short of our expectations.

No offense meant. Just my two cents. IMO if I wanted to look for honest local car reviews, I'd set my browser to motioncars.com.

Ifer

Shun,

I partly agree with you, which is why i think when they see the comments posted, they "might" take it to the next level. Nonetheless, you do have good points to ponder, Shun. I'll try and catch the next show and see if i can send my comments to the producers via their text line. I'm sure it will catch their attention. :-)

pia_boren

Hey guys, this is Pia Boren of Race Hour. Thanks for the comments and we'll keep them in mind so that we can improve our show for you guys. If you have any other suggestions please feel free to text the show at BIG (space) RACE type ur message then send to 211 for smart and talk and text subscribers. To answer some of your questions, the EVO 8 review was done with in the city limits for the following reasons:
1. The Track was not available at that time.
2. We all know that it's a kick *** fast car but what about the other capabilities? It was designed to bridge the gap between street cars and rally cars so we wanted to see how it was as a street car. But anyway, don't worry, we'll bring the next cars to the track and show you what it's like to max it out.
Regarding the recognition of the owner, who is a personal friend of mine, we did do an interview which was quite fun but at we decided not to air it for safety/security reasons.
I hope you guys were able to catch last monday's show because we did it a little different and thought it came out better. Regarding the " bashing " of the cars: We try as much as possible to be unbiased and to point out the major problems only which I think we have been doing because all cars have their pro's and con's so we try to keep a healthy balance between the two. What we want to do is give the prospective buyer a look at some of the major points of the car,whether a pro or a con, that we think will help them in their decision. But rest assured, we'll keep reading your comments and improving ourselves to give yu guys the best show we can possible make. By the way, yup i know i need a little more improvement as a host but hey, i'm trying it's a big jump from behind the wheel to in front of the cam but i can tell you guys it's fun and exciting and needs just about the same amount of focus as when i'm racing. I hope you guys keep watching our show and thanks for all your comments.
Until next Monday, this has been Pia Boren for Race Hour ...

iskul

Hyee guys! Thanks for all your inputs, we folks at race hour are very delighted to know that you guys are catching the show every week. And we always welcome your comments and suggestions so that we can improve and make the show better! Some of us on the race hour team are new at this & we are striving every week to improve the show so we can bring you one unbiased and exciting motor sports show.

Also, as we all know, Ms. Pia Boren, our beloved champion host is making a giant leap from the track to the camera so let's all give her a break, shall we? Trust us, its not as easy at it looks...:) And take it from me, she has been working her butt off just to make things better for you guys out there

We promise that every week the race hour team will do its very best to make things more exciting for you guys, our race fans and auto enthusiasts out there, but sometimes we might skip and forget some stuff so please keep those comments/suggestions coming ok? Coz we surely welcome them.

Also one more thing guys, if you want a particular car to be featured, a car club get together, a car event or even a race and you want it to be shown on race hour, pls. contact us and we'll try to squeeze it in on one of our upcoming episodes, ok?

And as Pia mentioned, you can get hold of us by texting us at BIG<space>RACE<space> then your message then send to 211 for all you smart/talk&txt subscribers. If not, and only as a last resort, (emphasis on the last resort, hehehe) you can also send Pia or myself a private message here thru PEx and we'll make sure that it reaches the rest of the race hour team.

Thanks and keep your eyes glued every monday on Race Hour, the newest and hottest motor sports show on tv!

- DJ Matt Montoya

shun_sakurai

One bright note for the Evo VIII review: I appreciated the honest comments on the car's harsh ride quality. That's a start.

Unfortunately I seem to have missed this week's episode. I'll get back to it next time...and this time I'll look at the rallycross coverage.