The Grand Tour

The Grand Tour: A Scandi Flick – Cars Of The Episode Revealed

The Grand Tour: A Scandi Flick has finally been revealed to the world through its official trailer which was released today. And while we’ve been updating you with everything we can ahead of the show’s reveal, we’ve now got full confirmation of the cars involved in Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond, and James May’s trip across Norway.

Watch The Grand Tour: A Scandi Flick Trailer Now

The trailer gives us plenty to chew on, including the run-up to James May’s huge crash. But for us gearheads, we now know what cars they’re driving in the show, and who’s driving them.

Obviously, hence the name, the episode will likely revolve around the world of rally racing, and each of these three cars have a strong tie to, and history in the sport.

Let’s dig in.

Jeremy Clarkson in the Audi RS4 B7

Jeremy had already revealed that he’d bought an Audi RS4 for the show many, many months ago, but before seeing behind the scenes photos of the filming of this episode, we didn’t know it would be for this.

Obviously, the connection to rally here is the Quattro term that Audi now uses for its all-wheel drive system. But let’s explore this car a little further.

It was released in 2005 by Audi, and while the look of the car didn’t blow people away, the 4.2-litre V8 engine did with direct fuel injection and maximum revs of a shrieking 8500rpm. It produced 414 horsepower, with these horses being delivered to all four wheels. There was only one gearbox available, but surprisingly it was a manual with six speeds and, once you pressed the sport button, the throttle response would make this delicious powertrain even more exciting and bypass valves would make it sound as good as it went.

The exterior still felt very sedate, but now offered wider arches over the standard A4 as well as aluminium front wings and bonnet. And a bit later on, the RS4 badge was placed onto the wagon version, too.

As you can see form the trailer, Jeremy’s RS4 eventually gets wrapped in Quattro colours, fitted with Cibbies at the front, and somehow gets completely frozen over, resulting in Jeremy setting it on fire. Poor thing.

Richard Hammond in the Subaru Impreza WRX

We first saw the Subaru WRX in an Instagram post by Jeremy Clarkson, but it’s confirmed that it’s being driven by Richard Hammond who has driven one of these cars before in the Africa special of Top Gear.

These cars are pure rally inspired and burble as much as a cat trapped in a corner thanks to its Boxer engine. Many Subaru fans weren’t completely taken with the looks of the ‘Blobeye’ Impreza, but since its release it has become motoring legend thanks to its connection to rally and its insane performance.

Its engine is a 2.0-litre, 4-cylinder Boxer engine with help from a single turbo. It’s low on weight and has a low centre of gravity, and gives it the car its iconic sound as well as 261 horsepower. It’s not quite as potent as Jeremy’s RS4, but with its trick all-wheel drive system and a bit of talent behind the wheel, it could well keep up with it in the corners.

In this episode it’s been given the Martini colours, but we can see later on that the ‘I’ at the end of ‘Martini’ has been coloured in.

James May’s Mitsubishi Evo 8

The car of the hour, this Mitsubishi Evo 8 driven by James May has had quite a life according to reports. It was crashed by the presenter at a high speed, so we’re not sure if it makes it to the end of the episode. It’s also the only car that doesn’t undergo any visual modification during the episode.

The Evo 8 was launched in 2003 in Japan and saw immediate success thanks to its potent turbocharged 4G63 4-cylinder engine. This produced 289 lb ft and 276 horsepower, but its excellent all-wheel drive system pushed its performance high enough to battle with supercars of that era.

Its chassis was stiffer than the outgoing Evo7, and the car was treated like it was going to hit a rally stage at any moment with the chassis being spot welded, suspension mounts upgraded, and the suspension itself having an improved MacPherson strut front and multi-link rear suspension setup.

The new bodywork also allowed for better cooling and higher performance aerodynamics.

James crashed this at such a high speed, I’d be surprised if this car isn’t written off during the show, which would be very sad.

It also gets submerged in water, so…

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Alex Harrington

Alex started racing at a young age so certainly knows his way around a car and a track. He can just about put a sentence together too, which helps. He has a great interest in the latest models, but would throw all of his money at a rusty old French classic and a 300ZX. Contact: [email protected]

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