- Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May bring the traveling Grand Tour tent to The Cradle of Humankind near Johannesburg in South Africa. In this show, the three hosts are forced to become special forces soldiers with an all action challenge at a top secret training base, deep within Jordan. Also in this episode, Jeremy introduces the 800 horsepower Aston Martin Vulcan to the Grand Tour test track, and James is sent to investigate an unusual form of motorsport called spinning.—Matt Grey
- The trio set up their tent on the outskirts of Johannesburg, South Africa for their next episode. The Cradle of Humankind near Johannesburg in South Africa. The presenters find themselves undertaking a SAS-style military training exercise per their producer's (Mr Willman's) instructions in Jordan, escorting a "VIP" to an important location while tackling a review of the Audi S8 Plus. They must rope down a helicopter, fight a terrorist infested building, steal a car, storm a hijacked airplane, rescue a hostage, drive him to an embassy compound through an occupied town. Each time one of the team members is killed, they all must begin again.
May can't rappel down a helicopter, so he asks to land it instead. They get pinned down by a sniper outside the building and May can't steal a Renault parked a little distance from the building. But then May points out a garage near the building, where May and Hammond take a truck and Jeremy takes an Audi S8. Jeremy wants May and Hammond to use the catering lorry to assault the airplane. But the alarms on the lorry keep revealing their position to the terrorists inside. Jeremy causes a diversion outside with his Audi, and Hammond ends up in a knife fight on the wings. They rescue the Queen of England and get her into the Audi.
Clarkson reviews the S8 Plus. Plus means it has 80 BHP more than the standard car. 0-60 in 3.8 secs and top speed of 190 mph. Many films had Audi as the getaway car, and so it is the car of choice for the Hollywood hero. The Queen makes it to the embassy safely. They completed the course in 9 hrs and 48 mins. 9.5 hrs slower than the actual soldiers.
Meanwhile May takes part in the specialized South African motor-sport of "Spinning" and finds out how to compete in it. May goes to the Wheels and Smoke arena. His driver steps out of the car, while it is spinning and then casually gets back in.
Clarkson tests the 800 BHP Aston Martin Vulcan at the Eboladrome. Costs BP 1.8 MM. Clarkson has trouble getting into the tiny driver space. 7L V12. Very noisy inside, even at slow speeds. Windows don't wind down, no toys and only half a steering wheel. No handbrake. But you get a squad of mechanics and an all-expense paid trip to any racetrack of your choice where an Aston Martin test driver teaches you how to handle the car at 800 BHP. The car is 9 seconds faster than the McLaren P1 on some racetracks as it has grip on slow corners and down-force on the straights. Fastest car ever around the Eboladrome at 1:15:5.
Conversation street: Aston teams up with Red bull to create a car with 900 BHP at 900 kgs. No other car does that. Bugatti Chiron is the replacement for the Veyron. Quad turbo, 8L V16 engine. Top speed limited to 261 mph. If you drive the Chiron flat out, it drains the tank in 9 mins. In SA, there are 35 carjackings every day. The most jacked cars are VW Polo, Toyota Hilux and HiAce. The VW polo is also the bestselling car is SA. People keep live Pythons in the car to prevent carjacking.
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