Top Gear define a qualifying vehicle as a road-legal production car on road-legal tires that has sufficient ride height to clear a standard speed bump. For these reasons the F1 car (Renault R24) (0:59.0), Aston Martin DBR9 (1:08.6) and Sea Harrier (0:31.2) do not appear.[2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10] Whenever a non-qualifying vehicle is raced, the time is compared to the official power laps but then removed from the board. For example, the Ferrari FXX owned by Michael Schumacher (1:10.7) was taken off the board because it both failed to meet road legal standards and used slick tyres, and the Caparo T1 (1:10.6) was removed because its front wing was too low to drive over a Speed bump.
Ferrari F40 (car did not start; broke down at the start line)
Series 16, Episode 06
Non-qualifying vehicles
Tested, but subsequently removed from board
0:31.2 – BAE Sea Harrier[18] (Piloted by Lieutenant Nick Arkle RN.[19] Raced against the Saab 9-5 Aero. Took off then flew around track, ended in the air) – Series 3, Episode 3
1:1?.? – CAP 232 Aerobatic Plane[3] (Piloted by British Aerobatic Champion, Tom Cassells.[21] Raced against the Radical SR3 and was shown crossing the finish line in front, however the time was not shown.) – Series 1, Episode 9
1:35.9 – 2010 BMW325i (E93) (Driven as modern-day equivalent to set target time for the late '80s BMW 325i (E30)s in the '4-seat convertibles for under £2,000' challenge.) (wet, top open)
1:42.0 – Rover 416 GTI (Hammond's car in the '£100 car' challenge.)
1:43.0 – Porsche 944 (May's car in the '£1500 Porsche' Challenge.)
1:44.0 – Porsche 924 (Hammond's car in '£1500 Porsche' Challenge, time not stated, but they did say it was slower than May's 944. Hammond's score on the board stated he scored -9 points in the challenge, meaning he finished 9 seconds over the target time of 1:35.0.)
1:45.0 – Porsche 928 S (Clarkson's car in '£1500 Porsche' Challenge.)
1:46.0 – Audi 80 1.8E (May's car in '£100 car' challenge.)
1:48.0 – Volvo 760 GLE V6 (Clarkson's car in '£100 car' challenge.)
1:48.0 – Vauxhall Astra Diesel Police car (Driven as modern-day equivalent to set target time in 'Budget Police Car' challenge.)
1:48.0 – 1988 BMW 325i (E30) convertible (Clarkson's car in '4-seat convertibles for under £2,000' challenge, automatic and paving slab in boot. Driven by Clarkson. The engine was severely damaged by the run.)
1:55.3 – 1987 BMW 325i (E30) convertible (Hammond's car in '4-seat convertibles for under £2,000' challenge, lowered suspension. Driven by Hammond.)
1:55.4 – 1989 BMW 325i (E30) convertible (May's car in '4-seat convertibles for under £2,000' challenge, standard specification. Driven by May.)
2:03.0 – Lexus LS400 (May's police car in 'Budget Police Car' Challenge, driven by May.)
2:08.0 – Fiat Coupé 2.0 20v Turbo (Clarkson's police car in 'Budget Police Car' Challenge, driven by Clarkson.)
2:15.82 – Volkswagen Tiguan whilst Towing a Caravan (Caravanner's Challenge)
2:17.0 – Chevrolet G20 (Hammond's ambulance in 'Ambulance Challenge', driven by the Stig. Track was fitted with 3 speed bumps, which the Chevy was able to clear at speed.).
2:24.0 – Porsche 944 Turbo (Clarkson's ambulance in 'Ambulance Challenge' driven by the Stig. The speed bumps mentioned above slowed down the low-slung Porsche greatly.).
2:57.0 – JCB Fastrac 8250 (Clarkson's tractor in the 'Tractor' Challenge.)
3:14.0 – Suzuki Vitara 1.6 JLX (Hammond's police car in 'Budget Police Car' Challenge, driven by Hammond. Hammond left the track to drive through piled cardboard boxes, and increase his "style points". Car broke down after crossing line.)
3:28.4 – Fendt 930 Vario (May's tractor in the 'Tractor' Challenge.)
4:49.0 – Case STX Steiger (Hammond's tractor in the 'Tractor' Challenge.)
12:28.0 – Ford Scorpio Cardinal (May's ambulance in 'Ambulance Challenge' driven by the Stig, includes time for raising and mending powered tailgate).
DNF – Mazda CX-5 whilst towing a caravan (Caravanner's Challenge, Caravan Fell onto its side on the second to last corner, lifting rear wheels of car in the air)
1:12.8 – Ultima GTR. After Top Gear allegedly refused to drive it because "they thought it couldn't clear a speed bump", Ultima Sports, Ltd. drove the car from Surrey to the track and set the time, verified by Plans Motorsport.[23]
1:14.2 – Ferrari LaFerrari. Set on 12 June 2015 in damp conditions by Jason Plato as part of television programme TFI Friday's twentieth-anniversary show
1:32.0 – Fiat Multipla - Set in 2019 by Stig (according to the video) driving the modified and engine-tuned Fiat Multipla "Multipla AMG" (151.8 hp - 336Nm - 1236 kg) from Vilebrequin's YouTube Channel (French).[24]
Time adjustments
Sometimes an additional term is written next to the time (such as Hot). This indicates that The Stig and the Top Gear team consider that the prevalent weather conditions have affected the lap time or car's performance. The time on the board is not changed: e.g. 1:50 MM (Mildly Moist) is deemed to be equivalent to 1:48 on a normal dry track. The following list describes how many seconds it costs a car or gives a car an advantage. These adjustments are also not applicable to Formula 1 drivers.
Term
Conditions
Adjustment
HOT/COLD
Track surface or car performance affected by high/low temperature or humidity
−1 second
Mildly moist (MM) / Damp (D)
Track surface slightly damp with some dry patches after light rain or drizzle
−2 seconds
Moist (M)
Track surface slightly wet due to shower of rain
−3 seconds
Wet (W) / Melted snow (MS)
Track surface wet due to light rain or melted snow
−4 seconds
Very wet (VW)
Track surface very wet (with large puddles) due to heavy rain
^"Series 1 episode 3". Top Gear. Series 1. Episode 3. 3 November 2002. BBC Two. Jeremy Clarkson: "We said you could only take a car on that track if it's road legal."
^ ab"Series 1 episode 9". Top Gear. Series 1. Episode 9. 22 December 2002. BBC Two. Richard Hammond: "We specify everything that goes on our board here has to be road legal."
^ ab"Series 5 episode 1". Top Gear. Series 5. Episode 8. 19 December 2004. BBC Two. Jeremy Clarkson: "The thing is though, this is only for cars with ashtrays and noses that you can get over the... uh, speed bumps, it's only for road cars."
^"Series 5 episode 9". Top Gear. Series 5. Episode 9. 26 December 2004. BBC Two. Jeremy Clarkson: "You can use it on the road because... the test that we have for our Power Board, 'cause only road cars can go on this, is whether they can get over a speed bump."
^ ab"Series 6 episode 1". Top Gear. Series 6. Episode 6. 3 July 2005. BBC Two. Jeremy Clarkson: "You can't buy this car so it has no place on our board." James May: "But he's right though, those are the rules."
^ ab"Series 10 Episode 5". Top Gear. Series 10. Episode 5. 11 November 2007. 16:52 minutes in. BBC Two. You know the rules, James. If a car can't get over a sleeping policeman it can't go on that board. We've always said that and look at the nose on this, I mean never mind a sleeping policeman, you'd rip that off if you ran over Gandhi.
^"Series 10 episode 9". Top Gear. Series 10. Episode 9. 9 December 2007. BBC Two. Jeremy Clarkson: "Now because this has a hydraulic lifting nose, which we can see here, it is able to get over speed bumps and that means it is a road car and that means it can go on our board."
^ ab"Series 13 episode 2". Top Gear. Series 13. Episode 2. 28 June 2009. BBC Two. Jeremy Clarkson: "We subsequently discovered he was doing that on slick tyres. Now we have rules on this Power Board here, ok? You can't use slicks, so this time is coming off."
^"Series 16 episode 3". Top Gear. Series 16. Episode 3. 6 February 2011. BBC Two. Jeremy Clarkson: "Not the Volvo obviously because this board is for production cars only."
^"Top Gear". Series 8. Episode 4. 28 May 2006. BBC 2. Jeremy Clarkson: "This, 1:20.4, the old Koenigsegg lap, we don't need it anymore."
^"Top Gear". Series 14. Episode 7. 3 January 2010. BBC 2. Richard Hammond: "Critically, I want to write on there it's wet, very wet." Top Gear website lists conditions as "w" (wet).
^The latter half of original video shown on TV was replaced by a "car football" match clip, as to parody the incident of ITV1 HD during the 2010 FIFA World Cup
^"Top Gear". Series 7. Episode 2. 20 November 2005. BBC 2. Jeremy Clarkson: "You know we put it around the track this morning, with the Stig driving it, OK, 1:25-point-something." – Actual lap not shown. Also Clarkson said that the RS4 is "more than a second quicker than the Cayman [S]", so the RS4 is at least 1:25.7 around the track.
^"Top Gear". Series 7. Episode 2. 20 November 2005. BBC 2. Jeremy Clarkson: "He did it in 1:26.7". Current (2008/12/1) Top Gear web site Power Lap Time is incorrect.
^"Top Gear". Series 3. Episode 2. 2 November 2003. BBC 2. Jeremy Clarkson: "Bear in mind Stig did that on the CSLs ludicrous tyres, near slicks, in the damp, so we'll call that a wet lap."
^"Top Gear". Series 3. Episode 3. 9 November 2003. BBC 2. BAE Sea Harrier. James May: "The pilot did go a bit wide in some of the corners, didn't he?" Jeremy Clarkson: "He did say, with a Harrier, it would be possible to actually follow the confines of the track and it would still be faster than the car. But we said no no no, go for it."
