Episode Archive - Series 9

On The-Archers-with-explosives Top Gear, we tried to go green by driving some really big tractors, crashed a locomotive into a French people carrier, and Jeremy went a few rounds with a raging bull.

One of the key ingredients that go into making Top Gear is petrol. But, as world oil reserves dwindle, we decided to provide for the future by growing our own biofuel crop. Obviously this necessitated the testing of some truly enormous tractors.

Each presenter was asked to choose their own tractor for ploughing and cultivating our biofuel field. James went for the Fendt 930, which, thanks to its many onboard computers and driving aids, turned out to be a sort of agricultural Mercedes S-Class. Jeremy, unsurprisingly, went for speed with the 8.3 litre turbocharged JCB Fastrack. Richard meanwhile decided that big is best and picked the 24 tonne SDX Steiger, which looks like the product of an unholy union between a Challenger tank and a block of flats.

After some extremely non-industry standard tests involving a very literal drag race, and surely the slowest power lap the Stig will ever do, the presenters finally made it to their chosen field. With the aid of Top Gear Dog, the area was cleared of sheep and work began on ploughing. Despite the fact that all this really involves is driving up and down in a straight line, it didn't go well. Jeremy eventually resorted to using explosives instead.

Lamborghini has been under Audi's control for eight years now, so to see if the crushing weight of German sensibleness has managed to stifle all that Latin lunacy, Jeremy took a spin in the new Murcielago LP640. Well, it's competitively priced, styled by a Belgian, and actually looks quite understated compared with many of its rivals. It also has a well made, ergonomic interior, and air conditioning that actually works. Fortunately, it also has some traditional Lambo traits too. Namely, biblical power, a jaw-slackening top speed, and handling that will probably kill you to death at some point.

It's a shocking and tragic fact that one person dies each month in the UK after being involved in an accident at a railway level crossing. Usually while trying to jump the lights. In a genuine effort to stop this, we teamed up with Railtrack to show you what happens when hundreds of tonnes of locomotive crashes into a car. And, just to prove that even a five-star N-CAP rating won't help you, we used a Renault Espace.

Also, Kristin Scott Thomas dropped by to drive our reasonably priced car and bring some much needed class to the proceedings.

First shown on: 25/02/2007