Fifth Gear, Five, 8pm

WHILE the world and his wife are watching Clarkson, Hammond and May play with toys-for-the-boys and have a great deal of fun in cars that we’ll never be able to afford, the Fifth Gear boys and girl have been carving out a reputation as the home of family motoring.

That’s not to say there’s not plenty of room for some madcap schemes along the way.

Motoring stalwart Tiff Needell seems to enjoy his Fifth Gear work every bit as much as did his time on Top Gear prior to its transformation into a Sunday evening phenomenon.

But, it’s clear the petrol fumes and the roar of tyres on asphalt have taken their toll.

When asked about the recent series of Fifth Gear, he has to take a few seconds to get his bearings.

“I’m trying to catch up with it myself at the moment,” he says. “I’ve been flown all over the place. I was driving a Lamborghini Gallardo on ice yesterday in Italy, I’ve had a dog fight in a monster truck with Jason (Plato).

We’ve had a lot of fun already.”

Tiff has been racing for more than 30 years and has driven just about every vehicle worth talking about.

So what’s his favourite car of all time?

“A McLaren F1 supercar is still the one I just love,” he explains. “It still defines the word ‘supercar’. It’s got a soul to it.

It’s a really useable, properly thought through supercar.”

This run of the show has already demonstrated it’s not even close to running out of gas.

In the first of the new series, world champion boxer Joe Calzaghe and his glamour model girlfriend Jo-Emma Larvin took part in an off-road challenge with Tiff.

This week, Jason tests two recentlyrevised convertibles. Both the Mini Cooper Cabriolet and the Mazda MX-5 have had a radical revamp, so Jason takes them to the track for a series of challenges.

Which sporty number will come out on top?

ELSEWHERE, Tim is off to a garage with a difference – there are no mechanics.

The Pit Start is a garage offering all the equipment of a typical repair shop, but drivers do all the work themselves. Tim is soon knuckling down and getting his hands very dirty. Could this spell the end of the traditional garage?

Meanwhile, Tom tests the credentials of Toyota’s new miniature SUV – the Urban Cruiser. Designed for drivers with a high level of environmental awareness and active lifestyles, it sounds like the ideal green machine. With the help of some snow, Tom develops three gruelling tests to find out if the Cruiser lives up to its claims.

Jonny is in retro heaven when he hits the road in the Ecto-1 – better known as the original Ghostbusters’ ambulance. And who’s he gonna call? Derek Acorah of Most Haunted fame, of course.

Also this week, Tiff gets that Bond feeling when he spends some quality time with the brand new Aston Martin V12 Vantage.

And finally, Tom and Jonny settle an argument by embarking on one of their most daunting challenges yet – to find out who can produce the best wheelie in a car. With just a day to pick a vehicle, modify it so it can balance on its back wheels and then drive it, the boys have their work cut out.

The competition is fierce and, in an unmissable finale, Tom injures more than just his pride.