Life is Poppin'

I believe in sharing my life so I can save you time, money and a few headaches! Always learning from my screw-ups.

  • Drives With Girls
  • Recipes
  • Travel
  • DIY
  • Kid Stuff
  • Reviews
    • Giveaways

March 25, 2015. Clarkson + Focus RS = A glass case of emotion

Mar 25 by Leave a Comment

ford-focus-rs-jeremy-clarkson

 

A glass case of emotion, thats what I feel like I’m in right now. First, I found out the Ford Focus RS is coming to America, and second, Jeremy Clarkson gets fired. Seriously!

The Good

I’m aware that Ford first unveiled the mighty Focus RS in Geneva last month, but I happen to not have a worldwide publication as employer, and Life is Poppin’/Drives With Girls isn’t big enough to afford a full ride to Switzerland… Yet. So what can a little guy do? Hope!

The waters parted, the skies opened, and the Dearborn gods smiled upon me — Ford is bringing the Focus RS to the 2015 New York International Auto Show (NYIAS) for it’s North American debut.

The Ford Focus RS features a 2.4-liter EcoBoost (turbo) delivering “well in excess” of 315 horsepower, although official figures haven’t been released. The RS will also feature a tailored Brembo braking system, dynamic torque-vectoring All-Wheel-Drive system, as well as an industry-first Drift Mode. So it sounds like I’ll be “Ken Block-ing” my way to Kroger on milk runs!

I seriously cannot wait until I get behind the wheel of this bad boy.

The Bad

Jeremy Clarkson was fired from the BBC.

The Ugly

Top Gear is most likely dead as we know it. Like Chris Harris said earlier today, all modern-day car journalists owe a bit to Jeremy Clarkson for everything he has done for the industry. The way I see it, I always thought it would be cool to drive cars, and review cars, and write about them. But I never thought it would be something I could grow to have passion and love for.

He made it cool, but more than anything — he made it mainstream. People know Top Gear, people know the Stig, people know Clarkson. A little bit of the allure that comes with the job died today, and while someone at Motor Trend could laugh at me for saying that, given the fact I’m new at this, I feel like people know what I do, or what I aspire to do because of Top Gear and Clarkson. Granted, not all car journalists get to race McLaren P1’s around Spa surrounded by film helicopters, or attempt to beat bullet trains in Pagani Zondas. But I think we all wish to appeal to a broad audience like Top Gear did. In fact, 40% of Top Gear’s audience was female, which is incredible, and even kids aged 7 to 11 played a big role in their demographics. Talk about ushering a new generation of gear-heads. Isn’t that what really matters? To me, it is.

 

topgear-jeremy-clarkson-hammond-james-may

 Top Gear crew and I during the filming of the U.S Holiday special in NYC.

Check out some Top Gear Stats from the BBC Advertising website

•Guinness Book of Records holder for most watched factual program in the world

•Sold to 214 territories worldwide

•Over three million YouTube subscribers

•Over 19 million Facebook fans

•Over one million Twitter followers

• Top Gear Magazine global circulation: 1.67 million

•Over 4 million unique users on topgear.com every month

•Half a billion page views in the last year

•Over 8.9 million downloads of Top Gear game apps

•Over 1.5 million visitors to Top Gear Live

As someone that is used to writing website analytics for sponsorships, advertising, media work, etc. These figures are just mind-boggling. Over 4 MILLION unique page visitors to topgear.com is beyond comprehension. You know what else is mind-boggling? The revenue, $225 million per year.

As James May said today, they worked well as a package. What’s next? Who knows.

Related Posts

  • 2016 Ford Explorer Platinum – Go Big or Go Home2016 Ford Explorer Platinum – Go Big or Go Home
  • Ford Focus RS live from NYIAS #FocusRSchatFord Focus RS live from NYIAS #FocusRSchat
  • Jeremy Clarkson allegedly punched someone. So what?Jeremy Clarkson allegedly punched someone. So what?
  • New York Auto Show – Less is moreNew York Auto Show – Less is more
  • 5 Hot Cars to debut at the ’15 New York Auto Show5 Hot Cars to debut at the ’15 New York Auto Show
  • 2016 North American International Auto Show – Kia Telluride Concept2016 North American International Auto Show – Kia Telluride Concept
  • Quaker State Oil + Walmart Auto Car Center = <i>Perfecto!</i>Quaker State Oil + Walmart Auto Car Center = Perfecto!
  • Hip Family Rides From the 2017 Chicago Auto ShowHip Family Rides From the 2017 Chicago Auto Show

Don’t Miss the Latest

Celebrating the New Year in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula

We drive the 2021 Mercedes-AMG GLS 63 to the Great White North, where we say goodbye to a rather tumultuous 2020. 2020 has been a year for most of us, huh? So happy to get rid of it and here’s to hoping 2021 is better in every way! Of course, we say this with the […]

Great Smoky Mountains National Park: Family Road Trip In the 2021 Chevy Tahoe

A large and rugged country requires a large and rugged vehicle. With COVID-19 shutting down most things around us or at least applying rigorous restrictions to help slow the spread of the virus, a lot of activities we would normally do with our family are off the table. Luckily, we’ve always loved family road trips, […]

Explore Chicago: The Four Seasons With Kids

We head to the Windy City in the 2021 Toyota RAV4 Prime Once upon a time, we could get away as a couple whenever we wanted wherever we wanted. Early mornings, late nights, breakfast in bed, shows, clubs, parties—you name it, we enjoyed it. But for a while now, we’ve had to play by a […]

2020 Hyundai Sonata: A Tech-Packed, Versatile Sedan

Yes, it can drive forward and backward without a driver, but that’s just the tip of the iceberg of this stylish sedan. Sedans are dying a slow death. No, it’s not just me being negative, but a factual representation of the automotive industry, which in turn, is a direct reflection of customer’s buying habits. People […]

Filed Under: Pit Stop

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

follow-me-on-pinterest

Get to know Drives with Girls!

Drives with girls, lifeispoppin.com

Gifts for Dads

Fox 59 Segment

drives-with-girls

Popular posts you will love:

Fairy in a Jar Night Lights

Fairy in a Jar Night-Lights

4C Spider

Alfa Romeo 4C Spider

gala

Womens Daily contributor transTODAY.com Parenting Team FC Contributor

TODAY.com Parenting Team Parenting Contributor

Everywhere

This post may contain affiliate links

Copyright ©2023, Life is Poppin'. All Rights Reserved. Custom design by Pixel Me Designs