Challenge: The presenters head over to the US for a road trip. Jeremy brings a Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG, James a Ferrari 458 Italia, and Richard, predictably, a Porsche 997 GT3 RS.

Initially beginning on the pretext to see whether Virginia's Blue Ridge Parkway can depose the Transfăgărăşan as the best driving road in the world, they were quickly stifled by the average speed limit of a whopping 35 mph (60 km/h). Plan scrapped, they then head to North Wilkesboro, North Carolina to go on the North Wilkesboro Speedway where, after an agreement with the Mayor, they begin racing around. Jeremy, in a fit of excitement, shreds a rear tyre and is unable get it changed until the next morning because the tyre shops around do not carry tyres large enough for the SLS.

The next morning, the three men wake up to the sound of car racing in the garden. As it turns out, their chalet overlooks the Virginia International Raceway, so they immediately take their cars racing. Jeremy has a lot of fun even though his SLS is tail-happy. As a result of all the fun, Jeremy has to change the SLS' tyres again. Ahead on the track, Richard and James have a race. Even though Richard nearly reels James in, at the last moment he spins off. At this point Jeremy and James set a bet between themselves: whoever has the fastest car in a drag race wins 5 pounds.

Before they can race, however, the presenters have a drive-by shooting challenge: they sit in the passenger side seat of their cars and pump bullets into cardboard standees of The Stig. Special sections gain them more points. James scores the lowest, Richard next, who as a country boy seemed to pick up the pistol instantly, while Jeremy cheats and uses an AR-15 rifle, scoring the most points in the process.

The next day, the three presenters take a car journey all the way to New York. Along the way, James and Jeremy attempt to settle their challenge using a drag race course. Unfortunately, the launch control systems of both cars do not work well in the wet, and when they eventually switch to automatic, James manages to complete the course by starting slowly while Jeremy spins the SLS out of control, again.

Finally, in the big city of New York, the presenters are given their final challenge: to be the first to reach the set of an American television show. At first it seemed like a walkover for the two sat nav equipped cars, but it turns out that the Ferrari's sat-nav is stifled by the buildings, while the SLS' sat-nav works, but keeps directing Jeremy to the Manhattan ring roads, which the presenters are not allowed to drive on. Meanwhile Hammond, who Clarkson refers to as Stuart Little because of Hammond's fear of cities, has no sat-nav in his car and ends up lost. Eventually, James, with (or maybe despite) his sense of direction, reaches the studio first, only to find out that he has to appear on a yoga programme.

Jeremy and James later settle their drag-race dispute with a final race on the Top Gear airfield. Interestingly, it is a photo-finish. So much so that the picture actually shows them cross the finish line at the same time and thus the two cars cannot be separated by eye. Therefore, it is declared a draw.

News: The presenters talk about car-related products. Objects like a model of a car engine and even a gear-knob toothpick come up. In dramatic fashion, Jeremy takes control of a Parrot AR.Drone and, despite Richard's protests that he is not technologically savvy, flies it around for a while before crashing it into a light system and promptly fusing all the lights in the studio. Following that, the presenters are forced to light candles. They later on revealed that the Stig is gone, which later segued to topics about Genesis, Judas Iscariot, and a presumed disloyalty of cats. A small fire interrupted the discussion, which was later on extinguished with a can of energy drink.

Star in a Reasonably Priced Car: Director Danny Boyle discusses about his upcoming film 127 Hours. The only person as yet to not have been trained by the Stig, but instead by Emergency Stig Tiff Needell, nevertheless he sets a time of 1:47.8, the fastest lap time so far in the wet.

Challenge: The presenters are challenged to re-enact the journey of the Three Wise Men by travelling from northern Iraq to a stable in Bethlehem, using second-hand two-seater convertibles bought for £3,500. As Israel will not allow cars registered in its surrounding neighbours to enter its borders, they must buy cars from Georgia before flying to their destination in an Ilyushin Il-76TD cargo plane. Jeremy buys a Mazda MX-5, Richard a Fiat Barchetta and James a BMW Z3. As in previous challenges, a spare car is provided to any presenter whose car breaks down. For this challenge, that car is an Opel Astra convertible - a car loathed by all three presenters.

After landing at Arbil International Airport in Iraqi Kurdistan, the three decide that it is too dangerous to drive directly to Bethlehem as it would involve travelling through the stronghold of Mosul. Instead, Jeremy proposes a circuitous route that involves travelling east and crossing into Iran and then doubling back into Turkey and down into Syria to avoid the dangers of Iraq. However, once they reach the Iranian border, they find that for "political reasons", BBC staff are not permitted to cross into Iran. They manage to find a route back across Iraq to the Turkish border that bypasses Mosul.

Once inside Turkey, they discover that they have a bigger problem: a Kurdish insurgency is attempting to claim the southern provinces of Turkey and that the region has been declared a war zone, with the Foreign Ministry issuing a document that states all non-essential travel should be avoided. The presenters are given four hours to travel the 363 kilometres (226 mi) to Şanlıurfa, a safe city, before nightfall, a journey that will force them to travel through the unsafe region of Şırnak. Jeremy experiences trouble with his Mazda, but all three are able to make it to the hotel. To punish Richard for being smug about his car's reliability, Jeremy and James disconnect the standard stereo and install a secret, second stereo in the Fiat and a Genesis CD (specifically, Live over Europe 2007) — a band Hammond is known to hate — which he cannot turn off.

They finally turn south and enter Syria, their progress halted by the Z3's security system, which refuses to start the car. Once inside, they discover that Top Gear is enormously popular in Syria, which they are less than enthusiastic about because Israel will not allow them into the country if they have been in Syria, and any word of their presence in the country will spread like wildfire and tip the Israelis off before they can get to the border. Jeremy proposes that they "sneak through" the country by modifying their cars for desert travel. Richard models his Fiat on a Bedouin tent, while James takes inspiration from the Afrika Korps and models his BMW on a desert army unit. Meanwhile, Jeremy paints his car in bright colours to resemble the story of Joseph and his coat of many colours, making it Jeremy and his Car of Many Colours. He also installs the "Axle of Evil" to make his Mazda a six-wheeled vehicle, though this quickly proves to hinder him more than it helps.

While travelling through the desert, Richard's radiator very nearly falls out and Jeremy is bitten by an unidentified insect that causes his arm to swell up. Of more concern is an accident whilst attempting to drag a car out of a sand trap; James May is knocked over by the strap used to haul the car out and receives a head wound when he hits his head on a rock. He is taken to a nearby hospital while Jeremy and Richard carry on. They soon find a road near Palmyra and change their tactics: rather than disguising their cars, they disguise themselves, meeting May at the hospital dressed in burqas and attempt to drive to Damascus incognito. Their efforts are in vain, because word has spread that they are in the country and there is a welcoming party at their hotel.

The next day, they cross into Jordan,^[2] and arrive in Jerash, where they invent the sport of "Old Testament NASCAR", racing their cars around a two thousand year old chariot racing circuit. With that, they cross into Israel and make a slight detour to the Sea of Galilee, where Jeremy tries to convince the others that everyday activities and natural occurrences - James' head wound and his arm healing, Richard not liking fish at lunch, walking on water and inventing the sport of swimming - are all miracles that he had performed. On the Mount of Olives, overlooking Jerusalem, they unanimously declare Richard's Fiat to be the best car, because James hated the transmission of his Z3, which he described as having gear ratios so spread out that he could fit another gearbox between them, and Jeremy did not develop an attachment to the MX-5.

That night they finally make it to Bethlehem, where they arrive at a nativity scene with gifts they have purchased in Syria: a gold-relief medallion, a bottle of hotel shampoo labelled frankincense and a Nintendo DSi because Jeremy could not find any myrrh. They peel back the covers on the manger to discover that the baby Jesus is actually a baby Stig.

Review: James May reviews the Ariel Atom V8, the latest edition of the Ariel Atom that comes with a huge price tag, a lot of racecar technology, and surprisingly easy to drive according to May. To re-enact the race against a motorcycle, James had brought in Tiff Needell to race against Steve Brogan riding on a BMW S1000RR. Needell beat Brogan in the race. The Atom V8 has also topped the lap chart in the hands of the "New" Stig, posting a time of 1:15.1.

Review: Jeremy conducts a proper road test on the Skoda Yeti. In his review he has compared that it is more practical than a Maybach, faster than a Ferrari 308 GTS in Donington Park, a track then under heavy rebuilding work, and is fairly robust against abuse. The tests then get more bizarre as Jeremy finds out that the ride is smooth enough that a tattoo can be applied to a man's back whilst travelling through some countryside, but the same cannot cannot be done in a Range Rover. He also finds out that the Yeti has good enough air conditioning that an ice cream won't melt whilst being driven through a building in flames, and the car is strong enough to not only hold a helipad on its roof, it can also function with a helicopter landed on the roof pad.

News: Jeremy announced that the new Lancia Stratos is being produced, with its engine and chassis coming from a Ferrari 430. A company had offered complete rebuilds of the Jensen Interceptor, with a new engine, brakes and suspension. James mentions that Lamborghini is developing a new car that mounts a V12 engine and develops 700 PS (515 kW; 690 bhp), but is overshadowed by a "Dagger" developed by an American company, along with a long wishlist of performance criteria. The trio then moves on to the topic of fuel prices, and find out that a vehicle's consumption of fuel is somewhat related to the number of children they have.

Star in a Reasonably Priced Car: John Bishop gets his turn in the Kia Cee'd. He posts a time of 1:42.8, the fastest so far in this feature.

Challenge: Richard Hammond looks for a way that a VW Beetle would beat its descendant, a Porsche 997 Turbo S Cabriolet in a one mile drag race, with the catch being the Beetle is powered only by gravity, having been dropped from a helicopter. He ultimately loses the race to the falling Beetle.

Review: After a brief showcase of both the extremely rare 1963 Ferrari 250 GTO and the 1980's era 288 GTO, Jeremy reviews the Ferrari 599 GTO. The car proves extremely difficult to handle in wet conditions despite the sophisticated electronics. He concludes that it is an excellent car, but unworthy of the GTO name because it is a road car rather than a racing car. He also states that it is simply too aggressive for him to be able to enjoy the drive. In the hands of The Stig, the GTO could only manage a lap time of 1:19.8, slower than Ferrari 458 Italia (he even spun out once on a practice lap).

News: Complaints about the previous episode's Ariel Atom V8 vs. BMW motorcycle race prompts James to elaborate on the bike (albeit briefly). The new Mini Countryman is discussed and derided by Jeremy as "the stupidest car I've ever seen and it gave me crabs." Richard is excited about the new Pagani Huayra and talks Clarkson and May into letting him test it in a future show. Jeremy responds, "You knock yourself out!" prompting gleeful laughter from James, who recognises the reference to Richard's accident in the Vampire dragster prior to the start of Season 9. Next up, the Ford Focus is proclaimed "ideal if you just want some car." The presenters then discuss the first Mexican supercar the Mastretta MXT, which May calls the "Tortilla" when he cannot remember the actual name. The segment provoked controversy and accusations of xenophobia after two presenters described Mexicans as being lazy and that no-one would complain because they were all too busy sleeping. Finally, Jeremy tells of a German radio promotion that promised a Mini Cooper to the listener who could do the most outlandish thing. The winner was a guy who got the word "Mini" tattooed on his "gentleman's sausage" (as Clarkson put it).

Challenge: In a similar segment to the series of contests against their German counterparts (Series 11, Episode 6), Clarkson, Hammond, and May challenge the presenters of Top Gear Australia to a series of five events in an "Ashes for the motoring world". Clarkson, Hammond and May spend most of their time trying to cheat at the events. In the first event, a "Working Man's Drag Race", they enter a Ford Transit with a Jaguar engine that easily beats the Australian HSV Maloo. In the second event, a repeat of the "double-decker car" race, the Australians are forced to drive vehicles with the top car welded on upside down so that they would "feel at home". The British presenters win in a 1-2 victory, but the Australians later protest the result because Hammond and May spent a lap stationary, and so finished in fourth, not first; Top Gear UK is deducted ten points. The third event is "Synchronised Drifting". Clarkson and the Stig take to the circuit in a pair of high-performance sports cars,(Jaguar XKR And Aston Martin V12 Vantage) with Hammond and May scoring because they claim BBC health and safety regulations mean only British citizens can judge the event. Clarkson and the Stig receive full marks. The Australians are then given a pair of Vauxhall Omega's and proceed to crash into one another, but a mistake in scoring by Hammond accidentally awards them 11 marks instead of 1.1, much to Clarkson's annoyance. In the fourth event, both teams must round up sheep on motorbikes. Clarkson, thinking he is giving the Australians terrible bikes, accidentally gives them Austrian KTMs, which the Australians claim are actually the best on the market and proceed to round up all the sheep in two minutes. The British presenters are deducted twenty points after they lose all of the sheep, putting the Australians in front by 15.1 points. The final event is a rally race, with the Stig standing in for James. The Australians are given a 15.1 second headstart, but "James" takes a shortcut to pass them, handing a controversial victory to Top Gear UK.

Star in a Reasonably Priced Car: Boris Becker sets a time of 1:45.9, the fastest wet lap thus far.

Review: Jeremy drives the Ford Focus RS500, the Subaru Impreza STI Cosworth CS400 and the one-off Polestar Racing Volvo C30 Performance Concept. He enjoys the Ford, but loathes the Subaru, as it’s far too dull to be deserving of the Cosworth name; he likes the Volvo even more, but laments the fact that it’s a concept (and therefore, cannot be timed around the track). The Ford posts a time of 1.30.8 while the Subaru posts a 1.27.7.

Challenge: The guys get a letter from the Albanian Mafia asking them to test the new Rolls-Royce Ghost against a Bentley and a Mercedes. Despite their fervent objections, they eventually agree to the testing. James takes the Rolls-Royce, Richard a Mercedes-Benz S-Class AMG, and Jeremy opts for a Bentley Mulsanne. Unfortunately, at the last second, Bentley pulls out of the comparison, leaving Jeremy to arrange to drive a Yugo in its place.

During the comparison, the trio carries on as if the Yugo is a Bentley Mulsanne, even calling the small hatchback a Bentley by name. While in Albania, they hold several tests to determine which of their cars would be best for a Mafia boss. They "murder" a fat man, then attempt to squeeze his body into the boots of their cars, eventually asking the man to climb into the boots himself, whereupon they find that while he fits comfortably into the Rolls-Royce, the Mercedes’ boot contains a fridge unit which takes up space and leaves too little for a “body”, and while the “body” fits into the back of the “Bentley”, not only does that car sag due to its weak suspension, but the hatchback body style allows nearly crystal-clear visibility of the body through the back window.

Later, they disguise themselves, with pantyhose on their heads and "rob a bank", and are chased by the Albanian police. Jeremy makes off in the Mercedes; Richard takes the Rolls-Royce; and James is forced by default into the “Bentley”. Jeremy and Richard easily outrun the police, but James isn’t so lucky – his car is so slow, the police are nearly bumper-to-bumper with him the entire time, and the cops who had been chasing Richard and Jeremy form a roadblock, which James attempts to drive around, only to tumble off the side of the cliff to what looks to be his death.

Star in a Reasonably-Priced Car: Jonathan Ross returns after 15 seasons. His new time is much more improved from his first-season attempt, at 1:49.0.

Review: Jeremy reviews the Pagani Zonda R, a high-performance version of the Pagani Zonda, and said to be the last production model of the car. It's incredibly fast with a V12 AMG engine, but it's also extremely loud and requires Jeremy to use a headset microphone in the car to be heard over it. The car had set a record 6:47 on the Nürburgring, but since the car's noise prevents it from being raced on most public race tracks, Jeremy describes it as "useless". However, Pagani had released a scaled-down version of the Zonda R called the Zonda Tricolore. The Zonda R sets a Power Lap time of 1:08:01, the fastest lap time on the Top Gear track, but since the car is not road legal, it has to be disqualified.

News: Jeremy discusses that, since speed cameras were turned off on British motorways a few months before, there have been no changes in accident and fatality figures, so the speed cameras are a waste of money. He also discusses the British superstition of saluting a magpie, and how it might be dangerous for motorists, if they salute a magpie while driving.

Challenge: The three are told to buy a four-seater convertible for less than £2000, but unfortunately, they all buy the same car: a BMW 325i. Richard bought the 1987 model, Jeremy the 1988, and James the 1989. Jeremy decides to use this as an opportunity to test how different the same car would be if bought used, so they come up with a series of different challenges to test the cars' reliability, performance, and condition. The first test is a 0 to 100MPH to 0 race. Richard couldn't participate because his car wouldn't start, and his aftermarket car alarm wouldn't stop, so James and Jeremy race without him. Even though Jeremy's car has a faster engine, James wins because the brakes in Jeremy's car don't work. After this test, the group bring in a forensics team to see what condition the car's interior is in. Jeremy's car is the cleanest, with the seats just containing crisps, leaves, and his own dried skin. James fares worse, since his car has evidence of scabs that were picked off, and his steering wheel is covered in saliva. Richard's car, however, has traces of blood, faeces, and pubic hair in the upholstery, and saliva on the steering wheel, prompting him to drive the car in a hazmat suit. The next test is a thief test, where the three arrange for three car thieves to break into their cars and steal it. Despite the double-locks on Richard's car, his is stolen, while the other two take too long. After this, the Stig sets a lap in a 2011 325i, which the other three must try to meet. Jeremy's car is the fastest, but he destroys the engine as a result of the lap. They then test if the retractable roof is tight by filling the car with helium gas and having the presenter sit in it for as long as he can. If his voice is squeaky and high-pitched, then that means the roof is airtight. James and Jeremy's cars don't leak, but Richard's leaks badly. Then, three car assessors come by to see how much money would need to be invested in the cars to restore them to showroom condition. Richard's needs £7500 worth of work, James' £5000, and Jeremy's needs £11,000. The final challenge is for the three to use the cars in a stunt driving show at the Essex County Fair, but unfortunately, they all crash their cars as soon as the show begins. The points are tallied up, and James' car is the clear winner.

Star in a Reasonably Priced Car: Simon Pegg and Nick Frost both set laps. Simon Pegg set a time of 1:44.9, while Nick Frost set a time of 1:44.5.

Review: Jeremy drives the BMW M3 Competition Pack and the Audi RS5. In the end, he says he doesn't like either car, as the BMW offers nothing of value for the extra £3000 - not mentioning a £1,755 matte paint job on the test unit, of which Jeremy reclaims as "useless", since you can't polish it, or even taking it to a car wash - spent on a Competition Pack over a normal M3, and the Audi is plagued by understeer. The Audi sets a time of 1:27.5, while the BMW sets a 1:26.5 -- more than a full second slower than a stock M3.

News: The presenters discuss a new electric concept car by Nissan which leads to them Jeremy and James singing their version of Elton John's "Daniel", and they discuss the Infiniti Etherea concept, with Jeremy calling it the "urethra" due to the similar spelling.

Challenge: After all the snow problems last year (caused by a shortage of snowplows, as well as of the money needed to run them), the presenters decide to build their own snow plow out of a Claas combine harvester. The machine, called The Dominator, features a gritter and flamethrower at the back. James is chosen to drive the machine, which maxes out at 12 miles per hour. They test the gritter on the side of an old BMW 3-series, which is destroyed by the spray of grit.

They decide that since snow isn't forecast for England that day (In fact, as of the filming, it is projected to warm up considerably), they should bring the plow to Norway, where there is snow. First, they try to build a runway on a frozen lake so that a plane can land. The "snow-bine" breaks through the ice but they manage to rescue it; in the end, their efforts, or lack thereof, result in a runway that veers back and forth like a pinball and is pocked with bumps, causing the plane to crash.

Then, they try to plow the streets in a local village, but this causes more problems. They destroy a house, as James is turning around and the gritter is aimed at the front window, wreck a car, which was hidden in a mound of snow, set a skier on fire, and destroy a sign; in the end, they are kicked out of the village as their actions raise protests from the locals.

Finding no success on the lake or in the village, they decide to plow a 10 Km mountain pass. They veer into a ditch once, and Hammond loses his wedding ring, but in the end, they clear the road and declare the stunt ambitious and actually quite useful.

Star in a Reasonably Priced Car: Amber Heard sets a lap time of 1:50.3, the slowest dry lap thus far in the Kia Cee'd.

Feature: James drives the Space Exploration Vehicle from NASA. He calls it the best car he has ever driven, referring to the amount of technology included in it. He also grieves over the cancellation of the funding for moon missions in the NASA Authorization Act of 2010.

Review: Richard drives the Ferrari F40 and the Porsche 959. The Stig tries to take each car around the track, but the Ferrari gets a DNS (Did Not Start) and the Porsche did a DNF (Did Not Finish).

Feature: James gives a quick review of Peugeot's new electric concept car, the EX1. Hammond delights in the fact that the seat is located in the door, and that it has aviation steering handles instead of the typical wheel. James then tells the audience that they can expect to own the car 'never' as it's not being mass produced.

News: Jeremy talks about the new Ayrton Senna film coming out in Summer 2011, referring back to the Senna film from Series 15, Episode 5.

Cool Wall: For the first time in two years, Richard and Jeremy talk about the Cool Wall. BMW's are moved into Sub-Zero while Audis are moved to Uncool and small cars to Cool. The Nissan Juke is placed in Seriously Uncool and the Renault Wind in Uncool. The Toyota Yaris Verso is put in Seriously Uncool. The Porsche 911 Carrera C2S is owned by James and Richard so Jeremy gives it to an Irish man to keep. A modern Morgan 3-wheeler is discussed. Richard and Jeremy almost fight with a chair and a hammer before being interrupted by James.

Challenge: Jeremy drives the Jaguar XJ across the width of England, from west to east. He leaves at sunset and has to finish before sunrise, and to make it harder, it's the shortest night of the year. Jeremy calls it a race against God, a race he wins by five minutes.

Star in a Reasonably Priced Car: John Prescott comes to the studio but gets a lot of boos. He sets the slowest lap time thus far in the Kia, at 1:56.7 in the wet.