Your most watched videos of 2016

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We all know how brilliant the i8 hybrid is - how it combines a 3cyl engine, electric power and lightweight materials to spellbinding effect. A glimpse into the future, you’d say. The M4 is a dinosaur by comparison - the same front engined, rear-wheel drive layout that has served BMW for decades. OK, so the engine in question is a sophisticated twin turbo straight-six, but it’s not a game-changer, it’s a refinement of a tried and tested formula.

Question is, can it out muscle the butterfly-doored star in BMW’s range? It’s rear-wheel drive against four-wheel drive, tradition against a brave new world, what we know versus what’s coming. On paper, this one’s too close to call.

Seconds out, round one…

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Battery-powered remote car? Pfft. That's fine for the sitting room, but it won't play on the street. 

How about these? With a 5cc rotary engine revving to an astronomical (and divine-sounding) 18,000, they're good for about 1bhp. And, considering the RC cars in question weigh next to nothing, we're talking a power-to-weight ratio to rival the Koenigsegg One:1. 

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As many things as a standard GT86 may be – fun, cheap, reliable – it could never be accused of being fast.

That is, until a group of Bahraini drag racers got hold of one. It can now do 248mph. And we'd probably accuse that of being fast.

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We pit the Tesla Model S P90D against the ballistically fast Audi RS6. Can brute horsepower triumph over wattage? 

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It's no secret that Ford's much-vaunted Focus RS has a wondrous drift mode that allows sheer lunacy. What apparently is a secret is that drift mode can't counteract two basic laws – one of biology, and the other of physics.

The first law says that men, when confronted with horsepower, will immediately behave like spanners. The second law is rather more accepted in the scientific community, that whole 'conservation of momentum' thing, backed up by Newton and roughly everyone else.

Now, see what happens when these two laws collide on a mountain road in America...

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Top Gear's favourite tyre shredder returns with a new car, new stunts and New York. Buffalo, New York, that is – along with a 600bhp Focus RS, the same one he uses in the World Rallycross Championship.

So what's the theme this time? Glad you asked. Block did away with the whole 'narrative' thing, instead putting his mind to performing real-world versions of stunts he's seen in CGI. Now that's inspiration. 

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The oddest car alarm of 2016 just became the hottest beat of 2016.

A dying car alarm prompted one Internet user to mix it into something better, and the resulting melody is surely worthy of a Christmas No.1. Maybe.

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January's sneak peek (or should that be eavesdrop?) of Aston's brand-new, twin-turbo V12 is enough to set eardrums and hearts aflutter, even before you clap eyes on the simply gorgeous DB11 that it powers. 

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All right, now it's time to bring out the big guns. If Audi's exceptionally brisk RS6 isn't enough to topple battery power, will the all-conquering Nissan GT-R do the trick?

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Motorcycle racing is a pretty dangerous occupation at the best of times. But that's nothing compared to what happens when everything goes a bit... Michael Bay.

At the Aragon circuit, which sounds like it's from Lord of the Rings but is actually in Spain, things get a touch explodey, after a fairly normal-looking crash gets kicked up a few notches.

Thanks to safety gear (and the hummingbird-quick reactions of the riders) everyone does make it out okay.

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Highway patrol duties, that is. And it turns out, as police interceptors go, it beats a Ford coupe with Mel Gibson and a dog inside it. Now, we're definitely not saying that this film is better than Mad Max 2, because not even firstborn sons are better. What we are saying is that a 542bhp supercar, driven by ex-WRC driver Jean Ragnotti, is the right choice for a high-speed chase on the French autoroute.

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It's Ford vs Ford (kind of like Kramer vs Kramer, but with more cars and fewer arguments). 

Four-wheel-drive and turbo boost take on rear-wheel-drive and a stonking V8. But which takes the chequered flag?

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Move over, Land Rover – this Tonka-toy creation surely has to claim the mantle for best 4x4 by far. Because it goes literally anywhere. That's mostly thanks to huge, custom-made, self-inflating tyres, which can propel the Sherp ATV over any kind of territory – even water. 

It can mount a two-foot high wall without breaking a sweat, and its skid-steer system means the Sherp can turn around in its own length. It's not fast – probably because its 1.5-litre diesel engine makes 44bhp – but it looks like the best fun imaginable. One, please.

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Race cars have to be light. And doors are heavy. You see where we're going with this.

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It's said that fortune favours the bold. And this vid proves it: Swedish rallycross driver Kevin Eriksson takes the outside line – and the lead – in a prodigiously cool manouevre. We salute you, sir.

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Even more popular this year than Gymkhana Nine is the eighth instalment, where TG's favourite sideways merchant takes on Dubai in a 650bhp Fiesta. Needless to say, Dubai is a fairly unique kind of place, where the police force has BMW i8s (and Porsche 918s) and where a stunt driver can befriend a bird of prey in the desert. 

Dubai's a bit of a hoon's paradise, which might be why there's a drag race with Bugattis and Lamborghinis along the motorway. Lovely.

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For a split second, it's the world's coolest wheelie. Unfortunately for this chap, everything after that particular picosecond is an abject lesson in just how badly wrong drag racing can go. There are flips. And really bad Superman impressions.

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It's a hot-hatch mega-test – which of these hyper hatchbacks is quickest in a drag race?

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It turns out that all you need to pull off a wondrous prank is an autonomous car, a chair disguise and a busy American highway. Expect to see more of this...

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And here it is: the most-popular video of the year.

In it, we find that those Bahraini drag racers are at it again – this time building an almost uncontrollable car that can take care of a standing quarter mile in less than 7.5 seconds, blasting past the finish line at more than 200mph, somehow not on fire.