I'm Ben Collins AKA 'The Stig' - Ask Me Anything!

I was kinda hoping he wouldn't answer any questions at all.

Kinky.

What sort of measures did you have to take to guard your identity for so many years? P.S. Big fan.

i got myself a BBC ID card with a fake name "Richard Jameson" cleverly made of the 3 presenters names - so that i could book hotels and get up to mischief without getting caught. Used to wear a balaclava everywhere to hide my face anywhere near a Top Gear shoot and generally be as sneaky as possible

Can you talk Jeremy and the guys into doing an AMA?

if we collectively tweet them to hell i'm sure we could pull it off!

what was going through your head when you went off in the koenigsegg and ate the tire wall?

i hope i'm not paying for this

Everyone thank you so much for spending time on Reddit and i've really enjoyed all your questions! If you have any outstanding you can always hit me on twitter @bencollinsstig and i'll do my best to keep in touch!

It's been a pleasure - goodnight All ! x

At first when you came out as 'The Stig' there seemed to be a fued between you and Top Gear but you've been on the show since. How's your relationship with Top Gear now?

frosty but warm - but not boiling, more luke with a slice of lime and hint of mint.

What would be your favourite car you have driven on Top Gear?

Ferrari 458

For how long had you had access for each supercar? Was it only one or two fast laps or whole day?

the tyres can;t take more than 5 / 6 laps on the supercars and we rarely had spares so it was a 25 minute blind date.

Do you know who the current Stig is?

there's several bless them - it was like the night when they fed Gizmo's bothers after midnight and Stigs started popping out everywhere

What does Jeremy's hair feel like?

If you've ever had a scratch in the morning 'down there' then you'll know. Kind of pubey but longer...

[deleted]

Great job but i decided to leave because after 8 years the game was up in terms of keeping it secret. The BBC had leaked my name to the Radio Times and the tabloids ran varous stories, so i handed in my notice. I wanted to go full time racing again anyway so it was a new lease of life, but it didn't work out well for the cardboard cut-outs of STIG..!

Was it hot inside that helmet?

Some say the Stig once took off his helmet only to find another helmet in there.

only with Sienna Miller

Longer one... What was your the best experience/story you've experienced in Top Gear

the best thing i did was coach Billy Baxter - the blind driver - he managed to beat 5 sighted drivers and drive the lap100% himself with me shouting expletives and directions as fast as i could. I could have kissed him, had he not been sweating quite as much from the effort. Billy was epic

Can you give us two facts about ducks?

1) Most male ducks are silent and very few ducks actually "quack." Instead, their calls may include squeaks, grunts, groans, chirps, whistles, brays and growls.

2) There are more than 40 breeds of domestic duck. The white Pekin duck (also called the Long Island duck) is the most common variety raised for eggs and meat.

Which "some say" are actually true? Is the answer "all of them"? Be honest here.

All of them except this one. "Some say he is illegal in 17 US states, and he blinks this way [sideways]. All we know is he’s called the Stig.” - It's actually 18.

some say his politics are terrifying

It came about after an extended stay at Jezza's house on the Isle of Mann and he realised that there was someone even extremer than himself

are jeremy clarkson's teeth as brown in person as they appear to be on television or are they inexplicably browner and lightened via CGI?

high def was never kind to him

What was your biggest "oh sh*t" moment?

i hit a kerb in a Formula 3 car at Rockingham at 135 mph and my point of view was towards a fluffy cloud which i thought might become my final destination. When the car finally landed i had a nice concussion but i managed to win the top wheelie award in Max Power so it ended well

Hi Ben!

1. Were you always the Stig? Or were there stand-in Stigs?
2. Did the preseters always know that you were the Stig?

I couldn't make a photo shoot once because i was filming for Top Gear elsewhere and they booked a stand in - apparently Jeremy said "get rid of it" and refused to have his photo taken with him, which made me laugh. With some very rare exceptions, i did all of my stuff from walking through London to all the testing off camera and all the studio work.

The presenters didn't know for a while at first then yes , they knew , but Jeremy often used to open the visor just to double check

If you could come up with your own “some say” intro for The Stig, what would it be?

some say they should just give me the keys and let me drive without the damn intro!

Do you still keep in contact with anyone from Top Gear?

Yes - i got to see all the old faces when they came to the set on Skyfall but i've yet to encounter The Clarkson since i left the show. I'm looking forward to that..

Of the three presenters; May, Hammond or Clarkson, whom did you like best? And why? Where you there when Hammond was injured in the rocket car? How awful was that?

I really liked working with all three of them! Jeremy can be a pain in @ss but hilarious in the same second, Hammond loves a fight and that's endearing and James is mad, i used to spend hours watching his eyes spinning around like a loon.

I was meant to be there the day Hammond was hurt but was called away to work with Jeremy - it was horrible when it happened and thankfully he pulled through. Like i say he's a fighter

Were you actually listening to that stuff in the car?

the language CD's and morse codes..? No. I used to tune into Chris Evans though - top man

How much of the time Stig was on camera did you actually spend in the suit? Was it you walking around London, appearing in studio... etc.

I was entirely method. I slept in that suit. I spent family christmases never revealing my identity. To anyone. Not even myself.

Wanna play me in Mario Kart? I bet I could take you.

I bet you could.

Any advice for somebody wanting to get involved in the racing world?

try go karting - its the cheapest fun you can have with your clothes on

Most of the auto journalists in the UK have a thing against Audis, mostly due to their heritage and understeering nature. Yet you drive one and even became their brand ambassador. How come? What's your secret to having just as much fun in one as a rear wheel driven car?

My race mechanic had the original 1991 spec Quattro when i started racing in 1995 and the things he could do with it on a country lane were unreal. More recently when i was racing in Formula 3 my engineer took me out in an A3 and after seeing the way it gripped i got rid of my Toyota Supra and bought the A3, then proceeded to put 250,000 miles on the clock. It refused to die!

In the end that car had leaks everywhere, dents from being parked in London and i had ragged it every second of its life. But it still clung to the road like shit to a rug. I eventually scrapped it, being heartless and needing the cash, but there some love there. Kind of.

Many journalists can't drive very well so i don't believe what i read. And most people should judge a car from their own test drive i reckon. I've never driven an Audi that understeered - the only model that might be over-engineered is the TTRS, but the standard TT is wicked, i drove one last week.

As for heritage.. the rallying pedigree is mega but look at Le Mans. They don't just win - they destroy the competition and having seen up close the attention to detail and the preparation, the skill and the passion that goes into that racing program it makes it hard not to admire them.

Any cars you have not yet driven you hope to someday drive?

The new McLaren - and the Ferrari P4!

How do you feel about the Project CARS. Is it really becoming an outstanding simulation (visuals aside) or are you "forced" to speak good of it. Since you drove most of those cars you are one of few that should really know the handling. Cheers.

We are getting there with PCARS - i drove one of the old F1 cars (Renault 98T) and couldn't get off it for hours. The others are changing all the time and it can be one step back to go a step forwards but the progress is incredible. They won't launch it until it's perfect - the studio is obsessive which is great

Hi Ben, Thank you for doing this. If got given any amount of money to start your own racing series with your own rules, What type of racing could we expect?

Death race 2014.

Can I be a part of that?

Sir Von Tittyfuck with a name like that, you'd be most welcome.

Do you like roller coasters? What is the best one you've ridden?

Nah, too slow.

Thank you for taking the time to answer our questions, I have three:

1) What was your least favorite car to drive?

2) Who was your favorite star in a reasonably priced car?

3) Who was your least favorite star in a reasonably priced car?

1) Any kind of TVR

2) Tom Cruise was amazing, he pushed himself to get a fast time and he was incredibly down to earth.

3) No one really. There was never a dull day in the office, but I did think I was going to get fired when I scared the shit out of Jack Dee. He tried to get out of a moving car.

Has being a former Stig gotten you out of paying for tickets or vice versa?

The Police are pretty cool in my experience but i've only ever pulled The Stig card when i was wearing The Suit - otherwise it would have been a double whammy - jail and get fired. When a cop asked my name (as he detained me on the M1 in a caterham) i shouted slowly "T H E S T I G" and he laughed and walked off

Hello Mr Collins, of all of your cousins around the world which is your favourite? And do you think we'll ever get to see a battle of the Stigs?

P.s. Big fan, thanks for all of your hard work!

Japanese Stig was excellent because he kept kicking Jeremy in the face, and don't we all want to have a go at that sometimes?

There could never be a Stig battle, it would just be far too dangerous as it would most likely create a black hole in space.

How did you get the job? What kind of training did you go through to become such a badass driver?

still learning - i had the best teachers which is to say i've raced some big talents and you have to learn quickly or finish 2nd all the time. I got the job by writing to the boss, meeting him and then driving a car - quickly. Quite traditional. I beat the Old Stig's lap times and got hired - SWEET!

Any plans on running Le Mans this year?

absolutely - nothing sorted yet but working with a couple of teams to get into something fast - hope to see you there!

What is your daily driver?

don't have one but i'll get onto it - every man needs a chauffeur - quite right

Top Gear or Fifth Gear?

Top Gear. You can't beat a big fat hairy budget.

What's your favorite automotive website?

http://jalopnik.com/ and Yahoo.

What is your favorite color? Where did "The Stig" nick name come from?

Black. Not white. Controversial eh?

I know this would be a long response but here goes my question, I've read somewhat about how it went but I wanna hear it directly from you. What was your routine going in to work. -Did you leave home with the Stig outfit in the trunk and then change before you got there, a special room? Or how did it work out -How did you deal exactly with your payment since I assume it wasn't under your name. -Did you ever get bribed by anyone to tell you who you were?

Thank you so much for this AMA I love Top Gear and you were great as the Stig and it was great to hear all the celebrities say you were a great teacher and made me wish I saw you teaching as the Stig.

No long response needed...

Get up. Suit up. Shower. Start engine. Leave for work. Method.

What was your relationship with the cast like on Top Gear when you were The Stig? Did you guys chill out with drinks at all or was it purely professional?

I rarely got to hang out because it's hard to drink a beer through the old helmet, but when we toured the world we had some good parties - until the 3 musketeers started playing musical instruments. Then i tended to hail a cab

What car have you had the most fun in? Was it the fastest or the smoothest through the corners?

most fun - easily a Formula One car, but actually at Le Mans i drove a car a few years back with an F1 engine, huge wings and killer brakes that was dynamite to drive. 220mph through a winding ribbon of tarmac past trees and people waving beers from a Ferris Wheel - awesome

Do you only enjoy riding cars?

Would you ride motorcycles?

If you had rode a motorcycle which do you enjoy more cars or motorcycles?

Thanks for doing an IAmA

i ride bike, i fall off. i don't like bike

Why did You start your racing career?

i grew up going fast in the back seat of my dad's car and without realising it i was hooked on speed from day 1, so the racing career was a dream come true. It's totally addictive - out of body in a way

Anything you listen to at home but not in the car?

currently loving "Imagine Dragons"

[deleted]

only one man is allowed one liners on TG!

Have you ever helped in designing some cars? If yes, what did you do for them? Something more than driving on track?

I helped design the Ascari - that's a bit strong really. I drove it and worked with the clever designers so they could chip away at the marble and produce the KZ1. It became a kick-ass racecar and we had a lot of success in FIA GT racing with it, and the GT2 edition was incredible. Had it not been wet on the day we took it to Top Gear it could well have posted the fastest time, still today

Who is the best formula one driver through the ages in your opinion ?

Also why does every answer involving Clarkson have thinking dots...?

... i love dots - it's morse code for ..--..-.- something... Gilles Villeneuve was the best to watch, by far, but Senna remains the best. It's hard to compare but really when you watch him action and the psychology he brought to the sport, he was unbeatable

If you could legally change your name to The Stig would you?

No! would you?

Hello ben! Which do you feel is more fun/realistic Forza or the Gran Turismo series?

i can't play Forza - i got stuck on Level One and nearly threw my xbox through the TV! And GT is quite cool but i just don't get it. It still feels arcade like and i end up loading Black Ops II to get some trigger time instead. But i don't live by myself anymore so those days on Xbox Live are Loooooongg gooooone

What cars do you own?

i've got a van! VW Transporter - yes - i live life on the EDGE!

If you had to make the choice between being a professional stunt driver, OR a professional racing driver for the rest of your driving career, which would it be?

Such a hard question because they're both so fun. Racing but I'm lucky that I don't have to choose between them IRL.

Hi Ben, you've been away from Facebook and not updated your website news for ages, so what have you been up? Also, are you planning on any more front-of-camera film roles like you had in the Dark Knight Rises? All the best, Fay

Hi Fay, Not as much Facebook but I do tweet over here: https://twitter.com/BenCollinsStig

I've been doing some cool stuff like this film for Audi: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lInd8GimJJc and as for film stuff the new Spiderman 2 and the new Secret Service Film.

Hey!! What do you do in your downtime? Its clear you work hard, but also have a young family, it must be hard to keep up with family life while traveling the world driving fast cars?

love skiing and it won't be long before the kids are doing things faster than me!

What's up Ben! Two questions:

What was your favorite racetrack to ever have driven on?

Did you ever get bored of driving the Top Gear track so many times?

Thanks for doing this AMA, I've been a huge fan of the show, even after you left.

The Macau street racing circuit.

Never ever got bored of the Top Gear track. There were just too many awesome cars to drive.

what is your ideal car?

fast enough through a corner to break my neck - would be a different way to check out

I know you work on Automaniak, the Polish tv show, do you have any plans to come to a UK show? You left FifthGear after just a few episodes, but would love to see you on TV again!

Wait...Doesn't everyone in the UK watch Polish TV?!

Would love to do some TV in the UK - the Poles are wicked and up for some mad stuff so it reminds me of TG in the early days. Be great to do a UK feature though

If you could race on ay current F1 team, which would it be and which of the drivers would be your teammate?

Red Bull would be fun, and as it's my fantasy team I'd have three. Me, Vettel and Alonso.

Are there any American cars you have been excited to drive?

love Corvettes - but the ZR1 was a bit disappointing - i prefer the C6 which was a simpler beast, like me probably. I also drove the Batmobile! That was the best - engineered by the Brits but it had the Corvette engine

Hi Ben. How much of your racing ability is concentration? Do you feel that your body knows what to do and almost like you're being driven around by yourself? Basically does raw talent carry you or is it just ball achingly painful to be as good as you on track?

It's 100% concentration, so long as your body is fit enough to cope with the G force and the physical abuse of wrangling the controls. That's the part i love most, you lose track of your body completely - it's like breathing - and the whole world is reduced to a flight path and a gut feel. It's never boring! Ok it was once - i did a 24 hour race in a 2CV and you spent 100% of the lap on full throttle. I thought my luck was in when the car got smashed up but they just bent it straight and sent me out again ;)

So who is helping you with your typing then? :)

grandma would you type faster for chrissake!

The lovely people I shot the Audi film with. Though I'm actually managing to answer most of them myself.

How does one learn the basics of drifting and oversteer without access to a rear wheel drive car? How realistic is it?

you'd better hire one! Silverstone have a Caterham with low grip tyres which is great for learning. Trying to drift your FWD car could prove painful..!

http://imgur.com/86m0PzL.gif

is that the new stig?

I know that Mark Webber figured out who you were when He did his lap on Top Gear. But did you ever get the impression that someone else might of figured out who you were as well?

Rubens rocks - people knew but for a long time kept the secret. It only started going pear shaped when the Radio Times gave the impression that the BBC were making it an open secret

Mr. Collins, I'm a huge fan and I can't thank you enough for taking the time to do this. I read your book recently and it was excellent. What was your favorite segment to film for Top Gear? Also, what has been your favorite driving experience outside of Top Gear? Would you do it all again (Being the Stig) if given the chance?

Thank you for logging in! I wouldn't change a thing although with experience i wouldn't make as many mistakes , hopefully.. ! I loved being The Stig, especially the first two years, they were Golden and if you asked the boss Andy Wilman he would almost certainly agree. It was very much a family unit that grew into a commercial beast, but still has some great talent spinning the wheels.

For me the best part was rocking up, getting chucked the keys to something expensive and walking out the TG cabin door onto a cold stretch of tarmac to give it some large around the track. That was great. And terrifying the celebs of course - i did my best to relax them but some folks really Sh@t themselves

What do you think about the Grand-Am - ALMS merger?

I hate it.

It's going to be interesting to see how that shapes up...

One of my friends says that a former stig owns his local pub, and he makes no secret that he was a stig. I've always wondered if this was a true story - do you know of a real stig that owns a pub, or is it likely this guy is lying?

Is his name Julian Bailey?

1. During Top Gear - did you have your own influence on the show or just rode the track and that's it? I mean - were you, in your own opinion, somehow a decision person or just the guy to drive the car?
2. I don't remind any TG episode, when you would test tyres, fuels or oils. Any reason for that?

I once suggested that we do a feature on Tyres because they made such a big difference to lap times e.g. Pirelli or Bridgestone - and the Boss said "not if you want anybody to watch the show" but i disagree i think people want to be informed about stuff that matters

I used to come up with ideas, stuff like the stunts and car football was a mix of lots of ideas "from the floor". In the early days it was easier to come up with something and get it to the screen

Opinion on the Reliant Robin?

Not sitting well with the New Stig in Poland:

http://www.video.v10.pl/film/9580/wyscig-polska-vs-anglia-w-top-gear-live/

It's a fun funny car!

Who is the most talented F1 driver currently?

Not sure - is it Alonso ? He's 110% everywhere and can overtake. But Vettel is mega and no denying. Let's see how Raikonnen goes next year

Stig-san, would you say your military training had anything to do with making you a decent driver? Does that help with the psychological side of fast driving?

And is the Scuderia that much better to drive than a 458?

SO many questions for you, but those are top of the list.

The time i spent in the army had more influence on my outlook than anything else i've done and affected my whole approach to life, so it certainly helps with racing. You learn never to quit and to break through self imposed limits, which in the end aren't real

Hey,I dont really have any questions, i just wanted to say, youll always be my favorite stig.

Thankyou Mum

What are your thoughts about next year engine change in F1?

should be interesting! I'm sure it will be plus ca change, plus c'est le meme

Loving F1 at the moment but i wish it was on BBC still so i could actually watch it

Have you had a chance to drive the new Lamborghini Sesto Elemento?

no, it's a sore point

Favorite Car?

whoops! Ferrari 458

The time i spent in the army had more influence on my outlook than anything else i've done and affected my whole approach to life, so it certainly helps with racing. You learn never to quit and to break through self imposed limits, which in the end aren't real

Wow first AMA I've been early too. Loved you on the show Ben! If you couldn't be a driver, what would be your second choice?

Thanks! Fighter pilot.

Favorite driving music or road trip songs/albums?

When I'm not learning a new language... (jk) I'm addicted to Leftfield and Massive Attack, but then I would say that. I'm from Bristol.

Hi Ben - I'd like to know what websites/mags you read day to day and if you'd have time/inclination to take part in a 'celeb taxi' video one day?

Love to remake the film "Taxi" if thats what you meant?

Hi Ben! Good to see you here.

Did you ever get injured in Top Gear? And as a stunt driver?

I broke four ribs racing but nothing with TV and thankfully nothing so far with the movies either. Long may it continue!

jeremy, james or hammond ? :)

Context? Is this a Lord of the flies scenario?

Ok , any car, money no object, ......which is the fav daily driver, which is the fav toy and which the fav vintage ?

I'd be driving down the high street in a Formula One car towing a two-storey trailer (for the fuel and the jacuzzi)

Toy i'd like a Renault 5 Turbo 2 doubles as Vintage - but maybe throw in a Lancia Delta Integrale

Favorite car that a person like me could someday own. Fyi your awesome

Context, what's a person like you like? Thanks! You're awesome.

Why did you have to ruin the mystery

i did my best for 8 years - which was 7 years longer than the first Stig, so not too bad, but i'm sorry if i ruined christmas