Season 2 of The Grand Tour (2017–2018) is widely considered the point where the show found its footing on Amazon Prime, moving away from the awkward experimental segments of the first season and leaning back into the classic chemistry of Clarkson, Hammond, and May. The Big Shift: Refining the Formula
racing a Ford GT across New York City and Niagara Falls against Richard Hammond using public transit. Improved Segments: The Grand Tour S2
: Replacing the unpopular "Celebrity Brain Crash," this new segment featured two guests with a common connection competing for the fastest lap on a new rallycross track. Season 2 of The Grand Tour (2017–2018) is
The unpopular segment where celebrities "died" before reaching the tent was scrapped. The studio segments, now filmed in a portable
The second season of The Grand Tour abandoned the "itinerant tent" format of the first season in favor of a permanent studio location in the , near Jeremy Clarkson's home. This change allowed the production to focus more on high-quality film segments and less on the logistics of moving a massive studio across the globe.
The studio segments, now filmed in a portable tent, felt more intimate. Because the tent moved every week, the audience was local, and the energy was electric. Watching the trio roast a new "American" lap-time driver (Mike Skinner) in front of a live audience in Colorado or Spain felt authentic.
The season opener set the tone. The challenge was simple: buy a car that represents the past (Clarkson: a 1980s Ford Sierra Cosworth), the present (Hammond: a pre-production Honda NSX), or the future (May: a solar-powered electric monstrosity called the Renovo Coupe). Watching May run out of charge in the middle of the desert while Clarkson drifted a retro legend was a masterclass in character-driven comedy.