Tom's Guide Verdict
Minimalist and small enough to fit under a car seat, the Top Gear Premium Roadside Assistance kit has some of the basics for an emergency, but lacks must-haves, like a fire extinguisher and shovel. It’s a “Stigian” bargain at $40.
Pros
- +
Includes 12 major items
- +
Comes with reflective vest and poncho
- +
Inexpensive
Cons
- -
Lacks fire extinguisher and tire inflator
- -
Small bag with little room for other gear
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Size: 13.9 x 5.9 x 6.4 inches
Weight: 4.0 pounds
Number of items: 12
Jumper cables/length: Yes/8-feet
First aid kit: Yes
Air pump: No
Shovel: No
Flashlight: Yes
Fire extinguisher: No
Roadside assistance: No
With a $40 price tag, you may assume you won’t get much in the way of emergency gear here, and you’d be right. The Top Gear Premium Roadside Assistance Kit has the bare minimum to deal with an on-the-road disaster.
If you like the Top Gear TV show, you’ll love the Top Gear Premium Roadside Assistance Kit. It has some, but not all, of the basics of roadside emergency preparations.
At 13.9 x 5.9 x 6.4 inches, the black nylon bag has orange handles and the TV show’s checkered flag logo. It should fit under most front car seats but lacks any reflective stripes to make it safer to use by the side of the road at night.
The bag is lightweight at 4 pounds, and might have room to add an OBD scanner but not much more. Inside is a single compartment that can’t compare to those included with other kits, featuring dividers for quick and organized access.
Despite claims of containing 66 pieces, the Top Gear Premium Roadside Assistance Kit has closer to 12. It starts with a reflective vest for nighttime emergencies, a poncho for changing a tire in the rain and a pair of work gloves.
Additional contents extend to a hand cranked flashlight that ran for nearly five hours on 20 squeezes. There’s a single reflective triangle and glow sticks but the kit lacks anything like the DOT Essential kit’s LED warning light.
As far as tools go, it comes with a Leatherman knock-off that can help make quickie repairs, but it lacks anything close to a real toolkit. It also includes a pencil tire pressure gauge, a bungee cord, electrical tape, zip ties and a whistle.
The first aid kit is adequate but not nearly as expansive as the one included with the DOT Essential kit. With a gauze pad, several bandages, tape and antiseptic pads, it should be fine for minor scrapes and cuts. There’s also an emergency mylar blanket for breakdowns in winter or on cold nights.
If you have a dead battery, the Top Gear Premium Roadside Assistance Kit’s jumper cables can help, but at 8-feet the cars will have to be close together. Happily, the cables are not only colored red and black, but marked with a distinct “+” and “-” for polarity to prevent bad connections. Far too many kits skip that last feature.
It’s hard to call this kit premium because of all it does without. There’s nothing like the DOT Essential kit’s fire extinguisher, First Secure’s tire repair kit and air compressor or the Justin Case’s shovel. The Top Gear kit likewise lacks any roadside assistance plan but does have an accident report form.
The one unique thing the Top Gear Premium Roadside Assistance Kit includes is an “I am Stig” window sticker, featuring the show's iconic helmeted test driver. That’s great if you’re a big fan of the show, but if not you’re better off buying a more complete emergency kit — or making one yourself.
