Doesn't sound like a complicated formula to replicate, get three guys to travel in novelty cars and do random challenges. Then have one guy test drive a premium car, with lots of glamour shots of the car speeding around a test track.
So, many attempts to recreate this formula have been made and mostly with limited success. But why? Surely there wasn't anything particularly rare or unique about the trio of Clarkson-May-Hammond, so why hasn't Top Gear succeeded without those three?
Perhaps the problem isn't with the presenters per-se, but with the application of the Top Gear formula... or more specifically, trying to recreate the same formula that C-M-H created, but with different presenters. For years, producers have tried to recapture that same "lightning in a bottle" using the same approach that worked so well under the peak years of Clarkson's tenure. Now it seems like the producers are flogging a dead horse (or Donkey in the case of season 32s opener).
The reality is that there just isn't much entertainment value from watching 3 men race cars and buggy's and drag race "donkeys". Note the distinction here, the entertainment value should come from watching Paddy, Chris and Freddie do these things; we the audience need to feel connected to each of them. By diving into the formula of "3 men doing things together", we missed the early development of getting to know each of these presenters on their own, who they are, their idiosyncrasies. So that when they are together, they aren't just 3 men, they're 3 unique characters.
This episode, like the season before it, was mildly interesting, but not rewatchable. They drove an RV across Florida and participated in local motor sports. No memorable moments. 3/10.