Ram is the name used for a line of pickup trucks. In the episode, it’s mentioned because some Ram models were connected to the same kind of V10 performance idea people associate with the Viper.
Rear suspension is what connects the back wheels to the truck and helps it absorb bumps. Different suspension designs can make the truck ride smoother or feel harsher.
Spring suspension means the truck uses springs (often coil springs) to help soak up bumps. The idea is that it can make the ride feel more comfortable than older leaf-spring setups.
Leaf springs are an older-style suspension made from stacked metal strips. They’re tough for hauling, but some people feel they don’t ride as smoothly as coil-spring setups.
A mini toolbox is a built-in storage box, in this case mounted in the side fender. It’s handy for tools, but it can take away some space you’d normally have in the truck bed.
The truck bed is the open area in the back where you put cargo. The host is saying that if the truck adds storage in the fender, it may reduce how much space you have in the bed.
An aftermarket toolbox is a tool storage box you add after buying the truck. The host is comparing it to the factory idea and pointing out the tradeoff in space.
A “Hemi” engine is a type of engine design where the combustion chamber is shaped like a half-sphere. That shape helps the engine burn fuel more effectively, which can translate to strong power.
Emissions are the harmful gases and particles a vehicle puts into the air. If the rules get stricter, manufacturers often have to redesign engines to meet them.
The Dodge Challenger is a sports car built for strong acceleration and a loud, performance-focused feel. It’s been around for a long time, so people talk about how it changes as emissions rules get stricter.
The Charger and Challenger are Dodge’s famous muscle cars. The host is saying changes happening to those cars could also influence what happens with Ram’s performance trucks.
The BMW 3 Series is a luxury car that’s meant to drive nicely and feel sporty. The podcast also mentions the M3, which is a more powerful, performance-focused version of the 3 Series.
TRX is the name used for Ram’s super-fast, high-power pickup. The host is saying Ram is bringing it back with around 777 horsepower, which is why they’re calling it a comeback for street trucks.
“777 horsepower” is a specific power rating that indicates how much work the engine can do over time. In performance-truck talk, horsepower is used as a headline number to compare how aggressively a vehicle can accelerate and how strong it feels under load.
Car
Ram SRT 10
The Ram SRT 10 is a special, fast version of a Ram pickup. It’s famous because it used a big V10 engine, and it’s often brought up when people talk about modern trucks trying to be “supercar fast.”
A V10 is an engine with 10 cylinders arranged in a V shape. More cylinders usually means smoother power delivery and a lot of potential for high horsepower—especially in performance vehicles.
An automatic transmission changes gears by itself. In this discussion, the host is comparing automatic versions to manual versions and implying the manual ones are harder to find.
A manual is when you shift gears yourself using a clutch and a stick. The host is saying some of these trucks were made with a manual, but they were less common than automatic versions.
They mean the Ford Lightning, which is a faster, more performance-oriented pickup truck. Back in the early 2000s, it used a supercharged V8 so it felt more like a street performance vehicle than a basic work truck.
Term
5.4 liter super charged V eight
This describes a V8 engine that uses a supercharger to cram more air into the engine. More air usually means more power, so it feels much quicker than a normal V8.
This is a reference to a character from The Fast and the Furious. They’re basically saying the truck setup looks like the kind of street-racing style you’d see in the movies.
The F-350 is a heavy-duty Ford pickup. It’s the kind of truck people choose when they need serious hauling power, and the host is saying contractors often buy trucks like this for their business.
They mean that a business can sometimes deduct certain costs from taxes. The host is saying some contractors try to treat a truck purchase as a business expense.
Scat Pack is a Dodge name for a faster, sportier version of a vehicle. It usually means more power and more performance-focused setup than the standard trim.
Hellcat is Dodge’s name for their super high-performance versions. The idea is that it’s part of a lineup of increasingly powerful trims, and the host says trucks are getting similar tiering.
Term
street version
A “street version” is a truck setup meant mainly for driving on regular roads. It usually has a lower stance and fewer off-road-focused parts than a typical lifted truck.
The Toyota Tacoma is a midsize pickup known for being a popular platform for both off-road builds and street-focused variants. Here, the host mentions Toyota offering a “street version” of the Tacoma with a special name, as an example of the street-truck idea coming and going over time.
The Honda Stream is a family-oriented vehicle meant to carry people comfortably. The podcast mentions it while talking about different versions of vehicles that were sold for everyday driving.
Pre-runners are trucks set up for off-road desert driving. They usually have a tougher suspension and bigger tires, but they’re not necessarily built for the same kind of full-time off-road use as a typical 4x4.
A “lower stance” means the truck sits lower to the ground. The host is saying that helps it look and drive more like a street truck, but it can limit how extreme you can go for off-road clearance.
A “platform” is the main shared design underneath a vehicle. If a company reuses that base, it can make different versions of cars without engineering everything from zero.
A suspension kit is a set of parts that changes how the car rides and handles. It can be used to lift a truck or make it feel more aggressive without replacing the entire vehicle.
“Blackwing” is Cadillac’s performance trim name used on certain models. It typically indicates a more track-oriented setup and higher-output engine calibration compared with the base version.
The Chevrolet Corvette is a sports car designed for fast driving. The engine placement affects how the car handles, so people often talk about whether it’s in the middle or toward the back.
The Corvette Stingray is a Chevrolet sports car. The host is basically saying its V8 engine is the kind of baseline they’re comparing to other GM cars like the Cadillac CT5 V.
The Chevrolet Camaro is a sports car that’s often associated with powerful engines. Depending on the year, it may come with different engine options, including V8s.
The Chevrolet Caprice is a large, comfortable car. The episode mentions it because people remember it from earlier years, and it’s being compared to another older Chevy sedan.
The Chevrolet SS is a Chevy sedan that was built to feel more like a performance car. In this conversation, it’s mentioned as an example of a Chevy that had a V8.
The Pontiac GTO is a famous muscle-car model. In this conversation it’s brought up as part of the Pontiac lineup that the host associates with V8 power.
A Scion tC is a small sporty car made by Scion (Toyota). Here it’s brought up as a dream car because it was dependable enough to get the speaker to work without problems.
The fuel pump is what sends gas from the gas tank to the engine. The idea here is that if your tank is too low, the pump can run hotter and may not get as much liquid fuel, which can be harder on it.
Fuel filters help keep dirty particles out of the gas system. If you keep driving with the tank nearly empty, more debris can get pulled into the system and clog things up.
Term
topping off
Topping off means adding extra gas after the pump already stops. It can be messy and may cause problems with the car’s emissions system.
Fuel cards are like special credit/debit cards companies give to drivers to pay for gas or diesel. They help the company control and track fuel purchases.
Diesel is a type of fuel that’s commonly used in trucks. The speaker is saying diesel usually costs more than regular gas, so filling up can be more expensive.
The Tesla Semi is a large electric truck used to move freight. Instead of buying gas or diesel, it runs on electricity, so people talk about charging costs and how that changes the driving business.
A semi truck is the big truck that pulls a trailer for hauling goods. Because it’s so large, even a “small” amount of fuel left can still be a lot of gallons.
American Truck Simulator is a video game where you drive trucks. The speaker says it tries to copy real truck driving details like gears and stopping to refuel.
CB radio is a basic walkie-talkie style radio that people use to talk to other drivers. The speaker is saying the game included a similar “talk to nearby people” feature.
The Ford Mustang is a sports car that many people recognize. It comes in different versions, so dealers may try to steer you toward a particular Mustang model or trim.
“Uber spec” just means the car was picked for ride-share work. It’s usually a practical version with durable, easy-to-clean features for lots of passengers.
Concept
buying a vehicle for a particular purpose
The host is saying you should buy a car based on what you need it to do. Like a tool, it’s about matching the job, not chasing the fanciest option.
The Datsun 240Z is an older sports car that became popular with car enthusiasts. The episode mentions it because it’s the kind of classic car people love enough to keep and show off.
In this context, “mileage” means how many miles you can drive on a gallon of gas. When you tow something, the truck has to work harder, so you usually get fewer miles per gallon.
Buttonwillow is a race track in California. People go there for track days, and the speaker is using it as an example of a trip that would be expensive to tow to.
The Mazda Miata is a small two-seat sports car designed to be easy and fun to drive. It’s often considered a good choice if you want something sporty without being a huge car.
“Miles” is basically how far the car has been driven, like what you see on the odometer. More miles can mean more wear, but good maintenance can still make a high-mile car a good buy.
Here, “analog” means the car feels more old-school and less dependent on lots of electronics. The idea is that some people now prefer that simpler, more connected driving experience.
“Tech” here means the newer electronic features in cars, like screens and driver-assist systems. The speaker’s point is that some people prefer fewer electronics and more direct driving feel.
The Nissan 350Z is a popular sports car that many people like because it feels straightforward and fun to drive. Chris is saying the good, original ones are getting more expensive because fewer are staying unmodified.
A convertible is a car with a roof that can open up. Chris is saying the convertible versions of the 350Z are often the ones people leave alone and don’t modify as much.
Mid-range torque is the engine’s pulling power in the middle of its revs. Chris is saying the car feels quicker because it has strong shove when you’re not just revving it to the top.
Infotainment is the car’s main screen and electronics for music, navigation, and phone features. They’re saying that part of the car changed between those years.
Bluetooth is the wireless connection that lets your phone talk to the car. They’re saying you might need extra equipment if the original radio doesn’t support Bluetooth.
Term
receiver things
They mean an aftermarket gadget that receives your phone’s audio wirelessly. It’s a way to add Bluetooth to an older car stereo.
They’re talking about the Nissan 300ZX with twin turbochargers. The idea is that it’s more complicated than simpler versions, so it can cause more trouble if it wasn’t maintained properly.
Deferred maintenance is when you keep putting off car repairs and routine upkeep. Over time, small problems can turn into bigger ones, which is why an older car can become unreliable if it wasn’t cared for.
Alignment is making sure your wheels are pointed the right way. If it’s off, the car can feel “off,” wear tires faster, and sometimes make steering feel weird.
The check engine light comes on when the car’s computer finds a problem. The host is saying his car isn’t lighting it up (except for one battery-related issue), which usually suggests fewer active engine problems.
A battery issue can mean the battery itself is weak, the charging system isn’t maintaining voltage, or the car’s electrical system is detecting an abnormal power condition. On modern cars, that can trigger warnings and sometimes affect starting, electronics, or sensor behavior even if the engine is fine.
Drivetrain lash is a little “slop” in the parts that send power from the engine to the wheels. When you shift hard, that slack can cause a clunky feel before everything tightens up.
LIVE
Hey, what's happening? This is cool cards with Chris and courage. I didn't do anybody.
I'm good, man. Get Saturday all in all great to be here as usual. Man, we are trying the
old video room, got the thing fired up, ready to roll, man. And yeah, so it's Saturday.
Weather has changed a little bit. I thought it would be cooler this week, but I think
as you record this, I think maybe summer's right around the corner. Yeah. Yeah. I mean,
we've been ebbing and flowing with weather lately, but this, this wasn't too bad. I was
even, we weren't up here. We were actually in San Diego and your neck of the woods somewhat.
But I mean, whether there was pretty, pretty perfect. Like I didn't run into a scenario
where I was just, you know, sweating and, you know, kind of, you had a miserable kind of deal.
So it's, it's been pretty good, but we had some random heat spikes, you know, earlier in the
week where it's just like, you're like, is it summer or not? Like you just kind of get a little
frustrated. Like should I consider it summer or not? Dude, I remember that during, um,
it was February this year. I think it was February. Yeah. Maybe January, but definitely
February, which is usually a month where things are just wet, cold. It was, um, we had some heat
waves kind of like turn the air catching on, like run the AC, kind of nuts, but, uh, you know,
we did have some gray sky. Like it's, it's been pretty consistent where we start out the morning,
pretty, you know, pretty gray sky, like a little bit overcast, like a little bit of mist
rain here and there. Um, I was actually, you know, just not, not to already start on the tangent,
but I was actually in Dallas for two days, uh, this week for a work trip. Um, drive there.
Did you take your an oil over there? Absolutely not. Oh man. Man. It'd be like a eight hour,
10 hour, maybe 12 hour trip. I mean, that would, I would definitely need an award for that. Like
I, I would not do that on my own fruition. Like I, I would need some type of recognition for doing
that. But, uh, yeah, it was, I think like a 21, I did weirdly enough. I did map it just to see if
I would have drove like what it would have been. How long, how long would take you? I think it was
like 21 hours or something like that. That's straight driving. That was straight. Yeah. That's
not stopping for fuel or nothing. Who does that? Nobody does that. You don't need that. But I got
a 11 gallon tank, you know, like 15 stops or whatever, the Phillip gas or whatever it is.
But what was going on in Dallas? Just work, work trip. Yeah. I had a work trip out there.
And, um, you know, I, I got, I got to realize that we really shouldn't complain about our
weather here in SoCal because Dallas particularly is just so unpredictable with weather. Like,
you know, the, I, I've experienced a lot of the delays with the, you know, the,
my first flight going there got delayed by five hours or something like that because they were,
you know, they had thunderstorms on that. And, uh, coming back, I think it was also about five
hours that it got delayed. So I got on, got on the plane around eight o'clock central time,
didn't land here until about 12 or so. And didn't make it home until one in the morning.
And it was, uh, it was, it was fun times. It's, it's a cool little town over there,
but I just got to realize, do not complain about our weather because they're, they're
in a whole different deal over there. Oh, I bet they are. Oh yeah. They get everything though.
I heard they get like, like, uh, was it like, um, softball size hail too at times through the
brake windshields and things like that. And all kinds of damage. Um, you know, all the insurance
companies just hate it over there. I bet that in Florida too. Cause they hurt,
hate Florida for all the flooding and you know, they get, they get stuff like that too. I think
they're getting like hail, but they do get like a lot of water damage. I would think it's probably a
big, big concern in Florida. Like I don't want to buy used car from Florida. That's, yeah,
I remember we talked about that where it's like damage or whatever. So in the new,
in the world of cars, pick up cars. Um, what's happening in the hottest latest news coming out
of maybe does it dodge or is it Ram? I don't know if you consider, I always call them dodge Ram,
but actually there are two separate companies now, but I think they're the same, but I guess
they call Ram, like Ram trucks, but it's right. That actually is a good point. Cause I, I am still
in that, you know, dodge mentality. So I still call them dodge, but, but yes, Ram is, is doing
some new things. And you know, I always bought a Ram truck to tell you the truth. Before I bought
my first F one 50, I was looking at the Ram trucks because, because the Ram trucks,
one thing about Ram, at least back then, I don't know what they do today, but back then they were
always innovating with cool like gadgets and things that other companies were really like on
board with. Like for example, they were the first ones, as far as you know, might be the only one
still that do the rear suspension that's got spring suspension in the rear versus leaf springs.
Right. They were doing that. And also that, which supposedly gives you a really nice like car ride
on a truck is what I've heard. I mean, I did a sample test drive and one, but I never like
owned one. And the other really cool thing that I liked as they did was this cool little mini
toolbox in the, in the actual like side fender. Did you see these ones? I feel like I started
to see nose on newer other trucks other than Ram, but I have seen that before. But that was the thing,
but I did notice one at the auto show when I looked at that thing. It looked really cool,
but the problem is in order to make that little toolbox or whatever it is on the side of the
fenders work is they have to make the actual bed itself smaller. They kind of make the bed,
its space in the middle, a little smaller than a normal truck bed would have.
How big is the toolkit though? How many? I forget that I forget the dimensions, but,
but they did have a plug in the bottoms. You could fill with ice like one demo. They had
like as a cooler, you know, you know, and you can drain it out kind of deal. I don't remember,
you know, I mean, it's, it's a toolbox kind of thing, which is kind of a cool thing to have,
but you do give up, you sacrifice actual space in the actual bed. That same thing, if you bought
like an aftermarket toolbox and staff slapped it on the end of your truck.
Yeah, I'm trying, I'm trying to think like, Oh, is it like one of those like 200 piece snap-on
snap-on sets. It's built into the truck. It's built into your fender. So it's like,
it's like your fender where your tire sits. Like that part there is an extra like toolbox area.
So I thought it was kind of neat. They do stuff like that. And with the suspension,
the Hemi engines were coming out. And I think at the time those Hemi engines came out.
There wasn't any other real like, like trucks of its size that had kind of like power output,
like the Hemi's we're putting out back in the early 2000s when, when it was Dodge Ram. And then
I don't know when they switched over to this regular Ram, maybe around 2010.
I think it was, yeah, kind of earlier. I can probably look that up on the fly. But yeah,
but what is Ram? Like, what are they going to do now? Like what's, what's their next move?
Are they, are they going to make a wrap? Are they having the TRX? So what could they do now?
Well, so people did think that the TRX was going to die because of all of what was going on with,
you know, emissions and them even changing the charger challenger. And but the charger was
what they're calling it now, going to the hurricane, you know, v six and, you know,
which is what the, what is the hurricane v six for those who don't know it actually think of the
v six? What is it? Straight six. So yeah. So it's a, it's, they went basically full on
like kind of German style with that in terms of German style. You mean like BMW?
Yeah. Maybe Mercedes. Maybe.
Oh, I lost your courage. audio.
What happened there? There you go. Now you're back.
I'm back. Yeah.
Huh. Technical difficulties. But yeah, what is that? Yeah, I don't, I think Mercedes does have a
few, you know, straight six in their, in their lineup, but it's definitely for, in my mind,
has been more of a BMW thing. Yeah. They put a BMW has been doing straight sixes for years and
they've done it in there. It was all the M M, no, I'm sorry, but it's just regular, like three series,
five series, five series. I think they use a straight six and do it. I'm not up to speed
of my BMW, you know, numbers and stuff, but you know, they were using straight sixes and everything.
I think some of the crazier except for those gins where they just decided to do whatever
would like the M three, the, the one that everybody loves, the E 90 generation M threes.
Was it the V eight? They had that a V eight version. Was that M four?
So no, they, that was, yeah, that was before the M four. So it was that generation. Yeah. The E
90 X they call it, but then they also had the E 92 with the V eight. And then they had, that was
also when they were getting crazy with the, the five series with the V tens and doing those kinds
of stuff. So if you had, if you had a dealership and kind of sell a V 10, anything right now,
right now, right now with the gas prices, I'm sure you couldn't give that thing away.
Well, yeah. I mean, jumping ahead a little bit, like, like we're talking about is that, you know,
again, people thought that the TRX and, you know, these performance trucks with the V eights and
everything and performance were going to be dead, but they actually have announced that they're
bringing back to TRX now with, you know, 777 horsepower motor. I think there's some evolutions
around it. They, you know, they, I got to look more into those details, but, you know, it's
probably still base, you know, based around just kind of an evolution of the previous motor,
but they, they, they're saying that, you know, some of these more like these super trucks that
there are street trucks that they're starting to build now are kind of a recalling back to the old
Ram SRT 10. So the one with the, that took the Vipers V 10.
Yeah. Now, now was that the, was that engine exactly the same as the Viper engine or was
like a, like a truck version of the Viper engine? I mean, cause I know it doesn't,
didn't have a stick. I think it was a thread to an automatic.
They did make, they did make manual versions for the truck version for the truck.
Yep. No way. There, there were, they weren't obviously as popular, but there, there were some
manual SRT 10, you know, Ram pickups that, what do you think one of those cells at auction today?
I really want to look it up. I'm not like, not even just like a, not, not like a unicorn,
like you're saying with like a manual, but like say just an automatic version, which I'm sure.
And those things I remember at the time, I think Ford had their Ford lightning.
Yeah. At the same time, I think, yeah, I think they were basically that era that was,
those were the ones is like, you really wanted a high performance.
I wanted a lightning so bad, not talking the electric one today, kids. I'm talking about the
one from like different era, like early 2000s and it had the 5.4 liter super charged V eight
with a, I don't think he had any extra cab, a single cab, but it might have had the flared
fenders and it was kind of lower with like street tires. It was more like a street truck
than an off road truck. The Brian O'Connor special. That's what it was. That's what I saw
that again. I was like, when I first saw that movie dude, I was like, there's no way using
a lightning as a delivery truck. At the time I saw the movie, I was working for parts delivery.
And the time I saw, I was working for a parts store doing delivery, just like Brian, I was
Brian basically. And I was driving some piece of crap truck with no radio, you know, like
over here, like, uh, can you guys upgrade? Like what's going on here?
I'm like, how, okay. That scene. I'm like, okay, it's when we speak. Okay.
The street racing, no, that was real, but the fake part was the fact that he drove a lightning
as a, as a delivery truck for a parts store. The funniest thing about that is that one of
the comments I saw on one of the posts about these new trucks is somebody was saying how like
there's going to be so many like, you know, construction contractors, you know, writing
off these, these things as their work truck in this like performance, either like the scat pack
or like, I mean, you'd have to have some like level of audacity to be doing the, using the TRX
as your work truck, but they'll put their like, I see people do this whole time. I'm sure you've
seen up there. There's lots of contractors that have their own business, their own construction
business, sighting business, whatever business it is. And they get like a Raptor or a TRX or
or some big giants F 350. It's like jacked up on like 40 inch tires. And then they got their
company logo all over it and they just tax right off or whatever. So, but, but Ram is going to do
something. They're, they're bringing back, you said, uh, like the, is it going to be called the,
what's up TRX? What's it called the, um, SRT is it called the SRT?
So they're, so SRT is, is was kind of like a brand for them as well in a sense. And so they're,
they're using that now to kind of do some scat pack versions of, you know, of their trucks,
kind of the same way that they had with the, the tiers of, of, um, of challengers and chargers,
how you had like the RT and then you had the SRT scat pack and all of those. And then you had the,
you know, the, the hell cats, they're kind of doing the same now with these, with these trucks,
which, you know, is kind of a callback to, like you said, like the four lightning,
those were street trucks. Like you weren't meant to take those off road. Like most people were
doing with trucks or do like, you know, heavy, heavy lifting and honestly, to be honest, even
towing, like you could tow with them, but nobody really was doing that with like a four lightning.
You could tow with a me on it too. You could do, you could tow with anything at the end of the
day. But yeah, you know, that's usually the selling point of like trucks is like, oh,
yeah, and do all of these things. And that, I think that genre of, you know, street truck has
kind of been lost from that time. You know, it was, you remember when Toyota had their Tacoma,
they had a street version called the X X stream or X something or other. I do remember. I don't
know a lot about it, but I do. Yeah. It was basically like, because most of the Tacomas you
see are like kind of lifted with like beefier tires and four wheel drive and pre runners and
things like that. But they did have one that was like, it's just the opposite of that. It was
called the X or something extreme or something. X was like an every logo, like, yeah, like
everything. Well, I think it might have been an energy drink called X something or two.
So X was like all popular rage, but X in front of everything. And they did this X truck and it was
like this regular like lowered with bigger tires, kind of like the SRT. It just didn't have anything.
It wasn't super charged or anything like that. Just had a regular engine, you know,
like they have in the other truck, but had this lower stance, which is a different thing
because it got too extreme to get the off road version and you get the street version.
You know, it's funny about that too. And I actually do remember those now. I was, I was doing a little
bit of searching on my own over here and I do remember those and I've seen a few around actually
some people bought those and still have those rolling on the road, you know, they're a Toyota.
So you're not like overly surprised by that, but is anybody like, like
souping them up with like super chargers or turbo charger or doing any nuts to it?
Just kind of like they are what they are. You know, there's probably somebody out there,
but they're not like, you know, it's not like a thing where like, you know, somebody, there's
certain cars where people get like a car that they know is like, Oh, I can do all like the,
like the Mexican GTR, like, you know, people get those specifically because they know that they
can, you know, really like do some stuff. So it's also can look like, like it's a work truck.
It doesn't have that stand out, you know, that's the definition of, you know, where a contractor
can go and just, yeah, make that their work truck and then go and do all of that stuff and, you
know, have it not having fly under the radar completely. That's what it is. That's what it's
all about. It's about not being pulled over by the cops because I'm sure it's like, if you're
all flashing dashing, it's got like, you know, neon over the place and it's got hot pink and
it's got like, you know, a lot of exhaust ever and, you know, a lot of, a lot of people still
end up doing the loud exhaust though, which is like to exhaust it a lot in both my cars.
And I think of it, but, um, you know, I mean, I try to try to still fly the radar, you know,
not too crazy with that, but I was, I was going to say real quick on the Tacoma that the Toyota
actually fairly recently, I think it was, I don't know if it was SEMA or if it was something else
that they had done this for, but they did actually kind of try to build like sort of a Tacoma X
runner concept that they called it, which was like brand new. Yeah. Like this was a concept
that they actually did recently, um, where it was like a, I guess it was a 400 plus horsepower
Tacoma and, you know, yeah, they, they showed it at SEMA in Vegas and, you know, this was,
you know, sort of their like dip in the toe of like, oh, what if we kind of brought back this
sort of street truck kind of, you know, kind of deal that everybody was doing in the past, but
nobody, but they didn't want to commit, like, you know, similar to a lot of things that Toyota's
done where it's easy to just take a regular car you already have in your platform. Like,
so you already had the Tacoma already. All you have to do is like, maybe do a suspension kit on
it, like, and, you know, whatever, put like a different wheels or reverse suspension kit on
this. Cause it's like, you know, what you normally do with trucks, you lift them. Well, yeah, yeah,
I'm saying like, yeah, whatever you got to do, I'm sure you can swap out the suspension. And
I'm sure it's, I'm sure it's a very, I'm sure it's probably a matter of a few thousand dollars
difference on the truck itself. I mean, maybe not that much on the factory. I mean, at the factory,
when the whole thing's being put together, you just like slap on these different springs versus
these springs, you know, whatever they do, maybe a couple of different badges and a couple of
different things or whatever. I'm sure if you have an already existing platform to do a few
models, that's why these companies do this. That's why they have like so many different versions of
the same car is because it's easy to just, for them to just make one with a V 81 of the V
six, make one with this and maybe one with that. And kind of flip flop. It's super easy versus
making a completely different car that's not related to any other car in your fleet.
Cars take a big gamble when they do that. Yeah. Yeah. And I mean, you know, not to maybe shift
shift topics, but in a similar camp of companies, specifically American companies starting to,
you know, try to tap into this performance market a little bit more is the, the Cadillac
CTS V black wing, the CT five V black wing. That's been out for a while. It's, it's always been one
of those cars that everybody's like, you know, if I really just needed to have both practicality
and brute force in one package and even with a manual as well, that a lot of people were like,
that's like one of their dream cars is the CT, CT five black wing. People love the CT,
CT SV, the wagon, the coup, you know, the, the four door, all of those, but they're tapping
into that, that method as well of we don't want to build a whole new car yet, but we want to still
see if we can capture some interests and put a little bit of extra goodies into this car and
see if people will buy it. The, you know, the only problem is they're making it very, very limited,
but they're, you put, you put ordering it? Yeah. Yeah. I'll have to fight with the CEO and probably
all of the executive team to be even on the list of one of these because they're only making 26,
which I'm like, I really think that they could probably, they could probably get a good amount
of profit. If they would just extend that out, say like a couple hundred, like they don't have to,
this doesn't have to be a full-on production retail price. One of those
this was also what frustrated me about it. It was so cool to see, but take, take just a
wild guess what you think. I have no idea what those things run for. I was like, I mean, okay,
five, over a hundred grand, right? Well, the, so the, the CT five, just a regular CT five,
black wing is already over a hundred. That's what I'm saying. So a hundred grand, a hundred and
20. Yeah. Way more than that. 200. Are they at the 200? They, I think, I think I saw it quoted
somewhere around like 230 to 240 or something of that sort. Okay. So question I have about this,
the black wing car, cause I know very little about it. I know it's a Cadillac product, GM
product, GM owned Chevrolet and Cadillac and GMC and all that stuff. Is it basically, I
didn't know the Corvette is rear engine or mid engine or whatever it is. This is not that,
but is it basically very similar to a Corvette? Like engine power, you know, is it very,
is it very similar? I believe it. Yeah. We'll probably get, you know, probably get roasted
if I'm, if I am wrong. That's okay. Don't worry about it. Just give me all the heat. I'll take it.
This is called cool cars with Chris. That's right. It's all
courage is not legal obligations of any kind. I love it. Yeah.
So don't worry. You can blame me for all the, for all the courage is mishaps with,
with, with, with, with the car specs it has. He was off by one horsepower, by the way, guys,
on this spec sheet. Trust me that we're in the age of the internet. You get messed up for doing
that kind of stuff. So it's okay. So this thing runs on ethanol, right? And it runs on batteries,
I think together. You could put diesel in it. If you want it to, it's called the all in one.
Do they make a fire called the all in one? He's for whatever you want the thing.
Because I have kids as well. I, why I watch this all the time, but the, the, the second cars movie
I literally always think about the all the time is like, yeah, some,
somebody should just like do that. Like just make all in all and then just make it this whole thing
now. But, but yeah, the, the Cadillac it, I think that it does share the, the, not the
06 is V eight, but I'm pretty sure there's probably some similarities between like the
base Corvette Stingray motor and the CT five V because it is still like a, it's still a regular
V eight. It's not a flat thing. Right. I think car V eights, you think they crank out over there
at Cadillac GMC. They, they got a good amount. Cause I mean, you know, the, again, we talked
about the grand before high performance cars, not talking trucks. That's a different story.
Cause they give it. Yeah. It's totally different type of powertrain. And so for as like high
performance cars, it's going to be the Corvette and whatever this Cadillac stuff is. And I don't
think they put anything in their like regular Chevy cars. I think there's, is there a Chevy car?
It takes a V eight, not anymore. It was just a Camaro and you know, right? Did they have a,
did they have a sedan though? It took a V eight. No, no. V eight and GM, you had to go over to
Cadillac. Basically. At this point, like absolutely. But even, yeah, even in, you know,
that era where they still had like the Impala and the Malibu and you know, those cars, like those
didn't have V eights either. You know, it's, it's been a while since we've had, we had like the
Caprice, like the, or the Chevy SS, if you remember those, they were like the, basically they were
just like the whole and like Australian cars brought over and rebashed it. Okay. I remember,
yeah. They had a Pontiac had one too. It was a Pontiac GTO, the, the, they had the GTO. They also
had the, the G eight. If you remember that the Pontiac G eight, it was, it was just a sedan and,
and had to say, I think they had the same motor, but that was actually one of my dream cars back
in the day. I loved the GTO and I loved the G eight. Yeah. I, I guess I use that term pretty
loosely. Somebody told me the day, but oh really? I use the dream car, like we think a dream car,
like Lamborghini and like Ferrari and things like that. There was a point where I said,
like a dream car for mine was like a Scion TC. So a dream car for years, like when that ran
and like I got me to work without breaking down. Yeah. Like dream car, not the bus. Anything
not the bus is dream car. Yeah. The bus, man. So, um, cast price are fricking expensive,
speaking of which, you know, like, like, I know it keeps going up and up and up. And, um,
I think I posted something today. I haven't checked it. Checked if I got any response
up. I posted something today saying something like, um, I must be in the top 1% because I have two cars
that are full gas tanks. Dude, I'm telling you that's, I was telling my wife that the other day
is that like you, you get to a point where like, if you, if you fill up your tank, like, okay,
you got to realize like you're, you're in a pretty good situation. Like everything might not be great.
You know, you might be driven anywhere either. I haven't driven anywhere. So that might be why
they're still full, but also because I know that we talked about this last time too, is that
we're, we're very different in terms of our mentality of gas tanks. Like you'll, you'll
probably go somewhere and get to like three quarters of a tank and really want some more gas.
Oh, I always fill up, you know, I thought, saw something, I saw a post from
mechanic on, I follow up on Instagram. I saw this one mechanic was talking about, um,
he says that you need to keep your car at least half a tank always. And the reason why is for
the fuel pump, cause it cools off the gas there, cools the fuel pump. And if you get the car too
low in the fuel and the fuel tank, it has to pull in some air or something. Rather,
he says it's better overall if your car, I heard this is not the only guy I've heard this from
too. Another guy said the same thing too, that if you can keep your car half a tank or more
all the time, just because I hated me today, man. Well, if you're driving somewhere on a road trip,
you got to do what you got to do. Obviously you can't always keep your car filled up or half
a tank or more. Obviously you can't, but if you're just like going to work, you know,
five days a week or whatever, you might find a planned event and gas like every other day
and just top the car off. I mean, I know it's convenient. It's out of your way. Just depends.
I mean, it gets depends on your lifestyle. How like when you get gas, where if it's
like out of your way to get gas, even if it is more expensive, it's not going to make a difference
because whether you buy a full tank today or like a quarter tank,
tank, quarter tank, you're still paying the same money. Yeah, you're paying pretty much the same
amount of price. The thing is with me is that my ex-wife, my kid's mom, we're, I don't know if we were
married at the time, but she liked totally screwed up her gas tank. Got pulled the gas thing out,
failed fuel pump. And the guy at the shop said basically, it's because she was running her tank
down to empty a lot down to like fumes. You know, it's like, you know, the light comes on kind of
kind of like all the time. And he said back then, he said, you shouldn't do this because
it says it's picking up a lot of junk at the bottom of the tank. It's poked up. I think there's
filters and fuel filters and all that kind of stuff, but, but, um, they were suggesting that,
you know, never run your tank that low. And another guy said the same thing too about the fuel pump
and that kind of deal. I was like, um, it kind of makes sense. So I try to keep the fuel on my
truck, at least, at least half a tank, because you have the idea, whatever it cost me to fill
that thing up to fill all the way. Yeah. It'd be like a mortgage payment. You're definitely in the
130s. Yeah. No, probably over two, probably over 200. Really? Cause what 30, 20, 36 gallon. Okay.
Yeah, definitely. Yeah. Cause I know that when it was a half a tank and gas was this price before
and I was going from half up, it was close to a hundred bucks. Yeah. So that was from half a
tank. So I figured from empty, close to empty, double that or whatever. Did they still do the
thing where like you can't, you can't fill up like past a certain amount on like the same,
there was a time where they were doing that. I remember the last big gas crisis we had and I
went to a fill up and went over a hundred bucks and then just stopped a hundred bucks.
I said, you have to do like a new transaction. And I play that game. So I guess I'm not,
I guess my topping off today. I guess I'm done. Yeah. I guess that's it. I'm heading out of here,
but I remember a while ago at work, you know, we, we had these fuel, fuel cards for our work trucks.
They have big tanks on there and stuff and, and diesel's a little bit more than gas. I remember
a long time ago, I took a picture of the actual pump after it was done pumping the, the, the
fuel truck of the truck. It was like 290 bucks or whatever like that. You know, I post it on
social media. People are like losing their minds, you know, or whatever. But, but I've seen video,
I've seen lots of videos lately of truckers and all kinds of people posting one guy today.
I saw he's, he showed a video that he paid over 800 and like $50 to fill up his truck.
What are we talking? A semi truck, of course. Yeah. But it was, it wasn't, he said it wasn't
even empty. It was like, it was like a quarter tank in the truck. We're talking like maybe 150
gallons or something like that. It was a lot of gals. A lot. It was a lot.
God, it's so crazy right now filling up. And I used to, I was going to say, I used to play this,
this game way back called a American truck simulator. Oh, is it like Sims or whatever?
Well, it was a simulator in the sense where like it tries to be like as realistic as it can be
for a video game of like how to be a truck driver and, and, you know, even like getting down to
like different gearings of trucks, like with all of like the gears that you run through and,
and, you know, you got to fill up gas and everything. So you have your CDL there or what?
You got your CDL doing this? Yeah. Yeah. They even like had like, you know,
ability to like kind of quote unquote, like CB radio, like folks that are like nearby,
like within your vicinity, when you play online, like it was, it was cool. Like that was,
that was early college. I remember that too. Yeah. They, they met. It was a cool life. I'm
actually not, I brought it up. I'm curious because they, they basically had started with only like
three or four states. And then they like, they gradually would like release packs where you
would get an additional three states. And the goal was to get states where they were like middle
of the country. No, they started out with California. It's a big state though. Yeah.
They were like, well, if they were like, if we give you like three really big states out of the
gate, like you'll be happy until we like develop the rest of the, you know, the rest of the U.S.
So I'm curious now to see, cause it's been a decade or so since I played the game.
And I'm curious to see your phone now. It's probably a phone app or whatever.
Now you probably can do, but, but yeah, the, the fuel, fueling for, for truckers,
especially independent cause there's truckers. And that's the thing about like,
I thought about this doing this years and like long time ago,
like get by your own truck. It even can be local trucking too. It can be like some box
van truck, like an Amazon before Amazon kind of picked up. You can like be a contractor.
You can like deliver, you know, goods from warehouses or people or whatever it is,
you know, all around town. There's a lot of companies to do that.
But now with fuel prices being so high, especially you can do like an Uber driver.
Like I can't imagine what's like being an Uber driver today. Does Uber actually like,
like pay you more because the gas is like double what it was like last year.
You know, I was, I was talking to like, you know, I was Uber and when I was in Dallas and
one of the guys I was talking to was like, you know, they, the obviously the percentage
that they're taking from rides is different than it used to be. So I mean, I highly doubt,
you know, maybe there's some like percentage, you know, percentage increase because of the fuel
situation, but they're obviously taking more than they were before just from, you know,
just from being on the app in general. So I doubt that it's a, you know, it's a,
it's a net gain at all for the drivers versus for Uber. So yeah, I mean, it's, you know, definitely
if you're driving like an EV or something of that sort, like for Uber, you're probably winning
right now. The guy that I did Uber, you know, did I, did I Uber the last guy that took us to the
airport was driving a Maki actually. And I, those are actually those. Yeah. A lot of them.
They're actually kind of, they're kind of nice. Like they're cheaper, cheaper for as far as like,
I think they're cheaper than a Tesla, right?
You on the use market, probably new to new apples to apples. Like if you had Tesla three
versus more expensive, no, I thought they, I thought they were cheaper. I remember the four
dealer had a bunch of them and they're trying to get rid of, they couldn't get rid of them.
And they're just sitting there. I know, I know that if you go to a Tesla dealership to buy
something, I'm sure it's all online. You order, pick it up, whatever. I'm sure if you're buying
a Tesla, you kind of know what you're getting into. You kind of know what you're going for. You kind
of have an idea that you're going to get an EV. When you go to the Ford dealer, maybe not,
maybe you go look at Mustangs and selling you a Mustang Maki instead. Okay. I guess it'll work.
I always, I always tell people, I typically all the time is like the big, like people always
say things, negative things about like salesmen and stuff like that, especially car salesmen.
And I'm like, a lot of times people are coming into like, you know, car dealerships having no idea
what they're there for. And I think I'm saying if you went to a Tesla dealership, you kind of know.
Oh yeah. No, exactly. Yeah. It versus, yeah, like you have some options if you go to a Ford
dealership is like, I could be looking at this versus that. But yeah, I mean, again, a lot of
times, like I said, if you were originally going to a Mustang, you're going for a Mustang and you
were talked into a Mustang, you know, Maki, you didn't really know what you were going to get in
the first place. Right. That's probably like, I wonder if car like salesmen love hearing the,
I don't know what I want to buy as long as those are probably like literally just like,
you know, bells ringing, like, oh, this is the perfect customer right now. Whatever they want,
whatever they get, or so you'll come in and they'll say, well, it's from my credit because I used to
do the same to you. Honestly, God, when you need a car and you don't care what it is, you just want
to make sure you can get into something, run the credit and see what I qualify for. And then you
may say you don't qualify for anything, or they may say you qualify for this group of cars over
here. Now we kind of narrowed it down to these kinds of cars and of those cars, which one would I
pick kind of a thing versus the other way where it would be like maybe, you know, they just, they
just go in and just, who knows what, you know, and the dealership just does whatever they want
them, you know, that was one of the, like, I've never really kind of had like a bad
dealership experience, mainly because I've always been there specifically for something.
Like it was, whether I like knew that that dealership had the car I was looking for,
or like in general, like I knew when I got there, like I saw something that I was intrigued by,
like I, I've just never gone a radar fixed on that car. Yeah. Exactly. Like, you know,
going in, I did, again, I always forget that I even had this car, but I had a 20, what,
2014 or 15 Nissan Altima for a while, like just literally the Uber spec, white, you know, cloth
interior Nissan Altima, because I got it because I was going to Uber while I was in college still.
And you bought a car specifically for Ubering. It was, it was sort of that, but also because,
like, you know, I just really kind of, I needed a car at the time, but I was like, well, if I'm
going to get another car, it has to be able to make me some profit or whatever. And I did that
for a little while. So it was, it was, there was some net gain around that. And plus I sold it
during COVID and actually sold it for more than it was worth really at that time. So
came out somewhat on top with that car. But, but I, that was the only car that there was more
like, you know, okay, what can I kind of get in this, in this price range that can still fit the
bill for Ubering, but outside of that every other time, you know, like if I was going to buy a truck
for work, like a work truck or dedicated, like moving and like a haul, like hauling, you know,
you know, customers, goods and services, whatever it is. I mean, what, what are I'm hauling? I mean,
my main priority would be like, find some, my price range, doesn't get the job done,
doesn't physically get the job done so I can upgrade to the next thing. I may not want to do
this, you know, full time. It's like, I mean, when you buy a vehicle for say a particular purpose,
like buying a shovel or something, you know, it's a tool, you know, or a hammer or whatever.
This hammer's got a red handle. This hammer's got, it doesn't really matter if it's hitting
nails or the thing. Does it make a difference? You know, but to some people it does, you know,
but I think if you're using it for like a tool purpose, like the Uber job or the, you know,
hauling, whatever kind of job, I think those kinds of things probably matter to less.
I would think, I mean, I said, I would do if I was really,
there's some people to be, I've never hit a nail with a red, red handle.
Or whatever, you know, like, like, does it make a difference? You know, I mean,
with hauling, if you're, you're hired, if you're about to pick up truck,
just to help somebody move, you just, you're like your own, you know,
courage is moving company and you're just going to like move like boxes or whatever.
I don't think you really care what color the truck is. It's just like, it just, I mean,
maybe it would, I don't know, but like, if it's just there to do a particular job,
that's only the tool to do a job. I don't think it makes much of a difference.
Once you're going like, you know, a big company, you want to make it look like a big logo and
your truck's are red or blue or whatever they are. I guess I get that for like a fleet standpoint,
but if you're just like a regular guy doing like regular, you know, contracting work,
it's another tool or whatever. I think it matters. But, but, but, but you're saying about the,
the Cadillacs, the black wings are, have you seen many of my cars and coffee at all?
Cause I haven't seen them like ever at all.
That is a, yeah. I mean, you see a lot of CTS Vs like around. And I, even when I say a lot,
you really don't see a lot, but you definitely even see those more than you would see like a
CT five black wing. Now the person that drives this, are they the same bill drive the Corvettes?
Yeah. I mean, I doubt, I doubt, yeah, shorts with, with like sandals of socks on.
He's got the fanny pack and, and he's got the one of one trophy by the windshield.
Again, I was literally just talking about this too of like, just, I went to a car, a car show
that it wasn't even really that big cause it was a, it was during mother's day weekend and it was
at a local winery here by here that does them every once in a while. But the guy, I've actually
met the guy that runs them and he was like, I'm actually really happy that not a lot of people
showed up because they, because a lot of people showed up just for mother's day in general. And
so if we had the same crowd, the mother's day crowd show up along with the car show crowd,
it would have just been a mess logistically. So it was a pretty quiet car, like car show,
but there was one guy there and I had no, I'm not saying anything negative about it.
But he was, he was there, he was there the whole time he spent, he sat with his lawn chair
right next to, he had a beautiful, I think it was Nassau blue Stingray Corvette, I think.
What year, older year, newer one? No, it was like, it was the, the Stingray, the old Stingray,
like the, the 60s Stingray or 70s, I think. Yeah. Again, don't, you know, cool cars are
Chris. Don't worry about that stuff. You know, but yeah, he, I mean, beautiful car,
but literally spent the whole time, like we were there for probably an hour and a half,
almost two hours. And he sat outside with his lawn chair. He had the shorts. hat and,
you know, hood open. What happened to have on say Corvette or something? I pretty sure it
happened. Chevy logo, Chevy logo or Corvette, the Corvette logo. It's going to be the Corvette
logo, right? Yeah. Spent the whole time there. And I, you know, he, a few people came up, he asked,
asked questions and they went on their way, but, you know, he was there to be posted up to
tell you everything about his Corvette. And that's just the demographic. That's all I'm saying.
Well, that's what cool cars are because it's all about, man. Cool cars with Chris is about,
you know, cool cars, your cool car, which got a cool car. He's got a cool story about their car.
People who have cool cars, usually, but not always, but usually like to talk about their car
and like showcase it. And if you ask them a question about their car, usually people will be
very friendly. You want to like talk about this. They have, I bought this thing back in NOM or
whatever kind of thing or whatever it was, you know, and, and something like, uh, who's a Manuel
who's like literally world traveled with his car that did the 240Z guy. Right. Right. So, or,
or they're working on a new car right now or a project car or something like that. And, and
that's where the whole show kind of like the idea of the show came about is because
I've had a cool car and every time somebody would ask me about my car, I would just go on and on and
on and on and on. I said, I know you got to catch a flight right now, but let me tell you about the
car. You know, I know you got to go somewhere. Let me, let me tell you more. And I think, uh,
there's a lot of cool, car people are like that, but they also sometimes get the opposite
of that. Whether it's like, don't look at it. Don't touch it. Keep on moving. Don't, you know,
but it's like, why, I mean, why do you have a car? Why are you even doing that? Why are you even
like waxing it and showing it up? Why are you even, you know, I mean, what's the point if you're,
you know, you're going to be closed off like that? You know, some people are just, people are just
weird, you know, people, people are into weird things and whatever makes them happy. I guess,
you know, but I think you've got a cool car. Chances are you're going to want to share it,
show it off, wash it, wax it, detail, whatever, you know, all the things as much as possible.
And then, and then show it off. And then anybody wants to have a conversation with your car or
say, cool car, whatever. Um, I get to even hear, you know, like I'm leaving and coming and going
sometimes and I get the, uh, nice ride or cool. I had this one guy at the, um, liquor store pizza
plates by my house here and, and he were talking a while back about my car because I was, um, doing
the, uh, we changed the filter on the air filter and, and we're talking about cause he used to have
a 350. He said, instead of he sold it or I don't happen to it, but he, but he said, oh, your car's
so nice and how much you want for it. I said, you want to buy it for me? And it's like, it's like,
yeah, but he was a low wall. I mean, like five grand and I'm like, come on, dude. I mean, you
know, this isn't like a beater with like, you know, 200,000 miles on a bumper on the ground.
You know, but, um,
he loved their cool cars, man. I mean, we, the backstory, I mean, that's how this even came
about, you know, with me, you know, being on this and, and that's kind of, you know, going
through this is, is it started like that. It's just, it started as, you know,
originally cool cars or Chris, you know, being on, talking about the end and, and now, you know,
multiple episodes being on here talking cars. So yeah, I think there's something cool about cars
and I know it does suck right now. I mean, I'm in the elephant in the room about the gas prices.
And I, and I know that like, like, I wonder if the gas prices are affecting any of these
cars and coffee events, especially ones that are far, you have to travel to kind of things,
but it didn't really affect will of springs. I mean, people went out there, people were out there
racing. Yeah. And they towed stuff out there, which is, which has got to be a big gas hog,
you know, dude, dude, if we had a tow of my car out there with my truck, I would have spent so
much money in gas. I would, I would have gotten gas like four times, like twice the way up and
twice the way back or whatever. And filling that truck up, it'd been like a thousand dollars in gas.
You know, what's your tow and capacity on your truck? I believe, I think it's 10,000,
nine down to 10,000, I think somewhere around there. If I paid you to try to tow my, my,
the in out to a track day,
you could have more of the gas, dude. Yeah, I know. Yeah, exactly. Like was it,
how much does this cost more than you can afford?
Toad out there. Well, I think, okay, like I said earlier, that the gas, the fellow truck up would
probably be at today's prices from, from, to say from a quarter tank, not from MD, from a quarter
tank, it'd probably be over 200, $200. And then I'd probably have to do that multiple times
because if you do tow, you lose mileage. So the mileage on the highway is say 20 miles a gallon
on a good day, empty, cruising flat, you know, but you're towing something and you got hills and
everything else too. You're looking probably dropping that down to maybe like 13 miles a gallon,
maybe on the highway, maybe something like that. And I never tried it, but you know, so, you know,
going out to button willow, like even that's all the way up in Bakersfield. Like that's, yeah.
I never really towed anything big with my other truck I did. This one, I didn't do much towing
with this truck. The other one I did, I told my dad's doom buggy minks out the desert. We had,
Oh, we had a minks. Yeah. Yeah. That's cool. Yeah. He sold us a long ago, but we towed that at the
desert with two quads in the back of the truck standing upright. So you had two quads in the
back of the truck bed plus tow on the minks all the way out there with my other F one 50,
which had the same engine. Had the 5.0 coyote first gen. So you had a Mexican, Mexican
GTR turbo. I wasn't turbo charged or super charged. Oh, I did think about it for this truck here,
but maybe I could, you know, maybe, maybe, you know, maybe some day, I don't know. I thought
about it. Maybe when the truck hits a 100000 miles, I'll do it as like a birthday
present and give it a super charger or whatever. And then the engine blows it up.
That's what I was going to say. Potentially a very short lived present blows. I have no,
I have like no warranty or nothing or nothing, you know, and it's like, it's like, you know,
you know, to fix it or whatever, but knock on what hopefully truck running. Okay. Although I've
been driving the truck as much. I've been driving the car a lot. I noticed to work and other things
like anytime, anytime we don't need to take more than two people, I think I've been taking the car.
Yeah. If I take two people or more, I take the truck. If I had to go to the grocery store or
haul or anything or move anything in the back of the truck bed, I'll take the truck. But
most of the time I've been taking the Z a lot. Like I took it today. last night. I mean,
well, we took Shannon's car up last night, but, but we didn't, um, yeah, I've been driving the
car around. And I think that, um, I was kind of thinking about this today is like, I'm trying,
you know, some people who they buy like a two door sports car, like I have like the Z or
Miata or something like that. You, it can't be your only car. It just, it just, I mean,
unless you're a single guy, you eventually at some point you're going to haul something bigger
than like a sack lunch, you know, you need, you know, so, um, I think that's the, but with me,
I'm trying to make it work to work where times I don't need to carry anybody. Times I don't need
to haul anything. Times I don't need to carry more than two people. I'll take the Z. Yeah.
Because they can't, the car can't sit. Um, but even, even with, even with the mile,
I'm trying to calculate the miles, even with that kind of like usage on the car,
I'm still maybe doing 6,000 a year on the car, you know, which really isn't much.
No. And really, you know, at the end of the day too, it's like that, that should be the,
the goal with the car is like to, you know, if I, if I'm, if I can be, drive it,
like, I'll, I'll drive it. Like, you know, obviously, like you said, if you, if you really
more than two people, like you got no choice, you got to, you got to drive the truck, but,
you know, I feel like that's how you know, you got the right car is if you, you know,
if you have that mentality, if I can drive it, I'm going to drive it. Like, you know,
versus a lot of folks that, you know, again, they, they're in that collector mindset where
it's like, Oh, I'm going to let this sit and dude, I know the Z is not going to be worth money.
It probably hit the floor. I probably, it's probably hit the floor or close to the floor
when I bought the car, you know, price wise. And so I don't think it's going to go much,
it might go lower, but I don't think it's going to go up. I don't think.
I wouldn't say it was spike, but I mean, I, I do like, I've been coming to terms more and more
with what you talked about with like the, again, the, I think it was, it was more of,
I don't want to say the downfall, but it was more of the negative connotation that it was more
analog and like it, it didn't have a lot of tech compared to like the newer cars that were coming
out back, you know, when it was out, but now people are realizing that that's kind of what
they want is something more analog and, you know, less techie and really just more engaging.
And I think that there's going to be an appreciation to the, to the fact that like that
really was, you know, despite Nissan and all of their issues that were going on,
like that really was kind of that cars, you know, saving grace was that it was just like a true
sports car. And, you know, I think down the road there, you know, it probably won't be,
you know, worth GTR pricing, but you know, it'll, I think people will really kind of recognize
that like that, that was a valuable time in car history where, you know,
Nissan kind of pushed back against everybody wanting to go techie and decided to keep the true,
you know, the true analog spirit of the sports car. I think people are going to appreciate it.
Well, do you remember, did I send you that thing where I saw a post saying the 350 Zs were going
to start going up in value? And so that's what I mean, I was looking at 350s and I could not find
one that was, I mean, you can find, you can find them around online and people do post it from
time to time. I saw one that was posted, I don't know what state it was in, but it was like a
05 mint condition, original floor mats, original, like all the books, everything. And it was like
untouched. And it was like, they had like less than 50,000 miles on the thing,
maybe around 50,000, I don't know. But it was like, they wanted 25 grand for the thing.
And I'm thinking like, man, I think it was like 25 grand brand new, probably,
whatever, you know, or whatever it was. So, so I know the 350s for some reason right now,
they're starting to go up in value because they're very rare to find one that has not been
modified or wrecked or whatever, especially in a coop form. They say, if you want to,
if you want one that hasn't been touched, chances are getting a convertible one.
Those ones usually aren't touched. They're automatics. Usually most of them are all
automatics. Although I did find a few six in a convertible, very rare. Those are rare too.
But I was looking for 350s and I remember when I drove the 350, it does feel like good. It felt
like a solid, easy, fun car. It felt very fun to drive. I jumped out of that and got into 370.
I have now it felt like an evolution of the 350. It felt like dangerously fast compared to the 350
felt fun and easy to drive. It felt like, almost like it's me if you're in a Miata. I've never
ever, I haven't driven a Miata in years, but I guess a Miata where it's like, it's fast, it's fun,
but it's not crazy, like, you know, going to like wrap it around, you know, it's not crazy fast.
But you could, but I mean, I guess it would take a lot.
You can do anything with anything, but, but I guess I'm saying is it like it's,
the 350 felt fun, felt, felt quick. It felt a lot of mid-range torque and power in the mid-range,
but it didn't, it didn't feel like a rocket ship the way the Z, the 370 does or did when I first drove
it. And so, but, but yeah, I mean, the 350, I thought was always a cool looking car. Even back
then, I still think today they're, they're cool looking cars. They do, they do get up, they do
have some zoom, zoom to them. They can get up there and gets, you know, they're pretty fast,
pretty reliable for the most part. They have many cars got issues, I guess, and that kind of stuff,
but I don't know, man. Like if you had a choice today, I guess, same price, would you choose
350 or 370? Out of the two. That's a good question. I mean, I mean, 370 technically got paper,
it's got more modern and more performance and more like, that's kind of why I lean 370, but
that's where I'm at too. Cause even, you know, again, still sort of being in the infinity Nissan
camp, the, the M 35 that I had the year before that it had different, it actually had different
infotainment. It had like a different design. Like there were a couple of things that were
different from 07 to 08. And those were things that I appreciated with that car, with like some
of the additional tech that it had, but not, you know, not crazy. Like it has some cool features
to say that it had in the 08, but it would be kind of the same thing where the 350 would be cool,
but there's, there's a lot more compromise you'd probably be dealing with, with, you know, just
you probably have to go back to having one of those, those like receiver things where you like
to like, you know, have Bluetooth over your radio. You'd have to do these go to like your
nurse car stereo place and just like switch out the, the like literally the one I got for
Jacob's Mustang, the one, um, the head unit itself, you can order on Amazon, you can order on the
website. That unit is like 200 bucks, maybe 250, um, which really isn't that much because you
don't have to factor radius, probably $1,000, who knows what, which was unique too with those
that, you know, cause I, again, I can't even really do that with, with the M even because,
because it's, yeah, it's like, you know, it's all one display and it's the whole,
no, it was, it was really like an early car to have like that integration where that was literally
the nervous system of the car. The C's weren't, weren't really like that though to your point,
you know, they, they, they were a lot more, you know, you could, you could just put in another
head unit and, you know, you be, you be good, but, uh, I think I would probably still go 370
as well. That's kind of where I went with the first, with the first other car I bought.
I was looking at 350s, but then I was like, thought the same thing. I thought, well,
if I can, if I can get a 370, it's more powerful. It's got better suspension. It's got
just better tech. It's got some newer, newer livable features, I guess in the 350.
Yeah. The 350 might feel like a go-kart. I mean, I feel like it's basic, just a shell
compared to 370 with stuff. Uh, so people like that, you know, they like the base,
the bare bones feel of a car, you know, if they want to like rip it all out and do whatever, but
this might be a bit of a hot take though, is that if I was going for a little bit more of that,
like bare bones, kind of more go-kart, maybe really like analog feel, I would, I would end
up going older Z, 300, you know, 300 ZX even like a 240. Yeah. Because you're really going to get
like that experience. The, the 350 for me is like kind of in a weird spot because it's,
it's sort of new enough where you would sort of be expecting a little bit more, you know,
newer features and things like that, but you're not going to get it until you go to 370 versus
if you're in again, the 300, the 260 era, 280 era, you're, you're really getting like the
true experience of that. And you shouldn't be buying those cars to really even be caring about
the, the, you know, modern technology and everything. No, no, but I think, I think it's a level, level
of reliability that you kind of, you kind of want. You know, the Z 32, 300 ZX's are, you know, they,
I tell everybody, you know, if I would have had a, if I would have had a twin turbo 300 ZX,
I don't think I would have had a 300 ZX for very long to be totally honest, because just,
there's just so much they could go wrong with those. I mean, if you, if you maintain them right
and you got one, you know, that was in a good state from the beginning, it would, it, you,
they last long. Like I know people to have a lot of miles on them, but if, if you got one that just
was not very well taken care of and, and just had a lot of like deferred maintenance, it's, you
know, it's going to be a headache and anything that you need to do to it is going to take, you
know, they say the whole joke of the, you got to pull the engine to do anything. Wow. Well,
that's my fear with the, with this new Z is like, and it's got a lot of miles on it. I was kind of
wondering like, you know, what's, what's the next thing to go? But I just have to like,
I guess kind of drive the more I drive it, the more in tune I get with the car, I guess,
the more I kind of like sense when things aren't quite right. You know, like, okay,
this isn't quick field ride or this kind of like with suspension, I got that thing dialed in
and it didn't feel right. You know, it doesn't feel right for this thing. It should not be this
hard. It should not be this rattle trap back here, you know, and that's kind of what I had to look
at it and alignment and that kind of stuff. And then whatever little thing, you know, it's like
the other Z too, when I had any kind of issues at all, I just took it to mechanic and said,
just hit my credit card, do, do whatever you got to do, you know, get fixed by baby, you know,
yeah, that's whatever you're going to do. Cause I dropped a ton of money on the other car fixing
it, but of course it had around at that point, 60,000, 70,000 miles on it. This one has more
than that on this car. So I'm hoping that maybe that those issues already happened already,
but I just don't know. You know, and so the meantime, I just kind of like, you know,
keeping a feel for it, feel for whatever the car could need. You know, I just, I just don't know
until I have to, you know, so I drive it and see like the battery issue or the suspension issue
or, but no check engine lights. The other car, it was probably check engine lights.
This one doesn't throw me any check engine lights yet, except for that battery issue. But other
than that, like hasn't thrown any check, any, anything like that. So, um, which is a good sign.
And, um, you know, so far, so goodbye. Um, I was going to say that the, uh, the car,
I knew this when I drove a thing, how it has that drivetrain lash when you shift hard,
has like a clunky shift to it. Yeah. And I was reading a review about my particular year of Z
and the reviewer did make a note about that in their review of the car. So it's not just my car,
it's like, I guess a thing with this car that it does that. And another one, I didn't remember
it that much. Cause I think the other one I was using the sink rev a lot. And when the sink
rev it smooths all that out. So if you shift smoother, not so harsh, not so quick, you don't
only notice it. So it's kind of those things I'm kind of living with. It's like a stupid key
situation. I'm trying to live in with that too. How I have, I can't use the key fob. I have to
put it in a slot and I have to use a physical key to open the door. And it's probably like a couple
thousand dollar dealership job. And I'm like, you know what, I can live with it. Just like if I bought
like a two 40 Z or two 60 80 Z, there's no key fob for that. There's no, sorry about
access for those things. It's put the key in the door and you, and you turn it that way.
So I'm hoping something like I'm treating this car like a classic sports car or whatever I have,
not like it's a, you know, not like I'm not driving it or whatever, not like I'm sitting
there and then click dust, but I mean, I know I'm trying to figure out all its little quirks.
We put up with some things or sure. And I'm just trying to get used to all the quirks it does,
you know, like the different kinds of perks away, you know, like, like one thing I noticed too is that
my, my car has an aftermarket, like radio and backup cameras system. And when I back into a
parking spot, I just leave it in reverse, kill the engine, right? It's in gear, kill the engine.
But when I turn the car back on, because the car was in reverse for some reason,
the display says no signal and I have to shift it into first and then shift it back in reverse.
And this display comes back. It's a little quirky thing like that. Something to do with
the aftermarket system. I don't know, you know, but, you know, that was the one use case that they
just didn't, didn't test out. You know, I have no idea. I don't know why. why that
when I leave it in gear in reverse, turn the car off, turn it back on it for some reason says no
display in the screen. Even when I, you know, I'm like, even when I put it in neutral or first or
so the thing is that you can drive away, not, not, not, not put it in reverse at all. So,
and it's all say nothing on the screen, the screen will be blank or to get your screen back,
you got to put it back in reverse, get the camera to click on, then put it back in first.
You can go then it, it clicks back into the regular Apple car play mode. It's a little goofy
thing like that. It's got to like little quirks. These cars, this car has that would probably
piss off most people that buy a car for like plush, you know, like heated seats in a cappuccino
machine, the dash and like whatever, you know what I mean? Like, like people like buy cars
for that stuff. Like I didn't buy that car. If I bought that car for that stuff, I would have been
like, Oh, the key doesn't work. Get out of here with that, you know, or, or whatever. Like, I
don't, you know, like I didn't buy that car for that stuff. I don't think he'll buy sports cars
for that kind of stuff. You know, I think they buy them for other reasons, for fun, you know,
cool, cool cars for cool car reasons. They should. Well, they, but that's why I think,
I mean, I don't know, like Mercedes stuff and BMW stuff and a lot of it's all plush, you know,
I mean, sure it's got performance and they've got all the things to great.
But I think the average person that could be going on a limb here,
it's cool cars with Chris hate mail sent in my way. I think a lot of people buy the BMWs and
Mercedes and the Audi's. They buy them for all the bells and whistles. No, I mean, that's their,
that's their thing. Like especially right now, like, you know, over the last decade, if not more is,
you know, what, what's going to be the new, you know, sort of features that we kind of bring
to these. And yeah, we, you got the specific, like, you know, say the competition, you know,
M threes and then fives and, you know, you got those, which yeah, like those are, you know,
truly awesome cars, like great handling, great power and still have like, you know, cool tech,
but a lot of times the tech is the more dominant, you know, side of things. And yeah, the performance
is great. I like, I mean, those, those, the beef, you know, 50 engines or whatever they are, like,
you know, those things make some mad, mad power with not a lot done to them and, and just literally
just like chomp everything in their path. And, and yeah, they have issues because they're just
such high strung engines that, you know, it's like, you know, what we always say, you're not
going to get the same amount of mileage out of a, you know, BMW or Mercedes as you're going to get
out of a Toyota, even honestly, a GM car, like a GM cars, you know, American cars are kind of
known for just being those cars that like they might have a lot of problems, but you literally
are just not going to be able to like get rid of them. Like they're, they're just going to keep
ticking, like, you know, until like literally oil falls off. Yeah. I mean, God do basic
maintenance, I guess, or whatever, but you can do that kind of stuff with some German cars and still
run into some catastrophic failure. That's why people leave some and they could toss them in
before the lease is up and the lease usually covers all the maintenance of most of these new
leases. They covers all the oil changes and all the services and all that crap, whatever.
If you get a lease on a new Mercedes or whatever. But I mean, like I said, people who lease new
Mercedes are the same people that probably just buy for the badge. They buy for the logo. They buy
for the class of the car. They look at me. It's, it's, it's not what the car, you know, it's not,
it's not about the performance really. I mean, it's probably a small percentage honestly that,
because I do know some die hard car guys that are in that realm and that German, you know,
even like some of the crazy, like Italian car, you know, I'm sure there are, but there are,
but there are the ones that, that go into the dealership, just looking at the prettiest looking
badge and the prettiest looking thing. You know, they always say, like, wouldn't impress a chick
by a Mercedes or BMW. What kind of it is? Checking the difference. Checking the difference in M, M,
M three or even a three 28. I should know the difference. And one point on that actually too is
with the, with alpha, when they, with alpha male, when they kind of made their resurgence back into
the U S with the Julia and, you know, the, they had, you know, they had the Stelvio and, you
know, the SUV and stuff, but the Julia was really like, okay, we're, we're taking on the M threes and
the C classes and, and, you know, that realm of cars because it was that, you know, mentality that,
like, you know, if you really truly like, like driving and you're in it for the driving experience,
you'll be willing to take a different direction than, you know, just what everybody else does,
which go with, you know, go with the BMW, Mercedes. And that was their plug,
which, you know, the Julia, especially the Quadrifoglio is like an amazing car. But again,
it was just never, it didn't pick up the way that they expected because, you know,
there's just a lot more people that, yeah, again, like it's the badge. It's the, you know,
that's what they're into. And again, not to say that that's all of those people in that realm,
but, you know, the sales numbers really lean towards, you know, people were choosing it because
of that. And, you know, Alfa Romeo just didn't have that, you know, people didn't want to take the
risk to, you know, to be honest, fairly, fairly, fairly played because, you know, dealing with Fiat
and, you know, Chrysler and all of that. You're going to be dealing with some headaches.
And headaches and stuff too. I mean, every car, car's got their issues,
man. Every car's got their thing. I just think that some people just buy, you know, what looks,
what is known to be a cool car, just based on like buttons, features, just like the name
recognition with like Mercedes Benz. So it sounds so luxurious. It's like Rolex or whatever,
you know, it just sounds, it sounds like money is just burning out of the tailpipe.
But sounds like it's rolled down the road. Will encourage, man. I know it's getting late
and we've been recording for quite a while. And I want to say thank you once again for coming by
today, man. I really appreciate you and all your stuff. And how's YouTube channel coming along,
by the way? You got anything new coming out down the pipe? Yeah. I'm a little late on my,
my, my latest video. It's okay. My time has come out. It'll be already already. I know it should
already be, hopefully, but, but yeah, I got a new video coming up pretty soon and planning the kind
of, not necessarily changed the direction of the channel, but I got some, some, some newer
perspective on what's kind of driving the channel forward. So I'm going to have something kind of
posted on that. Yeah. Yeah. Honestly, yeah. Honestly, really, it's just like, it's just a
little bit more clarity on like what I really am excited about in terms of like new content coming
forward. Oh, nice. You know, so you may both buddy, you and me both. Yeah. You know, well,
that's fantastic, man. So, so what is your channel? I'll put links in the show notes,
but what does the channel sing to everybody? Yep. Yep. The driven dad 22 will take you
there on both YouTube and Instagram and, uh, you know, definitely do a bit more of like the daily
kind of in the life and things that are randomly going on on the Instagram. YouTube is a lot more
of like kind of specific, you know, events and things like that, but feel free to check it out.
Not just, not just in content, but a lot of stuff going on here in San Diego. So for sure,
be sure to check it out. If you're interested, fantastic. You want to know more about here,
you can go to coolcarswithchrist.com. Everything is right over there. I'll put links to everything
in the show notes of this episode. There's a type nothing and don't worry. Go down there,
click, click. There you go. And until next time, be safe, drive legal, you know, all the usual
things cops are out looking for you, buddy. You know what's going on. All right. I'll catch you guys later.
About this episode
Ram TRX’s return takes center stage, with the hosts tying the comeback to emissions fears and a broader shift in powertrains—while also looking back at the “street truck” era. They connect modern 777-hp talk to Ram SRT 10 and Viper V10 roots, and debate why these trucks appeal as both performance toys and practical work tools. Along the way, they compare street-focused trims, talk fuel and ownership habits, and share a few real-world car culture stories.
In this episode of Cool Cars with Chris, Chris and Courage discuss the reported return of the RAM TRX with 777 horsepower and whether high-performance street trucks are making a major comeback. They revisit legendary models like the RAM SRT-10, the original supercharged Ford F-150 Lightning, and the Toyota Tacoma X-Runner, while also exploring SRT, Scat Pack trucks, and the future of American V8 performance. The conversation covers the ultra-limited Cadillac CT5-V Blackwing, rising gas prices, expensive truck fill-ups, fuel-pump maintenance, towing costs, Uber driving, electric vehicles, and the Ford Mustang Mach-E. Later, the guys dive into Cars and Coffee culture, Corvette-owner stereotypes, why enthusiasts should drive their sports cars, and the growing value of clean, unmodified Nissan 350Zs.
They also compare the 350Z and 370Z, discuss high-mileage 370Z ownership, analog sports cars, BMW and Mercedes-Benz luxury appeal, and whether the Alfa Romeo Giulia delivers a more exciting enthusiast experience.
In this episode
The reported 777-horsepower RAM TRX return
RAM SRT-10 and Viper-powered trucks
The original Ford F-150 Lightning
Are street trucks making a comeback?
Toyota Tacoma X-Runner and performance-truck concepts
Cadillac CT5-V Blackwing pricing and exclusivity
The disappearance of American V8 sedans
Gas prices and expensive truck fill-ups
The half-tank fuel-pump debate
Towing costs and track-day expenses
Uber driving, EVs and the Mustang Mach-E
Cars and Coffee culture
Why enthusiasts should drive their cars
Are clean Nissan 350Zs becoming collectible?
Nissan 350Z versus 370Z
High-mileage 370Z ownership
Performance cars versus luxury badges
Alfa Romeo Giulia versus BMW and Mercedes-Benz
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Love cars, horsepower, road trips and real automotive conversations? Follow Cool Cars with Chris and Courage for new podcast episodes, YouTube videos, car reviews, event coverage and behind-the-scenes content.
