992: Slate Truck, Cash Extraction Devices, Test Drive Tourism
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Car
Maserati MC20
The Maserati MC20 is a new sports car from Maserati that is designed for high performance. It has a powerful engine and is made from lightweight materials to help it go fast.
Car
Fiat 124
Car
Maserati Grecale
The Maserati Grecale is a luxury SUV from Maserati that is designed to be both stylish and practical. It has powerful engines and modern technology.
Concept
Willow Springs International Raceway
Willow Springs is a racetrack in California where cars are driven fast in races and tests. It's a well-known place for car enthusiasts and racers.
Concept
Virginia International Raceway (VIR)
Virginia International Raceway, or VIR, is a racetrack in Virginia where cars race and people can watch. It's famous for its beautiful views and exciting track design.
Car
Mclaren Artura
Term
brake horsepower
Brake horsepower is how much power an engine makes before you consider things like how much power is lost to heat and friction. It's a way to measure how strong the engine is.
Car
Toyota GR86
The Toyota GR86 is a sporty two-door car that is fun to drive. It's designed for people who enjoy speed and handling rather than just getting from one place to another.
Car
Toyota Corolla
The Toyota Corolla is a small car that many people use because it's reliable and doesn't cost much to run. It's a popular choice for everyday driving.
Car
BMW M3
The BMW M3 is a sportier version of the regular BMW 3 Series. It's designed for better performance and driving excitement.
Car
Porsche 911S
The Porsche 911 is a famous sports car that has been around for many years. It's known for its unique shape and powerful performance.
Term
manual transmission
A manual transmission is a system in cars where you have to change gears yourself using a stick and a pedal. Many car lovers like it because it gives them more control over how the car drives.
Concept
Nürburgring
The Nürburgring is a well-known race track in Germany where many cars are tested for performance. It's famous for being very difficult and is often used by car makers to see how their vehicles perform under tough conditions.
Car
Saab 95
The Saab 9-5 is a car made by the company Saab, known for its different style and powerful engines.
Car
Saab 9-3
The Saab 9-3 is a car made by the company Saab. It's a smaller car that was made in the late 1990s and is known for being different from other cars, especially because it often has a turbo engine that makes it more powerful.
Car
Porsche Cayman
Car
Chevrolet Camaro
The Chevrolet Camaro is a sporty car made by Chevy, famous for its speed and performance. It's often seen as a rival to other muscle cars like the Ford Mustang.
Car
Fisker Ocean
The Fisker Ocean is a new electric SUV that focuses on being eco-friendly. It has a unique design and uses sustainable materials inside.
Car
Ford Expedition
The Ford Expedition is a large SUV that can carry many passengers and has a lot of space for cargo. It's good for families and can also handle rough roads.
Car
Lotus Elise
The Lotus Elise is a small, lightweight sports car that is very fun to drive. It's designed for people who love a sporty driving experience.
Concept
Million-Dollar Highway
The Million-Dollar Highway is a beautiful road in Colorado that has lots of curves and great views. It's a favorite for people who love to drive.
Car
Honda Civic
Car
Toyota Prius
The Toyota Prius is a car that uses both gas and electricity to drive, making it very fuel-efficient. It's known for its unique shape and is popular among people who want to save on gas.
Car
BMW X2
The BMW X2 is a smaller SUV from BMW that looks sporty and is designed for city driving. It has a stylish design and is packed with tech features.
Brand
Kia
Kia is a car company from South Korea that makes different types of cars, including small cars and larger SUVs. They are known for their stylish designs and good features.
Brand
Hyundai
Hyundai is a car company from South Korea that makes many different kinds of cars, including sedans and SUVs. They are known for offering good value and long warranties.
Car
Rolls-Royce Cullinan
The Rolls-Royce Cullinan is a very expensive luxury SUV. It is known for being very fancy and comfortable, and it can also handle rough roads.
Car
Ford Fiesta ST
Car
Ford Ranger
The Ford Ranger is a type of pickup truck that can be used for work or everyday driving. It's known for being strong and practical.
Car
BMW Z4
Car
Toyota Supra
Car
Subaru Outback
Term
turbocharged
Turbocharged means that the car's engine has a special device that helps it produce more power. This makes the car faster and more efficient without needing a bigger engine.
Car
Subaru BRZ
Term
torque dip
Torque dip is when a car's engine doesn't provide as much power at certain speeds, making it feel slower. It's like when you press the gas pedal, but the car doesn't respond as strongly as you'd expect.
Car
Toyota Camry
Car
Porsche 959
Car
Mazda Miata
Car
Nissan 300 ZX
Car
Toyota MR2
Car
Porsche Boxster
Car
BMW E46
Car
Subaru WRX
Car
Porsche 911 GT3
Car
Lotus Amira
Car
Volkswagen Golf
Car
Genesis GV60
Car
Mazda Rx7
Car
Nissan 350Z
Car
Honda S2000
Car
Nissan 370Z
Car
Nissan Z
Car
Porsche Cayenne
LIVE
do it. You notice my co-host is here
this time. Yeah. Anyway, yeah, there he
is. All right, here we go. I'm here.
875. It is podcast
875. You realize this year is the 10th
year anniversary of us doing this
podcast. We started and I think it was
like Augustish of 2014.
It's never good to look back in
retrospect. I think it can be. I think
it can be great. I just was looking back
to the last live podcast that I was on
and I was wearing the same shirt. Good
news, I've done laundry since then.
Well, the good news is you actually
still like Porsches and no one's
shocked. So, that's happening as well. I
like Maseratis. That's That's very true.
If you haven't seen all of our Maserati
content, there is actually most of the
Maserati stuff is out now, but there is
one more coming and that is the MC20
test drive where we're riding the car
together. That's coming this Sunday. But
you've probably seen our B Italian
Maserati Fiat 124 piece on the main
channel. Not a comparison. Not a
comparison. And then we also did the
Gracali and the GT on test drive as
well. Of course, test drives are
continuing to be right here on this
channel every Sunday. We do some POVs.
It just depends on the car and what we
have for schedule. Those are continuing
weekly. And then our main channel is
right now about every 3 weeks. We got a
big piece something like that. We We're
in this depends on car availability.
Yes. You guys have to also know that
this quarter of the year, the first
quarter of the year is the hardest
quarter for us to get anything done for
the main channel. Yeah. Because
everything dries up as far as car
availability, like after Thanksgiving
and then we get dumped on for snow, so
we can't shoot anything here. So,
getting something in enough time to
really feed this part of the year is
hard. I wish I could tell you guys all
of the stuff we have going on for the
second half of the year that we are so
excited about, but it's get we're
getting there. Uh, lots of good
questions. Before we get into those, hi
guys. Thank you as always for joining us
on a live podcast. We should do a couple
of announcements. We should because you
and I now um we have that thing called
Hooked on Driving where we're trying to
get you guys on track and we hope you'll
join us. There are three big events,
three big two-day events coming up for
Hooked on Driving. We want to really
promote anytime any one of our
franchises or the home office in NorCal
is doing a two-day event. If you're in
Southern California, two days at Willow
Springs, the 2nd and 3rd of March, that
is this coming weekend. There probably
is still space available. Our franchisee
David down there in the southwest region
has got that event going on. Two full
days at Willow. I've heard I've heard I
can't confirm it's been repaved, which
it needed to be repaved. The ring's
getting repaved. That's all new. Lots of
stuff's getting repaved. There's also
Virginia International Raceway VIR. That
is the VIR season opener March 7th and
8th, 2024. So, thanks to our franchises
there. They are actually collaboration,
the North and the South. Well, I guess
Mike and Mona who do the northeast and
Steve who does the southeast are all
working together on B. It's gonna be a
very cool couple of days. Yeah, that
will be a great event. And then there's
Laguna Secika coming up March 9th and
10th. That is a two-day event with 103
decel sound limit and including garage
rentals. And Todd and I are coming out
for the event. We're coming out. We're
excited. It's going to be very
interesting. It'll be our first actual
attendance at an event as new owners,
which is very exciting. We want to see
everybody, see how it runs. So, if
you're in the area, if you're local,
we'd love to see you come out. But we
are going to do this and continue
announcing various events around the
country as we get to things. We've got
some travel to do on the East Coast and
go out and see our friends out there,
our franchises. We need to get around
the country and go to various events.
So, we'll keep you posted via the
podcast, of course, social media as
well. But before right, before we jump
into our today's
questions, good news everyone. Oh, no.
The McLaren Arturus Spider has been
announced. We just got the press
release. Y it is being revealed as
McLaren's first ever higherformance
hybrid convertible adding a thrilling
new dimension to the Artura and McLaren
supercar range which basically what you
guys need to understand by Paul sharing
this is he's already on the phone with
our McLaren contact trying to figure
when we can get one that's really what
that means that's why he's announcing it
cuz he really is completely distracted
at this point they've bumped the power
20 brake horsepower so it is now making
690 brake horsepower but for everyone
who owns the coupe McLaren will provide
free of charge that 20 horsepower bump
to your coupe. So, it it will match the
new Spider, which is a one-piece
retractable panel, and it actually looks
really good. I'm not a convertible guy
very much, but it looks really good. A
good hard top convertible is awesome.
And basically, it's all just software
anyway, right? So, we're going to have
that happen. Yeah. Mhm. I think you
should jump into questions. Thank you
guys for posting up. We've got some on
social media, which we need to get to
and then I say ask away all your car
questions. James Cardi on X actually
asked Elantre in or GR86 which then he
gave the rest of the discussion and it
becomes really obvious. He said this is
just about which one is more fun. He
doesn't need a car with utility. He can
use his fiance's Corolla. If you're just
buying for fun GR86 I mean I love the
Elantre in but get rear wheel drive get
lighter. That just go with that. That
that's the easy answer there. Bella B
1029 on Instagram says, "Maybe a topic
Tuesday, but what are cars that we find
ourselves suggesting older generations
of like 911s or M3s or minis?" Yes, is
the answer to all of those. I was going
to say there's a good list, good start,
I really do feel like, especially now
that we're observing HOD track days and
HOD attendees, those cars are becoming
more and more valuable to keep running,
but those are going to be turned into
track cars or the dualpurpose kind of
thing. But everybody wants the manual
transmission. Although I have been
seeing news articles, I can't pinpoint a
particular article right now, but I've
been seeing news about manual
transmissions and how customers are
continuing to buy manuals and that is
making OEMs wake up and say, "Okay,
clearly this hashtags save the manuals
thing kind of worked and you guys aren't
done buying manuals. So, we'll keep
doing a few things and I'd like to see
all of our manufacturers continue to
investigate because it does add such a
dimension." I mean, the Artura Spider is
not, which is kind of a Will it be? But
if it were McLaren, I bet you your sales
would go up. That's very funny. I mean,
this is the thing, and I'm gonna keep
beating on it, and we've said it
forever. The only way manufacturers keep
making us these kind of cars is we have
to buy them new. We all, and I'm
pointing the finger at myself, we all
like to rage online about make more
manuals, but we're only buying used
cars. If nobody's buying a new manual,
then the manufacturers can't see the
benefit of those development dollars.
I'm glad that it's happening at least a
little bit. That's something we have to
keep doing. Uh, somebody's asking about
this fellowship in the Nurburgring
shirt. I love it. And shout out to the
fan who actually made it for me and hand
it to me at a meetup uh in the East
Coast. It was awesome. I was totally
unexpected. I do love it. I wear it
every now and then. It's just a blending
of the parts of my life and it makes me
laugh and unfortunately it's not one
that we sell. If that fan would like to
send us the art with the approval to
make it, we will make more. But I'm not
going to make that assumption until that
happens. I was just traveling after some
business travel that you and I had. We
were doing some winter driving in GR
Corollas. I stopped to celebrate my
dad's birthday. He's currently watching.
I love him very much. So, happy
birthday, Dad. I got to on the same trip
my brother-in-law's Saab 95. Oh, this is
his new one. The wagon. Oh, no. Yeah.
The the Saab collection continues. Yes.
Goodness. Mhm. And he let me drive it.
He's put brand new tires on it, which is
fantastic. And it's actually really well
well sorted. It turned 122,000 miles.
This is the one he bought in Anchorage
from an owner up there. Had it shipped
down the coast and took delivery not too
long ago. He is thrilled and it's just
he he let me kind of get into it and and
so we did and I don't know why everyone
doesn't love wagons. It's just a cool
wagon. So wagons are cool. I do like it
a lot. He found a really really clean
one. It is red. It is the right spec. As
much as we make fun of your
brother-in-law for his Saab love. It is
the right car. He did find something
very cool. Did you outdrive him in it
though? Did you drive it to the point
where he was like, "Well, I haven't
driven it like that yet." I'm not sure.
He didn't mention anything. Probably.
But got to get outside on Instagram
asks, "How do you know when it's time to
let go of your beloved sports car that
doesn't get driven enough?" And Daniel,
my brother-in-law, were talking about
this very thing on the recent drive,
actually today and talking about, "Well,
what about my nephew's Saab 95?" N,
sorry, 93. No, Daniel says the 93. And I
was going to say, I thought it was the
other way around. It is the other way
around. I'm not quite used to the Saab
nomenclature. Still working on the five
is bigger than the three. The five is
the older one. just got them. I just got
the three. Yeah. 1997 car. In insane.
Yes. But now he doesn't want to let go
of any of them. And I said, you don't
have to what you and I have talked
about. You don't have to dislike that
car to get rid of it. Maybe something
comes back in your life at some point,
but you don't have to really be done
with it to get rid of it. So, got to get
outside. I know that you're recognizing
it's not getting driven enough. And
that's a bummer. Changes happen in our
lives. Time has to be reallocated to new
activities. We totally get that.
However, if it's not being driven and
you don't foresee a point where your
current activities will end to go back
to driving your sports car, it's okay to
sell it. Maybe something will come back
into your life. But most of all, look at
it as an opportunity to bring something
new into your life when you are ready
again. Do you see Beaker's Garage? Only
you can answer this question. The 981
Cayman with sports seats. What's the
best way to improve seat comfort for a
cross-country trip? I don't feel like
you've had issues, but what are your
thoughts? I actually haven't. We've done
uh quite a few road trips. I've taken it
on our Utah Adventure quite a lot, and
I've always been great. They're the base
seats. They're the sport seats, but
they're the base for the GTS. I suppose
a small pillow in your lumbar. That's
the first thing that goes. It's not
lateral support. It's always lumbar and
your mid to lower back. So, just take a
small pillow and jam it down in there.
But, another good thing is to do a
rolledup t-shirt or if if you've got a
hoodie, you can take your hoodie off and
jam it down back there. And uh it
definitely eases the loins. So here's
why billionaires wear hoodies. They're
having lumbar issues in their really
high-end car with the crazy doors and so
they take the hoodie off and they fix
the lumbar maybe. But they can afford to
just have the seats redone. They can
just or get rid of the car and get a car
with something with different seats. I
totally agree with that. That's
excellent. Good point. Jorge asks if we
can please pronounce Porsche as if it
were Versace. Porsace. That was what
that's what Nick did on the video we
released today when we did Price of Fun.
Nick just walked around and did these
all these little snippets and that was
my favorite one by far. I had to post
the day because we were talking about
questions and us making up answers. We
were making jokes about that. Uh Minty
has said, "Hey, howdy guys. Hello back."
He says, "Recently got a job as a
salesman for Chevy. Wondering what we
think about the Chevy lineup if anything
stands out to us. I think the Blazer in
RS trim is better than we expected it to
be." Mhm. The Camaro, it's too bad it's
going away. Mhm. The Corvette is great
across the board. Full stop. Doesn't
matter what trim you get. They need a T.
They need a lightweight T. Stingray.
That would be nice. Uh, and the um, you
know what? Nobody out Suburban's the
Suburban.
That's just the just Suburban. Suburb.
And honestly, I think the two real
things that are the jewels and the crown
of Chevrolet across the board are the
vet and the Suburban. They just they
kill both those areas, right? just wipe
away all the other brands and it's the
Suburban company and the vet company. I
actually saw my first Fisker Ocean on
the road driving back from the airport
today, but I thought it was a Buick. I
was coming up, is that a Bu Fisker
Ocean? There's one. It was clearly a
test drive and I was I I kept my speed
around a corner. I was driving the
Expedition, by the way. Oh, man. Okay.
Yeah. Kept my speed and that thing needs
momentum, but he saw me coming and just
Here's down. I was like, great. Thank
you for, you know, yeah, having power.
I've got to keep my momentum. Nobody
expects the fact that you and that
expedition are going to be that good
around corners. In fact, here's a
related question. Club racer, thank you,
man. He says, can we weigh in our
feelings about the C8? We'll be sad to
see it go. It's still around. It's
actually around through a big road trip
coming later this year. We'll be sad to
see it go. It didn't place well in the
price of fund piece. He doesn't feel
like we recommend it much. What is the
use case for it? There's been a lot of
really good questions about the C8. uh
in relation to our price of fund piece
because I want to come back to the price
of fund video which is on our main
channel right now. It's it literally
it's the $30,000 GR86 to the $300,000
McLaren Artura. It's five cars in there.
And I want to also reiterate those five
cars are not the definitive five most
fun cars. They were five cars
representing price points. You could do
that entire piece with five different
cars. But the C8 didn't do great there
because that was a piece focused on
driving involvement and fun. And many
people in the comments have pointed out
that the C8 is probably the most
versatile car there. And I think that
can be argued along with and honestly
the Carrera T even isn't even the 911
you'd have for the most versatile. You'd
have other 911s. Yeah, true. The C8 is
is approachable. It is financially
somewhat attainable and it is shocking.
Watch our 2,000mi piece with the C8 and
the Lotus Elise. This is a car that
anytime either one of us drove the C8,
we were just
like, this is so great. It's a great
place to be. Honestly, if you have a C8,
and we've met some people like this in
Mount Rushmore. If you have a C8 and
you're not taking it on road trips, you
have missed one of the best things about
that car. I feel like everybody that
buys a C8 should put thousands of miles
a year on it just going new places. You
can daily it. Absolutely. You can take
it to a track. It it it is un It may be
the most versatile near supercar made
and I would take it and never think
twice about it compared to a lot of
other supercars. But that is just
designed to be the perfect crosscountry
road trip. If you were in Nebraska,
which we've done doing 100 for the next
two hours. Yeah. Or you wind up on
Million-Dollar Highway in Colorado in a
C8, you're very happy in both equations.
That's hard. That's really hard. You
know, every time journalists ask us,
other people, friends, they always say,
"So, you've got a C8. What do you think
of that car?" And it always seems like a
loaded question, but there's we can have
full confidence in going in and just
saying, "It's fantastic. It's great to
drive." No, it's not the most hardcore
dialed sports car you'll ever get in,
but on the other hand, you can be very
comfortable on the road trips that we've
done and prove that it's such a
versatile car. You're right. Oliver C
says where he is a slightly used Integra
manual is the same price as the
equivalent Civic SI for the same money
as the Integra the obvious choice. You
know what we found and been told and
that is if Civic SI aren't available
because they are the kind of the hot
choice. The Integra might be available
for the same price or just might be
available to buy and that does make it
compelling. It is good although I do
like the seats in the Civic SI better. I
think I do prefer the Honda styling but
the Integra is really solid.
We got a question here. Adam's asking
about the new Prius. Would it get as
much attention if it weren't called a
Prius, meaning a different car to
contrast from prior marketing? Here's
the thing. I think if it were a
completely different car that did the
same thing with a different badge, I
think it actually might sell a little
better because it wouldn't carry the
baggage. The problem the Prius is having
now, and and even your question
acknowledges it, is we're trying to get
over the baggage that car has, but it's
just a good-look car that works. It's
not the nicest interior. It's not the
most comfortable seats, but it gets
great gas mileage and it looks good and
it's not that expensive. That car is a
victory. I think the Prius badge makes
in some cases it get more press than it
would otherwise, but I think saleswise
there are people that would that will
never consider or buy that car because
it says Prius on it. And that's too bad.
Jorge Porto says, "Here's to the
brotherhood of the Jorgees." All his
friends automatically assume it's him.
Force Multiplier. All of our friends who
are named Jorge Jorge. Thank you guys
for being with us. Jorge Jorge Porto, we
met him in LA uh back in November for
just prior to the LA Auto Show. It was
really cool to meet him and uh hopefully
see him at uh various events coming up
as well. Got a question from Shadow
Sniper
9513. Says, "Hey guys, I work at a BMW
dealership as a product specialist. What
do we think about the new
X2?" I think
it's certainly evolutionary, but that is
a that is a crutch. That is a a way out.
of saying the BMW styling theme. I think
they're taking a hard look at, but
they're trying to certainly apply it to
every shape and size of every vehicle
they make, and it's not always
successful. There are some surfaces of
this that I do feel like it's
successful, and that is because SUVs
that are boxy and square just kind of
seem more expensive and luxurious. That
has now been the theme of the new Kia
and Hyundai's that we're seeing, more
squared off kinds of shapes. I do
appreciate what's going on and that has
always been sort of the Range Rover look
and that has said more expensive. It's
just a a box. I mean, it's a Rolls-Royce
Cullinin. The Cullinin looks a little
too soft. So, maybe the Cullinin will
crispen things up a little bit now, you
know, since they're owned by BMW anyway.
So, maybe we'll get a new look out of
them. But I am curious to to discover
that the X2 is the only SUV of BMW's
SUVs globally that is not built at the
southern uh South Carolina factory. It
is actually built in Germany, but every
other BMW SUV that you see on the planet
comes from South Carolina, which is
amazing. So yeah, it's built in I
believe it's Munich at one of the Munich
factories right there. But I mean I mean
it's fine. I think it's it's certainly
evolutionary and it's they're they're
really leaning into that styling element
and if they continue to do so they will
really make it theirs but I don't feel
like it instantly screams BMW. It says
luxurious but I don't know that it just
says that's a B I guess a BMW to the T.
Anyway, I'm curious to drive it for
sure. Dan is saying he test drove a
Fiesta ST finally over the weekend. Such
a fun little car. He has a daily family
car which is a new Ford Ranger. He's
debating whether to buy the Fiesta ST
for a fun car or keep saving for the
Elise or Cayman. My guess is that the
Fiesta ST is probably costing you a
quarter what an Elise or Cayman is. So
my question for you is, of course, it's
us, so we're saying buy all the cars,
but could you have a Fiesta ST and keep
saving for the Elise and Cayman? It's
not like the Fiesta is even half what a
Elise or Cayman are. So I'm thinking I
mean, why not get a Fiesta ST now? It's
probably 10 grand on the high side. You
know what I mean? And Caymans are 30 to
30 to 40 depending upon which one you
want. And the leases are every bit of 40
right now. That's a very different car.
The mid-enine cars are worth saving for,
worth stretching for. But I wonder if
you bought a Fiesta ST now and kept it
for 5 years. What's it going to lose?
Couple grand. I mean, you're probably
going to get most of what you buy it for
back out of it because those cars have
kind of bottomed out. So, I think that
is a safe place to buy, drive, keep your
money in, and then jump later. Minty's
got a question that I'm mulling over.
Minty, thanks for the question. We have
talked about the less than fun time that
we had at the dealership when we bought
the
GR86. The question is, is there anything
that we feel a dealership can do to make
the experience better for the consumer?
As I was walking through that
dealership, I saw a plethora of lounges.
There were various lounges scattered
throughout the dealership because it's
of course huge, but different themes,
different lounges with different chairs.
They had an espresso bar. There were
baristas inside the dealership. So, what
does that tell you? You're a captive
audience there and they know you're
going to be stuck there. It's about
valuing us, the customer, our time. Not
that I don't want you to have a
comfortable place to sit or be able to
get grab a snack or a coffee, but it
just seems like a Vegas lounge. I mean,
what's next? There's going to be a a
stage show and you know, you're going to
just never leave. No clocks on the walls
coming up on the main stage. Yeah.
All the moving sidewalks go toward the
coffee bar. Seriously. So, it's about
valuing the customer's time and making
it so efficient to get the customer back
out the door, whether they're buying a
car, whether they're in service. I know
sometimes waiting is inevitable, but
still making things to value time. So,
it's, you know, we're putting it back in
your hands and think they they really
respected my time. I want to go back for
whatever the the need. That's a great
point because I I want I want to clarify
that we worked with Mark Miller Toyota
here in Salt Lake and honestly, they
were one of the best dealers to work
with. I've ever worked with. They were
superb. So I don't I don't want to give
the impression we had a bad dealer
experience. No problemic. No, no, no.
The problem was in spite of kind of
being fasttracked and treated well, we
were still there half the day. And that
comes back to your point. You would
think in the modern world, aren't there
things that we can do digitally online
or preload or whatever to just speed the
process? Because I've been at dealers.
Can you rent a car? Yes. Just show me
the license. Booping. Here's the keys.
But thanks for renting. dealers with
others and with actually my own family
at one point where the kids have timed
out. You don't want to be anywhere when
the kids time out. I don't care where it
is. So just how fast can we move
through? I mean we don't need a ball pit
in the dealership. We don't need Maybe
for the adults actually. You just you're
so frazzled. I'm going to get the ball.
Just Just give me a minute. Why can't it
be like a resurface out of the ball?
We're gonna sit at a dealership. Grady
saying, "Z4 manual or super manual if
you're indifferent to the top down
experience."
If you don't need top down, I say Supra.
I think so. I think it's I think it's
the more interesting looking car on its
own. But if you need top down, I do
think that the the I thank God that the
Z4 has gotten the manual now because I
couldn't believe they hadn't done it
already. So, I think it's good that it's
going to have it. Sunny asks about the
Subaru rumor. They're going to reveal a
new Outback generation at the New York
Auto Show next month. Do we think they
might not be a new generation, a new
generation legacy since it's not in
Japan and doesn't sell well here? Well,
it'll I I feel like it's just going to
be another refresh at this point. I
don't know. I have not dug into the
Subaru press release quite yet, but it's
uh it's going to take a lot for Subaru
to make a big splash and wow everybody
with the new something that isn't just
well, it's all-wheel drive. It can go
off-road. It can carry your stuff and
it's well priced and turbocharged and
it's got a good screen. So, beyond that,
what's really compelling? We're buying
styling. That's what we're buying.
Right. G Markx is saying, uh, he loves
the channel. Thank you so much. He's
thinking about buying a manual BRZ as a
second fun car. Now that they've updated
it with the 2.4 L motor, the current
engine, should he only get that and not
one of the outdated models with the 2 L?
G marks, you're going to have to ask
yourself what you're expecting from
power. If you are a person who you've
never really had a powerful car, the
first generation, you can get them
affordably. They drive wonderfully. I
think you would thoroughly enjoy it. I
would definitely advise the tune. It's a
very simple tune that kind of kills the
torque dip, which is the real thing that
makes you feel that car is underpowered.
I did the tune. Chance did the tune. We
both had our first generations. It helps
a lot. If you're not a person who is
coming from a muscle car, something with
400 plus horsepower, you're going to
like the first gen just just fine. If
you're a person where power equals fun
to you, the first generation is probably
only going to disappoint you and then
you're going to start tuning it. And
almost across the board, the people that
tune the first gen for more power
eventually broke the motor and at that
point get the second gen. Did we talk
about the Z4 manual yet? Yes, we did
from Brad. That's fantastic. Yeah, I saw
Well, I saw it. I mean, Grady's talking
about about that or the Supra. I don't
know if Brad's question I suppose. I was
Yeah, I was seeing uh any excitement for
that Z4 manual. Justin is applauding me
and also shaking his head at me because
he is a fellow lease owner and he saw me
post the thing of taking it through the
touchless car wash. By the way, I was
that was brave of you, by the way.
Stupid, brave. There's an equivalency
there. Anyway, I've owned the car for
seven years and I've taken it through a
touchless car wash twice total because
the first time was so traumatic and was
just done as a test right after I got
the car and I had the soft top on. This
time I had the hard top on and we'd
taken it actually through a lot of snow
and I really wanted to get it all
blasted because of the snow and salt
that have been on it a little more so
than I could do with my own uh my own
pressure washer. So that's why I took
the risk. I also thought let's see how
bad the uh hard top leaks. Guess what?
Just as bad. Uh it's not something I do
regularly. I haven't seen any gremlins
since then. Uh I was cautious and it's a
kind of a one-time thing for the laugh.
And of course then I post on Instagram
and get to look like an idiot which is
fun. That happened. More HOD questions.
Ryan Stamp is asking about the HOD deal.
Who had more anxiety between the two of
us during the purchasing process? Or did
we take turns? We took turns. I feel
like when you were uh on edge then I had
to to come to the rescue and when I was
just fed up with things. It was quite a
learning experience. That was 10 months
of negotiations and investigations. And
I it's something that neither you or I
have done uh in our past. Is you mean we
just don't go around buying companies?
No, it was actually the the due
diligence period was really revealing
and it changed perceptions about what we
were getting and what we were buying and
and of course we we always had ideas up
front but then as you find out things
and what's possible and then you know to
to grow the brand and uh certainly grow
the the availability of track days it uh
it just informed us a lot. So there
there was constant pivoting and there
was certainly a lot of stress, but I'm
so thrilled that we're doing this and
thank you guys for your support of HOD.
We definitely want to grow. We
definitely want to get more people on
track and what a great venue to do it.
It's it's a business that runs and we've
got great people and great franchises
already in place for that. So yeah, it's
really good. In fact, Jorge is asking us
as a follow-up. He said he's got two
young girls interested in having
advanced driver education for them as
they approach driving age beyond what he
can do. He's seen that in Europe.
There's not many opportunities here.
There's a few. I think if I'm not wrong,
I think Ty Rack does one on the East
Coast at their thing. I think they
partner with somebody. I think so. I
think they Southbend Indiana. I know
that our local track UMC here used to do
one. In fact, need to look into it again
because my son's about a year from
needing that. But he's asking is if this
a hooked on driving opportunity and my
short answer is yes. I think it would be
great to have a standardized hooked on
driving sponsored you're a young driver
get you driving at the limits thing.
Now, setting that up is a whole
different animal, but it's definitely
one of those things we've talked about
for sure. Our friend Derek Miller,
Derek, hello. He had a salesman text him
today with a fully customizable
allocation for a car that he wasn't
shopping for. Oh, no. Okay, yeah, I got
it. Why is it so hard to say no when he
wasn't even shopping for it? Because
salespeople know this and they go back
through their rolodex and think, "Ah, I
haven't talked to this person in a long
time. Let me just give them a call." And
if you're a great customer, they'll, you
know, you'll be kind of towards the top
and say, "Wonder if they're interested."
There's two things going on here, Derek.
First off, the reason it's hard to say
no is because you get to hear that thing
that especially if you've ever bought a
used car, you you get to go like, "Wait,
wait, wait." Exactly. Like I want it.
You're thinking of me like like that
one. Exactly. I've never thought about a
Camry, but if I could make my Camry then
maybe and I'm not taking a slight of the
Camry, it's just a car I'd never buy.
That's what part of it. The other thing
is if you get up into the higher levels
of cars, Porsche is known for this,
Ferrari is known for this, the sales
people go back through their rolodex and
they find people they know have the
liquidity or or have shown with regular
purchases either way that they will buy
a car. The salesman is literally
thinking about selling it the second
time and they will call the person the
first time. That's crazy. And guide them
on how to spec it. Ferrari does this to
auction your car. Well, Porsche does it
too. So that then when that person sells
it in six months or a year or sometimes
they encourage them to do that as a
money-making way, then they can get a
car back they can sell easier. They're
thinking of customer number two, not
you. That they're thinking of their
commission on the back side of the
second customer. the person that gave us
the GT2 RS when we drove it against the
Porsche 959 for that comparison film. He
told us that he was called by Porsche of
Salt Lake City. Said, "Hey, this other
owner dropped out. I know you've made
noises about this car. What do you
think?" And suddenly he found himself on
the hook for a $350,000 car. But then he
did sell it. And I think he even made
money and they're even more expensive
now. So, you know, everybody made money
in the deal, but it's because it's GT2
RS. Elliot Manning is following up on
the Lotus Extravaganza in the in the car
wash. Yes. I don't know why people
thought that was a brush wash. It was
just a touch. The brushes would have
been like, "Oh, yes. Seriously, I would
have been like fighting them all,
slapping you in the face." Yeah. No. So,
it was touchless. But he said he's
assuming the high pressure water was the
problem. You're exactly right, Elliot.
In fact, the way I normally watch that
car, watch our 2,000mi road trip piece
because I walk you through it. Even
using my own pressure washer, I do not
aim it right at the seam of the roof and
the top of the window because I know the
water's going to go through. I mean, you
can spray around it, but don't fire at
it. Of course, that thing's
indiscriminate, so it ends up with water
on the inside. Doug Joseph, thank you
for jumping on. Thank you for uh for
your questions. Much appreciated. I'm
jumping back to Instagram from a friend
Akam in Germany who was asking, "Why is
the same engine in the Fiat 500 aart a
hoot, the little dragon, Todd, you
called it that, and celebrated for its
sound?" Well, in the not much heavier
124, he had that that impression that in
our recent Italian review, it did not
receive a lot of love. This does nothing
better than a Miata. Akam personally
prefers mid-range turbo punch in daily
driving, but that 124 is used 5,000 more
than the ND Miata, which is not
justified. It's a slightly different
engine, AAM. But you're right.
Ultimately, it comes down to how does it
make power and how does it make me feel
when I'm driving the car. I feel like
it's the exhaust that I really do. Sound
is such a sales thing and will always
continue to be, but sound that's
available now and the way the car was
originally conceived. Because you could
also argue, well, you can add an exhaust
to any car and make it sound
differently. Yes, but now you're
suddenly doing R&D work to develop your
own sound. You're spending money and
what if it's not quite right? Well, they
tuned it specifically just like that to
give it a certain personality and that
sells or, you know, doesn't sell. It
doesn't appeal to some customers, but I
think sound is is the key. Same engine,
but they can tune it slightly
differently, get a few more horsepower,
and it sounds different. It's a
different car, right? It does seem like
it. And you know, when we first drove
that car, you actually liked the 124 for
the same thing he's talking about, that
mid-range power, but as I said in our
124 uh MC20 piece, the best part of that
car are the Miata Bones. I think it's
definitely the case. Damon KB on
Instagram says in is Infiniti the best
used car brand?
I have never heard that. Now, there is
just so much that's better at the same
price point, but unless you get luxury
for the same price as Nissan or even
cheaper than the comparable Honda and
Toyota products, not to mention Lexus,
Acura, and the Germans. I mean,
ultimately, you have to decide what is
your priority. And it is a descending
order. Is it value first and you got
something that feels luxurious? Then it
is it reliability? Then is it the
company behind that name plate? and then
in descending order all the fun things
that we want out of a car. I think
that's where certainly Infiniti could
shine. I do like Acura and certainly
Lexus is up there, but personally I'm
willing to move more towards the Euro
cars that have the fun driving kind of
built in. I mean, I I gravitate towards
that that direction because I'm willing
to put up with some of the all right, it
needs this, it needs this, the
maintenance, the fixes, the You're a
Maserati owner. I understand. I've been
a Maserati owner. Okay. So, resets
everything. Philip is saying, "In a
money, no object situation, would we
rather take our car to a dealership or
an independent mechanic for any and all
maintenance?" Now, Philip, this is a I'm
kind of ducking this question by saying
this. Where is the place where I feel
like I'm going to get the most personal
service from the guy that's actually
going to do the work? If I were going to
a dealer and that dealer had a front
pacing person who was like the tech for
that car and I could meet that person
and I felt confident with them that oh
yeah I know these cars and that kind of
thing. I have no problem going to the
dealer and I'll pay dealer prices for
that guy. If I'm going to independent
mechanic, he specializes in that car and
I get that same feeling from him. I get
to meet him, shake his hand and he gets
to say, "Hey, I'm going to work on this
car and I know these things." I want to
I want to be able to talk to the tech
and I feel like that's harder at a
dealer than an independent mechanic.
That's the thing that gives me
confidence. Great questions in here.
Great stuff. Beaker's Garage recently
had a TYON base as a loaner from the
dealer. He thought it was good for an
EV, but missed his flat six after a day.
Our thoughts on the TYON compared to
other EVs. We've not specifically driven
a TYON. We have driven the Audi Ron GT,
which is pretty much going to be the
same driving experience. there there
will be slight differences in how power
is delivered and that kind of thing, but
for the most part, you know, it's very
solid, but we're still at the beginning
of modern EVs and what they will do and
what the capability will will and can
be. And I'm talking about weight, and
they still just feel so neutral to me,
just too too neutral, I suppose. Well,
yeah, they've got a they've got a a
sterileness about them in general that I
look forward to somebody actually
creating something that doesn't feel
that way, but it'll be fascinating to
see what happens. T Wh Wayan says,
"Please tell us how to reduce the
crippling road noise in the GR86
switching from the stock stock PS4 tires
to PL did absolutely nothing." Um, I
hate to say this, but uh that is a loud
car and always will be. I mean, unless
you want to take the time to put more
sound deadening in it, the cost of the
car and the weight savings are the
reason it's loud. I submit to you the
Fiesta ST louder. I submit to you the
Miata louder. I submit to you the Lotus
Elise lots louder because I'm talking
about cars that are now cheaper or or
lighter than the GR86. Also, you're down
there low between the wheel wells that
brings noise into the cabin. That is a
loud car. Remember when we drove it as a
support vehicle? In fact, Derek helped
us when we did our East Coast trip.
anytime I rode in that, it had more road
noise than my 300 ZX that I was taking
on the same trip, which I thought was
fascinating. And the 300 ZX was actually
a little bit softer ride, too. But the
300ZX was a more expensive car designed
to be more of a GT car than the GR86,
which is designed to be more involving.
Granted, with the Elise as my reference
point, I'm the wrong guy to ask. Why
shouldn't Boonddock St. Ryan sell his
Fiesta ST and start importing and
selling Japanese K cars into Canada to
make it a better place? You can't think
of any good
reasons. We can't tell you, but we know
somebody who can. And that is our friend
Adam at sodtomoto in Seattle. Look up
sodomto.com and he can tell you because
he actually imports a lot of cars into
the US from Canada, but he sells a lot
of K cars that he brings over from
Japan. And you can ask him about the ins
and outs and pitfalls or maybe no
pitfalls of sourcing and buying. We do
know that that Autozam A1 windshield is
about $3,000 to replace. So, just know
that going in. The parts and the
scarcity of such for all the these rare
cool cars might be harder and you're
gonna have to let your customers know
that or maybe not. Adrien H is saying,
"Like the 86 or the Supra or even the
Fiata from our recent video, what brands
would we most like to see unite to make
a new fun car?" I think we said this
before, but I have to circle back to it.
Toyota has proven that they are doing
collaborations. So, where is Toyota and
Porsche making a new MR2?
A $40,000ish
MR2 to be sold as a Toyota underneath
the Porsche offerings of the Boxster.
It's going to need to be 200 horsepower.
So, it's probably what the D-tuned flat
motor from Porsche with some Toyota
stuff in it. I'm just thinking that
would be a cool car. Got a question on
Instagram from 614 MX5 asking, "When we
talk about driver engagement from manual
transmission cars, are we talking about
the physical act of pressing in the
clutch and shifting and then releasing
the clutch? Or are we talking about
listening and feeling for when to
upshift and when to downshift for
maximum fun? And if it's the latter,
don't shiftable automatics or dual
clutch transmissions provide that level
involvement?" I do get some of that out
of my dual clutch. I do when I drive it
in manual mode. But I think it's the
feeling of feeling where the cog is
going to well, first of all, the
synchro, but then the cog going into
gear. And it's about control. I I think
that all of us would probably rather fly
the airplane than be a passenger if we
could. There's certainly a segment of us
that very much feel that way. I just
would like to fly the plane. I think
it's fun. I'm not a control freak thing.
I just think I'd like to do it. But same
thing with cars. We like to have that
much more dominance over this machine.
We want to be in control over the
machine and I think that's much of it.
But understanding and feeling all the
quirks about that car because manual
transmissions make each individual car
different. Not that series because the
clutch wear is different. The clutch uh
or the gearbox wear is different.
Everything about that car wears
differently. It's not, you know, it's
cookie cutter new. It's all the same
when they're new, but when different
cars get driven differently. This one's
kind of beat on. It's rattly and not
great. This is the same exact car, same
mileage, and it how come it feels so
good now? That manual transmission makes
that car have its own distinct
personality. I think that's what we love
discovering. That is good. The other
thing I'm going to add to that is, think
about this for a minute. Think about
driving a really good PDK, dual clutch,
whatever. You can sit there and drive
that car very hard and never move your
limbs. True. You can do this. Yeah. But
that your your lower body won't move at
all because all it's moving is seriously
you don't have to move your limbs. And
with a manual transmission, your right
hand's always moving for the stick. Your
left foot and both your both your legs
are moving. There is I know it's a
cliche, but there is a dance going on
when you drive a manual that is not
duplicated by any dual clutch because
you can sit there much more still. Now,
if you're on a racetrack, that's better
because you're still in the car and
focused on what you're doing. And so,
these other things that remove your
balance in the car can be disruptive.
But if I'm driving for fun, I want that
dance. It's it's enjoyable. It's not
quite rider active, but almost because
you're almost sliding around in your
seat when your limbs I mean, your your
weight's changing. You're right. When
you're just driving an automatic or a
dual clutch, you're you're locked down.
You're not your body's not moving. But
when we're doing this with our limbs,
you're right. Suddenly becomes rider
active. That's
great. Let's see. Kay and Meg's dad
says, "Sarching for next fan manual fun
car. Past experiences include an E46
sedan. Cool car, 987.2 base Cayman, and
a first gen BRZ." He says he knows that
Miata is always the answer. He's looking
at an NC, which is the third gen, along
with a second gen GR86, maybe even a
WRX. But his question is, he's not even
looking at frontwheel drive candidates.
So, is he overlooking a whole fun
segment of the market by not looking at
frontwheel drive candidates? Uh, okay.
First, KMG's dad, you need to drive a
couple of the front-wheel drive
standouts. Go drive a Fiesta ST. You can
find them for so cheap. Go drive one. Go
drive a Mini Cooper. Preferably the John
Cooper works, but drive a Mini Cooper S
with a manual. drive a Civic Type R if
you can because I want you to understand
how really great they are. Now, let me
turn it the other way. I had a Mini
Cooper for a year and loved driving it,
but I realized while owning it that I
just don't like front-wheel drive
enough. There was nothing wrong with it.
Spa was a great car. He was fantastic in
the winter and and you know, I learned
to use under steer in the snow to my
benefit, which was also riotously funny.
I thoroughly enjoyed it. The
supercharger wine in that car was
amazing. You talk about sound, that was
great, but I just realized, you know, I
just prefer the way a a rearwheel drive
car gets unsettled and the way the
weight moves around because of rear
wheel drive. So, that's why I prefer it.
But, you need to drive those front-wheel
drive standouts to get a sense of it. I
don't think you're in the wrong for
wanting rear wheel drive prim primarily.
I think based on the stuff you've owned,
I think you're going to find the WRX to
be a little bit muted for the fun you're
hoping to have. I like the other stuff
on your list. Great questions here. Joel
T on Facebook asks us both when we come
when it comes to our own car
progression, what is next? Knows that we
love the Elise for Todd and Cayman GTS
for me. What's
next? Can we can we go up the I mean,
here's here's the debate. Look, the
there are things up the ladder of cost
that would be great to have, but you
know, money is a real thing. You know,
money is a thing. And I have said before
that your your lineage of cars
throughout your life doesn't have to be
the next dollar amount tier higher. It
doesn't always have to be this ascending
till finally we own Artura spiders and
we're good with 700. Yeah. 690 brake
horsepower, whatever. I'm not saying
that. We do. It makes it easier having
access to the cars that we drive. I will
say that because it when when we miss a
car, suddenly it comes back around where
we get to drive an 86 again or we get to
revisit simply by virtue of thinking
another comparison to put it in or a new
version of it or something like that.
But when it comes to personal cars, you
heard me making noise about selling that
Cayman GTS and I have backed off that
because it's I love it so much. There's
versions of the Cayman that are
empirically better, but it's going to
take more money to do it. And that's my
personal problem. I can't quite get
there yet. But the Corvette has done a
lot to to help uh alleviate that itch,
but I still really love my Cayman GTS. I
still look at it as a long-termer, but I
would like to have a GT4 RS. But
actually, I've really been jonesing for
That's right. It's on your shirt. The
shirt. keep wearing this shirt trying to
like you're just telling the universe
car you'd like. I got it. That's very
good. Look, I'd love to step up have an
Amir. That would be amazing. I'd love to
have an Amira. I But I want a GT3
manual. That's what I want. GT3 manual.
Just new GT3. I'll tell you this right
now. For me, I think an Amir is the
upper level car I'd ever own. I don't
know that I'd own a 200 I mean, let's
say I could afford a two or $300,000
$400,000 million dollar car. I'm not
sure I'd buy one because then I lose
manual. And you do get in a car, you
have to just because of what it is, you
have to think about it more when you
drive it. And one of the things I loved
about that price of fun piece besides
all of the fun cars, even compared to
the Lotus, the thing I liked about the
G86 was it was just like, I'm just going
to get in this and drive it. I'm going
to drive it as hard as I possibly want.
I'm not going to worry about it because
it was a $30,000 Toyota product. I would
have a GR86 again tomorrow instantly.
I'd have a Miata for the same reason I
don't fit. I'd have to, you know, sit
there like this the whole time. But and
there is something really satisfying
about that. And I and I, you know, I may
keep that elite if I can. I'll keep that
Elise indefinitely because nothing comes
back and really replaces that. But you
and I are spoiled because we do get into
so much stuff. And then the show, this
this is such a weird thing that we do.
The show encourages us to buy cars. The
G86, the C8, the crazy sedans, the crazy
sports cars. It encourages us to do that
because if if we hit the the the target
right, we can actually have that make us
money for a time period. And so it makes
sense to pay to have those cars. But
that's a weird way to live. I we'll see
where this goes.
Barbara Peterson says, "There's nothing
better than the per perfect shift based
on sound and feel." Agreed. You're
right. Agreed. There's a perfect lap out
there, Barbara. There's a perfect shift,
too. Can you Can you see it? Can you
envision the perfect shift? And you just
It's so great. Smile. It's so great.
Great. Uh track daily crush from Matt.
Piano black, CVTs or EVs?
Well, that's a that's a quite a
threesome. Piano black CVTs or EVs?
Track daily crush. Uh you know what? I'm
going to daily the EV. I'm not even
going to question that. I'll daily the
EV. That's fine. Um CVTs are improving
slowly. There's some CVTs that are sort
of like, okay, can can we tune a CVT for
track use and then I'll track the CVT?
So, it's theoretically if it's tuned
right, it's constant power. Constant
power and then we get to crush piano
black. We need to crush piano black. But
if we can put a lot of power, there's
need needs to be some OEM that figures
out how to put a lot of power through a
CVT, then I might
consider driving. We'll we'll see.
Church Petrol says, "The first F1 race
of the year is this weekend." You're
right. My rain is coming up March 2nd,
2024. Any predictions for the upcoming
season? I think Red Bull's going to be
dominant again. Max is going to win.
It's not even a prediction. It's just
like, "Yeah, moving on. Get used to Max
doing more winning, but I do predict
some surprise from a back marker. A
midpack to a back marker. kind of
surprising with with some success level
of success. It might not be sustained
for the whole season, but maybe for half
the year, a third of the year, something
like, "Wow, we never saw this coming.
Combination of car and the driver is
really coming up." I'm I'm hoping for a
mid pack to back marker doing well.
Marco sending in a super chat. Thank you
for that, man. He says, "Uh, he drives a
Mark 7.5 Golf R." Okay. Is it worth
upgrading to the new Mark 8? No, it is
not. I I'm sorry. It's just I I like I
like the Mark 8 Golf R. I do. The thing
is you step into
Volkswagen is starting to do things
to not make the interior as nice and
save themselves some money. And then
they went with this now constantly
changing touchscreen interface on the
Golf R. Like on on the GTI you can get
it without some of it. the Golf R, the
only way it comes is with that very
annoying, irritating interface that
actually Volkswagen is kind of backing
off on. I think that the 85 or the nine
is going to be worth the upgrade based
on what they're learning with the eight.
Okay, so a 75 was a real high watermark
for the interior interaction on those
cars. I like the eight because of what
they've done with the cool diffs and
that kind of stuff. That is cool, but
you're talking about 10 grand more. And
I think what you're going to realize
daily is the interface you like less.
And since you're going to use that so
much, that car is designed to be a
daily. I don't think it's worth the
jump. Some question I wanted to address
in here. Oh, premiumness. Dawson
Johannes said, "At what price point do
we stop feeling the premiumness of the
dollars you're spending? Is there one?"
Yes, it's called a Tesla. As soon as you
get in, you think, "Huh, this doesn't
feel premium for the dollars I spent."
But that's because of the minimalist
interior. But it's not because of the
style. Well, it's because the materials
that are used in construction, we've
noticed that they're getting better.
They continue to improve. Absolutely.
Every car manufacturer is. But I do
think that Tesla set the example and
modeled for other car manufacturers that
we can just do a few straight lines and
and really do things completely
differently, but they forgot about all
the build quality in all the switches
and stuff that's in there, all the
little tactile things. I think that was
forgotten. And so not having a lot of
things to touch makes it feel stark and
cheap and there's there's nothing to
interact with except the wheel and even
that's going away. So I there there's
other examples. I feel like uh Genesis
is a great example of retaining the
premium quality feel. That GV60 EV that
we drove Yeah. felt very premium. It was
fantastic. And that was because there's
a lot of little surprise and delight
things. a lot of things that you could
call unnecessary, but that makes it part
of the experience and you feel like,
"Oh, I'm getting getting my money's
worth." The shift knob entertains me.
It's the eye of Sauron and it looked at
me. A little frightened now, worried
about that breaking later. Like breaks
halfway. It's like looking giving you
side eye. It's all bad. But all the
tactility, all the switches, everything
in there continues that Genesis theme of
beautiful. We like the fine tactility of
things. And that's why I like watches so
much because it's this delicate thing
that's still robust and it was put
together by humans and it was it's such
fine craftsmanship in such a small size
on your wrist that you can take with
you. So that's my thing. Uh my son is
sending me difficult questions. Oh, is
he? Track daily crush from my son. Lotus
Elise Jag Eype Nissan 300ZX. Track daily
crush. You're on your own.
Ow. This is This is going to hurt. This
is going to hurt, son. I'm telling you
right now. Look, the track car obviously
is the Lotus Elise. It is. I love the E
type desperately. I would love to have
one. It's not a daily. The 300ZX is a
daily, which means, I can't believe I'm
saying this, that lease gets tracked.
The 300ZX gets dyed. Eype gets crushed.
That's a special occasion car. Wow. It's
not a daily and it's not a track car.
It's a It's a But it's the world's most
beautiful car. Gorgeous. It's very fun
to drive. It is one of those cars like
the RX7. When I drove it, I was glad to
finish driving it and it didn't break. I
loved driving it. I was thrilled to get
out of it and nothing was broken. And
that's not what you want for a daily.
Chris Austman, so good to see you, too.
I ran into him at the Denver airport. I
I looked over as I was on the moving
sidewalks. If you've ever been through
DIA, was on the moving sidewalks and I
saw Chris and just yelled his name.
That's funny. Chris is going with us on
the pilgrimage trip in June. So, we are
very much looking forward to that. That
was really cool. Speaking of that, yeah,
Fellowship of the Ring, folks, I I want
to mention a couple things. Our
pilgrimage trip is happening over
Father's Day, and it sold out within
like 24 hours, which was amazing. Thank
you guys. But because of Hooked on
Driving, we are going more than once
this year. There is a trip that actually
was was kind of sold right around the
time we bought the company of Hooked on
Driving that is happening last couple of
days of April, first couple of days of
May. It's two days on each track and you
know you know somebody. So even though
technically registration on that trip
has closed, it's going to be an amazing
trip with a ton of good track time. If
you'd like to go to the ring and spa
then late April, early May, write us an
email everyday driver atgmail. Let us
know you'd like to go. We can get you on
the inside track. There's a couple of
spaces left. We'd love to fill that trip
too. So if you're still It's kind of
closed, but it's kind of officially you
know people. So let us know. That'd be
very good. Yeah, you do know people.
Let's see. Good questions, John. Okay,
here's a quick quick question. Difficult
question, John. He doesn't understand
what people mean when they say good
steering feel, and he wants to learn.
Okay, awesome. What is an accessible car
easy to find on Turo or popular that
exemplifies good steering feel? You need
to find
something. Okay, first off, there's a
misunderstanding that a hydraulic
steering rack always means good steering
feel. That's not always the case. The
300 ZX, I love driving it. The steering
feels okay, but it's not amazing. You
need to find early 2000s hydraulic
steering from various companies. BMW is
a great one. If you can find an E46 BMW,
that's good steering feel. If you can
find a early 2000s 911 or even a Cayman.
Yeah. 987.
The one the early Cayman's and the 987
Boxster. The Cayman R is superb. Now,
the Cayman's I find vary based on how
hard you're driving them, the tires that
are fitted. But every true every early
2000s BMW, if you driven the E46s and
even the 5 series actually had really
good steering feel that early 2000s 911
or or Cayman Boxster, that works as
well. That the 997s are wonderful.
That's late 2000s. Um, also Miatas are
good.
Early Miatas now, you got to go before
they go away from hydraulic steering. A
little bit tire dependent there as well.
And then I'm wondering, I mean, the
sharper and finer you go, tires really
add pressure, but but you need to be
able to feel when when you go over stuff
in the road, I want you to feel that you
went over stuff in the road. I want you
to feel this is this is actually what
the description is. Steering feel is as
I'm turning it, I am aware that there's
a mechanical linkage. And I know that
sounds weird, but but and I'm sorry,
this is a cliche as well, but this is
where the riflebolt concept comes in for
for uh shifters. Okay? Drives like it's
on rails. stop. But but but the whole
reality of a rifle bolt or or think of
anything mechanic mechanical or or metal
that slid beside itself that you've
worked with, you can feel that in good
steering feel. Of course, the Lotus
Elise is way up there, but finding one
of those on Turo is next to impossible,
but that's a possibility as well. Josiah
Vanassel, thank you for the question.
and he loves the show and says, "Is the
upgrade to a
986S worth the price over the base
version?" More specifically on an 03 or
4S with versus a cheaper and older
version, he's owned a 350Z now daily CBR
500R and a roommate has the
S2000. You know, you could always turbo
the motor or do some sort of chip tune
or upgrade, but there's more to the S
than just that. True. Typically, it's
got a different transmission with
another gear and a bunch of other stuff.
Yeah. Yeah. I I do feel like the S has
always been differentiated in in
Porsche's's mind as really truly the
sport version. And they do there's a
bigger jump between base and S than
there is S to GTS. It's slightly
different. And then, you know what I
mean? I feel like that base to S is
needs to remain significant because that
has been bread and butter kind of
thinking for Porsche forever since the
early since the late60s actually early
'7s there's always been the S which is
sort of like oh oh you've got the S the
911 S aha that's what you want so I do
feel like it's worth your money I do
feel like it's worth investigating if
you can get a good deal if you're
comfortable and and you can pull it off
I do say it's worth it and uh I I mean,
it's coming from a Porsche guy. There's
another question about 911s from Joel T
on Facebook who says, uh, sorry, uh,
Eddie Murphy, my apologies, Eddie Murphy
says, when did the 911, what generation
did it become the bench benchmark for
journalists. The year was
1968, the year after the 911 came out.
It became instantly 64, but anyway, 64,
sorry. 64 what I Yeah. Yeah. 63 by 64.
It was like, no, I actually I'm next
year. I think when it really started to
embed itself completely was probably the
mid 80s when I think other cars started
to splinter and I feel like the 911
really was solidifying itself in the US
with the turbo and the big whale tail. I
think in that era it got so it cuz
here's the other thing that happened in
the 80s with the turbo they became the
widow maker and it was like the dividing
line for can you drive or not. So if you
loved the 911 it was cuz you knew how to
drive. Many journalists not. Yeah.
Exactly. Still to this day, not. But I
think that started to split it and
started to make people think that it was
it was even better than it really is.
See, let's see. There's a lot of good
stuff, man. This hour has shot by.
Uh oh. Boondoc St. Ryan. Why are popup
headlights on sports cars dangerous to
pedestrians, but truck hoods at high eye
level are
not? My friend Ryan, you're you're my
now my buddy. We're We're here, man.
We're here. I have a real problem with
pedestrian crash standards. I think they
are ruining cars. I'm going to say it
again. Look, I don't want anybody hit by
a car, but stay out of the street. I,
you know, and let's It's easy. Let's
create pedestrian walkways. Let's create
pedestrianon streets. You can walk up
and down. I I know that in Park City,
I'm going to get thrown eggs thrown at
me, but Park City, every now and then,
Main Street is pedestrians only, and
every time it is, I'm like, "This is all
the street should be." Main Street Park
City should just be pedestrians only all
the time. There's no reason to have cars
on that road. So, let's make more
pedestrian only streets. Let's make
better crosswalks. Let's make better
signaling. And let's make cars that can
have slanted hood and pop-up headlights
because I'm sorry, you and I were
driving some GM truck recently and I
stopped at the hood and the hood was
here. I am a big person. It's enormous.
If you are in a pickup line, you will
not see kids. The pop-up headlights is
the least of our worries. But the
problem with pedestrian crash standards
is they're just trying this is this is
the solve. We're trying to make air
between where the hood is and where the
hard engine is. And that's what's
ruining front ends of cars because this
is the thing that's going to save us
all. The truck that's mowing us down.
That's fine because at least it's got
air between the hood. If you happen to
get up on the hood, you'll be okay.
What's that uh the new Miata concept or
sorry, Mazda MX9 concept that I just
saw? Doesn't that have like slight
pop-up headlights? I thought it was just
they're bringing back just because it's
cool. I mean, we don't need pop-up
headlights, but they are really cool,
and it's cool for some part of the car
to articulate. The Pagani Hay red, you
know, it articulates, and it's cool for
something to happen. I think that sells
cars. I I think we're coming back around
to this. Yeah, it's like clothing
styles. It's We're We're coming back
around to
things. Let's see. We've got Oh, man. So
many good things. I'm gonna run back
over here to other questions from
earlier. Let's see. Ted Adam Green says,
"A buddy of his just bought a 2019
Nissan 370Z manual with rev match." Ted
saying, "Can we explain this? He's never
had a manual with rev match. He doesn't
understand why his buddy considered that
a must have." Now, the Nissan Z actually
pioneered Rev Match really, really well.
They had one of the first that was
offered to the general public.
Particular works, very well. Yeah. Yeah.
The the benefit of this, Ted, is it is
it takes it makes a manual transmission
more easy to daily because the
frustrating thing about a manual if if
you're doing that commute kind of drone
driving where you're not really thinking
is easily slotting the gear and doing
the blip and that kind of stuff can be
like I'm just I'm not in the groove of
it. Now, I like learning the heel toe
and getting good at that. And I screw it
up a lot to this day. I screw up heel
toe all the time. And so there is
something satisfying. I'll tell you this
on track I actually like a manual with
rev match because then it it I still get
the manual but it always is going to
slot that gear really quickly. There's
there's an extra layer of accessibility
there. Now the other thing about the
Zcard most of them is you can turn it
off which is really nice and you can
pick your moment when having it just
easily slot is
helpful. Starting to wrap up as we get
to the top of the hour. Back to coffee.
Jordan Schiffer says, "Is my new gadget
academia the insert car of espresso
machines?" I'm thinking it's it's a
do-it-all car, but it's got to be fast
because I was looking for great fast
espresso. And it does the steam wand and
milk jug. As I told you before, it's got
to be something like the Mercedes
uh GLE 63. It's It's fast. It can do the
sports car thing. It's on You can take
it on track. You shouldn't, but you can.
And it's really fast and it's versatile.
Maybe it's a Maybe it's a Cayenne GTS
because it can do everything. It can go
off-road. Oh my gosh. It can go high
speed on track. We can go over dunes. We
you you could do some high performance
kind of driving with a Cayenne, a GTS.
Maybe it's the GT, the Cayenne GT with
that the back window. You know what I'm
talking about?
Wow. Uh Steve, yes, we have purchased
Hooked on Driving. If you haven't heard
our earlier podcast, it is the company
that does high performance driving
events around the nation. In fact,
generally around the coasts. We're
working on stuff in the middle of the
country. That's one of our projects. So,
we are now the parent company of Hooked
on Driving. Now, anywhere you go, if
you've never heard of Everyday Driver,
Hooked on Driving will continue as
you've known it. We just have some
things we want to refine. We want to
make it grow further. We love that it is
a company we already respected running
great track days and we want to make it
grow. So, it is the same company.
Your questions are making me laugh. This
is great. Uh, let's see. There was a
question up here, by the way, talking
about uh Anthony says, "If you offered
me a singerized Eype that's overall
gorgeous, but it has a diesel, a CVT,
and piano black, would I take it?" I
don't think that's a singerized E type.
No one would pick that. No one would
decide that's what we're doing. So,
there we go. Oh, James Drake is
considering an Integra Type S as the
only vehicle, but lives in the St. Paul,
Minneapolis area. Yes. Would we drive
one in the winter or is he nuts? Yes,
drive one in the in the winter.
Absolutely. Redestin Winrak Pro and
you're done. They're excellent. They're
so good. Uh, Zach is asking about our
July or September trips. Are you asking
which one? You may need to put more
comments in there about which one to
take. The July trip is our Utah
Adventure. It is some of the best roads
in Utah. Honestly, twothirds, we haven't
even opened the registration yet, but
twothirds of every year is people that
came the year before. So, clearly, it's
a fun drive. We we go down south of here
for a full day and then we do this great
loop of some of the best roads in Utah.
And every time we do them, we we love
them. That's a great trip. The September
trip, also not open for registration
yet, is the road, the Beartooth Highway
Road. We're going to drive up there.
It's going to be great through Jackson
Hole, etc. But it's the Beartooth
Highway Road that was the starring road
of our best road ever video that is
currently up with the Lotus and the uh
C8. So, both of those are going to be
awesome. They're very different trips,
but uh whichever one you can make as far
as schedules concerned when they go
live, you're going to sign up quick
because I think they're going to go
fast. We are wrapping up for this
podcast. Thank you guys for all your
questions. If we didn't get to it, save
it for the next podcast episode. We'll
do our best, but please support our
sponsors. They support our show and make
what we do possible. And we only want
the best partners and sponsors.
Absolutely. So, don't forget 10% off
your order with the code driver 10 for
Go's Garage. And go to Power Stop for
all your brake upgrade needs and battery
tender. All three of my cars and all of
your cars are all on battery tenders.
You got the the wicked one that's I got
I got I didn't even know they made this.
It's really cool. It's a five bank.
Yeah. That cuz I have cars in a barn.
There's a five bank. And so it's one big
bank in the corner with all the lights
on one and then you just have wires
running off and I can glance in the door
and know that everybody's doing fine.
It's the greatest thing. I didn't even
know they made it. It's really cool.
Brilliant. Yes. Of course. Power clear
wipers and all the cars. One search. Our
friends at autotempest.com. Don't forget
them when you're searching for what's
next. We really appreciate all your
questions. We really appreciate your
support of the show and of Hooked on
Driving and we're going to update you
with more Hooked on Driving kinds of
stuff. And we're again, reminder, we're
going to be at Laguna Secikka March 9th
and 10th, 2024. So, we'd love to see you
if you're local to the area or even if
you, you know, you're flying out and
passing through. I mean, our hope is to
have a lot of really cool track days.
And I want to reiterate, you know, we're
so excited to have this company as a new
part of what we do, but this does not
mean we become a group that is just
about take your car to the racetrack.
Not at all. I am well aware that
sometimes, depending on where you live
in this country, it is becoming a
draconian police force that won't let
you have any fun. Well, that's what the
track is for in some of those areas.
We're spoiled out west. We got a lot of
great roads. We get to open it up on all
of these fun road trips. So, there is
that possibility as well. But, but the
reality is with modern sports cars and
especially you get really good tires,
you will never find the edges of your
car on a public road. And if you do,
it's probably reached a place where it
could go very very wrong. So, it's why I
like tracking so much. Remember, we are
doing multiple Europe trips and we're
probably at a track near you. So, we're
excited about that. We'll talk about
that and everything else going forward.
And I wish I'm sorry that I can't. I
wish I could tell you some of the shoots
we have coming up cuz I was looking at
the calendar today and wanting it to be
summer so badly because we've got these
great shoots coming. Winter's cool. It's
fun to drive in winter. But right but
right now we're in this little like gasp
kind of a black hole of I want to shoot
something really cool and it's snowing
outside and I'm like, "Oh, summer needs
to come. It's coming." Yeah. Thank you
all for your support. We really
appreciate it. Good nights and cheers
everyone.
About this episode
Celebrating their 10th anniversary, the hosts dive into a lively discussion about upcoming events, including track days with Hooked on Driving. They share insights on various cars, including the new McLaren Artura Spider and the debate over manual transmissions. Listeners can expect engaging questions about fun cars, dealership experiences, and the versatility of the C8 Corvette. The episode also touches on the importance of driving engagement and the unique qualities of different vehicles, making it a rich conversation for automotive enthusiasts.
brake horsepower
Hyundai
Kia
manual transmission
Million-Dollar Highway
Nürburgring
torque dip
turbocharged
Virginia International Raceway (VIR)
Willow Springs International Raceway
BMW 3 Series
BMW M3
BMW X2
BMW Z4
Chevrolet Camaro
Chevrolet Corvette
Chevrolet Suburban
Fiat 124 GT Abarth
Fisker Ocean
Ford Expedition
Ford Fiesta
Ford Ranger
Genesis GV60
Honda Civic
Honda S2000
Land Rover Range Rover
Lotus Elise
Lotus Emira
Maserati Grecale
Maserati MC20
Mazda MX-5 / Miata
Mazda RX-7
McLaren Artura
Nissan 300 ZX
Nissan 350Z
Nissan 370Z
Nissan Z
Porsche 911
Porsche 959
Porsche Boxster
Porsche Cayenne
Porsche Cayman
Rolls-Royce Cullinan
Saab 9-3
Saab 9-5
Subaru BRZ
Subaru Outback
Subaru WRX
Toyota Camry
Toyota Corolla
Toyota GR 86
Toyota MR2
Toyota Prius
Toyota Supra
Volkswagen Golf
Original notes
The guys discuss the newest, most attractive EV truck on the market: Slate! For Topic Tuesday, Cliff in TX asks about saving for dream cars. Then, Andrew in NY realizes he doesn’t need a truck, but doesn’t want to scare off potential dates. Social media questions ask why isn’t your sports car faster than your daily, and why are all cheaper 4-door sedans FWD? The guys also go car-spotting in Germany.
Please rate + review us on iTunes, and subscribe to our two YouTube channels. Write us with your Car Debates, Car Conclusions, and Topic Tuesdays at [email protected] or everydaydriver.com. Don’t forget to share the podcast with your car enthusiast friends!
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