996: A Mustang-Shaped Race Car, Cylinder Count Matters, Trick Yourself Into Another Brand

think give me a clean start whenever I

think we're live. I think it's a thing

now. Hey, I I do think we're actually

live. I think it's happened. I think

it's going on

now. We're waiting for chat

responses, but I think it has

happened.

Waiting waiting for people to know it's

live.

If you can hear us, say something. Say

anything. Yes. Hello.

I would have thought. Hey, wait. It

looks like it's happening.

Oh, good. I'm getting an ad before my

own podcast.

Look, I got an ad before my own podcast.

I feel excited about myself now, though.

That's part of the deal, right? Yep.

Everybody's here. We're good. We're

going. I am going to do the pop out chat

thing because that does help. Yeah. See,

look at that. Okay. Good. All right.

Good. Good. Good. Good. Put that over

here. I'm sorting everything out. Sorry.

A little bit of business before we get

started. Sorry about

that. All right. Good. Good. All right.

Here we go. We're going to really do

this now. It is 7 o'clock, so maybe we

should go. I think I think so.

Hi, everybody. Podcast

925. We're less than a year away from

the 10,000. The numbers just keep going

up. I do want you guys to know there

will be a 950. That will be all

questions, no cars. There will be a 975

live one. That will be all questions

like this format. And then we're going

to do 10,00 sometime after the first of

the year. We want to try to start

sharing with you the plans for the 1000.

They're big and then they grow, which is

weird. The plans are formulating for

sure. But it's very cool. We're really

excited to be back with you live here on

the Test Drive Videos channel. Reminder

that our original channel, Everyday

Driver, is big, big videos. Test Drive

Videos is every Sunday. It is some

single standalone car. Most of the time

it's two of us in car. Sometimes it's

POVs. That's cranking along while we

build some monster roadtrip films on the

other side. Yeah. Yeah, definitely. But

we're thrilled to have you guys with us.

This will be all questions and go very,

very quick. And I'm really excited about

doing another live one. Hey, look, our

friend Jordan Schaffer from Out of Spec.

He is on the chat as well. I think he's

on a road trip currently. So, I think

we're on his phone in the car somewhere.

And Jordan, thanks for joining. Really

appreciate it. We've got a few questions

on Instagram, but thank you guys for

writing your topic Tuesdays. All the

cards car conclusions as I always ask

for. Thank you. Really appreciate it.

We've got a great stack going, so it's

nice to sort through that and see what's

uh what's going on. So, we got to get to

car conclusions again here soon. There

are many people are buying cars.

Wonderful. I'm jumping into an Instagram

question starting with Mr. McGillicuy

asking how soon we can get that check to

open Everyday Driver Land. I have never

heard of Everyday Driver Land until now.

Mr. McGillicuddy has forced himself to

do a bunch of drive homework within the

last few months to figure out what he's

looking for. But we get a better

perspective of vehicles and how they

relate to each other and especially

being able to drive something back to

back. And so that is what he's

discovering. That's what he wants

everyday driver land to be. It's all

it's all everyday driver tania

or something all bad. Then we have to

figure out what the what the the actual

residents of everyday driverland are

called. Is it just a track or is it a

big acorage with roads? Is it It's the

transport we keep talking about that

shows up at all the hooked on driving

events. That's really what it is. It's a

traveling circus. Which circus is the

key word there. So, that's a thing.

Another question that I saw earlier that

is uh J Bren Official on Instagram said,

"What is the pettiest annoyance from

other drivers is necessarily risky or

unsafe that we see nowadays?" Okay. I I

don't a lot Well, true. A lot of things.

I I have a couple. One is use your turn

signal. I mean, I realize we all

navigate and most of the time we don't

use turn signals. Just use your turn

signal. I I can't read your mind. You

can't read my mind. Just use it. It's so

easy to just flick and it does the three

little blinks. It's the easiest thing

ever to tell the people around what

you're doing. That's one. The other one

is when there's a sign that says we're

merging in a mile. Everyone gets over

now. Yeah. True. And then they get angry

if you don't get over now. The the

zipper merge was a concept we were all

actually taught when we were starting to

drive and nobody remembers it. It's all

we got to move as a unit. And I was

actually driving with my family a week

ago and we got to one of those zipper

merges. Merging in a mile. We didn't get

over right away and I went down a few

cars. Still had a full lane by the way.

Yeah. And a guy from the right lane

where we were merging to pulled into my

lane but kept pace so he could block me.

Oh to try to block you. I was like

really this is what we're doing? You

feel better about yourself? Those are

the petty annoyances that I'm going to

go with for sure. Keep talking. I'm

going to try to fix the mics here. Are

we having some pops and stuff? We may

have cables laying over each other. But

anyway,

that's a little better. Turn down the uh

the board underneath the table here and

hopefully let uh let me know. Uh Richard

Damiano is saying with Toyota killing

off their V6s, I think they already have

and Lotus not offering the V6 option in

the Amira on the configurator right now.

Isn't that weird? And also, I don't know

when the four-cylinders are getting

here, but whatever. He's saying, "What

would be a good replacement option for

that engine and a manual transmission in

the Amira?" That's hard. What do you put

in otherwise? Because you can't because

I I would go BMW, but I don't think that

engine's going to fit. I mean, we'll

just we'll make it fit. If it doesn't

fit, make it fit, right? Take a saw and

cut some aluminum, right? Uh, speaking

of engines, K is talking about BMW's B58

engine. The internet adores it because

it's capable and reliable. In our

opinion, is it overhyped or rightly

hyped? Steve M is so over the B58 bros.

I didn't know that's what we're calling

them. I It's There's crypto bros.

There's a cult growing around the B58.

There is a cult growing for sure. Yeah.

Which is fine because for years

everybody talks about how unreliable

BMWs are and there's going to be lots of

maintenance. And when there is an engine

and a product from BMW that is great,

let's celebrate it. Let's lean into

that. I think it's not every engine from

BMW. So, you know, they've kind of

hearkening back to their legacy, I

think. So, I'm not going so far as to

say it's the best engine in the world.

But, you know, if it's a good one, hey,

I'm glad it is. It's proven itself. It

has been reliable. I mean, remember when

they put that engine that Here's here's

irony. When they put that engine in the

Supra and Toyota went with that engine,

the internet freaked out because how

dare Toyota do a BMW engine? It's not

going to be reliable. M cut to Toyota

puts new engines in their trucks and

Toyota's engines are being recalled.

This is Bizarro World. Uh seems like our

audio is still staticky. Sorry about

that. Not really sure what's different

than before, but okay. We may have

cables laying on each other, but y

anyway, try to change a few things.

We'll keep working on it. Thanks for

your feedback, guys. Appreciate it.

Justin Schultz says, "What uh automotive

developments are common today that we

didn't see coming when we first started

on YouTube?" smartphone integration,

Apple CarPlay and Android Auto to the

point that I'm spoiled now when I get in

a car and it doesn't have it easily

accessible. I'm like, "What's that

about?" Well, when we started, it wasn't

even nobody was even discussing the

possibility that your phone or a device

you carried with you would supersede the

device in in the car. That's not going

to

happen. Uh, The Adventures of Misty and

Mike write to me. They're drinking High

West Cast Collection whiskey aged on

Cabernet Svenon barrels. They are local

to me. What are my thoughts? I think

that's excellent. I always like how

Cabernet barrels just kind of round off

the edges. I do like uh I do like a

glass of that, but uh not right now. I'm

glad you're drinking. I'm glad you're

relaxing. And uh thanks for joining.

Really appreciate it. I'm all about it.

I'm I'm going to uh it's um it's

confession time for me. Oh yeah. I read

uh Mark the Watchman's question and I

realize there's something that I've done

that I haven't even admitted to you and

I know I'm going to admit it publicly

now. It's the what's your funniest or

most embarrassing moment you've had

while driving. I see that. Yeah. I just

had one recently that I am I am very

embarrassed by and I probably shouldn't

admit it publicly, but I'm going to do

so just to prove the fact that we all

fail and we all screw up. Okay. As much

as I want to be a decent driver, the

last weekend went to Cars and Coffee

with my son Bod. We took the Amir. Okay.

Right. Right. The Amir is parked in our

garage. I've told stories about it

before. It's kind of tight in there, but

it's got enough space. It's parked in

our garage, but because it's parked in

our garage, and all the modern cars have

sensors. When I turn it on to back it

up, the sensors are all beeping about

something. It it know it it's with a

clear sailing out of the back of the

garage. The car is still beeping because

I'm close enough to this edge and that

edge. And I always watch when I back

out. I know how to back the mirror out

cleanly. I always watch the passenger

mirror cuz not only does it tilt down to

look at the back wheel, but it's the

corner of that mirror that's the closest

to hitting the garage. So I watch that

corner of that mirror. I got in the car

to back it out. Now I back it out at

less than walking pace because I'm

worried about that mirror. And I'm

backing and I'm backing and I'm back

like snails pace. Bod and I are talking.

And I'm backing up and the car comes to

a stop while backing up. Okay. And I

look in the rearview mirror and I

realize,

uhoh, the night before I had parked the

older Cayenne with the bike rack backed

up next to the space where the Amira

parks with the bike rack facing cuz we

were going to take my son to bike camp

until it got cancelled because of rain.

I didn't think about it. I climbed in

the mirror. I started it. I opened the

garage. I'm looking at the mirror and

I'm hearing beeps that I'm ignoring. I

backed the amir slowly into the bike

rack of the

Cayenne. Much cussing ensued. Was it

moments of my son looking at me like,

"Did you actually just do that?" Really?

So then I pulled back up and realized,

here's the incredible ridiculousness of

it. The mullet the the part of the back

bike rack that it hit and stopped the

Amir's movement was directly above one

of the backing sensors like a half inch

away from the backing sensor and it just

pierced the PPF. It's all it did. Oh my

gosh. But there is nothing more

terrifying than suddenly having a

vehicle stop and you don't know why.

Anyway, so yeah, that's that's uh my

latest embarrassing moment. There have

been many and I probably shouldn't share

it, but there you go. This is awesome.

Great questions, guys. Thank you so

much. Uh let's see. The only thing US

drivers do worse in zipper merge is

roundabouts. That is correct. That is

correct, sir. We have a lot of

roundabouts here. Huge one. Yes. And

people do not get it. They don't get it.

Let's see here. Had a uh Grio's Garage

question in here somewhere.

Oh, Paul Kramer, if releases a Piano

Black cleaner, will we drop them as a

sponsor? No. You got to do something

with Piano Black. We encourage them to

do all kinds of niche products like that

because hey, it's memorable and they the

stuff is so great. I hope you're using

them. I hope you've used the code. I

hope you've discovered them. We will be

uh doing a film with them shortly here.

We've got some plans here and uh we'll

definitely be doing some stuff on social

media, but yeah, very soon. So, early

September. Very excited to uh to see

those guys again.

Let's see. Oh, interior detailer is

great for wiping piano

black for everything. Yep, for sure.

Yep. Exactly. And interior detailer is

different than interior cleaner.

Interior cleaner actually gets things

clean. I can't believe I'm doing this.

Gets things cleaned, but interior

detailer kind of keeps them staying

clean and dustfree. I There's a

difference. Uhhuh. Yeah. Yeah. There it

is. Mandy wants to paint this wall

behind us with the backdrop paint colors

inspired by Porsche. She wants it ruby

star. That would be loud on camera. No,

I mean I like the idea of paint, but

maybe we'll see. I mean, there's a lot

of visual interest here going on. So,

uh, PR 33TU, do we think buttons will

make a comeback in luxury vehicles? Why

do normal cars still get buttons even

though they're more expensive? Watch the

flip happen. And I think it was

interesting when uh the guy behind uh

Rematz, Marty Reott, who now takes over

uh Bugatti, talked about the fact that

he's recognized with their customers

that EVs with touchscreens are not

interesting enough. They want buttons

back. Look at the new uh Turbion, your

billions. The new Bugatti Your Billions.

Your billions. Yeah, that one is now all

gauges and stuff. I do think because

that is more expensive to produce, we're

going to work that way. Keep in mind the

buttons that you're seeing right now in

cheaper cars are cheap buttons. But what

I'm seeing is if you ever I know this is

weird. If you ever get a Rolls-Royce and

you touch buttons or switches in there,

you can tell the car is expensive. You

could have been sat in there blindfolded

and just done the button and gone, "This

is an expensive car." That's what we're

going to see, I think, because it's

going to be the separation between, you

know, the people that can afford that

and the rest of us. Let's see. The

Tunnel Vision 3 is getting ready for a

Supra complimentary NASA track day in

October. Do we have recommendations on

how best to apply numbers on the side of

the car? Sometimes they will supply

numbers, but Hooked on Driving is known

for supplying numbers a small charge,

but we've got numbers at our track day

events, but please don't create numbers

out of blue painters tape. That seems to

be a a typical solve. I mean, if you

have to, you have to, right?

as legible as you think it is and it

doesn't

always high contrast is very important

for the marshals to see your car to be

able to call out your number and

sometimes depending on the color of your

car the blue painters tape doesn't

really work and everybody's creating

their own font and it's hard to see what

what exactly is the number the font is

really you know what I mean because

everybody

just tries to do a a block number and

you know you don't want to get confused.

So, it's not ideal. People do, but

ideally get get the vi vinyl numbers and

uh sometimes they can uh get those to

you at the track. Kay asks, "Do do we

think

manufacturerbacked certified pre-owned

vehicles from dealers are worth the

premium?" I think only if it comes with

some sort of warranty as a result.

If it doesn't, I you know, the thing is

you could get a really good pre-purchase

inspection by a mechanic you trust and

you know does a good job on a car that's

not pre-owned and sometimes those

pre-owned vehicles because they just ran

the checklist, they missed other things

that a better, more thorough look would

have done. So again, if it comes with an

extra warranty bonus, otherwise I think

you could do it yourself and save the

cash. Adam H, let's talk furniture.

Asking what type of chairs are we

sitting in. He sees the nice exposed ply

on the sides. Yes, these are cafe chairs

that I bought from Design Within Reach

uh over a decade ago. And they're super

comfortable. They're a little bit thin.

I mean, they're thin and nice. I'm I'm

hoping that we can upgrade at some point

to some nicer specific podcast studio

chairs. But right now, they they work

great. And they're just like a a clean,

simple cafe chair that uh that I liked.

and I use them in the studio, use them

around the house, and uh yeah, let's

keep talking furniture. Love it. Ryan is

asking if there's anything about the

Amira that I don't like or frustrates

me. There's some Amamira adventures that

happen in our new uh road trip film.

We've actually been editing that right

now. So, I don't want to ruin some of

that because some stuff happens with the

Amir on that. I mean, obviously, I'm

still driving it, but there's some stuff

happens there. I don't want to undermine

that. But, I will say this, the the the

reverse lockout sometimes sticks. Yes,

not always, but sometimes sticks and it

and it's not obvious that it's done so

because the the lockout section of the

stick and the and the ball head are

exactly the same color. So when it

sticks, you don't necessarily know that

it's happened. And then the way that the

shifter responds is all wrong all of a

sudden and then you go, "Oh, well that's

why." It doesn't happen often, but when

it does, it's like, "What just happened

there?" And it I'm completely thrown.

Did we talk about manufacturerbacked

certified pre-owned vehicles? We just

did that. We talked about that, right? I

mean, if you have more to say on it, but

yeah, feel free. I had other thoughts.

I'm trying to remember, but I I mean,

mine was the Cayman was. Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah. And I did appreciate the service

that had been done before I bought it.

Well, and you also got it certified

pre-owned from the dealer that the guy

had originally bought it from. I mean,

there was a full chain of events on that

car, which I totally get that. And they

just moved money around the dealer, but

the the sales department had to pay the

service department to be able to certify

it to then go sell it. So, I I did like

that. Uh yes, uh Mandy is talking about

my shirt. That is the Pilgrimage 2024

shirt and uh Nate designed them for us.

So, the back of the shirt has both

tracks and most of well all of the track

corner names uh on the back. So, you can

kind of see the logo, but it's uh really

just for pilgrimage attendees only. So,

we do special shirts and uh Mandy is

behind that. So, thanks to her. She does

a great job in in doing specific shirts.

So, you want to collect all the shirts?

You got to come on the pilgrimage trips

with us. Collect the whole set. Collect

the set. It's going to be ongoing for Go

on a trip to Europe to get a shirt.

That's exactly what you should do. Super

expensive shirt. Thomas Patrick says,

"How do I find the all-w weatherather

tires on our family Cayenne, you know,

honestly, they were pretty great. I my

my wife doesn't drive on major blizzard

days. We neither both of us work from

home most of the time unless we're out

of town shooting. So, there's not like a

daily commute she has to do or anything

like that. the park city roads get

heinous, but there's a lot of really

good plowing on I80 and that kind of

stuff. So, I knew it wasn't going to be

a make orb break situation, which is one

of the reasons I put all weathers on,

even though I think our area just left

my own devices. I would have gone

winters and I had always gone winters

and summers and winters and summers. But

those 21in wheels, those tires are hard

to find and I was just like, I don't

want to mess with these monster wheels

twice a year. So, when Vishstein offered

the all-weather tires for that car, I

thought, let's give this a shot. And

honestly, I had last year, I can't

believe this sentence, but the two

Cayenne, I had the old Cayenne on full

winter tires that were three or so

seasons. Brown those into dust. I I have

since Yes. But they were like three

seasons old. And then I had the my

wife's Cayenne on brand new all

weathers. And I would say the all

weathers were 90% of the full winters

all of last winter. So, I'm actually

feeling pretty confident about him and

very pleased. Anthony Gothard is asking,

"Where is his Homer?

Why isn't there an offthe-shelf commuter

car with a built-in fridge properly done

with a second battery and the compressor

mounted outside the cabin and a flip out

workt?

I thought that was called a Rivian.

Isn't could car

manufacturers Well, no. They'd run into

licensing, wouldn't they? if they went

after all the joke cars that have been

brought up in film and and TV shows and

actually kind of did their own spin on

it. Like what if Rivian had the Homer

because of the slide out grill or the

point, you know, they could uh they

could connect with people like that. I I

think the problem is since the Homer is

known to be a joke and a disaster, I

don't know that any car company wants to

get close to it. That's the problem.

Yeah, that's the I suppose so because

most of them are mocked endlessly. Yeah.

What's smells like steak and seats 35

canyon arrow cano very different that

yeah that's that's that's a fantastic

episode says Todd no I don't know what

that refers to but hi yes uh anyway um

how do we feel about a

06997 C4S as a first sports car will

young I feel pretty good about that I

mean keep in mind that is the era still

of the IMS bearing and and so ponder

that Um, and uh there's the other issue

that I'm drawing a blank on right now.

Chance is going to help me. But anyway,

there are known issues with those

engines of that era. You have to get

past 09 to get away from those engine

issues. But the 997 is one of my very

favorite 911s ever. It's the right size

911. I think you would enjoy it. What's

the condition of that car? How

comfortable are you with actually

maintaining it when it needs it? I'm not

saying it's going to need maintenance,

but those are cars you can't ignore the

maintenance. And the Porsches run long

if you maintain them ahead of time. So,

keep that in mind. Seth Kay is wondering

if he's saving the manuals if he buys a

PDK or a DCT equipped

car. Have we not saved the manuals

already? Every time I turn around, every

new exotic introduced at Monteray now is

a V12 with a manual. Gordon Murray and

the Neo 27. We've we've done it, right?

Have Are we here? We've saved them. We

can say the manufacturers have seen

enthusiasts buying manual equipped cars

and now they're striving to put them in.

I feel like we're we're closer than we

were. But if you mean save the manuals

by saving them for other people,

apparently that's exactly what he means

because you're not saving the manuals.

No manufacturer thinks they should make

more manuals because you bought a PDK or

a DCT. But I like the joke very very

much. That's very good. I mean, we're

seeing manual swaps. We're seeing new

cars being built with manuals and it's

almost like the holy grail now is for a

restood with a manual. So I I feel like

we're we're close. Are we not like we've

done whales, polar bears? Whoa. Those

are equivalent. It's exactly the same.

It's exactly the same. Yes. Are we there

yet? Can What's the ribbon color for

manual? You know, all the ribbons that

come with a little little shape that we

had, you know, some years at the Oscars

is like just a sea of ribbons. It's like

the the Hollywood equivalent of I went

to war. Here's all the ribbons that I

have. What's the ribbon color that we

can get for Save the Man? Somebody

figure that out. Aluminum in my guess.

There you go. Is it aluminum color? It's

probably chalk now that I think about

it. Just to know. Yeah, chalk is nasty.

Church of Petrol, thank you for your

super chat there. Have either of us had

non-car friends get into the hobby? If

so, how much did you try and guide their

journey versus letting them find their

own way? Yes, in a couple of cases you

have. your your brother-in-law. You can

talk about I can I can but I'm going to

talk about I'm going to talk about my

friend Nathan from Los Angeles. Not a

car guy, but uh he and his wife have

done very well with a very successful

business they've fought very very hard

on. So he has gotten to that place where

in a couple of cases he was like I I

want to buy these couple of vehicles

that I've never really thought about

having before. And one was an old Scout

that he wanted to have kind of restooded

and that is not my thing. Don't care. Is

that a manual? Wouldn't say it is

actually. It is a manual. wouldn't I

wouldn't say let's go get an old scout

and I would have never thought of that

but I know Nathan he's a buddy and it's

it's very much Nathan. So when he

brought that up, I was like instantly

with myself. I was like, "No, don't do

that. No, no, no, no, no, no, no." And

then I was like, "Wait, wait, wait,

wait. I wouldn't do it, but you can."

And so I kind of helped him guide him a

little bit, but I I was I kind of had to

understand, if you will, the rules of

the game he was playing because he's not

coming in and wanting to be like, I want

to be a specific kind of car guy that is

exactly like what you guys talk about.

He was like, "Oh, I'm interested in cars

and you know about cars and I'm kind of

thinking about this." this and I had to

kind of try to help him in his area

because that's the real key thing as

we've said over and over and over. Don't

look over there. We don't know them.

Come over here, right? We want you to

love the car you own and drive. Okay?

And this isn't his daily still, but uh

he's driven it up from LA to Park City a

couple of times and I've driven it as

well. And look, I'll be candid. I don't

enjoy it, but I like that he enjoys it.

So, that that's the key thing for us is

we want you to have a car that you love

driving. And if that's not a car we

like, that's fine. I I have responded

many times to YouTube comments where

people are raging because they have a

car that didn't come in first and I'm

always like, "You have a car you love?

Victory." I That's the big thing for me.

Especially if somebody has not been a

car person and now kind of is and

they're excited about buying something's

not an appliance. Let's help. For sure.

I have learned a lot about Saabs in the

last. Yes, you have. And I am so glad my

brother-in-law Daniel has discovered

Saabs and therefore discovered driving

and car collecting and car shows and

just enjoying the car enthusiast

community, which is what we love. Of

course, it's all about the community,

right? But he has actually taught me

things about what he's discovered about

Saab and the engineers and did you know

this is how they did it and this is how

Saabs worked and engines were

transversely mounted and where the key

is located and you know all this stuff

you know I knew about the key but still

I've really come to appreciate this car

company that doesn't exist anymore but

it seems like it does because he keeps

getting swag and keeps going to Saab car

shows and there's a huge following

behind Saab still and I wonder about

other car companies. I mean, I guess

collectively I feel like we all sort of

ignore companies

that died. I mean, there's the I suppose

the Pontiac crew. Nobody's really going

after like the Oldsmobile shows,

right? Nobody's You go to the old show

this weekend. The what now? Nobody.

That's not a thing. Olds of Palooa.

There's a Somebody write that out.

That'll be exciting. Yeah. But there's

models of course that aren't sold.

there's the alpha community for specific

models, that kind of thing. But I I'm so

glad I I feel this sense of pride

because he is into it now and he sends

me photos of wherever he's at and he is

making friends and connecting with other

enthusiasts. They've, you know, it's now

a a baseline just like we all have.

Suddenly, if you find out, doesn't

matter if you're into that brand and I'm

into this brand. It just matters that

we're in the car. So, I I feel very

proud that that is happening. So, I I

try to answer questions when they come

through on text. I'll answer it and

like, oh yeah, that what a great

question. So anyway, I'm I'm very

pleased. There are three questions I'm

going to try to tie together. They're

all about tall people in cars. Vampire

Bear is saying, "Can we contact Mike MTO

and let him know how much room there is

in the Elise for big drivers?" He's been

trying to talk him into an Elise on his

show for a while. Yes. The thing that

that connects to a question down here

from Jova, who says he wants to know how

I fit in a Miata from a fellow tall

person. I don't fit in the Miata. They

do fit in the Elise. This is the thing

that most people don't realize. You look

at the two of them side by side and you

think of the two, a tall person is bound

to be better off in the Miata. Haven't

they sold a million of those? Millions

in fact. So, wouldn't that be bound to

work? I like the Miata so much and I

drive it like this. Just my head or or

like this. These are my options. And

with a helmet, it's it's just not even

happening. And I really like seriously I

cannot fit in it. the Elise. As crazy as

that door opening is, once I'm in, I

have a little bit of space and I can

wear a helmet in the Elise and I'm not

at some weird angle. It you wouldn't

ever think it. The Elise has a

surprising amount of space. Which brings

us to uh Mickey McManus who says, "How

do tall people fit in the S2000?" The

S2000 is right between the two for me.

I've got a little bit more room than the

than the Miata, but not as much as the

Elise. It's right on the border. And the

the thing that happens in all of these

is what's your torso torso ratio?

Because Paul and I are both 6'3. I have

a longer torso. So people think I'm

taller than him because that's how it

presents on camera, but the reality is I

just sit higher in a car and I have to

really worry about it. I keep telling my

son to stop growing so he fits in

everything. He's not listening. The kid

is growing. Jim Olsh asks, "Which

automotive TV shows would we like to

guest on?" His recommendation for me is

Pimp My Ride. That's interesting. Yeah,

because because of design. I see that

because I suppose design and I suppose

maybe because I like to spend more money

and so we'll just opt for the the next

thing like we could do this. Yes. You

could give good guidance on Pit My Ride

though. You really could. Yeah. And Todd

you on auto week. I have no idea why but

auto the tiein there is what? I I don't

know. I don't know. I I can talk about

cars I guess. I don't know what the

issue is but anyway. Yeah. Chance is

bringing bore scoring on the 991s. That

is something that uh that that I

couldn't think of the name of and I knew

you would. So, thank you, Chance. Uh,

let's see what else we got here. If I

were to move on from my Cayman GTS,

would I get another Cayman or would I

reach for a 911? Question from Ryan

Stamp. Ryan, thank you so much. Why

don't you give me a paper cut and pour

lemon juice in it because yes, I think

about this a lot. I love my Cayman.

Don't worry. But now I'm looking at 981

GT4 Cayman's and I found two in sapphire

blue and

they're nothing like having more money

to spend on the Yeah. car. So, if I were

to do that, I'm actually kind of looking

at the 981 because I love this the

styling so much more. Although the new

718s obviously turbocharged, obviously,

you know, let's uh let's make them the

styling isn't as good, I don't feel

like, but your your the styling of your

era is the absolute best one for sure.

It looks fantastic on point. And then

GT4 version of that car. It's aging

really. Found a couple of them. Yeah.

Ted Logan says, "Thoughts on aftermarket

shift knobs? Have either of us ever done

this?" Yes, I I'm I'm all for it. If you

don't like the shift knob that came on

the car from the factory, if but I would

say this, you have to really not like

it. I think if it's if the one you have

there, you like the shape or is okay,

then I think stay with it. But on the

original uh F FRS, the original 86 that

I had, I didn't like that shift knob and

the shifting wasn't quite what I hoped

for. So, I got this large and you can

see it on our old videos. I got this

large kind of bulbous pretty heavy shift

knob on the top and it did actually help

the shifting and I like the look of it

much better than the stock one. So, if

it's something you can do when you feel

like you've improved the feel or improve

look. Sometimes every now and then a car

manufacturer makes a makes a stick shift

car and the knob is just like what were

you thinking? So, certainly that's

something you can change. It was on

sale. It was the cheapest option. There

was a part there that used to be a a

knob on a cabinet and now it's a shifter

knob. I don't know. Clearly did not pimp

it. Old Palooa. Somebody really likes

that. Actually, David says it sounds

like another great brand for us. That's

what we need. Another brand. Everyday

driver hooked on driving at Old Palooa.

I don't know what happens there. But I

don't know that I want to go to that

event. Really? I hear you. It sounds

kind of boring actually. Unless it were

really old cars, but you know, then it

turned into a Monterey Car Week. Why we

just go to Monterey Car Week and see all

the cool stuff? Let's see. Justin

Schultz was our first live car debate.

We might remember the long spreadsheet.

Justin, we've gotten a lot of long

spread. You're not alone in that. Yeah,

for sure. I feel like you kind of gave

everybody permission to do

that. We've gotten a lot of

spreadsheets. We've gotten a lot of

comparison things. And I like that

people do this to really see it on paper

and sort out their thoughts. But

ultimately, it comes down to emotion.

And a spreadsheet cannot categorize

emotion, what we actually just can't do

that. So, he's asking, "What new things

might we try in the podcast?" We've been

asked about doing live streams every

podcast. You talked about that a couple

episodes ago and it just seems like a

lot of podcasts do that now. They're

doing the studio thing and they're

doing, you know, whatever goes for uh

for a live podcast. This is why we're

doing at least four per year. This is

why we're doing this one and uh I like

that. But we're open to ideas. I like

what topic Tuesdays have become because

they're a broader unsolvable topic. I

like the car conclusions. Of course, car

debates are the bread and butter. was

the foundation of the car debate, but

we're open to ideas. If you've got

something, we're definitely always

wanting to consider stuff. Mike

Hildebrandt says, "If you were buying

rear wheel drive for winter, what would

we prefer? Higher horsepower V8 like a

Mustang or lower horsepower

four-cylinder like a BRZ. Lives in

Wisconsin. Would it be his daily?" Mike,

I'm going to say the obvious thing

because you haven't mentioned it. Tires.

Tires are going to matter so much for

that rear wheel drive in the winter. The

the reality is the low torque of the V8

Mustang is going to be more prone to

lose traction easier. But again, it

comes back to your tires. I I would

prefer the four-cylinder like the BRZ,

but I say that not because it's

four-cylinder over eight, but because it

is the lighter car. Driving a light car

in the winter with rear wheel drive is

wonderful because you get to a situation

again tires where you can put the back

out and you can slide the car in when

you want to, but also it doesn't when

you don't want. Whereas a lot of heavier

vehicles that when they do start

sliding, it's almost impossible to get

them back. So, I prefer it because it's

a lighter car, not because it is a less

powerful car. You certainly could make a

Mustang work, but if I were choosing

between those two, it would be the

lighter car for sure. Jordan's asking me

if I've ever had to set my own Paul

limiter. And the only reason it uh well,

the limiter exists out there, but the

the finances behind it don't. That's

right. You don't have a limiter, but you

have a a self-limiting device that is

budget. If the if the finances were

greater, the limiter would just, you

know, follow out front like a carrot on

a stick, it just keep going. I I don't

think I have. Uh Manny's encouraging me.

The 981 GT4. Yes. I It's no money. See,

I It's no money. I hate it when you know

Yeah. Our own stuff comes back. Comes

right back around. I'm I'm guilty of

that. Nathan Goss says he needs to know

if he needs to book a flight for podcast

1000. He's just he's planning just in

case. Nathaniel, here's the thing. Uh

you also might be able to drive to it.

So, there will be a thing you could you

could drive to or fly to. It's going to

depend on where you are in the country

versus where we'll be for 1000. So,

there will there look I'll I'll give you

one thing. There will be a live audience

at the 1000. Yes, the where and the how.

All of that still to come. John Caterify

asking me, "Why aren't there more three

seaters like the McLaren F1? On paper,

it looks like a great layout." I would

like to drive that F1 and determine if

it is a great layout or not. You're

you're you're making that offer. Maybe

even a T50. Let's just try it. Let's

just see. T50. There was We're here to

find out. Like you love to say, that's

all we do. Every question we pose to

ourselves, like, well, we got to go find

out again. There was that uh ' 70s I

think it was a late '60s or early '7s

Ferrari that did a triple seat uh center

driving layout and it's been tried

before. It just seems so exotic.

I It's got to be for a specific kind of

car, which is obviously a very driver

high performance

machine. I'm all for it. It just doesn't

make sense to the public. To all of us

enthusiasts, total

sense. We're all about it. But to most

people, you mean I could sit on either

side and you have to crawl over to get

into the middle and you're always in the

middle and that just how do you roll

your window down and get your fast food

or your It's It's a different head space

for sure. It is. I mean, but it goes

along with the manual transmission, you

know? It's It's like I don't want to

have the extra work. What? Why? Doesn't

this shift for itself? Center driving

position, manual transmission, mid-enine

V12 with the hot V. Uh at least a,000

horsepower. No, we don't need that much

horsepower. the only person saying this

in car culture, but we don't need that

much horsepower. Trogdor is saying, "If

we could do a pimp my ride car, what

would we pick and what would the gimmick

be?" Do you have one? I don't, but I I'm

p I'm throwing that out there because

I'm pondering it now. That is very, very

interesting. What would the gimmick be?

I got to think about that one. How about

a Chevy SS with the S's turned into Z's

and gone zezy top style with it? Okay. I

don't know what that looks like. It's

going to have big like

cycle a lot. Hot rod the Chevy SS which

is a fundamentally good car. That's the

thing. I have to start with a

fundamentally good car and then go weird

with it. So that's the first one that

comes to my mind. How about that? Club

Racer 6 is excited about the upcoming

Amir NSX uh uh Amira piece uh that

included the uh NSX and the 3 modem.

What are some equally or more exciting

and special 2 plus2 cars? Examples given

are the Ferrari FF, GT350, ZL1 1LE,

Evora GT, and special 911 variants.

You're you're absolutely spot on. I

think all those cars are going to

continually be looked back upon fondly.

I think you're right. And they're not

going to go anywhere. I I really do. The

the Modna was surprising. Can't wait to

share this piece. So good. So excellent.

The Ferrari FF is of course very

intriguing, but it's going to be all the

unloved cars when they came out

everybody recoiled in horror that will

in the future 10 20 years down the line

like they were so far ahead of their

time Ferrari FF and then they went

piroang and why do we need an SUV from

Ferrari? Adventures of Misty and Mike I

saw this question earlier think that

maybe a topic Tuesday. I'm going to see

if I can cover this quickly. What do we

think of Ford rolling back EV SUV

production in favor of hybrids? They're

acknowledging that we've said for a

while the EV time frame will be walked

back. We have said it. I stand by it.

But the reality is the market is

speaking here. That's the thing is there

was the the big swing for EV mandates by

governments around the world that were

done, let's be honest, to get votes.

They weren't done with an eye on can

this be done? Will the market support

it? Do people like it? Do we have the

infrastructure? None of that was

actually a reason to stand at the podium

and say, "I'm going to do this." Okay?

And now the reality is dawning. And the

truth is, we have these standards that

the car makers are supposed to meet. And

they're realizing, can we tweak the

standard or can we meet it some way

other than an EV that the that the

audience or the buyer will actually find

more palatable? If, let's be honest, if

people were buying every EV

possible, none of this would be

changing. Mhm. But the infrastructure is

holding it back more than anything. I

mean, we've talked recently about the

fact that we've finally gotten some some

fast chargers here locally, but the

reality of getting them charged and all

of that situation and getting something

you can afford that you like. All of

these are still factors. So, I feel like

more than anything, it's it's not even

political. It's not even infrastructure.

It's just the market is speaking and so

far people don't want them like the

government thought they would if they

put the mandate out. But I also think

there's just this. I don't care what

side of the aisle you're on. When the

government says you must do this and you

haven't even thought of it, we almost

always go, I don't think so. I don't

think so at all. Now, if you already

were on board and the government said do

it, you're like, thankfully the

government finally caught up to me. But

if the government announces it, you're

like, what? I'm not going to do that.

True. There's that as well. I found it

fascinating that the chief financial

officer for Ford did the announcement

instead of Jim Farley, the CEO. Good

point. And I saw a commenter on some

financial article that I saw. They were

wondering if that means Jim Farley's

days were numbered by having the CFO do

this. Even though you could see that

because it has to do with readjusting

their outlook for Wall Street, the CFO

was tasked with doing that. But you're

right. I think car companies want to

make a profit and they want to be

leaders. And so whatever technology or

in you know anything that everybody is

suddenly into that suddenly seems

promising they were all on board with

autonomy just five six years ago was the

thing. Absolutely. Every manufacturer

was trying to figure out how are we

going to go autonomous because we have

to do it pretty much tomorrow. Why don't

we have autonomous cars already? We've

got to do it. And then testing revealed

the world isn't ready for full autonomy

yet. There's some of it. It's still

being rolled out, but it's continually

evolving. Same thing with EVs. There was

an instant jump towards it and

redefining the brand. Ford, Audi, Volvo,

everybody was then very careful with

their language and how things were

worded. Yes, for sure. And then the

market speaks and then CEOs realizing,

huh, we still have to make a profit

because many car companies are publicly

traded. They do have forecasts and we do

have to meet those forecasts. stocks

drop if they don't. And so it's

important for car companies to still

make a profit based on what they're

known for. But they need to continually

improve, do it better, find out how to

make a manufacturing process more

efficient, better so they can make a

profit. I talk about manufacturing a

lot. It's such a big deal because that's

what the price of a car hinges on. It's

not necessarily design or the the

styling or or features or anything like

that. It's comes down to manufacturing

so much. And we see that reflected in

Teslas. see that like, wow, Teslas are

still having problems, but that doesn't

deter other people from buying them.

Certainly. Certainly. There there's

there's so many other factors, but I

also want to mention there's a key word

in all of the EV discussion when all of

these manufacturers make big swings or

even when there's governmental mandate

big swings. It always talks about the

fleet being electrified.

That is key. It does not say the going

to be all electric. They're going to be

electrified. And hybrids do count and

we're seeing that across the board. I

mean, the new I can't remember the name

right now. I can't pronounce the name

right now, but the new Lamborghini, baby

Lamborghini, is a 1000 horsepower almost

because it's electrified. It's a hybrid.

Electrified. Timario. Timario. Roll your

arms. You're welcome to have I'm not

Italian. I'm not even close to Italian,

but I do like the Italian language. Uh,

yeah. I was I'm I'm fascinated by Ford's

We're way out front. GM did it too just

a few months ago. Mary Bear was sort of

like ooh about that statement that I

gave earlier. Let me clarify walk back

actually tell you I was kidding. It's I

was in both feet and now I'm slowly

stepping out. Take one foot out. We were

kidding because we actually have to make

a profit. Uh and Church of Petrol the

CEO for Jim is cousin to Chris Farley,

not brother. But uh you can see in his

face it was just I keep wanting him to

say funny stuff. maybe said too much

funny stuff and they were like, "Nope,

not you. We'll get the CF CFO to talk to

to Wall Street." Tom E is asking about

Hooked on Driving. Thank you. He says,

"What fluids or parts should you be

swapping out for a high performance

driving event? Just that his first day

actually, sorry, already did it with

Hooked on Driving. Thank you for going.

Plans to do more. Quickly getting sucked

down into internet rabbit holes." Okay,

Tom, this is one of the biggest black

holes for your cash. So, be careful. It

is. If you're only going to do a few

track days a year, you don't have to go

about modding your car for track use.

That is not worth it. What you're going

to do, okay, if you're going to make a

track car, totally different

conversation. It's the only crazy, but

it's the only time you're going to drive

it is on track, then let's start chasing

stuff. But if you're going to be like

like we are, and like most people that

come to Hooked on Driving, you're

driving your car that you normally

drive, and now you're taking it to a

track day. Don't worry about trying to

make it a track car because what'll

happen is you'll ruin it for the 75% of

the time you're not on track. Okay? And

it might be 90% of the time you're not

on track. The things you should do is

upgrade the quality of your brake pads,

but even before that, upgrade the

quality of your brake fluid. The high

temp brake fluid is key. That is

probably the number one thing that is

going to let you down earlier. Then all

that money that the internet is telling

you you must put into tracking your car,

ignore all that. put that money aside

for tires and just don't worry about the

fact that you drove there on a set of

tires. You did a tractor on a set of

tires. Those tires are now done. And

then you go, "Huh, bummer." Because all

that money you didn't spend changing

your car is waiting there for new tires.

You've got to think differently about

tires when it comes to this new

activity. Because most people buy a set

of tires thinking in the back of their

mind, we're good. It's like you bought a

couch. Yes. We're good for years. for

like a decade, right? I got the couch.

Just keep it clean. Don't break

anything. I've got it. The tires are

just going to be around forever. And

depending on your usage, you'll be like,

"How did I use up a expensive set of

tires so quickly?" But if you budget for

it, you're aware of it. And it is a lot

of fun. This is what people discover

that it's a lot of fun to use up tires.

So, you got to be careful about how you

approach it. But, you know, if you get a

second set of wheels and tires, then

that helps. It's like, you know, two

pairs of shoes instead of one pair of

shoes all the time. But got a comment

from MK watching from Japan. Thank you

so much. We really appreciate it. We see

a lot of your comments on the test drive

channels uh on on this channel and uh uh

our other channel as well. So, thank you

for watching. We really appreciate it.

We've got to get to Japan. I went in

2016. I was in Tokyo and I actually

visited the Hyundai design studio in

Yokohama. Hyundai doesn't sell to my

knowledge. Hyundai still does not sell

any cars in Japan and uh Samsung is not

there either. So, it was really

interesting to experience Japanese

culture and I got to go to a lot of

different areas. It was fantastic. I

cannot wait to go back and uh yeah,

explore more of the car culture. I was

on the tech side when I when I did that

visit. But thank you so much for for

listening, for watching. We really

appreciate it. And uh the question here

is what person would we really want to

meet? Uh so if we come to Japan, we'll

meet MK. But uh who who have you thought

of that you really want to meet? I

suppose uh uh living or dead? We've had

this before. I know where you're going

to go. If you're going to go living or

dead, I know exactly who your answer is

going to be. It's kind of consistent. Go

for it. Paul Newman. I just I know. What

do you want to say? Yeah. Meet the man.

It just so interesting what his life was

like. And uh I suppose Steve McQueen

would be up there. I see that. I see

that. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. But uh yeah,

it'd be cool to talk to Patrick Dempsey

and talk about his racing career

measured up against what he's dealt with

in Hollywood. I think that'd be an

interesting conversation. I think it'd

be cool to meet the CEOs of all the car

companies that we think we'll never see

the cars or never visit the company.

Koigseg and Rematch. I think Mate would

be a really interesting discussion. I

agree. That' be very cool. Gordon Murray

of course is a benchmark and Sasha

Siponov. I met Sasha. He's the designer

of that Nu Neu 27 that hot V12 hot with

the hot V and manual 1000 horsepower.

Cool uh cool concept car that was

debuted. And uh I think it'd be cool to

talk to Sasha, too.

Let's see. Oh, uh Trogdor asked if I

still have my lease on Hagerty Drive

Share. First off, I think Hagerty sold

drive share if I'm not mistaken. Yeah, I

think I don't have it on there anymore

because what I realized, you said, how

was my experience with it? My experience

as a renter was actually great.

Everybody I rented to was very

respectful. What I liked about Drive

Share was the fact that I could

essentially up until the moment of

handing the car off, I could still deny

the rental, which I appreciated. And I

always had people go for a little tiny

little I would sit right seat and have

them go on a little test drive because I

would always remember things to tell

them when we did that. So, I liked all

of that. The experience was fine. My

problem with it was what I realized is

it never failed. The rental would pop up

at the least opportune time. we were out

of town or I was doing something else

that day or it just I had so much

trouble making it sounds ridiculous the

schedule of it work that I was like I

gota I got to stop this I got to pull it

down. Let's

see some good discussion on here on the

thread about EVs and specifically EVs

for tracking and I still am fascinated

that the latest round of EVs were all

introduced at racetracks. Mhm. Yeah.

Yeah. TYON Turbo GT, the Ioni 5N. I'm

I'm guessing there's going to be quite a

few more because even at the very high

end, we're seeing all those cars. Well,

we've got to create the track version

because it can't just be car to sell

anymore. We've got to have a track

version of it to really make it

enticing. So, I feel like we're here in

a sweet spot. We we could invite some of

those owners to have a specific track

day. See, my dream is like the the very

cool high-end track day. So, all those

owners that own all these cars and they

really drive them. They don't just sit.

I think the T50, the Gordon Murray cars

would be driven quite a bit, but some of

these others, I think they'll just be

babyed. You're right. You're right.

Bring these to a track day. So, let's

set up a hooked on driving track day

just for owners of these cars, the

Koigs, and then we'll invite everybody

listening, watching, just come watch.

Like, wouldn't it be interesting just to

come meet all these owners and watch

these cars and uh just thrash them? and

that's what they're for. Mandy is

acknowledging that she would also like

Patrick Dempsey to come to one of our

events. And the problem is I know that

if he did, then my wife's going to be

there, too. My wife's a huge Grey's

Anatomy fan. And then we're way off into

things that nothing to do with cars. But

at least Patrick Deayy's at our track

day. I Okay, there there was a track day

since buying Hooked on Driving. There

was a track day that we were related to

but not in charge of that Patrick

Dempsey showed up at. My wife got angry.

She was like, "What do you mean it was I

was like, "Baby, I I we were so discon

we were like three layers disconnected.

It's like we could fly out there real

quick that morning." But anyway, yeah,

that happened, too. That's funny.

Excellent.

Uh, yes, John C. Johnfi asking, "Come do

Tale of the Dragon. We're talking about

ideas. 2025 is not far away." So, that's

as much as I will say about that.

Elliot Manning is acknowledging that he

was always frustrated that Toyota and

Subaru were kind of read the riot act

for not coming out with an EV and not

being both feet in and now they're

looking like they were the smart ones. I

mean, what what's happening here,

Elliot, and and Paul already touched on

a little bit again. 5 years ago it was

every a car is going to be autonomous.

Now it's every car is going to be

electric. What happens is that the

non-car media, the media outside of

cars, the only thing they really want to

cover is something that's new and

different. the word news, it's got to be

new. They want to comes cover something

new and different. And the thing that's

are new and different are the things

that the fringe part of the markets are

exploring. So talking about everything's

going to be autonomous, talking about

everything's going to be EV. And those

of us that are more embedded in the car

world, we see the much larger picture

because we care about all of it. And so

that's the other thing that happens. And

this is I'm not pointing it out just

because it's happened with cars. It

happens with news in general where

what's the thing that is new and

different that we can share that may be

only a fringe of the topic we're talking

about. So I think Toyota and Subaru were

smart about it but we're going to see I

think the next five years are

fascinating. Absolutely. As all of this

settles out because here we are 2024

and the first of those mandates were

2030.

So that means the next five years of car

creation is going to be fascinating as

all of these markets settle out. I mean,

we've also read about uh some niche

manufacturers getting exceptions where

they can keep making V12s. It's going to

be a mix of all power plants, and I'm

excited about that. Did we talk about

Eli Miller's question? What current cars

are we most excited to drive in the next

few months? Eli, I we we are planning

for the BMW uh Zcar, the new Z40i

with the manual, with the manual

transmission, with the ND3 Miata. We've

got that on the books to shoot. I'm

excited for the new AMG GT because

Mercedes built the 928, the new 928, and

of course the new 911 GTS. That's very

interesting to me. And then the real

heavy cars that everybody wanted the new

M5 Touring. Everybody, you know, we us

included. It's hugely heavy, but it's

got all the numbers, the horsepower, the

biggest brakes, the best everything. I

want to drive this and understand what

manufacturers are doing. Weight is

weight, but let's see how they're

managing it and let's see what's what's

going on with, you know, the the AMG GT

is is way too heavy, too. And definitely

the ZR1. That's really high on my list.

Yeah, I'm intrigued by that. But I mean,

we're again, we're just dealing with

nutty horsepower here, but I'm very

intrigued by that one. I I would love to

put all the Corvettes together. I know

others have tried and failed to do that.

It's it's a hard thing to try to get all

those cars together to put all the C8s

in one big piece. It feels like

something you and I could do well. But

even if we got them peace meal, it would

be very cool to drive them all,

especially as experienced as we are now

with the C8 that you have. Uh let's see.

Justin says, "Any cars that once bought,

we'd have a hard time putting miles on

it." Justin, I I want to say no

because but but I'm gonna answer yes and

no because this has been the interesting

challenge and stretching experience for

me with the Amir and then I back it out

of my garage into another car. Anyway,

separate thing. But the the thing about

the Amir is that car is far too

expensive for someone like me to own. I

mean, it really is. It's like what on

earth is going on there? But so I've had

to to to remind myself, put PD uh PPF on

it, so the paint is protected, as has

been proven already more than once. And

the point of it is to drive it. So I've

got 5,000 miles on that car, and I got

it the middle of May. And we've taken

two road trips. There's another couple

coming up. I'm very excited about taking

it on road trips. Taking on a road trip

was key, but the it's been a nice

challenge for me to have a car that has

all the reasons why I should be precious

with us and then go, "No, no, no. The

point here is to drive it." So, I'd like

to think it wouldn't matter. The ones

I'd have a hard time putting miles on on

would be the ones I couldn't trust. I

would love to have an E type. Would love

to. Yeah. Yeah. But I really do think

that every time I drove it, I celebrate

the fact that I did a round trip

because they're finicky. Yeah. They're

old and they're finicky. Like, we're

back. Yes. I'm alive. Yes. And and I

think and and look, I've never owned

one. I've driven them and I I love

driving them. Every time I drive one, I

just think I want one of these cars. And

I think in the back of my mind, if I had

one of those, I think it would probably

have a three strike rule. If it left me

if it left me three times in the middle

of a drive, I think it would be very

hard pressed to get it out of the garage

again because what are we doing? Yeah.

You know, also throw money at it to make

it better, right? That also is because

I'm not a mechanic. I don't get any joy

out of, well, it broke, so I'll just dig

in and fix it. I don't want that. I want

to pay somebody else to dig in and fix

it. And that's the thing. So I that the

the ones would be hard for me would be

the ones I don't know that I could

trust. Two related questions here.

Trogger 147 asks, "We've seen the

unofficial renders of the new Toyota GR

Celica. They're to bring it back. How

would it slot into their lineup? They

don't care. They just bring it back and

make it. They've got 10 10 SUVs.

That's a lot of SUVs. So for that car,

they could just bring it back. No

worries. But Trogdra, that made me think

of the new MR2. Following up with John

Catifi's question, who would love to see

me downgrade for my next car? Would the

new MR2 be considered a downgrade?

Because that does interest me if they do

put an actual manual transmission. Make

it a GR car. It's the small MR2

midenine. Cool car. Don't know how much

it would cost. They're talking about it

being EV, too. We'll see what we'll see

what it's actually going to be. Maybe

we'll see.

But I've also seen a few articles about

what if they're developing a

four-cylinder engine for this car, maybe

it would be both options. Do you

consider that a downgrade and that would

be really compelling? But what's the

best part is I could get that as the

downgrade and then that would open up

the 911

buyership. What you downgraded so you

could buy an even more expensive car on

the other end to somehow balance the

garage. That is fascinating. You know, I

have very much thought about that that

that after the Amira, we should go low

again. Maybe even go into, you know,

used cars that are surprisingly

affordable. MR2 is intriguing. And that

is and that's of the new ones. The one

that I have heard rumored that I'm very

curious about is if Mazda makes a sports

car that's above the Miata. It's been

called various names. There's been some

really cool looking renders. The RX9,

throw the R out of it. Give it a normal

engine. Make it a hybrid. Whatever. But

but you know anytime they drop a render

for that car I just go yes please. I

would love for Mazda to drop something

like that. I would be I would be very

much interested in looking into it. Be

very very cool for me I think. But you

know and I would buy this is crazy to

say I talked to Mike who bought RGR86.

Oh recently he's selling his perfect

spec M3 his E90 four-door cuz he just

doesn't drive it cuz he only drives the

86. It's up for sale. He is trying to

sell the E90. And the car, the E90 is

gorgeous. It's on our icon film. It's a

wonderful, it's the right one, the

four-door, six-speed, but he never

drives it cuz he drives the 86 all the

time and loves it. And the truth is, I

would buy another 86 tomorrow. And I'm

curious to see because Toyota has done

this with all of their sports cars in

the last 15 years. Every year they make

it a little bit better. They add extra

parts. I'm curious what the next couple

of years of tweaks are going to be on

the 86 because I have a feeling by 2026

or 27 that might be the one to

buy. There's a lot of good cars coming.

I am not worried. There's good stuff

coming. K says, "Car reviewers sometimes

make a comment about such and such car

handles great." Sometimes make a

comment. I mean that that should be in

pretty much every review. What does that

mean? Never been on a track in a car so

he has no reference

point. K. Have you driven a van or an

SUV followed by a small to midsize car

like a Honda Civic? Okay, the first

because that's most people have that

kind of range of experience. The the

reality is that handling comes down to

the way a car shifts its weight and

hangs onto the road at the at the basis

level. It's what we're talking about. I

get into geeky things like steering feel

and and you know all kinds of other

stuff, but at its core, it's about how

does it handle its weight and how

confident are you that you're not going

to slide off the corner. Okay? And a

huge box truck handles terribly because

it's very heavy. It's very topheavy. It

has terrible tires and its purpose is to

get places, not to turn. Okay? But you

take a Miata, it's the exact opposite.

The tires are good. It doesn't weigh

very much. And its purpose is corners,

not to go fast. Mhm. These are somewhat

attainable realities I'm talking about,

but you can already understand when out

driving them the difference. So,

handling is about that weight shift and

the enjoyment that you get when the car

is encouraging in a corner. There are

plenty of cars. I'll give you one right

now. The Cyber Truck. The Cybertruck has

no business handling as well as it does,

hanging on to corners as well as it

does. Yeah, true. But I didn't enjoy

that. I was marveling at it, but the

whole time I was just like this doesn't

feel right. Okay. Okay. Seriously, it

doesn't feel It's like this doesn't

connect to reality. No, it does not. So,

that's the other another part of

handling, too, is it just it has to feel

like that was right. It's it's that

thing you get when you do a sports play

really well or you're skiing really well

or you're dancing really well. Those are

all weight shift movements and when you

nail them, you know it. That's what good

handling is. Ooh, suggestion here. What

if we transmogrified the Cayman into a

new MR2? Like GRMR2

and the Corvette turned into an Artura,

huh? Oh my gosh, I love that your budget

keeps going up and up and up and up and

up. Anyway, they're two They do

different things. You take them on

different kinds of activities. Right.

Right. Jim is noting that the director

of the old film Grand Prix and Ronin

were both John Frankenheimer. He says,

"Do we use any Frankenheimer

techniques?" Not, not specifically. No.

But Frankenheimer was the original

action director. Like the guy that that

just was able to create tension with

high-speed sequences. He was one of the

first to do it really, really well. What

else did he do? Not just those two. He

did a bunch of stuff. He did a bunch of

stuff. I'd have to look him up right

now, but he he did a bunch of stuff.

Have we ever driven Church of Petrol?

Another super chat. Thank you, man. Have

we ever driven a right-hand drive car in

the US? If so, what did you think? Uh,

it felt like a lot of trouble. I mean,

yes, we have. We have, but but the

reality is it's you realize you're in a

world not built for you. It's it's fine

and it's cool. The weirdest part is

you're you're shifting with your left

hand, which you can get used to. But the

thing I never get used to is your

blinkers and your wipers swapped

and invariably I am always turning on

the wiper and I should be over here for

the signal and it happens consistent. I

would get used to it. I know that. The

big thing I've always said about

right-hand drive cars in the US is if

they made that car here, never buy the

right-hand drive version. If you're

buying a car they never sold here and it

only comes right-hand drive. Different

conversation. You want to be quirky. But

like I see people that buy a 300ZX with

right-hand drive. I'm like, why? They

made them here. Keep driving the ones

they made here cuz then the world works

for you. That's that's my It's a badge

of honor. Oh, it the JDM cars. I did it.

Badge of honor that I have one and you

don't know about this because I dropped.

Yeah, that's fair. Yeah, the turn

signals are swapped but the clutch and

gas is not. True. True. And the

transmission shift pattern is still so

first is all the way out and over away

from you where fifth or sixth should be.

It's very strange. So that was the RX7

at least and the K cars. Uh the Suzuki

was Cappuccino. Cappuccino was Yeah, of

course. And so was the So the um Mazda

Autozam. The Autozam. Thank you. I would

love having an Autozam, but I don't fit.

That's worse than Miatas. It's worse

than Miatas, which is terrifying. Yeah,

they're Yeah, they're bad for anybody.

Let's see. Holy moly, that's been an

hour already. It has. We got to do a few

more, but but we have been flying, which

is really, really good. Lots of debate

going on about whether or not Taylor the

Dragon is worth it. I I always laugh.

That is just such an easy nerve for for

people in the US because Tale of the

Dragon has such a reputation. Yeah. And

and I've heard this consistently that

there's many roads arguably as good that

nobody knows about right around Tail of

the Dragon. But of course, Tale of the

Dragons thing you have to go. It's that

badge of honor you have to go. And I

still would like to drive it, but I like

to drive a lot of stuff around it, too.

Uh Hypnoto22 asks, "Any plans to get in

the Mustang Maky Rally?" He's listening

to Matt on Smoking Tire. Sounds pretty

fantastic. Would love to hear our take.

We would like to actually Jordan who is

tuned in as well. He drove that as well

and had great comments. So, it's

interesting that sometimes there's a car

model that comes out and one specific

trim level is the sweet spot and the

rest of them could just go away. That's

what we're hearing to about that rally

as well, but I'm not seeing actually we

did see one at at Boardwalk Lotus on the

on the road trip. Yeah, we did. They had

one in the parking lot. They did. And I

don't know who's buying it, but there it

is. Yep. For sure.

Jared Buyer says he saw an '05 Elise on

an auction site and it had less than

3,000 miles on it with one owner. He

thinks that owner missed the point.

Jared, you're 100% correct. If you

bought that car new and it has three,

again, I have 5,000 miles on my Amir and

I've had it since May. Now, the downside

is that means I haven't driven the Elise

as much, but my Elise has uh almost

81,000 miles on it and I'm pretty proud

of that. Winding down, guys. If we've

missed a question, thank you so much.

Keep sending. If we didn't get a

question, please jump onto our social

media and ask there and just add to the

threads on there after we're uh cruising

around in that 110 Land Rover 110

Defender. It's got a cool paint job on

it. And the wheels look like steelies,

but they are actual alloy wheels painted

gloss white. They're 20-in wheels, so

they look look steely, but they're not.

Uh so yeah, we're spending the week in

that. And uh yeah, like I said, please

send your questions to social media and

uh we'll keep looking out for that. What

else? Do you have any other wrap-up

questions? I mean, keep keep in mind

that we are cranking out the I'm going

to apologize to you guys and also thank

you because as a result of buying Hooked

on Driving, which we are still enjoying

and it's a whole other use of our brain

and it's very very cool. Yeah. The the

reality is though that that means we

haven't done as many big pieces for our

original channel and I I personally as

the filmmaker am annoyed that we've

slowed down but this is the reality. So

I apologize to you guys. They haven't

been as good but been as often but you

guys have done really good job of

showing up when they drop. Thank you for

that. We have some really big stuff

coming in the back half of the year and

I want to just promote a couple of road

trips and some really cool comparisons.

You already know about the Lotus uh

Ferrari and NSX one that's coming up.

There's a lot of other really cool ones

we haven't even shot yet, plus some

really good road trips. So, I hope that

when we drop these, you guys will show

up. You will watch them on a big screen

because that's how they're intended.

You'll share them with your friends. We

appreciate that immensely. And, you

know, we have noticed that we're not

putting out as many and we're going to

rectify that as we go into next year and

kind of settle out a little bit. This

year's been a lot. I I have to tell you,

it has been a lot, but we're enjoying

ourselves. So, thank you guys for being

with us at Always. The questions are so

good and I am excited about all the

other live podcasts we'll do. But

remember, we record on Mondays and

Thursdays for podcasts coming out

Tuesdays and Fridays in general on all

podcast platforms. It is audio only and

we welcome your questions on social

media. Plus, you send in your car

debates to everyday driver TV at Gmail.

Plus, topic Tuesdays, random musings. We

read it all. We really do. So, we'd love

to hear from you. Last comment about

Hooked on Driving. We are coming to the

Seattle area. A reminder, I'm looking at

the calendar now, September 20 and 21,

2024. So on that Saturday morning, we're

having a cars and coffee. Please come

out from 9 to 11. See us at the Ridge

Motorsports Park. And that is a two-day

event. If you want to get your car on

track, good news, you can hooked on.com.

We will announce other locations. We're

hoping to get to the east coast for a

few later in 2024. So we'll definitely

keep you posted on that. And the podcast

is the best way to find out about the

dates that we'll be there.

But Seattle at least for uh the 20th and

21st and then we have our Utah event the

next weekend here on the 28th and 29th

of September right here locally we're

doing a really cool drive there followed

by a track there at a local track uh

UMC. So if you want to come to that we'd

love to see you because again that is

our last adventure of the year with a

drive element. So and then next year

it's it's so nuts already. The amount of

planning for 25 guys I can't even tell

you how much but it's really cool. Thank

you so much. Really appreciate it. Share

the podcast. rate and view when you get

a chance and we're looking forward to

next time as always. Cheers everyone.

Thank you. Awesome. Thank you.

996: A Mustang-Shaped Race Car, Cylinder Count Matters, Trick Yourself Into Another Brand

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