Tesla Model 3 Performance is a faster, sportier Model 3. The hosts mention it because it’s one of the cars that received the brake-related tech after testing.
The Tesla Model Y is an all-electric SUV. It runs on a battery instead of gasoline, and it can be very quick depending on the version. The podcast brings it up because people discuss how it performs in real driving and sometimes on tracks.
Brake-by-wire means the brakes are controlled electronically instead of using brake fluid pressure. Sensors tell the car what you want, and motors create the braking force at the wheels.
Brembo sensify is a company’s electronic brake system design. It aims to replace brake fluid with motors and computers that control braking at the wheels.
A hydraulic master cylinder is the part that turns your brake pedal push into pressurized brake fluid. That fluid then helps squeeze the brakes at the wheels.
Drive-by-wire is when the car uses electronics to control driving inputs instead of direct mechanical connections. The speaker is comparing that idea to electronic brake control.
Regenerative braking is when an EV slows down and also charges its battery at the same time. It uses the motor to create resistance instead of using the brake pads as much.
ABS helps stop the wheels from locking up when you brake hard. Here, the idea is that the system can control braking separately for each wheel, which is useful when grip is uneven.
Wheel lockup is when the wheels stop turning while you’re braking. That makes the car harder to steer, so ABS helps prevent it.
Concept
traction differences side-to-side
If one side of the road is slick and the other side isn’t, the tires have different grip. The car can adjust braking per wheel to help keep the car stable and easier to steer.
Panic mode is what the car calls its emergency braking behavior. If it thinks you’re braking hard enough to need maximum help, it will step in to apply braking more aggressively.
Pedal modulation just means gently and smoothly adjusting how hard you press the brake. The segment suggests brake-by-wire can change how that adjustment feels and how the car responds.
Comfort modes are driving settings that tune how the car responds—often making throttle/brake behavior smoother and less aggressive. In brake-by-wire systems, these modes can change braking response and the “feel” of pedal input.
Sport mode is a setting that makes the car react more sharply. In this context, it suggests the brakes may respond more aggressively when you press the pedal.
Term
other systems of your car
The brakes don’t always work alone—modern cars coordinate braking with other safety and handling systems. That helps the car keep control, especially when grip is limited.
Engine braking means the car slows down when you stop pressing the gas. The engine helps slow the car, and newer systems can blend that with the brakes for better control.
Carbon ceramic rotors are special brake discs made from a heat-resistant ceramic material. They can be great for performance, but they usually need a proper break-in process so they work correctly.
Stopping distance is how far the car travels before it fully stops after you start braking. Slippery roads and tire grip strongly affect it.
Term
ABS in the pedal
When ABS activates, the brake pedal can feel different due to rapid pressure modulation and wheel-speed feedback. Some drivers describe this as pulsing or vibration, and brake-by-wire systems aim to make that sensation less intrusive while still preventing lockup.
They’re discussing who’s legally/ethically responsible when a car is using automation. The point is: if you’re sitting in the driver’s seat and the system is supposed to be under your control, you can still be held responsible for what happens.
An autonomous driving mode is when the car tries to drive itself (at least for certain tasks). The hosts’ point is that being in that mode doesn’t necessarily mean the driver is off the hook.
Terms of service are the rules you agree to when you use a service or product. In this segment, they’re using it to argue that the driver is still responsible, not the company.
Term
keep your hand on the wheel
That message is the car reminding you to stay involved while it’s doing some driving help. Even if the car can steer or hold speed, it wants you watching and ready to take over.
They’re talking about Ford’s driver-assist features and how often the car tells you to keep your hands on the wheel. The point is that the system is designed to make sure you’re paying attention.
This is a setting where the car tries to drive itself on rough dirt or uneven ground. It uses sensors to help it steer and keep a steady speed, but it can still get confused by rocks, ruts, or steep obstacles.
The Toyota Prius is a car that uses both a gas engine and an electric motor. This helps it use less fuel than many regular gas cars. People often talk about it because it’s designed to be efficient for everyday driving.
The Toyota Land Cruiser is a large SUV made to handle rough roads and tough conditions. It’s designed to be strong and reliable, even without special upgrades. The podcast mentions it as an example of a capable, standard (stock) vehicle.
Wheelbase is how far apart the front and rear wheels are. A short wheelbase car can feel more nimble on trails, but it may struggle more with steep obstacles or uneven ground if it can’t keep good contact with the surface.
Long wheelbase means the front and rear wheels are farther apart. That can help a vehicle stay steadier and keep traction on uneven climbs, though it may be harder to maneuver around tight obstacles.
An EV market downturn means fewer people are buying electric cars than companies hoped. The hosts are saying that kind of slowdown can hurt EV makers’ sales and finances.
GM (General Motors) is referenced here as pulling back from the EV market, specifically in trucks. That kind of shift by a major automaker can signal weaker EV demand or a change in strategy, which the hosts tie to the broader EV slowdown.
MSRP is the official sticker price a carmaker lists for a car. Here, they’re using it to talk about whether the EV is priced in a way more people can afford.
For electric cars, “range” means how many miles you can drive before the battery runs low. They’re saying 350 miles is a good target for everyday use.
Concept
EV pricing promises vs final pricing
They’re talking about a problem where EV companies advertise a price, but when the car actually shows up, it costs more than expected. That makes it harder for shoppers to budget.
The Ford Mustang is a sports car from Ford. Depending on the version, it can be quick and fun to drive, and it’s available in different price ranges. The podcast mentions it because people often talk about Mustangs when discussing performance for the money.
Cruise control is the feature that keeps your car at a chosen speed. Here, they’re using it as the starting point to talk about newer, more advanced systems.
They’re saying AI was used to write most of the software code. The point is that the system’s programming may have been generated by AI rather than written entirely by people.
Super Cruise is GM’s system that can help with driving on certain roads, like highway driving. In this segment, they’re talking about it as a newer version of cruise control and how AI may have helped write the software.
A restomod is an older car that gets updated with modern parts. The goal is to keep the classic style, but make it drive and feel better—sometimes even converting it to a manual transmission.
A manual swap means converting a car to use a stick shift. It’s more than just swapping the lever—you typically have to change several parts so the car can drive properly with a manual transmission.
The Nissan Skyline is a famous performance car nameplate from Japan. The host is saying Nissan is bringing it back as part of a renewed push toward cars enthusiasts actually want.
Car
Nissan 400Z
The Nissan 400Z is a performance Z-car from Nissan. Here, the hosts are talking about it as a possible engine donor for a future car.
The BMW 5 Series is a mid-size luxury car. It’s designed to be comfortable for everyday driving, but it can also feel sporty. The podcast mentions it while talking about different versions and how certain configurations might come back.
Rev matching is when the car helps line up the engine speed with the gear you’re shifting into. It makes downshifts smoother and easier, even if you’re not an expert at heel-toe.
Heel-toe is a manual-driving trick for downshifting smoothly. You coordinate braking and blipping the throttle so the engine speed matches the lower gear.
Power shifting is aggressive manual shifting where you keep the engine producing power while changing gears, often with minimal lift between shifts. In practice, it’s used to maintain momentum and can feel faster because the drivetrain stays “on the boil” rather than coasting.
The Nissan GT-R (R35) is a supercar famous for being extremely quick, especially in a straight line. The speaker is saying the automatic transmission makes it feel even faster and easier to use.
The Nissan Xterra is a body-on-frame SUV built with off-road capability in mind. The host points out a practical design detail—cargo-area “bulge” space—framing it as something intended for outdoor use (like carrying an emergency kit) rather than competing purely as a street-focused vehicle.
The Porsche 911 Turbo S is a top version of the 911, built for fast driving with strong grip and stability. Here, the point is that it feels better in corners than as a “go as fast as possible in a straight line” car.
Downforce is the aerodynamic “suction” effect that presses the car down onto the road. More downforce usually means better grip when you’re going fast, especially in corners.
Term
dual funky drive shaft layout
A drive shaft is the part that sends power from the drivetrain to the wheels. Saying it has a “dual” layout means the car uses two shafts or a split arrangement to move power in a specific way.
Term
crest of a hill
A “crest of a hill” is the top of a hill. When you’re driving fast, the road shape can change what you can see and how the car feels over bumps.
They’re saying that if you go very fast, you need a lot more road to slow down safely. It’s harder to stop from higher speeds than it feels in your head.
They’re talking about a Mazda RX-7 they pushed very hard. It’s a special kind of car because it uses a rotary engine, and in this story it was modified with a turbo and then the engine failed.
A single turbo conversion means replacing a factory turbo setup (often twin-turbo) with one larger turbocharger. That change can alter boost response and power delivery, and it’s a common modification path for making more peak horsepower on an RX-7.
They’re talking about how heavy the car is. A lighter car usually accelerates and brakes differently than a heavier one, which matters when you’re driving fast.
The catalytic converter is a part that cleans up exhaust. If it’s glowing red, it usually means the exhaust is running extremely hot—often because fuel isn’t burning correctly.
“Running too rich” means the engine is getting more fuel than it needs. That usually makes the car burn a lot of gas and can cause rough running if it’s not tuned correctly.
A “tune” is like updating the car’s computer settings for how much fuel and spark to use. If you change parts but don’t tune it, the engine can run poorly or cut out.
Intakes are aftermarket or modified air-induction components that change how much and how easily air flows into the engine. More airflow can require ECU changes (a tune) so the engine doesn’t run with the wrong fuel-air mixture.
A mid-pipe is part of the exhaust system. Swapping it can change how the exhaust flows, and that can make the engine need a computer adjustment to run right.
LIVE
Welcome to the abouts podcast. I'm Dan. I'm Nick. Welcome back. I'm cold
You are it was really hot and then I decided today like I wrote my schedule around the fact that you go into
Bellevue get a haircut and I was like, I am gonna take the monkey the monkey has not been ridden and then it was like
58 degrees today. It's really cold and that's about the time I started getting home. It started to rain
Like it's it's actually not horrible because like obviously can't be on the freeway
I basically just go
Hey, there's a there's a secret way out of my neighborhood that gets puts me in the fall city
Yeah, I know that way and then up to some amish and then I go along some amish and
into Redmond across
Marymore and then you're right basically Microsoft and everything that's you know, it's not horrible a little secret ways fun
Yes
I
Was I was being eyed today because you're not nest necessarily supposed to do it
But the more these kids that are out there and these electric motorcycles. There's paths being put into there. So, right?
Yeah, exactly. Yeah, it's a little escape route. But like
Maybe it's my age, but I got home and I'm like I need a hot shower like I'm like, yeah bones are cold
So I thought you meant like in the shop. I'm like a turn on the heat. No, no, it's it feels less. I walked in here
I was like this feels wonderful
Yeah, no, I just needed a little break and I was like, I'm doing this and then I got out there and like initially
I thought oh, I just need you know, good my good boots
My I'm gonna take my car heart pants if something happens in a long-sleeve shirt and I walked outside and I was like boy, it's cold
But yeah, how are you? Oh, not bad. Yeah, I've been busy busy as always. It's always busy
Yeah, it is say it's just this then the new norm is not enough sleep and not enough time
But you know, it is the car season though. That's the weather change. We've been seeing all the drives
Exotics has been running every weekend. Like, you know, like clockwork. Yeah, it's cool to see that back
If you go to the avants comm slash events page, you will have more than ever for all regions
We've been really cool and coming up with Nicole Wilson is up here from Arizona. She's still the Arizona
Contact she's still running Arizona, but she's up here right now
And she'll be here doing a meet and greet on the 20th at Salish Lodge
So if you're around in the area, definitely come hang out. We'll be there come say hi. Yeah, yeah
We usually record on Wednesdays, but we thought we'd go there be fun. Yeah, we'll record there come say we'll find out
I want to go back to a little point. I noticed and
I want to say it's it's our influence on this area
There are so many people driving monkeys scooters and groms right now
Yeah, I it could be the gas prices, but I'm choosing to like so many people
We're turn setters. Yeah, I think that's what it is. Yeah, yeah, you know
I was like, this is interesting. Like usually I'm the only one so we get like attention and now everybody I'm like, oh, I get it like
Everybody's yeah, yeah, yeah
110 115 miles the gallon goes a long way. Yeah
That's like I can drive the truck in and burn 34 or five gallons of gas so I can burn
Eight of a tank. Yeah, so yeah
It's I mean, it was really hot for a while. I should say really hot it got into the 80s
And then it's all that's for us this time of year. That's very hot. Yeah, it's very out of the ordinary
Yeah, great for the cars minus all the pollen
Which we keep having to clean up all the time, but that seems to come down has come down a little bit, but yeah, we went
Kate had Lasik. Yeah, which went amazing. Could God could not speak highly more highly of the place
but we decided on
Sunday to go with Brian and Megan and try to celebrate Megan's birth a little bit and went up to that high steel bridge on the peninsula
Little known fact something I discovered
If somebody gets Lasik on a Friday and you take them on a bumpy road on a Sunday as their brains trying to get used to it
It makes them violently ill and car sick. Oh, that's nice
Yeah, and then you can't rush out of the woods because if you rush out of the woods then
Oh
Lesson learned. Yeah, okay. She was really excited to go Lola was really excited to go and like
We were we were who had just gotten off the bridge and we're driving
She's like I don't feel good and and Kate's a person that unless you she really has to be sick to feel yeah
Yeah, she's like we need to stop and I was like, oh, we're here. Okay, so yeah, she's doing great by the way
I
I'm looking forward to doing that now. I'm
The more I the more I'm getting I feel like this is an aging podcast like things you should do when you get old
While driving so get lasik. Yeah. Oh, that's funny. Yeah, that's a yeah. I'm looking forward to doing the same
Yeah, it was a beautiful drive out there. Obviously. It was a nice sunny day
It was it was you know, not too there's a little bit of dust
But it was there wasn't too many people up there ran into a guy up there that was a local that had a triumph
400 that we were talking to and just kind of a nice beautiful day
And then I left and it looked like Brian and Megan got into some sabachary driving through creeks and things like that
Oh, yeah, yeah, that's fun to do. Absolutely. Nice. Absolutely
Yeah, let's do our Carter automotive group tip of the week. It's sort of a it's talk
It's it's not just the tip. It's sort of like an emerging technology. I want to talk about I should say it's not new
That's Brembo sensify now if you the videos if people who are really into the industry are just like to follow the weird tech
Stuff in cars they came out about three or four years ago
It's been in production for about ten years
But the system started getting actually on cars about three or four years ago as far as it testing on cars
They had it in the lab
They'd gone through all that and then they put it on a couple of Tesla model three performances
Took of the track with the Michelin proving grounds and they were showing all the differences
So what Brembo sensify is is basically break by wire, but I mean true break by wire
It removes the hydraulic master cylinders the hydro whole hydraulic system in some cases
All the way down to the wheels and it adds electronic motors at all four wheels
That basically apply the brakes and it applies it at different pressures per wheel based on the scenario
It applies different types of ABS like it can be the ABS at one wheel and not another's if the other ones have traction
Think of it that way
So and again, you're teaching me it on this too. Is this a lot like the the
Drive-by-wire like emergency brakes that are on our cars and things like that that basically it's just it's a clamp
It's a mechanical clamp that goes back and forth
No, it works this
Similar to a hydraulic piston without the hydraulics. It's an electronic motor pushing and pulling that piston in and out
Okay, it's actually an electronic motor pulling that piston in and out or pushing that piston in and out
So they have hybrid systems where you have hydraulic backup to the system
The but a true rumbo-sensify system eliminates all of the hydraulics
We're at the point now where electronic motors can provide more than enough pressure for brakes
Now this might not work so well in pure racing systems at the moment. They say it will but I haven't seen anything
I looked through they talk about it. They talk about it in their videos. I have not seen that actually done
So but the reason I bring in this up now, even though it's not a brand-new thing is it is going into production
BMW is the first manufacturer
So, you know, if you don't renew your membership to your brakes, they might stop but
So be warm and you heated seats. Yeah, but you're warm and you heated seats if you paid for those
No, I'm just kidding. But BMW is putting this into their first one of their EVs now. I don't know which one but
It will be a fully independent system
Individual brakes all four wheels no hydraulics and it's a much simpler system now think of it
It sounds redundant to say a system like this is simpler, but it really is it's really just as it's as simple as having four
Electronic motors at each wheel with enough pressure to close open and close the brakes
This offers some serious advantages though one if you've ever if you've noticed
You let you jack your car up and have it in neutral. There's always a little bit of drag on your brakes
It's not a lot, but it's there. It's a little bit of friction. This can pull this can pull back the caliper even further
Completely disengaging the brakes. This does matter on EVs, especially
And then wouldn't there be some drag on those anyways because the regenerative braking?
Yeah, but if you were just coasting or whatever and you weren't regenerative braking like you like you're excuse me
You're accelerating it's pulling the pulling the pads all the way right from the rotor
Which will give you just a little a little more efficiency add into that
Worst case scenario you damage one you get an accent all the other three are working
So even mid-accident like I think the split seconds of a crash where you get hit in like one of the you know
The right rear the right front or you know one of the corners only and that in a normal car
You could damage a brake line which does happen
Especially if you get a thing about sliding into a curb and hitting the rear wheel or the front wheel and it pulls
Like pulls the wheel down this allows the all the other wheels to still work
Okay, so there's some serious advantages there for automatic braking systems
And then like I mentioned before a little bit it can vary the
The ABS per wheel
So like if you lose traction on one wheel or one side like think of ice on one side of the road
You hit the brakes instead of ABS hitting all four wheels. It's just gonna hit the outer two
And as needed and it will of or it can apply more pressure to the inside and still keep your brakes steady
Like normally you would think oh that's gonna be really it's gonna really mess or steering up because it's gonna break one side
Well, this can proportion that out for you automatically
Interesting. Yeah, so if it's new to the consumer market, it's not a new technology
Like I said Brembo's been doing this for it been testing it and developing it for over 10 years
Now of course, they throw the buzzword AI and I don't know how well it's gonna work at this point
But either way even just hitting the front hitting the brakes or using the sensors to detect wheel spin and with slip
There's a lot of
advantages there so
Check it out Brembo. Sensify. There's a bunch of videos on it
Like I said, but finally go into production the drive was talking about it today in an article
And when I looked it up and I was like, okay, that's pretty cool
It is actually a pretty cool technology and this way when you're running big brother can just go into your car and turn your brakes on for
Yeah, exactly
Cancel membership. Yep. I
Didn't think about that like just turn them off. Yeah. Good luck everybody else. Yeah
Yeah, so I mean obviously it's a little as much as driving season is starting
It's a little bit of a slow time for for for
Technological and introductions, I should say. Yeah, I'm not seeing a ton. I didn't even see the Brembo one
but it'd be interesting to see I
Wonder what the the feel is like if there's a different feel to the there is quite a bit
It's quite a significant difference because they have different modes for them as well. So think of it like it
I mean
No matter what you hit your brakes hard enough, it will introduce a panic mode to the system
Yeah, but if you are on track, you may want more aggressive braking, but if you're on the street, you may not need it
It's much like think of like pedal modulation. You do on your own
We're so used to doing it like I'll touch the pedal softly, but you can have comfort modes
Sport modes where they're just breaking. Yeah, basically
And you combine think of it come because it's electronic and combined with the other systems of your car
I can integrate I should say with the other systems in the car much more effectively
So as far as like using engine braking and things like that as well, exactly. Okay. Yeah, so all these systems can talk to each other much easier and
Hydraulic brakes is in advances. They've become with carbon ceramic rotors and everything else in advanced ABS systems are still a pretty
Routimentary system we've been had for well over hundreds of years a hundred years or more
So obviously they could they could introduce a drag on that brake too because like as far as warming up carbon ceramics
Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, you have a break-in procedure the whole line like you could you program right in there
I could see this on motorcycles too. Exactly. Yeah, really
Yeah, be really handy on motorcycles, although it would add weight
In not more than like a car where you have a full hydraulic system. I'm thinking big bikes
I'm thinking gold wings things like gold wings and sorry things like that. So yeah, you get a really big bike
But yeah, it's the benefits are there. It's it's proven to be about 10 to 15 percent
Reduced stopping distance on just a normal car. So that's that's a lot. That's not a little bit of a gain
That's a huge gain
So and being able to read the surfaces of the road and react to it gravel pavement ice
No, like things like that and have the brakes act differently
That's a big deal too and you don't feel the ABS in the pedal
I've said this before and this is my flatter thing is this is gonna make us a worse driver or a better driver
This is gonna push us toward a ton. I'm striving a lot. Yeah, that's really
It's just like not knowing I mean
Those of us that are of your and I my vintage like we know what it's like to have a driving instructor
Throw you down a snowy road and figure out how to brake and in turn and things like that and yeah
I think you're right. It's going it's going autonomous which is yeah
There is a system that there's an argument
She said it comes up quite often and we see or hear it here at all the time in the news about Tesla's quote-unquote
Self-driving and they try and blame the manufacturer. Of course. There is an old
I don't know if it's not necessarily a law, but it is a
Guy it's a guiding rule for AI and that is AI must never be allowed to make a management decision because AI can and AI can
Never be held responsible for management decision. Oh, okay. That is the general rule in cars
My stance is
Extremely firm on that if you're in a car that is self-driving or not and you hit a pedestrian. It's your fault end of story period
you in this
Exception goes for as if you were a passenger in a driverless vehicle, but if you are in the driver's seat
Oh, okay. That's what you're saying. Yes, if you're like, I'm like if I'm sitting in the back in one of those Jaguars
I'm not at fault. Yeah, but if you are in the driver's seat of the vehicle if you are in control of the vehicle
I don't care what that car does if you say oh, it was it was an autonomous driving mode and it hit the pedestrian
No, no, no, you are in control of the vehicle. Tesla is very clear on that as well
And like I said politics aside as always I am I will die on that hill if you are in the driver's seat
You are responsible for what happens that vehicle agree and I'm tired of seeing it in the news like oh, it's Tesla's fault
No, they are very clear that you weren't you it you are
Responsible individual that car not them. They're super clear on it
How many of those stupid accidents has been with the guys and in the back seat obviously?
They oh, yeah, or asleep. Yeah, or watching a movie reading a book eating a salad with a fork and a knife
It's just it but that has to be a fork and a knife with a salad. It's just the fork. Yeah, yeah, so that one hand
Yeah, you're fine. You can hold the salad in your lap. Yeah, you have the fork. Yeah toss the salad
Yeah, exactly. Yeah, you do a spork a spork. I see look at you. Okay. Get fancy. Nice. Anyway from what if
That's that's my firm stance and that I don't care what you guys think of Tesla a ton of us driving
But the fact that people are still saying it's not their fault like no, no, no
If you've read the terms of service, I don't mean like I mean like the massive warning that shine that comes up on the screen
Not the like fine print. Yeah, it's like you are responsible for this
It's on you just because you can't the button if you're illiterate. Maybe you shouldn't be driving
That's a whole other snowball, you know reading signs and
Just a thought you couldn't you couldn't get a driver's license let alone drive a truck if you were doing that, right?
I know that would be no, it's possible. Huh?
Again, I've said this a ton of times the these systems are making us worse driver
Oh, for sure. I mean the fact that you know, you can you know, it'll stay in its lane
It'll stay the speed. It's you know, yeah beeps at you and
much as we bitch about the Ford system and how many how many times it tells you to keep your hand on the wheel like
It's better to be that way than not be like right, you know driving through the forest wing. We're fine
We're totally fine. So yeah autonomous off-road mode. It's coming
Climb rock. That's not as fun. Hell's revenge with hell's gate go
Okay, I'm
I'm starting to not feel as accomplished with hell's gate
There's a lot of people that are driving up that in cars that one shouldn't be there
And are doing it rather easily
I'm like, but that kind of took some of the air out of my my hot air balloon. So yeah
Yeah, it's funny me. It makes me laugh though because you look at it and we know how insane looking down hell's gate is and looking up
Seeing those cars do it like that's just a response. What was it that was sent to us that went up there recently
Is it Prius? Well, somebody said Prius
But it but it's like it's it's stock like
Like stock land cruisers and things like that. I mean which
You think oh that should be a get up there
It does but it's just if you watch the videos from hell's revenge
Truthfully if you're going up hell's hell's gate in something short wheelbase, you have bigger problems
I was watching yeah long wheelbase
Last video with the guy that was in a buggy and reached out. Oh, yeah and crushed his hand
Yeah, stuff like that like Brian, you know who you were
Hold this vehicle up Brian has some of the strongest arms in the world
I've watched him hold up multiple trucks against, you know, like banks, but it's just impressive
But you're not supposed to do that. But yeah, I don't know. I just was like I
Was talking to Kate about that. I was like I feel less and less accomplished by doing that when I watched some of these people that like
And you realize what it takes to get some of the cars out there like they're
I'm wondering how they get through that very first gatekeeper on some of the things but yeah
I don't know
I was a lot younger and a lot dumber at one point in time and I would have driven a lot of things through there just to try it
Oh, I would have done it
But I think I would feel more accomplished if I was out there doing that in something stupid
So are you trying the monkey next? I do need to get back out on hell's hell's revenge on the monkey like I mean
Okay, the whole gate would be so hard though. It's so short wheelbase. No, I would I don't think I don't know
I mean it can be done people do all the time. Oh, yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I just don't think
Something I have this go with my weight and I couldn't do it. I want to finish
I don't feel like I finished hell's revenge on the monkey. You fell down the last part to the end
But I didn't technically ride the bike down
So I just need to copy cops by the way, we were in Moab like a year ago
Tomorrow or next day, which means I need to go back, right? Yeah, I agree. Yeah. Yeah
Took us a year to get that damn article published
So, yeah
What else is what else is going on? I haven't there hasn't been a ton of stuff like I said, I haven't been
Usually there's a lot more stuff, you know
This is not car news, but did you watch that guy that that young kid that was really drunk and ran his boat into the the shore?
Oh, yeah. Yeah, that's yeah
dumbass
Yeah, I've been so you've seen the new lucid gravity around by the way
So lucid the new basically like hypercar minivan they have they've got. Oh, no
It sounds actually looks really nice. It's a very nice vehicle
But I've you know, we said, you know being where we are
EVs around here are very very common
So we get to see the creme de la creme of EVs all over is it a concept or no, no, no, they're selling it
Okay, so lucid produced 5,500 vehicles in the first quarter but delivered
3093 of its air sedans so and gravity crossover. So they made to 200 they owned only delivered 3,100
Basically their sales have been flat from the year over
What do you think that loss equal to considering that?
GM is pulled out of the EV market in trucks forward is pulled out of the market in trucks
And we're seeing downturns in the EV market even with gas prices. Well, not only that but that is a very high price point
Oh, yeah, so what do you think that? What do you think? think the losses for lucid right now?
500 1000000000 dollars
billion dollars
Which and they're just sitting there. Yeah, okay
So revenue rose 20% to 282 million but last year they only lost only man only
Feels weird saying that they only lost
366 million last year
They lost more than they made. Oh, yeah, they lost way more. Okay, but they lost a billion dollars this year
So they almost tripled that
They expected about
440 million in revenue making the shortfall the largest in more than four years according to readers
I don't see how you can have a business
That loses that much money and continues. Well, they're owned by Saudi Arabia's public investment fund. They're mine. Yeah, so
They make some of the coolest EVs in the world
For sure, like if you want like the only thing that touches the 01 X is the lucid
Air with the full performance package is the only thing he actually keeps up with it
And the 01 X is faster at the track, but that's it but in everything else. It's you know, it's the only thing out there
So pretty cool
The R2 is getting ready to launch they're still doing pretty well pretty high demand
I'm hoping this will like all the EV dedicated companies that are fighting in a pill battle
Everybody knows that but with an MSRP of around 50 grand and a 350 mile range
That's pretty I think that's gonna be a sweet spot where people because at 80 to a 100000 dollars for the R1 versions
This is where I think the market needs to be and we talked about this on a previous episode
You've got to get into that approachable consumer market. It's still a lot, but it's way less than
Almost every other premium SUV in a midsize on on the road
Long as they stick to that price the biggest thing that we've
We've all seen of these EV market is the fact that they promise one price
And then it comes out and in it the base model is ten to 50000 dollars more than they they said it was
Going to be so as long as they can keep it in that 50000 dollars
And obviously we're living in a time and we've talked about this beat this like a dead horse
You know where we're mustangs and things like that are 50000 dollars
So like and they used to be twenty and people are buying still buying them
So that is I don't want to say it's more obtainable
But that's more of the norm to be able to go in and buy a family car and be paying 35 to 50000 dollars for it
And then taking on that loan then the old days when you could walk in and you know buy a car for 20000 dollars
So I as long as they stick with it like I said Slate had this issue
I think they still do even though it's a dumbed-down version that they couldn't sell it at the price
They wanted to sell it at right so yeah, yeah, I totally agree
Rivian's got some I think with the history of Indians got in the market
They will probably stick to it because yeah talking about it
So they're considering they're not a new launch new model not new brand
I think they'll be able to stick to it and that's good news for Rivian. I'm sure they have a bunch of pre-orders
Yeah, they have a ton of pre-orders. I'm excited to see it. I think it's a good-looking vehicle
I think the R2 actually looks better than the R1s
So just because I think the size was a better fit for the vehicle
Yeah, and overall looks better in my opinion just my opinion. I think the R1s looks great, too
I think it's a beautiful beautiful EV
So I hope to see Rivian do well though. That's the opinions discussed on this episode are not necessarily the opinions of events, right?
Yeah, okay, let's see. What else there was another thing I was going to talk about
In other interesting news as far as cruise control
So talked about the AI stuff as far as
You know at self-driving and things like that
But GM's next-gen super cruise the code to write that turns out is about 90% AI created
Okay
It's the their new version of cruise control is called super cruise
And the code was written by AI 90% of it
Huh?
Well, that's interesting
Yeah, I
Don't know someone who does a lot of AI code generation because I'm not that good anymore at manual code generation at all
I'm not a
Code I'm not a developer
I'm technically under engineering, but I'm not like I don't write a lot of code. I do pretty basic stuff to say the least
That's just not my job
But I'm doing more and more because it's so easy to do now. Hmm again do well
You have to have a knowledge base to be able to tell AI what you want it to do
No, really? Oh really? I'm there. That's basically so that's basically what by coding. Don't toss yourself out of a job here
No, this is not new information. No, nobody listening to this is gonna talk that of a job. Yeah, so this is basically what vibe coding is
You basically the the model is
you can give a reference to
Get a co-pilot and say I want a
Something to look like this. I need this I need a function that does this and then you can give it a reference
This is where it gets good. See I want it to do basically this but I want it to do it in this way
Or I want this nuance you can just tell it that literally and it because like the entire company is we have access to all the code
It can be like give me a minute
Put it out the code. You be like, yeah, sure. I think that's right. Let me see what it looks like
works
Huh, and I don't have to understand the code behind it because it's relying on code that already exists
To understand when it is this the output I want uses the code
Yeah, and it's I mean and think about that as someone who's not a developer
You can just like go in there as long as you have an idea of what you want and you can reference it
Then it can usually figure it out. Yeah
But then I think that's where the 90% comes in because you still have to have that real world
Oh, yeah, you still have to have code reviews. You have to have somebody AI hasn't driven a car and doesn't know what it's well
I guess there's some technical all of Tesla is open source
Okay, and which is what a lot of this stuff is based on
So the reason
Vibe coding as they call it works is because we have had all these standard ways of coding for so long
So when you say I want it to do something it knows the standard and correct way to do it because we have proven it
Not once not twice but a billion times over and again that this is the right way to write code
Okay, and so the only thing you have to account for is the nuance
So what is so special about this super cruise or they release that?
Just the fact that it's going into production into a vehicle and such an important system
And it's like I said, it's 90% of the code is written by AI
Which there's a lot of buzzword around that saying it's written by almost all code now is
Generated in some way in part by AI. It's because it's efficient to do it with AI
but
there's
I'm gonna go off on a little bit of a side rant here. Not even a rant. I'm just it's a controversial topic right now
Especially in Washington. It's a controversial topic everywhere. I'm getting a really good kick out of people
Protesting data centers on Facebook and Instagram
Nothing makes me laugh harder than seeing people protest data centers on Facebook and Instagram
Remember people protested oil in canoes made from oil. So you remember that that still exists. So yeah, yeah, and so I'm like
Yeah, so do you want to understand do you want to explain why that's?
Because almost all the profit for meta is driven by AI and that is AI isn't even that good
It's that comes from data centers. It comes from data centers
So in order for you to keep using Facebook and Instagram you have to use it. You need data centers
Yeah, I got it. Okay, and the sad part is isn't trust me. I can actually do even working in the industry
I sympathize with people who don't want the data centers because there are good reasons to not have them where they are
You don't want it. a data center next to you. It's it's actually not that loud
It's not that disruptive
But it does take up quite a bit of water takes up quite a bit of power and you have to have an infrastructure
I have to do it and right now the demand for AI is so high that they will put them wherever they can period
And there's some of them are obsolete by the time they build them. Oh, yeah. Yeah, absolutely
They can't get the parts fast enough even like you people can say oh, we there, you know
There's an unlimited there's basically right now the demand for AI is so high that we cannot meet it running factory full tilt 24 7
Building chips period. It just doesn't exist. There's not enough physical material to do it
The thing I think people are forgetting what these arguments and it's it's an uphill battle
And I think it's gonna be a losing battle is that
Business is business if they can't build them here, they'll better build them where they can't
Which means if we don't build them in the US that means we build them other places period the demand is too high
If they could they would I will not you know, I I hope hello the tether
I hope they can do it efficiently and build them out in the ocean like on it like a basic thing of an oil rig
Like that's like kind of an ideal situation
The problem is the corrosion and all the other salt water and everything else
But once they get that system sealed up and inside if they can develop that that's a lot more space to work with
And a lot more water we can use put them underwater like some of those other they've talked about it
And they even Microsoft experimented with that
But yeah, I don't know. I don't know what's going on. I don't have that kind of insider knowledge
If I get I wouldn't share it here, but I don't have that period
I mean, this is automotive related because oh, yeah, it is all trickled down. So it's kind of what we're talking about in this episode
It's it's the new break by wire systems from Brembo that are using AI systems to work with your car and predict things
It's the new AI generated code to build your car
It's the AI that's going to take over the robots for the construction line jobs
Whether you like it or not because when it breaks, nobody gets sued nobody gets hurt
Nobody's out of a job when they upgrade the technology. They don't take vacations. vacations
They work 24 seven without a complaint because they're not people
It's
Kinda
It's kind of worse
Skynet at least you knew was trying to kill you. This doesn't have any interest if you just start trying to kill you
No, you'll just be like you're inefficient go away. Yeah. Um, this is you know
This is not new this is I forget the name of the
The original novel from the late early 1900s
Shoot
And then it was Bradbury's The Velt which is my favorite one of my favorite stories ever since I was a kid
But it does explain it really well
um
But I mean we're headed down that path inevitably because uh, you know
Roddenberry actually predicted this really well. We can go down two paths. We can either
Embrace it as a new way to have freedom
Or we can embrace it as a new way to have profit and divide even further
and that's
Hopefully we go down the Roddenberry path and because the machines are doing all the work for us
We can be free to expand our minds in other ways and go down
Different endeavors and food is provided and things like that. Um, I think people will just overpopulate themselves out of
existence but
In other places, but here we want to get good kids movie. Oh wait, walley
Kind of hopefully we go down the walley path and one way to trash the earth and there I don't like the much later
When we all end up laying living our lives in chairs, which we're kind of headed down anyway, but
We say that it's two people sitting in very comfortable chairs. These aren't nice chairs. Thank you, Costco. Um
No, it's just it's a super interesting time to see how it's impacting our lives. It's uh
This is the the absolutely the equivalent of the industrial revolution
People who don't think otherwise are just not looking into the industry enough and it's it's
I don't know as someone who's watching it happen unfold in real time. It's a little scary
Uh, just because I don't know where that leaves the next generation
I like we're old enough now to where we'll be okay. We'll be able to retire in 10 15 years and
I will hopefully be able to live through a job
You know or have a job for that time and we'll hopefully find my usefulness for the next 15 years while this unfolds and
eliminates tons and tons of jobs, but
Yeah, it's interesting to see it
Happen to how it works works its way into other industries, especially the automotive industry where so much of our cars are tied into electronic systems now
Yeah, it's just I think we all just sit down and say we quit we just we just stopped technology right now
we go back to
Ram chargers and and you could climb into your engine bay and and
Sort of where I was heading with this. I think the market
I think we're going to see a resurgence of that like we've already seen the
We don't to give credit where it's due and I don't want to we have to give Porsche a lot of credit for keeping the manual alive
Because they charge a premium for those models. There's a waiting list for those models people want those models
We're seeing resto mod
quote-unquote resto mod 90s Ferraris with manual swaps
Uh, we're you know more putting manuals and mercies too. Yep big time infinity and Nissan are
Crawling their way back from the dead with the new skyline
I I saw that in fact
I couldn't find the article it popped up that they're they're they're trimming their their their model lines
And they're going to really focus on a certain but I couldn't find the list
Yeah, so the insider
quote-unquote
Rumor that is pretty valid at this point
Is they're going to use them the engine from the 400z with the manual transmission and it's going into a
Infinity q50 model first they're not going to have the skyline in the us of the GTR
But not the skyline so there's the skyline and GTR. Those are two different models. Remember that
The skyline over here was the g 30 set g 35 g 37
And they're going to have it again with a manual and it's coming back
And they're going to launch it with a it's a big launch for infinity and more power to them
I love that because Nissan remember they were the big ones who really got the rev matching manual transmission out there
It was Nissan who made it really popular now. Everybody does it which is really cool
If you I've driven manuals my whole life. I was lucky enough to my first cars were manuals
But the rev matching manuals are so much more fun to drive even if you are
That was amazing. Yeah, even if you love to heel toe, you know your way and rev match your gears
Which is a skill everybody should have it's pretty awesome when the car does it for you because it just does it better than you ever can
Much faster too much faster exactly
So you can power shift through your gears like it's a ton of fun. So
Credit words do thanks Nissan. I'm glad they're bringing the skyline back
I'm I've wanted to see Nissan come back. It sounds like their new CEO has kind of figured out that
Hey, if we make really boring cars only belong to rental fleets, we're going to die
It's fine to make those cars. I mean again, there's room in the market
Like as far as commuter cars, you know, yeah, yeah, there's nothing wrong with that
But if you don't have that any if that's your only appeal
You're going to lose your credibility as a brand
So cool for them. And of course they're developing the GTR as well. They've and they've not only hinted at that
They've they've very strongly suggested the GTR is coming. I hope it is a twin turbo
4-liter v6
With a manual would be even better, but I don't think it'll do that just because of the market
I think the GTR needs to be an automatic. It's just such a fast animal Godzilla car. Well, r35 was the first one
I just I think I think it needs to be an automatic with that car. I yeah, I did dsg. But yeah, yeah, sorry dsg, but
um, I don't I mean I
That car has always to me has always meant
Incredible straight line speed. I mean just especially in fact
I was talking about that. I forgot with who this weekend. We were talking about the first time I drove your car
Oh, it's time with Brian because we were talking about we went going up in that that area where the Maserati broke down
I was like, oh, yeah, I was funny. Yeah, I ever drove Dan's car and I was like and I had never driven the GTR
And I got it like yeah, it carves. It's a great car
But in straight line that was just such an insane car
I was that's funny. I was just talking about that car with somebody else this weekend as well
um
Moving on from that topic. We hope congratulations infinity. Yeah, glad to see them coming back and actually sounds like they're on the right path
I hope they have all the success because I love the z-line and the the GTR
Nissan yeah, yeah good for them. I would love to see them bring back. I would love to see them do better with the front here
That's a
It's a good truck. It just doesn't compete with the rest of them and it should
These ones made good trucks the XTERRA come back bring that back
Bring me out. Come bring me that thing. I think was awesome. They knew what they were doing with that
The fact that that bulge in the back that was was built for a first aid kit because you were meant to go out and do
Off-road things with it. Yeah, I think was cool. Yeah more of that bring that back. Anyway
Let's talk about the GTR the somebody this weekend
We were actually the conversation was what's the actual fat the fastest you've ever driven
just one of my co-workers and um
I had to think about it for a bit. You a cop
All right statute limitations has long gone now any of those speeds
Uh, and it was actually my GTR was the fastest I've ever driven. Um
Not my turbo s the turbo s I had up to 175 that went I had it had room to go but it was um
There's a lot of downforce on the turbo s really functional downforce and
it, um
Oddly enough was not as confidence inspiring it's that car's not meant to do that that car is meant to do 120
in curves like nobody's business
You could say the same about a lot of cars, but like
But I mean the car wasn't built to go high speed runs. It was built to carve canyons
Yeah, it was definitely more at home in the curves. It's a heavy car. Yeah, and so was the GTR
I don't think they're about the same weight. The GTR is a very heavy car
Uh, I guess that the now it's not then it was now. It's a pretty average way to go
It's like 3,800 pounds or 3,700 pounds. It's all that tech
At the time it had a lot of tech
The dual funky drive shaft layout which worked really well
But it was the GTR. I had that thing up to 193
Um
In the Nevada desert
I have a picture
We talked about this a long time ago on the show, but I had to think about it
It was I have a picture of before I started that run
And I I can point to the exact road I did it on and I drove down it and back because just five minutes one way
I checked the road nothing on the road and I could see
A mile in every direction. There's nothing to see middle of the day
No other cars. I'm in the middle of nowhere on a solo road trip
And I just I pulled over and I took a picture. Yeah, I was like, well, if somebody finds my remains I can look at the picture
And sorry started
Yeah, and I it started on this like crest of a hill
Um, and I I got over the crest
So I didn't like wasn't launching over and then I had a little bit of a run stripped down and I just
pinned it
As far as it would go and uh, I I got to about 193 and I ran a road
Um, not didn't run out of speed. It was
Took a lot to get there though. You ran out of opportunity to break is what you ran. Yeah
Yeah, it says I could see the map ahead and it was starting to do it was starting up ahead about a mile for me
to do this like mile left, which is probably
You know
A safe 120 mile an hour corner, but at 193 that mile comes out you real real real quit
You don't realize how much space it takes to slow down from 150 let alone 190
Yeah, and you don't want to slam on the brakes you much you much rather you're better off like cruising it out and slowly getting
But yeah, that was yeah, it was 175 in the Porsche. It was 183
in the the gtr and it was a little over 180 in the rx7
Um, which had then blew the motor and then you did how much in rx7 180 plus good god
Yeah, that was that single turbo conversion and a little 500 horsepower
And then that car only weight 2,700 pounds had nothing in it. It was an r. It was it was a 93 r1
So no wipers no bows system
like the much
Cheapest falling part. Yeah. Yeah, I'm really lucky honestly. I was the dumbest thing ever. I was really young
That was on i5 at like two in the morning
Middle of nowhere actually not only was the star allegedly
This is 20 plus years. Yeah more than 20 years ago now
And I was looking down starboard road i5 north if you're going into mount bernon
There's a huge downhill there like probably three or four miles long. Yeah, I know
Yeah, and so before you get into mount bernon and I got up to that overpass there
I looked all the way down it and my my old valentine one no radar and I knew at the time that there was no police up there
Because they didn't patrol that late at night. There's just no but it's not a people
There's like no cars on the highway
There's like I saw like one truck and I waited till that got a distance and I got it just on the on ramp
And I just punched it all the way down there that I did run out of speed
I couldn't go any faster. The car wouldn't let it. I was surprised and then it blew on the way home
I made it home, but I blew the turbo. I wonder why yeah the
The catalytic converter was so hot. It was glowing red under the car all the way even when I got home
Um, because it was just dumping fuel. I used almost a full tank of gas
Just to do that run and get home and that was only like 25 miles at the time
And then in the gtr. I used over a quarter of a tank just doing that one run
Um
Going there and back it you you burn a ton of fuel and that was because that thing was running too rich
I had intakes on it in a mid-pipe, but I didn't have a tune. That's why it kept cutting out on me on pikes peak
But it was just I mean it's better to be a little too rich than too lean in that
But holy crap was that thing rich?
And that thing was fine though. I drove it home drove the rest of the trip was great
It's a good car. Yeah. Yeah, I would I don't know if I would buy another one just because the the
Transmission is always a little scary in those they were
So let's let's use that as this week's question. How fast have you gone? Allegedly allegedly. Yeah, you don't have to self incriminate
You know, you can allegedly say something you don't have to tell us where but like give us a speed and give us a car
Yeah, I'm curious. I could obviously you've done all this on a closed course on the track Mexico. Mexico. You were in Mexico
Yep, you get there fast going those speeds. Yeah, as much as I shouldn't encourage. I really enjoyed
That time. No, we're not. I mean always do it. You always do it safely like
One thing I would say about the rxn thing is doing it at night. That's where I was a little I was that was
Stupid, I know you we agree. It cost me an engine and which that car was going to go through anyway
But it cost me cost me an engine a lot faster. Yeah, and uh, yeah, that was dumb really really dumb
There's nobody around but there's animals up there. Yeah, you know, sure. I'm not ready to hear everything else like that
Was just those Canadian geese to them
You're not called two in the morning probably not they're asleep, but still yeah, I'm lucky I didn't die on that one
Yeah, that's the question. Uh, what is what what's the top? What's your top speed?
And that's a question I've had with a lot of car people. It's like how fast have you gone like?
Yeah, everybody talks about it amongst their friends. I'm curious and you can just you can message it to me on
425 298 7873 it's always in the show notes
You can always message it to me too and I won't say your name on this one
I will just say we have one listener
Who allegedly yeah went this speed? Yeah, and if you send me a picture of the car, that'll be great
Uh, you can tell me if you want me to share it or not. This is one of those cases
I won't if you don't want me to sure, but I would love to see where you've gone
What was that? What was the circumstances to like just opportunity?
rally
closed event
I think one of the most fun times I mean and I have done some serious speed in cars
but one of the most fun I had that was the most calm is when uh, when we're coming out of uh
That time I had my parents in the Maserati
We went across like that death valley that you'd sent us and I was doing like 100 miles an hour
Oh, yeah
And I literally had enough control at 100 miles an hour
And there were jets that were passing because they were flying out there
And I remember like my mom going I was like we were getting across and it's like 100 miles to the next road
And like we got there in an hour. Yeah, we got there and my mom was like, how did we get here so fast?
Well, yeah, because it was just the speed limit is 80. Yeah, so you're barely speeding
Barely speeding, but it was just it wasn't the fastest I've ever been nowhere near but it just was
You were just calm and fun and it felt like 60. So yeah, I'll tell you what once you get back down from those speeds
You've been 190 miles an hour. Everything seems so slow doing 80 feels like you're walking. I'm just gonna get out and walk now
I can walk faster than that. All right. Well, that's it. That's this week's question. So we'll wrap it up at that
if you have
Comments on AI and the technology. Let us hear it. Obviously you can you can text this you can write in the message
The show notes or not show us in the messages on facebook
Yeah, yeah
For this episode of the avance podcast is always i'm nick and i'm dan and don't just get there. Enjoy the drive
About this episode
Brake-by-wire takes center stage as the hosts break down Brembo’s “sensify” system—“true break by wire” that removes hydraulics and uses electronic motors at each wheel. They connect the tech to EV braking, per-wheel ABS behavior, and how it can change pedal feel, including panic-mode logic. The conversation then widens to AI-driven software and chip constraints, before pivoting to driving culture: manual-transmission restomods, GT-R/Skyline hopes, and real-world speed stories.
The future of driving just took another step away from… driving. BMW is bringing brake-by-wire to production—ditching traditional hydraulic systems in favor of fully electronic control. It’s a big leap forward in technology, but also raises a bigger question: are we slowly being disconnected from the driving experience altogether? EV drivers already rely heavily on regen braking—so does this even matter anymore, or is this the tipping point?
Meanwhile, Lucid just dropped a $1B loss, proving once again that building high-end EVs isn’t for the faint of heart (or wallet). Backed by Saudi funding, they’re not going anywhere—but can the next wave, like the Rivian R2, finally deliver the EV breakthrough the market actually needs?
On a more hopeful note, Nissan might be back. A new Skyline is on the horizon, and somehow Infiniti could be the one bringing back a proper manual sports sedan. Is this the comeback enthusiasts have been waiting for?
And speaking of performance—how fast is fast enough? Dan shares his run at 193 mph in a GT-R, still chasing that elusive 200 mph club.
The Avants Podcast is brought to you by our friends at STEK USA and Carter Seattle!
Not an Avants member? https://www.avants.com/member-plans
Leave us a review on Apple Podcasts!
Leave us a voicemail or send us a text any time at 425-298-7873!
We're doing give aways! Leave us a review on Apple Podcasts and we'll pick a random name every 25th review!
