Tired: The Car Podcast For People Who Understand That Cars Are Bad
Episode 119: The Cool Chair ZoneTired: The Car Podcast For People Who Understand That Cars Are Bad · Jun 27, 2026
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79:41
Car
1995 teal pickup truck
They’re talking about an older pickup truck they used to drive. The point is that the truck looked so worn-out and old that it made people judge the driver differently.
“Parts” here is used in the enthusiast sense of selling off individual components from a car rather than selling the whole vehicle. That’s common when a car is being dismantled for a project or scrapped.
Bondo is a thick filler used to cover dents on a car before painting. If someone used a lot of it, it can mean the damage wasn’t properly fixed underneath.
An immobilizer is the car’s anti-theft feature. If it doesn’t recognize the key properly, it can stop the car from starting—even if everything else seems fine.
Term
break error break system service vehicle
That’s a dashboard warning about the brakes. The host is wondering if that brake warning could somehow be connected to why the car won’t start after the repair.
OBD2 scanners are tools that plug into a car and read error codes from the computer. If the car won’t connect, it can make troubleshooting much harder because you can’t pull the usual diagnostic codes.
The high-pressure fuel pump is the part that sends fuel to the engine at the right pressure. If the car won’t start, people often suspect this part—but in this case, replacing it didn’t solve the problem.
Hard-starting means the car is difficult to start. The speaker is saying it had been happening occasionally, and that leaving the car sitting for a while might make it worse.
The Ford F-150 is a popular pickup truck. Here, it’s mentioned as the truck the driver uses a lot while they’re dealing with a car that won’t start reliably.
Spark is what lights the fuel in a gas engine. If there’s no spark, the engine can’t start, so the speaker is basically saying the car seems to have the usual starting ingredients but still won’t run.
Compression is how much the engine squeezes the air (and fuel) inside the cylinder. The speaker is saying the engine seems to have enough compression, but it still won’t start because something else is wrong.
An “unknowable fault” is when a car has a problem, but it’s not obvious what part is causing it. Even if the engine seems like it should start, the car’s computer may be blocking it for a reason that’s hard to find.
GTI usually means the Volkswagen Golf GTI. In this conversation, it’s brought up as an example of a car where people try a simple key-on procedure to reset something when it won’t behave correctly.
This is a DIY-style reset idea: turn the key to ON and leave it there for a while, then try again. The point is to reboot the car’s electronics so it clears a glitch that’s preventing normal starting.
A fender is the outer panel above the wheel. If it gets dented in a crash, sometimes it can be fixed without repainting, depending on how bad the damage is.
PDR (paintless dent repair) is a way to fix a dent without repainting the car. A person uses special tools to push the dent back out from the inside of the panel.
The 4Runner is a type of SUV made by Toyota. It’s designed to handle rough roads and off-road driving better than many regular SUVs. People talk about it because it’s a common, sturdy vehicle.
A brake check is when someone suddenly brakes on purpose to scare or force the car behind them to slow down. It’s risky because the following driver may not have enough time or space to stop safely.
Regenerative braking is a hybrid/electric trick where slowing down also helps recharge the battery. It uses the motor to help brake the car instead of relying only on the friction brakes.
“Non-linear” here means the car doesn’t slow down in a smooth, predictable way when you press the brake. In hybrids, the car may use different braking methods depending on conditions, so the feel can vary.
BMW is a luxury car brand from Germany. Here it’s mentioned as one of the major luxury makers people compare against other brands like Cadillac and Lexus.
Cadillac is a luxury car brand in the U.S. In this discussion, it’s brought up as an example where people may buy into the brand more than they understand the engineering details.
Mercedes is a major luxury car brand from Germany. In this segment, the host argues that Mercedes has such strong brand recognition that it’s hard for other brands to compete with on “why people buy.”
Brand perception is what people think of a brand—like whether it feels prestigious, trustworthy, or “the right choice.” The host is saying that when cars are all pretty good, what people believe about the brand can matter more than the technical details.
The “marketing side” is the branding and advertising—how a company convinces you to want the car. The host is saying that for some brands, the reason people buy is more about that story than about the engineering details.
A concept car is like a showpiece prototype. It’s built to demonstrate a new design idea or technology, even if it might not become a regular production car.
In this context, “interiors” means the inside of the car—what it looks and feels like for the driver and passengers. The host is saying Mercedes’ cabin design has gotten more unusual than before.
That “three-pointed star” is the Mercedes-Benz logo. The point here is that some luxury cars put the logo all over the exterior instead of keeping the look understated.
Louis Vuitton is a high-end fashion brand. The speaker is comparing the car’s loud logo graphics to the kind of branding you’d see on Louis Vuitton products.
Toyota is the Japanese automaker that competes in top-level endurance racing, including the prototype categories discussed here. In this segment, the host is pointing out Toyota’s dominance/participation level in that class.
Ferrari is a famous Italian sports-car brand. The host is saying Ferrari has been strong overall, but Le Mans is a specific race where they hadn’t won yet.
Le Mans is a famous long-distance race in France where cars race for 24 hours. Winning it is a big deal because the cars have to be fast and also last a long time.
A “paper championship” means the title looks good in records, but it doesn’t feel like it was truly hard-fought. The host is saying this one is the real deal.
A “first-year program” means a team’s first season in a racing series. Usually they’re still figuring things out—collecting information and adjusting the car—before they can be truly competitive.
In racing, “collecting data” means the team records numbers from the car while it’s running. They use those numbers to figure out what’s working and what needs adjusting.
Term
making tweaks on the fly
“Making tweaks on the fly” means the team changes the car’s settings during the event. They do it as they learn how the car is behaving on track.
A prototype manufacturer means a company that makes special race cars built for racing, not regular cars you’d buy. Those cars are designed to be fast and to survive long races.
Qualifying is how teams set their starting spots. The final qualifying round is the last chance to get a great position for the race.
Term
gamified qualifying process
A gamified qualifying process is a qualifying format designed to feel more like a game—often with staged sessions, points, or rules that reward specific on-track actions. The goal is usually to make qualifying more engaging while still determining grid order.
In long endurance races, there’s a part where the cars keep running through the night. That can make things harder, so teams plan carefully for tires, drivers, and reliability.
Racing “regulations” are the rules that decide what kind of race cars are allowed. “Hypercar regulations” are the specific rules for the top class of endurance prototype/hypercar racing. They affect what the cars can be built like and what tech they’re allowed to use.
IMSA is the organization that runs a lot of big sports-car races in North America. When IMSA adopts new rules, it changes what race cars teams are allowed to bring to those events. That can influence how teams design their cars.
LMDh refers to a specific class of endurance race cars with a particular set of rules. The host is saying the sport is trying to combine different rule sets so teams aren’t building to two separate standards. That can make it easier to race the same type of car across series.
A monocoque is a vehicle structure where the body shell itself carries most of the loads, instead of relying primarily on a separate frame. In race cars, a monocoque is often built from advanced composites to be stiff and light. The host mentions it in the context of LMDh-style cars, implying a shared structural approach under the rules.
Term
spine of the car
A race car’s “spine” is the main structural frame that helps the car stay stiff and strong. Other companies may build that backbone, and then the race team adds the rest of the car onto it.
Orica is mentioned as a company that can supply parts for race cars. The idea is that the race team doesn’t always build everything from scratch—they partner with specialists.
LMH is a racing category for top-end endurance prototype cars. The key point here is that it allows more manufacturer-specific design than the other main prototype category being discussed.
Aston Martin is mentioned as one of the brands competing with LMH-style endurance race cars. The takeaway is that these cars are designed and assembled by the manufacturer under that category.
Balance of performance is how race organizers try to make different cars compete more fairly. If one car is naturally faster, rules may adjust things so the racing stays close.
Rear-wheel drive means the engine sends power to the back wheels. The host is saying the rules may shift so these race cars will use rear-wheel drive instead of all-wheel drive.
A hybrid system uses both a gas engine and an electric motor. The car can use electricity to help the engine, which can improve efficiency and sometimes acceleration.
Alpine is a car brand that also races in endurance events. The discussion here is about what happens to their racing effort and whether it can keep going in some form.
Place
lemal
“Lemal” sounds like it means Le Mans, a very famous long-distance race in France. It’s a big deal in racing, so changes to racing programs get talked about around it.
BYD is a Chinese car company that makes a lot of electric cars. The hosts are saying BYD might get involved in long-distance race events, which is a big deal because those races test whether cars can last.
Great Wall is a Chinese car company, especially known for SUVs and trucks. The hosts are saying it may want to race in endurance events, which are long races that test how well cars hold up.
Endurance racing is racing that lasts a long time. Instead of just being fast for a few minutes, the cars have to keep working reliably the whole race.
LIVE
Or like we take the scissor lift up. Oh my god
So it's overhead conveyors mounted to the ceiling and so the scissor lift should be able to drive under go up
And then you work and then you're done the warehouse has deliberately staged product underneath those lines
And when you say scissor lift is it is it just like one of those things where it's like like a cart like a platform
Kind of thing on top of the uh-huh. It's not it's just it's wobbling while you're up there. You're not secured
I mean I should be secured
But there's like railing like there's a you're on a platform that has like railing around it or well
So the thing about the railing
Because the warehouse has placed product underneath those conveyor lines
What you have to do is climb up onto the railing and lean out of the scissor lift bodily over it to get to the conveyor
To clear the jams because there's product under there and you can't park. Oh
If I die remember me as a guy who loved fan fiction
Hi, Rory. Oh, we have heard you there nice
Maybe once my ship comes in I'll buy some Chi-fies. I used to have the
Sony studio like the ones that every studio has like oh, yeah, like blue stripe on them. Yeah talking about no idea where those are
Those are nice. I always want I know I've never like I've only used them
I've used them a thousand times in like just studio situations or whatever. I've never
once
And I've always liked them, you know, like they're they always sound they're super comfortable
They sound really good and and I've never once like
Gone home and had the thought like I'm gonna look up those headphones and see what they cost and see about getting much
Like yeah, I'm cool, man
Those exist only in studios
Yeah, exactly. Yeah, those be removed right those are the studio headphones
It would be it would be very jarring to have have a pair at home if you take them out of the studio. They don't work
Well, then it then it would just then you would the studio would be less special, right?
Yeah, right. There you go. It's like these are
It's part of the experience
Not that I'll ever have that again
Listen, you can always go back you can always go back to Australia. I
Probably just used mine just my ears or something. Anyway
We should talk about cars because we have limited time and and we've we've we've been neglectful for so long. So let's
Talk about cars. Here's a quick car thing on the way there
Yeah, so out of the way to the gym just now. I was driving my car
my old
and
And team six I
stopped in the street to let my
my ex fiance
I basically lived with for four years cross with her son
Who I was kind of somewhat of something of a father figure to
For worse, I think in my early 20s. How how how long how long are you guys in touch?
Are you friendly or is this just like a weird no like I have not spoken to her and
To 2010 maybe it was the last time. Yes
So
Looked up
Saw me like I noticed I notice her right away, obviously and she looked up and saw me we made eye contact
She waved as if to say thank you for getting out of the way or like for letting us pass
Did not recognize me at all. I don't think nice. No
Yeah, I'm really got away with one on that one
Very good. Do you do you look like?
Different from what I mean, I didn't know you in I don't know. I mean I quite a bit older
now, I
Feel like you've you've you've looked pretty much the same for the entire time that I've known you
I've known you for like 10 years, right? Let me be a little bit more
Yeah, I was I mean I was quite a bit fatter like in my Detroit era
Yeah
But she would have known I think the person like the version of me
She would have known looks probably more like me than the Detroit era right, you know, I mean like
Looks more current. So I mean it's been it's been a long time and I think there is the
masking effect of driving a super beat-up 1995 teal pickup truck that is like
Would not be a car that she'd expect me to be in you know, like I mean it's possible
That I mean sometimes you just can't even see the person because like, you know
The windshield like the glare off the windshield or whatever like you see that there's a person
But you wouldn't be able to read their face, you know what I mean
My window was down by a driver's side windows down and she was walking to the driver's side
Would have been hard. Yeah, okay
Well, but fascinating chalk that up as a as a just a kind of general
W
We're gonna call that a dump today. Yeah. Yeah, I
Feel good about it. I like I like living in a place where I will never encounter an axe
That's right
There's there's simply no way or I mean if I if I did it would be like
Extremely weird like I don't know what yeah
Yeah, I've just kind of I've arranged my life in such a way that that's just not something I need to even yeah, think about
Yeah, not that's not that it's like a high priority, but yeah, no you live it you live in the same place that it's certainly on the list
Yeah, yeah, it's certainly on the list of things that you'd rather not not have happened
right
But it's fine. It was it was good. I
Thought about going hey
What's what's that remember me?
Hey, dude, we've lived together for four years
Yep, we're gonna get married and I was helping to raise your children
That was crazy. Anyway, nice to see you. I'm going to the gym now nice weather we're having
I
Will see you later
Anyway, so that's that's my car news. What do you guys got? I
Do you guys see my seat my chair? I love your car mod office chair cozy chair my my my project
Mike my car project that that I did a few weeks ago
Where I don't even know like why I like where the idea came from or why I thought to do it all of a sudden but just
You know years ago. I tore the like, you know deepest pandemic
Time I tore the complete the interior completely out of my undriveable rusty sob
Thinking that I would you know do something
Further with it, but of course that's not happened
But the interior but the interior of that car has just been sitting in in the garage
Like we have a very small one-car garage like suitable for you know a car from 1935, which is when the house was built
And that interior has been taking up most of it for for ever since then
And I don't know if I was just getting something out of there and just like
There's that fucking passion. Oh, you know what it was was
So remember I was having you know, I had so much fucking shoulder pain like last over the winner and oh, yeah
And I realized that like a big part of that was just like every fucking chair in my house
Whether it's like the stupid Ikea chair in my office or this office chair that I'm sitting in or the fucking like chair
Downstairs that I sit in they all have arms and the arms are fucking too high. So when I sit in them
I am inevitably like sitting like this because I have fucking long arms and and it
Hunches my shoulders up and it's like it's unnatural and it's like, you know, my shoulders should be like hanging, you know, naturally
So the arms that I realized at some point that the arms were the fucking enemy. I took them off of this office chair
completely transformed the office chair experience. I love not having arms and
And I was just thinking about it. I was thinking about how like
Like I haven't been using my office at all like for months and because of this because I mean
The chair the Ikea chair that I that was my you know, just sitting and doing some working and and
reading and whatever chair
Like I couldn't sit in it anymore. I ruled it out and it has helped, you know, and and
But I was just like I
Just I need a chair like I need a fucking chair with no arms and I was looking around like
You know, you like you just look around online. Like, you know, just like chair chair with no arms
You look on Craigslist, you know, somebody's selling a chair with no arms. I saw some like cool ones, whatever
and then I realized like
You know, I have a fucking chair with no arms
And it's been sitting in my garage for the last like five years just like getting like moldy and and gross
And it's actually an extremely comfortable fucking orthopedic chair
made by
people in Sweden who like that's their whole thing, you know, and
And and I was like
And I've seen the thing where like people turn like a
Card seat into like an office chair like a desk chair, you know, it's like I don't want that
I just want like a chair chair like to sit, you know, just put it on the floor
And so I I found some like things online of people like basically like like just kind of building like a simple
kind of mount for for like a
you know a car seat as like a floor chair and
Found one that's like, oh, I could do that, you know and just went and bought like I just grabbed some fucking scrap wood out of the
Garage and then, you know realize I needed a couple more like two by fours went and got some and
and just did this total fucking hack job in the backyard just like sawing these two
Because I don't even have a fucking power anything. I'm just like literally, you know using using the
Like I don't even have a saw horse, you know, like I had saw horses
I swear I at some point I had saw horses and I had a fucking power saw and I do not know where the fuck they are
They're just like in some, you know at some point and one of the moves that is they just disappeared
Hearing that makes me anxious. I think like probably the only thing that I have like
Chronic anxiety about is losing tools and not knowing where all my things are
I mean, it's like this was the con this was a consequence. I mean, I used to I was a person who absolutely
Had my shit together
For years that was like a defining. That's like one of my things as well as part of my deal is I have my shit together, you know and and like
And it still is like with regard to like things that I use every day, you know
And like my kitchen or like, you know of like the tools that I you know stuff that I have in my bag
My computer bag that just you know, I always I can find shit in the dark, you know
I can be you know blind at the end of the night and just like reaching into it. Yeah, anyway
But like at some point after like moving
three times in the space of like four years as as like a great like in my 40s
And each time having to like, you know, just shit just goes into into plastic tubs, you know and and like and
And and like after the third time of moving you just get tired of fucking
Unpacking everything and I don't have any place to fucking put it. Anyways, I don't there's no like there's no tool space
There's no like yeah, so so it's just like so yeah at some point like that stuff. I mean
There's somewhere they're in there in some fucking plastic tub in the basement or you know in the closet or
In it, you know, we have a storage unit like for Patrice's like extra teaching stuff. Anyway
But yeah, no, I used I used the fucking, you know, I
My my sparkle wheel that I bend
Over the wind, you know on a pothole in the winter that that I you know instead of throwing away
I just has just been sitting in the garage, too. It's like, oh, that'll work as a saw horse, you know
It felt very resourceful, you know, just like standards
Put the thing together
drill some holes, you know mounted it I
Painted it like actually painted it and then and then mounted it and
Dude, so it's so it's the passenger seat because the driver's seat is still in the car
So that I can drive the car if it needs to be driven or just moved, you know, I haven't started it in years
But but the passenger and and the driver's seat was kind of jacked up anyways
Like the torn upholstery and stuff, but the driver's the passenger seat like it's actually in pretty good shape and
and
As a fucking like sitting in your office reading or doing shit on the laptop chair
Fucking
Incredible it's so great. It's so comfortable. You can recline
You know, you can be up or you can be you know, have it forward like if you're you know, like
Actively, you know, it's a it's a very like just psychologically, you know
Like you feel like you're being productive like when you're upright, but then it's like, I'm just gonna read it
back
Dude, it's it rules. Oh, yeah, I love my fucking sob office chair. It also
It's also a thing that like
it's kind of the first step in
Like now, I mean, you know, and this is reversible. I mean, obviously if I wanted to put it back in the car, I could
But it I think it's it's kind of a first step in just me being like
I'm taking the thing that I can use out of this car and
in psychological preference preparation of just throwing the rest of it away. It's organ donor time
Exactly
So that was that was my fun project. Nice. I
bet if you put especially like where you live if you put
sob SPG for parts on
Marketplace it would be gone. Someone would come get it like tomorrow
Probably yeah, and I mean, you know, and there's there's like sob bulletin boards, too that I could you know post you on and I
suspect that somebody would come and get it just for
Parts, yeah
But make sure you're taking the sentimental stuff out of it first obviously
Yeah, well, I mean, it's like
Yeah, I mean, it's it's it's I mean any any part of the car is sentimental, you know, but but but the fact that like it's a
It's extremely comfortable and useful
Um
Yeah, you're you're like a third of the way to making a gaming rig out of your car, right?
Yeah, totally. That's true
Yeah, the chair rocks. It's very good. We should get some photos on the sob SPG simulator
2026
Yeah, I am my current car project has been I
Was supposed to finish the 9-11 a couple weeks ago, and then I was like oh
Car has some rust bubbling through on something I talked about this on here and
So GTI she's she's running into some things with it. Let's call us beta spade. That's what happened
She
Had some body work done on it
Stunt quite poorly by two professional shops up here
Yeah
The whole time as soon as we got it back. I looked at it and I was like oh
I'm gonna have to redo this all at some point because it's is this did you tell us a bit
Is this the thing we're like did you discover like a ton of Bondo or something or was that a different car?
Yeah, yeah, okay, so nope. This is the car. So okay
I did mention it on here it refers to the previous episode for that story, but
Put the car back on the ground and now it will not start
It seems like there's like an immobilizer where it's just turning it off and there's this
Met this message that pops up on the dash that says break
error break system
service vehicle or whatever and
I've never I can't googling. I can't find that
Message anywhere like I can't find yeah a reference to that anywhere on the internet. It's not in the manual and
It will not connect to any of the VW specific
OBD2 scanners
So really fucking baffling and I've been like
Really tearing my hair out trying to figure this I already replaced the high-pressure fuel pump, which is like
Was recommended on one of the forums is like a potential solution. It did nothing
I think it is like there's something in the car that is telling it to immobilize and it may like I I don't know
if a break fault can trigger the immobilizer, but
Maybe it can I don't know but there's good hydraulic pressure. I've rolled it down the hill hit the brakes car stops
But why would you know what the body work?
Affect that I don't I don't think it has anything to do with the body work
I think it's just for a week
Just ha it just happened to crop up it at the same time that you were doing it
It it had been kind of hard-starting
occasionally for a while and I think it's related to that but I think somehow sitting for a while like
Exacerbated it or whatever but
So what is what is really baffling what has she been driving I
Mean we've got all kinds of shit around here. We've got my truck. We've got press cars. We've got and there's plenty of cars
There's no okay. Yeah, I'm just curious difficulty there. She's driving the willies. Yeah. Yeah
No, she's driving the F-150 quite a bit
And yeah, so it's fine and like it you know whenever we leave as a family we just take the press car or whatever but
It is really annoying. It's like
One of those new car things where it just like introduces a
reason for the car not to run into the system, which is like
It's getting spark. It's getting fuel. It's got compression. Right. Just just run and it's like well. No, actually, there's some
unknowable fault
Somewhere it's in the car. I am we're not gonna tell you where it is
I am learning fascinating stuff on a preliminary Google such as some mechanics are like, yeah, you know, GTI
You just turn the key to on for 20 minutes and then turn it back again and see if that resets everything like hello
No, I'll try it. I will try that. Yeah
But the yeah, it's um
Yeah, it's just infuriating and it's like
Really
You know giving the Rivian back was like, okay. We're we're returning back to kind of analog world, right? Yeah
Well, that's that's the thing I was going to ask about because because we haven't talked about that and
And yeah, you've you've had a major
Uh
household
Change in your in your fleet. That's true. You know that the the Rivian gave is gone
You gave it back to that piece in the pod description
Yeah, we give it back
Pretty uneventful to be honest. I think um, I did do a fair amount of pdr on it
Sorry if anyone from Rivian is watching this or listening to this
Um
Yes, I want to hear of I want to hear about your your paintless dent dent removal
Project process
Because you said got like some kind of kit. Yes to DIY it you DIYed your pdr
I bought a kit probably from ebay
or amazon or one of those like
I think it was when I was doing
That I had that like a wrx wagon that I never drove for like three months
um
but it
You've probably seen the videos online, but it's like little they're little tabs that you glue on to the dent
And then you can you heat up the metal with the hair dryer or whatever
and then you can
There's a little device that pulls on the tabs and they will pull so much and then break free
But you can very slowly pull out
um
Dents because like metal has a memory it wants to go back to the way it was like it wants to be in the original shape that it's in
um
And so when you dent at it like
It there is like energy trying to pull it back to
Not like spiritual energy, but like actual physical
Stored energy, um, but maybe spiritual energy too. Yeah
um
I think I think there's there's a better chance of of
metal the metal in your car
Actually having having a sort of consciousness or sentience
At least as far as like wanting to return to its its form
totally then
Then um, then like ai having uh sentience. Yeah, true true and real
So the dent polar thing kind of helps do that you use like a little hot glue gun
um
But yeah, that's that is like, uh, it's not something I'm great at
But I think it's like it's something I can do enough of apparently so that uh ribbing can't tell the difference, but um, the uh
The you pull it all out and you get it smooth that you print off or like you can buy them
But these little like striped
piece of paper and then you hold that against the surface of the car
And then you kind of like waves or
Imperfections in the surface show up on the paper
And so you just pull those out and then usually like what happens is you pull them out a little bit too far
And then you can just hammer them back
Very gently with a little tiny hammer like a little tiny
the
Tiny head plastic hammer
Um, and it'll knock down all the little dents. I think um, what what were the what what the shape of of of the dense?
Like what what size and shape are we talking about with these dents?
so some of them were really small but really deep um
And then so like those would be like if you pressed a pencil into a piece of clay
You did like that like little crease because I haven't done some of them were like, uh
Oh man, we should do it. Yeah, I'll bring the stuff out to new york. We can do it
Yeah, you should it's uh, it's very satisfying. Um
But the the
Other one I think was like uh me
Uh falling into the car and putting a rather large dent in it. Um
Those are a little bit easier and then one of them was like roughly the shape of my hand because the
Door wouldn't open even though I had my key and my phone on it
Uh, and I was in stuck in the rain or the snow and I was like, uh
Trying to get it to wake up. Um
So that one I've prepared that one as well by slugging it
No, I just open hand like a wap, you know, but the thing about the rivian is that all the body panels are aluminum
So they're very soft and they're very thin
which actually makes the pdr thing way easier because
um
You can actually like when when you over pull and they're like high spots
You can push them back in just with your hand like you could just it's that soft. Yeah, so
That made but it also makes it really easy to pick up a little dent here and there. Um
but
Yeah, man, painless. The thing is like the guys who are really good at it
Like if you watch like the youtube people like it is incredible what they're able to do like
um
The other day a friend of uh, my wife's had her car in the shop
And the thing about she she had been hit. She got hit bad and like it collapsed her
Uh, tail light and her fender
And I was like, you know, yeah, we can we can pull it out
But the thing of it is is like it actually it looks really bad the first like a big dent like that like
You're really like stretching and like hammering and like
I put a two by four inside the fender and was like pressing it out. Um
And it looks bad and she was getting really anxious about it
And she got so anxious that she made me quit doing it before I was finished. She's like, that's good. That's good. It's fine
It's fine. So like we're good. We're good. And I was like, it's not finished. It looks bad
It like it's you need to like
Um
You need to complete this this situation
Um
But now I still see it driving around and it's still like semi fucked up. It's driving me driving me crazy
um
But anyway, um, yeah, it's very satisfying. I think like it's one of those things too. It's like, uh
I don't know. It's like
You could learn how to do it watching youtube and you could probably make a lot of money
Uh going around and doing pdr, uh like just showing up people's houses and doing it like
It's um, just go door to door
No, I just like put a put an ad on instagram or one. There's a couple guys in trevor city that have like
um that send me like targeted ads or whatever that like they're like, oh
You know trevor city has a new pdr person or whatever. It's like
I don't know what they charge an hour, but it's like
It's pretty easy and it's like I think if you if you know how to do it like
it can be
Effective like on an hourly basis, you know, they mean like charge 150 bucks an hour or whatever
um
and it like
It's a good. I don't know. I think like I don't know like obviously there are probably like
expert level situations where it's like
You know, I wouldn't know where to begin with it or whatever and like you do need some kind of training for it
but um, I think most of the time you're probably just pulling out little like hail sized like
You know thumb sized dance that would be like very very easy. Yeah, so that's a new
Tired pod business. I was gonna say that's our new husband. You do this
Yeah, if anyone who's listening to this does that you owe me five percent of your first years
Gross
Well, it's funny. I like I you know, we had a a giant branch fall on the masta
like several years ago and um
And I took it to
Because I didn't want to fucking, you know
I don't want to like our deductibles like 500 bucks, you know
And it's like it just put like a couple of just like dumb little dents like in the hood that you know if they don't look
Yeah, it's not, you know, it's it's not 500 dollars worth
Of a tent, you know, it's like 500 bucks. I can fucking live with it. Yeah. Yeah
um
But it also it's kind of just like annoying to but I took it to to like a pdr place in town
Um, that's supposed to be really great. I was just curious like would that be cheaper, you know, could they do it for cheaper and
um
But they gave me like an estimate where it was like like way more and they said, you know, like we'll work with your insurance
You know, you could like submit it to you know, submit a claim or whatever
but
But it's like like their estimate their estimate was like over a thousand bucks and I was just like, well, that's
No, thanks
We should be in the business
Yeah, but like I'm kind of I'm I'm very intrigued by this this whole diy pdr situation
Yeah, it's uh, it's worth a shot. I think like um
I want to say on some of the paint that I applied myself on the Subaru
I did manage to yank some paint off which is like
Causes a much bigger problem, but it is that was just like a spray can that I applied myself
So
You just apply it apply some more apply. Yeah. Yeah
Reapply it. Yeah
But yeah, it's it's fun and it's uh, it's a very meditative
My problem. I think I've talked about it on the pod a couple times with like anything where it's like
Aesthetic
Improvement is like I get it to the point where it's good
And then I'm like, but what if we just did a little more? What if we just did too much and ruined it and that's
I really like it
The pdr thing is funny because I thought I thought you were gonna I thought like
The the the direction I thought you were going was I get it to where it's good and then I say
Well, fuck it. That's good. No because that's kind of my
No, that's that's correct. That's where you want to be say, you know, we're good
We're good on this. Uh, but what I do is just continue to fuck with it. And then it's like
Maybe we have to start over now. Maybe we'll just completely start over from the beginning
I do that a lot
But that's it. That's the battle with the pdr for me. But I I don't know. I think it's good. a good, uh
low risk thing to try because it's like, um
Even if you fuck it up
Then the car has a dent in it, you know what I mean? Exactly. That's where he started
It's like go right. Yeah, it's like going to war in
Iran and it's like
straights open
Uh, we've fucked a whole bunch of stuff up
straights closed
Uh, straights open at the end. It's like you're in the same position. It's like, right. Yeah
Right back where he's been driving around with dense. I don't know how long it's fine. It's whatever car drives
it also, I mean the thing about the
thing about having a car with dense is that
It telegraphs to other people
That you do not give a fuck
And so they will be they will they will give you a little bit more, uh
Wiggle room. It's true
And like mine are all on the side so it says I get bunked into but I don't hit anybody else
For the third time this week
A guy in a new Toyota forerunner
Uh, tried to brake check me when I was driving the f-150
yesterday and I just like
Did not slow down whatsoever. It's just like and he very panically, you know took off
But it's like dude, I I can hit you at like 30 miles an hour before I do any damage to my car
Like it will not it's true
This will not in fact it may straighten out the bumper
Right and and think about the fact that you're brake checking a fucking, you know
35 year old
Truck
Yeah, it's like, yeah, that's it's you know, it's not going to have the same stopping power as your fucking brand new
You know
Toyota
Forerunner. Yeah. Yeah, it's uh, it was a very bad calculation on his part
But he he survived it. It was uh, but I was like, what what is the thought process there? Not smart
Um, I could have really ruined that little car
but
Worked it. Okay. Um
I'm trying to think of what else. Oh, uh
We talked about we talked about the philson thing. Yeah, we talked about going to
About what? Seattle
The philson bronco
I can't did we talk about that? It's been like a month. Uh, we might we did
I don't remember. I don't recall. I've been learning. I've been putting so much conveyor knowledge in my brain. I know either
Either
Refer to the previous episode
Uh where we talked about the ford bronco
Or go to alloy and read about it there. Yeah, um, I feel like we we talked about it in the chat
I don't know if we talked about it on the pod, but alloy mag.com and catch up on other rory activities
alloy mag.com
Yeah, most of the rory activities are you can read about me going to the masters golf tournament. Yes, your father's day case
uh
another another cheery entry into the
Press events
I gotta say would if you're a pr person and you send man a press thing. That's exactly what you want to come out of it
I think they know by now. I gotta know 5 000 word rumination on uh
Why I am like this
It's perfect. That's what she that's I'd rather read about that than about golf. I gotta tell you
I go on a lot of this stuff and from a like a technical standpoint of like
executing an event it was
shocking it was like
the it is really like, you know, mercedes has a certain kind of reputation for being like, uh
Like perfect with stuff and it's like
It it's also like there's a lot of
A lot of car companies who would like to be in their position who just do not have the
uh institutional like confidence in themselves to do it
and it's like there was like, um
One night we were having dinner. I don't think this made it into the piece. We were having dinner
and
Uh, it was like 200 people in the room and it was like this big outdoor
semi-outdoor venue at the 1886 club, which is like their own little club in this property
and um
The entertainment for the evening
Some a-list singer-songwriter, uh, canceled couldn't make it
um
Which was fine because in the couple hours that they had when they realized that this person had canceled
They got a some other woman who has had like
Seven songs that I recognized from being at the grocery store marron something
Uh, I don't know anything about her, but it's like I yeah, I've heard these songs before
Um, and she just shows up and it's like, uh does a set does you know an hour maybe like
But it was like, uh
Everybody in the room is like singing along to these songs and it was like this is the fucking backup that you were able to get to
august to georgia
A couple hours notice and it's like
Yeah, the whole thing was just like, uh
Yeah, I think you're pretty good at this stuff pretty
It's I mean it's like there's there's a whole thing and we can get into we should do like a luxury car thing at some point
but it's like
Yeah, I don't know if I told this story. I don't think so, but there was a Cadillac
had like
These uh did all these focus groups a few years ago and they had this woman's older wealthier woman
um
She came through and the the cars were all debudged so you couldn't tell what they were within reason
And um, it's like a blind taste. They were like at the
Yeah, so at the end they're like, you know, which car do you prefer and she was like, uh, well
I really prefer this one it ended up being the Cadillac and they were like, oh, wow, this is fantastic
And she's like, would you buy they were like, would you buy the Cadillac and she was like, well, no
Because if I buy a Cadillac
Every time I go to the country club, I have to explain to everyone why I didn't buy a Mercedes
and it was like
Tough to tough to argue with that
Part of the equation if you're like a
So anyway, but that's like all this stuff is like why Mercedes is in that position where it's like
They just have that like level of confidence in that brand and in that like proposition where it's like
Yeah, it like it it all trickles all the way down like organizationally it's really really interesting. I think like, um
It's a totally and it's you know, I think in the the piece of it's like there there's Mercedes and then there's like
10 other like luxury brands that all sit around conference rooms trying to imagine what Mercedes would do in a given situation and it's like
That's why
Well, here's here's I mean, I sorry I get that but what I wonder about is
Is
Is is the product a reflection of all of that really?
um
Because I was I was watching like I I just I saw there was like a
What fucking car was it? It was like like
that those those savage geese guys who um, yeah the youtube guys who
Who I think are are very good like they're they're very thorough. They're very um
and and like
they're very into kind of covering the the business end of it and and kind of like
talking to to automakers and to engineers and to marketers and kind of like getting their
they're as interested in the kind of
process of
designing and manufacturing a car and bringing a car to market as they are in the in the products themselves
um
But they they recently had like the latest like amg wagon like the the the e
Series wagon or whatever 63. Yeah, and
And they said it and they were just appalled. They said it was terrible
They were so bold. They said that like
like and just like like just it's it's hybrid. It's all like but like the but the um
Just everything about like like the interfaces and just but also just driving it
You know not it's not just like the the kind of you know
The the digital dash shit that every you know that every new car is
Saddle with but um, but just like the the dynamics of driving the car like that that just like the
the um
the braking like with with the kind of
uh regenerative stuff
Just like completely non-linear completely unpredictable
It made the car like really
Unpleasant to to drive. You know, they
Like it just like it just see like the way they described it is it's just it's just like just ill resolved
You know like and they were very like
Surprised and bummed but but bummed out. Yeah
I think that I haven't driven that car. I think like the
The thing is is like
A every company is going to have like hits and misses where it's like, okay. Sometimes the product's not
up to snap or whatever
um
But b the other thing is like
Oh, the other thing is like a
most
For the most part like there's there's a lot of parity in
Across the board. It's like does BMW on a whole make a better car than
Cadillac or lexus or does Mercedes? It's like
That's really
It's at the point where you're really splitting hairs. I mean, I think like quality is is fairly good among all the big luxury companies
um
It really comes down to like service and then like just brand perception. I think and it's like that's really like
That's the
That's what's motivating people on a buyer level. I think for the most part and I think like
It's also like why
Like that's
That's where Mercedes is kind of like unassailable where it's like. Yeah. Yeah. It's just like it's it's the car
It's the Rolex or it's the whatever
but I think like
it is um
It's really like
a matter of
Understanding kind of like why people care about your brand, which I think like a lot of like newer or like
Cadillacs a great example, but like just
The people who work there probably don't really understand why you would buy a Cadillac or like what is good about a Cadillac in a lot of cases
Um, and that's like on the the marketing
side more than on the like engineering side, I think the engineers are pretty good. Um, we're very good
Maybe at the best but
But the um
The
There's a lot of that where I think like there's there's a lot of that in that kind of
Trying to make it as a luxury brand end of the business where it's like people are just
really struggling to
articulate
What is good about the product? I think that's true like especially like people who come from other places from like not in cars
like come from
A different brand or a different different industry or whatever
But I think um, there's also just like a level of confidence that is like really really tricky
It's like Mercedes and Porsche are like always my example of this where it's like
Mercedes can do like a really goofy looking
concept or like art
um
like a
one-off art car or whatever that is like if
Cadillac is an example tried to do this everybody would dunk on them because it's like
Well, that's a I mean, this is the thing like Mercedes is increasingly doing goofy garish weird shit
Like design-wise their interiors are like they're fucking crazy
um
They're not they've they've gotten like they're a long way from from the kind of
Traditionally, yeah, the kind of you know that that toy tonic
Yeah, but you know very you know arch conservative
thing that that they you know that
To me they kind of embodied for a hundred years and it's like now
Now they're much more, you know when you talk about like Germanic stuff. It's like now they're like the
the um
Like the the the Berlin nightclub version of you know, it's like no, it's it's very like uh more avant-garde
But I think there's there's something to like and I think like BMW is actually like I think
BMW has gotten a lot of shit in the last few years for their styling and for like being
Yes, kind of more on the avant-garde end of things, but it's like
Their actual business of selling cars is doing very well and it's like it's true
um
And I you know lexus is the same like lexus right now has got some really wild looking cars and it's like
um
But it's I think there's like uh the the thing with that is like
Can you
Make a case for yourself
As distinctive. Why do you buy x car? It has to be immediately recognizable. It has to be like
Exaggerated degree, I think
But it is like I said, it's just like you have to also have the confidence to carry that
So like if you're going to Mercedes Benz
break with
100 years of being like very staid and very like conservative
like you have to be able to as a
And I don't like to use the word brand but like as a brand
you have to have
Everything else so buttoned up that it looks coherent and it doesn't look like an accident
Where it's like a lot of the other a lot of the other brands when they try stuff
They're pieces and parts that don't cohere and it's like no like that's that's goofy
I mean, I think I think part of it also is I mean, maybe they're just smart and just kind of responding to
What has happened to luxury markets in general and that kind of like gucification and
Dubai
Zation of fucking
Of want to be rich people, you know, like
Yeah, like taste doesn't really come into it anymore
There's no benefit to being uh hard to identify or being like under the radar. It's like
Your belt your belt has to have the logo on it, right? I mean like yes, I want to know how much this belt
Yeah, that's the thing and and it's like yeah, I mean that's a perfect example
It's just like the way of just like the the proliferation
Of three-pointed stars
Across like every fucking aspect of those cars where it's just like yeah, now we have like a thousand of them on the grill
You know, it's like wait, man. I mean that the fuck it like it really makes like like fifties
Like 1950s american chrome excess like seem kind of modest and restrained
In comparison that s l
That s l that I drove from Atlanta was the one that has the my buck
like Louis Vuitton style has the my buck print
on the
On the top the convertible top and then on the hood
There's a black hood with like a thousand little my buck logos on the hood of the like printed onto the hood of the
There's some crazy paint process like what selling it short, but it's like something insane. Yeah. Yeah. It's like it
It's like a Louis Vuitton trunk
Yeah, but it's like it's fucking crazy. Yeah, you're not well, so you're not trying to hide that you saw right?
Well, and and the and the perfect embodiment of the or expressed maybe the full flower of this I feel like
Um, it was kind of expressed in the launch of that. Um, I don't even know what it's called
But whatever that whatever that that new electric
Uh, that that ev kind of amg
four-door
coop. Oh, yeah, like
Uh, what is what is it amg?
It's like they're like the new four-door like sports car amg
Ev kind of thing. Yeah. Yeah that they they launched
on
Is it like the six in la on the bridge in la like they closed like the famous the famous bridge that you've seen in a
zillion movies, you know where you drive across the the la river
um, and and you know with like the view of downtown
the skyline and behind you and and um
They closed down that bridge for like a week
I think and and they just did this this huge launch event that was just like invitation only
You know like you had to be an influencer
Um, or you know press person to to you know have the hook up
um
But it was just this insane
like reveal
Uh, just like hyper choreographed
And who was who played it was it like blink 82 blink 182 like played it
Like did like an hour long set
And you know after there was like doing burnouts and and just like right right. Yeah the car emerges and then George Russell
Jacob Elordi Kevin Hart Courtney Kardashian Odell Beckham
Gabriel mocked
An hour of blink 22. I think would kill me. I think that I think I think like a blood vessel would burst
Like a hose olympic fencing medalist miles chamly watson. I didn't know he was there
I have a big miles chamly watson head. I love the way he's all it's all a-listers
um
Yeah, I mean I read I read daniel goulson's
Uh
You know write up of this thing
Like the whole thing. I mean and daniel. I mean
We should have daniel on the on the pod at some point because he's he's he's so fun
I mean jalapeno writer who who I met once when when you brought him to a mountain good short rory and we had dinner together and
and he
He he cracked me up. He was he's so funny
um
And and I really like loved his vibe, but but he's
I'm fascinated by him
Because I mean and he's he's younger. He's like he's younger than than any of us. Oh really? I didn't know that. Yeah
and um
and
the
The
Everything that I fucking hate
About like current called car culture or so much of the things that I hate
He loves unabashedly and and and it's not and it's and it's like
But the thing is he can
Like I respect it like coming from it. I think he's like he's a thoughtful serious person in in that respect and and it's and it's
It's really interesting to me to like see somebody who has
such completely
Contrary reads on things to to my own
And and like it kind of forces me just like to to kind of question my own reactions or assumptions or whatever and just realize like
Oh, maybe it is different for young people
Like
Like you just see the world
But the thing is like this whole fucking event. I feel like was kind of almost like taylor made for him
This was this was designed to push his buttons, you know, Daniel come on the pot. We have to queen out
yes
I think uh
I think
The thing about daniel in that respect is like
so daniel like
He quit college for creative studies. He was he was in their design program
To like start being an automotive journalist
Um, so he's got like a very well informed
Eye or like perspective on design stuff. Um
And also is just like I think like I hired him to come to gelopnik and I also like
I've known daniel
He lived in the same building as uh, we did when we first moved to detroit
Um, and then like I would let him use my shop and my house like when he was driving a
W124, uh wagon yellow in detroit as is daily
He
He just he has a very like coherent
Perspective on this stuff, and I think like
There are a lot of people who are contrarians and who like who are like, oh if people don't like this
I can make a little career on saying that I do like it or whatever
Um, there are definitely those people out there, but daniel's is like daniel's is that is genuinely like his sense of taste and like
I I come to like
In a lot of cases like come around to stuff that he is like very high on
um
Like it ends up I end up being like, yeah, you're kind of ended up being right on a lot of that stuff and like
um
I think like, um
Yeah, we should I would love to talk to him about that event, but I think like we we should have a mod
I talk about design and stuff too. Um
But it is
He is one of those people peter to your point where it's like
always especially like in my position
work wise it's always like um
In the back of my head that like I have to
Be aware of
Whence when I'm just old, you know what I mean? It's like is this bad or am I old? Yeah?
And it's like
That doesn't mean I have to pretend to like
Stuff that younger people like I don't think that works either
But I think like you there like I always said it would like been aware like okay
Because it's like you work with older guys
When you're starting out and you're like they don't get it. They're just old right and then
The mistake that I think a lot of people make
Is to get to like 40 50 years old and be like well, I'm not old
You know like I'm still I still have my finger on the pulse of what's cool and it's like
Actually, that is like a that is a a one in a billion chance that you still have
Any idea of what it's cool like there's like
20 50 year old guys in the whole history of the world who know what's cool like it's just it's hard
I mean, it's hard. It's hard. So it's like it's hard being one of those guys
Dude, it's hard for me. It's like I'm I'm living it too. It's just like
I'm opted into being the old guy out of touch. Yeah. No, I think like there's that's fine too. And I think there's a there's a certain like
Coolness that can that you can personally have at whatever age where it's like you just have your own sense of style and taste or whatever that like
You maintain permanently, but I think like like I said, it is very hard to
You have to be yeah, you have to be vigilant and you have to be open to yeah
But I think even then it's like um, like for me, it's like I can see
I think when other people find stuff cool or like
But it's like a lot of times is like I do not get this. I do not understand the appeal of this. I understand like
like, you know, like kind of how it's working, but like it's not
Personally for me like the lighted up star thing on the Mercedes thing is a good example of like
Daniel, it's like a very early proponent of how cool that was and it was like
I remember he's a great disagree
Yeah, I don't know
But it it's like like that that great line was like I like that you like it
Right. Yeah, it's like listen 18 to 35. No, no my business literally none of my business anymore
I'm 36 now 18 to 35. Then on my business. Don't care not me. Then I'm like, don't don't even tell me about it
I'm free. I'm free
Yeah, you know, you know that you're really old when your young friends
Are now also old
Yeah
Yeah, um
We had Lamont, uh, oh, that's true last last weekend. Um, and there's a race this weekend that I'm heading down to tomorrow
Uh, yeah, we're going to
Yeah, we're going to the Glen the six hours of the walk in the Glen to our pod listeners who are also going to the Glen
I know a couple of you will be there
Oh, is that right?
Come find us. Well, yeah
Um
Yeah, I will be and and at some point rory will be yeah
Yeah, yeah, I think I will be there like midday saturday. Okay
um
So yeah, so swing by saturday saturday night where it will be up by um
Uh, what is it turn?
Fuck man. I can never remember my turn. So 11 is the last one's a 10
We're kind of between nine and 10 up on up on that um
That run
Yeah, it's by the new convenience store thing. That's on the the corner there
Um, yes
You know, yeah where the tunnel is
Right, you guys know, um
Yeah, but looking forward to that that what did did you guys?
Follow or catch any of the Lamont action? There were some interesting
Stores
Yeah, I watched um
I watched quite a bit of it. Um, but I don't remember any of it now. I'm having like, uh
Am I am I losing my memory? I'm wondering about this. I mean the thing is I know
Yeah, I'm realizing like like I mean just having talked about other like
Yeah, I'm kind of in the same. So I mean
Um
Alpine one right
No, who won toyota one? No, uh, toyota one. Yeah
toyota one which was significant because um, because toyota had not won
since
since the the kind of
hypercar era really got into full swing and and toyota who
Who have have been competing in and
At the top level of kind of prototype racing for a long time for a few decades now
And
and you know, we've gone through like a few periods of
Competition and and and they were right there through a lot of it
you know, like the kind of the the dominating years of the outies and in the aughts and then
The pujos and the porches, you know came in in the teens and
and toyota was always right there and and then like
10 years ago in 2016 there was that if you if if you don't if you
If you haven't seen what how if you're unaware of what happened at lemont in 2016
um
Go to youtube and and just search on
You know last five minutes of lemont
2016 because it's one of the most fucking excruciatingly
just
heart wrenchingly
Painful things that has ever happened in sport
They they were winning, you know with like five minutes to go and um
You know by and they had like several minutes in hand
and uh
and the
The the their car just just just took a shit like
Like literally like a few yeah
Like a couple of laps to go. Maybe it was like the last lap, but um
it just died and
And you just see like everybody in the garage just like
Just their faces just like and because everybody's just and you know, I mean, it's like 24 hours, man
It's like you've you've everybody's been through the fucking ringer
So like the full week of what makes lemont so dramatic is it's just this incredible
It's not just the race. It's like this whole week of preparation and all this whole circus and
And then the race itself where it's like, you know, you get to the end of it and you're just like spent in every way
You know physically emotionally everything
um and and uh
And these guys being so close
To to finally tasting you like victory and just having it like slip through their fingers. Uh, just excruciating and
um
And and then of course, you know, they got the win like the following after after Porsche pulled out after Porsche said
Well, we don't need to do any more of this. We're good. And and and they were
And poor and and Toyota was left like basically as the only like
manufacturer competing in that the top prototype class, you know, there were a few like just kind of like little one-off teams and and um
But so they kind of had the class to themselves really and and um
and so they got the you know, they they won like five times in a row, but it kind of
You know and to anybody who who?
Watched who like understood it's like well, of course, they deserve these victories, but it but it's easy to kind of like
um look at them and say well, who were they even fucking competing against, you know
It's like it rang a little bit of hollow. So I was I for one was
was um
heartened to see them
Uh, finally get it after you know coming very close, uh, I think in in
It was at 2023 the first year
um
I mean Ferrari has dominated but um
But like and and the thing is they've been competitive. They just haven't won at Le Mans, you know
I mean they won the championship in 23 and
um
But but kind of Le Mans just it eluded them until until now, but I feel like
Like now they can kind of like really
um
Yeah, it's not a
It's not a tomato can
Exactly a paper championship. It's a real right
Um, so I was I was happy to see them win
Yeah, yeah, it's cool. Um, and it was a good race. I think right it was like uh pretty entertaining the catalyzed looked good for a minute
Um, yeah, yeah, everybody kind of had their
their time
um
Yeah
I was bummed not to not to go. I think uh
That was a um
I was a great time last year. I did Boone go
He did. Yeah, he goes every year
Um, yeah, he was sending me sending me pictures and and he always he sends me a video from from our spot
um at the uh
The entrance to to tetrush at three in the morning where we're Boone and I hung out for had a had a magical half hour just
standing there in silence and and just
What drinking it in man like that that is like, yeah, one of the coolest places on the planet and um
Yeah, what an event but um other things that I was excited to see
the Genesis cars
After having like, you know and and arriving, you know
A first-year team and and it's it's kind of
Generally a given with with with this, you know sports car racing any first-year program
um
Nobody expects to be competitive in the first year. It's really you're really just out there running the car
collecting data and
And learning about it and and just kind of making tweaks on the fly and and kind of just you know
Having fun with your friends. Exactly and
uh, yeah, but Genesis
You know in their third race
You know in the in the say at at at spa. They finished in the points
Which is like which is crazy
um
And then at Le Mans and their third third race as a as a
manufacturer a prototype manufacturer and and race team ever
um
First, you know first car from from south korea to ever compete at at Le Mans
um
They had this distinction there because there wasn't a north korea north korea. It's right. Yes. They were quite good. I can't forget the the dpr k
uh program of uh 97 that
Yeah, yeah very close. Um
Shack, but no they they what's that?
Shacked the world. I was shocked the world. I thought I was hoping you had like a fun a funny team name or something
um, oh, yeah, yeah team ju ju j
Yeah, um
But yeah, but the Genesis cars looked fantastic all week
They got into like the final qualifying round, which they have this whole new kind of gamified
qualifying process
That's actually kind of fun
I kind of hate to say it was it was fun to follow and watch. Um
and um
And in the race
They were running like in the thick of it, man
Like one of the cars like dropped out with an issue finally like uh in the overnight
um
but
But but the faster of the two was like was running like up like cycling up into like fourth place
At several points, you know
It's like, you know, we get into the race where everybody's kind of cycling up and down but with you know, pit stop rotations and stuff, but I mean
They looked so good
and the thing is like, um
You know, there were there were a number of I mean like the pujos by contrast
looked absolutely lost
I mean that program is fucking
Uh
Like they just got it wrong with that car, you know, like I mean from from the get-go
It's just never been right and they're talking about doing a major revision for next year. Um, but um, yeah
weirdness, um
Uh, the the other the other notable thing I think to come out of lemal was the announcement about the 20 30
um
hypercar regulations which are going to be adopted by imsa as well and it's going to um
to unify
The the two it's going to streamline the the current situation where you kind of have like these two
rule sets, you know, if like the lmdh cars
um, which are kind of, uh
You know off the shelf, uh
Um
What do you call it? Um
So like the monocoque, you know the um, yeah, yeah, they're um
what's
The spine I'll forget what the spine is there. Yeah, it's like, um
Fuck they're off the shelf. Whatever. Yeah, no, it's that that's the the term I was looking for is this is the spine
So the spine of the car is is is built by these, you know suppliers
So it's either like orica or dollar like these race car makers. So you're a manufacturer. You just get what you know
You partner with with orica and you get your thing and you you know, put your power plant in or whatever
So so that's the lmdh. Most of the cars competing in imsa are lmdh's
Um, and then you have the lmh's the lemal hypercars, which are the more kind of bespoke
um
Cars where they're completely designed and and put together by the manufacturer. So like the ferrari the pujo
The toyota are all um and the eston martin. So, um
But but they're it's it's a little bit complicated because that you know just for for balancing them
Kind of balance of performance wise
So so they've been kind of like working on this this solution
I mean, it's one of the things that Porsche bitched about
um
You know, obviously, it's I don't think I think they they withdrew from from the wek
just because they were broke not because of that specifically but um
But they did gripe about the fact that um, you know, it was
It was difficult for them to compete with they weren't going to win lemal against against the ferrari basically
They came as close as they were going to last year
Um, so so 2030 they're going to streamline that and and uh make it be one class where it's kind of a compromise
um
where the cars will all be
rear wheel drive as opposed to four wheel drive there will be
a standard
Or at least a standardized hybrid system that manufacturers can either
Like use the an off-the-shelf Bosch unit or make their own, but it has to you know
Meet certain specifications. Anyway, it's it's it's good news in that it will um,
hopefully keep the party going even as we um
Uh, you know, some of these manufacturers are are fallen off
I don't think we have we talked about the fact that like acura is pulling out of of imsa next year
This year for you know
a bummer and alpine in is this is last year for alpine in the wek although
um
There has been
There have been rumors and they were kind of substantiated
um
At at lemal
The the team that actually runs the alpines the this signa tech outfit
um
Like like the question it's like
This program could continue
As something else like they have they have a whole kind of facility and you know
It's it's kind of like if somebody wanted to come in
It's kind of like a turnkey thing where you could just like come in and buy the different logo on the car and run it, you know
Um
tire pad racing for instance, right
um
But do you know
who has
been sniffing around
At lemal roger
roger
Byd
Oh, that'd be interesting. Yeah, I have heard that. Yeah, b yd and also apparently there are a number of other
Chinese automakers who are now. I mean b yd has been has been
Kind of actively pursuing this for a while like since since last year since late last year
There's been stories floating around about about a potential
uh b yd program
And um, but also like
There's talk now of like cherry
Great wall and somebody like want somebody else
Okay, forget the third one. Um
But yeah, there's kind of there's there are several
Chinese
automakers who are interested in
coming to
Endurance racing
That would be great. I would love that. That would be sick as hell and also as as uh,
You know as
as the the economic
uh catastrophe unfolds and as
European automakers, I think, um
Yeah, I mean we've talked about retreat. I think I think, um
I think there's going to be fewer of them. Could be picking up the uh
Pick up a slack. Yes. I I do think that if motorsport is going to international motorsport is going to continue to exist
It's going to be increasingly dependent on
um
On
China because that's the chinese that's who's making all the cars
At this point everybody else is kind of also raised
The um, I was talking to Nate Siemens, uh from imsa
Yesterday and he was like, uh, he's like, man, I love peter's writing. He's like i'm so glad he's writing about, uh
Sports car racing. He's like one of the best people
um
We have like writing about
Racing he's like a lot of his stuff is kind of a downer though
Sorry man, yeah, and I was like, I gotta keep going. I was like, uh, I
I was like, um, he's like, he's like, I wouldn't change anything about it. I'm not I'm not telling you. I don't like it
He's like but sometimes it's a bit of a downer and I was like, I always like to imagine
peter hugh's
uh colliding with the
unending optimism of john dunan and him reading these stories
And uh, well, that's the thing. It's like I would feel bad.
I mean, I feel bad enough like like I was really happy sending sending that the the seabring story
to nate because yeah, because I felt like yeah, well, here's here's a story where it's like
Yeah, you know, I have some fun and I make some jokes or whatever
But it's like this is a thing that I'm I'm you know
I really have nothing bad to say about other than just kind of like yeah
This is this is a great experience and a thing that everybody should do
um
And I'm not like, you know, making fun of billionaires or or shitting on
anybody
It's like here's this is my version of a feel-good puff piece, you know
um, but yeah, it's like like dude dunan
he
You know and and Nate night, you know, Nate and I are friends and
But but dunan who who I don't really know other than just like the the times that you've introduced me to and rory
um, he just seems like
His
And and you know, if anybody has has seen him, you know or heard him on like the IMSA broadcasts or seen an interview with him or seen him
You know on on youtube like talking about stuff
his
Like he's real like that that he you know, he he talks like a kind of like
You know like he sometimes like sounds like like he's doing the marketing thing of just you know, and he has that that kind of
um
Never has a bad thing to say about anybody or anything and that kind of relentless positivity
um
That you have to have as you know
It's just like the the face of a huge organization. That's that's you know
but
That's a hundred percent him
It's it's totally real and yeah
Just like the
Yeah, he like at once like kind of makes me feel bad about myself for being such a
Shit head curmudgeon and also like whenever you're around him. It's like man. This feels great being around this guy
It's like it's making me so happy like uh, well, it's also it's like it makes you want to like
like
Like protect him protect his innocence, you know, yeah
John don't listen to this next thing that i'm gonna say
Yeah, don't listen
It's like I would want to redact a bunch of stuff from from anything of mine that he you know
If it was put in front of him just just for him specifically
I feel like 10 years ago. I was that guy and now it's just gone. It's just there's there's a uh,
life expectancy to being like the the fun happy like everybody's buddy guy
Eventually you are you wear out everybody is one or two bad days away from uh going from john to maddie
Brother, that's all it takes
You can you can slide he could he could be sliding down the slope any day now
Yeah, I don't think so, but yeah, it's hard to imagine. Yeah, it's america for you
It's hard to imagine that the joker fied john dude
John dude and get joker fied with me. You're terrifying. I think that's uh,
Yeah
May just be scott atherton
All right, we should we should wrap them up over time here. Yeah, okay
All right
well
Um, yeah, you've been listening to to tired the car podcast for people to understand the cars are bad
your friends rory and maddie and peter and
We'll talk to you soon come see us at walkins glenn if you're um, if you're coming. Yeah, come say hi. I'm cs dms or
Do contact us in some way to put up a give us a signal. Yeah, we'll find you put up the tired signal
The episode bounces from warehouse logistics and studio gear to a long, very human thread about “cool chair” ergonomics—armrests, no-armrest options, and DIY seat/armrest fixes. It then shifts into real-world car ownership: stripping parts (“organ donor time”), chasing a Volkswagen GTI no-start with immobilizer/OBD2 issues, and hard-starting mysteries. The hosts also dig into paintless dent repair (PDR) and why aluminum panels can make it easier, before pivoting to luxury-brand strategy and a big endurance-racing rules roundup.
We've got some DIY chat this week as Peter brings a little of the SPG indoors and Rory talks PDR. We also talk Mercedes styling, powered industrial equipment, GTI headaches, and autojourno peers. Golson guestpisode when?
Rory at the Masters: https://alloymag.com/where-it-lies/
Rory's goodbye to the Rivian: https://alloymag.com/longterm/
Peter's got new music out: https://peterpeterhughes.bandcamp.com/album/dissociation-loops
And of course, sign up for an Alloy membership here: https://alloymag.com/sign-up/
Your producer pal Matty would like to apologize for any audio weirdness you experience in this episode. Same EQ settings in the mix as always! But on phone speakers, one of the midrange frequencies may buzz a little behind Rory for unknown reasons. Please enjoy the ep, and if you're a new listener pointed here by funny Bluesky posts about automotive podcasts that encourage you to read Lenin, we have two playlists on our YouTube channel of our more digression-heavy or deranged episodes:
The "Where Do I Start?" Playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLST8b9ePRLr1orq4AfMRJGvrupjTBxdRC
The "The Car Podcast?" Playlist (including clips from some Patreon-only material): https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLST8b9ePRLr1IeqDSJezOn93HtsPAKkEB
