The hosts dive into a fun discussion about cars that deserved sporty variants but never got them, like the Geo Metro convertible and Nissan Versa Spec-V. They explore quirky ideas like a turbo Subaru Brat and a hot Hyundai Venue, mixing nostalgia with modern hot hatch aspirations. The conversation also covers personal car projects, including mount replacements and daily driving joys with lightweight, quirky vehicles. They wrap up with a playful automotive ad quiz and tease upcoming content, blending humor, car culture, and enthusiast insights throughout.
We love talking about hot versions of more mundane cars here on the pod, but what about all of those norm core whips that never hot a spicy variant? The fellas talk about hot versions that should have been made and dry dream of cars that never were.
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"bro, is that an SVT? I was like, you know it. He's like, hell yeah, he was like so pumped that it was an SVT, that it was the sport variant of the Ford Focus."
SVT is a special team at Ford that makes faster and sportier versions of their regular cars. These cars have better engines and handling.
SVT stands for Special Vehicle Team, Ford's performance division responsible for developing high-performance versions of standard Ford models. SVT vehicles typically have upgraded engines, suspensions, and styling.
"bro, is that an SVT? I was like, you know it. He's like, hell yeah, he was like so pumped that it was an SVT, that it was the sport variant of the Ford Focus. Oh, I see what you did there. Yeah, and that's what we are talking about today. The world of sport variants."
The Ford Focus SVT is a faster and sportier version of the regular Ford Focus. It has a stronger engine and better handling to make driving more fun.
The Ford Focus SVT is a sport variant of the Ford Focus developed by Ford's Special Vehicle Team (SVT). It features performance upgrades over the standard Focus, including a more powerful engine, sport-tuned suspension, and unique styling cues.
"that it was an SVT, that it was the sport variant of the Ford Focus. Oh, I see what you did there. Yeah, and that's what we are talking about today. The world of sport variants."
A sport variant is a special version of a car that is made to be faster and handle better than the regular version. It usually looks sportier too.
A sport variant is a version of a car model that has been enhanced with performance-oriented features such as a more powerful engine, improved suspension, and sportier styling. These variants are designed to offer a more engaging driving experience.
"...I mean, you could have done a metro version of the Swift because the Swift was so rare. Like if you wanted that car even back in the day, they were pretty hard to get."
The Suzuki Swift is a small car that's easy to drive and park. It was the same kind of car that the Geo Metro was based on.
The Suzuki Swift is a small hatchback known for its nimble handling and compact size. It has been popular in various markets and was the basis for the Geo Metro in the U.S. market.
"...I actually put that down the Geo Metro GSI because there was never technically a variant of that. That would be cool if they did make a hot Metro, which we didn't get."
The Geo Metro is a small, cheap car from the 1990s that was good on gas. It was made by a company called Geo, which worked with Suzuki to build it.
The Geo Metro was a subcompact car sold in the United States during the late 1980s and 1990s, known for its fuel efficiency and affordability. It was a collaboration between General Motors and Suzuki, often sharing components with the Suzuki Swift.
"I still think a chassis would shit its pants specifically in the convertible because it's maybe single-handedly, like just the worst chassis feel of any vehicle I've ever driven."
The chassis is like the car's skeleton that holds everything together. It helps the car feel stable and handle well when you drive.
The chassis of a vehicle is its structural framework that supports the body and mechanical components. It greatly affects the car's handling, rigidity, and overall driving feel.
"I still think a chassis would shit its pants specifically in the convertible because it's maybe single-handedly, like just the worst chassis feel of any vehicle I've ever driven."
A convertible is a car where you can fold down or take off the roof to drive with the wind in your hair. Because it doesn't have a solid roof, it can sometimes feel less stable.
A convertible is a car with a roof structure that can be retracted or removed, allowing open-air driving. Convertibles often have chassis stiffness challenges due to the lack of a fixed roof.
A naturally aspirated engine is a regular engine that breathes air by itself, without any extra help like a turbo to push air in.
A naturally aspirated engine is one that draws air into the combustion chamber without the use of forced induction like a turbocharger or supercharger. It relies solely on atmospheric pressure for air intake.
"Yeah, but there was an impulse RS while we were driving the Turbo."
A turbo is a part that helps the engine get more air, so it can make the car go faster.
A turbocharger is a device that forces extra air into the engine's combustion chamber, increasing power output by allowing more fuel to be burned. Turbocharged engines typically produce more horsepower than naturally aspirated ones of the same size.
"Would you have left it front-wheel drive or put an all-wheel drive system for the RS in there? I think the all-wheel drive system is how they would have sold it because that's like the hotness."
All-wheel drive means the car's engine makes all four wheels move, which helps the car drive better on slippery roads or rough ground.
All-wheel drive (AWD) is a drivetrain system that powers all four wheels of a vehicle simultaneously, improving traction and handling, especially in adverse weather or off-road conditions. It is often used in performance and sportier cars.
"Would you have left it front-wheel drive or put an all-wheel drive system for the RS in there?"
Front-wheel drive means the car's engine makes the front wheels move, which helps the car go and turn.
Front-wheel drive (FWD) is a drivetrain layout where the engine powers the front wheels of the vehicle. It is common in compact and economy cars and generally offers better traction in slippery conditions.
"Yeah. Or even just, you don't get the all-wheel drive but you get an LSD."
A limited-slip differential helps both wheels on the same axle turn at similar speeds, so the car can grip better when turning or on slippery roads.
A limited-slip differential (LSD) is a mechanical component that limits the difference in rotational speed between the two wheels on an axle, improving traction and handling, especially during cornering or on slippery surfaces.
"You know what, every time I think of the GeoStorm, do you ever remember it's like a 20-year-old pre-viral viral video..."
The Geo Storm is a small sporty car made in the early 1990s that was fun to drive and looked cool for its time.
The Geo Storm is a compact sports coupe produced by Geo (a brand of General Motors) from 1990 to 1993. It was known for its sporty styling and was based on the Suzuki Swift platform.
"I would say the coontash is the more common vehicle."
The Lamborghini Countach is a famous fast sports car from Italy with a very cool, sharp look. It was made a long time ago and is very special to car fans.
The Lamborghini Countach is a classic Italian supercar produced from the 1970s to the early 1990s, known for its sharp, angular design and powerful V12 engine. It is considered an iconic model that helped define the supercar genre.
"This one is something they could have done and I think they should have done the Nissan Versa SCR Spec-V."
The Nissan Versa is a small and affordable car that many people use for everyday driving. It comes in different styles like a small car with four doors or a hatchback with a rear door that opens upwards.
The Nissan Versa is a subcompact car produced by Nissan, known for its affordability and practicality. It is often offered in sedan and hatchback body styles and is popular as an economical daily driver.
"I'm talking that same 2.5L. Yep, drop the 2.5L right from Nissan's famous for doing this."
The 2.5L engine is the size of the engine in the car, meaning it can hold 2.5 liters of air and fuel inside its cylinders. This size helps the car have enough power to drive well.
A 2.5-liter engine refers to the engine's total displacement, which is the combined volume of all its cylinders. Nissan commonly uses 2.5L four-cylinder engines in various models, known for a balance of power and efficiency.
"Put the 2.5L, put the 6-speed manual, put the Spec-V or the Spec-V suspension in there, in the Versa"
A 6-speed manual transmission means the driver changes gears by hand using a stick and pedal. There are six different gears to choose from, which helps the car go faster or slower as needed.
A 6-speed manual transmission is a gearbox that requires the driver to manually select and engage gears using a clutch and gear stick. It offers six forward gear ratios, providing more control and engagement compared to automatic transmissions.
"until the Mitsubishi Mirage fucking knocked it down a step or two."
The Mitsubishi Mirage is a small, inexpensive car that people buy because it costs very little and uses little gas. It became the cheapest car you could buy in the U.S. after the Versa.
The Mitsubishi Mirage is a subcompact hatchback known for its low price and fuel efficiency. It surpassed the Nissan Versa as the cheapest car for sale in the United States for a period.
The Nissan Juke Nismo is a small SUV that is made to be faster and handle better than the regular Juke. It has a special turbo engine and better suspension to make it more fun to drive.
The Nissan Juke Nismo is a sportier, performance-oriented version of the Nissan Juke subcompact crossover. It features a turbocharged engine and sport-tuned suspension for enhanced driving dynamics.
"I'm curious what the production numbers
I still want one but I'm curious
what the production numbers on them are"
Production numbers tell you how many of a certain car were made. If only a few were made, the car is rare and might be special.
Production numbers refer to the total quantity of a specific car model or variant manufactured by the automaker. Low production numbers often make a car rarer and sometimes more collectible.
"what was that Mercedes wagon, the R63
that had super low production numbers too"
The Mercedes-Benz R63 AMG is a rare and fast SUV made by Mercedes' AMG division. It combines the space of an SUV with the power of a sports car.
The Mercedes-Benz R63 AMG is a high-performance version of the R-Class luxury crossover, equipped with a powerful AMG-tuned V8 engine. It is known for its rarity and unique combination of performance and utility.
The 2JZ is a type of engine made by Toyota. It's very strong and can be made to go really fast, which makes it popular with car fans.
The 2JZ is a famous inline-six engine produced by Toyota, renowned for its strength and tuning potential. It is especially known for its use in the Toyota Supra and is popular among car enthusiasts for high-performance builds.
GTE is a special version of the Toyota 2JZ engine that has two turbochargers. This makes the engine much more powerful.
GTE refers to a specific variant of the Toyota 2JZ engine, typically the 2JZ-GTE, which is a twin-turbocharged version producing significantly more power than the naturally aspirated versions.
"like the WX's or anything
like that but we did get a legacy turbo
with a 2.2 sealed deck right"
The Subaru Legacy Turbo is a version of the Legacy car that has a turbo engine, which helps it go faster. It has a strong 2.2-liter engine that is good for tuning and making more power.
The Subaru Legacy Turbo is a turbocharged variant of the Legacy sedan or wagon, featuring a 2.2-liter sealed deck engine known for its durability and tuning potential. It was one of the few turbocharged Subaru models available in the U.S. during the era.
"like that but we did get a legacy turbo
with a 2.2 sealed deck right
so what I would do is take that"
A sealed deck means the engine block is built strong around the cylinders to keep everything tight and stop leaks. This helps the engine last longer, especially when it has a turbo.
A sealed deck engine block has a design where the cylinder walls are fully enclosed by the engine block, improving rigidity and reducing the risk of head gasket failure. This design is preferred for turbocharged engines due to better durability under high boost.
"EG EJ 22T
and I would swap that with the 5 speed
into a brat and call it the Subaru Brats
GT"
A 5 speed manual means the car has five gears that the driver changes by hand using a stick and a pedal called the clutch. It helps the driver control the car better.
A 5 speed manual transmission is a gearbox with five forward gears operated manually by the driver using a clutch and gear stick. It allows more driver control and engagement compared to automatic transmissions.
"because that's like 160 horsepower
a bunch of torque all-wheel drive
5 speed manual"
Torque is how much twisting power the engine makes. More torque helps the car speed up faster and pull heavy things.
Torque is a measure of rotational force produced by an engine, which affects a vehicle's ability to accelerate and pull loads. Higher torque generally means better low-end power and responsiveness.
"hey we've got a Baja
we've got this weird truck that shouldn't exist
let's put the turbo motor in it"
The Subaru Baja is a special kind of car that looks like both a car and a small truck. It was made in the early 2000s and was different from most other cars.
The Subaru Baja is a unique four-door utility vehicle produced in the early 2000s that combined features of a car and a pickup truck. It was known for its quirky design and versatility but was considered an unusual model in Subaru's lineup.
"the Corolla motor was the was
a one ZZ
it was it was the same
four cylinder in the Camry so it was a"
The 1ZZ engine is a small engine made by Toyota that helps cars like the Corolla run well and use fuel efficiently.
The 1ZZ is a 1.8-liter inline-4 engine from Toyota, widely used in vehicles like the Corolla and early Camrys. It produces around 130-140 horsepower and is known for its durability and fuel efficiency.
Select text to request an explanation
In a world with entirely too many shows about cars,
this is another Pointless Automotive Podcast.
Mm-hmm.
Hi.
Oh, that was soothing, dude. Good job.
Yeah, that's a go full like NPR.
What's their morning? I don't know.
Morning. Not morning. Morning wood with.
Yeah, exactly.
Wake up at attention with NPR.
No, we are not NPR today.
We are another Pointless Automotive Podcast.
You probably already know that.
There was a whole intro jingle and everything.
But yeah, Chadwick, how are you?
Doing all right, man. I'm a little tired.
I'm going to be a little off tonight as per use.
That's the club.
Yeah, it's nothing but club indeed.
Is grinding still a thing?
Because that's the only move I was ever good at.
Grinder and club.
Different, I think.
Yeah, I assume.
I don't know.
Should we do that if we get to like a thousand Patreon subscribers?
You and I go clubbing?
I thought you were asking in general,
should we go to a club and attempt to grind and see how well we see it?
If we get a thousand Patreon subscribers,
then yes, we should go to the club
and we should just grind on strangers and see.
It will die.
Exactly.
We got a thousand Patreon subscribers,
but we got stabbed and divorced individually.
Two for one deal is how I call that one.
It didn't return the favor.
How are you doing, man? How are you hanging in there?
I'm good.
I don't know if you're for those watching along.
There's a change of scenery behind me.
Yeah.
You got the respray on the Sprint Turbo or what?
Yeah.
I can save some of that for PCP, I suppose.
I can't wait.
Yeah, nothing earth-shattering, but I did get the focus in here.
The focus SVT.
I'm going to take care of those rear struts at some point.
Shocks, I suppose, are not struts.
But yeah, that's in the cards.
That's for another topic of conversation.
And what's cool is,
so just this past,
not this past weekend,
but the weekend before,
I went to this cars and coffee.
It was at like a photo studio
that somebody's built here.
And it's really cool.
It's like a quarter million dollar build.
It's like a really nice spot.
And I was like, you know, I'm going to take this thing.
So I took the focus SVT.
It was in Santa Ramon.
I drove it down there and back.
And there were all these really high-flying cars,
like a lot of American muscle stuff.
Sure.
A lot of exotics.
And I show up in this thing. Nobody paid attention.
But on my way out, this one like, I don't know,
23-year-old broccoli-haired kid,
was like,
bro, is that an SVT?
I was like, you know it.
He's like, hell yeah, he was like so pumped
that it was an SVT,
that it was the sport variant
of the Ford Focus.
Oh, I see what you did there.
Yeah, and that's what we are talking about today.
The world of sport variants.
Not ones that exist.
And not ones that we like.
Like the aforementioned Focus SVT.
But there's a lot of interesting
vehicles out there
that never got
like actual really sport
hot spicy variants.
It's a damn shame.
Or if they did, we never got them.
And so, yeah, it is a damn shame.
And so I was thinking we can play
I don't know, God.
And
who I was still trying to find
and kill.
But until then, I'm just going to play God
and say, hey, like,
you're some cool cars that never existed.
What are some sport variants of things
that should exist?
Yeah, I mean, because I think we think back
and we're like,
it's something very similar to that.
And we're like, why didn't they just put that power plant
in such and such car?
I think it's a question we can ask ourselves.
And I want to start off just like that.
I want to start off with something silly,
fun.
I understand why they didn't do it.
Let's be honest, I'm not that far off the
off the pulse.
But a car you owned, the
Geometro.
Where am I going with this?
So the Geometro convertible
especially.
What did that thing have 40
something horsepower Frank out of that
three cylinder?
They had like the XFI
trim, which was like the extra
fuel economy one, which I believe was
49 horsepower.
But you couldn't get a convertible of that one,
could you? Correct.
So I think mine had the standard
three cylinder, which was I believe 55
horsepower if I remember correctly.
The big block. Yeah.
Well, no, the big block, which you also couldn't get
in that was the one liter four cylinder
in this in the
like the four door and the other metros.
But yes, yeah.
So convertible metros were
kind of kind of lame
power plants, right? Kind of a cool
fun car.
I was thinking, I'm like, man, we never
a swift GTI motor
in a metro convertible.
Yeah.
Retooling the suspension right from the factory
because you couldn't just send it as it was. You die
right. Easily die
first test drive you die. Put that
power plant in there, which I think is just
over a handy, honey ponies, if I remember
correctly, drop in
like the suspension upgrades and a little slick
five speed and how fun of a
drop top front wheel drive
hot metro could have that
have been and they had the motor there. They had
this. It all I'm sure it all plugs and plays
to some I think general
effect. I like it.
However,
I don't you would
the things you would have to do that chassis
to make it not be utter dog shit.
Yeah. Well, it starts with like
sway bars. It starts with, you know,
chassis bracing. It could be done.
But but then you would lose the very
important like vinyl
flap pass through.
True. This is true. But could you imagine
if that thing had like a high revving
100 horsepower plan? It would be sick. Yeah.
It would be dope. What a blast that car
would be. So I
want to start off weird. I think I still
would be I wonder if anyone's done that swap
probably not because that's not a rational thing to do.
But that doesn't mean anything.
I think it'd be so fun, dude.
I think that's like that car with
that. I mean, you could have done a metro
version of the Swift because the Swift
was so rare. Like if you wanted
that car even back in the day, they were pretty hard to get.
Yeah. So I think they could have made
a Swift variant like we could have
called it like the I actually put that down the
Geo Metro GSI because
there was never technically a variant of that. That would
be cool if they did make a hot
Metro, which we didn't get.
Yeah. No, it's it's interesting
that you say that
because I had a different Geo product
on my list.
And shoot, I was
going to start with something different, but I guess
I'll just jump right into it
is
first off, yeah, I agree.
I still think a chassis
would shit its pants
specifically in the convertible
because it's maybe
single-handedly, like just
the worst
chassis feel of any vehicle I've ever driven.
So bad, dude.
Which is a shame because
like my
like my Sprint Turbo, that chassis
actually okay because it doesn't weigh anything.
It has a roof. Yeah.
Although you get it above like 75 miles
an hour in the tops of the doors flap
because it's like not meant to go that fast. They flutter
it open and shut.
It's a feature. But what I was thinking was
we never got a truly
hot storm.
No, we didn't.
There was what, you had the GSI
which was good for like 10 extra horsepower compared to the
base car. Yeah, like a Buck 40, right?
Yeah, instead of like a Buck 30.
The base impulse 1.6 naturally
aspirated motor.
Yeah, but there was an impulse RS
while we were driving the Turbo.
And that was good for
1.6
0. Yeah, 1.6 on the dot.
Yeah.
Which is funny because it's not that much more.
But
that
could have been, would it have saved
GEO? No.
But it would have been cool.
It would have been really cool.
Would you have left it front-wheel drive or put an all-wheel drive
system for the RS in there?
I think the all-wheel drive system
is how they would have
sold it because that's like the hotness.
Yep.
Me as a current 40-something-year-old
shipbox connoisseur,
I think if they kept the impulse
the all-wheel drive version and
the storm, the front-wheel drive
only. Keep the cost down.
Yeah, keep the cost down a little bit and I think
it potentially would be more fun.
Oh, yeah. Do one-wheel peel all day, baby.
Yeah. Or even just, you don't get
the all-wheel drive but you get an LSD.
Okay, that's...
Like how sick would that be? That would be a
good call there. Yeah.
What if it lines up against a metro
GSI though? That'd be a...
Drop top in the one. Oh, shit.
You know what, every time I think
of the GeoStorm, do you ever remember
it's like a 20-year-old
pre-viral
viral video
of there was a GeoStorm
stuck in a snow bank
and a dude goes to pull...
He just hooks the chain up to
the tow hitch
around the rear
bumper bar or something like that
under the bumper cover and he goes
and it just pulls
the whole rear end off the car.
Just like he tears it off.
Yeah, classic. Anytime I think
of a GeoStorm, I think of that one caught in a storm.
I like the storm. I agree.
We should have got a hard one. God, talk about a car.
Everyone I see
for sale and they're not
runners and drivers, right? They say they run
but they've been parked for
X amount of years.
They're never cleaned, dude. They're always
fucked. They're always fucked.
Do you remember that storm wagon I said you
not tell long ago? Let's go wagon.
Do the sport bag all-wheel drive with that motor.
Now we're cooking.
I wonder if you can swap those
hatches over
from... Well, no, they made
a JDM version.
I was thinking if you got an impulse
and you swap the backs over, can you make
an impulse RS and swap the back
out? Swap the hatches out. I don't know.
It's probably more to it than that.
Yeah, I think the wheelbase was longer on the R.
Yeah, I think on the GeoWagon it was longer
wheelbase too. It's something
which is kind of... It's funny.
Why did they do that? It's funny a couple weeks ago
the week after we recorded with Doug
he sent me a text message of
a photo of him
in his coontage
driving the coontage and taking
a picture of a super clean GeoStorm.
He's like, I'm the
idiot in a coontage lusting over this
GeoStorm and it was
a teal super
clean. It was so
dope.
What's rarer? Coontashes that
are streetable right now
or geometras?
Metros or storms.
Sorry, storms. Which one's rarer?
On the road being driven.
I would say the coontash
is the more common vehicle.
Or the Asuna Sunfire?
Yeah, same. We'll go with all the variants.
Good question.
I bet you there are more
coontages
but
I bet you
many, many, many of those coontages
that are
on the road, you put 10 miles
on it and it falls apart because it's like a museum piece
that never gets moved.
It gets to operating temp and all the
fluid just boils out.
It just exsanguates itself.
Yeah, no.
I think the storm has gotten insanely rare.
I still want to scoop one. I think they look cool.
Do I want an Impulse RS? Absolutely.
I've already given up on that dream, dude.
Man.
I have my shot.
Anything else on your list?
This one, I know we're talking
we're in bullshit land.
We reside full time in bullshit land.
This one is something
they could have done and
I think they should have done
the Nissan Versa
SCR Spec-V.
Yeah, you talking that same
I'm talking that same 2.5L.
Yep, drop the 2.5L
right from Nissan's famous for doing this.
Take the big motor, put it in a smaller car,
put the 2.5L, put the 6-speed manual,
put the Spec-V
or the Spec-V
suspension in there, in the Versa
the small little hatchback version
and just label it in SCR Spec-V.
I think first off
the Versa didn't have a sport variant
at all, which is crazy for a car.
You got a 6-speed though.
You had me at that, never mind.
Never got a sport variant, which is crazy
because Nissan was pretty famous
for always having some version of a sports
or a more performance focused
one of their models
and this one, the Versa
which sold a ton of units
when it came out was insanely popular.
I also had the
title of cheapest car for sale in the
United States for the longest time
until the Mitsubishi Mirage fucking knocked it down
a step or two.
But what we have here is a mass market hatchback
that never had a sport variant, Nissan
a company that could easily put a high revving
power plant or even drop the old SCR engine.
I doubt it was probably cafe standards
they couldn't run the old SR20
but I think you dropped that
2.5, that 6-speed in a car
that weighs at least 400 pounds lighter
could have been pretty cool
and the price point.
I like the thought
although what I like
I like building the same thing
out of slightly different ingredients
and by that I mean
instead of that first gen
Versa
and using like the hatch
the sedans are really ugly
but
doing
slightly newer and taking the Versa
note
the smaller one, the more roundy one
that kind of supplanted
the standard Versa hatch for a little bit
and then you take
the
motor and transmission
out of the
the turbo juke
like the Juke Nismo
and you put that in a Versa note
that also works
like a lighter
smaller, shorter
kind of juke
not a Juke R
the RS
that is cool
I would get behind that
I do like, I think like
with the hot hatch theme I wanted to stick with that
high revving naturally aspirated power plant
and I think that
original Versa, I think they
a lot of buyers didn't buy it
like young buyers because they want something kind of sporty
and at that time, like we're talking
what, 2005, 2006
time period, there were lots of really cool
offerings for like enthusiast focused cars
like the WRX was totally affordable
in the mid 20s
I think a Versa SCR spec V would have been
like actually something
yeah, I mean I could see that
it really could have been a contender
it's funny because a lot of the stuff
I've thought about have been
like
just a spicy version of a shipbox
to make the spicy shipbox
like the aforementioned
Focus SVT behind me
but
the one that actually got me
the one I was going to start with
is
what actually got me on this whole thought exercise
which is I saw a
a Hyundai
Venue the other day
and I was like
because they got rid of the Kona N
and they have the Elantra N which is a much
bigger, longer
traditional sedan thing compared to a Venue
which is like a little
upright, four door
it's probably the most modern equivalent
we have to like the Scion XB Nissan Cube
yeah, yeah for sure
which they should have made hot hatches
with the hot bearings of those
it's a great call right there
got a super cube
imagine like a power cube
what did tell you to have it that time though
2ZZ or something
yeah, you could have done 2ZZ
that would have been kind of cool
that would have been actually really cool
because they didn't have any spicy planets during that run
when that XB came out
because then what took place
yeah, not really
unless you go like
was the 2GR
the V6
the 3.5 V6 which would be insane
the RAV4 all wheel drive was like the fastest
Toyota for like 10 years
have you looked at the prices of those?
you can get an all wheel drive RAV4
that fastest Toyota for a decade
for like, you can get unlimited with that
same setup, it's kind of cool
but it's like they're going for like 8 grand
yeah, like that's a whole shit load of Toyota
you could say you're the fastest Toyota for a decade
you could brag
yeah man, just got a lotus motor in it bro
that thing cooks though, those are fucking
properly quick
yeah, they're not bad
but what I was going to say is
you just do a venue in
oh, okay
and so
you just take that same 6 speed manual
or DCT
and you just pull the power frame right out of the launcher
and you put it in the venue
I like that
you make it available in that
powder your nose blue
I don't know what they call it, Sonic blue
or whatever it is
with the red pinstriping bits
and stuff like that
that would be just a riot
that would be cool
I'm surprised that Kona N died so quickly
yeah, what, 2 years I think?
2-3 years I think?
DCT only which is kind of a bummer
I'm curious what the production numbers
I still want one but I'm curious
what the production numbers on them are
probably pretty low right?
shoot
what was that Mercedes wagon, the R63
that had super low production numbers too
yeah, I think like 300 and something
I always dream about scoring one of those things
man
I've known some people that have had them
I know a guy
who's got one here in the bay, it's a silver one
and
it's one of those cars where it's
maybe the coolest
modern AMG car ever
just because of what it is
for sure
but I bet you it's one of those things where after a while
it probably gets kind of boring
I bet you get kind of over it
I mean it does offer the functionality
of a minivan but it also has
a muscle car motor effectively
so it's kind of this weird balance
where it's not really practical but it's super practical
perfect for us
for our mindsets
I always wanted that eggplant purple
put some bronze wheels on
eggplant emoji
that would look real good
they are nice looking
that was one that
nobody should have made
but they did
that's like the
that is kind of like the thesis
for this whole exercise we're doing right now
that's the target
nailed it, nailed it Mercedes Benz from the factory
next one I want to do dude
is they actually built
a prototype of this truck
and late 80's
early 90's sports trucks
everywhere such a cool like movement
I'm still really they're still popular today
like people love buying these vintage sports trucks
the Ford Ranger SHO
I don't know if you ever looked at that
prototype but 89
the year the Taurus SHO the first model year
that three liter Yamaha high revving motor
they dropped it into a Ranger
they put the five speed they didn't use the Mazda
five speed they used one from a Mustang GT
and a bunch of other running gear
rear wheel drive only lowered down body cladding
you know the things I get excited about Frank
basically is what I'm saying
they made one it was killer they never made another one
sort of a bitch
although they made multiple SHO guns but
they did but I think that the Ranger
SHO
if they would have found a way to like
and they were using existing parts I know
I think Roush was involved with that so
they could have mainlined it a little bit more for Ford production
like downplayed some of that stuff
like the bespoke parts but
I think that could have been a mass produced
little sport truck that would have caught on
especially if they kept the price point low because those
Rangers at that time were very affordable
dropped that SHO engine it's not like the Taurus SHO
was like a fucking
expensive luxury car right that was still an affordable
car so those power plants were available
I think God do with a five speed
manual and that little truck
and a SHO motor that just
there's so much coolness about that I don't know
I think they yes
and they could have the excuse of like well
you know GM's
stealing our lunch with
you know the Cyclone
right and the
454
454 SS
which are insane right now man
I saw one so like
small aside I went I was going by a shop
and I saw one sitting out there like really rough
and I'm like I'm just going to
ask because I think
one of those would be killer I'd love to have that on my
my list and they're like no that's
it's fully the paint is all oxidized
but he popped the motor it's a fully built
they put like 40k into it I'm like
I noticed the tires
coming up he's like yeah no it's not just for
show those this thing rips
I'm like okay now I'm going to ask then
yeah I'm like what do you think it would go for he's like no
he wouldn't sell it for less than 60 I'm like I'm out
yeah you can't you can't find those
you can literally not find those so
to what a killer sleeper to have
the oxidized black paint and but
fucking just oh so much
power now imagine
your your example
you talked about the show ranger you know
what it was also based on the ranger platform
or the master
are oh okay the four
that same setup and an arrow brutal
so sick
show revenue that the show show star
I don't know you call it I like that arrow
show good stuff
dude yeah so
here's one that's a little bit
different than I was I was thinking about
they
we never
got I mean you can kind of
say it's kind of hot to begin with but I wanted
a hotter one
the first generation
Lexus IS
yeah yeah if
we got now I'm not saying we
we
and we could have and but
I'm not saying we should have had a
you know
to 2JZ
GTE
twin turbo
super motor one that would be sick and that
outside of the United States
sure I think
yeah I think I don't know I think I don't know
I know you get the 3
the IS
200 yeah but
you're talking like the Altezza the Altezza came
with like yeah I don't think they had turbo
motors but I think there are four cylinder
turbos I don't know if they had a v6
turbo in that yeah or any six sorry that
would have been in line
yeah I don't think it was in like the
the chaser and the sore and some of the other
stuff but they did have a turbo for
I remember that and it was spicier than
the crown athlete yeah
yeah
and the NA4 was the
you get the six speed
with the is the 3
the 3S GTE
yeah it's a little screamer
yeah
but
I think if we got
because at the time
we was you know it was supposed to be the 3
series fighter
sort of was
but
if you get like if you get one
I like those cars a lot
they drive really well and if you get if you
get one with a manual
it does an ok
E36 M3
the 3 impression
it's not quite as
spicy it's not quite as it's a
little bit more sluggish
but it's still it's still a tossable car yeah
but if we got a hot like a properly hotter one
and by the way but when when that car when
we finally really got that car the E36
M3 was on its way out and we were now in E46
country yeah none none which never
had a sedan
in state side so if you had the
this as a sedan with
with a hotter motor maybe yeah maybe
you just do the
the twin the turbo motor
now you've got
something you're really kind of cementing
imagine if like like Lex's
today has kind of like
you know stuck their
their flag in the dirt
as far as like having performance shops
with all the f branded stuff
but if they started that in like
2000 imagine
imagine what that would go for today though
a clean example yeah
on be like super money right be
just shy of super money
yeah and who knows I mean like
yeah like it's just
really really really I don't want to say
missed opportunity because that was a very successful car
for Lex's yeah and
you know but you know one can dream
that's what we're doing here today and that would be
that would be something that I wish it existed
it's a funny it's a funny situation
dude that if that came from
the factory with a 2JZ twin turbo
setup it would be worth
a fucking fortune today
if you go and buy an IS 300
and swap it at 2JZ it's worth
less than an IS 300 manual
yeah it's just a fucking weird
world we live in but those swaps are pretty
rough like it's a pretty rough ordeal
to shoot yeah people wouldn't be people do
clean ones and you can yeah it's
huge it's a huge ordeal but yeah
already getting a manual one there's already a huge
markup tax on the manual
version because they are pretty rare you know but
they're spending like 15 for
an okay high mileage one
yeah and there be and you're hoping
it's not a welded diff side show
special right sometimes so
dude I have a pretty
good one here the
Subaru Brats now
Subaru Brats the early ones you could get a turbo
but almost all of them are 1.8
naturally aspirated especially at the end of the run
at the end of that run also
Subaru did and I know this is
in the I'm speaking in the States guys
unfortunately we didn't get a lot
of turbo Subaru fun stuff right we didn't get
like the the WX's or anything
like that but we did get a legacy turbo
with a 2.2 sealed deck right
so what I would do is take that
EG EJ 22T
and I would swap that with the 5 speed
into a brat and call it the Subaru Brats
GT and I think
fuck that would have been fun
because that's like 160 horsepower
a bunch of torque all-wheel drive
5 speed manual
turbo dude I think that would have been a
cure little ute
it's funny because it's kind of what
you fast forward
in Subaru
you go to like 2004-2005
that's what Subaru was doing
yeah we've got our four sir let's throw
turbo in it hey we've got a Baja
we've got this weird truck that shouldn't exist
let's put the turbo motor in it
we've got
the sedan we've got the wagon throw the turbo
motor in it
100%
and so they kind of eventually did that
they said hey let's just
make all of our shit hot shit
and it's a shame they don't do that anymore
now everything is CVT
and like maybe has
the turbo motor in it but now a turbo motor
is almost mandatory
for in the marketplace
yep
yeah I mean that
that would have been rad
imagine that with like the
suicide jump seats yeah and with the subtle
legacy hood scoop you know it just
god it could have looked so good
all-wheel drive turbo man I think would have
ripped that would be cool
tangent
forward bringing back the ute
you hear that yeah yeah I'm
excited I'm excited if it happens
I mean do the hell knows it might not I mean
I'm really if we're jumping into news
aside Nissan
Nissan really listening to us
I love it yeah
XTERRA coming back yeah could be
could be kind of wild two different pathfinders
a unibody and a body unframed pathfinder
offering I don't know
that seems foolish but what who am I
it's Nissan what do you mean
you seem you seem
it's not big foolish well fair
um yeah
but it would be stupid weird out there
it would be stupid let's go Nissan let's
fucking they're listening man well yeah I mean that's
what I said not to do that but to like
take some fucking swings
they're swinging baby good
good they don't have a choice backs up
against the ropes you just got a hundred percent
you either turtle and go away and do
what Mitsubishi's done for the last decade
or you start swinging brutal
I finally I have been seeing
I don't know what the fuck we're on this
side land let's just jump all the way in bro
eclipse cross I
I went the longest time without seeing any
and I saw like three different ones in the
past like a couple weeks today dude
yeah I saw what I was
like that's not an unattractive
vehicle and I was like what is wrong
with me it's like when I sent you that
out yeah I sent you an outlander like a really clean
out yeah yeah yeah shit outlander
I was like really pumped because the interior
was like leather and mint like
the car the body was clean which yeah you
don't see that right you don't see that all
and you're like you know I was like
Frank feel me on this
dude it's a clean outlander
god they're homely that's a homely car
you know what I was thinking of what
you just said it my friend
if they if they took
the Ford
4G63 the Evo Lander
the Evo Lander they built
I know but I want a factory
factory maybe
maybe this is what you do you go front
wheel drive only so you just have front
wheel drive only but the motor
that way you're not that way you're not
stepping on the toe yeah like a GST
and you're not stepping on the dick and balls of the Evo
uh
well the rally art stepped on their
balls a little bit and then you're like no no no
throw in the DCT gearbox that spreads
itself in 40,000 miles yes
unfortunately because this rally art those
rally art sport wagons were fucking dope dude
yeah until
they self-immolated yeah you got a manual
swap that yeah
but no yeah like the out outlander
hot outlander would be cool man
I thought that one was so cool but yeah I know
brat GT I'm putting
my fist out that was my favorite one I got
all the cars we named I I would
fucking rock a brat a clean brat GT
yes I'm on now yes brat
XT
yes into it
oh the only way and
I'm mostly rooting for it just
because I'm picturing all the different
variation on like the turbo graphics and
shit the graphics packages
on like all the all the things you know
oh yeah dude they would have overdone it it would have
been fucking great and they would have put a little
cladding on there too it would have been nice
subtle but sweet yeah hell yeah
we got anything else
you got anything that's any honorable mentions
that's all I got baby
a quick shout out
quick shout out to a
scion TC
a hot TC that we should have gotten but never
did
didn't have anything they didn't have anything I want
to say because that was what I think like
the two AR
FE motor and I want to say you could
there was
the Corolla motor right like a dealer
yeah the uh no
the Corolla motor was the was
a one ZZ
it was it was the same
four cylinder in the Camry so it was a
two four oh right right right right and
it was just fine it was like 150 horsepower
it was yeah but what what did
Toyota have at the time that was spicy it's
two ZZ right like at the same time
yeah two ZZ but like
they did make a
I think like a dealer add-on
that nobody ordered that were you
I think there was a TRD supercharger
for those yes that's correct
and they should have just had it just like
an app a full extra like
sub-bottle and it just came
and shit and it wasn't a dealer add-on because
then nobody buys it nobody just goes like
oh let me check this whatever it was
eighty three hundred dollar box at the dealer
and the dealer marks it up and they fuck up
the install and like nobody wants to do dealer add-on
shit yeah no not at all but if it was
a supercharged sub-bottle
you know they probably would have sold ten thousand or something over the
over the run yeah dude the TC
man that first time
I thought it looked pretty good pretty not a bad looking
vehicle that second gen is not good looking
the rear end treatment on the second gen is
fucking fugly bro
it's fine no the first
nearly so much not nearly as
bad as the fall off between first gen XB
and second gen XB
correct a hundred percent how about
first gen well I just lost my trade
the first gen
yeah XB is a big one
fuck ass I just
the first gen fuck ass to the second gen
fuck ass no but there's there's been a couple
situations where first gens have become
the better looking one once the second
gen comes up and I do stand by that
was that a topic we did once
no I know we did did we do a facelift one
no I think we did do we have a soft
more soft more greatest soft more slumps
yeah yeah yeah we're the first one
is is is
the second one just soaks
yeah I don't know
there's been a few instances that
is the boha better than the brat
I don't know
now it's so weird it's a legacy lifted
legacy wagon with the wagon part cut off
it's all it is yeah I mean
it's a legacy wagon outback
performant but
yeah I don't know
that's all we got is that it shall we
shall we get quizzical
let's get quizzical
quizzical
I'm ready to fucking
get my salad tossed
in a very physical way
hey what was the last because I stumped you last time
if I remember correctly I got you with the old
the old 318ti
oh that's right you completely
suplexed my I did not expect
to stump you on that but I'll take what I know
I it's like
I thought it was like a Volkswagen product or
something like I completely forgot about its existence
that's what I'm out for blood I'll hit Frank
with a Volkswagen product quiz but yeah I'll
you pull something nasty
your no retaliation policy
bullshit I'll go ahead
describe the game this is if you haven't
figured it out yet the automotive print ad
quiz game show Frank is going to read up
some kind of he read a physical
magazine last time which was cool but this time
probably something off the interwebs it's a
car ad from the 80s 90s to mid
2000s he's going to read it omitting
anything that gives it away I have three guesses
and ten minutes to figure out what he's
yammering on about that means if I get
stuck I can ask for help it doesn't ever
work like that he makes it worse for me
it's miserable we got ten minutes of pain
together let's just buckle up
and let's do this Frank roll that
beautiful bean footage
and yammering on I will
mostly because it's a really odd
format in this particular ad
it's a one page ad
okay and it's all in
it's almost all just straight words there's
there are two images of the vehicle one at
the bottom above the manufacturer logo
just like a profile one really small
and then another one with it in some
sort of like race livery
for some reason and like with like
obviously added on fake motion blur
behind it oh
and then it's and then the rest of it is just
text of like
like monologue
of the driver in this
vehicle and it's in big
font and then it gets smaller as it
goes and it gets really small by the end
so if I have a hard time reading it at the very
end
it's a weird ad okay yeah yeah yeah
quote
big rigs block in the fast lane
on 73 we've got a standstill
to the outer loop
love those traffic reports
great
I'm at the outer loop
on my way to the office
preferably before my boss shows up
we move two feet
at least my legs aren't cramped
my blank has amazing leg room
more than Mercedes 300
ooh there's an opening
ease off the clutch
and go
another 10 no 15 feet
this car is a pocket
rocket if only
I had an open road ahead
Saturday
I'll take Ellie out to that country
place for breakfast
with no traffic
at least
I'm not burning gas like crazy
the blanks the gas miser
okay
clear in the left lane
put the hammer down now
damn I just cut in front
of my boss
the blank 16
valves dual overhead cams
and 100 horses waiting
to run sorry that it's getting
really small now
they all add up
to one of the best power to weight
ratios in its class
and that means just getting up
to the speed limit is pure driving excitement
for a nearest blank dealership
call 1-800-BA-BA-BA-BA-BA
28 city
35 miles per gallon
and it says it is
$9,599
that is the strange
add my friend
16 valve
16 valve 100 horsepower
16 valve dual overhead cams
and 100 horses
waiting to run
no displacement
no replacement for displacement
zero spec data to work with here
great story
eventually he did pass his boss
he said let out the clutch and go
so that gives you something
some manually equipped
100
on the dot
dual overhead cam
fuel miser
28 city 35 highway
in the SAE
probably took half of that away
when someone actually looked at it
this is tough this is not a lot to work with
no door count
no drive pattern
front rear
all 100 horsepower
100 horsepower
no red lines
no handling
no dual overhead
it did say
I think you read that
you said it
I think I put it in your head
yeah
100 horsepower
100 horses waiting to run
add to the best
power to weight ratio in its class
whatever that class is
it does not say whether it is
does not have a cylinder count
I mean
you can do the math with the valves
kind of
Mazda would like to talk
dude
what has 100 ponies
dual overhead cam
I need displacement
best power to weight ratio in its class
fuel economies
are actually pretty good sounding
like mid 30's back then
you said it's a fuel miser
the language is
late 80's
early 90's would be my guess
there is not a lot of technical lingo to be
I usually base my age
appropriateness
yeah it is
bro
the front seats have more
legroom than a Mercedes 300
that was a weird
fucking comparison
it's a weird fucking comparison
300 what
I don't know
not the diesel wagon
like a 300 s
300 sd
is it a 300 sl
that's not a lot
yeah this is tricky
that was a weird
comparison
I can't think of anything
is it
Volkswagen
what Volkswagen could we be talking about
this isn't
it's not like a
shirako
how about this
can I zoom in
oh I can zoom in
because there was an asterisk
manufacturer report tax
title license dealer set on price
EPA estimated MPG
how about I give you the tagline
for the manufacturer
maybe probably
every little bit helps
everyday vehicles that aren't
I feel like this is
I feel like it's Volkswagen
but
taking a fucking shot at Mercedes
what about pissing in the
the big year and all
fuck bro
I kind of want to say BMW
but I have nothing that fits that bill for
dual overhead camp in my head
16 valve 100 horsepower motor
Volkswagen sure
right but I thought the 16
valves had more than 100 ponies
fuck are we talking
about a
we're talking about a rabbit
they made kind of a spicy rabbit didn't they
famously
yes some call it the
GTI
is this no I can't
can it be no I can't maybe you can
let's do it let's do
yeah let's do like the original here in the states
it was only in the states it was called the rabbit
correct so let's go
I hope you're reading an American ad this time
rabbit GTI final answer
this is 1986
this is not
Volkswagen
rabbit GTI
and
it's not a Volkswagen Volkswagen
I don't believe ever had their tagline
of everyday vehicles that aren't
it's the people's vehicle right
well they probably
had something angry and Nazi
in German in like 1943
we that all got burnt
yeah yeah yeah a lot of
numbers are made up out of coming out of Germany at that time
of the
everything
no it's in fact I will
tell you it is not from a European
manufacturer
you can eliminate that from your
from your
roll it X
no that slims it down to the other cars
no I don't have any fucking idea
so we're still at 100 horsepower
to overhead can
16 valve
why the fuck did they put a 300
Mercedes in there I don't know
just trying to tell you how roomy the front seats are
that's all
in an absolute zero zero ways
would it ever even be remotely considered competition
for
any Mercedes product
there's just not enough
to work with here dude
the fact that it the fact that it is
and probably actually
is
has the best power to weight ratio in its class
will give you kind of a judge of its size because
yeah it's small it's a small
small vehicle that's why that's why I went to
rabbit GTI right
is it a different GTI
no that wouldn't make sense
or would it
is it a 1.3
doesn't say I don't know
the ad doesn't tell me
God it's so weird
the only because I know
they're right there it's a dual overhead cam
it is a 16 valve motor
oh bro why would they do that
why would they compare to the Mercedes okay how about a
there's no way there's space in the front but whatever
Suzuki Swift
GTI later called
the GT because Volkswagen
threatened them do you have a year
1987
final answer
it is a
Suzuki Swift GT
91
okay so I don't think it existed in 87
87 would have been the car that used to be behind me
that would have still been that generation 89
then was the first the GTI
yeah and then I think
and then 90 I got
1991 they cut off yeah they
de-eyed it if you will
yes ultimately
yeah I was in the right stratosphere
well I mean you talked about
you effectively talked about this car to lead
I already had the ad picked out
hey let's talk about the Swift GT
and it has 100 horsepower
and like and I'm just like
the Mercedes comparison
has no fucking right
no right
that was the red herring of the sentry
and car I did send the ad though
to click on there
and yeah it's um
it's something but I can't
oh
oh that livery is sick
I know I've never seen it before
the yellow and red what series would that
no idea
SCCA I don't know
some NASA like
um uh what do you call it
privateer can I say
I would love to recreate that livery
if I had one
can I say this and can I use this as a
segue right into right in the PCP
yeah I would I'd love that
is
I
I want one of these cars
so so so so so badly
one of these Swift GTs
I'm right there with you I've been looking for years
I know and I have but like
casually I'm to the point where like
if a good one showed up on
you know bring a trailer cars and bids
uh
you know j-date I don't know some
some auction website yep
I would consider overpaying
for one now overpaying
overpay and I know I don't overpay for
cars but I would consider overpaying
for one and now overpaying is like
$8,500 but like
yeah like you don't you don't want
the one that's 5k right now that's on
fucking marketplace with a ton of
laughing faces emojis attached to the
yeah yeah no it's it's
there's a reason why it ain't going anywhere because it's hurt
yeah I almost
would say I almost flew to LA like on
two different occasions for different ones for that were
for sale down there yeah I've
also I bought this in the I mark
rs uh Suzu
are two cars that just like
you said I'd be willing to pay top dollar for a
sorted one um do I want
to nurse one back to health you bet
you bet dude because I think yeah if you can
find one with good bones but none of them
are they're all they're fucked up they're
shat on like parts just like
out of regular ones thrown
in or parts out of just
just a bunch of like ebay
shit like the impossible like oh I
threw away the factory air box
or I you know oh I
toss the seats and and now it's just got some
like metro seats you know
Corvo yeah like
garbage seats in it or just like so many
of them are ruined but what really
like so just
I don't know an hour before we started recording here
I and this is how I'm
parlaying this into my PCP
is I finally put that you
can see the empty box behind me over here
I put that fucking um replacement
mount
transmission mount yeah I had
I still have stuck on the tape to the
box I taped the receipt to the box so I wouldn't
lease the receipt in case I needed to return it
right it was like November
November 18th or something
is how long I've had that part ready to
install and I just been busy or lazy or both
so I put it in
and so I took the old one out
and I sat it next to the new one
because the old one which
is
it's over there somewhere um
this is how I keep my garage organized
I see that
um the
the rubber wasn't that bad
and I was skeptical
but I sat it next to the new one
and the new one's like
half an inch
like longer
like bolt hole to bolt hole half an inch
to three quarters of an inch longer
and I was like well
shit that's disconcerting
yeah that's something
but my thought was like well maybe that's
good because if it's longer the way it works is
actually picking it up it's pushing
it up more it's like pulling it off the subframe
a little bit more uh-huh
and so maybe that's actually gonna help
maybe that's like part of the problem is like
because all these mounts are aftermarket
dude yeah there's no OEM mounts
for these kind of cars
and so
I'm replacing
a worn
and just poorly made aftermarket
part with a not worn
slightly better made aftermarket
part maybe this can fix
my vibration under full throttle
especially while turning problem
so I put it in
and I just took it out for a drive and I've driven this car
well since November
that's wild to think
I love this stupid
car so much
I have no right to hang on to it
I don't I don't I just
I drove it the first time since November
and so I can't
its existence is preventing me from like
playing with other dumb cars
and I prioritize
my curation of
shit boxes more
than me keeping a car that I drive once
every six months once a quarter
uh-huh
but like out of all cars
that I've ever owned right just get in
and I with like
almost I have every time I drive it
I'm like I'm gonna have no expectations I know
it's gonna be fun and then I
I tip into the throttle and drive and I
immediately am having fun
this car is
like absolute
top of the heap
and and
for all reasons like it's
it's silly it's possible
it's you can feel how insanely light
it is you know how
it's stupid slash insane
slash hilarious you look while
driving it sure especially
like spiritedly
and I love it so much
I'm gonna be sad when it's gone
it has to happen but part of
me is like well
if I'm going to okay I'm gonna sell it
gonna move it on down the road to what
end to that
end is like well I got I got a level
up I gotta get the Swift GT
like that's the next
iteration that's like the next generation
it is the sprint turbo Evo
yeah but this this car
so and I will say this stupid
mount that I put in it absolutely made a
difference huge and VH is still garbage
because it is what it is it's a three
cylinder 80s shit box
but like
a lot of the like the jarring
vibration that's like oh like something
is kind of broken here most of that
is now gone damn which
is good which is great this
this damn car I know you've driven it
you've driven it in anger it's so good it's so fun
it's so silly I love it so much
it's so dangerous but yet so fun
but I made progress on it and now
it's it's not in here it's in a car
cover in my driveway until I can get
it down to San Diego for Doug to play with
yeah and now I'm going
to be working on this thing and that's that's a story for a different day but
living that living that hot hatch
life dude I know
I'm like I'm not missing you
like no hot hatch is to like
that's what you've been living in
hot hatch world I know it's a good
it's such a good place to be my it's a great
place to be such a good place to be
what have you been doing dude
we didn't even talk about our progress before
that film in this episode and recording
this episode but it's it complete
parallel so back to the
the geotracker which is another
like driving that thing
around nothing but thumbs up
the thing looks so good it's so fun it's
like literally a lift in myata so I had
this really nasty vibration remember
and I took the time belt off I did the ignition
timing I did everything was perfect so
I'm like something's wrong because you
text me like oh I got a new daily I'm like what
you're like tracker yeah and I was like sick
I didn't even it's funny I didn't even think
to ask you like oh does that mean you
unfucked it and so please tell me
I'm I don't know why I didn't ask you
same fixes you so
the motor mounts are probably one of the
hardest jobs doing the tracker sidekicks
you have to take so much they so they
put the motor mounts in bolted the motor
to the chassis then they put on these supporting
brackets for accessories and everything so
every time you change a motor mount you have to take the engine
apart the bottom half of it support it
yeah pain in the dick you can the bad
thing is you can see them you can look down
the engine bay and see them like oh this is a 10-minute
motor mount job no dude it's like
six hours but when you I did
I did so I did the driver one originally
and it resolves some of it
and I'm like ah fuck I don't want to do the
other two let me make sure I didn't fuck up somewhere else
then I got down to like I need to replace
the other two dude the passenger one
literally disintegrated when I took it apart
there's your problem I can push
my thumbs through it I'm like that's no good then
the trans mount on the manual trans side
also gone
so I'm like okay moment of truth
after getting it all back together my hands are still
beat up I crank it over
the smoothest
butter fucking idol dude and like
that's what I was going to say like makes you want to try
the immediate the immediate difference
and everybody else is like sitting
in it and like this feels like a fucking piece of shit 90s car
I'm like no it's that you don't know
because before dude
when you had the hood up it used to jump
on the hood prop rod that's how much
vibration so I'm talking like
it's like the hood
levels of difference and I have been driving it
daily since
and Frank your argument for a fun daily
maybe something not like reliable
or like smart not functional
or yeah it's been so
good it's been so I mean it does
get 30 plus miles per gallon
unlike the your your little sprint
turbo which has sporty aspirations the
Geo tracker 8 valve rear wheel drive manual
has zero sporting
it's going aspirations it's about it
oh good though Frank it's so
it goes highway speeds just
fine it takes a while to get there
I love how that's our like
lying in the sand bro it can handle
the highway it can do
70 it's
it's such a peach dude
and like nothing but smiles
when you're going by and someone's like what the fuck
is that like when's the last time you started and it's clean
like this one is super it is
super clean you've done a good job on it
and oh it's this is like peach
this like when we had like
again circling back to when we had
dug on and like we were just like ringing
the bell of like
these like fun approachable
cars and how they're kind of not on the
market anymore I was out of a handful
of notable exceptions
and this stuff like I just
I just was singing about
how much fun
and giggly this stupid sprint turbo I had
I took it out was and was having fun
it was like approachable and tossable
and like everything is like even the manual steering
because the tires are so skinny
are light and communicative
and it's very eager and everything
and I had more fun
in that
compared to
earlier in my day today
I drove
aggressively
for video production stuff
a 198911 Targa
with 80,000 original miles on it
not on original
right 80,000 miles
roll back
a 1989
Carrera 30,000 miles
perfect cars
fantastic
and a 1988
Ferrari 328 GTS
are all of those cars faster and more special
yes did I have a lot more fun
and to have a bigger smile
on my face driving the sprint turbo
also yes
and that like
they don't
have the razzle dazzle that
is gonna say it's a different razzle dazzle
it is it's like
but the tracker like I don't get in the tracker and like
smoke the tires and have fun it's fucking
it's just it
that eight valve rear wheel drive is literally
a lifted Miata like you can't not
smile and the same with the sprint these cars
have zero oh the sprint
will burn those last elegance
so let me tell you dude let me tell you
I got I think I have what I think I might
have tiger paws on the
you know
baby but they're nice they're good
they're good ones buddy it's not like 20 year date code
ones but the new white top the white wheels
it just has the look I want and it's
the driving characteristics like you said
that tracker probably weighs
sub 2500 let's be honest
because it's oh yeah yeah yeah so it's
just like wild but you still are in a
lifted position so it's like your sensory
override like I'm just like what
am I driving and I look back in the rear
plastic is like I can go
boop boop and touch the rear
it's like careful it's load bearing
it is don't open the flap you get a whole
bunch of body flex but just
like in my son Teddy just fucking we're
just giggle the whole time we're in that thing because it's
so comical the sprint is kind of
the same that's like diminutive nature it's like
the two cars that will never
ever ever be reproduced
right no and it's
it's reproduced in either
uh ooh
I I mean for sure more people
have been
fucking trackers oh yeah yeah
you can take the top off that's fair yeah
or just like
I just imagine it's
1994
and
you know
you got your best girl you take her to
the beach and your tracker
you've had a couple of beverages
drunk driving is effectively legal
still oh yeah
and and yeah like there's
there's um that's good
god now I'm trying to think of like how many like 32
year olds I know right now that
we're conceived
in 94 on a tracker those
trackers dude like when I step
into and out of like when I'm going to like
lean to one side my mirror touches the ground
there's so much like it's so
easy to move that vehicle around but yeah same
same thing our PCP lined up brilliantly
but it's like I'm having like
the time of my life like I'm so excited to drive
it to work and I have a I have a very
comically easy 15 minute
sure second secondary road commute
but it's just it's absolutely
a peach it's just
it's like you know I miss
I you know I miss having like a reliable
daily but at the same time this thing is so much
fun it's just like it's brilliant well you have
to you'll have to talk about the other half
of that equation next week I suppose 100%
100% my friends
because you've already spilled the beans to me about
that update but we haven't really
talked about it I just I just know the status
that daily driver status
yep yep
yeah yeah and and and I haven't told
you this I actually had a dream last night
involving you and your
daily driver
your ex-daily driver I should say
well we'll tease it for next week though
oh I like that these are the teases
you get on another
pointless automotive podcast you got anything
else or is that it
no I'm gonna shut it down
we did we did it we did a
thing thanks guys for listening in as always
we appreciate it check us on youtube
if you haven't yet subscribed
running free subscriptions again until the end of the month
that's it though we're gonna cut
it off after that my friend that's right
paywall is coming up well we do have a
paywall that's on
Patreon my friend yeah Patreon
APA pod check us out guys
we do do special
late night coverage how to I whispered
confidential so
confidential yeah that's it
confidential so check
that out guys special content there is
youtube video we are behind though we do
need to get blacked out again drinking
terrible I have a hard mountain
do did I tease it
I'll tease it for Nick I'll tease it next week I have
it I found
that we're gonna drink for the next
time if it's homemade moonshine
and I go blind again I'm gonna be very
very upset Frank no joke it is
homemade
okay
yeah we'll unveil that next week
and then you get to drink it and go blind
yes review the pod that helps us a lot
like leave some feedback comments
anything comments on the youtube we
really do appreciate it instagram we're on there too
check us personally auto
obscure garage just doing some more
tracker content finished up the Volvo
content check it out rescues reviews
restorations you know the drill
possibly a new Lexus
video series starting soon that'll be really fun
I'm actually super excited about
yes Frank we're the working the good folks
follow your world-class photography
that's at the photographers
garage but mostly just
find us here or again patreon.com
slash APA pod remember kids
if we get
5000 paid patreon subscribers
then we get to guilt
trip dug into smoking DMT
with us have you ever smoked DMT
ah
who's asking
me
I
not just putting a lead
so um
if you want to see us just
I don't know just whatever I'm rambling good to see
you thanks for tagging along
drink more fast and furious themed beers
and
don't die
yeah just continue take it easy
we love you we'll see you next week
bye guys
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