“Air-cooled” means the engine is cooled mainly by air moving over it, not by coolant flowing through the engine. The “air-cooled 911” is an older Porsche 911 style that many people consider its own era.
A Porsche 911 is a famous sports car with an engine in the back. The host is talking about an older, air-cooled version of it—basically a different era of 911 than the modern water-cooled ones.
The Wrangler is Jeep’s most famous off-road SUV. The host is comparing it to a more luxury-oriented Jeep to talk about what people expect from “off-road” vehicles.
The Grand Wagoneer is a big Jeep SUV that’s more about comfort and luxury than serious off-roading. The host is using it to make a point about how people judge what counts as a “real” off-road choice.
“Shit boxes” is slang for cars that aren’t very nice or impressive—usually cheap or kind of rough. The speaker is saying they grew up with that kind of car, and that’s part of why they’re drawn to the more interesting versions.
“Shipbox variants” is a joking way to talk about ordinary, everyday cars that look kind of boring, but have a more exciting version. The point here is that the speaker likes the familiar base car, especially when it’s been turned into something a bit more fun.
The Toyota Celica GTS is a sporty version of the Celica from the 1980s. Here it’s mentioned because it’s the kind of car the speaker grew up around—more interesting than a basic commuter, but still part of that older “regular car” world.
This is a Honda Accord from 1979, and the host says it was a hatchback with a manual transmission. A manual is the kind where you shift gears yourself, and a hatchback is the body style with the rear door that lifts up.
The Barracuda is a classic muscle car made by Plymouth. Muscle cars are older performance cars that were built to be fast and exciting. The podcast brings it up as a car the speaker has wanted for a long time.
The Cadillac El Dorado is a classic American luxury car. The host is using it as an example of the kind of older, bold car an “automotive hipster” might choose.
The BMW E30 is a specific older BMW 3 Series generation. People like it because it’s a classic enthusiast car with lots of parts and a strong following.
The Volvo 240 is an older Volvo model known for being tough and long-lasting. Here it’s mentioned as the kind of vintage car an “automotive hipster” might pick because it’s different from the usual choices.
The Mini Cooper is a small car made by Mini. It’s designed to be fun and easy to drive because it’s compact. The podcast mentions it as part of a group of classic cars they consider worth talking about.
The Grand Cherokee is a larger Jeep SUV meant for both everyday driving and light off-road use. It’s built to carry people comfortably while still being capable on rougher roads. In the podcast, it’s mentioned as another older SUV people might recognize.
Term
countercourses
“Countercourses” refers to subcultures or alternative lifestyles that push back against mainstream norms. In the episode, it’s used to describe different communities that form around certain car choices.
The Edge is a Ford SUV that’s built for everyday driving. It’s designed to be practical and comfortable rather than extreme off-road or sports-car focused. The podcast mentions it while joking about what kinds of cars people choose.
Term
Fugazi
Fugazi is a band name the hosts use as a metaphor. They’re basically asking whether being a “car hipster” means you have to be an insider who knows the deep stuff.
Term
shoegaze
Shoegaze is a music genre, referenced here to make a cultural analogy about car taste. The host jokes that a “car hipster” with a Volvo 240 would fit the shoegaze vibe, linking music subculture to car subculture.
The Sunfire GT manual is a relatively normal, lesser-known car—but the speaker loves it because it’s a manual. They’re contrasting it with a supercar to make a point about what “cool” means.
The Sunfire is a Pontiac compact car. Some versions were offered with a more performance-focused setup, like the Sunfire GT. The podcast mentions a mint-condition manual example as something you might see at a car show.
The J2000 is an older Pontiac compact car. It’s not a model most people talk about every day, so it shows up in the podcast as a niche favorite. The speaker is basically describing it as something fans get excited to share.
A Corvette is a sports car made by Chevrolet. The podcast is specifically talking about the C6 generation and whether someone would drive or own one. It’s brought up as a serious option for a performance car enthusiast.
A “lumpy cam” is a performance engine part that makes the engine sound and idle more rough, instead of smooth. People do it for the driving feel and sound.
Microfiber is a synthetic fabric commonly used for car detailing because it’s soft and can lift dirt without scratching as easily as rougher materials. The hosts bring it up to mock the idea of a “hipster” who cares about aesthetics and presentation.
Rotten Tomatoes is a website that summarizes movie reviews and ratings. They’re using it as a joke about people who judge what’s “cool” based on ratings.
The Acura NSX is a sports car with the engine in the middle of the car, and it’s famous for being a real driver’s car. People talk about it because it feels special and capable, not just flashy.
The Nissan 300 ZX is a classic Japanese sports car that’s more about cruising and style than being a track-only machine. Enthusiasts like it because it’s fun to drive and has a big aftermarket.
The Toyota Land Cruiser 200 series is a big, tough SUV that’s built to last and handle rough roads. It’s the kind of car people buy for real use, not just to look cool.
The Eagle Summit is an older compact car. The podcast mentions it as a more unusual model that some people might be into. It’s mainly used as an example of a niche car choice.
Car
Dodge Barracuda
The Dodge Barracuda is a famous old-school American muscle car. It’s known for being loud, powerful, and very popular with collectors.
A “slant six” is an older style of straight-six engine where the engine is tilted in the car. It’s a specific engine layout you’ll hear about on some classic American cars.
Term
pseudo homologation cars
“Homologation” is the process of meeting rules that require a manufacturer to build a certain number of road cars so a race version can compete. “Pseudo homologation cars” are road cars that are marketed like they’re built for racing rules, but aren’t truly the same as genuine race-bred homologation specials.
The BMW E30 M3 is a famous older BMW that people love for its driving feel and racing background. Here, the hosts are saying it’s too well-known and respected to be “hipster.”
The Nissan 240SX S13 is an older Nissan sports car that a lot of people modify, especially for drifting. They’re describing it as cool and pointing out it can be made “special” with the right changes.
The SVX is an older Subaru coupe. It’s a more unusual model that’s known for its distinctive look and comfortable driving. The podcast brings it up as an example of a car that might be considered cool.
A “five-speed swap” is when someone changes the car so it has a manual 5-speed transmission instead of whatever it came with. They’re saying that kind of change can make a car feel much more special.
The Alfa Romeo 164 is an older Alfa Romeo sedan from the 1990s. They’re using it as an example of a less-obvious Alfa that could appeal to enthusiasts.
The Fiat Spider is an older-style sports car with an open-top design. It’s meant for fun driving when the weather is good. The podcast is talking about whether an older Spider would count as a cool choice.
Car
Alfa Romeo 124
The Alfa Romeo 124 is an older Alfa model. The hosts are tossing it out as a possible “hipster” choice, but not fully committing.
The Saab 9000 Aero is a sportier, turbocharged version of the Saab 9000. The hosts mention it as a quirky, less-common car that some people might pick for “ironic” or hipster reasons.
This is a Chevrolet Cruze with a diesel engine, a manual gearbox, and a hatchback body. The hosts say it’s rare enough that prices are high, and they think it would be a really cool car to own.
Diesel is a type of engine that runs by compressing air so the fuel ignites from heat, not from spark plugs. The hosts mention it because diesel + manual hatchbacks are a less common, more niche choice.
“TDI” is a Volkswagen name for a diesel engine that injects fuel directly and uses a turbo. A “Cup edition” is a special version of that car, and the hosts are saying it’s the kind of rare trim that feels extra niche.
Car
Mercedes-Benz 240D
The Mercedes-Benz 240D is an older Mercedes diesel car. It’s known for being a bit old-school and durable, which is why people sometimes call it a “hipster” pick.
The Toyota GR86 is a fun, lightweight sports car. In this conversation it’s brought up as a popular “cool” choice, which is part of the hipster-vs-mainstream debate.
The Subaru BRZ is a small sports car that’s meant to be fun to drive. Here it’s mentioned because people debate what’s “cool” versus what’s just popular or expensive.
Rear wheel drive means the back wheels get the engine’s power. That can make the car feel different when you accelerate and steer compared to cars where the front wheels do the work.
A “hipster car” is an enthusiast label for a vehicle chosen more for its niche, image, or counter-mainstream appeal than for straightforward performance or practicality. In the episode, they’re debating whether good cars can still be “hipster” if they’re picked for the right reasons.
The Fiat Panda is a small Italian car that’s usually known for being simple and practical. Here, it’s mentioned as a “boxy” example before they talk about another Fiat.
The Fiat 500X is a small crossover—kind of like a mini SUV. They mention it to compare what they’ve seen in the real world versus the low price they’re throwing around.
The Nissan Cube is a compact car famous for its boxy, retro-inspired styling and upright cabin. Here, the hosts explicitly rule it out while trying to identify the “boxy” five-door they’re discussing.
The Scion XB is a Toyota-made hatchback with a very boxy, upright shape. Here, the hosts are using it as a clue for what kind of car they’re talking about.
The Protegé is a car model made by Mazda. In the podcast, they say the Spectra 5 is essentially the same vehicle under a different name. The point is that the car can look different depending on branding, but it can be closely related.
Car
Mazda protege five
The Mazda Protegé is a compact car Mazda sold in different versions. Here, the hosts are basically saying it’s closely related to another car name, so it’s not as “different” as it sounds.
Badge engineering is when two car brands sell basically the same car, but with different logos and small styling tweaks. The idea is to reuse the same car design instead of building something new.
“US market” just means cars that are sold in the United States. The point here is that the brand stopped selling that kind of car in the U.S., which makes it less familiar.
The Honda Fit is a small hatchback that’s popular for being roomy for its size. In this conversation, it’s brought up because the answer they’re guessing is definitely not a Fit.
The Suzuki SX-4 is a small Suzuki model that people might confuse with other Suzuki compacts. The hosts mention it as a guess, then say the correct car isn’t the SX-4.
The Suzuki Reno is a compact Suzuki that was sold in the U.S. The hosts are basically playing a guessing game and land on “Reno” as the correct model name.
“Rebadged” means the same car gets sold with a different badge/logo on it. The hosts are saying the brand name might be different, but the underlying car could be the same.
The Kia Rondo is a name that comes up briefly in the podcast. They’re basically saying they might be mixing it up with something else or that the model name isn’t correct. It’s a quick clarification moment rather than a deep car discussion.
The Sportage is a compact SUV made by Kia. It’s designed for everyday driving with extra space compared to a sedan. The podcast is basically clarifying the name while talking about the model.
The XTerra is an SUV from Nissan that’s designed to handle rougher roads and outdoor use. It’s more off-road-oriented than many regular family SUVs. In the podcast, they’re talking about the car and its name.
The check engine light is a warning that the car’s computer found a problem. It doesn’t always mean something is broken right away, but it’s a sign you should investigate.
A knock sensor listens for bad combustion noises inside the engine. If it detects knock, the car’s computer can adjust timing to help protect the engine.
A supercharger forces extra air into the engine. More air can mean more power, but it also makes the engine more sensitive to tuning and sensor readings.
A wiring harness is the car’s main set of wires that connects sensors to the computer. If the knock sensor isn’t connected correctly to that wiring, the computer may not read it properly.
The intake manifold is where the air travels on its way into the engine cylinders. If wires are connected to it the wrong way, the car can get confused about sensor signals.
Boost is the extra air pressure produced by a forced-induction system (like a supercharger or turbo) to push more air into the engine. More air generally allows more fuel to be burned, which increases power—but it also raises the risk of knock, so the ECU manages boost based on sensor feedback.
OBD2 is the car’s built-in computer diagnostics. If it detects a problem—like knock being detected or a sensor acting weird—it can turn on the check engine light and save codes for a mechanic to read.
A “supercharged” engine uses a device that forces extra air into the engine. That usually helps it make more power, but it also means the engine needs to be managed carefully to stay safe.
An “inspection” means taking a close look to figure out what’s really going on. If the engine is knocking, you usually want someone to check the parts and sensors so you don’t keep driving with a problem.
Accessory belts are the belts that run things like the alternator and other systems. If one is damaged, the car can start acting up because those systems aren’t getting proper drive.
That airbag light is the car telling you there’s a problem with the safety system for the airbags. If it’s flashing, you should treat it as serious because the airbags might not work the way they’re supposed to.
This is a simple ignition on/off routine the host uses to clear the warning light. It’s basically a way to “reset” the car’s electronics after something like disconnecting the battery.
When you disconnect the battery, the car loses power and may “forget” certain stored information. After you reconnect it, warning lights can come on or change until the car rechecks the system.
That light means the car’s traction control system is having a problem or isn’t working right. Traction control helps prevent wheel spin, so when the light is on, the car may limit performance to stay stable.
Drive modes are different settings you can choose that change how the car drives. They can affect things like how sensitive the gas pedal feels and how the car manages traction.
Dealers sometimes use special diagnostic tools that regular scan tools can’t do. Those tools can be required for certain resets or more detailed troubleshooting.
LIVE
In a world with entirely too many shows about cars, this is another pointless automotive
podcast Frank, how you doing this evening, man? Oh, wow. Um, fine. I'm good. Good. Nothing,
nothing, nothing crazy, nothing infected cleared up. Yeah. A parasite
is not technically an infection. Remember that. Okay. Um, okay. We'll work with that. Yeah. So
guys, this is a, this is an especially heartfelt episode where the guys become introspective. No,
honestly, Frank asked me this question and I'm like, I hope the fuck we're not. Are we gonna find
out at the end of the day? Are we just car hipsters? We might be. We might be hips.
insufferable. Oh, hipster. Just, just in denial, car hipsters. Are we? We might be car hipsters.
Closeted, closeted car hipsters. We're gonna, we're gonna peel back the layers of this. Our car
hipsters, they're not closeted. They're garaged. Oh, that's, this is true. There it is.
Whoop. There it is. First gut reaction is no, but let's, like you said, let's deep dive. Let's,
again, let's just put it all out there, baby. Frank? Looking right at you. Yeah. Are you a car
I'm not sure that I can actually truly define what a car hipster is. It's, it's like, what was it?
The Supreme Court? Like, I can't tell you the definition of pornography, but I can tell,
but I can show it to you. Yeah, but I can, I can produce it. No, like, I can't define it,
but I know it when I see it, right? Okay. And what's interesting is,
like, I don't, I don't drive around and like, look at mirrors. I mean, I review, but like,
I hope so. Please do. What I'm saying is like, it's hard for me to like, see, like, myself and how,
how I'm interacting in the car world from an outsider perspective. But then like, sometimes,
like, I'll go, you know, maybe you go to a cars and coffee or maybe you, you know, maybe you're
discussing with somebody about cars at a cars and coffee or what's not there or what you don't want
to see there, whatever. And then you start looking around and like, you know, not that we're like,
of the gatekeeping type, but like, no, we'll be in, maybe we'll be in circles and like,
I'll quietly be like, Oh, it's one of those cars or it's one of those. Oh, it's just another one
of that. And like, that makes me think like, am I, is the shit that I'm into car wise? Let me be
clear. Let me be clear. No king shaming. No, no king shaming. The, I don't know, like, am I actually
just into like, Oh, I want this thing because it's different. And it's, and it's, I don't want the,
I don't want the air cooled 911. And I want the whatever, like, look how like different and quirky
I like, that's kind of hipster shit. And I'm kind of into different stuff. And we talk about
different stuff than usual. And, and, and stuff that's kind of not mainstream.
And a lot of that feels to me like maybe it's like, Oh, I was into that like independent band
before they were cool. But now that they're like side to a major record label, I'm not into it
anymore. I'm into this other thing. You know, like, maybe, maybe we're car hipsters. I don't know.
I don't know. Look, look, resounding no on this one. Because you know, how do you know? Because
let's flesh it out. Okay, let's flesh light it out car car hipster. Another is the genie in the lamp.
The way he looks at me my third time asking him to crank my hog today for me. No, so I think a car
hipster thing would be avoiding popular cars. And do I do that? I'm speaking first. Okay, guys,
we me and Frank very tight intimately. Oh, yeah. Oh, boy. And I end on the podcast. But, but we are
two different guys. So I'm going to answer for myself. Yes, after they cut us apart, not like
we had adult circumcisions. It was fantastic. Yeah. So do we avoid popular cars? Do I avoid
popular cars? Absolutely not. And we have said it. We've talked about this on the podcast before,
Frank, is you're like, am I Corvette guy? Or am I Camaro guy or whatever? And I'm like, I'm good
car guy. And I'm shit car guy. But yeah, I don't avoid a popular car. You know, I don't need the
car to distinguish me. I can get in like a, you know, SS to Camaro and enjoy it. I can get in a
Corvette. I have a Corvette. It's a kind of weird Corvette. And I love it. But you know what I'm
saying? Like, I think car hipster, no, I don't, I don't want to be seen like a car hipster would
die with a daily Toyota Corolla. They couldn't do that. And their sports car couldn't be a Corvette
and they couldn't have like a Jeep as their off-roader, right? Like car hipsters. I think it
depends. I think if that, that Jeep is a Grand Wagoneer, okay, if it's a four door, never
goes off road. Yes. If it's a four door, like Wrangler, you know, base model, I don't know,
Wrangler is hipster. I don't think Wrangler is hipster. No, no, I'm saying a hipster wouldn't do
those things. They wouldn't have the Corolla because it's too mainstream. It's too much of a
common, a common herd vehicle. Neither of us have a Corolla. We don't. Fuck, Frank. But here's the
thing though. But honestly, I don't, I never turn a car away because I'm like, it's fucking, there's
so many of them or whatever. I've driven some like popular cars before, but I mean, do I like weird
stuff? And in here, I'm going to defend my weird stuff for a second here. Yes. Says the guy with
the YouTube channel Auto Obscure Garage. But anyway, so look, look, man, I do favor, my personal
taste in cars is the performance or weird variants of shit boxes. Sure. It's a product. And I did a
deep dive when you presented this topic like a couple of hours before we recorded, but I did do
a dive did. And I was like, why do I like the cars I like? And I kind of answered this before
and I talked about on the channel before is I grew up with shit boxes. I think it's a combination
of the socioeconomic environment I grew up in. We had nothing good. Everything was a piece of
shit. But to know there's kind of spicy variants of the piece of shit. It's that familiar. It's
the familiarity. Yeah. To everyone. The automotive ring sting. Yeah. Taco Bell for sure. But it's
I gravitate towards that comfort space. And to me, it's like shipbox variants. And
I honestly think that's it. I think that's what my attraction is to these cars. Reliving the path,
like equal parts reliving the past, but stepping it up and being like,
fuck you, mom and dad. I got the escort GT. Yeah, right. I got the, you know,
you made it when you say that to your parents. I got the Corsica GTZ or whatever. Right with the
six, not that little 22 but I had the two. I suck, dude. Yeah, man. That's me personally.
How about you, man? What do you got to say about yourself?
I like the things you like, Frank. I think there's a lot of reasons why I like the things I like.
I mean, growing up, my car, my parents had
shipbox adjacent stuff, a different flavor of shipbox, right? Like
my mom had her 82 Celica GTS, which was a nice car. It was 82 and she had it until 97.
Okay. And so that was all of my childhood. And then my dad had a 79 Accord hatch manual windows,
the works, and he had that until he got totaled when my younger brother was like five. So I was
nine. Okay. And then got replaced with a deeply used Grand Caravan, like a 93 Grand Caravan,
X budget rental car. So I don't know, but I'm into, I'm into old Accords. I'm into,
I went through a big old Toyota phase. Yep. So that plays a role, but certainly it was very
different than the Barracuda. And I've always wanted stuff that was different. And like, that's,
I guess that's the question. It's like, why do I want something different? It's because I want to,
do I want to be, do I quietly secretly the automotive hipster? Yeah. Or is it just like,
I want to tinker with shit that just is different and unique and is just not the mainstream?
Maybe. And is that a hipster thought? Certainly to some degree. But I don't,
I don't, you know what? Hold on. Let's, should we, I'm going to, should we Google? I'm going to,
hold on, on. Yeah. Look at the AI. Google AI. Yep. Okay. Not cat hipster. Car hipsters.
Can you, can you actually send me the cat hipster photos you came up with? Yes. Okay. Hold on.
Car hipsters typically embrace irony, nostalgia and sustainability, often driving older,
boxy or distinct, distinctively uncool vehicles that have become ironically fashionable.
Top choices include. Okay. So this is Google AI is giving us. This is going to be damning.
What do you think? Okay. What do you think would be the number one
top choice according to Google AI for an automotive hipster? I want to see something big,
shitty American, like a Cadillac, like an El Dorado or something. No, that's not here.
Okay. So we're not going in the direction. It says include vintage Volvo 240s,
classic BMW E30s, Mini Coupers, the fuck out of you and vintage VW buses. Prioritize
their unique style, repairability and street wise swagger. No. This is German 2002 and E30s are
popular Jeep Grand Wagoneers and old school Mercedes-Benz diesel station wagons. I think that
tracks. Yeah, that does. That tracks. But it's weird because like the premise of a hipster,
correct me if I'm wrong on that interpretation, but hipsters are like a counterculture movement,
right? So it's like there's a sense of irony in the things they do or the things they enjoy.
So the fact that it's like a reliable platform, like some of the E30, 100% a reliable proven 40.
A brick tank that will last us all. That is pretty, I would say like sob 900 is also in there too.
It's like different kind of countercourses. But these are cars we like. They're great cars.
But yeah, we are full towered in E30. Deservedly so. It was a good looking one.
It was good. And it was a gold over beige sedan, which is maybe peak hipster E30.
It kind of is. Other than a wagon. Yeah, wagons definitely edge lords it out in hipsterism.
I don't know, man. Good cars, good cars. Yeah, I don't know.
And this is again, this is Google AI, which is like fallible, infallible, of course,
of course, and can do no wrong. So the thing is to like none of those are rare.
Like those are pretty well at the time in period. I mean, very, very, very common. Like
Volvo wagons were a pretty common staple across the 80s. And
I guess a Volkswagen stuff for sure. But the thing with me though is I do like the weird
variants. I like the exclusivity, but it comes with zero cloud. Like if I tell someone I have
a Mitsubishi Glopvia before they go, oh, like car people, like you have to be a little deep,
like a little deeper, even a car person to know, but a normal person.
And they look at it, they're like, that's like, maybe, maybe that's part of this equation.
Right. Maybe to be a quote unquote car hipster, do does that require a certain amount of a
Fugazi for lack of a better way to turn it? Like, are they by definition also
a poser? Oh, I thought you were referring to the the band with like Ian from Minor Threat that he
started. Oh, no, no, no, no. And not shoe gaze. Shoegaze is a different thing. Although I feel
like a car hipster with a Volvo 240 would absolutely be in the shoe gaze. Yeah. And they
listen to Fugazi. Yes. Or Fugazi. But no, like is is is a is a car hipster by definition,
like not a real enthusiast because they're, oh, like they're doing it just for that. The
image they're doing it just for that. Maybe they only and yeah, and like maybe they have the,
you know, they have the the Volvo 240, but they don't know anything about it. They just get it
because it's interesting. I don't know. Maybe and maybe that's a great point. Maybe that's me
being like doubling down on being an automotive hipster, because now I'm gatekeeping is like,
oh, you're not a real enthusiast. You have the you have the E30 sedan and you don't know if it's an
Edda or Oh, right. I was just gonna say, you're like, you're like, get the fuck out of here. Yeah.
Yeah. Edda is hipster. Like, no, like, I don't, I feel like gatekeeping has a fuck your RPMs,
bro. I'm a hipster. Exactly. I want to redline it at 4,000 RPM. But no, like,
like, I feel like part of hips, like, I feel like there is an element of gatekeeping in within
Oh, yeah. But so it can't be mainstream. And I think it is really counterculture, right? Like
everything they do is like a direct, like resistance to what's culturally norms, you know,
in cars. So it's kind of, I guess, driving an old car today is kind of a counterculture move,
right? Because it's expected we all have electric pieces of shit that all look the same.
Right. Maybe sedans and wagons in general, which we're fans of, dude, hipsters, bro,
we're not, gonna go further. So I do, I do appreciate like super stock examples
of nondescript cars too, which kind of probably isn't hipster. So my example I like to give is, and
this is, this is, there's no fake in a teammate. This is how I, my brain is, if you were to hook
me up and judge my like endorphins and everything, I'd go to a car show and there's a stock
Sunfire GT manual and mint condition parked next to a Lamborghini Aventador. I am pouring over
that Sunfire GT and you can measure any of my biometric feedbacks and no lies. That's the car
is tripped, trembling off the charts, sir. His anal leakage is far more than usual,
which is already red alert, red alert. It's self lubricating, sir. Yeah. Why is he eating? It's
like it's eating sour candy again. It's just, I don't know, but like I will, I will, it's like
whistling. I just will look at that Sunfire GT, Frank, and you know I will and I'll be like,
oh my God, it's a manual. And then I'll be like, I need to find the owner and buy it, right? So like,
but like that's, is that, is passing over a Lamborghini Aventador for a mint
Sunfire GT? Is that hipster? So here's the counterculture, I think, but that's, but that's why
I put in there the biometric feedback. I think a hipster would be like, oh, that Lamborghini is so
space age and cute. And they're like, oh, I'm supposed to like this thing. It's old. I don't know
what it is. It's a party act. They don't exist anymore. I don't know. I don't have to think
like that. I legitimately would gravitate towards that car and love it. And I think that's the
differentiator, right? It's the, it's the biometric response. We've solved it. Dude,
you know, I was going to take the scientific route here, but like, let's be honest though.
Dilating, sir. No matter what, my anus is currently doing. I'm going to like the cars I like,
but seriously, you're going to like, I can't hide it. It's not, it's not like premeditated
that I like showed that car. I will literally be line right to that,
that sun. I don't know why I picked Sunfire GT. I like them, but uh,
Oh, it's funny. I was, I was just texting a homie a couple of nights ago about Sunfire GTs.
And no, I'm not, I was not cheating on you. Other people, other people text me about
ship boxes as well. I'm, I'm, and I'm sure this is probably the same case for you. Like our podcast
is the safe space. Like I get to be like the automotive safe space for people that like would
text me like, Oh my God, dude, I saw the sickest, whatever, Pontiac J 2000 or whatever.
So I, you know, I get that a lot. I saw a Polestar one today, which was interesting.
Anyways, yeah, those are weird. I saw one the other day too. Really? It's the same one. Yeah.
What color was yours? This like gray, non-descript kind of grayish color. Oh,
interesting. Mine was, mine was like a pearl white. Oh, okay. Yeah. Multiple Polestar ones rolling
around. It would, it would make sense in this region. Maybe that's a hipster car. I don't know.
But like, I don't, I don't know. I'm torn. I'd like to think, think
the answers no, and I truly do think the answers no, but like,
Yeah, but watch this. What are some other cars? Would you drive a C6 Corvette?
Sure. Would you own a C6 Corvette?
Yeah. Because of its dynamics. Yes. You'd be Corvette guy.
That's the problem. I don't want to be Corvette guy. I don't, I wouldn't even say, I would be like, okay.
Yeah. Well, I mean, for me it depends.
Is it just like a bone stock white manual Corvette? Yes. I would, I would take that and I would own
that unabashedly. Okay. Sure about that. Is it red with a lumpy cam and
locally hated? Blackout wheels. Yeah, locally. Like, you know what I mean? Like,
Yeah, yeah, yeah. The illest. I don't, I don't know. If it's that shaded all the lights, you can't say.
And again, is that, that hipster? If I care, if I give a damn about how the car looks,
is that inherently hipster? I think that's inherently not hipster. Like a hipster wouldn't
care about their aesthetics of their car, right? They're like, ah, fuck it. I should probably watch
this. No, they clearly do. Just kidding. They, but they don't show it, right? Like you'd never
see a hipster fucking with a microfiber, including their car. They would just. A hipster would never
own a Corvette because of the aesthetics. Yeah. And it's a Corvette, right? Yeah. Right. But also
like, but they would own the Volvo 240 because of shape like a brick. Because you've seen,
John Carpenter's the thing. I don't know why I ask you about this. You fucking suck.
It's like one of the best sci-fi horror movies over time. Okay.
And like, I caught myself while I asked you. Anyway, what, they test it because it can mimic
any human. So they're doing this blood test and my Corvette question to you was the blood test
from the thing, essentially. I wanted to see and watch your body start. Yeah. Can you, can you
watch good movies? You got, are you, are you so hipster? You're like, you looking up on Rotten
Tomatoes? You're like, anything above 75 is not, that's not playing. Yeah. No, it's got to be absolute
bottom, bottom. Yeah. If it were these theaters, I'm not getting into that fucking basic shit.
Yeah. Yeah. But seriously, that's a tough one, dude. How about,
I feel like auto, a true automotive hipster would pass over owning a well-reviewed more
mainstream car. Even if it's a sports car with high accolades, and for that reason alone,
they wouldn't want to own it because it doesn't fit their, whatever their typecast, their image.
For example, I've owned, I own a lot of shit boxes. I will own up to that. I currently own a
bunch of weird shit boxes, but I've also owned stupid stuff like an Acura NSX, 300 ZX. Yeah.
Two to 100 series Land Cruiser. Sure. Unhips. Those are unhips, sir.
46M3, great vehicles. Every one of those fucking vehicles is a great, is a great vehicle, like
objectively, not a hipster in the world wants to own one of those vehicles.
Now I'm trying to think of some other cars that you and I have individually owned and
trying to figure out, like, is it hipster? Oh, fuck, here we go. You know,
Eagle Summit. Yeah. Sabaru. It is. It is. But it's, it's, that's a weird one. Is it?
That's, it's like, it's like, I think driving a stock. When it was new, I don't think it was
hipster. I think it was, it was yimby. Not yimby, sorry. Fucking yuppie. Okay.
Okay. Yeah. Not yimby. Is that your, is that your safe word? Yeah. Yeah. Yes, in my backyard.
No, the, um, uh, yeah, it's shaped. The, um, the, prove it. Other, yeah. Instinct goatsy,
like, how'd you guys get kicked off of well everything? It's only a matter of time.
Yeah. Speaking of vasodily, um, wait, I'm the only, am I the only one that does,
like, several poppers in preparation for a recording the podcast? The fact that I know
what a popper is. Yeah. Yeah, you know, whatever. Um, it's a good choice for whatever.
What other, what other, um, you know, right? Focus. Probably not. No. That's 2000. No.
Barracuda. No. I don't think so. Not in the way it is now. If it was a slant six and I just
put it around town and it had like, you know, uh, wheel covers on it and had some rust holes that
they didn't care about. And then maybe, um, are you trying to identify potential hipster cars
that we both owned? Yeah. You got, you got me. Glotvr4 is
interesting, but it's, I wouldn't say it's hipster. No, it's too, it's too obscure. It's too. Yeah.
It surpasses, um, yeah. Any, any pseudo homologation cars are, uh, although here's a, here's an
exercise for you. Someone drives a well-maintained stock 2002 bug IWX. That's not hipster.
Probably no. I don't think that's empty. It's, it's, now will it be in 20 years maybe? Yeah. Or
would it just be like a classic car? I don't know. Um, yeah. No, that was too, that was,
that car was been, I feel like if it was certainly cool when it came out,
it can, it kind of can't be hipster. That's a good, like E30M3 cannot be hipster.
No. E30 sedan could be hipster. Yeah. E30, a state, like a touring. Absolutely. Yeah. Turbo
Hipster. It has to be, I think it has to be sort of a nerdy, lame car when new.
Okay. That then gets a second lease on life down the road. You know, first gen Lexus LS.
I don't know. Maybe. No, because would a hipster ever drive a sideshow car?
Ah, maybe, I don't know. No, but if it's stock, not if it's like hella flush. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Yeah. If it's popular when new, you said a hipster. So, no, like, yeah, if it's popular,
if it's cool, when new, if it was ever, it can't be, it can't be. How about because it's cool now,
in the sense of stock 350Z would never be a hipster car. Correct. But God, I want one. Sure.
240SX, S13. It was, I would say it was cool. I would say an SVX might qualify.
Oh, come on. Don't ruin it. God, I want to clean one of those. Yeah, find them.
Yeah. Yeah, find them. But you know, auto only and they were kind of portly.
Dude, still cool. The cool outweighs that. But it's real. Yeah, sure. It's like a five-speed swap
away from being really special. What's the most hipster supercar or exotic? Oh, I don't think they
have them. A hipster wouldn't have an exotic. You know what it is? You know what it is? Hot take.
Air-cooled 911. Air-cooled 911. Oh, okay. Okay. Air-cooled 911 is the hipster exotic. How about
something like an Alfa? They made a lot of them. Old Alfa? They were a dentist's car for a long time.
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Depends on the Alfa. Automatic, whatever. If it's like a 164.
Auto, yeah. Sedan, yeah. You know, if it's like an old Spider, maybe. If it's an 80s,
if it's like an 80s, you know, 124 graduate, maybe. 60s? No, I think 60s Alphas are too,
just too classic car. Yeah. Yeah.
Yeah. The Saab 9000 Aero is, I think, that's a bubble car. Mm-hmm. Because it's hipster,
but it's like a regular 9000 as a hipster car, certainly. Sure. Yeah. Yeah. Like a CS or whatever.
CSE. Definitely not a vegan. No. Did they make a 9000 vegan? No, I'm saying like the
vegan in general. They wouldn't gravitate towards that performance variant. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
850. convertible or coupe. 850. 850R, definitely not. But yeah, but what if, what if it's
850 Auto? If you add the R. R. R. Yeah, this is tricky. I still think it comes down to the choice.
Like a hipster makes this like a decision, right? To like a car or not like a car.
I think they're doing it just like, oh, that's a piece of shit. Like a hipster would be driving
a Kia Sophia or something. No, they wouldn't. It's for the sake of irony. That's a car. I don't
know if it's possible to keep on the road anymore, but yeah, I get what you think. For the sake of
irony, right? Like a Dodge. I kind of want to get a Dodge star. God damn it, I'm a hipster.
Because they're unmitigated piles of shit. It's yourself 4x4 wagon.
I think it's both hipster and cool. And does that make me a hipster?
So here's another weird one. If I get a Chevy Cruze diesel hatchback manual,
which is a car I would love to own. Have you seen the prices of those?
Maybe those in a hatch? Yes. Oh, okay. So a Chevy Cruze from the same period,
let's say 2018. Yeah.
3,000, 4,000 R vehicle. The diesel hatchback manual, 17 grand.
Sure. Well, it's the only one that's still on the road because the racer cruises.
The transmission doesn't fail. The engine doesn't fail. I want one.
Good luck. Dude, how cool would that be though? I mean,
What were those motors out of?
I think they had in a lot of the European cars because that was a global engine.
I mean, honestly, any car that's diesel and manual kind of by definition is hipster.
TDI Cup edition? It might be the coolest. Yeah, very obscure.
Hipster car. Like a 240D is like peak hipster. How about a Jetta Sportwagon manual?
Yeah, hipster. Yeah, fuck it's cool. You're just saying cool cars are hipster right now,
by the way. No, I don't know. think there needs to be more counterculture in it.
Yeah, the redeeming qualities of a Jetta TDI. Absolutely. Fuel economy kind of.
Club hugs failing all the time. Yeah, sure, whatever. Smog.
Fuck smog, right? That's a statement. Yeah, killing kids in your neighborhood via
whatever. Decidedly non-hipster. Potentially. But fuck them kids.
I don't know. Is it tough? I do tend to think that we aren't.
No, automotive hipsters. We aren't car hipsters. But like, I don't know.
React. We need your comments. If we wrote for Jalopnik, we'd be hipsters, right?
Isn't that the discerning factor right there? If you've ever considered yourself
an automotive journalist yet never went to journalism school, never took any sort of...
Yeah, might be a hipster. I don't know, man. I kind of feel like it's going to boil down to
an automotive hipster's really just going to push back. If something is objectively
across the board good, like a good car, fun, exciting, all that, they would naturally have
push. I don't want that. I have my 240 automatic over here, right? I think that's part of the
equation. I think we need to look at that part of it. I think that's a huge component.
Because I think a lot of the times when we, because we'll do that, we'll like, hey, here's
this cool car and we'll push against it. But simply because it's like, hey, here's a cool car that
costs like a metric fuck ton of money. Well, there you go. Here's another way to have the
dollar store edition of the whatever or to not to cheap out and have a similar experience.
And so I don't... I think price point's a fair ground to push back on. I do. How about something
like a BRZ or a GR86? No, those have always been cool. Right. But like, what's a hipster gonna...
The price points... No, an XB. Easy. Don't drive the automatic second-gen switcher atrocious.
But you'd push back on a GR86 as a hipster because it's hard because you can't say,
oh, the price is prohibitive. It's a barrier of entry. It's not. It's affordable sports car,
rear wheel drive, manual, lightweight, fun to drive. Right. So the reason that wouldn't
be a hipster car is because it's good. It's good across the board. There's nothing you can stand
on. You're just gonna always say, I don't want it. Maybe. I think there's... I don't know.
I would want one. I think they're fun. great, too. Yeah. At the same time,
like, you might go in and go out and spend a bunch of money on one, a bunch of money,
if they're not that expensive. We're gonna go spend some amount of money on one,
or we're gonna go like, oh, instead I can have five ship boxes. An X2000 and whatever,
and a bunch of hard mountain dew. Maybe. Honestly, probably more likely. Does that make
me a hipster? I don't know. I don't think so. And it's... And I do think there is
a certain amount of... To your point, I do think there's a certain amount of gatekeeping,
where it's not only like, oh, I don't want that. It's also like, I don't want that. And I think you...
I think less of you for wanting that. Oh, yeah. No, there's definitely that. I do think there's
some gatekeeping there. And I don't know. I think in their heart... Because we're gatekeeping the
gatekeepers. Yeah, in their heart of hearts, they don't like what they have. They hate the cars,
they're forced to drive because they won't drive the good cars. I think that's part of it.
Isn't that like one-on-one hipster? You have to like... Yeah, so back to the shooting.
Yeah, listening to, I don't know, what's like a really bad hipster band? Oh, God. I don't even know.
Fish? No. Oh, jam band? Yeah. I just don't understand fish. No, who does? Fishheads.
I don't know. Yeah, they do. I don't know, man. I don't know how to cut this one. I do think,
I think we hit some of the... Guys, comment. If you're listening right now, comment on some
absolutely... G-Botting 9-11. Is it hipster? Yeah, examples of hipster cars and what makes
a hipster car a hipster car. I want to hear some like... It doesn't even have to be a cohesive
argument. Just put words down below and we'll look at it because I'm kind of curious. We might be
missing some big cues here, but to frank, the question's a good one, dude. The question's a
good one. Are we car hipsters? I don't think so. Tell us. Tell
us, look, though. You idiots are clearly car hipsters. Son of a bitch. Let me tell you the
reasons why. We want that heat. Yeah, come at us, bros and hoes. But seriously, I don't think so.
I don't think so. But let's see. I think it's the avoidance of acceptable, objectively good cars
is one of the basic tenants of being a car hipster. I think it is. And you hate yourself,
dude. You hate yourself. Right. Well, do you want to challenge me? Should we play the game?
Oh, we were segway into that. Okay. Yeah. But please let us know by hipsters. It's time to do a
non-hipster thing, right? We're going to pull something non-hipster out for you. While he whips
this thing out, let me just tell you briefly what we are doing in case you haven't sorted this out
220-something episodes in. It's our print ad quiz game in today's thrilling installment.
Chadwick here has found some sort of a print advertisement from a publication from the 80s,
90s to the mid 2000s. It's an ad for a car. He's going to read that advertisement while
redacting anything overly identifying out of it. I get 10 minutes after he's done reading
and three guesses to try and figure out what intarnation make, model, and approximate model
year of vehicle we are talking about here. Please play along at home. It's great fun.
Yell and scream and just become enraged at your listening device. We can fumble the bag here a
bit. I'll figure it out. I tend to do that. Let's see what we've got. I'm ready. Chadwick,
what you got for me? Let's do it, but overall we're pretty successful at this actually. I was
looking at the scores the other day. One day I'm going to tally it all up to see who has the most
strikes and complete misses, but them's fighting words. We have a one-page ad today, Frank. The
vehicle is in orange. Orange. Already interesting, right? Rear, driver's side three-quarter angle.
There is a guy extremely animated with a giant head and it says the car's name. It says blank,
180 degrees from those other squares. Wow, sounds hipster already. Carry on.
This is kind of a hipster ad. That's what I like about this. Introducing the all new blank.
Think blank and you're thinking outside the box. Very hipster, you're right. Unlike those
boxy vehicles you see out there, blank was designed in Italy. Fiat Panda, final answer.
You might want to change that in a second. It gives you cargo and passenger versatility,
wrapped in a much more stylish package. Since an MP3 player is standard, time error,
equipment, you have some idea of the amazing list of features it carries. Now I just want
to be clear. It just said it has an MP3 player. What else does that tell you? The ingenious new
blank. Five doors, nice curves, starts at $13,994 US American dollars.
What are we talking about today?
A standard MP3 player, cheap, references to boxiness.
Not being boxy for sure. Sort of. I mean it does, but like
five, a curvy four doors. Unlike those boxy vehicles you see out there,
blank was designed in Italy. It was in the, it's just some American guy in Italy on vacation
that's driving. That's not the case. This was designed in Italy. I fact-checked it.
Okay. Designed in Italy does not mean it's an Italian manufacturer.
I would love to see an Italian car for $13,000. Fiat 500X. I saw one of those the other day.
Bizarro. So bad. It was really clean. It was head to head.
I bet they were still more than $13,000 too for sure.
Yeah, for sure. So MP3 player, which gives you some big date hint.
Vasta Prodigy MP3, although those were only sedans. Only amazing. Only amazing, only sedans.
Although there was some Vasta Prodigy five. MP3 player for 13 grand. A five door.
Mm-hmm. Designed in Italy. I would.
Correct. Yeah. I'm going to keep stressing that.
Not that this car, the first thing that comes to mind is this had to be designed in Italy.
Yeah. Designed in Italy. Could this be a, God, what was the first year of this car?
No, this car's too new. So I'm going to dodge caliber.
But I think the first year of the caliber was like, oh, nine.
I mean, maybe it's sort of boxy, but not that boxy. It's a five door.
I don't, Stalantis didn't own them yet. So probably was designed in,
again, that's not an Italian design car. So it's an atrocity.
I don't think it's a dodge caliber.
Touting that it had an MP3 player is very, 2003, 2004, 2005.
It's not an Nissan cube.
It's not a second gen Scion XB. Unless it is.
You're quite good at guessing what it isn't.
Italian design. I don't know if I can design that in Italian. That was probably
whatever the Calti design is.
Golly. The Italian design is, especially since you're leaning into it so hard,
it's really tripping. Yeah, because it's not an Italian car.
It's definitely not an Italian car.
I'm going, you know what? Get us going here, man. I'm going to get us going. I'm going to get us
moving. I am going to say this is a,
I'm going to say this is a 2000 and four Scion XB.
I like that. But this is not what we're talking about today, my friend.
The boxy statement is unlike those boxy vehicles you see out there.
Yes. So it's not like the other boxy vehicle. So this is
un-boxy. Decidedly un-boxy. I will confirm that.
To help you along, my friend, because there are not a lot of tech specs.
You got a door key and MP3 player.
Is that a five door key or a Rio?
Yeah. Or yeah, the Rio five.
Yes, which was a protege five.
If I remember. No, that was the Spectra five.
The Spectra five is the exact same as a Mazda protege five.
You didn't know this? No.
This is a fun fact. Look up. Okay. Don't do it now.
We're in the middle of a goddamn quiz game show.
Spectra five. Look it up.
Okay. No, I thought it was its own deal.
Badge engineering.
Oh no. Addus Finus.
That's a fun one.
I should have got you with that one. That's good trivia.
Japan. Okay.
Is it a five door?
Is it a fucking protege five?
I didn't think a protege five was that cheap.
Yeah. 13, 9, 9, 4.
I'm just going to do it then because I thought it and I fucking hemmed and hot.
I'm going to say this a 2000 and
two. 2003. Mazda protege five.
This is not the protege five.
And I don't think they could have a protege with an MP3 player
if they named a fucking car after the MP3 player.
Maybe, but that was like, that came with a slightly hotter motor.
It was a whole new system.
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
It is not. And I want to say there were more than $14,000 for a protege five.
I think they were.
Yeah. So this is cheaper Japanese.
And the last thing I'm going to give you, it's kind of a big one, dude,
but I want you to kind of get there.
I think I've got a three letter name.
In my head, but what's your hint?
It's a three letter name.
Nope. It's not that.
So to hold that one.
This automaker no longer makes automobiles for the US market.
Okay.
Big monster hint.
You have four minutes and 40 seconds remaining.
So it's not a Honda Fit.
It's absolutely not a Honda Fit.
Five.
Is this a Suzuki SX-4?
Is that your final answer?
Yeah, it is.
This is not the Suzuki.
What do we?
It is a Suzuki.
It's not the SX-4 though.
Introducing the all new Suzuki Reno.
Oh, it is the fucking Reno.
That is very not.
Yeah.
Look at the fucking guy's head.
So what year is that?
This is 05 model year.
This ad is from 04, which is when the 05 went for sale.
So you're in the right time period, but the Suzuki Reno,
it's the first.
That was the first year that car, it ran for what?
What did we say on the Suzuki episode 23 years?
Yeah, that price point is way lower than anything
you're going to find from a respectable Japanese.
That was tripping me up.
That was like maybe like the absolute basic bitch.
But Frank, could I say something?
Yeah.
If you found this car in this color orange,
because I know you had fucking orange cars in this period,
in a manual, that's kind of a car you'd buy for two grand.
Two grand?
Yeah.
Like what?
They can't.
What do you think they're?
They're not trafficking.
Was that a 1.6 in it?
I can't remember what motor they had in that to tell you the truth.
Suzuki at that time, a 1.8 or a 1.6 for sure.
The Suzuki Reno.
I think they had a little Revi motor.
They had a Revi motor to it too.
Yeah, it had a little power, right?
1.40, 1.30.
You know what it was, actually?
A Daewoo Lissetti rebadged.
Very cool.
So it was actually a Daewoo.
You would not fuck with this car?
Yeah, you would.
Now that I know it's a Daewoo.
No, especially.
Yeah, we get that Lissetti action.
I don't know.
I can't remember the last time I've seen one.
They don't exist.
I thought Kia Rondo for a minute, because that's like.
Oh, that's interesting.
Roundy and weird.
So look up right now.
Look up Kia Sportage 5, or no, Spectra 5.
Sorry, Sportage.
Spectra 5, and you're going to shit your pants.
It doesn't.
It looks exactly.
I'm going to look up at the same time, because I haven't done this for years.
I just knew that piece of trivia.
Kia Spectra 5.
Motor week.
Show me this.
Show me the fucking.
It looks like it.
I mean, it does look like it.
It is it.
Five door.
But it was made from 04.5 to 09.
So they just like.
Fucking Kia Spectra.
I'm 100% sure it is.
I mean, it looks.
I could be wrong, but I don't.
Maybe I'm wrong.
Maybe I always, maybe I took that one to the grave.
But not anymore.
False, false trivia.
I swear to God it was.
I read somewhere.
I don't know.
I don't know.
React.
It has five in the name.
It doesn't look just like one though.
It's very similar.
They just they took.
I like it.
I like it.
I like a good Prodigy 5.
Okay.
It's it's often viewed as a clone of the Mazda Prodigy 5.
Got it.
They did have a different motor.
Right.
So it's like the Kia alone to the.
Fabulous.
Anyways, good effort, my friend.
Something.
I'm sorry about that.
Kia Reno.
Wait, what was your final guess?
The the fucking SX4.
Yeah, you got the Suzuki.
Fucking Reno or the the.
Yeah.
The Lissetti.
Anyways, the thing is the SX4 also came in a sedan.
So they wouldn't.
Yeah, it did.
Not boxy like those other cubes.
Speaking of day woos, do you have you made any?
Have you made any progress?
I'm going to let you lead this dance this week.
Sure.
I did, but I'm curious about you.
How about you, my friend?
I did make a little bit of XTERRA progress.
XTERRA?
Yes.
I'm shocked.
Good.
Are you shocked?
A little.
It's smogged and tagged.
Oh, that's big.
It is smogged and it is tagged.
Wait, you had a check engine light on.
I did.
It's big.
If true.
So big if true.
Many people are saying it.
So the check engine light was for the knock sensor,
which is what I knew when I bought it.
And the knock sensor has been awkwardly removed.
That's right.
It's been, the old one is still under the intake
plenum somewhere.
Somebody bought a replacement one stuck it on,
just on the side of the supercharger.
And one wire was going to the harness.
The other one was not on the, the knock sensor
was just not connected.
And for whatever reason, on the harness side,
it went from the harness and just somebody
had put in like a length of just red wire.
Okay.
And then grounded that to the intake manifold.
That's not how that's supposed to go.
Nope.
And but so, okay, well, let me just not do that.
Let me cut that wire and just move it to
where it should be connected on the knock sensor.
Right.
But like, why the hell did somebody do what they did
originally?
Like, there's got to be a reason.
Somebody went through the effort to relocate
the knock sensor and then instead of installing it,
like you absolutely would do, especially if you
had the knowledge to relocate the knock sensor,
you just ground out the harness instead of connecting
it and the wire, like wire coming off the,
the knock sensor, like this song just hanging out,
not, not, not taped off just sitting there.
Said, okay, well, let me just fucking cut here,
strip here, but connect it and just see.
Get the fuck out.
Set the monitor smogged.
Look at this.
All right.
I don't know.
I don't know how it fixes like that, dude.
That's, but I know for people outside of California,
smog is, we need to help you understand this.
It's a huge hurdle to overcome.
It is.
And on these cars too, on these supercharged ones,
because it's a very, very common thing on all of,
all the sons of this era equipped with this motor.
And so that's the fix.
But on the supercharged ones, my understanding is,
if there's that code, if it like, hey, I can't see
the knock sensor or a sense, you know, signal implausible,
it will not let it run boost.
It just, just doesn't produce boost because it, it, it doesn't know.
It's just like, oh, oops, or over boost and knock this thing into the grave.
Yeah.
So what I don't know is, hey, it sees the, it sees the knock sensor.
So it should be making full boost.
But like, I don't, what I don't know is, and what it needs to homework on is,
on these supercharged ones, are there any negative side effects
for having a relocated knock sensor?
Like, does, does it rely on that to retard timing or, or limit boost?
Because it like, it goes to whatever and then it senses knock, early signs of knock,
and then it, it pulls back.
And if it never actually senses knock, does it just say, fucking send it?
I don't know.
Yeah, but it's, it's driving fine.
It's an OBD2 vehicle.
So it should have a check engine light illuminate if it is detecting knock,
or even falsely detecting knock, right?
So it should.
It's falsely detecting, but what I'm saying is right now, it should,
it will never, if it's in the wrong position, it might just never detect knock.
So right now it's on the, it's experiencing knock.
And it doesn't know.
And it's just scary.
And it's just like, better send it more boost because I'm supercharged.
And it doesn't, I don't know.
I, I don't know.
That's worth an inspection.
Yeah.
So I've been driving.
I've been driving it a little bit.
Not a lot of it.
How's it, how's it feel?
You feel that you feel the boost?
Feels pretty good.
I will say, I do think the, like the, some of the accessory belts are,
the one I said was damaged.
The more I look at it, it's actually like
overriding on the back lip of a couple of the police.
Oh, is the poise on the supercharger side?
Are the poise aligned incorrectly?
They look aligned.
I don't see anything doing any weird wobbling.
Right.
But like, there, it does sound like there might be an accessory with a little bit of like,
knock.
So like, I gotta, I gotta dust off the old stethoscope and see if I can hear what it's coming from.
By stethoscope.
If it's just an idler or a tensioner.
Yeah.
By stethoscope, I use a two liter bottle, soda bottle, I'm cutting half.
And I've got a screwdriver in the hole and just listen.
That's my favorite way to check out bad poise.
Yeah.
That fucking noise gets so loud that
you'll know.
Yeah.
This is just like a subtle knock.
And it sounds like it's coming from the accessories.
So I just noticed it at idle.
So I think I'm just going to get all new belts, time belt included, get that stuff coming now
that it's smogged and tagged and like.
This guy, this guy humble bragging about the budget he has right now.
Yeah.
Well, I mean, things, things are falling into place, which means that like,
You're good.
I'm going to, it turns out like,
there's, yeah, the front diff doesn't exist or something.
It got stolen or something.
Get out of here.
So yeah.
So progress is progress.
That's right, Matt.
How about you?
That's a good one, Matt.
Also, I'm going to mirror you with XTERRA progress.
I finally got the tires mounted on the OEM wheels that came with the vehicle.
What a difference that rides now compared.
And I did have some extra dark brown spray paint kicking around spray painted the wheels,
which looked really cool with the night's armor dark or the grayish color the truck is.
So is it called night's armor?
It's called night's armor, which is.
So cool.
So cool.
But yeah, that looks great.
What else is it?
Night's with a K or night's with an N?
Oh, it's Nate's with a K.
It really is night's armor.
I think like night's armor with an N, I think is actually more interesting.
But Carrie.
Yeah, a little more gothic horror, less medieval fantasy.
I hear you, but let's go with that.
Let's go with the bronze.
Looks great though.
Also, I didn't really talk about it too much, but that had a lot of lights on on my dashboard.
And we've talked about how my vehicle has some issues that I can't resolve.
So I'm like, I need some free fixes.
I need some good stuff for me.
Airbag light was on.
And what was the other one?
Potato chips and shit out of the the bell buckle and call it good or.
So no, the airbag was the big one and it was flashing,
which is is a horrible thing to deal with.
So there's a key reset thing on these second gens where you can do a key off,
count to five seconds, turn back on five seconds.
And you keep going back and forth and it actually reset the light.
Sometimes that goes on when the battery is disconnected,
which I had to do for some of the work I did.
So that is always a happy, happy thing.
And someone must have done something before me because it flashed the whole time I
tested it and everything.
So cool.
No more flashing.
I hate dude.
I know.
I know I don't need to worry about it, but that flashing airbag,
any flashing morning light pisses me off.
Dude, so that got taken care of on top of that.
I went to get the vehicle smogged, which I needed to do.
Passed perfectly, did well, went and actually got it registered and titled.
And I got plates, like plates on my vehicle because there were personalized
plates and I had to surrender them when I bought it.
So I've been driving around ultimately dirty and a tinted exterior with no plates,
which is always fun.
So I've got plates on it, it passed smog.
I've got wheels and tires.
You go vanity, you go vanity plate, you go like thick D or.
I wanted to, but I'm just all it said was gape.
Yeah, it said pegged.
Don't knock, I'll come.
Yeah, hard to fit it on a plate, but I pulled it off.
It's open to interpretation.
This is those little things that add up like I was really, you know,
you never know what smog, but getting those warning lights off is huge too.
And for the longest time too, I had a traction control light on that was on,
right, which is frightening.
And all I had to do was go through like the different drive modes and drive
straight and backwards long enough to reset the light.
There was some, I love this era of truck, like where it's just like stupid stuff
you can do to fix it, right?
You don't need a, you don't need like, yeah, you don't need an advanced scan tool
factory dealer only scan tool to reset a stupid code.
Yes.
So exterior updates.
Take us home, man.
I think we're up against it.
Yeah, we are.
I like that we're making progress on our budget overlanders.
We'll probably do this, what?
2028?
We're getting, we're going to go.
Yeah, hopefully that'll be good.
On our third vehicle purchases because we're bursting into flames or
getting stolen by drifters.
Oh, fuck.
If you want to, I don't have a good segue, but if you do want to like keep listening,
please do it, spread the word, spread the wealth.
Check us out on Patreon if you'd like, if you want to support us in all of our
poor life choices, including buying budget overlanders and drinking terrible beverages,
please go to patreon.com slash APA pod.
That's A-P-A-P-O-D, like the band.
Check us out there and use truly poor value for money.
So yeah, go weigh your options there.
If you want to just see what I'm up to outside of this, don't.
But if you'd like to, I'm at the photographer's garage.
And, but yeah, just mostly just find us and me here.
Chadwick, where can you be found solo?
Solo activities.
Just peek in my bathroom window after 9 p.m.
No, auto obscure garage on YouTube.
Check it out.
A lot of XTERRA stuff going down, man.
Hell yeah.
Check that action, but yeah, man.
Just, we appreciate you guys.
We love you.
Check us out on YouTube, right?
And leave some comments.
Get in the comments, man.
Again, Frank, the comments.
Yes, the comments.
One of my favorite places to go on YouTube.
Yell about how hipster we are or aren't.
Oh dude, please leave some comments for sure on that one.
That is pro.
Do it.
Anyways, fuck it.
We'll see you guys next time.
We love you.
Take care.
Toodles.
About this episode
Hosts wrestle with the question “Are we just car hipsters?”—debating whether avoiding popular cars is the real tell, or whether it’s just gatekeeping and contrarian image. They define hipster taste with examples like “Air-cooled 911. Air-cooled 911.” and “Hipster car. Like a 240D is like peak hipster,” then pivot into a print-ad quiz guessing obscure models and years. Later, the conversation turns practical with an XTERRA progress update: smog, a knock-sensor wiring mess, and an airbag light reset.
Are the fellas just into weird and obscure automobiles for true heartfelt reasons...or are they just a couple of car hipsters trying to buck automotive normalcy?
