Dan and Nick chat about overlooked car features and share personal stories, including managing an overflowing MSN email inbox and dealing with persistent marketing emails. They discuss upcoming automotive events across the U.S. and emphasize good behavior for members of their car community. The conversation shifts to technical topics like backfiring causes and risks, with anecdotes about racing and vehicle modifications, including a high-speed Corvette record run in Nevada that caused significant rear-end damage due to heat and downforce. The episode blends casual banter with practical tips and car culture insights.
From CVTs with Paddle Shifters to that radio you pretty much forgot existed, we go down the list of features we're wondering why still exist. We can't remember the last time we actually used the factory GPS, when it even worked, and self parking is a great way to lose a spot to the person behind you and cause a small traffic jam as a bonus. What features do you forget your car has? Which ones can't you live without? Which one is underutilized? Cooled seats for all!
"I posted up last week's episode about movie cars and stuff like that. It got a really good response."
Movie cars are cars that you see in movies or TV shows. They often become famous because of the stories they are in.
Movie cars are vehicles that have appeared prominently in films or television shows, often gaining iconic status and fan followings due to their roles.
Herbie is a special car from movies. It's a small, round car called a Volkswagen Beetle that has a funny personality and races in stories.
Herbie the Love Bug is a famous Volkswagen Beetle featured in a series of Disney movies. The car is characterized by its white paint with red, white, and blue racing stripes and the number 53 on its hood and doors.
""Southern California, Radwood death. So as I went, Radwood, SoCal is this weekend.","
Radwood is a fun car event where people show off cars from the 1980s and 1990s. It's like a big party for fans of old cars from those years.
Radwood is a popular car culture event that celebrates vehicles from the 1980s and 1990s, focusing on vintage and classic cars from that era. It combines car shows with a nostalgic atmosphere, attracting enthusiasts of older cars and automotive history.
"It's fuel in the chambers fuel in the exhaust until you get fuel coming out and it's burning on the downstroke and that's what's causing that backfire."
Backfire happens when fuel burns in the wrong place, like the exhaust, making a loud noise. It usually means something is wrong with the engine's fuel or spark.
Backfire is a combustion event where unburned fuel ignites in the exhaust system, causing a loud popping or banging noise. It can occur due to improper fuel mixture or ignition timing.
"You can blow your catalytic converter. You can do damage to components that are not meant to be on fire and burning like your O2 sensor."
A catalytic converter cleans the car's exhaust to make it less harmful to the air. If it gets too hot or damaged, it can stop working properly.
The catalytic converter is an emissions control device that reduces harmful gases in the exhaust by converting them into less harmful substances. It can be damaged by backfires or excessive heat.
"You can do damage to components that are not meant to be on fire and burning like your O2 sensor. Although that said a bad O2 sensor can cause backfiring"
The O2 sensor checks how much oxygen is in the car's exhaust to help the engine run better and cleaner.
An O2 sensor measures the oxygen level in the exhaust gases to help the engine control the air-fuel mixture for optimal combustion and emissions.
"in Nevada. High speed record at a Corv C7 Corvette zero one. I know what I know why you're ..."
The Chevrolet Corvette is a fast sports car that can go really quickly, like setting speed records in places like Nevada. It's built to be strong and handle well when driving fast.
The Chevrolet Corvette C7 Z06 is a high-performance sports car known for its powerful V8 engine and advanced aerodynamics. It has been used to set high-speed records, showcasing its capabilities on tracks and open roads like those in Nevada. Its significance lies in combining American muscle with modern technology for exceptional speed and handling.
"one we were talking about. We did the Bronco and we literally held it at about 90 miles an hou..."
The Ford Bronco is a tough car made for driving on rough roads and trails. People like it because it can go fast even when the road is bumpy or hard to drive on.
The Ford Bronco is a rugged SUV designed for off-road adventures, recently revived with modern technology and retro styling. It is capable of maintaining high speeds on rough terrain, making it popular among outdoor enthusiasts. Its versatility and performance make it a frequent topic in discussions about capable off-road vehicles.
"where in on the Bronco and on the Raptor and my previous Raptor, my F-150 Raptor, excuse me, both of them."
The Ford F-150 is a big truck that many people use for work and fun. There's a special version called the Raptor that can drive really well off-road and is very strong.
The Ford F-150 is one of the best-selling full-size pickup trucks in America, known for its durability, towing capacity, and variety of trims including the high-performance Raptor. The F-150 Raptor is especially noted for its off-road capabilities and powerful engine. It's often discussed for its blend of utility and performance.
"Yeah, I had a pre-production Roma with non haptic feedback buttons."
Haptic feedback means the car gives you a little buzz or click feeling when you press a button or touch the screen, so you know it worked.
Haptic feedback is a tactile response technology that provides physical sensations, like vibrations, to simulate the feeling of pressing a button or interacting with a touchscreen.
"Yeah, I had a pre-production Roma with non haptic feedback buttons."
The Ferrari Roma is a fancy sports car made by Ferrari. A pre-production car is like a test version made before the real cars are sold.
The Ferrari Roma is a grand touring sports car introduced by Ferrari featuring a sleek design and advanced technology. A pre-production model refers to an early version made before official production starts, often used for testing.
"Like I was watching a video on a guy that had an SF 90 and what he had to do in the menu to go in and turn on his seat eaters instead of just hitting a button."
The Ferrari SF90 is a very fast car that uses both gas and electric power. It has many buttons and menus on a screen to control things like the seats.
The Ferrari SF90 Stradale is a plug-in hybrid supercar combining a V8 engine with electric motors for high performance. It features advanced digital controls and menus for various functions.
"It's great. It actually works really well in the Fords which Chevy officially announced they are dropping carplay actually for all their vehicles."
CarPlay lets you use your iPhone on your car's screen so you can get directions, make calls, or listen to music safely while driving.
CarPlay is Apple's system that allows iPhone users to connect their phones to their car's infotainment system, enabling access to apps, navigation, and calls through the car's display.
"which Chevy officially announced they are dropping carplay actually for all their vehicles. And Android Auto."
Android Auto lets you use your Android phone on your car's screen so you can get directions, make calls, or listen to music safely while driving.
Android Auto is Google's system that allows Android phone users to connect their phones to their car's infotainment system, providing access to apps, navigation, and communication features via the car's display.
"Rivian refuses to put it in as well. That's an interesting one. Rivians don't come with carplay or Android Auto."
Rivian is a company that makes electric cars and trucks, designed for outdoor and adventure use. They are different from traditional car companies because they only make electric vehicles.
Rivian is an American electric vehicle manufacturer known for its electric trucks and SUVs. They focus on adventure-oriented electric vehicles with unique technology and design.
""and it's a safety thing that I don't know if we necessarily needed it was lane departure. Yeah, I turn it off immediately in the Ford.""
Lane departure is a safety system in cars that warns you or helps you stay in your lane if you start to drift without signaling. It helps keep you safe on the road.
Lane departure is a safety feature in many modern vehicles that alerts the driver or actively corrects the car if it unintentionally drifts out of its lane. It helps prevent accidents caused by driver distraction or drowsiness.
"Is the auto stop start because it doesn't save you anything and then my lane departure."
Auto stop start means the car turns off the engine when you stop, like at a red light, and then turns it back on when you start moving. This helps save gas and is better for the environment.
Auto stop start is a system in modern cars that automatically shuts off the engine when the vehicle is stopped, such as at traffic lights, and restarts it when the driver releases the brake or engages the clutch. This helps save fuel and reduce emissions during idle periods.
""It's heads up display because a lot of people bitch about the fact that it's in their eyesight, which it's supposed to be. Yeah, so I actually really like heads of display. I don't notice it very much on the truck, which is a good thing.""
A heads up display shows things like your speed right in front of you on the windshield, so you don't have to look down at the dashboard while driving.
A heads up display (HUD) projects important information such as speed or navigation directions onto the windshield or a transparent screen, allowing the driver to see data without looking away from the road.
In car GPS is a navigation system inside the car that helps you find your way by showing maps and directions on a screen.
In car GPS refers to the built-in global positioning system navigation technology integrated into a vehicle, allowing drivers to get directions and maps without needing an external device.
"Yeah. So the, the Outback Wilderness had it had the Subaru and it was horri..."
The Subaru Outback is a car that can drive on rough roads and in bad weather because it has special wheels that help it grip the road. Some versions have had problems that people didn't like.
The Subaru Outback is a popular crossover wagon known for its all-wheel drive and off-road capability, especially in the Wilderness trim. However, some versions have received criticism for certain features or performance issues. It's often discussed for its practicality and ruggedness in various driving conditions.
"Audi's backed by open street maps. That's what it is. It used to be Google and now it's open street maps."
OpenStreetMap is a free map that anyone can help make and use, like a big online map everyone shares.
OpenStreetMap is a collaborative project that creates free editable maps, often used as an alternative to proprietary mapping services like Google Maps.
"Yeah. My dad uses navigation in his maverick all the time and he talks to it and it works pret..."
The Ford Maverick is a small truck that's easy to drive and saves gas. It has helpful features like talking to the navigation system to find places.
The Ford Maverick is a compact pickup truck that offers good fuel efficiency and modern tech features, including voice-activated navigation. It's designed for everyday use with the convenience of a smaller truck bed and car-like handling. Its affordability and practicality have made it popular among new truck buyers.
"pulls your seat back. I love that in the Ranger love it. Yeah, even in the F 150, which is huge."
The Ford Ranger is a medium-sized truck that is good for work and everyday driving. It has nice features like seats that can move back to make you more comfortable.
The Ford Ranger is a midsize pickup truck known for its balance of capability and comfort, often featuring modern convenience options like adjustable seats. It is smaller than the F-150 but still offers strong performance for daily tasks and light off-roading. Its popularity comes from being a versatile and manageable truck.
""it's auto park. There is no cooler feature than if you have the right the right situation where you're on a street by yourself and you need to parallel park and you can hit all the buttons and then the truck will park itself. It's fun.""
Auto park is a technology in some cars that helps you park by itself. The car uses sensors to find a parking spot and then moves into it without you having to steer or press the pedals much.
Auto park is a driver-assistance feature that enables a vehicle to automatically parallel or perpendicular park itself with minimal driver input. It uses sensors and cameras to detect suitable parking spaces and controls steering, acceleration, and braking to maneuver the vehicle into the spot.
Paddle shifters are buttons or levers behind the steering wheel that let you change gears yourself, like a manual car, but without a clutch.
Paddle shifters are controls usually mounted behind the steering wheel that allow the driver to manually change gears in an automatic or semi-automatic transmission without using a clutch pedal.
"in a 10 speed automatic, I can manually bump up a gear."
A 10 speed automatic is a gearbox that changes gears by itself and has ten different gears to help the car run smoothly and save gas.
A 10 speed automatic is a type of transmission with ten forward gears that shifts automatically. More gears can improve fuel efficiency and performance by keeping the engine in its optimal power range.
"the rev match where they have the paddle shifters for the automatic. Yeah. Click those for the rev match function."
Rev match helps the car change gears smoothly by making the engine speed match the gear you're shifting into, so the ride feels nicer and the car parts last longer.
Rev match is a technique or function in some vehicles that automatically adjusts engine speed to match the transmission speed during downshifts, resulting in smoother gear changes and less wear on the drivetrain.
""a good skill as a driver if you have a manual, but the car""
A manual transmission means you have to change gears yourself using a stick and a pedal. It helps you control the car better and can make driving more fun.
A manual transmission is a type of gearbox that requires the driver to manually shift gears using a clutch pedal and gear stick. It offers more control over the vehicle's power delivery and is often preferred by driving enthusiasts.
"she has it in all her vehicles. Even in the S5, she used the self-driving feature"
The Audi S5 is a fancy and fast car that can help drive itself a little bit using special technology. It looks nice and is fun to drive.
The Audi S5 is a luxury sports coupe or convertible that combines performance with advanced technology, including semi-autonomous driving features. Its sophisticated systems like self-driving assist are often highlighted in discussions about modern vehicle tech. The S5 offers a blend of style, speed, and innovation.
""cruise control, never tried it. Don't understand it. I'm not interested in automatically automating the driving process anyways.""
Cruise control helps you keep your car going at the same speed without pressing the gas pedal. This makes driving on highways easier and less tiring.
Cruise control is a system that automatically controls the speed of a vehicle, allowing the driver to maintain a constant speed without keeping their foot on the accelerator. It is especially useful for long highway drives.
""the next one is sport buttons. Um, I think they're overrated in smaller cars.""
Sport buttons let you make your car feel more sporty and fun to drive by changing how it behaves, like making it accelerate faster or handle better.
Sport buttons are controls in some cars that adjust the vehicle's performance settings, such as throttle response, transmission shift points, and suspension stiffness, to provide a more dynamic driving experience.
"Sort of like, you know, putting the word turbo on the back of an electric car. That'd be weird. That would be, Who would do that?"
A turbo is a gadget that helps a car's engine get more air so it can go faster and be stronger. It uses the engine's exhaust to make this happen.
A turbo, or turbocharger, is a device that forces extra air into an internal combustion engine's cylinders to increase power output. It uses exhaust gases to spin a turbine that compresses intake air, improving engine efficiency and performance.
"The next one is heated seats and I'll be honest with you. Um, my truck turns on my heated seats more than I do."
Heated seats are seats in a car or truck that get warm to keep you cozy when it's cold outside.
Heated seats are a comfort feature in vehicles that use electric heating elements embedded in the seat cushions to warm the occupant during cold weather.
"I'm looking forward to the cooled seats in the S five. I love the cooled seats."
Cooled seats are car seats that blow air to keep you cool when it's hot outside.
Cooled seats, also known as ventilated seats, have built-in fans or ventilation systems that circulate air through the seat to keep the occupant cool and comfortable in hot weather.
Select text to request an explanation
Welcome to the Abantz Podcast. I'm Dan. It's cold.
Did you get that?
I literally went from, like, meeting to walk out here to do show.
Yeah, I know.
Poor Nick was stuck waiting.
Well, no, I'm talking to Shawna and playing with the dog.
So, you know.
OK, yeah, the dog didn't like that.
Yeah, I was going to say. It's not a problem.
So, yeah, I'm Nick, by the way.
Welcome to the show, Nick.
Hey, you know, it's funny.
I posted up last week's episode about movie cars and stuff like that.
It got a really good response.
People have been really, I mean, not that I'm surprised,
but, like, everybody has their favorite cars.
I like, I forgot who it was and I'll have to look it up.
And then, hands, put a hands down.
He put a Herbie the Love Bug.
And I was like, I forgot about her.
Yeah, I forgot about Herbie the Love Bug.
Yeah, absolutely.
So, yeah.
Oh, honorable mention from that episode, by the way.
I couldn't think of a good motorcycle movie.
The World's Fastest Indian.
Yes.
One of the best, that's just a great movie, period.
If you're a motorcycle guy or girl, whatever,
it's even better.
But the fact is just incredibly well done movie.
My favorite scene is when he's going through tech.
Yes.
And they're like, well, you can't do this.
Well, I'll be fine.
Yeah.
Oh, no, you can't.
It's a sherry bottle cap.
Yeah, it's fine.
Yeah, it's fine.
So, yeah.
Yeah, so you've been busy?
Week's been busy?
Yep, working on a bunch of new projects and old projects.
And, yeah.
So, I was, my dad had a little back procedure today.
Nothing big, just a little nerve issue that they,
they took care of.
And I was back home, was helping him with some stuff.
And, you know, every once in a while,
you got to, you got to, as a son, you come in, you go,
okay, what needs, what's broken?
What needs to be fixed?
Things like that.
My mom goes, I got a little issue on my computer.
And I go, oh, cool.
What you got?
What's going on?
She goes, well, you know, I don't like to read my email.
And I was like, yeah, I know.
It's, it's, I said, I don't send you emails.
She goes, yeah, but I just, I haven't been in there in a while.
And I opened up her MSN and she had 30,000.
The fact that it's an MSN address is amazing.
It's still MSN.
And so it took us probably an hour and a half,
almost two hours to get everything deleted
and get it out of there.
Cause I had to delete it.
Then it went into the delete file.
Then I had to delete it out of that.
I was just, I mean, like I was joking with her.
I put, I pulled up the fire extinguisher.
I was like, in case your computer hatches fire.
You know, so yeah.
Yeah.
It was a good day.
Yeah.
There's some good services unsubscribe me as one I've used
a long ago in the past to just unsubscribe in bulk.
If you, if you're, when I used to,
I try to do 10 a day.
I try to find 10 emails and I unsubscribe.
It doesn't work.
I feel like I've unsubscribed some stuff
and then I've gotten emails from them still.
So yeah,
I sent some hate mail to Nordic track.
Oh, did you?
Who?
Cause I unsubscribed at least four times in the last
month until I just, I literally was like, I've had it
cause I am meticulous about my email inbox.
And I have zero unread messages every day.
It's something I keep up on.
And it's, and so when I was like, no,
it wouldn't unsubscribe me.
So I literally got a hold of their customer service.
I was like, get a hold of me.
I was like, how do I unsubscribe from your emails?
I've tried four times.
I'm about to be like, oh,
I'm about to send you guys a cease and desist and get a lawyer.
Yeah.
It's like, take your freaking pick.
You're the only ones who will not stop.
Figure it out now while I'm on the phone.
And they did, but it was one of those like, you don't
understand your local.
I'll come to your office, smack your IT guy.
Let's laugh at my mom.
I'm like, you're retired.
There's really no excuse here.
Like, I mean, yeah.
Yeah, I know.
And I said, also, if I do this, there's going to be checkups.
Like I said, I want you to be deleting emails every day.
Yeah.
So yeah, I'm sure I'm preaching the choir, but yeah.
So it's, I mean, we're, I realized we were talking about
last week.
I was like, oh, it's not, it's not, it's the fall.
Not much is going on, but then the next two or three
episodes, we're going to be talking about Seema stuff.
Seema's coming out.
Seema's coming out.
I mean, Christy is down in California for, what's this?
Oh, which show is down in California right now?
There's so many of Vance events.
Like this, it's funny.
There's not a lot going on in the industry as far as like
new cars and manufacturers, but we're a Vance.
So yeah.
Yes.
But there's a million events coming up right now.
Let's see here, Seattle, Portland.
Let's see here.
Southern California, Radwood death.
So as I went, Radwood, SoCal is this weekend.
I think you've heard this is starting by now, but
you missed it.
But there's a bunch of socials, Denver, Scott, a
social of Bruce beers, PDR, Texas, tech session.
I mean, Phoenix, Scott, Stale, got Corks and cars,
Arizona international auto show.
Arizona's popping.
Yeah.
Nicole is blowing up Arizona.
We've got an off-road event coming up in early November
here again.
Yeah.
We've got more of on social hours, race night at
Gripworks, the off-road events, the eighth, the
international auto shows, the 14th.
Go to avance.com slash events.
Look, look at the calendar.
If you're in Seattle, Portland, Phoenix, SoCal, or
Denver, you've got stuff to do.
Yeah.
Doesn't matter when the weather turns bad.
We are still all out there.
So.
I want to say something personal as regards
to avance.
You know, Adam and Chrissy and everybody and all
of us that work for avance, they all have
all worked really hard.
And we've talked about this before.
It was something that happened today to me.
If you're an avance member and that plate is on
your car, it's important that your driving is
be on the best behavior.
Yeah.
Don't be a jerk.
I'm not going to call anybody out, but something
happened to me today.
I was in a car that wasn't marked with avance and
somebody with an avance plate really pulled some
stupid, stupid stuff.
So just think about it, you know, because it's
we're watching you easily identified.
I mean, as this group and Adam from the beginning
has built this group to be very inclusive and
great.
And that's why you don't see negative posts.
But it was just something that I was like.
Yeah.
It was just something to think about most.
I mean, 99.9 percent.
Everything's great, but I'll try to hide because
we'll find you was behind you.
You don't know where I was.
So yeah, yeah.
Yeah, um, you got a tip.
Yeah, we do.
Okay.
Sorry.
No, it's car automotive tips are harder automotive
group.
Yeah.
Shout out to Wade and our friends over there.
The man himself.
The man himself.
Yeah, we I was backfiring.
So I was going to talk about the backfire backfires
caused most most of the time, let's say most almost
every time by fuel air fuel mixture and combustion
after the combustion cycle after the bank cycle.
So you're going to get afterburn.
It's fuel in the chambers fuel in the exhaust until
you get fuel coming out and it's burning on the
downstroke and that's what's causing that backfire.
What happens?
What's the bad part about backfiring?
If it's really bad, you can mess up your valves.
You can blow your catalytic converter.
You can do damage to components that are not
meant to be on fire and burning like your O2 sensor.
Although that said a bad O2 sensor can cause backfiring
older vehicles, a Corotter distributor cap.
It can get your timing a little out of whack that can cause
backfiring as well.
New cars when you hear that like, I don't know, McLaren
675 LT on the downshift something like that Audi
R8 with the full through exhaust.
Some of that stuff is tuned in intentionally
because you're running rich.
You don't want to run lean.
So it intentionally runs rich and burns little off
in the exhaust.
They're made to take it.
They can do it.
That big loud shotgun blast backfire.
Not good.
The Uncle Buck.
The Uncle Buck.
Yes.
For those of you old that remember the Uncle Buck
backfire is not good for any of your components,
especially your exhaust valves.
Do you remember in the day and I'm going to say
because it makes filled when we would put spark plugs
in and okay.
Yeah.
Hit that run your car real rich and hit that button
and then under full throttle in my RX 7 it would
it would shoot fire out the back like literal fire
under full throttle.
Which is not good because normally you backfire
on the D cell when they're still flame burning.
Mine was just burning so hot and it was just,
you know, it may or may not have had a catalytic
converter who can say it's been a long time.
And so it would just throw fuel out the exhaust.
I melted a catalytic converter in a Subaru once
which is not an issue until it melts into a ball
and then lodges into the exit.
So yeah, very easy to drill through which is really
stupid because of how much those catalytic
converters are worth.
Yeah.
But you know, if you don't want to spend the 50 bucks
for a test pipe because you're actually doing a race car.
Yeah, don't do that.
Yeah.
It's a terrible idea.
It's also a stupid thing.
Highly illegal.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Also don't take the spark rest, the spark things
out of the back of your muffles on your bikes either.
Oh, it's spark rusters.
Yeah.
Spark rusters.
Yeah.
Yeah, those things that do nothing but they make us
pay for.
Yeah.
I'm trying to think of I've still I think we talked
about this before.
I think I've ever in my entire life heard of a
motorcycle starting a fire that wasn't crashed in
leaking fuel.
I've never seen one actually started from a spark
from the rear.
I have seen ones that spit out everything in a muffler
because they were sitting there just in place
revving it with no heat going over the engine
and then it melted everything in the pipe
and it was spitting out everything in there.
Oh, speaking of which, so.
To speak.
Interesting transition.
Actually kind of a cool story.
There was a new world record set at a race
in Nevada.
High speed record at a Corv C7 Corvette zero one.
I know what I know why you're linking.
Yeah, it ran an average and it ran an average speed of
170 miles an hour for well over a hundred miles.
Like this is a I mean well over a hundred miles.
So this thing is just full tilt full throttle
and it's modified needs a modified class vehicle
with a huge wing on the back.
Well, the working theory they're going off of is
all that rear downforce trapped a lot of air
behind the car and because it was running so hot
for so long it literally melted basically the entire
rear end of the car off.
So explain.
I saw photos of it.
Where did he where was he able to run for a hundred
miles straight?
The loneliest highway in Nevada.
So if you're going I've been across there.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
It's a it's a hundred miles.
Yeah, it's well over a hundred miles.
Yeah, I remember that.
Yeah, and I've taken that road and this is the
one we were talking about.
We did the Bronco and we literally held it
at about 90 miles an hour for an hour.
Yeah, and then somebody passed us and they got pulled over
like middle of nowhere does not begin to describe
this highway, but that's that's where they run this race.
No, I was on it with my parents.
Yes, right after Monterey.
Yeah, and my mom was wondering why we got there
so fast and I was like, well, we were doing a hundred
and ten like, yeah, got there in an hour.
What do you know?
Yeah, look to your right empty for a mile.
Look to your left empty for a mile.
Look ahead empty for a hundred miles.
Well, we got not paced, but there was a couple
of Air Force jets that were out there that were.
Yeah, like this.
Yeah, they just blow up nuclear bombs underground
and fly jets out there.
That's all they do up there.
Nothing exists out there.
That's what I'd do if I had a hundred mile stretch.
Yeah, right, me too.
Yeah, I agree.
I concur.
Yeah, you found some interesting articles this week
that everything from stuff that's in our cars
these days that we don't use to things that
increase your value of the car and some things
that decrease your value.
And I do understand that what we're going to talk
about today, there's going to be people that are going
to have other opinions and I would fully support that.
Yeah, that's kind of like, I mean, that's the whole
point of this.
It's like, it's like we're trying to engage you.
Yes.
Yeah, it's like you should yell at the radio
through us.
We can hear you speaking of radios features you
never use in your car that are still there.
And this was a hot one in there is a Jalopnik
article I'm reading which intentionally works
out great because it's got, you know, it's a blog
versus just an article.
But radios, I have not turned on my radio and
listen to it.
It's got to be, I don't remember when I did it
and it wasn't by accident 10 years at least.
I mean, I think this is along the lines of like
the last time I saw a commercial on TV,
like every time I turn on the radio and I turn
it on every once in a while here, it's always
it's so many commercials compared to no music.
So I don't use it.
Yeah.
I mean, I carplay and everything is in YouTube
music and if I'm not using that, I'm, I'm, I'm
broadcasting a podcast or something like that.
So yeah, between audiobooks, podcasts and spot
of streaming services, just say streaming
services in general.
Yeah.
I can't remember the last time I actually
listened to the radio and to the point
where in on the Bronco and on the Raptor
and my previous Raptor, my F-150 Raptor,
excuse me, both of them.
I put on the, the, yeah, not just the Stubbys,
they're antenna eliminators.
They're basically just a cap that you screw in
there because I don't like the way they look.
I don't like the long antennas, of course,
but I didn't even want to stubby antennas like
and I have never regretted it.
I've never turned on the radio.
I've never tried to listen to the radio when
I hear random static.
I'm confused why I'm hearing it.
It's because I bumped the button on the radio
trying to reach for something.
I'm like, oh, what's that noise?
Oh, it's static.
Yeah.
I mean, I didn't think about it,
but until you brought this up,
I don't use it either.
Like I have hit it before, like, you know,
if I'm going somewhere or God forbid
I get in the truck and I don't have my phone.
Right.
But that's very rare and few and far between.
Well, I was trying to think of a use case
beyond sports, maybe, but I think,
I mean, you can stream sports now.
Emergency awareness.
Yeah, I was going to say, but even then.
I think it turns itself on then, doesn't it?
Well, the phones do it, but if not,
I have, I actually have the GMRS radios.
Yeah.
And I know how to use, I would actually grab those
before I would grab my M radio.
Yeah.
Because they're pre-programmed in.
I just hit the emergency button.
Yeah, it's, I mean, this goes along the lines of like,
I don't, they make cars with CD players anymore.
We talked about that once.
I don't think so.
I don't think there's a vehicle on the market
with a CD player.
DVDs.
I know they can make those.
C, cassette players and CDs.
I mean, we grew up in the time
when you got in your car.
You had a tape deck and an external CD player
that you hoped had anti-skip.
And then you had a book in the back
that was unfolded with everything, but.
You opened while driving.
Opened while driving.
Yeah.
Your CDs.
Extremely, don't do that.
And you got that new CD from your favorite artist.
You found it only had one good track on it
and you were really mad because you spent 16 bucks on it.
Yeah.
You slid the CD in one side
and you slid the jacket in the other.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Oh, the good old days.
Case logic.
Yep.
Right, yeah.
Yeah.
Anyway.
Well, yeah.
So I think it's along those lines.
It's like people are, you're not playing CDs.
You're not playing tapes.
I mean, classic cars obviously will still have them.
You know, classic eight track or something like that.
I mean, mid 80s, 90s, nothing better than a nice tape.
Well, and now you've got retro sound,
which makes it look like the OEM deck,
but has Bluetooth connectivity.
I mean, and that's for an old vehicle.
That's all I want.
Yeah.
Porsche has done a really amazing job
with their retro decks
that look exactly like the factory decks,
but their MP3 and they have even have car play built in
on like hidden screens.
It's really cool.
Well, we were talking about this.
Everything is so integrated now with technology.
Like that's one of the things I do like about my truck
is the fact that I have a physical knob for volume.
Yeah, me too.
Like it's not, it's not all digital.
And obviously we talked about that too.
Car companies are starting to realize that
like Ferrari right off the bat,
if you don't know,
they got rid of that haptic steering wheel.
People hated it.
Thank God.
I know you had a great time with that in the realm
of that time.
Yeah, I had a pre-production Roma with non haptic feedback
buttons.
That thing sucked.
But I think, you know, everything is so digital now.
Like I was watching a video on a guy that had an SF 90
and what he had to do in the menu to go in
and turn on his seat eaters instead of just hitting a button.
Yeah.
Is ridiculous.
So I think a lot of those features get missed now
or don't get used as part of that like going
and turning on the radio in some of those cars
because they want everything in that driver.
It's a pain in the butt so people don't do it.
It's so easy to just put your phone in there.
Now most of the cars have wireless carplay.
Yeah.
And it's, you know, you're off to the races.
Yeah, I have a wireless charging head on my,
on the phone mount.
So I literally can just hold my,
put my phone up there and forget it.
Yeah, that's it.
It's great.
It actually works really well in the Fords
which Chevy officially announced they are dropping carplay
actually for all their vehicles.
And Android Auto.
That's an interesting, we've talked about that.
I don't know if I'm, I don't know about that.
GM is not well known for great infotainment.
Yeah, I know.
Let's put it that way.
Most vehicle companies aren't
but that is an interesting move.
Rivian refuses to put it in as well.
That's an interesting one.
Yeah.
Rivians don't come with carplay or Android Auto.
I think most of them are Android backed.
I know GM is Android backed which is interesting
which means you're just going to have the aftermarket
come in to plug in.
I wasn't that impressed when we were driving down
to Moab with your GMC.
Yeah, I'm not.
I hated it.
That info was tough.
It sucks.
Like it was buggy as hell.
Turning on the massaging seats was a pain in the ass.
Yeah.
Everything so, yeah.
That's why I'm curious to see how long it's going to last
and if they'll stick with it
because people are already upset about it.
Nobody thought it was a good idea.
No.
And they didn't because the system sucked.
If they had like some compelling reason that you were
like, oh, this is great.
I don't actually need it.
Maybe, but it's not good.
It's laggy and slow and there's a big disappointment.
Anyway, here's what you and I have talked about
and I wish there was a way to disable it permanently
and it's a safety thing that I don't know if we necessarily
needed it was lane departure.
Yeah, I turn it off immediately in the Ford.
I think it's, I think that's part of it.
Ford sucks for it.
Like it's like with the Subaru is really good at the Subaru
one was excellent.
So is Audi's and Audi's good glad to hear that too.
Yeah, but Ford, if you've driven a Ford
and you have lane departure on sort of like ping pong,
it's ping pong for one and two.
You can, you they need to put a heartbeat sensor or something
in the wheel.
Yeah, because your hands can be on the wheel and all of a
sudden your trucks going, put your hands on the wheel
like you're sitting there sleeping like it's on the
wheel.
I got like hit my steering wheel and it does.
You're right.
It does not keep you centered.
I mean, I don't know the GMC wasn't bad.
No, it wasn't too bad in that little better at that,
but I definitely like that's and I think it feeds
into my neurotic side of that.
That truck being not aligned is I've got that.
But I get in, I turn off and this will be on it too.
Is the auto stop start because it doesn't save you
anything and then my lane departure.
Yep.
Yeah, part of it.
I mean, a lot of people program the auto start stop
function and the Ford's anyway into the R button.
So you can turn it because you can turn off in there.
Okay.
Yeah, you can.
Oh, interesting.
Yeah.
So you just they move it to that and I'd be driving
around in Baja mode all the time.
You can customize it to your mode, you know?
Oh, I know.
Yeah.
Okay.
I don't use it.
Yeah, I think that was manufacturer specific,
but they did bring it up on here.
So we weren't alone.
That was a big one.
People just turn off immediately.
So it's actually the first one.
I think, yeah, it is.
Yeah, like it cuts.
Yeah.
Cuts corners rise lane gets annoying starts beeping
doesn't realize my hands are on the wheel.
The next one surprised me a little bit.
Actually, the next few automatic climbing control
is something people said in mass they voted for.
But it's for me.
I don't I don't even touch my air conditioning.
I literally just have it set for my preference
and it's just there.
Maybe I'm not up on the term as far as automatic
climate control.
Like I get in my truck.
I set the temperature like what do they mean automatic?
Like like the car like if I auto start stop the car
in the morning it cranks all the heat up to get to get
it warm and things like that or turns on the seed heaters
but automatic.
I didn't there wasn't anything automatic.
I'm always using my I'm manually changing things in my
well just the auto button like I said it.
Oh, okay.
I said minded typically in the truck 71 to 72 degrees
yeah auto and forget it.
I never think about it.
The other thing I touch is my seat controls my seat
and my steering my steering wheel heater my seat heater
and my seat cooling.
I was it was reading that and I'm like wait a minute
I totally got too deep into it.
Okay.
Yeah.
No, I don't use that.
Absolutely not.
Yeah, I'm surprised people tell us about that listeners
do you use the auto function or are you a set the
temperature and set your fan person because that's the
opposite.
That's kind of where I am.
Yeah.
Yeah.
I have Micah one thing I love in the Ford's and if you
meet other cars have this too is the auto the auto
function has three speeds so it can still be automatic
but it's like do you want the fan high automatic or low
automatic medium automatic.
Yeah, yeah or medium automatic.
So it's like how much air do you want blowing on you
and I it's when it's really hot it's nice to have it
on high like the feeling in the cold air come at me
fair and it's just I don't know if it's any more efficient
but I like the way it feels try it tonight.
I'm gonna hit the I don't even know if I've ever even hit
I I would assume I have it in there.
Yeah, it's gotta be in the menu.
Yeah, it's just your auto button.
You can just tap it three times.
I don't know if I've ever the Bronco has it.
So I think you do.
I was so excited about the truck.
I didn't even listen to the speech.
I just got in and drove away.
So yeah, the next one I'm kind of hit or miss.
I've never actually had a car with it.
So I don't know if I would turn it off or not.
It's heads up display because a lot of people bitch about the
fact that it's in their eyesight, which it's supposed to be.
Yeah, so I actually really like heads of display.
I don't notice it very much on the truck, which is a good
thing.
It's not bothering me, but I like to be able to glance
up the dashboard and see my speed and it also works
with directions.
So it has a little arrow indicator coming up.
So I mean, at home, I don't really care.
But when I'm, you know, as usual somewhere, I'm not home.
It's nice to have that little arrow tell me where to go.
Did your vet have it?
Yes.
That's where I see that's where it was.
Okay, because it had it had the rev meter.
It like it wasn't just the number.
Yeah, so the first car I ever had with it and that
that I had was my parents had a Pontiac Grand Prix.
So Jim had a GTP, the supercharged giant screen.
Yeah, it's just like basic that greenish color and it
worked that blueish green.
It worked pretty well, but the one that my C606 had it
and I really liked it.
I loved seeing the tack.
The C7 was a huge step forward with the color and all
that.
My GMC had it and this Raptor has it and it works
really nice in this Raptor.
I like it in the, I liked it in that a lot.
Now my Porsche didn't have it, but it was.
Yeah, I liked it in the, in the vet a lot.
It doesn't bother me at all.
I had mine pretty dim and I had it pretty limited,
but man, when you're, I remember going on some of
those more spirited drives with you guys.
It was nice to have, especially with a manual car.
Yeah.
Me, I'm playing it by ear 90% of the time,
but it's still nice to have.
Well, somebody was in the comments like,
I don't need it.
I can just look down three degrees and it can see my dash,
which I get, but keep your eyes on the road.
Yeah.
Well, I think it depends a lot,
maybe on your seating angle too.
True.
So in the vet, if you haven't been in a vet,
it is not like other cars.
You're really on the ground because it's a transaxle car.
So transmission in the rear, you know,
you've got a torque tube down the middle.
You're really low.
You're the console is high.
The shifter is high and it felt really good to have that
because I was basically, I mean, you're really far down.
You're really low in your seat
and you've got a really long view over the hood.
It's hard if you're not used to that car,
that front end of that car.
It's a long way out there.
So from that seating angle is very advantageous.
I don't think I would have cared in like a sedan
or anything like that.
Like it's, it's nice to have in the truck,
but if it didn't have it, I would be like, whatever.
Yeah, I don't think it's not an option in mind.
Is it not in your Bronco?
Do you have it?
The Bronco have it?
No, it doesn't.
No, it doesn't.
No, I don't think so.
It's just weird.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
It's a full size thing.
The next one I totally agree with.
That's in car GPS.
Never used it.
It's so bad.
It's even.
It's like Tom Tom days bad.
Yeah.
And in the GMC where they're like, oh, it's Android Auto.
It's going to be great.
No, it was so laggy and unusable.
And if it didn't have a good data connection,
which you had to pay for by the way.
Yeah.
So if you had navigation built in,
you didn't actually have it because you had to pay for it.
It sucked.
It was so laggy.
I'd never used navigation that wasn't on my phone
because everything just lags out.
Yeah.
So the, the Outback Wilderness had it had the Subaru
and it was horrible.
And the Raptor, it's, it's, I don't even,
I've clicked it once.
It's terrible.
It's absolutely terrible.
And you don't realize how even terrible it is
until you literally click over the ways or Google Maps
and it's live view, like where it's map view.
It's game changing.
Yeah.
I don't know.
I mean, I get it for somebody that may not have the
right phone, but I think Audi's got some good.
Audi's backed by open street maps.
That's what it is.
It used to be Google and now it's open street maps.
Open street maps is good.
Yeah.
The problem I've had with the infotainment systems built
in is it's just so laggy.
Yeah.
And you, it's so much slower to input because you have
to input via the full screen.
Well, it's probably because you keep changing the antenna.
That's true.
Dan's like, oh wait.
Different antenna.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Sure.
It is.
No.
Yeah.
In the, in the way you have to input directions.
I mean, you can use your voice,
which we all know how well that works in a car.
Google home can't get it right half the time.
Siri can't get it right half the time.
How much, how well do you think it's going to work in the car?
I have a very abusive relationship with Siri.
Me too.
Very abusive.
Yeah.
I would never speak to a woman the way I speak to Siri.
Yeah.
When the AI overlords come, they are going to kill me first.
Absolutely.
Yeah.
I'll be right there with you.
Yeah.
You didn't say please.
Yeah.
You often said, bitch, I will throw you out the window.
We never did it though.
No, we didn't.
I yell because I love.
So put on the, on the other side of that argument.
I do have a, there is a good other side of that argument.
There, I'm sure there's one or two cars out there within GPS
built in actually works and you've owned it for more than
two years before you come at me.
If you've got it the first year and you're like, yeah,
it's great.
Let me know in two years after 20 south through updates
and like you can think of it like it's already half the
speed of your phone and now it's got 20 over the year
updates.
So now it's like one tenth the speed.
That's usually what happens.
But the plus side to built in navigation is for people who
do not use smartphones a lot.
Yeah.
My dad uses navigation in his maverick all the time and he
talks to it and it works pretty well and when he doesn't,
you know, he can hit the button and literally what's the
Ford sync.
Yeah.
He can use the sync service and actually he's got the
subscription for it and so he can actually ask someone
to put the directions.
I think it's still sync.
I think it is.
And it's syncs up sync.
So he can literally have some of the directions in his
car.
No, it's Ford Pass is the is the app.
Yeah.
I think sync is the service.
Okay.
Anyway, he pays the extra for it and I'm glad he does
because he while he can use his phone, he's getting
better at it.
I mean, my dad's 86 87.
Yeah, what can your dad do?
Right.
Look around your shop without a tape measure.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
And so there is, you know, for people who have a
hard time with their phones or people who have are
using driver controls and don't have good hand
control like you can still drive a car if you've
got disabilities, they don't allow you to use your
hands as well.
I mean, people approve that those kind of systems.
They do come in handy.
I mean, you can use those systems through your phone.
So but there may be good good use cases for it, but
I think they're kind of French at this point and
they're becoming even more so.
I agree.
Yeah.
The next one we've already talked about is
auto stop.
I think it's the dumbest feature that's ever been
introduced on a car.
Yeah.
It does not.
Doesn't do anything.
People sit there.
Whoa.
Oh, over the life of my car, I've saved six
hours.
Well, that you're not.
Look at the other side of it.
Oh, gee, look, my starter goes out more often because
I'm it's starting and stopping all the time.
And those are easier.
Never get to now.
It's okay.
It's in the valley between.
We just have to take the engine out and cut the
firewall and then remove your doors and yeah, I
it's it doesn't it.
It's one of those things with the car company
is put in there to kind of appease the masses
and it does not do anything.
No, it's terrible it.
Yeah.
I will guarantee you I don't have the the the the
material right now.
It's bad on your car.
Yeah, it really is.
Yeah, there's been more and more articles now.
They've had a lot of time to study this.
They were like, no, it should be fine.
It's not better for it.
If you own your vehicle for a long time, this
will be a problem.
So the guy called you goes, I have no
interest in burning up my starter to save $20
on gas.
Yeah, so over the life of your car.
Yeah, it doesn't it doesn't take that much
fuel to restart your vehicle anyway.
It literally uses less than an ounce.
Yeah, the next one is in I have two opposite
two sides of this argument is power sheets.
I think power sheets in a car great if it's
a household that has two people in one car.
Because memory and sorry and memory seats.
That's a good point because you know, I've
always I've been going to the Bronco, which
doesn't have memory seats has power seats.
It's where you you're the one that sat on
here and said we're going to wait till
the house memory sheets and then FOMO kicked
in.
Yeah, not mine.
I was fine.
But yeah, I don't I I have two settings in
the Raptor because every once in a while
she drives the truck, which turns into
a totally different person screaming
Raptor power and flipping off people's
Rivians my beautiful little wife.
But it's not something like especially
a sports car that you only drive.
The only other person that really gets in
that car is going to be your technician.
And when you get it back, he's already
going to screw up your seat.
So yeah, one feature I liked about power
seats in especially well, most most sports
cars if you have power seats, you have
a an exit feature which puts the steering
wheel up out of the way if it's power
pulls your seat back.
I love that in the Ranger love it.
Yeah, even in the F 150, which is huge.
It's still nice to have that extra room.
Yeah, it just makes getting in and
out of your vehicle easier, especially
as we get old and feeble in our
knees hurt to the wheel.
Yeah, yeah, as I roll out of the Corvette,
you know, been there both sides.
That's not just the driver.
Yeah, yeah, it's nice to have for that.
So but I can see almost.
I don't think it's a required feature
for most people.
Yeah, if you're like you said,
if you're the only person driving your
vehicle, I mean, I think Shawna
has driven the truck twice in the
last year.
Yeah, she prefers her Bronco in an
already surprising.
Yeah, those are my options.
Yeah, exactly.
So it doesn't matter that much for
that, but I like power seats.
Yeah, I love especially power bolsters.
You can get a good sports car with
actual deep bolsters that are power.
It's really nice if you're active
bolsters kind of thing.
I remember that they were ever fast
enough now.
Yeah, yeah.
The next one is an interesting one
because it makes me kind of freak
out because I have this in the
truck and it takes so long to
instigate it that somebody's already
it's auto park.
There is no cooler feature than
if you have the right the right
situation where you're on a street
by yourself and you need to
parallel park and you can hit all
the buttons and then the truck will
park itself.
It's fun.
It's cool.
It's really a cool feature, but
if you're in downtown Seattle and
you're trying to parallel park and
there's nine people behind you
and you're trying to hit all these
buttons and especially in my
truck, if you hit one wrong button
it reverts back to the beginning.
It's it's not it's not viable.
Like it just doesn't work.
Okay.
Now they're right here.
Yeah.
Do you remember when drivers said
when they taught you to parallel
park and you would pull to a parking
spot, you'd see the parking spot
you wanted.
You'd turn on your turn signal.
You kind of nose yourself over
just a little bit.
So the driver behind you knew that
you were going to parallel park
in that spot.
Yep.
They would wait for you.
Nobody does that anymore.
Nobody God.
No.
I have a very large truck and I
parallel park it.
So I don't care and I will
shove that truck through their
windshield.
If they try that I'll pull up.
Oh yeah.
Yeah, I will literally back into
them.
I will get it because I have great
cameras.
So I can get within an inch of
their bumper.
But I have terrified some lady
in Issaquah Highlands multiple
for that matter because they just
pull up.
I'm like I literally have my turn
signal on and if you do this
if you are or they're trying
to intimidate you out of the
spot in an F 150.
It's not going to work.
Yeah.
Okay.
Yeah.
With a with a rear hitch mounted
skid plate.
Yeah.
So that's not going to happen.
But when did that go away?
Like this was just super common
knowledge.
Well, it was it was part of the
test.
Yeah.
Like if you saw somebody you
were supposed to remember like
if there's an empty if there's a
car empty space and another car
in somebody's parallel parking
you're supposed to stop at like
the driver's door of the car
behind it.
So there's that way.
Yes.
Ironically that is the only
I was I'm a wonderful parallel
Parker by the way.
I got a 98 out of 100 because
this that I took the parking
test with didn't like the way
I put I pulled in and she
measured we were supposed to be
an inch and a half to two inches
from the curb and she measured
it and the front wheel was an
inch and the back wheel was
like 2.1 inches and she nailed
me down two points for it.
So my point is it takes too long
to do it.
Yeah.
That's why it's like nobody
waits for you anyway.
If you think I wait for your car
to figure out they're not going
to do it.
If you've done it and afford
it's really cool because it
uses all the cameras and it
shows you cars and then it
will tell you if the space is
big enough for your vehicle.
It's an I've done it.
It's so much fun.
But I did it on a road with no
cars.
Yeah.
And it would and it won't
these new systems.
They won't only only parallel
park.
They will actually park you into
a diet, a diagonal spot to
or a but it is.
Yeah.
Diagonal spot.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
So it's it's cool.
It's cool.
Yep.
The next one had it in the
Subaru's had it in the truck
never I've never even touched
I take that back.
I've used it.
I used it today going through
a tunnel paddle shifters.
Oh, I use them all the time.
Do you?
Yeah.
I use them to hold gears
off-road.
That's the main thing.
Bahamut just holds the gears
for me.
Well, Bahamut.
Yes.
But I mean actually in crawling.
Oh, OK.
Because if you've ever used
4.0 in that thing,
it's pretty it's pretty
jerky.
Yeah.
And especially last week
with Brian.
Don't ask.
Garov and I both did.
Yeah.
Yeah.
So 4.0 is pretty jerky.
And with the paddle shifters
in a you know,
in a 10 speed automatic,
I can manually bump up a gear.
Yeah.
Because if I'm going a short distance,
you know,
you can easily go in Moab
up to 25, 30 miles an hour
and you're still in 4.0.
It's not often.
I mean,
you're going like,
you know,
an eighth of a mile at most.
So I don't want to drop it
in neutral,
go into 4.0 high,
drive back in neutral,
go into 4.0 like I don't
want to go through that.
Yeah.
So it's useful for that.
In the Audi,
it's just playing fun
because we upgraded
the paddle shifters
in that to their magnetic
paddles and you've used these
on steering wheels
for video games.
Same stuff,
but they click
when you have a really
positive engagement
and I love it.
That thing has the best
paddle shifters
I've ever used
and it is so fun
because you put
that thing in sport
and you get that,
you know,
it's got wide open exhaust
like literally just straight
out v10 sounds.
Oh my God,
I love paddle shifters
in that.
Okay.
Where I don't like them
and they're completely
useless is in cars
with CVT super.
Yeah.
Yeah.
And it makes no sense
or, you know,
it's fake.
Yeah.
It's a fake.
Not changing gears.
No.
So yeah.
I don't get it.
I mean,
I don't know anybody
in those cars
that uses them.
I've never even heard
anybody reference them.
They're just kind of there.
Annoying the C7
if you've got a manual
the rev match
where they have
the paddle shifters
for the automatic.
Yeah.
Click those for
the rev match function.
Yeah.
And I always was annoyed
that I turned them off
and I couldn't figure out
to turn it back on.
Yeah.
I was like,
yeah,
I remember that.
Yeah.
Like I never drive
that car
without rev match on.
I mean,
yes,
it's fun,
but to do it yourself,
like that's a,
you know,
a good skill
as a driver
if you have a manual,
but the car
was so much better at it.
Like period.
There's no way
I was going to be
as good as the car
at the rev match.
And so I just accepted
my fate.
It's like,
well,
technology outpaced me.
Cool.
Cool.
Yeah.
I no longer have
to rev match my downshifts.
And if I miss a gear,
I don't blow the engine
through the roof.
Yeah,
I don't,
I mean,
I used it as funny
as it is.
I was coming
out of Bellevue
and getting on off
of Northeast 8
there and getting
on the freeway
and that little tunnel
ashen.
Yeah.
I had put it
and put the exhaust
in Baja and,
you know,
but yeah,
I pretty,
I pre,
if I'm going to pass,
I will pre downshift.
Yeah,
especially on 202
where you got to pass
everybody
because they're going 35
and a 55.
But the next one
is cruise control.
I actually used that
all the time.
So funny.
Me too.
Like all the time.
Shawna,
I don't think
has ever used cruise control.
Okay.
And,
you know,
she has it in all her vehicles.
Even in the S5,
she used the self-driving feature
because it worked
really well in that car.
Not the,
it wasn't hands-free,
but,
you know,
it would just,
you know,
put it in and it would go.
But
she is just like,
no,
I'd never use it.
Even on our long road
trips,
she just doesn't.
She likes to be,
and I'm at
I love it.
Yeah.
I let it,
it's sometimes drives,
Kate nuts,
cause I let it do everything.
Like I will put cruise control on
and I,
I let it speed up.
I let it slow down.
Yeah.
If it needs to slam on the brakes,
it does it.
I mean,
I,
it's,
it's made me a worse driver.
I'll tell you that right now.
But yeah,
I don't.
Yeah,
I really love cruise control,
but I'm surprised at how much
people don't.
Like some people just,
no,
not my thing.
Well,
somebody puts it,
cruise control,
never tried it.
Don't understand it.
I'm not interested in automatically
automating the driving process anyways.
So,
the next one is sport buttons.
Um,
I think they're overrated in smaller cars.
I think,
you know,
for some of our trucks and things like that,
the sport button actually makes a difference.
It's a huge difference.
You know,
it just didn't make a difference in some of your,
your,
your,
your,
get from A to B cars.
Like,
you know,
like,
yeah,
I don't need to get in a Hyundai and hit the sport button.
Like a lot of them is just like engine noise.
And like,
it changes the gauges and,
but a lot of them don't do.
How do I say it?
Well,
I'm fine.
If I hit it and it changes the suspension,
it changes the steering.
It changes my exhaust.
It changes the end.
That's a true sport button in my mind.
Oh yeah.
Dramatically transforms the R8.
Yeah.
It's a night,
totally different car.
Feels like it gets like actually really,
that car really needed a sport mode.
Yeah.
Right.
It needed a manual.
Yeah.
Um,
right.
Wouldn't that be awesome?
Yes.
Yeah.
Especially in this body stuff would have been amazing.
Yeah.
Rev matching seven speed in a v 10 mid engine car.
Oh,
yeah.
I mean,
just by a mercy logo.
LP 640 with a gated.
Yeah.
Yeah.
There you go.
That was a good experience.
Yep.
I miss driving that thing.
Mm hmm.
Um,
I drove Kevin Flynn.
Yeah.
That was fantastic.
Hard to drive.
But when it wasn't pointed downhill with the rain.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Besides that.
Yeah.
But yeah.
Uh,
I think that,
how do I say it?
It's another one of those features that works really well
in the cars it's designed for.
And so I don't want to see it go away.
I don't think it's useless.
Mm hmm.
But I,
I tired of seeing features like that going to vehicles where it does nothing.
And really it's just like,
here's more engine noise pumped in.
Here's a different display.
I like I was saying like it,
it takes away from the experience of driving something that actually uses it.
Sort of like,
you know,
putting the word turbo on the back of an electric car.
That'd be weird.
That would be,
Who would do that?
Who would do that?
That'd be so stupid.
So stupid.
Nine.
Yeah.
The next one is heated seats and I'll be honest with you.
Um,
my truck turns on my heated seats more than I do.
Yep.
Like when I do,
like when it's cold and I do the automatic start,
stop thing or the remote start,
remote start,
it turns it on.
It turns on my steering wheel.
It turns on both the seats.
Half the time.
I don't even know what's on Kate on the other hand drives with heated seats in the summer,
which will cook me.
But yeah,
I don't actually turn them on.
Also,
it's a,
it's not a physical button in my truck.
It's a,
it's the touch which drives me nuts because mine's both.
Yeah.
I have to hit it and it opens up a little menu and it's got a steering wheel in the seat
and you can,
I go to hit the steering wheel off and I end up turning the seat down.
Yeah.
So yeah,
I don't have a manual button on it.
Yeah.
The,
both the Bronco and the F-150 have both and I really like them,
but that's,
yeah,
don't yell at me listeners,
but I know him.
Who cares?
Yeah,
go ahead and yell at me.
I don't care.
Yeah.
I really don't.
Um,
I know a lot of women who do that.
Yeah.
They have heated seats here around like it could be 80 degrees out and they'll crank
the AC up on heated seat on.
Yep.
Yeah.
And I get that sometimes,
but that's cause I'm old in my back hurts.
I'm looking forward to the cooled seats in the S five.
I love the cooled seats.
I've never,
I've never owned a car with cooled seats.
So I'm looking forward to that.
It is great.
Yeah.
Porsche did it best cause I could have the heated seats on and the cooled
seats on.
And so you have like this electric heat around you.
It would blow cool air through.
It was a really weird feeling,
but it actually felt really nice.
It was really relaxing in a weird way.
You know what they need to bring back?
And it's not the best term is the ball chiller.
There used to be a vent underneath the steering wheel.
You're right.
And I mean,
it's a horrible name for it,
but that's exactly what it did.
Is it cool?
It cooled.
Yeah.
It's true.
It cooled your,
your,
your downstairs while you were driving.
Yeah.
If you don't know there used to be these cars used to have like air
conditioning vents under the steering wheel.
It would blow directly at the chair.
Yep.
Which was great when you owned a car from the seventies and it had fake
faux leather ish stuff.
It would nuclearly be hot.
So yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Did you get your sticker made by the way?
So I want to know.
I want to tell you this and we will tell the story.
We're done with the features.
So that's fine.
Yeah.
I actually woke up last night in the middle of the night
and went and checked my truck to make sure somebody hadn't
done that.
Dan and Brian Dallas have decided that I,
so I don't have Raptor on the side of the truck right now
because I polished it.
I took the stickers off.
And because of what I did in Moab where I turtled the truck,
they think I need to put the word turtle and Brian has a plotter
and the thing and he sends me a photo of it.
And I was like, I'm not sure if this is bullying or karma.
And he said kind of both.
But then he made the comment like, oh yeah.
He's like, you don't have to be around for us to do this.
So now I'm like, do I need to hide?
Well, and the truck is outside and the ironic part was
I don't want it to be done.
I will accept it if it does.
If it does happen, great.
I went out yesterday after you guys were talking and texting
and I washed the truck so it was clean.
So yeah.
Got to get that s-tech on there.
No more trail stripes.
I know it's a little late for that now.
It is a little late.
I mean, at this point.
That s-tech is a lifesaver though.
I'd have to paint the bed and then let it gas off
and not drive it.
I think anybody, I think I know,
I know a couple of people, Jeff Miller being the big shout out
there who is just kind of magic with a buffer there.
He has pulled stuff out of vehicles that I'm looking at it
going, there's no way.
And it's literally like 10 seconds later.
Too fast.
He's like, what do you mean?
This is not scratch.
This is this.
Okay.
So I went to the zero offset.
Those tires set out so far.
Oh, the hips that it like literally the front of those hips
is just rock chipped and I've I've dotted them,
which I think almost made it worse.
Oh, no, like even though it's a paint match, but yeah.
So yeah, if you see me driving around and it the bed size
say turtle, you know, iron, it's perfect because your
truck is green.
I'm not.
I think I'm not fighting it.
I'm not fighting it.
Like I told you guys, I just don't want to have the
conversation with random people.
That's a wrap.
We call it a Ninja Turtle.
He'll have the of those orange lights in the front.
Oh, you know, he won't do double.
He can't do two types of vinyl, which makes me mad because
I feel like if we're going to do it, you do orange background.
So it looks like my Michelangelo and then you do turn,
then you do turtle over it like so it pops.
But yeah, huh?
Yeah, it hasn't happened yet.
I feel like it's going to he he no longer has a weekend
job.
So I'm worried.
Oh boy.
No, I literally got up in the middle of that.
And it's like, you know what?
I'm going to go check it over.
Yeah, I'm going to go bug.
Yeah.
Well, that'll be a lesson to you folks.
I get that s tech on your quarter panels because it will save
your quarter panels from your fun driving.
I did the same thing in my twenty.
John told me he's like, you need to do this whole truck.
And I was like, I'll be fine.
And at the time I had the stock wheels on it that were
inside the fender flares and things like that.
So yeah.
Yep.
Also, we need to fix.
We need to put the lights in my truck.
I drove in front of Garoff last weekend and it's driving
me nuts.
They look really nice, right?
I do.
They do poor guy.
He's headed to Oregon this weekend to the dunes.
Yeah, I know.
Yeah.
Did you see the weather?
Yeah.
Yeah, we were talking about that.
Look at atmospheric river moving in.
And he goes, oh, I'm going to take that.
I'm going to take that in the dune with my kid and my wife.
And I was like, I don't think I'd do that alone.
I was like, I was like, do you have your radio and everything?
I was like, just in case I was like, because even all of us
have gotten stuff stuck.
You can turtle a truck.
It can happen.
It's a lot harder to get out of in the sand.
So yeah, it's tough.
Sand is tough.
Sand will sink you quickly.
Yeah, they're very different recovery techniques in sand.
A lot of digging.
Those air jacks, that's where they really come in handy.
If you haven't seen one of those, we're not talking air jacks
like you would for a race car.
We're talking giant pillows that you stick to your exhaust
and rev up and it lifts your entire vehicle out of the sand
because you get really stuck and really buried.
I've always wanted to do a sand anchor.
I think that looks fun.
It does.
Yeah, that's something we should practice just for the heck of it.
We should go to Long Beach.
OK.
We were up in the hills for Brian's birthday
and he has that Raj.
It's got that black Broncos.
Raj sank it off the side of the trail in snow
and he went down to about five PSI on that thing
and just crawled out of the snow.
It wasn't going anywhere and then all of a sudden it just
was like, OK, here we go.
That's what we did when in the snow.
That one time we went up in the mountains and got stuck
and I was like, I'm just going to air this thing down to nothing.
Yeah.
And it did and sure enough, double locked in low
and just crawled out.
It was like, how?
Yeah.
Yeah, it was fun.
So cool.
Well, we have another topic that we'll put it on another episode
because it's kind of an interesting, but this one let out.
But yeah, give us your thoughts.
What did we miss?
What is it that you're using?
I'll give you a perfectly good example we didn't talk about
that I think is interesting.
One of those things under the back bumper where you kick,
which never works and opens the back hatch.
Oh, yeah.
I don't know if you maybe it's gotten better,
but that used to be just an annoying gimmick that never worked.
I've seen so many people try to fall over in the back
of a Safeways parking lot trying to open that or do that.
So yeah, I'll tell you what I like to have
and I admit I use maybe once a year that beautiful giant
sunroof on my truck.
I forget that it's even there at the time and if it went away
I'd be like, I don't actually care.
Nice roof.
It's so pretty.
I agree.
All right.
Well, give us your thoughts.
We always like the comments like this week's about the movie
cars.
Everybody was pitching in.
Let's see what you got.
So for this episode of the events podcast is always I'm
Nick and I'm Dan and don't just get there.
Enjoy the drive.
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